Shy Ronnie — Andy Samberg‘s bashful character who haphazardly bursts out with rap stat confidence and swagger — made a welcome return in Saturday Night Live‘s 100th Digital Short on Saturday (May 12). But Samberg wasn’t ready to put away his red wig and goofy striped sweater just yet. During Santigold‘s Samsung Mobile USA’s 5MM Fans Appreciation Performance at Irving Plaza, the Master Of My Make-Believe singer brought out the SNL character for her track “Fame”. “I believe in giving everybody a shot at things,” she said, before Samberg-as-Ronnie appeared on stage. “Be nice, he’s a little shy.”

This isn’t the first time Santigold has teamed up with Samberg — she provided the hook on the Lonely Island track “After Party”, off the comedy trio’s album, Turtleneck & Chain.

Shy Ronnie wasn’t the only surprise guest during Santi’s show — she also brought out Pharrell for a performance of their 2008 collaboration for Converse, “My Drive Thru.” 

Santigold’s Master Of My Make-Believe is out now on Atlantic. Purchase it on eMusic.

santigold rocks coachella

11 Photos »

Gotye‘s hotly anticipated performance on Saturday Night Live came as his haunting hit “Somebody That I Used To Know” was already in striking distance of the #1 spot on the Billboard Hot 100, and the early raves for his live rendition with Kimbra in Studoio 8H just might vault the Australian electro-pop artist across the finish line. (It doesn’t hurt that the song just got covered on Glee). In a dramatic but elegant performance, Gotye added fresh depth to a song perhaps best known for that stop-motion body-paint music video. (The video was hilariously re-created by SNL‘s Andy Samberg and Taran Killam, with Gotye’s help, later in the show). Watch the performance above, plus his second number, “Eyes Wide Open”, and the music video skit below.

Though “Somebody” has been a worldwide hit for months, there was still a sense of excitement about the appearance of both Gotye and Kimbra performing on one of America’s best-known TV platforms. Gotye tweeted a photo of his dressing room; midway through the show, band-mate Tim Shiel tweeted  a pic of himself drying his armpits with a hair-dryer. It was a huge night for Kimbra as well: she told MTV that she and Gotye were well aware of the stakes. (How much bigger could they get? They’re already two of the 30 greatest pop artists right now).

Gotye, “Eyes Wide Open” (Live on SNL)

“I think SNL is so well-known for its musical performances, as well, and people really breaking into America through a really great performance on there,” she said. “So I think me and Gotye are both really excited to be amongst such company. You know, it’s great.”

Kimbra noted that she wouldn’t appear in any SNL skits (“That would be fun, but I’m not very funny”). But Gotye himself did, as he gamely allowed two of the show’s funniest cast members to send up his phenomenally popular video.

Andy Samberg, Taran Killam spoof Gotye’s “Somebody That I Used To Know” (SNL)

Following the SNL performance, Gotye heads out to California’s Coachella music festival (where he’s one of our must-see acts). Is Gotye somebody you know will continue to knock out big hits? Let us know on Facebook, Twitter or in the comments. 

Glee creator Ryan Murphy has previously dabbled in film projects — he directed Julia Roberts in 2010′s Eat Pray Love — but now he’s ready to bring his musical stylings to the big-screen. Murphy will direct the star-studded musical One Hit Wonders, and has cast Beyonce in one of the roles. The story revolves around three fizzled-out singers — played by Reese Witherspoon, Cameron Diaz and Glee regular Gwyneth Paltrow — who each had a big hit in the 1990s, and decide to stage a comeback by forming a supergroup. Andy Samberg will co-star, and The Lonely Island will be writing music for the film. It’s not known what Beyonce’s role will be, but let’s hope it doesn’t land her another spot on this list. [Via Deadline]

The cast of Glee fared pretty well with the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences this year, but the musical comedy series surprisingly wasn’t nominated for “Original Music & Lyrics” despite this season’s addition of original tunes. Instead, Saturday Night Live dominated the category with four nominations, leaving room for only Family Guy’s “Christmastime Is Killing Us” and “An American Prayer—Hymn II?” from the HBO comedy special Robert Klein: Unfair & Unbalanced. (Another HBO special that went over well with the Emmys? Lady Gaga’s Monster Ball snagged five nods!) Watch the nominated clips below, then vote for the winner in our poll.

In addition to the nods for her Madison Square Garden show, Mother Monster also stars in the nominated “3 Way (The Golden Rule)” opposite Andy Samberg and Justin Timberlake, both of whom are enjoying a nice moment in the spotlight. The Lonely Island is behind three of the six recognized songs, while Timberlake sang (and shares a lyrics credit on) the fourth nominated SNL track, “I’m Not Gonna Sing” from his opening monologue. JT also earned kudos for his guest-hosting stint on Saturday Night Live in the Guest Actor, Comedy category, an award he won in 2009 (also for hosting SNL).

View the complete list of Emmy nominees here.

And now, without further ado, the 2011 “Original Music & Lyrics” nominees are:

Family Guy, “Christmastime Is Killing Us”


Saturday Night Live , “I Just Had Sex”

Saturday Night Live, Justin Timberlake Monologue

“Saturday Night Live, “Jack Sparrow”

Saturday Night Live, “3-Way (The Golden Rule)”

Sorry, apparently not everything is on the internet these days. “An American Prayer—Hymn II?” is nowhere to be found on the net as of yet.

Clearly, the Emmys are favoring comedy over more straight-faced fare like the Glee tunes. Will the four SNL tracks cancel each other out and let Family Guy or Robert Klein emerge victorious? We hope not, since in our minds, any of the SNL tunes is a winner. What do you think?

Lady Gaga’s SNL performance was bound to be a spectacle unlike any other. Not just because Saturday night represented her final major performance before Born This Way finally hits record shops (well, maybe except for her Beyonce tribute for Billboard), not just because she had to top her riveting Monsters’ Ball HBO special, and not just because she was borrowing an outfit from non-singing host Justin Timberlake. Nope. Gaga’s appearance on the Saturday Night Live season finale had to be big because, even though she’s the most powerful entertainer in the world, she’s driven to play the underdog, and to defy all critics, real or imagined.

What did she have in store after teasing us with a “GLORIOUS surprise”? Watch below.

Gaga delivered a boldly unadorned performance (well, as unadorned as she can do it while wearing that metallic headpiece) of “The Edge Of Glory” from the piano before cranking up the volume for a theatrical run-through of “Judas”. (The latter was fine, but definitely small-scale by Gaga standards, and certainly compared to her Graham Norton performance.

Lady Gaga – “The Edge Of Glory” / “Judas”

It turned out Gaga came bearing more than one surprise for the evening — but one of them was certainly the, uh, wardrobe addition in the middle of “Born This Way”. (Talk about taking her lyrics literally).

Lady Gaga – “Born This Way”

Gaga even appeared in three sketches. The first one featured the pop star dressed as a bottle of wine, which is maybe the most tame outfit we’ve ever seen her wear:

The second had Gaga playing herself against Justin Timberlake (also playing himself) on the game show What’s In A Name:

And the third had Gaga all 90s New Yawk’d out alongside “Dick In The Box” buddies JT and Andy Samberg for their third collaboration, “3 Way”:

Did you watch #TimberGagaSNLfinale? What did you make of it? Tell us here, or on Twitter or Facebook.

Since this Saturday is apparently the start of the end of the world, we can’t imagine spending it any other way than watching Justin Timberlake and Lady Gaga on the season finale of Saturday Night Live. (Okay, maybe spending it actually with Justin Timberlake and Lady Gaga might be more fun, but we’re being realistic, here.) Host JT saddles up next to his “Dick In A Box” and “Mother Lover” buddy Andy Samberg for some promos, and the duo gets visited by a ghost, in addition to their identical twin sisters (who curiously sport facial hair). Watch below!

Sadly, no Lady Gaga appearance to speak of. We have a feeling she was a little too busy promoting her new album to have any time to film promos alongside JT.

How badly do you want to hang out with these two? As much as we crave new JT tunes, we’re growing more and more fond of Justin Timberlake, Actor.

Turtlenecks, chains, and light beers all get a very bad wrap in the latest single from The Lonely Island. The title track from their upcoming album Turtleneck & Chain (due May 10) gets an assist from one of the LP’s bevy of high-profile celebrity guest stars — in this case, none other than Snoop Dogg himself (who we believe usually prefers something more potent than a light beer when he’s looking to party). The comical ditty follows the lead of “We’re Back!”‘ in featuring the boys bragging about stuff the rest of us probably don’t find so alluring. Give the latest “Garfield sex music” a listen below.

The Lonely Island feat Snoop Dogg - Turtleneck & Chain

How much we like “Turtleneck & Chain” really depends solely on whether or not we get a video of Snoop Dogg dressed in same, sipping on a light beer and looking all badass about it. (We say the odds are pretty good — Lonely Island’s shtick has always played better with visual accompaniment.)

And despite the faux-macho posturing on “Turtlenek & Chain,” the track’s sound has us thinking it’d be perfect for Ke$ha — we’re getting a definite “Sleazy” vibe from this one. Lonely Island, Ke$ha, have you been introduced? Something tells us you’d get along like gangbusters.

Reproductive organs compared to a melted stick of butter. CGI Garfield licking CGI Marmaduke in an unmentionable area. The line “I got Hepatitis C from a horse, but no confusion / It wasn’t from the sex, it was a blood transfusion.” Either Ark Music Factory has undergone some major restaffing of their songwriters, or SNL’s in-house rappers The Lonely Island are back with the appropriately titled single “We’re Back!” The Grammy-nominated trio dropped by Jimmy Kimmel last night to premiere the genitalia-themed “We’re Back!” video from their forthcoming LP Turtleneck & Chain, due in June. Is it an instant classic like “I’m On A Boat”? Decide for yourself below.

As usual with this debaucherous trio, there is plenty of striking imagery and a few quotable lines we expect to hear referenced in daily conversation in the near future. We especially like the way these creeps put their parody spin on the way so many legit rappers brag about their sexual prowess — here, the boys take the opposite approach but with the same in-your-face cocky swagger. It’s pretty hilarious.

And while we don’t think “We’re Back!” is quite as memorable as some of the group’s other offerings — it’s not as easy to get stuck in your head as “Jizz In My Pants” (which might be a good thing) — it definitely has us looking forward to a full album of “Garfield sex music.”

Last time Rihanna dropped by 30 Rockefeller Plaza, the results were both hilarious and award-worthy – her SNL Digital Short with Andy Samberg, which featured RiRi impatiently requesting that Shy Ronnie “speak up” during his whispered rap, was nominated for an Emmy. This Halloween weekend, RiRi also managed to scare up two killer renditions of singles from her upcoming album, Loud, in addition to more shenanigans with the low-talking Ronnie. Check out Rihanna’s Saturday Night Live appearance below, and tell us whether it’s just as Emmy-worthy the second time around.

For her first number as musical guest, the Marie Clare cover girl brought the house down wearing fire engine red to match her fierce scarlet locks. Rihanna’s live version of “Only Girl (In The World)” was similarly red hot, taking the single’s clubbiness down a notch for an edgier, rock-ier version that actually suits the song even better.

Next up, the photogenic diva delivered a sleek, Drake-less rendition of “What’s My Name,” clad in the bright colors (reminiscent of her island roots) that are the antithesis of last year’s dark, Rated R moodiness. Most importantly, RiRi seemed to be having a good time performing both songs, giving off an infectiously cheerful vibe that should prove once and for all her gloomy days are behind her.

But lest we think Rihanna’s bad girl has gone a little too good, her black-clad, tommy gun-toting appearance in the sequel to her first SNL Digital Short provided a little something for everyone. It’s not uncommon to hear a pop star request we “put our hands up” – but usually, it’s not because they’re robbing everybody. The pop star played Clyde to Shy Ronnie’s Bonnie in this hysterical retread of the gags from the first video, in which the unlikely pair holds up a bank and, just like in the original, Ronnie’s bashful nature ensures all does not go according to plan. Best of all, fans who have been waiting to hear Rihanna utter the words “boner alert!” can now die happy.

Lady Gaga is set to return to New York’s Fashion Week next month with a Feb. 10 performance at the amfAR New York gala fundraiser, where she’ll likely point the way for countless imitators during the past year.

Whether you love or loathe Gaga’s fashion statements, you have to admit her outlandish and oddball fashion picks set the fashion pace in 09. (Further proof of her influence as a fashion trendsetter: dolls in her own likeness!) How did this happen? Simple: Stefani Germanotta never missed an opportunity to show off a new look, from the playful-and-puzzling outfits she wore while setting fire to her piano onstage to the head-scratchers she chose for working the red carpet. How could Rihanna, Fergie and other stars NOT pay attention?

Click through the gallery to see the clearest evidence of Lady Gaga’s influence on the stars of the past year — was imitation just a form of flattery?

Andy Samberg is probably the luckiest guy on TV. First he slithered up next to Beyoncé in nothing but a pair of tights, got to duet with Rihanna, and on this past Saturday’s SNL, he made Alicia Keys say sweet, sexy nothings to him over the phone. Plus, the dorkier he dresses himself, the hotter the R&B stars get. Can’t wait for Keri Hilson to eventually get on the show and be forced to straddle Samberg in a giant chicken suit. Til that happens, check out the sensual and seductive digital short “Booty Call” after the jump.

“Booty Call”

Now every time we answer the phone, we’ll secretly be hoping its Alicia Keys inviting us over on the other end. Oh yeah, Alicia also performed “Try Sleeping with a Broken Heart” and “Empire State of Mind, Part II (Broken Down)” on the show. We almost forgot, since we were too distracted by her sultry voice and Andy’s ridiculous outfit.

“Try Sleeping With a Broken Heart”

“Empire State of Mind, Part II (Broken Down)”

Saturday Night Live‘s Andy Samberg and his fellow “I’m On A Boat” Grammy nominee T-Pain extend their collaborative relationship with a new video posted to Funny Or Die.

In the clip, Samberg gets his Auto-Tune on by serenading a hermit crab (hot), using the I Am T-Pain iPhone application.  The “Buy U A Drank” rapper then calls Andy up, and they make several references to “I’m On A Boat.” And scones. Pain then fronts like he didn’t even know there was an I Am T-Pain app.

Not sure if this latest effort falls under the “funny” or “die” category—in fact, T-Pain’s “Take Your Shirt Off” music video is far more of a knee-slapper—but hop below and judge for yourself.

Sure, the Christmastime setting of Justin Timberlake’s Saturday Night Live skit in which he dresses up as a cup of soup and retrofits “Shoop,” “Drop It Like It’s Hot,” and “Whoomp! There It Is” for the purposes of collecting cash for a charity–and out-hipping the sad-sack Salvation Army Santa who only knows moldy old carols–seems a bit odd, given that the calendar was just flipping to May 10 when it happened. But you have to admit that even while in instant-lunch drag, his performance doesn’t come off as foam-handed in the least. (EDIT: Oh, it did air in December; this is what happens when you watch TV via online “Recently Updated” lists, ha ha. The sequel clip, in which JT dresses up as a breast implant and invites people on down to “Plasticville”, is below.) Meanwhile, if you somehow didn’t have “Motherlover”–Timberlake and Andy Samberg’s Mother’s Day-themed sequel to “Dick In A Box”–e-mailed to you 10 times over the past 36ish hours, it’s after the jump.

Give It On Up To Homelessville [Hulu]
Motherlover [Hulu]

The Valentine’s Day episode of Saturday Night Live was a somewhat painful affair, with the normally reliable Alec Baldwin locking his gaze with the teleprompter a lot, perhaps because he wanted to get awful skits like the “Wii makes you look like you’re jerking off” one^* over as quickly as possible. Meanwhile, musical guests the Jonas Brothers suffered through the painful sound system during the sorta Andrew WK-ish “Tonight” and the jaunty “Video Girl,” and were apparently compensated by being allowed to appear in a few skits. Andy Samberg‘s reimagining of the three Jonases as poofy-haired glam rockers called Property For The Queen was a treat, though, perhaps because the songs in the short had the advantage of being professionally mixed before they were broadcast. Clips after the jump.

“Tonight”

“Video Girl”

Property Of The Queen [Hulu]
Jonas Brothers – Tonight (SNL) [jonnyalisblog.com] [Dailymotion]
Jonas Brothers – Video Girl (SNL) [jonnyalisblog.com] [Dailymotion]

^* That was the “wayne’s World” basement, right?

As a devoted fan of Hot Rod, it would seem like the forthcoming album by the Lonely Island, Incredibad, would be right up my alley. But after a recent move which involved me hauling a box full of novelty discs that surely seemed amusing at some point, the idea of purchasing a comedy album with actual money doesn’t sound like a great idea. Still, “I’m On A Boat” is entertaining, and lines like “I’ve got my swim trunks and my flippy-floppies / I’m flipping burgers, you’re at Kinko’s flipping copies” are right up my alley, especially with T-Pain’s electronic harmonizing. But will this comedy album actually hold up for more than a few weeks? For that matter, has any, other than Bruce McCulloch’s Shame Based Man? [YouTube / Official site]

My favorite musical moment from the Saturday Night Live that aired 36-ish hours ago: A re-imagining of the 1992 chart-topper “A Whole New World” in which Aladdin and Jasmine, married 10 years, sing about how the thrill in their love life has gone away thanks to time, age, and the damn Genie wayyyy overstaying his welcome. Clip after the jump.

Hey, so Rosario Dawson’s singing voice is not bad! Also, how many of you also thought this week’s Digital Short was basically Andy Samberg throwing up his hands and saying, “Sorry everyone, but I’m really uninspired this week, but at least I threw in some weirdly bro-ish homoeroticism to keep the base happy!”?

I mean, it was still better than most of the episode, but a video of me talking in my sleep probably would be, too.

Saturday Night Live: Aladdin [Hulu]
Saturday Night Live: A Couple Of Homies [Hulu]

Over the holidays, Billboard‘s song charts were, at least on the surface, pretty sleepy. On the Hot 100, most of the songs that were hot late last fall—Beyoncé’s “Single Ladies” and “If I Were a Boy,” T.I. and Rihanna’s “Live Your Life,” Kanye’s “Love Lockdown” and “Heartless,” Taylor Swift’s “Love Story,” the unkillable Katy Perry’s “Hot N Cold”—continued bumping around the Top 10 like lazy molecules.

But below the surface, a ton of music was being consumed. In particular, one song benefited massively from the annual iPod-filling digital megasale that hits iTunes every Christmas—and that song, Lady GaGa’s “Just Dance,” reaches No. 1 the very week Apple’s music store removes digital-rights management restrictions on all of its songs, making them freely copyable.

Does this mean we’re in for even more Lady GaGa than we’re enduring now, as kids trade their iTunes purchases like baseball cards? Unlikely: those who “share” music probably figured out their DRM workarounds years ago.

But the official start of the post-DRM era—and, more important, the changes to song pricing—could have some interesting effects on digital song sales, and the charts that track them.

In its 22nd week on the Hot 100—one of the slower ascensions of recent chart history—“Just Dance” evicts Beyoncé after her four-week run on top. Lady GaGa has had the best-selling digital song for two weeks now, and her airplay has caught up just enough to nudge her into the penthouse; “Dance” is now the fifth-most-played radio song in the country.

In the week after Santa Day, “Just Dance” sold 419,000 copies (this week—two weeks out from Christmas—it’s back down to a saner, but still lofty, 293,000). With that fat post-holiday total, “Dance” joins a dubious pantheon of songs that, over the past half-decade, have set download records in the week after Christmas, as iPod-receivers flock to iTunes: D4L’s “Laffy Taffy” at the end of 2005; Fergie’s “Fergalicious” at the end of 2006; and Flo Rida’s “Low” a year ago. Notice the trend: disposable pop hits people would rather own as singles than as part of albums. (Oh, ease up, Fergie fans—the bulk of her eventual multiplatinum album sales came months after “Fergalicious,” in the wake of her adult-contemporary crossover hit “Big Girls Don’t Cry.”)

Actually, Ms. GaGa didn’t really set a record, unless we give her the title for her gender. The song’s 419,000 downloads rank “Just Dance” as the biggest one-week seller by a female, but she comes in second on the all-time list to male rapper Flo Rida, whose “Low” racked up 470,000 in sales 53 weeks ago.

This is slightly worrying for both the record industry and Apple. Each year since iTunes launched in 2003, the post-Christmas bestseller has sold more copies than the previous year’s, and by a huge margin; last year, in setting the new record, Flo Rida improved on Fergie’s earlier sales mark by about 60%. So this is the first year in iTunes history in which the year-end winner has sold fewer copies than its year-ago predecessor. Still, it’s hardly surprising that iTunes’ explosive growth is finally easing, between the deepening recession and slowing sales of the now-ubiquitous iPod.

Besides, the industry and Steve Jobs already have plans to wring more revenue from digital songs. Along with this week’s announcement of the removal of DRM, a long-overdue consumer-friendly move, Apple granted the labels their most coveted wish: variable pricing. Now, songs will be sold on iTunes at three tiers: 69 cents, 99 cents, and $1.29.

(For what it’s worth, given my long-held fears of what the labels would demand as a song price if given free reign, Apple did well for us; $1.29 is pretty reasonable, when you consider that it’s a cap, and that it will probably hold for a few years even while inflation marches on.)

The very songs the labels want to price at a buck-thirty are the ones we talk about regularly in this column, those that sell in the hundreds of thousands each week and top the charts. So: we can expect “Just Dance” and “Womanizer” and “Heartless,” and everything else in the iTunes top 100, to jump to $1.29 any day now, right?

Maybe—but I wouldn’t be surprised if numerous hit songs were still priced at 99 cents. In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised if the occasional hit-bound track was priced at that new 69-cent tier. Allow me to theorize for a minute.

Remember the 49-cent cassingle? If you visited a big chain store anytime in the ’90s, you might recall stacks of singles positioned near the cash registers and priced to move. Sometimes those songs were by new acts—Peach Union, Dionne Faris—the label was hoping you’d be willing to sample. But often, strangely, they came from established blockbuster acts like Mariah Carey or Celine Dion whose new song seemed like a preordained hit. In industry parlance, these are called “label priority” acts, which is code for, This artist’s song had better hit No. 1, or someone gets fired.

I’ve talked extensively ’round these parts about the ’90s as the decade of the Singles War. But it was a time of singles experimentation in general—in those cases where the labels did release singles, they got insidiously good at playing with timing and price to stoke chart position. I recall numerous Billboard articles in which retailers and industryites discussed the madness of loss-leader pricing—how some label reps would rather have bragging rights on a top-ranked, but unprofitable, song than earn a modest markup on their hits.

The economics of the business have changed radically in the last decade, but the impetus to score hits hasn’t. Label reps are still creative, and once someone figures out a legal way to manipulate a song’s chart run, it’s quickly adopted as an industry standard. Just in the last year, we’ve seen the labels use iTunes’ ability to track multiple singles at once (and credit them to an album purchase later) as a new Hot 100 strategy; now, you don’t release one leadoff single before an album drops, you release two (Coldplay, T.I., Beyoncé, Kanye West) or four (Jonas Brothers, Taylor Swift) or more than half the album (Lil Wayne).

Over the next few months, as Apple brings the new price tiers online, the labels will be confronted with a new test of their priorities. Simply put, what’s more important, profits or position? In an era where the business relies increasingly on digital sales and margins are getting thinner, you’d think they’d want to squeeze every last dime out of their biggest hits.

But what happens when the first radio hit priced at 69 cents becomes a Hot 100 smash? Do the other labels cut the prices of their catchiest tunes to compete? Perhaps first singles from new acts—your Metro Stations, your Estelles—will start at 99 cents or even 69 cents, fly up the charts, then get re-priced at $1.29 when they reach that ubiquitous “American Boy” phase. But then maybe the followup single has to start at 69 cents just to match its predecessor’s position—the slope gets slipperier.

It would be ironic (and hilarious, and depressing) if, after finally getting what they most wanted from Steve Jobs, the record labels found themselves reaping smaller profits from their biggest hits. I don’t wish it on them by any means, but given the history of this industry, I wouldn’t put it past them.

Here’s a rundown of the rest of the charts:

• A few other songs improved their standings while this column was on hiatus.

Kanye’s “Heartless” has been bouncing around the Top 20 since December, and now it’s one notch away from matching its debut position from last November, as radio has come to prefer it over his “Love Lockdown.” (“Heartless” is now the country’s sixth-biggest radio hit; “Lockdown” never got higher on the airplay chart than No. 11.)

Jason Mraz’s “I’m Yours” is another Top 20 bouncer—just when you think it’s dying off, another wave of six-figure sales and stepped-up airplay (now ranked seventh on the radio list) returns it to the Top 10. Now at No. 7 on the Hot 100, Mraz, like Kanye, is one slot away from matching his prior peak.

Before the holidays, All-American Rejects’ “Gives You Hell” (apt title, that) appeared to be a slow-starting leadoff single for the band’s sophomore album. But it belatedly crashed into the Top 20 a few weeks ago and now looks poised to leap into the Top 10. As of this writing, iTunes has it ranked third among its bestsellers, so expect a big jump next week.

Finally, if there’s one song that became annoyingly omnipresent on my local Top 40 station over the break, it was the Pussycat Dolls’ screechy ballad “I Hate This Part” (again, the joke writes itself). Over the holidays it shot from No. 58 to No. 32 to No. 21, and this week it moves two notches into the Top 20. So, it does appear to be slowing a bit…but moody ballads like this tend to do well in the winter months. And I’ve learned the folly of betting against PCD—the ultimate “label priority.”

• One of my favorite emerging pop hits, “Untouched” by Australian twin-sister act the Veronicas, became a Top 40 hit over the break, and it’s up three spots to No. 26 this week. Part of what I’m enjoying about “Untouched” is that it’s a bit of an old-fashioned phenomenon: the regional hit. New York Top 40 station Z100 has been burning it out since November and pretty much single-handedly breaking the act on U.S. radio (they’re already multiplatinum stars at home, and in a few European countries); but the song has yet to make the nationwide, all-genre Hot 100 Airplay list. Right now, besides all that New York airplay, “Untouched” is charting on the strength of its digital sales. It’s sold more than half a million downloads thus far, with the biggest boost coming during the blockbuster post-holiday week, when it rang up 121,000 scans.

• Andy Samberg has been a pop-culture phenom for about three years now, ever since the pop-song genre parodies he cowrites with his comedy/filmmaking troupe the Lonely Island began appearing on Saturday Night Live and racking up massive YouTube and Hulu scans. But prior to last week, he’d never appeared on a Billboard chart. The troupe’s club banger “Jizz in My Pants” was released to iTunes as a song and video two days before Christmas, and it sold enough copies (51,000) to briefly make the Hot 100. It debuted at No. 72 last week, and—not unlike the song’s two protagonists—quickly fell off.

Top 10s
Last week’s position and total weeks charted in parentheses (Digital Songs chart includes total downloads/percentage change in parentheses):

Hot 100
1. Lady GaGa feat. Colby O’Donis, “Just Dance” (LW No. 2, 22 weeks)
2. Beyoncé, “Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)” (LW No. 1, 12 weeks)
3. T.I. feat. Rihanna, “Live Your Life” (LW No. 3, 15 weeks)
4. Taylor Swift, “Love Story” (LW No. 5, 17 weeks)
5. Kanye West, “Heartless” (LW No. 4, 9 weeks)
6. Katy Perry, “Hot N Cold” (LW No. 6, 23 weeks)
7. Jason Mraz, “I’m Yours” (LW No. 12, 38 weeks)
8. Britney Spears, “Womanizer” (LW No. 7, 14 weeks)
9. Kevin Rudolf feat. Lil Wayne, “Let It Rock” (LW No. 15, 19 weeks)
10. Kanye West, “Love Lockdown” (LW No. 8, 16 weeks)

Hot Digital Songs
1. Lady GaGa feat. Colby O’Donis, “Just Dance” (LW No. 1, 293,000 downloads)
2. Beyoncé, “Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)” (LW No. 2, 235,000 downloads)
3. Taylor Swift, “Love Story” (LW No. 3, 226,000 downloads)
4. Katy Perry, “Hot N Cold” (LW No. 6, 216,000 downloads)
5. Kanye West, “Heartless” (LW No. 4, 211,000 downloads)
6. Jason Mraz, “I’m Yours” (LW No. 12, 186,000 downloads)
7. Britney Spears, “Circus” (LW No. 9, 178,000 downloads)
8. Britney Spears, “Womanizer” (LW No. 7, 173,000 downloads)
9. T.I. feat. Rihanna, “Live Your Life” (LW No. 5, 172,000 downloads)
10. Kevin Rudolf feat. Lil Wayne, “Let It Rock” (LW No. 14, 169,000 downloads)

Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs
1. Beyoncé, “Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)” (LW No. 1, 13 weeks)
2. T.I. feat. Rihanna, “Live Your Life” (LW No. 2, 17 weeks)
3. T-Pain feat. Ludacris, “Chopped ‘N’ Skrewed” (LW No. 3, 16 weeks)
4. Ne-Yo, “Miss Independent” (LW No. 4, 24 weeks)
5. Usher, “Trading Places,” (LW No. 5, 21 weeks)
6. John Legend feat. Andre 3000, “Green Light” (LW No. 6, 20 weeks)
7. Jim Jones & Ron Browz feat. Juelz Santana, “Pop Champagne” (LW No. 7, 16 weeks)
8. Musiq Soulchild feat. Mary J. Blige, “IfULeave” (LW No. 11, 16 weeks)
9. Plies feat. Chris J, “Put It on Ya” (LW No. 8, 12 weeks)
10. T.I., “Whatever You Like” (LW No. 10, 25 weeks)

Hot Country Songs
1. Sugarland, “Already Gone” (LW No. 2, 19 weeks)
2. Rascal Flatts, “Here” (LW No. 1, 18 weeks)
3. Brad Paisley with Keith Urban, “Start a Band” (LW No. 5, 17 weeks)
4. Zac Brown Band, “Chicken Fried” (LW No. 3, 29 weeks)
5. Montgomery Gentry, “Roll with Me” (LW No. 4, 24 weeks)
6. Alan Jackson, “Country Boy” (LW No. 6, 15 weeks)
7. Billy Currington, “Don’t” (LW No. 7, 25 weeks)
8. Dierks Bentley, “Feel That Fire” (LW No. 8, 16 weeks)
9. Blake Shelton, “She Wouldn’t Be Gone” (LW No. 10, 22 weeks)
10. Kenny Chesney with Mac McAnally, “Down the Road” (LW No. 12, 11 weeks)

Hot Modern Rock Tracks
1. Kings of Leon, “Sex on Fire” (LW No. 1, 20 weeks)
2. Incubus, “Love Hurts” (LW No. 3, 12 weeks)
3. Shinedown, “Second Chance” (LW No. 4, 16 weeks)
4. Apocalyptica feat. Adam Gontier, “I Don’t Care” (LW No. 2, 27 weeks)
5. The Offspring, “You’re Gonna Go Far, Kid” (LW No. 5, 24 weeks)
6. Seether, “Breakdown” (LW No. 7, 16 weeks)
7. Paramore, “Decode” (LW No. 6, 13 weeks)
8. Rise Against, “Re-Education (Through Labor)” (LW No. 9, 20 weeks)
9. Anberlin, “Feel Good Drag” (LW No. 8, 14 weeks)
10. Disturbed, “Indestructible” (LW No. 10, 13 weeks)

This weekend’s Saturday Night Live was full of fast-forwardable moments, as well as some absolutely atrocious mixing of the band backing up T.I.’s performance. But “Jizz In My Pants”—a bit of electrojaculation from Andy Samberg and his Lonely Island cohort Jorma Taccone—is notable both for its cameos by Justin Timberlake and Jamie-Lynn Sigler and for the way that the song is pretty much a dirtier take on Ween’s retro-pastiche “The Goin’ Gets Tough From The Getgo.” Hear it now, before your friends and acquaintances start making tortured references to it while trying to make light of the latest recessionary news. [YouTube]

Saturday’s episode of Saturday Night Live was pretty weaksauce overall, so one of the relative high points came with the above skit, which placed Justin Timberlake, Andy Samberg, and SNL‘s new guy in a scenario where they, clad in leotards and heels, were B’s newer, spazzier, more penis-enabled dancers for her “Single Ladies” video. I guess someone in the writers’ room saw the Google numbers for “single man dances to single ladies” and acted accordingly. But I have a very important question: Where is Beyoncé’s Sasha Kruegerhand? I understand its absence during last night’s medley, but if there’s one thing I learned from years of comedy, it’s that lack of verisimilitude can make even the funniest joke deflate a little bit.

Also worth noting: B’s performance of “Single Ladies,” which came after the skit. I’d go see this band live for sure. Can you imagine what they’re going to do with “Work It Out”?

Bee skit @ (Nov 15 2008) [Dailymotion]
Bee – @ (Nov 15 2008) [Dailymotion]
[Thanks to Gawker for the links]

It’s been almost two years since Justin Timberlake donned a pair of Color Me Badd pants and sang about giving his ladyfriend a Very Special Christmas Box, which I guess means that enough time has passed for “Dick In A Box” to become source material for a song about Very Important Things. Above, Timberlake (with girlfriend Jessica Biel) turns his ode to giving the best present of all into… a song about sticking your ballot into that hole in that box. Unfortunately, pretty Christmas wrapping, Andy Samberg, and the concept of “being funny through something besides extreme awkwardness on Timberlake’s part” are nowhere to be seen, so why not clear your brain out with the original, which we’ve placed after the jump.

Watching this makes me miss Maya Rudolph all the more.

VoteForChange.com: Vote In The Box [YouTube via Videogum]
Saturday Night Live: Dick In A Box (Uncensored) [Hulu]