WZRD (aka Kid Cudi and Dot Da Genius) land a high debut at #3 with their self-titled album on Billboard‘s Top 200 this week, but the 66,000 copies sold out of the gate isn’t enough to unseat either Adele’s 21 (247,000) from the top spot or Whitney Houston’s Whitney – The Greatest Hits (112,000) from the runner-up position. Teleport below to see what else is shaking up the chart this week.

It’s now the 23rd non-consecutive week for 21 in the #1 position. That’s currently the longest stretch at the top since Prince’s Purple Rain soundtrack managed to stay on top for 24 weeks between 1984 and 1985. Before that, the Saturday Night Fever also racked up 24 weeks in the peak position in 1978.

Billboard points out that 21, which was released 54 weeks ago, is the top-selling album of 2012 after selling 2.07 million copies since January. (Unsurprisingly, the Grammy-winning LP was also 2011′s bestseller.) Right behind Adele in year-to-date sales is Whitney’s Greatest Hits, with a total of 527,000 in sales.

Speaking of Whitney, she maintains her record-setting feat of having three albums in the Top 10 for a second week.

The Top 10 Of Billboard’s Top 200 Chart

1. Adele, 21 *23 weeks*
2. Whitney Houston, Whitney – The Greatest Hits
3. WZRD, WZRD *new*
4. Various, Now 41
5. Whitney Houston, The Bodyguard
6. Tyga, Careless World: Rise Of The Last King
7. Adele, 19
8. Drake, Take Care
9. Rihanna, Talk That Talk
10. Whitney Houston, Whitney Houston

Expect Prince to let out a high-pitched scream that would make James Brown proud. Just one week after its one-year anniversary, Adele’s Grammy-winning 21 has sold another 297,000 copies and holds onto the #1 position on Billboard‘s Top 200 for a 22nd non-consecutive frame, thus passing the 21-week stretch of MC Hammer’s Please Hammer Don’t Hurt ‘Em back in 1990. This now marks the longest run at the top since Prince’s Purple Rain soundtrack, which produced such hits as “When Doves Cry” and “I Would Die 4 U”, racked up 24 weeks between 1984 and 1985.

Meanwhile, Whitney Houston’s Whitney – The Greatest Hits (174,000) stays put at #2 for a second week, while the soundtrack to The Bodyguard flies up 32 positions to #6 and Whitney Houston barrels 28 spots to #9. Billboard notes that this is due to record shops replenishing their stock of the late singer’s physical CDs following her death earlier this month.

Elsewhere, fun.’s wave of success continues in the wake of their hit single “We Are Young”, as sophomore LP Some Night (70,000) debuts at #3.

The chart has two other new entries this week: “Rack City” hit-maker Tyga’s second album Careless World: Rise Of The Last King (61,000) at #4 and Chiddy Bang’s debut LP Breakfast (31,000) at #8.

The Top 10 Of Billboard’s Top 200 Chart

1. Adele, 21 *22 weeks*
2. Whitney Houston, Whitney – The Greatest Hits
3. fun., Some Nights *new*
4. Tyga, Careless World: Rise Of The Last King *new*
5. Various, Now 41
6. Whitney Houston, The Bodyguard
7. Adele, 19
8. Chiddy Bang, Breakfast *new*
9. Whitney Houston, Whitney Houston
10. Various, 2012 Grammy Nominees

Very, very frequent Saturday Night Live host/surprise guest Justin Timberlake popped by this weekend’s Maya Rudolph-hosted episode to send up awkward Grammy winner Justin Vernon of Bon Iver in a hilarious skit that featured cast portrayals of some of the biggest names in pop as they celebrated the birth of Beyonce and Jay-Z’s adorable little Blue Ivy Carter. (Perhaps unexpectedly to some, Rudolph did not revive her Whitney Houston impression on the evening following the superstar’s funeral). Watch the pop-packed skit below.

It’s hard to pick a favorite impression from the lot: Rudolph’s Beyonce, Jay Pharoah’s Jay-Z, Fred Armisen’s Prince, Kristen Wiig’s Taylor Swift, Keenan Thompson’s LL Cool J or Timberlake’s Justin Vernon.

Lest anyone view the Beyonce/Blue Ivy skit as a real knock against Vernon, Timberlake appeared in the closing moments of the show carrying a sign that read “I Heart Bon Iver”. Whose impression made you cackle the hardest? Let us know on Facebook, Twitter or in the comments.

On February 5, Indianapolis will host Super Bowl XLVI — the 46th iteration of America’s biggest game. Millions of fans will gather ’round the television set with seven-layer dip and cold drinks to watch an epic match-up of teams, the year’s funniest and most expensive commercials and most importantly — as far as we’re concerned — Madonna’s Super Bowl halftime show. The newly minted Interscope singer has been on her grind lately, promoting her Golden Globe-winning directorial debut W.E., unleashing a super sexy fragrance line and gearing up for the release of her 12th studio album MDNA and a world tour.

With so much going on, can Madonna still quarterback a show as memorable as these 10 amazing Super Bowl halftime performances?

TOP 10 MOST MEMORABLE SUPER BOWL HALFTIME PERFORMANCES

10. U2 honor the victims of 9/11 at Super Bowl XXXVI (2002). Following the tragic events of September 11, 2001, the Irish supergroup gave a bittersweet performance of “Where The Streets Have No Name”, while the names of FDNY, NYPD and the passengers of American Airlines Flight 11 and United Airlines Flight 93 were projected on stage behind the band.

9. Janet Jackson and Justin Timberlake get NSFTV at Super Bowl XXXVIII (2004). Litigation for perhaps the most controversial Super Bowl halftime moment of all time was just recently put to bed — seven years after the MTV-produced segment first aired. The five-minute set saw Janet rocking a medley of “All For You” and “Rhythm Nation” before JT joined her on stage for the big, um, reveal during “Rock Your Body”, off Justified.

8. Gwen Stefani gets Stung at Super Bowl XXXVII (2003). Halftime shows have frequently paired together odd combos of musicians. And when Gwen Stefani joined Sting on stage for “Message in a Bottle” there was a definite “Well, that’s not something you’ll see everyday” vibe.

7. Stevie Wonder shares the stage at Super Bowl XXXIII (1999). Apparently someone thought Stevie Wonder didn’t pack enough star power to command the entire Super Bowl halftime stage, so producers brought Gloria Estefan, Big Bad Voodoo Daddy and tap dancer Savion Glover along for the ride. The show was all over the place, with Wonder running through his hits before clomping along with Glover, then making way for Estefan’s salsa-tinged, baton-wielding finale.

6. It’s a small world for New Kids on the Block at Super Bowl XXV (1991). The groundbreaking boy band’s first run happened to coincide with America’s first war in the Middle East: Desert Storm. The resulting feel-good Disney-fied performance was actually pre-recorded and then aired after the game, due to news coverage of the conflict.

5. Everybody loves Paul McCartney at Super Bowl XXXIX (2005). After “Nipplegate,” the NFL powers that be thought it wise to go with a “guaranteed-not-to-get-naked” act. Sir Paul McCartney is a classy guy and turned in a sterling set of Beatles faves “Drive My Car” and “Get Back”, before delivering a pyrotechnic punch with “Live and Let Die” as a finale.

4. The Black Eyed Peas rep GNR at Super Bowl XLV (2011). Who, besides people with short-term memory loss, could forget last year’s halftime show, which introduced the world to Fergie’s Axl Rose impression? The show experienced an array of sound and technical problems that critics were enthusiastic to point out.

3. Pop royalty reigns at Super Bowl XXXV (2001). Basically everyone you cared about in 2001 took the stage that night: *NSYNC, Britney Spears, Aerosmith, Mary J. Blige and Nelly all performed, with a hilarious comic lead-in from Adam Sandler, Ben Stiller and Chris Rock. There’s really nothing else that needs to be said.

2. Michael Jackson brings the “World” to Super Bowl XXVII (1993). It’s no surprise that the King of Pop sits so high on our list: MJ gave an electrifying performance with all the right moves, performing his biggest hits to date, including “We Are The World”.

1. Prince makes it (purple) rain at Super Bowl XLI (2007). When Prince took the stage with his powder blue guitar with matching leopard strap, the crowd erupted in cheers only a true giant of pop can produce. He whipped through his own hits as well as a surprise cover or two (who expected to hear a Foo Fighters jam?). But it’s the finale, when mother nature decided to get into the act, that truly makes this performance. As the Artist Formerly Known As The Artist shifted into “Purple Rain”, the skies opened fully and it… rained. With water dripping down his guitar, streaking down his face, and the A&M marching band glowing neon through the downpour, it was a moment of high drama and celebration, and the perfect way to cap off our list.

Did our list of Most Memorable Super Bowl Halftime Performances makes your list of Most Memorable Lists? Sound off in the comments below, or on Twitter and Facebook.

—Reporting by Maud Deitch

If the collaboration between Jay-Z and Kanye West is called The Throne, what do we call it when ‘Ye teams up with Prince? The whole freakin’ castle? We are as of now unaware of any planned LP in the works, but the Maybach speed demon did join the royal Purple One on stage at Way Out West in Sweden for a rousing rendition of “If I Was Your Girlfriend,” cheered on by a justifiably boisterous crowd. Previously joined on stage by such heavyweights as Gwen Stefani and Whitney Houston, the 21 Night Stand-er has possibly outdone himself by sharing the spotlight with Yeezy. Watch below.

Best of all, there were no royal stumbles during this particular Scandinavian set!

What do you think? Kanye West and Prince make for an odd (and oddly perfect) pairing, no?

Did You Hear?

:: Lauren Alaina and Scotty McCreery denied it a few weeks back, but that kiss — and their post-Idol-finale interviews speak awfully loudly. You want it to be true, don’t you? [PopCrush]

:: How does an American Idol finalist improve their chances of building a real music career? Talent whiz Lisa Damiani thinks she knows. [Celebuzz]

:: Prince continues his benevolent (purple) reign over Los Angeles, where he played another string of extra-intimate shows at the House Of Blues. Our fellow super-fan Trent Vanegas stood arm’s length from His Majesty at a 2am show in the club’s cozy “Foundation Room”. Read it and weep. [Pink Is The New Blog]

:: Ready to take a peek inside the twisted mind of “pop instigator” Wallpaper.? Watch the new video blog he posted in support of the Kay remix of #STUPiDFACEDD. [ArjanWrites]

:: Did Google just discover a new pop star? Meet Laura Manna, who delivered a standout Lady Gaga tribute in Mother Monster’s new Chrome commercial. [MTV Buzzworthy]

After the jump, check out who’ll be spinning the “baby roulette” wheel on late night TV.

Music On TV:
:: Late Show With David Letterman (CBS) — Morning Teleportation (repeat)
:: Tonight Show with Jay Leno (NBC) — INXS w/ Train’s Pat Monahan
:: Jimmy Kimmel Live (ABC) — Scott Weiland (repeat)
:: Late Late Show With Craig Ferguson (CBS) — the Electric Barbarellas
:: Last Call With Carson Daly (NBC) — Yelawolf
:: Live With Regis & Kelly (syndicated) — Plain White T’s
:: Ellen DeGeneres (ABC) — Dolly Parton

Prince, on the verge of his 53rd birthday, remains a master of surprises. (Surf rock? A Minnesota Vikings fight song? The View?) But Prince caught Hollywood completely off-guard yesterday with the sudden announcement that he would play two sets Wednesday night at the venerable (but only 500-capacity) Troubadour club. Separately, word came that the Purple One would continue his Los Angeles residency with 5 more Welcome 2 America dates. Which you should catch.

We  — along with Kim Kardashian, who got to see His Majesty up close at once least once before; Glee warbler Darren Criss; and our buddy Trent from Pink Is The New Blog — had the enormous privilege of seeing Prince rock the tiny house with a strictly-for-fans double set that spanned rare tunes, romantic classics and a new song, “When She Comes”. Dearly beloved, check our full review (with setlist) below.

Prince used his first set to transform the Troubadour into a jazz club, with the band kicking off a cover of Billy Cobham’s spacy “Stratus”. That set the tone for the next two hours, as Prince delighted in leading the band through extended interludes and encouraged frequent solos by his longtime sax player Mike Phillips. It was a dreamlike experience — Prince seemed to drift on and off-stage as he frequently tried to put his band in the spotlight (and shy away from cameras in the crowd). And as he spun through rock, R&B and even blues, it was clear that his Troubadour show would serve to indulge the hardest-of-hard-core fans — in addition to the Sexy MF himself. With all its twists and curveballs, his whole performance posed an unspoken challenge: is he a living legend because he can write hits? Or because he can do so much more?

“Stratus” was followed by the 80s jam “Power Fantastic”, and Prince then immediately slipped into falsetto for the romantic epic “Somewhere Here On Earth”, prompting couples to canoodle across the club floor. Prince also used the occasion to pull out some covers, including a too-sexy cover of Marvin Gaye’s “Let’s Get It On”, with local talent Andy Allo on vocals. The set was purposefully short on hits, though Prince did treat the crowd to a rapturous “Controversy”, the 2004 jam “Musicology” and ended up the first set with “Pop Life” — which thrilled Bird And The Bee mastermind Greg Kurstin, also in attendance. He returned to to encore with “Beggin’ Woman Blues.”

It turned out that first performance was something of a warm-up, because for the second set, Prince and the band turned up the rock, pulling out “Endorphinmachine”, a cover of the Troggs’ “Wild Thing” (possible Charlie Sheen tribute?), Wild Cherry’s “Play That Funky Music” and reprised his own “Musciology”. Prince seemed to enjoy the show — he even spray-painted hearts on the drum kit.

If you had a chance to see Prince live, would you prefer him to play the hits? Or hear the band jam through rarities?

[Spray-paint photo via @trentvanegas]

Who does Prince have to bring to the stage to make sure fans leave his concerts happy? Absolutely no one, besides himself of course. But that didn’t stop the regal singer from plucking two more heavy-hitters from his (no doubt) diva-filled Rolodex at Thursday night’s Forum show — one-upping last week’s Gwen Stefani appearance with the one-two-punch of Whitney Houston and Chaka Khan. The legendary ladies crooned “Tell Me Something Good” together, prompting us to wonder what other music royalty the Purple One might conjure up for his 21 Night Stand. At this point, even the reanimated corpse of Mozart would hardly surprise us. Check out the vid below.

As is usual for a Prince show during his 21-Night Stand, his Majesty’s April 30 concert at The Forum featured a variety of special guests. No offense to Kirstie Alley and her Dancing With The Stars partner, but the most well-received cameo of the night was from none other than Gwen Stefani. Watch the radiant singer perform “So Far, So Pleased” with Prince below.

You may recall that other than collaborating on this Prince tune, the two pop royals recorded the Rock Steady track “Waiting Room” together.

Prince brought the whole VIP section up on stage for a dance party, allowing a second showing of the pop star, along with her No Doubt cohorts and hubby Gavin Rossdale.

And here’s some more bonus footage of Gwen dancing. Most adorable 41-year old pop star on the planet, no?

[Via ONTD]

The biggest wedding of the century is nearly upon us — that is unless Justin Bieber and Selena Gomez end up tying the knot someday. And while you’re out buying tea and scones for your at-home wedding celebration, downloading Ellie Goulding’s Lights, and setting your alarms for the pre-crack of dawn to watch the pomp and circumstance surrounding Kate Middleton and Prince William’s vows, we thought we’d help you set the matrimony mood with our official Idolator Royal Wedding Playlist. So head below, press play and keep reminding yourselves that Prince Harry is still single.

Taylor Swift —  “Today Was A Fairy Tale” Not that Kate is a damsel in distress by any means, but tomorrow will certainly be ceremony a fairy tale proportions.

Juice Newton — “Queen Of Hearts” We had to throw a song in there for the Queen Elizabeth.

Elton John — “Can You Feel The Love Tonight” Hey, it was good enough for Simba, the lion king.

Taylor Swift — “Love Story” “You’ll be the prince and I’ll be the princess/It’s a love story, baby/Just say yes” — need we say any more?

Fergie — “London Bridge” Since Fergie the Duchess Of York wasn’t invited, we thought we’d include this ditty from Fergie Duchess Of Peas.

Queen — “Somebody To Love” What’s a royal playlist without a little Queen?

Spin Doctors — “Two Princes” A little something for Prince William and Prince Harry.

Prince — “The Most Beautiful Girl In The World” A song from The Purple One especially for Kate.

Prince and George Lopez showed some brotherly love for one another on last night’s Lopez Tonight. The Purple One came on to promote his 21-Night Stand residency in Los Angeles (which he announced via phone call to the talk show host earlier this week), and performed three songs – but not before both men gushed over one another. Watch the performances and the bromance blossom below.

“I know that you could have chosen any place to be, and I know that you don’t do a lot of television, but that you would choose my show… wow,” fawns Lopez, before tongue-in-cheek asking him point blank – “Why?”

“This show represents all people, and I see all kinds of guests on here,” explained the pop legend.

“Do you ever just kick it and go to Olive Garden in a sweatsuit?” asked Lopez, half-jokingly. Laughs Prince: “Oh man, I don’t own a sweatsuit.” No surprise there!

Also not surprising: Prince delivering three kick-ass performances. Watch ‘em here:

“The Beautiful Ones”

“Laydown”

“You’re The One For Me”

Prince has revealed his first set of concert dates for his Los Angeles residency-style Welcome 2 America tour, which he’s calling his “21-Night Stand”. The Purple One and his pals (not yet announced) will perform at The Forum on April 14, April 21 and April 22, with the first batch of tickets go on sale tomorrow at 10am. And in case you think it may break the bank to go see some pop royalty rock the stage, at least 85% of tickets will be made available only for $25. Including service fees! Wow!

Los Angeles weather forecast calls for some Purple Rain for the next three weeks — during a phone call made in to Lopez Tonight, Prince announced that he will bring his residency-style Welcome 2 America tour to the City of Angels for 21 funky days, beginning next Thursday, April 14 at The Forum.

“I will be starting a 21-night stand next Thursday the 14th at the L.A. Forum with the New Power Generation and a whole gang of special guests,” Prince said. “I’m gonna blast the roof off that place, I promise!”

The Purple One will appear live on Lopez Tonight this Wednesday to discuss the show further. As of right now, no tickets, not even for this coming Thursday’s premiere show, are on sale, and no venues besides The Forum have been announced (though the singer’s reps have said he will be playing more than one venue).

No special guests have been announced, either, though we’re pretty sure we will have no reason to be disappointed with whomever Prince honors with an invitation to join him. May we suggest everyone’s favorite singing guest star, Gwyneth Paltrow?

[Billboard]

We’d be a little more excited for Gwyneth Paltrow’s character Holly Holiday to make her return to Glee if only we didn’t feel bombarded with appearances by Ms. GOOP the past couple of weeks — from performing at both the Grammys and the Oscars to hosting Saturday Night Live, Paltrow hasn’t exactly given us an opportunity to miss her. Then again, she’s probably striking while the iron’s hot, since she’s thisclose to landing a record deal. (Please, please record a feisty duet with Willow Smith is all we ask.) Listen to three tunes sung by Gwyneth on Glee below.

Glee Cast feat. Gwyneth Paltrow - Kiss

Glee Cast feat. Gwyneth Paltrow - Landslide

Glee Cast feat. Gwyneth Paltrow- Do You Wanna Touch Me (Oh Yeah)

Gwyneth sounds perfectly lovely on all three songs, though we’re not positive any of these will become an insta-hit like Gwynnie’s “Forget You”. Still, no second hand embarrassment to be found. Maybe she should host the Oscars next year? You know she’d totally be game!

Are you enjoying Paltrow’s second career wave as a professional warbler? Tell us below.

Did You Hear?

:: Prince will perform two shows of his Welcome 2 America tour in Oakland next week, February 21 and 23. Tix go on sale tomorrow! Good luck, folks. [Spinner]

:: Kanye West and Rihanna will perform “All Of The Lights” at the NBA All Star game. Uh, we guess “Monster” is getting passed over since Yeezy has completely stopped promoting it. [Consequence Of Sound]

:: Watch Jennifer Hudson look stunning while performing her new song “Where You At” on Ellen. [Music & Lyrics]

:: Sorry, Elvis — the Glee cast now has the most singles to chart on Billboard’s Hot 100, with 113 songs having appeared on the chart. (Though less than a quarter of those lasted longer than a week). [E! Online]

:: Kanye West and Mary J. Blige with headline the 17th Annual Essence Music Festival in New Orleans. Trey Songz and Fantasia are also on the lineup. [Rap-Up]

After the jump, find out which music acts are performing on the tube today.

Music On TV:
:: Tonight Show with Jay Leno (NBC) — Miguel
:: Late Show with David Letterman (CBS) — Scissor Sisters
:: Jimmy Kimmel Live (ABC) — Stone Sour
:: Last Call with Carson Daly (ABC) — Two Door Cinema Club
:: Lopez Tonight (TBS) — Far East Movement

Leighton Meester was treated to an up close and on stage performance of “I Love You But I Don’t Trust You Anymore” by none other than Prince last night at Madison Square Garden. Was this a publicity stunt for Country Strong perhaps or is the “Summer Girl” singer on a lucky streak of live concert serenades? Jump below to see more of the Purple One live in his Welcome 2 America tour with the Gossip Girl star. XOXO indeed.

Corinne Bailey Rae’s The Love EP, a digital-only album of love song covers, drops this Valentine’s Day (aww). And though it’s mostly about love, there’s room for some straight-up funky lust, too. “It’s just really fun!” Corinne told us about her version of Prince’s “I Wanna Be Your Lover” during our interview last Fall. “I thought, I never get to do really fun, synthy, aggressive bright things.” And now she has! Listen to the British chanteuse’s version of The Purple One’s classic song by jumping below.

Corinne Bailey Rae – “I Wanna Be Your Lover”

Sounds like Prince’s original tune from 1979, but as arranged by the likes of, say, The Bird & The Bee. We can dig it.

Check out Corinne explaining each song on her EP, one by one:

“I Wanna Be Your Lover” by Prince
I met Prince in London at his gigs at the O2 and he gave me loads of encouragement. I was amazed by the gig but even more impressed by the aftershow he did in a small venue where he tore up on the guitar and played other people’s songs too. This is one of my favourite Prince songs and gives me the chance to sing the kind of sexy, rhythmical music I love but never seem to write. Getting the chance to do this song was a dream.

“Low Red Moon” by Belly
Belly were one of the prime influences on my first band Helen, where we had a real indie/DIY ethic. I was addicted to their album “Star” as a teenager and learnt loads about guitar playing just listening to them. They made me realise the most important thing in music was to express yourself and get your ideas across, without worrying about playing like a virtuoso. We had such fun playing this song, it’s like an aggressive 60′s science-fiction soundtrack.

“Is This Love?” by Bob Marley (Watch her perform the song on The Tonight Show here.)
My mum was the Bob Marley fan in our house which I loved, because although my father is Caribbean, he didn’t much care for reggae. Little examples like this meant I grew up learning that you could be yourself and never had to be a cliché because of your ethnicity. And Bob Marley is such an incredible songwriter, which means you can approach his songs in so many ways. I wanted to put “Is This Love?” into 6/8 and bring the tempo back to underline the poignancy of the lyric, and then Steve Brown arranged the piano part into something reminiscent of Carole King or Aretha Franklin’s gospel-soul piano style, which gave it a whole extra level. When guitarist John McCallum added in this Hendrix/Curtis Mayfield sound, it brought in a whole American doo-wop dimension too. So it’s like a whole bunch of my favourite influences in one beautiful song.

“My Love” by Paul McCartney
I first heard “My Love” at an event for Paul McCartney at the White House, where I was invited to play. A string section played the song and I was struck by the fragility of that ascending melody on “My love does it good.” I was also really touched by Stevie Wonder and Paul McCartney’s relationship; their mutual respect and the fact they had known each other so long. When we recorded this song the harmonies and keyboards were definitely influenced by Stevie’s sound.

“Que Sera Sera” (live) – Doris Day
“Que Sera Sera” is a song we have been closing our gigs with all over the world. I love Sly and the Family Stone’s version, how he takes what feels like a nursery rhyme in Doris Day’s lovely hands and turns it into a philosophical outcry, declaiming “The future’s not ours to see.” Sometimes I attack this lyric angrily, sometimes I’m all peaceful and surrendered to it. What an amazing song. We recorded this super-long version in Washington D.C one night when the magic in the air meant we didn’t want to get off stage. I hope you enjoy listening to it as much as we enjoyed playing it.

[Soul Culture]

Yesterday we took a look back at the biggest fails from the pop music landscape in 2010, but we easily could have included the following 10 album covers. Whether they were bizarre, badly designed or just straight up stupid, these covers were full of fail in their own unique way. Last year’s title belonged to Cobra Starship’s grotesque Hot Mess, and although this year’s winner/loser doesn’t make us gag in the same way the punk-pop band’s tattooed lip did, it’s still a colorfully ridiculous hot mess. Flip through our gallery (in order of “Sorta Terrible” to “Are You Kidding Us?!”), and to balance things out, check back tomorrow to see some of the year’s best album cover art.

Prince popped up unexpectedly on The View this morning to hand out some free tickets to his upcoming Welcome 2 America tour — little did he know just what a diehard fan he had in co-host Sherri Shepherd. “I’ve wanted to make love to you for my whole life!” proclaims Sherri while sitting next to her lifelong crush, stroking his gloves. And what does Prince do in return? He leaves… or at least he tries to, after being confused what exit to take. Watch The Purple One’s hilarious brief cameo on the morning talk show below.

“First of all, these are strange hours for rock stars,” says Prince, who probably hasn’t been out during daylight hours since… well, maybe ever. And just as quickly as he appeared, he’s gone!

Are you attending one of Prince’s concert dates this month? If you were one of our lucky winners, you sure are!

[Jezebel]

Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today to give away five—yes FIVE!—pairs of tickets to see Prince live in concert. So, if you’re ready to go crazy, let’s go below to see how you can see the Purple One on his Welcome 2 America tour.

The “Laydown” singer will be rocking the New York/New Jersey area next month with five shows and we’ve got a pair of tickets for each one!

THE SHOWS ARE:

• December 14, 15, 17 at Izod Center, East Rutherford, New Jersey
• December 18, 29 at Madison Square Garden, NYC

HOW TO ENTER:

• We’ve hidden five “purple tickets” (shown above) throughout our photo galleries (hint: think live shows).
• Each ticket has a unique code as its caption. To win, find one of the purple tickets, come back to this post and be the first to leave the code in the comments.
• The first winner will have their pick of the five dates, then the next winner will have their pick of the remaining four, and so forth.
• Then, friend Idolator on Facebook (if you aren’t already). We must be able contact you through via Facebook message.

RULES: Contestants must be at least 13 years of age or older as of date of entry. Winners will be notified through Facebook message by phone 5 days before their show.