How'd I Not Hear This Sooner?

I was on a blog not that long ago and came across this Maroon 5 unreleased track Pleasure Fucker. Looking on YouTube now, I see that the song's been making the rounds on the web since last June. How am I just hearing it now?

Even Boys Want To Dance Like Beyoncé

Proof!

You Have to Hear This ...

I love love love the Christina Aguilera song Mercy on Me, and I love love love Demi Lovato's cover of it. I just wish the piano wasn't so loud so you could hear her voice better in some parts.

My Theme Song of '09

Ryan Star's Right Now is a great song for the new year. It's uplifting and empowering. It's fight song quality has even resulted in it being used in a lot of sports montages as of late.



You should know by now that I love live music. It's more real and raw than anything produced in a studio; plus it shows the audience if you can sing or not.

There's nothing like hearing Ryan sing live. He has amazing onstage presence. See for yourself as he performs the song everyone's going to be talking about in '09.

Big in '09

In just about an hour and a half, 2008 will come to a close and 2009 will commence. But of course, I can't let you start the year without knowing who and what I think will rule the new year.



Movies

Notorious

Best line in the trailer, "What kind of grown ass man calls himself Puffy?"



He's Just Not That Into You

Based on the popular book, this is probably going to be a hit with the ladies.



Confessions of a Shopaholic

Love the clothes! Love the trailer!



Watchmen

I know nothing about Watchmen, but the trailer looks good. I'm not sure when it's opening up either because there's a whole court case going on with the distributors.



Fast and the Furious 4

The original Fast and the Furious cast is back! I ♥ Vin Diesel!



Star Trek

I used to watch a lot of Star Trek Deep Space 9 when I was younger, but I remember none of it. I'm not really a treckie, but I'll probably see this eventually.



Music

Ryan Star

I've loved Ryan Star since the first time he stepped onto the Rockstar Supernova stage and I've been following his career ever since. His new song Right Now is perfect for the new year. I would post the video here, but it's only available on his website, so head over there and watch after you check out what happened behind the scenes at the music video shoot. Right Now Music Video



Janelle Monae

Although I don't like the GAP, I love their website at Christmas. They always have some fun stuff on it to do. This year the Christmas site had a bunch of videos with different celebrities that you could remix. One of my favorite singers from the videos was Janelle Monae. Her album Metropolis: The Chase Suite is futuristic and fun. Just watch her video for Many Moons and you'll see what I mean.



Darin

Swedish pop singer, Darin, released his first album in 2005 after coming in second on Swedish Idol in 2004. With a voice and a sound that's a cross between Daniel Bedingfield, Justin Timberlake and Lady GaGa, Darin's coming stateside with his fourth studio album Flashback. Songs like Breathing Your Love (which features Kat DeLuna), Karma, and Strobelight are sure to be a hit with American fans. I know I love 'em.



Happy New Year to you and yours! Don't drink and drive! :-)

Curtain Call for '08

2K8 was definitely a year to be remembered. Records were broken, history was made, and I'm recapping it all here before the clock strikes 12.

Nothing was more memorable this year than Election '08. Never in my 20 years have I seen people take the election seriously enough to wait in line for 3 hours to vote. I myself waited in line for an hour while my friend in Florida waited for 6 in the pouring rain. What really surprised me about this election was how much it reminded me of New Year's Eve. People all over the world were gathered in the streets waiting to hear the news of Barack Obama's win like they wait for the ball to drop. It's definitely one of those things I'll tell my future children and grandchildren about.



The Beijing Summer Olympics was must-see TV in August. Night after night everyone watched as Michael Phelps got closer to breaking Mark Spitz's gold medal record. When he finally won that 8th gold, there was nary a dry eye or a Facebook status that wasn't Phelps-related.


** It's photos like this that make me want to start working out. **

My girls Misty May and Kerry Walsh returned to the Olympic sand and are still the reigning champions of Olympic Beach Volleyball. Now while May is healing from the injury she sustained from her stint on Dancing with the Stars, Walsh is expecting her first baby next year!




Gymnasts Nastia Liukin and Shawn Johnson brought all the right moves to the mat as they both left Beijing as golden girls.



In the music world, Estelle looked for her American Boy, but Kanye West was in Love Lockdown. She should have gone after Usher since all he wanted to do was make Love in this Club. Lil Wayne tried to lure her in with a Lollipop and A Milli to no avail. Maybe she should have pulled a Katy Perry and Kissed a Girl like Mariah Carey who has been singing, "Touch My Body."



Estelle wasn't the only one with boy trouble. Leona Lewis was Bleeding Love, Duffy begged for Mercy and Danity Kane was Damaged so much that Diddy kicked Aubrey out of the group for being too trashy. I think the best person to lift Aubrey's spirits would be Pink. I think their conversation would go something like this :: Pink: "So What, you're still a rockstar!" Aubrey: "Hell yeah! I'm not a Bad Girl! You can't fire me. I'm Leavin' like Jesse McCartney!"



Chris Brown was Forever on the dance floor which didn't bother Lady GaGa because all she wanted to do was Just Dance to a hot girl anthem like Beyonce's Single Ladies. Chris' girlfriend Rihanna had other plans in mind. First she decided to Take a Bow. Then she told Maroon 5's Adam Levine, "If I Never See Your Face Again I don't mind, cause we've gone much further than I thought we'd get tonight." So scandalous that even Shwayze and Cisco Adler were Buzzin about them! Then Rihanna was all freaked out in Disturbia. She even saw T.I. who told her, "You can have Whatever You Like - one condition, Live Your Life." So in the end she checked into Rehab with Justin Timberlake and T-Pain yelled, "I Can't Believe It!" Former rehab girl Britney Spears made it her mission to call out a Womanizer in the Circus that is her life. Too bad she didn't have a Pocketful of Sunshine like Natasha Bedingfield or a guy in her life like Jason Mraz who would say to her everyday, " Baby I'm Yours."



As Christina Aguilera would say, music just Keeps Gettin' Better. I wonder who'll rule the charts next year, but we won't know until the ball drops and musicians everywhere begin their race to the top. In the words of Tokio Hotel, Ready, Set, Go!



And now for the Disney kids. I had to give them their own category since they like to cover all the bases: music, movies, TV, YouTube. Miley Cyrus had scandal after scandal in '08. One minute she used a body double on tour so she could change, the next she was in a Vanity Fair photo shoot wearing only a sheet (she had jeans on too but the photo was only of her from the torso up). Then she had her best friend Mandy were dissing fellow Disney best friends Selena Gomez and Demi Lovato in a YouTube video. Now Miley's dating 20 year old model/musician Justin Gaston and there are rumors that she's acting up on set to get out of her Hannah Montana contract. On the music side of things, 7 Things was a hit and Fly on the Wall has a cool music video.



The Jonas brothers semi-starred in the campy Camp Rock movie over the summer. It wasn't that great and really wasn't about them at all. The real star of the movie was the girl who said, "BTW, your lip gloss is so not glossy anymore!" Okay, not really - I just love that line. The real star of that movie is Demi Lovato who can actually sing!



On the music front, the JoBros had a hit with Burning Up and I'm loving their new song Lovebug. I'm just wondering who they're burning up for: Miley, Selena, Demi, Camilla, Taylor? Why are there so many girls in the JoBro's love web? And why do people only concentrate on Joe and Nick? I want to hear something scandalous about Kevin in '09!



No Disney story is complete without the Wildcats of East High. You know what I'm talking about. This year's High School Musical movie made a major leap to the big screen. I didn't see it, but I don't think I will after seeing the Boys are Back number. The choreography's a bit cheesy, but I'm sure Zac and Corbin could have beat Miley Cyrus in that YouTube dance crew challenge.



The movie world was also abuzz this year with the release of superhero movies, cartoons, and the movie version of the popular book Twilight.

The top 10 grossing movies of 2008 were:

(10) Horton Hears a Who: $154,529,439 - Never read the book, never saw the movie. Sorry Dr. Seuss.

(9) Twilight: $158,461,000 - My friends love the book so much that some of them even went to the midnight showing. I haven't seen it yet, but I just finished reading the book last night and I highly recommend it! I'm glad the movie did well and Catherine Hardwicke now has the record for the highest grossing movie directed by a female. Yay!



(8) Quantum of Solace: $161,300,000 - Daniel Craig is a-mazing! To the stylist who put him in those white pants, my mom and I are forever grateful. ♥ My goal of '09 is to become the next Bond girl.



(7) Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa: $172,332,000 - Never saw the first one. Never saw this one, but I love that petite Jada Pinkett Smith voices a hippo.

(6) Kung Fu Panda: $215,434,591 - Didn't see this one either, but I love pandas and Jack Black.

(5) Wall-E: $223,749,872 - Didn't see it, but my friend loved it!

(4) Hancock: $227,946,274 - Haven't seen it yet, but I definitely "will." ;-)

(3) Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull: $317,023,851 - Haven't seen this one either, but I will eventually because my future husband (a.k.a. Shia LaBeouf) is in it. I'm just getting caught up with all his movies. I watched Disturbia for the first time on Christmas, so I'll get around to this by Mother's Day.



(2) Iron Man: $318,313,199 - I'll probably see this whenever they air it on TV and love it, but I'm not really into the superhero movies, except for, of course ...

(1) The Dark Night: $530,750,228 - Saw it, loved it, need to buy the DVD! I hope Heath gets the Golden Globe (and an Oscar for this one).



Although they weren't in the Top 10, four of my other favorite movies of '08 show my diversity when it comes to films.

(4) Pride and Glory: If it wasn't for my mom's love of Colin Farrell, I would never have seen this movie. Edward Norton and Colin Farrell are amazing, and the movie really makes you wonder about what goes down behind-the-scenes with the men in blue.



(3) Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2: For my 20th birthday, my mom surprised me by taking me to see this movie. I'm glad she did because I could totally relate to the girls now that they were in college. Plus, if there was an Oscar for best abs in a movie, it would have to go to Jesse Williams (a.k.a. my future husband if he wasn't already engaged).



(2) Transporter 3: After having the villain in Transporter 2 walk around in lingerie all day while packing some major heat, I didn't know how they were going to top that in Transporter 3 but they did. I think it had something to do with Jason Statham stripping. I'm just saying.



(1) Sex and the City: Let's face it, it's hard to make a movie based on a hit TV show. Luckily the ladies of Sex and the City know what their fans want. This movie is every single metropolitan fashionista's dream. How badly do you want Patricia Field to style you everyday? And where can I find my Mr. Big?



The small screen was just as full of action and drama as the big screen was. The most talked about show (as usual) was the Hills. This was due in part to whatever deal Speidi must have made to be on the cover of US Weekly for what seemed like every week in '08. Since I don't watch The Hills, my most talked about show was definitely Gossip Girl. I didn't know how they were going to top the first season, but they did. From the will they/won't they Blair-Chuck relationship to the Lily and Rufus "Was it a boy or a girl?" cliff-hanger, this show just gets better with age.



My other favorite show is One Tree Hill. I was excited when Lucas chose Peyton, I freaked out when Nanny Carrie returned, I cried when Q died, I laughed when Dawson alum James Van Der Beek showed up as a director, I was excited when Nathan played slam ball, and I'm freaking out again that Sam is hanging out with the guy who shot Q (have you seen the previews).



I've also been watching Ugly Betty on-and-off this season due to homework, but what I've seen, I like. Other big shows of '08 were definitely 30 Rock and Mad Men. I watch neither, but I love Tina Fey and Alec Baldwin and I couldn't go to any class this year without my professors mentioning Mad Men. Also Tina Fey's dead on Sarah Palin impersonation gave SNL a much-needed rating boost. If only Mad TV had her; maybe they wouldn't have been cancelled.



Of the new shows that were on this year, I've only seen the first two episodes of 90210 and one episode of Privileged. 90210 was okay, but I wouldn't watch it even though Shannen Doherty, Lori Loughlin, and Jennie Garth are on it. The one episode of Privileged was pretty good so I may watch it again. Now that I'm not in high school, I can't really take anymore of these high school dramas.



My favorite shows that I somehow discovered over the summer actually come from across the pond. The BBC America show Skins is new in the US, but it's definitely not new in the UK where it's entering it's third season. I've seen every episode of the first two seasons and it's definitely the craziest thing I've ever seen. Since it is set in high school, I probably just contradicted my anti-high school drama statement, but it's not really about high school, now is it. One of my other favorite British shows is Britannia High. It's a mix of Fame meets High School Musical meets Degrassi. The actors (including Mitch Hewer from Skins) are so talented and exciting to watch.



Now on to my favorite game, match the baby names with the celebrity parents!


** Answers at the end **

Of all the babies born this year, Harlow and Nahla were my favorites. But as always, the cutest Tinsel Town tot of them all was Suri Cruise. The girl's a fashion icon in the making.


** Check her out **

As the Byrds said in Turn! Turn! Turn!, "To everything there is a season." We can't move on until we remember those who passed this year. This isn't everyone, but here are the ones I'll never forget.


Paul Newman


Isaac Hayes


Cyd Charisse


Yves Saint Laurent


George Carlin


Bernie Mac


Tim Russert


Eartha Kitt


Bettie Page


Heath Ledger

And lastly, I just want to talk about my favorite trend this year ... Twitter. Twitter came out of nowhere ... okay it came from San Francisco as many a social networking site does. Although it's been around since 2006, no one really started using it until this year, myself included. I jumped on the Twitter bandwagon right before it started getting hot as a way to pass the time as I sat in an office with nothing much to do over the summer. I can't get enough of Twitter. Even as I wrote this '08 recap, I posted on Twitter 9 times. Now Twitter is garnering some major media attention. It seems that every time I read an article, Twitter is mentioned in some shape or form. I can't wait to see how Twitter will evolve in the future.



♠ ♠ ♠ ♠ ♠ ♠ ♠

How many did you get right in the baby name game?

Matthew & Camilla = Levi
Jack & Tanya = Thomas
Ashlee & Pete = Bronx
Jessica & Cash = Honor
Jennifer & Mark = Max & Emme
Angelina & Brad = Knox & Vivienne
Nicole & Joel = Harlow
Halle & Gabriel = Nahla
Christina & Jordan = Max
Gwen & Gavin = Zuma

I Barely Recognized Brendon

The other day I saw this holiday message from Brendon and Spencer of Panic at the Disco. I'm just getting around to posting it now. My friend Jynx doesn't think they're very excited for the holidays. I didn't notice that, but I did notice that I almost didn't recognize Brendon. Do you agree with her?

Mr. Grinch May Be Mean, But This Cover Is Nice

I subscribe to the Fueled by Ramen channel on YouTube. Since the holidays are coming up, they've up'd holiday vids of different artists on the label. I'm loving this VersaEmerge cover of You're a Mean One Mr. Grinch. I've never heard of VersaEmerge before (a result of being too busy this semester to keep up with FBR's latest bands), but I will definitely be giving them a listen this winter.

New Year - New Hair?

I'm about to get my hair done within the hour. I cut my hair over the summer, but it's grown out. I'm thinking about cutting it again. I wasn't sure how short I wanted it cut, but then I saw Lily Allen on the December/January issue of Nylon and I think I'm going to go for the Lily length. What do you think?




BTW, have you heard Lily's cover of Womanizer? I've been playing it on a loop since I DL'd it.

In the Words of Coldplay ...

"We live in a beautiful world."

I was watching Garden State on Friday when I heard this song. I instantly recognized Chris Martin's voice and wondered why I had never noticed the song before.

Mr. A-Z Chats it Up

It's T-Day!

Since the clock struck 12:01 AM, Twilight began showing to sold out crowds in movie theaters across the country. A couple of my friends went to these late night screenings. In my circle of friends, I am one of the few who has not read the book yet. Actually that's a lie. I started the book, got bored, and stopped reading it. Since I put the book down, it seems that everyone else has picked it up. I've decided to give the book another try, but I have no time to read it right now since I'm in school. Get back to me in the next couple of weeks when this semester's over; I'm sure I'll be more than halfway through the fist one by then.

I really want to see the movie because Catherine Hardwicke directed it and (my idol) Nikki Reed's in it. Plus it doesn't hurt that Robert Pattinson's hot. I'm serious. I was watching the news last night and even this old lady said something to the effect of, "I was watching NBC this morning and saw him, and he was sexy!" Tweens look out - the elderly are now after your main man Ed, lol.

Although it looks good (the movie & Robert ;-)), I don't have time to see the movie right now anyway. I barely have time to see Quantum of Solace and Transporter 3. Most likely, I won't see Twilight until it's on DVD.

Instead of hanging out at movie theaters at all times of the night like my friends, I have been listening to Britney Spears' song Unusual You on a loop for over an hour. I thought it would be the perfect song to fit the mood of Twilight (or at least the ads I keep seeing for the movie). Lucky for me, someone else on YouTube thought so too. Enjoy.

This Song's Been On My Mind ...

I was never really a fan of T-Pain's song Buy You A Drank, but since I've been doing my advertising group project on an anti-energy drink called drank, I can't get enough it. I love Jesse McCartney's cover. Yay Westchester!

Digitized JT Sounds Like JMac

T-Pain's remix of Can't Believe It features Justin Timberlake. Since it is a T-Pain song, his voice is digitized. I've been listening to the song on a loop for a couple of minutes. I forgot what I was listening to, and I though JT sounded like Jesse McCartney. Who's with me?



And here's a remix of the song with JT and Lil Wayne.

Never too Early to Remix Xmas Music

I haven't been on a GAP in ages, but when Christmas time comes I always check out their website for fun holiday-themed extras. This year is no different. You're able to remix "Jingle Bells" with singers and actors like Flo Rida, Selma Blair, Jon Heder, Freddy Rodriguez, Trey Songz, and Jason Biggs. I had a lot of fun making my mix, as will you.

GAP Merry Mix It

Britney's 'Circus' Preview

This preview of Britney's latest album Circus has been making the rounds. It's due out December 2nd, and if you're a long-time Britney fan, you'll recognize that as her 27th birthday.



Sounds like it's worth the money to me ... pre-order it now like my friend did!

Britney Gets Sticky and Sweet

As it was widely rumored for the past few days, Britney Spears did make an appearance during Madonna's concert at Dodger Stadium last night. The best part of it all is when Madonna sings, "I'm not your bitch." Then she points to Britney and yells, "She's not your bitch!" And Britney responds, "It's Britney bitch." Loves it! X-O-X-O in that Gossip Girl way.

Partial performance (Close-up):




The whole performance (Stage left view):



The whole performance (Full stage view):

I Miss This Song

I just heard Katy Perry's I Kissed A Girl for the first time since summer. I used to play it on a loop for hours on end. I forgot how good it is.

October Nites is Going Places

October may be coming to an end, but October Nites isn't going anywhere. For the next two weeks they'll take up residence on the PureVolume homepage. On ON's profile, visitors will get an exclusive first listen of their new EP, Follow Your Heart.

The Follow Your Heart EP should be available on iTunes and Amazon within the upcoming weeks. Be sure to friend them on MySpace, Facebook, PureVolume, and just about every other social network there is so you can brag to your friends that you were a fan before they hit it big.

How to Follow Your Heart ::

Stop 1 :: Hear the new EP on PureVolume first!

Stop 2 :: Buy ON's old and new tracks from iTunes and Amazon!

Stop 3 :: Stalk their MySpace and follow their Twitter updates!

Stop 4 :: Catch them in a city near you when they head out on tour!

(BTW, I used "stop" instead of "step" for effect. Did it work?)


Can you spot ON from a mile away?

October Nites in good company.

You know you want to Follow Your Heart.

Why's Everyone Have a Greatest Hits Album?

Christina Aguilera isn't the only one with a greatest hits album due out soon. Hilary Duff has one coming out too. Didn't she just release a greatest hits album two albums ago? I'm just saying. Anyway, like Christina, Hilary has a few new tracks on the new album of old songs. The song's called Reach Out. It features a guy, I'm not sure who he is, but he raps and looks cool in the video. The song's pretty good and you can dance to it. The video on the other hand just looks awkward. Unlike the "sexy comes naturally to me" Hilary we saw in With Love and Stranger, the Hilary in Reach Out just looks like she's trying to hard to be sexy. In some scenes she's able to pull it off, but in other scenes it's just awkward to watch. I really wanted to like this video, but I'm just puzzled by it. Sorry, but see for yourself.

Hilary Duff - Reach Out - Official Music Video Premiere


**Update** The guy featured in this song and video is called The Prophet. That's all I know.