Kelly Clarkson to Perez Hilton: STFU

I don’t condone violence at all — but the Perez Hilton/Will i. am incident is ridiculous. Feel free to read my full take at The Round Table, but for those just interested in seeing what Kelly had to say check the video below. Perez talk starts around 3:40 mark — be sure to keep watching until 4:49 mark when interviewer tells Kelly that Perez was actually crying on their talk show. Kelly’s reaction is classic.

All I have to say is — Perez, if Kelly Clarkson, quite possibly the nicest celeb on the planet is talking smack, you definitely made some enemies in the entertainment world.

When Celebs Invade Social Media…

The fine folks at Current tv warn us about Twitter overkill thanks to celebrity invasion of the site. Twitter, once a micro-blogging site used by early adopters, tech geeks, and let’s face it, PR folks, to communicate with others, has now become as mainstream as it can get with everyone from Perez Hilton, Oprah Winfrey, and yes, even Britney Spears (or more appropriately her handlers) keeping us up on all that they’re doing.

Yup, it’s oh so exciting. At the very least, the video is good for a laugh – if you can get passed the fact that they made P.Diddy sound like Ja Rule. “It’s Muuuurrrrddaaaaa.”

more about “When Celebs Invade Social Media…“, posted with vodpod

Keri Hilson Covers Kelly Clarkson’s SUBG…

Keri Hilson tends to be a “watercooler” topic for me and my buddy Opaul to discuss at The Round Table. Basically, it boils down to both of us wanting more from Keri and for her not to fall into what we affectionately call the “Christina Milian trap.”

The Christina Milian trap is essentially being pigeon-holed into a songwriter who gives all her hot tracks to other female performers and blow up their status. Keri Hilson is definitely going down this track as of late — which is sad because I had such high hopes for her after catching her during Justin Timberlake’s FSLS tour. During the show’s intermission, Timbaland had Keri cover current hits of the moment, including Kelly Clarkson’s “Since You Been Gone” aka SUBG.

Now, SUBG was covered by everyone from Robyn, The Gossip, Ted Leo, and even The Aquabats, but what set Keri’s rendition apart was the subtle R&B touch. The beat is pretty generic, standard Timbaland fare, but it works. Peep Keri’s version below. In the meantime, I’ll take some solace in that Keri’s starting to release moderately good tunes in “Knock You Down” and “Turnin Me On” (remix), but I’m still waiting on her to full on SING a damn track vs. relying on catchy beats to do the talking.

March Madness + Guitar Hero…

It’s no secret I’m a March Madness junkie — I also happen to be a big fan of Guitar Hero. While, the original commerical re-enacting the scene from “Risky Business” featuring Arod and Michael Phelps was absolutely creepy — I’d say Guitar Hero’s ad firm hit the nail on the head with this one.

Yup, it features 4 of college basketball’s greatest coaches (at least the ones that can still slide across a floor without breaking a hip). So, check out Rick Pitino, Mike Krzyzewski, Roy Williams and Bob Knight’s ode to “Risky Business.”

The only problem is Metallica’s presenence – FAIL. I’m still mad at them for Napster.

Skate or Die…

Um, I can’t even tell you how many quarters I used to pump in this game while vacationing as a kid with my folks in Virgina Beach. The total is probably around a year of college tuition, which is sad in itself. Needless to say, when I saw Skate or Die can be played online now, I pissed myself. Amazing. Skate on kiddies. You’re welcome.

White Dudes Rap About Gossip Girl: Amazing…

So my friends and I were just discussing how we don’t remember what life was like without YouTube. Well, that’s an exaggeration, but seriously, the site is a huge source of entertainment in my life. I came across this little gem of a video today after lunch (thanks, NY Mag!) with co-workers where we well…gossiped…about the CW’s Gossip Girl.

The video is called “Dear Gossip Girl” and features Southern Mothers & Matt Pearson, aka a bunch of preppy dudes who rap about the show. Heck, they even visited GG locations to shoot the video. How can you not love it…

Britney Brings The Circus…

Full disclosure – I was never a Britney fan. I mean, I’m a pop music fan, so I guess in some respect I could appreciate Britney Spears in her hay-day, but still, I never owned a CD. I can’t tell you how many arguments I had with die-hard fans back when predicting her over-saturation in the media would eventually lead to her downfall. Rather than sit back and say “I told you so,” instead I felt a tad bit guilty because being a pop music fan, I fed into that demise. We’ve watched the rise of Britney, the fall, and of course as she hit rock bottom only to come full circle to potential rise again.

We all know she’s never been a vocal superstar, heck, most days she’s lucky if she can actually lip-sync properly to her own tracks. So what do I find appealing about her? She’s an entertainer. Good, bad or indifferent, she has entertained us since ‘98 no questions asked. Like the perfect toy only to be tossed aside when something more shiny and new came around. We built her up, only to break her down  and once the guilt became too much (even for us masochists) we found a way to slowly put the pieces together again.

Part of our repentance is to cheer Britney on as she gears up for one of her (more) anticipated album releases in “Circus.” Yup, it’s a bit tongue-in-cheek realizing that for the most part, Britney is willing to laugh along with us with Larry Rudolph, long time manager playing ringleader. “Circus” is another all-star list of producers from Bloodshy  & Avant to Danja and of course pop impresario Max Martin aka the man who brought us “Hit Me Baby One More Time.” What’s the difference this time around? Well, it seems Britney is an active participant in the process, not a passive one like she was with “Blackout.”

So far, “Circus” delivers. It’s along the lines of what we’ve come to expect from Britney as far as sound up-beat tracks about wanting to dance (in various forms), but at least she is present in the songs – not just incoherently ad-libing her way through. Needless to say, I’m pretty pumped for the album’s release – more so for the upcoming MTV “documentary.” Just wish she’d begin it with a throwback to “You think you know, but you have no idea….”

Be sure to check out “Circus” – streaming now at Imeem.

Janet Jackson +Ernie Halter…

So, the day has finally arrived (again!). I’ll be seeing Miss Janet Jackson tonight at Madison Square Garden aka MSG in NYC. Obviously, I’ve been amped about this show for a while. The MSG date was one of the shows she postponed back in September due to her bout with vertigo, so I’m relieved that the date has finally come back around.

Having seen her in NJ about a month ago, I can honestly say this is one of her best live shows ever. Seriously. The setlist is no joke, 30+ songs, not medleys/snippets, SONGS. Her choreography is on point and for the first time in a while (back to Janet days), she’s actually performing live vocals throughout the show. Needless to say, I was not disappointed when I saw her in NJ.

However, seeing her at MSG will be a true treat. MSG is the mecca for performers here in NYC. I’ve never had the opportunity to see Janet play the Garden, so I’m pretty pumped about it. As a warm up to the show, I wanted to share another of my favorite artists with you: Ernie Halter.

I’ve wrote about how brilliant Ernie is in the past, but this takes the cake. In honor of Janet Jackson day,  I just had to share this amazing acoustic performance Ernie put together.

Here’s a little “Nasty Boys,” while you patiently await my update (and pics) post concert.

VMAs: I’m Over You…

Dreadful. That’s the one word I’d use to sum up this year’s VMAs. Really, that should come to no surprise after last year’s horrific show and my post-VMAs round up. (Myspace blog sucks, so you might have to search for post). We’ve been down this road before, VMA night is like my Oscar night. It’s the ONE big award show I look forward to every year (way less this year after last year’s debacle, but still…). Why the VMAs? Because I am the MTV generation. I grew up on MTV, for better or worse, some of my earliest childhood memories are linked to music videos and of course the award ceremony.

Truthfully, I didn’t have very high expectations going in last night after hearing the performance line-up, Lil Wayne, Jonas Brothers, Paramore, TI, Rihanna (way TOO much of her). Then of course there was all the Britney hype and hype it was. Will she open? Will she perform? Will she crash and burn? The countdowns…the teasers…the spectualation all for nothing. Britney opened, she took part in bland skit with (sometimes funny) Jonah Hill, but after 15 seconds we got the point. Then they showed Brit Brit walking from her dressing room to the stage only to announce Russell Brand. Boooorrring…

That’s not a knock on Brit, it was nice to see her looking at least somewhat happy and sane. It’s just to say that MTV billed it to be so much more, anyone watching couldn’t help but be disappointed. So the real opening act was Rihanna performing “Disturbia” with dozens of dancers wildly banging large glow sticks. Huh? I don’t get it. Then Rihanna floated in the auditorium on some giant cake only to reveal a less than flattering outfit. Problem is, Disturbia has no words other than the chorus so it was a wasted effort – only enjoyable part of the performance was when the band went into White Stripes’ “Seven Nation Army.” Poor Jack White.

Fast forward through a somewhat amusing monologue by Brand who apparently is not a fan of Republicans or the current President of the U.S.. Then of course he latched on to the Jonas Bros purity rings and never let go. No really, it was the only thing he rambled about ALL NIGHT LONG. We get it Russell, you like sex, we just can’t tell which gender you prefer it with.

Unfortunately, Brand didn’t knock the Jonas Brothers for the one thing he should’ve — their performance. I felt like I was watching Sesame Street – as the three of them sat on stairs and sang some acoustic rendition of “Lovebug” or something to that effect. After 2 long minutes of pre-pubescent screeching by Nick, the stage opened to reveal a full on band and the Jonas Bros screamed the remainder of the song as young girls and gay boys. I don’t get it. I’ve jumped on the bandwagon of a lot of random pop acts in my time, but the Jonas Bros, I just don’t get them at all. It’s not for lack of trying either.

Let’s speed this along… Lil Wayne ran around the audience with his pants falling off (wearing a belt mind you!), while grabbing his crotch and choking over the words to his own song leaving him inaudible through most of the performance. T-Pain joined him, but lip-synced. Really, rappers that lip-sync piss me off more than anything — Yup, that goes for you too, T.I…

You know what, there was so much bad, let’s just focus on the few highlights:

Britney winning her first VMA, then second, then third. Hoping these weren’t awarded to her out of pity, but either way, she was pretty, classy and humbly accept her award with a genuinely sweet speech  (did you ever think you’d see those words together when describing Britney of late?!)

Pink. She performed her single “So What” on the backlot studio and it was amazing. Now THIS was a performance worthy of VMA show opening, too bad it can about an hour and half too late. There was excitment, stunts, fire, a sexy costume reveal, and oh yeah, and LIVE singing. Can’t beat it.

Travis Barker and DJ AM – but more so Travis Barker. The dude ripped it on the drumset. I would’ve much preferred to listen to him bang away to random hip-hop songs all night than watch half of the performers take the stage.

Sadly, Britney reclaiming her career, Pink tearing it up (as always), and a drummer were the only worthwhile portions of the 2 hour and 15 minute show. There was no Britney performance and no sighting of MJ or any Jackson for that matter. In Russell Brand’s opening monologue he noted MTV’s storied past, but how the show was all about the future. Well, if last night’s show was any indication of what’s in store for music – we should all be worried. I mean, even Christina Aguilera lip-synced, ’nuff said.

Here’s some friends who live-blogged or tried to at least:

www.imbringingbloggingback.blogspot.com

www.music.consumerhelpweb.com

EA Sports Answers Youtube User…

Working in social media, it’s always exciting to see when major companies really GET the online space. It’s still pretty rare to see. We see some success stories here and there, but still most think they get it, when they actually don’t. While others are too scared to even think about coming out of their comfort zone to take a risk. However, EA Sports is one of the companies leading the charge and are definitely tapped into their audience.

Recently, a Youtube user took a video screen caputer of a “glitch” in the Tiger Woods game from EA Sports showing how the ball could be played by walking over water and swinging as if the pond were dry land. Pretty crazy, right?

The folks at EA Sports got wind of the video and decided to have some fun with it. They produced a video with Tiger walking on water and recreating the shot from the game. Part of my job is monitoring social media sites, blogs, and of course using Google Alerts to keep track of all press (especially negative press). However, many clients aren’t willing (read: ballsy) enough to actually take a potentially negative story and turn it into a positive. EA Sports have done just that!

A situation that could’ve blown up and spread through the internet has now been dismantled and is actually being talked about as a savvy marketing move instead. Not only did EA prevent a potential media disaster, they showed that they are intune with their target audience and are actively paying attention. Blogs and social networks are all a buzz about what they’re now dubbing Tiger’s “Jesus Walk.”  Great job, EA! Now if only other companies would follow your lead. Yup, it’s a risky move, but risks can have rewards.