Pop Shots
Cancellations
By: Adam Bernard
Last updated July 7th , 2010

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 Lilith Fair canceling a chunk of their tour, to Melissa Etheridge canceling her latest relationship, to Lady Gaga canceling President Obama's popularity, and since it's Pop Shots you know everything is seasoned with a little bit of attitude.

* I have some bad news for all the ladies out there that were hoping to rekindle some of the 90's magic they once had with their girlfriend during that lesbian phase of their collegiate life; if you were looking forward to the Lilith Fair you may have to grab some tissues as the tour has canceled close to a third of their planned shows this summer due to poor ticket sales. The affected stops are Salt Lake City (July 12), Montreal (July 23), Raleigh, N.C. (August 4) Charlotte, N.C. (August 6), West Palm Beach, Fla. (August 10), Tampa, Fla. (Aug 11), Birmingham, Ala. (August 12), Austin (August 14), Houston (August 15) and Dallas (August 16). With some tickets being as much as $250 before fees, it's really no surprise that sales are sluggish. Not only are there cheaper alternatives, but with only a few exceptions most of the women on the tour are nostalgia acts who have nothing new going on. In 2010 people aren't looking for expensive antiques, they're shopping at thrift stores, and until concert organizers realize this expect more cancellations.

* In more lesbian pop news, Melissa Etheridge has filed to dissolve her domestic partnership with Tammy Lynn Michaels. In 2000, when Etheridge and Julie Cypher broke up the couple had a child to deal with. Etheridge and Michaels have TWO children to deal with. At the rate she's going, Etheridge is only a few more kids away from being the ODB of lesbian rock music.

* Speaking of the Wu, Wu-Tang may be for the children, but they aren't for the government. At least that's what we can assume from Method Man evading New York state taxes over a four year period (2004 through 2007). He pleaded guilty to the charges last week and will now be paying over $100K in fines and fees. I wonder how much of his tax dollars would have gone to Eliot Spitzer's hookers? Perhaps the person who should be most angry about this is Ashley Dupre!

* Virgin America marked its first flight from California to Toronto with an on board party on an aircraft they named "Air Drake" after the Toronto sing-rapper who has vaulted into superstardom. Personally, I think it's a distasteful taunt. C'mon Virgin America, I love your airline, but you know how bad Jimmy Brooks wanted to play basketball, and when he was shot and became wheelchair bound that dream ended. Must you remind him that there will never be an Air Drake?

* Facebook and Twitter have tallied the numbers and according to their count Lady Gaga is the most popular person in the world. Having recently passed President Barack Obama in both Facebook fans and Twitter followers, everyone's favorite talented freakshow just became the first living person to have 10 million Facebook fans. This is interesting since she hasn't sold ten million albums, so what exactly are those fan and follower numbers worth?

* You know the Kia ad that has the "urban" hamsters and the classic Black Sheep song "The Choice Is Yours" featured in it? Apparently the choice to have it in the ad wasn't Dres'. In a recent interview with Reuters the Black Sheep emcee said "I'm still up in the air on how I feel about the commercial because I found out about it at the same time as everyone else." He added that although the timing of the ad was perfect as he just released another album, From The Black Pool of Genius, under the Black Sheep name, "I would have liked to have been asked, but at the end of the day I hope I'd have been shrewd enough to say yes." This kind of incident makes me long for the good ol' days, when hamsters didn't jack our favorite hip-hop classics, but instead just danced on the internet.

* Finally, you know how every once in a while you get a song stuck in your head and you're actually REALLY happy about it? Well, this one's been stuck in mine all week and I couldn't be more thrilled:


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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