Coldplay’s new single - free download

You read that right, with Mariah Carey pulling out her songs on every music blog to assure high legal downloads here comes Coldplay. However, the English rock band is instead giving away their new single on their website Coldplay.com! - for a week. It’s called Violet Hill. But the following week, the single will be available for a paid digital download. Their fourth album Viva La Vida is scheduled to be released on 16 June 2008 in the UK and 17 June 2008 in North America.

They’re UBER smart for marketing the new record - virally! That woudn’t even affect the sales of the new record since they’re WIDELY popular and has a SOLID fanbase who will surely download the single (again) from iTunes.

 Grab your legal copies ’til it’s FREE!

Brooke White did a Showstopper - LITERALLY

Very interesting this night of American Idol, I must say. First of all, it’s an Andrew Lloyd Webber week. The man behind such unforgettable broadway hits like Phantom of the Opera, Cats and Jesus Christ Superstar. But what really caught my attention is Brooke White’s performance of You Must Love Me from the movie, Evita. It’s funny how Brooke’s introduction video buided up the momentum of such a potentially good performance, only to hear her say "I’m sorry, can we (start over)?" after singing the first line of her song. DANG! That was just the most uncomfortable/awkward moment i’ve seen in American Idol. Very very awkward, plus the defeaning silence when Paula was trying so hard to think of something nice to say. A literal showstopper indeed!

Watch the trainwreck below: 

I’ll be really surprised she doesn’t go home tomorrow. The top performers this week are Carly Smithson, Syesha Mercado and David Cook.

Artists That Put You To Sleep

Britons like a dose of music from the rock band Coldplay to help them fall asleep, a survey from hotel chain Travelodge found on Monday.

The band, whose frontman Chris Martin says he avoids caffeine and alcohol and is known for a lifestyle that is anything but rock ‘n’ roll, topped a poll of music choices to help listeners nod off.

Other artists chosen for their slumber-inducing qualities were James Blunt, Snow Patrol, Take That and Norah Jones.

The survey was carried out among 2,248 people. (REUTERS)

But I find it a little odd that Coldplay and Norah Jones are both Grammy winning acts and yet they made the list, isn’t it? Maybe it’s their lyrics that made them winners. Overall, I agree with those survey results, that’s why I usually don’t listen to Coldplay, James Blunt & Norah Jones when I’m on a trip ’cause they never fail to put me to sleep!

Gnarls Barkley’s free album download, Songs in reverse

Danger Mouse and Cee-Lo have posted their new album, The Odd Couple, as a free download at fronttobackbacktofront.com. If the idea of a free download isn’t strange enough, even stranger is that the entire album is played in reverse as one long track. Download and then fix it with your favourite audio editor.

An awesome marketing idea for the ‘real’ album, isn’t it?

LSS: David Cook - Always Be My Baby (Studio Version)

And my first LSS (last song syndrome) post on this blog goes to… David Cook!

When I first read the TMZ spoilers about David Cook doing Always Be My Baby, I know something interesting is going to happen that night and Cook didn’t fail to deliver. It was very brave for him to take a popular pop song and turn it to a haunting rock anthem- and he just nailed it. Honestly, I love it more than the Mariah Carey original.  Below is the studio version of his performance. And to note how popular his version of this song today, David Cook’s “Always Be My Baby” has been in the #1 position in iTunes for FOUR days. It will undoubtfully surpass his version of Billie Jean.

David Cook - Always Be My Baby (Studio Version):

Cook for the win!

In the US, 58% of music isn’t paid for

Most music comes from friends or from peer-to-peer file-sharing, according to NPD Group research.

In 2007, there was an increase in the volume of music acquired for nothing and a sharp decline in the amount paid for, according to NPD’s annual survey of Internet users. Although more people paid for digital downloads — that market grew from 7% to 10% — it wasn’t enough to cover the fall in CD sales — down from 41% to 32%.

Music industry lawsuits also failed to stop peer-to-peer file sharing, which grew from 14% to 19% by volume. This equalled the amount of music that NPD classes as "Burned from others" or "Ripped from others" (19% each).

People have invented internet that can distribute information and culture to all connected people almost instantly. Music and films can be distributed this way and it’s human nature for culture to be shared. They are fighting against human nature and every victory they get dilutes the power of internet. Lets not ruin one of the greatest inventions the world has ever seen in order to protect the profits of companies.

American Idol 7 Contestants Have No Personality Says Simon Cowell

Since American Idol got it’s lowest ratings IN A MONTH according to Nielsen, Variety.com has asked Simon Cowell "to pinpoint a collective flaw in the season 7 cast"

His answer?

Personality. They are giving very safe answers to questions, making safe song selections. We are not getting a sense of who they are. We have to try to pull it out of them more.

Overall, 23 million viewers watched the Mariah Carey themed night, 7 million less than what Ryan Seacrest keeps insisting are watching. Last week ,during Idol Gives Back, only half of that viewers actually watched!

American Idol is my favorite TV show but personally, I am actually pretty bored with this season after Ramiele got eliminated (she’s my favorite). I didn’t even watched Idol Gives Back last week.

It’s funny how people keeps saying that Season 6 has the worst batch of contestants in AI (Sanjaya, anyone?) and now, all their rants become how the finalists this year don’t have personality.

Did the producers made a mistake in eliminating Danny Noriega, Amanda Overmyer or Ramiele Malubay by sticking to bland contestants (personality-wise) like Syesha Mercado?

Well, Season 7 still got 5 weeks more so it’s not too late to save this season. Right now, my picks for the title are David Cook and Carly Smithson.

Chocolate Rain meets Rickrolling!

This guy LITERALLY has a frog in his throat! Chocolate Rain + Rickrolling? Death of YouTube.

Mariah, Madonna, Leona Make Billboard Chart History

2008 has turned out to be a great year for these 3 ladies; Mariah, Madonna and Leona. Not only their albums and current singles are doing great in the charts, but all of them are now/ soon-to-be record holders in the Billboard chart history.

According to Billboard.com:

Two leading ladies, Mariah Carey and Madonna, leapfrog over Elvis Presley in the Billboard charts record book this week. As expected, Mariah Carey moves past Elvis Presley and into sole possession of second place for most No. 1s in the rock era, as "Touch My Body" soars 15-1 on the Billboard Hot 100 to become her 18th chart-topper. With her album "E=MC2" yet to hit retail, Carey might equal the Beatles’ record of 20 No. 1s before her set runs its course.

Presley will also be nudged from his standing as the artist with the most top 10s in the rock era, as Madonna surpasses him with her 37th top 10, "4 Minutes." The track, which features Justin Timberlake, clocks a 68-3 jump. Previous to the establishment of the Billboard Hot 100 in 1958, the industry standard chart was the Best Sellers in Stores tally, where Presley scored his first 12 top 10s.

Elvis Presley might just roll from his grave to do a comeback!

On the other hand, X-Factor champ Leona Lewis is set to debut at no. 1 on the US album chart this week, the first British woman in history to achieve this feat.

It was the first time a British female solo artist had topped the chart since Kim Wilde went to No. 1 in 1987 with a cover of the Supremes’ “You Keep Me Hangin’ On.”

Charice Pempengco in OPRAH

After her successful stint in Paul O’Grady Show in London, Charice is back in the Philippines to finish her debut album under Star Records. Her album will be then launched abroad before releasing it to the Philippines. With that being said, the album should be very well produced and should contain original material to sell. But it’s still quite a bummer that she refused some international offers for Star Records, isn’t it?

But the BIGGER news is, Charice will be on Oprah this coming May! You probably know it by now but she will be featured on the said show along with nine other talented kids. The episode is titled: The World’s Smartest Kids!”

Another to-watch-out-for!

Watch the Oprah teaser here:

Uhmh… based on the 2 seconds clip showing Charice, let me guess the song she sang: You’ll Never Walk Alone.

Mariah’s Reaction to Ken Lee

Mariah Carey speaks up on Valentina Hasan’s Youtube-famed version of her song, Without You/ Ken Lee:

Mimi’s face was just priceless while being interviewed by that weird Bulgarian lady. She must be thinking OMG what am I doing here! Help get me out! LOL.

Of course she applauded Hasan for her fearlessness while in the back of her mind she says - I DON’T CARE! And what the hell does ‘hoot spa’ mean?

Meanwhile, this is the confirmed 2nd single from her latest album E=MC². It’s a midtempo song called Bye Bye. Another hit for sure.

Mariah Carey - Bye Bye: