Cassadee Pope’s “Wasting All These Tears”: Hear Her (Amazing) New Single

Sam Lansky
May 20th, 2013 // 2 Comments
48th Annual ACM Awards Arrivals

The Voice has proven more consistently entertaining than its competition, but the show has yet to produce any huge stars from its winners’ roster; am I wrong for thinking all that might change with Cassadee Pope? The Season 3 winner’s new single has just been released, and “Wasting All These Tears” is an instantaneous monster of a pop-country midtempo ballad, delivering shades of Avril Lavigne‘s “I’m With You” with the melodramatic production of Carrie Underwood‘s “Two Black Cadillacs.” Lyrically, it’s magic — the details are finely wrought (“Tried to find you at the bottom of a bottle / Laying down on the bathroom floor,” she sings by way of an opening) and the chorus melody (“Standing on the corner crying / Feeling like a fool for trying”) soars majestically. More »

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Billboard Music Awards 2013: The 10 Best & Worst Moments

Sam Lansky
May 20th, 2013 // 7 Comments
Justin Bieber Billboard Music Awards

Well! It was a dreary night at the 2013 Billboard Music Awards, wasn’t it? There were forty performances each from Pitbull and Will.i.am! They only gave out three awards! Justin Bieber talked at length about his craft! Host Tracy Morgan sputtered all of his lines and could barely read the teleprompter! Yes, it was one for the books, folks. One for the books.

That said, there were still some highlights — a handful of exceptional performances and some nice moments of shade-throwing from various members of the pop glitterati — and, well, some lowlights. (Remember when Miguel almost killed somebody? Yeah. That was a bummer.) Let’s recap! (And if you missed any performances, you can watch them all here.) More »

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Daft Punk & 7 Other Great French House Acts: From Dmitri From Paris To Justice

John Hamilton
May 20th, 2013 // Leave a Comment
Vive La Dance!
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Daft Punk's Videos
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The duo's five most groundbreaking clips. Read More »

With all the fanfare surrounding their comeback smash “Get Lucky” and this week’s release of Random Access Memories, it’s easy to forget that French house ambassadors Daft Punk have been around for nearly two decades. Thanks to a sound that’s always been ahead of the curve (and robot helmets to mask any wrinkles), the duo of Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo and Thomas Bangalter seem positively ageless more than 15 years after they first wowed us with their debut, Homework. That they’re still managing to surprise and influence the international pop scene is a testament to their distinctive retro-futuristic groove!

That groove, however, wasn’t created by Daft Punk alone. French House (or French Touch, as the sexy call it) has its roots in the clubs of Paris, where DJs and dance music disciples found inspiration in old Europop and space-disco records and mashed them up with state-of-the-art beats. Basically, when it came to making booties bounce along the Champs Elysee, Daft Punk didn’t act alone! So get your Gallic groove on and pay tribute to the forebears of French Funk with our terribly chic playlist below. Tout le monde danse maintenant! More »

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Janet Jackson’s ‘janet.’ Turns 20: Backtracking

Stephen Sears
May 20th, 2013 // 2 Comments
Bad Turns 25
Michael Jackson Bad
We look back at MJ's legendary album. Read More »
Erotica At 20
Madonna Erotica album cover
Looking back at Madonna's saucy fifth album. Read More »
Spice Turns 15
The Spice Girls forged a path for other girls groups' success. Read More »
Ray Of Light Turns 15
A look back at Madonna's spiritual 1998 release. Read More »
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Backtracking is our recurring look back at the pop music that shaped our lives. Friends may come and go, but we’ll be spinning our favorite albums forever.

“We had the kind of night where morning comes too soon…” So goes the seductive spoken intro that launched Janet Jackson’s fifth album, janet. — that’s a little j with an emphatic period — released on May 18, 1993. Veering from the socially conscious spirit of her previous blockbuster, 1989’s Rhythm Nation 1814, Jackson returned with a fresh sound and look, free-spirited confidence and a willingness to get personal. The new music was everything from pure pop to candles-in-the-bedroom grooves, balancing the sweet, the erotic and the playful.

To celebrate the 20th anniversary of the album that launched nine singles, Idolator spoke to Jimmy Jam, one-half of Jackson’s legendary production team, Jam and [Terry] Lewis. Looking back on the recording today, Jam feels the muse is obvious.

“Janet was in love. My partner [Lewis] was with someone who he was very much in love with at the time, and I was with someone I was very much in love with,” Jam says. “Love was in the air… when we did Rhythm Nation, everybody called it the What’s Going On album, and then they called janet. the Let’s Get It On album.” More »

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Romanthony, Daft Punk’s “One More Time” Singer, Dies At 45: Morning Mix

Christina Lee
May 20th, 2013 // Leave a Comment

:: Romanthony, soul house music pioneer, died at age 45 due to complications of kidney disease. After having once described his music as “physical pain,” yet best known for his Auto-Tuned chorus in Daft Punk‘s “One More Time,” the New Jersey native was recording new music with MikeQ and Boyz Noize. [SPIN]

:: Juicy J leaps to verses of throwing bandz in a remix of Ke$ha‘s “Crazy Kids.” He isn’t the first rapper to do so, but he will do. [Rap-Up]

:: Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues will feature Drake alongside Kanye West. Trailers fail to elaborate on Drake’s role, but a photo makes clear that it involves a stellar afro. Your turn, Kanye. [MTV]

:: Miley Cyrus was spotted leaving the same studio where Justin Bieber was also recording. As she preps her own music, Cyrus has reportedly been gunning for a collaboration with the Believe star. [Perez Hilton]

After the jump, find out which music acts you can catch on TV today.  More »

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Billboard Music Awards 2013: Watch The Performances

Idolator Staff
May 19th, 2013 // 2 Comments
Bruno Is Quite A Thriller
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BBMA 2013: Winners
Billboard Winners List GFX
The full list of Billboard Music Awards winners. Read More »

The red jacket. Those moves. That hair. Is it just us, or was Bruno Mars looking a little extra Michael Jackson-esque, circa Off The Wall and Thriller, as he tore through “Treasure” at the Billboard Music Awards on Sunday (May 19) night? Oh, it’s just us? Sorry — too much boxed wine at dinner time.

Bruno and his band kicked off the Billboard awards at Las Vegas’ MGM Grand Garden Arena , amid a disco ball-strewn set that looked straight out of a 1981 episode of Solid Gold. Then Selena Gomez twirled through her “Come & Get It” Indian schtick in all gold. And Chris Brown sounded terrible and looked crazy while knocking of better artists’ dance moves.

Watch these magical moments and many, many more below! More »

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Billboard Music Awards 2013: The Full List Of Winners

Idolator Staff
May 19th, 2013 // 1 Comment
Billboard Winners List GFX
BBMA: Performances
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Watch Bruno, Taylor, Miguel & more. Read More »

Well! It’s the Billboard Music Awards tonight, which features majorly star-studded performance from some great artists, and some ones you don’t care about at all, and a lot of inexplicable appearances from the stars of ABC sitcoms you’ve never watched! Oh, what a wonderful party it is.

We’ll be updating the list throughout the night, so stay close to see who’s taking home the big awards. More »

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Watch Miguel Nearly Decapitate Two Helpless Fans During The Billboard Music Awards

Carl Williott
May 19th, 2013 // 2 Comments
miguel kick billboard music awards

Just as we knew he would, Miguel turned out a charismatic performance of “Adorn” at the Billboard Music Awards tonight (May 19). That is, until he made the ill-advised decision to try to leap across the mini pit to the other part of the stage. Surely he pulled off the move in rehearsal, but in rehearsal there aren’t throngs of people with their hands in the air. This slight alteration, of course, requires that he jump a little higher and a little farther. So as we saw him do his live leap, our brains began processing that it wouldn’t end well, and moments later, hair and limbs were flailing everywhere. Miguel landed on his ass, no idea that he absolutely CLOBBERED two poor women in the audience.

As you can see in the GIF and Vine below, his left foot hits a woman square in the head, and her head subsequently smacks into the stage. The girl who got clotheslined by his right leg faced a slightly better fate. According to Miguel’s tweet (which you can see below), at least one of the girls is OK, so we don’t feel as bad watching the disaster on an endless loop. More »

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Billboard Music Awards 2013: Ke$ha, How Do You Plan To Sit In That Dress?!

Erika Brooks Adickman
May 19th, 2013 // Leave a Comment
View the Gallery / 5 Photos »

Ke$ha was wise enough to know that glitter was not necessary to raise eyebrows at the 2013 Billboard Music Awards — at least not when you arrive wearing a dress that’s essentially MTV’s Undressed from the front and a Skinamax flick from the side (if you follow our 90s TV metaphor). Yes, the beard-obsessed pop star took the term “Little Black Dress” to a whole new level as she stepped onto the BBMA blue carpet in a mini dress with a slit up the side so high we imagine the showgirls in Vegas blushed when they saw it. The star of My Crazy, Beautiful Life completed the jaw-dropping ensemble with nude heels, simple studs and a sleek ponytail.   More »

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Billboard Music Awards 2013: Taylor Swift Goes Blue

Erika Brooks Adickman
May 19th, 2013 // Leave a Comment
2013 Billboard Music Awards - Arrivals
View the Gallery / 5 Photos »

We guess Taylor Swift is no longer contractually obligated to match her red carpet dress with her latest album (See: most of 2012). The pop star arrived at the 2013 Billboard Music Awards on Sunday night (May 19) in a blue sequined mini dress. We know that Tay is as much a fan of vintage frocks as she is of writing songs about her exes. So we’re assuming the 24-year-old picked the Zuhair Murad dress because it had a retro look — that of a girl who had to go from her figure skating competition straight to her 1988 senior prom. All joking aside, Taylor looks gorgeous. Careful, boys. it looks like she’s back on the prowl. More »

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