Welcome to your weekly dose of pop world musings. Covering all things pop culture, this week Pop Shots is hitting you with thoughts on everything from the Fall Out Boy split, to Jill Scott and Hidden Beach Records heading to court, to Justin Timberlake feeding a man in drag who was dressed as his ex, and since it's Pop Shots you know everything is seasoned with a little bit of attitude.
* Despite published reports, and tweets, there was much less of a fall out within Fall Out Boy than many first believed. According to Pete Wentz and Patrick Stump, the group is taking some time off for members to pursue other endeavors, but there's zero animosity between any of them. Wentz was quoted by the AP saying that it's all been "blown out of proportion." Fans should not be expecting a solo project from Wentz, though, as he noted that's never been an aspiration of his. As an aside, how wild is it that a band named after a comic book character from The Simpsons had a shorter run than the cartoon it came from? Yes, I just managed to make this a story about The Simpsons' longevity. I don't think anyone in Fall Out Boy would mind.
* Everybody and their grandmother has been talking about Taylor Swift's lackluster Grammy performance. Personally, I think everyone should just chill out. It was one song, on one night. Everyone is allowed to have an off day. The people claiming this will be the undoing of her career are trying to make a mountain out of a mole hill. All she has to do is perform at the next major award show and totally nail it, which I'm guessing she will. Remember, she's one of the young singers who's actually talented.
* In random music lawsuit news, both Bruce Springsteen and Jill Scott are involved in some legal actions, although they're on totally opposite ends of the spectrum. The Boss wants his name off of a lawsuit that's demanding licensing fees from a bar where a band played two of his songs. That's right, ASCAP is attempting to a sue a band for playing cover songs because the band collected payment for their performance that night. Kudos to Bruce for realizing how ridiculous that is. Jill Scott, on the other hand, is getting sued by her label, errr, former label, Hidden Beach Records. You see, when they signed her to a six album deal, they expected her to finish six albums, not just three, and when she terminated the deal under the seven year rule, which allows artists to get out of lengthly contracts, she didn't reimburse the label the amount they would have received under the contract, which is the legal way to get out of a deal using that rule. Under California law Scott could owe over a million dollars to the label. It's no wonder only ONE of these artists is a legend.
* At Harvard University the nation's oldest undergraduate drama troupe The Hasty Pudding Theatricals, honored Justin Timberlake with their annual Hasty Pudding Man of the Year award. In order to accept the honor, Timberlake had to sport a curly blonde wig and feed a man in drag who was dressed as his ex, Britney Spears. Timberlake also ended up sporting pink heels and a bra at one point during the event. Drag is old hat for the pop star, though, as he noted he's been dressed in women's clothing at some point during every single one of his stints hosting SNL. Soup there it is!
* Robin Thicke is going to be joining Alicia Keys for her national tour that starts March 3rd and ends April 10th. Although I'm sure plenty of babies will be conceived because of this tour, I have to say the teaming of these artists makes sense for another reason - they both need to revert back to what they were doing half a dozen years ago. Thicke's songwriting has gone downhill since his second album and Keys has stopped singing and is now shouting her lyrics. I'd rather hear A Beautiful World than Sex Therapy, and "Fallen" than anything off of The Element of Freedom. Basically, this is a tour I would have paid to see in 2005, but not so much so in 2010.
* Struggling label EMI posted a $2.48 billion, yes that's BILLION, dollar loss over the past twelve months. That's not a good year. To put it in perspective, with that kind of money you could buy the new Meadowlands ($1.4 billion) and still have over a billion left to spare for tickets and hot dogs. With EMI posting those kinds of numbers is it even right to call them a "major" label anymore? Well, I guess they do have major debt.
* Finally, do you know who's feeling sexy? Right Said Fred is, that's who!
And with that, my time is up for the week, but I'll be back next week with more shots on all things pop.
* Despite published reports, and tweets, there was much less of a fall out within Fall Out Boy than many first believed. According to Pete Wentz and Patrick Stump, the group is taking some time off for members to pursue other endeavors, but there's zero animosity between any of them. Wentz was quoted by the AP saying that it's all been "blown out of proportion." Fans should not be expecting a solo project from Wentz, though, as he noted that's never been an aspiration of his. As an aside, how wild is it that a band named after a comic book character from The Simpsons had a shorter run than the cartoon it came from? Yes, I just managed to make this a story about The Simpsons' longevity. I don't think anyone in Fall Out Boy would mind.* Everybody and their grandmother has been talking about Taylor Swift's lackluster Grammy performance. Personally, I think everyone should just chill out. It was one song, on one night. Everyone is allowed to have an off day. The people claiming this will be the undoing of her career are trying to make a mountain out of a mole hill. All she has to do is perform at the next major award show and totally nail it, which I'm guessing she will. Remember, she's one of the young singers who's actually talented.
* In random music lawsuit news, both Bruce Springsteen and Jill Scott are involved in some legal actions, although they're on totally opposite ends of the spectrum. The Boss wants his name off of a lawsuit that's demanding licensing fees from a bar where a band played two of his songs. That's right, ASCAP is attempting to a sue a band for playing cover songs because the band collected payment for their performance that night. Kudos to Bruce for realizing how ridiculous that is. Jill Scott, on the other hand, is getting sued by her label, errr, former label, Hidden Beach Records. You see, when they signed her to a six album deal, they expected her to finish six albums, not just three, and when she terminated the deal under the seven year rule, which allows artists to get out of lengthly contracts, she didn't reimburse the label the amount they would have received under the contract, which is the legal way to get out of a deal using that rule. Under California law Scott could owe over a million dollars to the label. It's no wonder only ONE of these artists is a legend.
* At Harvard University the nation's oldest undergraduate drama troupe The Hasty Pudding Theatricals, honored Justin Timberlake with their annual Hasty Pudding Man of the Year award. In order to accept the honor, Timberlake had to sport a curly blonde wig and feed a man in drag who was dressed as his ex, Britney Spears. Timberlake also ended up sporting pink heels and a bra at one point during the event. Drag is old hat for the pop star, though, as he noted he's been dressed in women's clothing at some point during every single one of his stints hosting SNL. Soup there it is!* Robin Thicke is going to be joining Alicia Keys for her national tour that starts March 3rd and ends April 10th. Although I'm sure plenty of babies will be conceived because of this tour, I have to say the teaming of these artists makes sense for another reason - they both need to revert back to what they were doing half a dozen years ago. Thicke's songwriting has gone downhill since his second album and Keys has stopped singing and is now shouting her lyrics. I'd rather hear A Beautiful World than Sex Therapy, and "Fallen" than anything off of The Element of Freedom. Basically, this is a tour I would have paid to see in 2005, but not so much so in 2010.
* Struggling label EMI posted a $2.48 billion, yes that's BILLION, dollar loss over the past twelve months. That's not a good year. To put it in perspective, with that kind of money you could buy the new Meadowlands ($1.4 billion) and still have over a billion left to spare for tickets and hot dogs. With EMI posting those kinds of numbers is it even right to call them a "major" label anymore? Well, I guess they do have major debt.
* Finally, do you know who's feeling sexy? Right Said Fred is, that's who!
And with that, my time is up for the week, but I'll be back next week with more shots on all things pop.
[Tags] POP
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