Selena Gomez & The Scene Up The Ante On "When The Sun Goes Down"

It's no (longer) a secret that I've been stanning for Selena Gomez over the past year or so. Starting with her glorious first minor radio hit "Naturally" (from the otherwise snoozy Kiss & Tell) through the surprisingly funny and entertaining Wizard Of Waverly Place: The Movie, I grew to really enjoy her output.

Her second album, Year Without Rain, was a marked improvement over her debut but it was still weighed down with way too much filler. This is where Selena and her band The Scene get it right on When The Sun Goes Down. While a few tracks are totally skip-worthy, the bulk of the songs are great jams. The lead single, empowerment anthem "Who Says" is a sunny teen pop sing-along, also appearing in Spanish as "Dices." The bulk of the album is more dance poppy, with the new wave-y second single "Love You Like A Love Song" being a real stand out. Also worth checking out are "Bang Bang Bang" and the Britney Spears-penned "Whiplash" as well as the more laid back "We Own The Night" which was co-written and features British pop singer Pixie Lott.

Even if you're not a teeny bopper fan, club kids of all ages and stripes should find some fun, bouncy summer jams on this album. Bonus: the photos in the booklet are stunning.

In Defense of Brainless Comedy

I was never much a TV watcher as a young person. We didn't have cable, so our main exposure to TV was Sesame Street, then taped episodes of Touched By An Angel and Christy (starring Kellie Martin as a turn of the century school marm in Appalachia and Tyne Daly as her Quaker mentor) that my grandmother would send us.

As an adult I was mostly interested in music television, watching VH1, CMT and MTV2 until all hours of the night to learn about new bands, watch countdown lists to learn what was considered "the best" and catching videos that I had always been told were filthy only to learn they weren't that bad. Over time I became obsessed with dramas like Joan of Arcadia, Lost (though I still haven't seen the last season) and Ugly Betty and reality competition like American Idol, Project Runway and Top Chef. But there was only a brief period where TV really ruled my schedule.

Now, with the exception of American Idol, I no longer have a "must see show." But I love to laugh, and even if I've seen the show before, or haven't seen the show but know exactly where the joke is going, I will flip on really awful sitcoms just as much as the high brow stuff. Yes, Arrested Development was quite funny, as are smart britcoms like Little Britain and Coupling but I don't need groundbreaking stuff to elicit a chuckle. Hell, a plausible plot isn't even necessary.

Just look at my love for kiddie coms like Wizards Of Waverly Place or iCarly. One features a family of wizards, the other a group of high schoolers with a webshow that apparently generates enough dough to pay for a pretty nice apartment.

But Disney Channel's breakout Wizards actress Selena Gomez has ridiculous comic timing, as does her hot on screen brother David Henrie. The scripts are ludicrous, with vampires, mummies and angels randomly showing up to break hearts or wreak havoc. Selena's character Alex is delightful slacker who refuses to study her magic classes, leaving her always screwing up spells while cracking wise. Silly, I know, but it makes me laugh.

Mean on Nickelodeon, iCarly is even more ridiculous. Miranda Cosgrove's Carly frequently plays straight man to Jeannette McCurdy's badass prankster Sam. Carly lives with her older brother, a starving artist type that acts even younger than high school aged Carly. The webshow that Carly, Sam and friend/camera man Freddie produce is, thankfully, very briefly shown. It look obnoxious, but the situations the gang get into while going to school and producing the show are light and fluffy fun. Recurring gags like Sam's love of food and secret crush on her frienemy Freddie keep it interesting and silly. It makes me laugh.

But even adult sitcoms, like TvLand's current pair on Wednesday nights Hot In Cleveland and Happily Divorced, are not exactly high brow entertainment. I know Betty White nabbed an Emmy nom for Hot, but she's basically playing Rue McClannahan's part on Golden Girls while Valerie Bertinelli, Janes Leeves and Wendie Malick try for smalltown Sex & The City types. Not exactly fresh stuff, but it makes me laugh.

Fran Drescher pulls from real life in her new sitcom, Happily Divorced. After her hubby and producing partner came out as a gay man, the two created a sitcom based on the situation. While that could have lead into some fascinating insight into the real stories of late in life comings out, Happily Divorced never met a cliche it didn't love. And last weeks episode was very ham fisted in it's look at under-the-surface homophobia. But still, it makes me laugh.

Finally, Keeping Up With The Kardashians may not be a sitcom but that doesn't keep it from being as scripted as the rest of these shows. And it provides just as many laughs. From meddling mom Kris to the sisterly infighting to longsuffering hubby Bruce, these broadly played characters and scenarios are pulled from the sitcom handbook, right down to the Full House-y family hugs that end most episodes. What have we learned from this very special episode? It makes me laugh.

None of these shows are blowing me away with their new insights on humanity but, as I reiterated, they make me laugh. I don't have to follow the plot carefully, I can miss a couple episodes or even a few scenes in an episode whilst I flip over to Food Network and still get the gist and walk away chuckling. That's all I ask of my comedy. If I can get Noel Coward, Dorothy Parker or Jane Austen, I'll take it. But there's nothing wrong with an ABC Family original like Melissa & Joey or State Of Georgia, either. After all, it makes me laugh.

"He's Got The Whole World In His Pants"

Have you ever had a boneheaded moment when you realized that you have been singing the wrong words for years? Not just substituting "loaded gun complex" for "loaded God complex" in "Sugar, We're Going Down" or scrambling "Bohemian Rhapsody" but mis-singing the title of a popular song, over and over again?

As a kid, I had a book of these lyrical gaffes and we LOL'd over them frequently. "Hold my clothes and tie me down sir" instead of "Hold me closer, tiny dancer"? Silly human ears. Of course, "'Scuse Me While I Kiss This Guy" is now a website (interwebs is the new books, kids!) for you to browse other people's mistakes.

I was please to find out that I was not the only one mistaking the chorus of Til Tuesday's one hit "Voices Carry" to be "hush, hush/Even downtown was so scary"

However, it seems I am alone in thinking Prince wasn't singing about a "Little Red Corvette" but a "Mir-a-cle Man." As a child, I assume it was a Jesus song.

So, what lyrics have you goofed on?

Kelly Clarkson Doesn't "Let Me Down" On New Single (Possible Summer Jam?)

KELLY CLARKSON!!!!! ZOMG I LOVE YOU LONG TIME!!!!1!!

Sorry. Had a fangirl moment there. Ahem. Kelly's lead single from her upcoming, currently untitled, album is here and I am loving it. The OG Idol returns to the scorned-woman-rocking-out sound that served her well on singles like "All I Ever Wanted," "Walk Away," "Never Again," and "Since U Been Gone" and it's easy to see her charting high again.

Kelly told MTV that the new album was influenced by Prince, Tina Turner and Radiohead and it's easy to assume her collaborations with Jason Aldean and Reba McIntire may give it a little Nashville swing. But "Let Me Down" is classic Clarkson - a rocking pop jam with a kick ass chorus and that voice giving ultimate kiss-off lines like "the funny thing about forever is it comes with a side of never-never" and "when it counts, you countdown."

Perfect summer music, ready to get obsessed?

The Summer Jams 2011

Summer started last week and it's time for hot jams pumping from hot cars on hot summer afternoons. These are the jams I've started pumping from my Kia:


Selena Gomez & The Scene - "Love You Like A Love Song"
You may recall that a (pre-Beibs) Selena Gomez single "Naturally" was my jam last spring. It was everything that breezy teen dance pop should be. Her follow up album Year Without Rain had a stunning title track. Now lil' miss "Wizards Of Waverly Place" is blowing up my speakers now. "Who Says" she's not perfect?


Rye Rye feat Robyn - "Never Will Be Mine"
Baltimore teen rapper Rye Rye hooks up with the queen of "sad gay disco songs" for a slow rap about giving up on loser boyfs. It's a sneaky little single, it slips into your brain and stays for days.


Nicki Minaj - "Super Bass"
The poppiest single from Barbie so far. While the rap has some hot moments (though not as craycray as "Monster" or "Roman's Revenge"), it's the chorus that just says dancing by the pool. My my, it's like pelican fly... and summery fresh! Also, it's Taylor Swift approved!


Lady Gaga - "Edge Of Glory"
The video is crap, but this power ballad is basically "Don't Stop Believing" for a new millennium (as sung in the style of Pat Benatar.)


Neon Trees - "Your Surrender"
The "Animal"istic ones are back with more new wave dance rock goodness.


Tinie Tempah feat Eric Turner - "Written In The Stars"
No, it's not a cover of that LeeAnn Rimes/Elton John duet from Aida. It's Brit rap with a hot hook (sung by a hot hipster!)

Who did I miss? Tell me in the comments!

Baby, She Was "Born This Way"

I am finally getting around to putting my feelings about Lady Gaga's latest into words. I've been been living with the album for a month now, playing in cars and at home - the true test of an album's quality.

At first I wasn't sold. The industrial vibe that runs through about half the album sounds really harsh compared to the glossiness of the RedOne collabos from The Fame Monster but hearing it up against the more arena rock sounds that also permeate Born This Way it grows on me. While the album on the whole has a dancable sound, it is light years away from Gaga's breakthrough hit "Just Dance."

Gaga borrows from 1980s Queen and Bruce Springsteen as well as previous donors Madonna and Micheal Jackson before adding on the industrial beats. In fact, "Edge Of Glory" not only features the much talked about Clarence Clemons solo but a hook drenched rock chorus that Pat Benatar would die for. And "You & I" is a bluesy rock love ballad that would fit in on Born In The USA any day.

It's not all 80s rehashing, Gaga experiments with "mariachi house" on "Americano," German industrial on the feminist club anthem "Scheiße" and operatic vocal flourishes with "Government Hooker" and "Bloody Mary."

Lyrically, "Bloody Mary", "Judas" and "Born This Way" show a religious bent but even in more carnal moments like "You & I" and "Bad Kids" Gaga shows her true spiritual self. It's a manifesto on loving yourself and your flaws, because "we are not just art for Michelangelo to carve." It's a strangely maternal album, underneath all that craziness.

So, what does everybody else think?

Idol Recap! "Songs By Your Favorite Artists"

Ok, children. American Idol has returned to my heart. I'm watching. I'm recapping. You betta read, covergurls.

So, Lauren Alaina is a country girl at heart and she loves Shania Twain. I also love Shania Twain but cannot for the life of me figure out why people keep doing "Any Man Of Mine" Why can't they do "Party For Two"? Any way, the singing was a little kareoke and even shouty at parts. But she's really spunky. Unlike Mary Tyler Moore's boss, I like spunk.

Next up is the man with the magic beard - Casey Abrams. His idol is Joe Cocker, and he is singing "A Little Help From My Friends." The song does nothing for me, but his vocals are gritty and growly and kinda cool.

Ashton Jones has the Diana Ross hair going on, so it's not surprising she picks the Supreme singer as her fave. But her vocals were a little shrill, I'm not sure she should have gone so high. And J.Lo's not the only one that didn't know this song, I only know it from when the Idols did a charity recording of it in Carrie Underwood's season.

J.Lo also hadn't heard of Ryan Adams. I think most of America will be hearing his songs for the first time via Paul McDonald. I only know his song "Stars Go Blue" - as covered by Tim McGraw (and The Corrs) but this one has a nice alt country vibe and his vocals go well in that sound. His jacket is very Coldplay, and his moves are very Chris Martin via Thom Yorke.

Pia Toscano has THE VOICE! She sounds very much like her Idol Celine. She done sang "All By Myself" but I don't get anything from her besides vocal gymnastics. Which is all good for now, but I need more as the weeks go by.

James Durbin loves wearing his chains. And Paul McCartney. His vocals are off the chain, though. His restrain barely holds together, which is very rock n roll. His voice just wants to bust out!

A LeeAnn Rimes fan, Haley Reinhart is singing "Blue" and while she has a pretty voice, it isn't up to the challenge of that yodelly song.

Jacob Lusk loves R. Kelly, I hope he's not also a fan of alleged pederasty and water sports. And Holy Fuddruckers, that run at the end of "I Believe I Can Fly" was off the hook! So full of vocal energy and craziness.

I think Thia Megia is such a little cutie, but I concur with the judges that she was better on the first half of the song. I really want to hear more from her!

I thought Stefano Langone's "Lately" was subpar. He seemed out of his league in parts. He's cute, though, and he managed to make it work towards the end.

Oh, Karen Rodriguez! I wanted her to be awesome doing her idol Selena's "I Could Fall In Love" and she wasn't. Her vocals couldn't handle the lower notes, and even the higher ones seemed shaky. But I have a feeling she will have a strong Latino voting bloc and will stick around for a while yet.

Scotty McCreary sang Garth Brooks. Nothing about that shocks me. He does what he does well, but it's not for me.

Niama Adedapo is completely unique. Her reggae/rap breakdown in the middle of "Umbrella" brought fresh fire to a song that has become part of the American Songbook. I can't wait to hear what she does next, after a fast jazz take on "Summertime" last week she's the only one I look forward to. Also, she looks like Boy George. Which is to say: AWESOME!