Kylie's Got 'Attitude' And "Heartstrings"

Kylie Minogue is on the cover of the July issue of British gay mag Attitude. I tried finding it today at the Borders in Hollywood, but all I could scrounge up is that issue of Rolling Stone with Lady Gaga looking pretty sketchy on the cover. So I sat and read half of that interview while I chowed down on a turkey burger.

And "Heartstrings," Kylie's Xenomania-produced Aphrodite bonus track (Japanese edition only, folks) leaked today, too. How the eff is this hot shit not on the regular version? They should have just scrapped "Looking For An Angel" or "Cupid Boy" in lieu of this one, in my opinion.

It's Benny Benassi And Kelis' "Spaceship" Video

While last year was the Year Of Lady Gaga as far as all things pop are concerned, 2010 seems to belong to Kylie Minogue.

In my book, Kelis is a very strong runner-up so far. And "Spaceship," her collaboration with Benny Benassi, Black Eyed Peas member apl.de.ap and producer Jean Baptiste (who worked on Kelis' Flesh Tone album) is easily her best video yet this year.



Flesh Tone is out in the States next week. Dance jam "Spaceship" is available on iTunes now (and does not feature on Flesh Tone).

It's Kylie Minogue's 'Aphrodite' Bonus Track "Mighty Rivers"

We're literally one week off from the release of Kylie Minogue's 11th album Aphrodite. And with "All The Lovers" firmly lodged in the UK Top 10 for a second week, along comes "Mighty Rivers," the Xenomania-produced bonus track that will appear on the "Deluxe Experience" Edition of Aphrodite.

Why the hell this was relegated to being a bonus track is beyond me, but it certainly makes the deluxe edition all the more special. Enjoy!

Katy Perry's #1, Kylie Minogue Hangs In, Scissor Sisters Do So-So And Kelly Rowland Rises

Blargh! Katy Perry's piece of summer treacle "California Gurls" has now asserted itself at the top of the UK chart like a prize whore taking the dominant position with a skittish john on a ripped up mattress in the alley behind a Holiday Inn.

But enough about that creamy slut! Kylie Minogue's "All The Lovers" hangs in there like a pert-assed trooper this week, only dropping two positions to #6. Kylie has been ramping up the promo blitz ahead of the release of Aphrodite by appearing on Friday Night With Jonathan Ross on, well, Friday, and surprising the crowd at Glastonbury yesterday by performing with Scissor Sisters. She needs to fly back to her homeland, though—"All The Lovers" debuted at #14 in Australia (betraying HATERS!!) last week and has now dropped to #22 there.

And speaking of Scissor Sisters and flops, their lead single off Night Work, "Fire With Fire," debuts at #11 on the new Brit chart. A full month-and-a-half after I declared that both the music video and the song itself are completely boring—causing one Scissters stan to comment, "You are about as removed from the creative process as Jake Shears is removed the world of cynical, worthless 'journalism' that owes more to the facetious tones of VH1 than anything else"—it seems as if the bulk of the United Kingdom, at least, concurs.

Again, that's not me hating. I'm a fan of the group. I've gone out to see them live three times. And I'm sure "Fire With Fire" would have made a quite luvvly fourth single. But as far as being the first single off their first album in four years, it's painfully dull.

Moving on, Miss Kelly Rowland climbs up from #17 to #13 with her flawless David Guetta-produced dance jam "Commander." I'm chalking this feat up to her recent amazing interaction with YouTube phenom PhatGayKid (who, mind you, has become a sensation after only being online since effing April!) on The Graham Norton Show.



Priceless. And we'll end with Robyn, whose "Dancing On My Own" suffers a drop from #8 to #16. But at least that's better than Christina Aguilera, who's Bionic has dropped out of the Top 40 of the UK album chart entirely after a mere two weeks.

The U.K. Top 10:

1. "California Gurls" - Katy Perry *new* 1 week*
2. "Wavin' Flag" - K'naan
3. "Shout" - Shout For England/Dizzee/James Corden
4. "Kickstarts" - Example
5. "Not Afraid" - Eminem
6. "All The Lovers" - Kylie Minogue
7. "Love The Way You Lie" - Eminem feat. Rihanna *new*
8. "Alejandro" - Lady Gaga
9. "Frisky" - Tinie Tempah feat. Labrinth
10. "Gettin' Over You" - David Guetta/Fergie/LMFAO

Pet Shop Boys Do Glastonbury

Kylie Minogue and Scissor Sisters weren't the only artists who've worked with Stuart Price to appear at Glastonbury yesterday—Pet Shop Boys were also on hand to serve up a slew of their hits at the music fest.

The Guardian gushed, "Aligned to tunes as big as theirs, it couldn't fail, and it didn't... 'West End Girls' proves just as intoxicating in the west country, played by a perennially class act."

And, why look—here are PSBs doing "West End Girls" yesterday!



Not quite sure about Neil Tennant's totally-shaved head look. It's all a bit Peter Gabriel, no?

Kylie Minogue Surprises Scissor Sisters' Audience At Glastonbury, Sings On "Any Which Way"

Kylie Minogue kept the ball leading up to her Aphrodite album release rolling by making a surprise guest appearance during Scissor Sisters' gig at Glastonbury on Saturday. Decked out like the Caped Hooker Of Pop, she cooed along with Jake Shears and Ana Matronic on "Any Which Way."

The Guardian suggested of Kylie, "...her guest appearance works not because of her celebrity, but because she plays against it."



Here's the rest of the Guardian's writeup about Kylie:

"Rather than hogging the limelight, she slots herself perfectly into Scissor Sisters' world, gamely joining in with Shears and Ana Matronic's synchronised dance routines, providing an eerily accurate impersonation of the former's distinctive falsetto, dancing flirtatiously around guitarist Babydaddy. 'First time at Glastonbury baby!' yells Shears at her departing form when the song ends. In response, she flashes him a delighted look that suggests it won't be her last."

Kylie Does 'Friday Night With Jonathan Ross'

I've been taken over by a sizable bit of Kylie Minogue euphoria these past two days, since Aphrodite popped up online—as, it seems, has everyone else. (See XO London, Vinny Vero and Fizzy Pop's full reviews, Pop Trash Addicts' listening party account and This Man's World and The Prophet's mini reviews.)

As for me, I'm completely addicted to "Get Outta My Way" and "Aphrodite." But must move on to the rest of the album. I plan on doing that today. After listening to those other two at least 20 more times, of course. "I'm gonna feel your heart stop in my hands..."

As I said two days ago—if you download it (doing so is still illegal, pop chyldren), go buy the damn thing come July 5 and July 6. Kylie deserves for this album to be a smash.

And one person who also shares that sentiment is Friday Night host Jonathan Ross, who once again interviewed our favorite Aussie.  There are bits and pieces of the full one-one-one all over YouTube, and below is a clip featuring some of Kylie talking and her full performances of "All The Lovers" as well as Fever classic "Love At First Sight."

The 10 Michael Jackson Songs You Forgot About

If you can tear your focus away from Kylie Minogue's new album long enough, go check out the list of The 10 Michael Jackson Songs You Forgot I posted over at Idolator, in honor of today marking a year since MJ eeeeeeeeh-heeeeeeeeeeeeeee'd for the very last time.

A Whole Bunch Of Nothing About Robbie Williams And Gary Barlow's Upcoming Duet "Shame"

The Guardian did a small writeup on the forthcoming Gary Barlow/Robbie Williams duet "Shame" that's set to appear on Williams' upcoming In And Out Of Consciousness—The Greatest Hits 1990 -2010. There really isn't much new info in the piece that you didn't already read here—unless of course you count the above pic where Robbie looks like he got hit in the face with a baseball bat and Gary looks like a hot dock worker ready to nail some hot tail over a wooden barrel. Arrrrr!

Heard Any Good Albums Lately?

 

Make sure you buy Kylie Minogue's Aphrodite, folks. Show her the love.

I'm Pissed Off At Shontelle

There are about 37 songs from Drake that debut on the Billboard Hot 100 this week, due to his album Thank Me Later being released (it's #1 over on the Top 200 after sales of 447,000 copies), but the main thing is this—Katy Perry is still #1 this week with "California Gurls," and I kind of want to bump her off a cliff so I can watch her blue wig flap around till she lands in the shark-infested ocean! Then it'll be red and blue wig. Patriotic!

Speaking of which, VV Brown's "Shark In The Water" is up 13 positions to #70 this week. Just love that jam.



Now, something that never ceases to amaze me is the perseverance and durability of Shontelle. Surely, after "T-Shirt" flopped at #36 two years ago (and made Chart Rigger's 10 Worst Singles Of 2008 list), you'd have thought the poor man's Rihanna beautiful Barbadian wanna-diva would have fucked off.

But no! Her tearjerker ballad "Impossible" (produced by Arthor Birgisson, no less!) has somehow made it's way to #17 on the Hot 100. And, you know—it kind of sounds like something off Shayne Ward's last album. So that makes me bitter that he's not at #17 this week and Shontelle is.

Now, you'll excuse me—I have to go break things.

The U.S. Top 10:

1. "California Gurls" - Katy Perry feat. Snoop Dogg *3 weeks*
2. "OMG" - Usher feat. will.i.am
3. "Airplanes" - B.o.B feat. Hayley Williams
4. "Billionaire" - Travie McCoy feat. Bruno Mars
5. "Find Your Love" - Drake 
6. "Your Love Is My Drug" - Ke$ha
7. "Alejandro" - Lady Gaga
8. "Cooler Than Me" - Mike Posner
9. "Not Afraid" - Eminem
10. "Break Your Heart" - Taio Cruz feat. Ludacris

Christina Aguilera's 'Bionic' Chart Drop

Just a quick follow-up to last week's "how to salvage Christina Aguilera's Bionic disaster" post, Billboard published its new album chart info today, and Xtina's album took a tumble from #3 to #9. That, of course, isn't as drastic as the UK, where Bionic fell from #1 to #29 like a three-dollar whore spotting the last nickel left on the planet at the bottom of a well.

She'd better hope radio warms to second single "You Lost Me" when it's sent to stations next week—and fast.

Here's a minute of the official "Radio Mix" of "You Lost Me," which has a more punched-up drum beat than the album version (for those millions of you who haven't bought it):



This fan, however, probably knows every note of "You Lost Me" backwards.

Scissor Sisters' LIve Lounge Cover Of Kylie's "All The Lovers" Is Much Better Than "Fire With Fire"

Scissor Sisters appeared on BBC Radio 1's Live Lounge today and performed their snoozy single "Fire With Fire" and a cover of Kylie Minogue's "All The Lovers."nBut it wasn't just any cover. It was a country version of Kylie's current UK hit.



I kind of really dig this—so much more so than "Fire With Fire" (both of the songs being Stuart Price productions.) Too bad the Scixxxterz didn't just scrap their own drag track for this twangy take on Kylie.



As of today, "Fire With Fire" is at #11 on UK iTunes. It's kind of looking like it might miss the Top 10 on Sunday's singles chart altogether.

Kylie Minogue And Robyn Dance Into UK Top 10

Based on downloads alone (physical release next Monday), Kylie Minogue's first Aphrodite single "All The Lovers" charts this week at #4 in the UK. Damn the football anthems!

So far it's Kylie's highest-charting song since "2 Hearts" went in at #4 in November 2007 (see: A History Of Kylie Minogue At #4). In Australia, "All The Lovers" debuts at #14. (Haters—turning on one of their own!) At least it went to #1 in Belgium, where the ball and chain is jetting off to on Tuesday!

By my count—and granted, I had a lot to drink last night—"All The Lovers" marks Kylie's 26th Top 5 single in England, if we include the Robbie Williams duet "Kids." We're also one month shy of when Kylie made her major return to pop divadom 10 years ago with "Spinning Around." Bitches need to keep downloading and then go buy that CD single when it comes out. She hasn't had a UK #1 since "Slow" (2003)!

A little further down the Brit chart, Robyn debuts at #8 with "Dancing On My Own," which becomes her fourth UK Top 10 hit and first since "Be Mine!" went to #10 in January 2008. Not faring quite as well is Robyn's eight-track album Body Talk Pt. 1, which debuts on the British album roundup at #47. Oh well—at least it went to #3 in Sweden!

On a final note, Christina Aguilera's Bionic drops on the album chart from #1 to #29.

And if you don't like it fuck you...

The U.K. Top 10:

1. "Shout" - Shout For England/Dizzee/James Corden *2 weeks*
2. "Wavin' Flag" - K'naan
3. "Kickstarts" - Example *new*
4. "All The Lovers" - Kylie Minogue *new*
5. "Frisky" - Tinie Tempah feat. Labrinth
6. "Not Afraid" - Eminem
7. "Gettin' Over You" - David Guetta/Fergie/LMFAO
8. "Dancing On My Own" - Robyn *new*
9. "Ridin' Solo" - Jason Derulo
10. "Alejandro" - Lady Gaga

Christina Aguilera's 'Bionic' Disaster—Reversible Or No?

By now we all know that Christina Aguilera's Bionic album campaign is off to a floptastic start. "Not Myself Tonight" tanked on the Billboard Hot 100, she canceled her summer tour and the endless Lady Gaga comparisons—not to mention rumors of a beef between the two, real or imagined—haven't exactly done anything to win her any new fans in this age where music buyers crave bad romance over being dirrty.

And so Xtina's Bionic limped into the Top 200 Albums chart this week at #3 (on sales of a measly 110,000 copies), coming in behind the Twilight Saga: Eclipse soundtrack (144,000) at #2 and the Glee: The Music—Journey To Regionals EP at #1 (152,000). Yes—a fucking EP of Glee songs sold more than Christina Aguilera. Welcome to the new decade.

The album is truly a hot mess of hodge podge, but as Pop Trash Addicts and My Fizzy Pop point out in their lengthy reviews (fine, impassioned reads, both of them), all of the podge isn't necessarily bad podge.

My advice (and, really, doesn't everyone want it?) is this: baby, you should have learned from Mariah Carey's tragically repeated past mistakes—the public doesn't want you ghetto, Gaga or trying to keep up with the times. They want you in a nice black dress, in front of a microphone belting out "Beautiful." You want to be edgy? You're allowed to make another "Fighter," but the "Dirrty" days are over. And you ain't electro, hon. Stick with the pretty stuff, like "You Lost Me"—which, if Sony has any execs with half a brain in charge of Aguilera's trajectory, will be her next single.

"Woohoo" might have actually worked if it were the third single, after a couple of the ballads. See, Christina's allowed to dance a bit, but the public wants familiarity at the onset. Don't go skipping out of the gate in the crotchless vinyl thong with the spiked ball gag in your yap, you dumb broad—it makes people who love to hate wary, and gives them ammunition. (Plus, it's just tired at this point.)

Read this, Christina. And read it well. All is hardly lost. Your fans are still there. And second chances come along all the time. Just ask your pal Britney.

Rush "You Lost Me" to radio. Your collaborations with Sia are gorgeous. And be a bit humble. Go visit stations. Do the talk shows again. Do a couple live dates. Starting from the ground up might help you get back to basics. And remind you what us boys and girls want.
 
The U.S. Top 10:

1. "California Gurls" - Katy Perry feat. Snoop Dogg *2 weeks*
2. "OMG" - Usher feat. will.i.am
3. "Airplanes" - B.o.B feat. Hayley Williams
4. "Billionaire" - Travie McCoy feat. Bruno Mars
5. "Your Love Is My Drug" - Ke$ha
6. "Alejandro" - Lady Gaga
7. "Break Your Heart" - Taio Cruz feat. Ludacris
8. "Not Afraid" - Eminem
9. "Rock That Body" - The Black Eyed Peas
10. "Find Your Love" - Drake

It's Kelis' "4th Of July (Fireworks)" Video

Jesus! So basically everyone under the sun decided that this past week was the one to unload their new music videos? Lady Gaga, Adam Lambert, Katy Perry—and now Kelis, with "4th Of July (Fireworks)"!

Here in the States, Kelis' Flesh Tone doesn't come out till July 6, but it was added to iTunes for pre-order yesterday and includes the bonus track "Carefree American." Hmmm. Kelis comes out the same day as Kylie (cue eyebrow arch).



Her views on fur-wearing aside, I'm still digging Kelis' album a good month-and-a-half after first hearing it. The video, with all its four elements symbolism, is pretty amazing, too. Again, please take notes on how to do a visual for a summer song, Gaga.

It's Katy Perry's "California Gurls" Video

Something about the Candy-Land-gone-softcore video for Katy Perry's current #1 hit "California Gurls" is quite charming (I'm chalking it up to board game pimp Snoop Dogg) and something is completely annoying (Katy herself, perhaps?).

Visually, it's a bright-colored, seizure-inducing sugary romp. Maybe it's actually Katy's stiff non-dancing that irks me. I don't know. I still like Adam Lambert's "If I Had You" a lot better.

Kylie Minogue "All The Lovers" Is On iTunes

Don't forget that Kylie Minogue's "All The Lovers" is now available on U.S. iTunes and the Amazon MP3 store (sadly, sans b-side "Go Hard Or Go Home"). Also, her Aphrodite album is up for pre-order in both regular edition ($9.99) and the "Experience" edition ($13.99).

It's time to boost "All The Lovers" up the iTunes chart! It's currently at #164. (Hey—it's probably better than "All I See Is You" from X did two years ago!) In Australia, the single is at #12 on iTunes and it's #3 in the U.K.

Here's "Go Hard Or Go Home."

Adam Lambert's "If I Had You" Video = Perfect Summer Fun...With Eyeliner And Feathers

Confession time: not only was I totally into Adam Lambert's last single "Whataya Want From Me," but I'm kind of (read: totally) digging his video for his latest, "If I Had You."

And it's not just the fact that Max Martin co-wrote/co-produced both jams (even though I have a less-then-hidden penchant for much of Max's output). The video for "If I Had You"—simple as it is—is so much more fun than Lady Gaga's "Alejandro." In fact, that one has me wanting to put on a black cloak and then go sit in a meat freezer for 12 hours until sweet, chilly asphyxiation puts me out of my misery.

No, Adam's clip is everything a music video for a summer jam should be. Just don't call me a Glamazon.

Love, Dizzee Rascal, New Order And Football's Got The World In Motion

And so it's that time o' year when the Brit charts are flooded with World Cup footie anthems, the newest of which—"Shout" by Shout For England, Dizzee Rascal and James Corden (which interpolates Tears For Fears' '80s jam "Shout")—goes in at #1.

Aside from the other usual suspects popping up (1996 anthem "3 Lions" debuting #10, it's Squad remake moving up to #28 and Shakira's "Waka Waka (This Time For Africa)" arriving at #38), New Order's classic "World In Motion" (originally billed as England New Order) enters at #22, now 20 years after it first topped the Brit chart and became the Machester group's only #1 single.



A 16-year-old D'luv once bought that CD5 and played it to death in summer 1990. Ah, the days when football songs had melody and originality...

The U.K. Top 10:

1. "Shout" - Shout For England/Dizzee/James Corden *new* *1 week*
2. "Frisky" - Tinie Tempah feat. Labrinth *new*
3. "Wavin' Flag" - K'naan
4. "Gettin' Over You" - David Guetta/Fergie/LMFAO
5. "Not Afraid" - Eminem
6. "OMG" - Usher feat. will.i.am
7. "Ridin' Solo" - Jason Derulo
8. "Nothin' On You" - B.o.B feat. Bruno Mars
9. "Try Sleeping With A Broken Heart" - Alicia Keys
10. "3 Lions" - Baddiel, Skinner + The Lightning Seeds *new*

Kylie Minogue Is 42 Going On Sexy In 'BlackBook'

[Pics via Egotastic!]

Kylie Minogue Brings All The Lovers To 'Germany's Next Top Model'

Gang, I don't know what it is about Kylie Minogue and "All the Lovers" and that Aphrodite Megamix that make me smile from ear to ear, but the stars seem fully aligned to make this whole thing the feel-good pop blowout of the summer. Am I right?

Here's Kylie doing "All The Lovers" on Germany's Next Top Model from earlier this evening:

Max Martin Has Another #1 Hit! (And I Guess Katy Perry Does, Too)

So this week pair of tits Katy Perry scores a second #1 single on the Billboard Hot 100 with "California Gurls." Like her previous chart topper "I Kissed A Girl," it was co-written by Max Martin and Dr. Luke, and it now gives Max his first #1 since Britney Spears 2009 hit "3" and Luke his first since Ke$ha's "TiK ToK" earlier this year.

Between writing and producing, Max Martin has now racked up seven #1 singles in the U.S., including the following:

1. Britney Spears, "...Baby One More Time" (1999)
2. *NSync, "It's Gonna Be Me" (2000)
3. Katy Perry, "I Kissed A Girl" (2008)
4. Pink, "So What" (2008)
5. Kelly Clarkson, "My Life Would Suck Without You" (2009)
6. Britney Spears, "3" (2009)
7. Katy Perry, "California Gurls" (2010)

It is a bit annoying how Katy chose to label Lady Gaga's "Alejandro" video "cheap" and "blasphemous" (which I wrote about more extensively here). As noted earlier this week, "Alejandro" is hardly my favorite Gaga video, but it's like, baby, you shoot whipped cream out of your boobs and you're fucking that sex-addicted cockroach Russel Brand—not to mention you're a straight girl who sings about drunk-kissing another broad for the sake of a hit song—and you wanna talk about cheap?

Moving on, Taio Cruz debuts at #26 with "Dynamite" and #96 with his Ke$ha duet "Dirty Picture,"  while Nicki Minaj's "Your Love," which samples Annie Lennox's 1995 jam "No More 'I Love You's'," enters the Hot 100 at #51 (which is far better than her previous single "Massive Attack" did, at least).

I'm not really understanding Enrique Iglesias' need to tie in his latest, "I Like It," with obnoxious train wreck program Jersey Shore (I guess it's simple: $$$), but the song has moved up from #70 to #55 this week, so he must be doing something right.

That brings us to this year's American Idol winner Lee DeWyze, who had a lackluster #24 debut last week with his cover of U2's "Beautiful Day," and now drops all the way to #72. The poor guy has been averaging pretty much a TV show appearance a day since he won two weeks ago, and he still can't breathe any life into that dull (read: utter shit) cover. Better luck with some original music this fall, Lee!
 
The U.S. Top 10:

1. "California Gurls" - Katy Perry feat. Snoop Dogg *1 week*
2. "OMG" - Usher feat. will.i.am
3. "Airplanes" - B.o.B feat. Hayley Williams
4. "Your Love Is My Drug" - Ke$ha
5. "Billionaire" - Travie McCoy feat. Bruno Mars
6. "Break Your Heart" - Taio Cruz feat. Ludacris
7. "Alejandro" - Lady Gaga
8. "Nothin' On You" - B.o.B feat. Bruno Mars
9. "Rock That Body" - The Black Eyed Peas
10. "Bulletproof" - La Roux

Cyndi Lauper Shows Skinny Bitches Kelly Rowland And Estelle How It's Done

Love this clip of Cyndi Lauper, Kelly Rowland and Estelle singing "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun" at last week's amFAR AIDS benefit event (which was hosted by Kylie Minogue) in NYC last week. All three broads are class acts, but the younger two don't have the pipes Cyndi has.



And here's a news bit on Kylie, who attended the amFAR do with daddy queen Jean Paul Gaultier as her date.

It's Lady Gaga's "Alejandro" Video

I've always felt "Alejandro" is one of the strongest songs on Lady Gaga's The Fame Monster. But initial reaction to the video: way too over the top.

Here's what I wrote on Idolator this morning:

By the time the guns are jutting out of Gaga’s bra (all we can think of here is Madonna’s classic “Vogue” cones), all the symbolism kind of gets muddled by the whole OTT-at-any-cost nature of the video.

What happened to the fun Gaga of “Telephone”? Where’s the coy, stylish Gaga from “Bad Romance” and “Paparazzi”? And, we know she’s a bit preoccupied with death (see her Larry King Live interview), but, geez—this video is just really depressing for such an upbeat summer jam.

We get it—artists need to evolve. And Lady Gaga has come a long way since the “Just Dance” house party days. But she should be careful not to fly too far over her little monsters’ heads in a bid to stay ahead of the pop pack.

Robbie Williams And Gary Barlow Duet On Upcoming Single Called "Shame"

If you don't believe the Robbie Williams-Take That reunion is inevitable yet, perhaps this tidbit will finally snap you out of denial: the Robster and Gary Barlow have recorded a single together called "Shame." It's set to be included on Williams' 39-song (!!) greatest hits collection In And Out Of Consciousness – The Greatest Hits 1990 -2010. That trash is due out October 12 (including here in the States, where it'll be issued via Capitol's Astralwerks imprint).

Here's a trailer for the collection:



My guess is this will be goodbye Robbie Williams, the solo artist. Hello Robbie Williams, the Take That 2.0 member.

The press release for the hits set notes that "Shame" will be the first time Gary and Robbie have written and recorded together since 1995. That said, both lent their vocals to the Helping Haiti charity cover of "Everybody Hurts" earlier this year.

Kylie Minogue Endures Cougars Kathie Lee And Hoda Kotb On The 'Today Show' Once More

I'm still reeling in the euphoria of the Kylie Minogue Aphrodite Megamix! But, Jesus—how the hell did I miss this trash: Kylie doing the Today Show late last week, and once again sitting through a round of inanity with Kathie Lee Gifford and Hoda Kotb?

You might recall that last spring she sat down with those old broads to promote her North American tour. (Fingers crossed Aphrodite does just as well as her inaugural jaunt through this neck of the woods did!)

To be fair, Kylie was a total sport, and seemed to have a good time with Kathie and Hoda. Cutest part is when she's talking about her boyfriend Andres Velencoso Segura: "The weirdest part is that he is six-foot four and I am five-foot NOTHING!"



For a more—ahem!—"intimate" look at Kylie's man, check out these pics.

The Kylie Minogue 'Aphrodite' Megamix

Having heard the Kylie Minogue Aphrodite album (except for "Cupid Boy," which is below!), my immediate thought last month was that "Get Outta My Way" and "Can't Beat The Feeling" are the best songs on the record.

It was an early judgment, and I now realize that my favorites will probably shift from time to time. Anyway, below are the tracks on the following megamix:

1. "Get Outta My Way"
2. "Cupid Boy"
3. "Can't Beat The Feeling"
4. "Too Much"
5. "Hands Up"
6. "Aphrodite"

A little bird told me that "Hands Up" is a contender for the second single.

Here's the megamix:

There's No Gettin' Over How Much The New UK #1 Single Sucks

Wow. How is it possible that the UK chart is packed with so much R&B/rap, while the current U.S. Top 10 is more pop-filled than ever? Even poor Lady Gaga's latest, "Alejandro," sits floudering at #28 in Ol' Blighty.

This week, the Brits get a new #1 single in the form of David Guetta's "Gettin' Over You." It was originally bland with just Chris Willis singing it on the French DJ's One Love album, but now a "Deluxe Edition" re-release finds Fergie and mind-numbingly shit uncle/nephew duo LMFAO tacked on. Bottom-of-the-barrel dance garbage.

German broad Lena goes in at #30 with her Eurovision winning "Satellite." That's a far cry from last year's Song Contest winner, Norway's Alexander Ryback, who managed to get "Fairytale" to #10.

Sigh. This chart needs to get Kylie'd up PRONTO.

The U.K. Top 10:

1. "Gettin' Over You" - David Guetta/Fergie/LMFAO *new* *1 week*
2. "Nothin' On You" - B.o.B feat. Bruno Mars
3. "Ridin' Solo" - Jason Derulo
4. "Dirtee Disco" - Dizzee Rascal
5. "Candy" - Aggro Santos feat. Kimberly Wyatt
6. "Not Afraid" - Eminem
7. "Try Sleeping With A Broken Heart" - Alicia Keys
8. "We Dance On" - N-Dubz feat. Bodyrox
9. "Eenie Meenie" - Sean Kingston and Justin Bieber
10. "Solo" - Iyaz

Charlie Mason Leaves Horror Of Dustin The Turkey Behind, Pens "It's A Mistake" For Sam Taylor

The latest edition of the Pop Trash Addicts Pop Panel is up, and features an interview with guest judge Sam Taylor.

UK crooner Sam's got a new song out—the d'luvvly ballad "It's A Mistake"—which was written by Charlie Mason, a self-proclaimed "Jersey boy who's written for Ashley Tisdale and Eric Saade."

SIDE NOTE: Charlrie also penned Donal Skehan's (of Irish pop group Industry) 2008 musical bid for Eurovision, "Double Cross My Heart"! (Read my interview with Donal here, where he laments, "I was extremely happy till I realized that turkey was in the same competition!")

Sam Taylor, "It's A Mistake"



Here's what Charlie tells Chart Rigger about "It's A Mistake":

"It wasn't hard to come up with the lyrics for it, as the Rasmark brothers' melody is so musically eloquent. Basically, it told the story all on its own, in a way, so I felt more like I was transcribing what the song said to me than saying anything myself. Like taking super-emotional dictation. The real fun was hearing Sam sing it, finally, because his voice to me is a wow to the nth degree. You just don't hear a vocal that's THAT beautiful and THAT vulnerable every day. So that's been exciting for me."

Rick Astley's "Lights Out" Is On iTunes

"Lights Out," the Coldplay/Take That-esque new single from Rick Astley, is available now worldwide on iTunes.

And just as an update, since I did the above-linked post a month ago, I got the reissued versions of Rick's first two albums, along with Big Fun's Pocketful Of Dreams. You really are missing out on a huge slice of guilty pop cheesecake if you don't grab the Big Fun one from Amazon UK (where it's going pretty cheap).

Me At The Katy Perry 'Teenage Dream' Listening Party/30 Seconds Of The "California Gurls" Video

On Thursday Becky Bain and I went to the listening party for Katy Perry's upcoming album Teenage Dream and had that funzo picture above taken. Beachy.

As for the album, it's very Dr. Luke/Max Martin-y, which—if you're like me and thought "Hot N Cold" was the best thing off Katy's last album—is good. Best songs: "Firework," "Last Friday Night" and "Pearl" are the standouts.

Anyway, best moment from the preview of Katy's "California Gurls":

Klass.

Here's 31 seconds of the vid:

La Roux Go Top 10, Lee DeWyze Has A Chart Fail And It's Weird To See Will Young On The Hot 100

It's better late than never with La Roux. I joked on April Fool's Day that the British duo managed to climb to #12 on the Billboard Hot 100 with their single "Bulletproof"—thinking then such a feat seemed like a long shot. But two months later, the former 2009 UK #1 is a bona fide U.S. Top 10 hit, as it now finds itself parked at #8. Never thought it would happen.

But at least La Roux aren't as Johnny-come-lately as Will Young, whose 2003 UK #1 "Leave Right Now" debuts at #81, after his live performance of the ballad during American Idol's finale week.

And speaking of Idol, this year's winner Lee DeWyze has posted the worst debut ever for a lead single from a reigning contestant. His lackluster of "Beautiful Day" sounded dreary when he performed it on the show, and so it's no surprise that the recorded version of it has gone in at #24. 

Yesterday Billboard reported the following:

Last year, winner Kris Allen sold 134,000 downloads of the original tune "No Boundaries" in its first week, entering at No. 4. Runner-up Adam Lambert's best-seller was his redux of Tears for Fears' "Mad World" with 115,000 (No. 7). Each of the two gents posted five debuts on the Digital Songs chart.

Two years ago, champion David Cook moved 236,000 of "The Time of My Life" (No. 1) while second-placer David Archuleta's biggest single during finale week was his cover of John Lennon's "Imagine" (71,000; No. 16). Cook wowed the list with 14 individual debuts, while Archuleta managed three.

So maybe it's the fact that Lee was given a cover for the first time in the show's history, as opposed to the usual abominable dirge ballad that's crafted each your for the winner? Runner-up Crystal Bowersox is probably screaming into her dreads right now too, since her cover of "Up To The Mountain" debuted outside the Top 40 at #57.

Time, perhaps, to put the show out of its misery?

Speaking of which, in the song's seventh week on the Hot 100, Christina Aguilera's "Not Myself Tonight" finds itself at a rather un-hookertastic #95.

The U.S. Top 10:

1. "OMG" - Usher feat. will.i.am *4 weeks*
2. "California Gurls" - Katy Perry feat. Snoop Dogg 
3. "Airplanes" - B.o.B feat. Hayley Williams
4. "Your Love Is My Drug" - Ke$ha
5. "Break Your Heart" - Taio Cruz feat. Ludacris
6. "Alejandro" - Lady Gaga
7. "Nothin' On You" - B.o.B feat. Bruno Mars
8. "Bulletproof" - La Roux
9. "Hey Soul Sister" - Train
10. "Not Afraid" - Eminem