Billboard Hot 100 March Madness 2014

32 hits have been chosen from being in the Hot 100 from May 4, 2013 to the current chart. For the past 2 years Britney Spears has reigned SUPREME with 2012s, ‘Hold It Against Me’ and the 2013 collab with Will.i.am, ‘Scream & Shout.’

This year Britney isn’t in the running, but there are plenty of fan favorites. The Sweet 16 will be announced Monday, March 10th and the winner March 27th.

Check out the chart below:

Here are my picks for the Sweet 16:

Lorde ‘Royals’ v. Avicii ‘Wake Me Up’

Pink/Nate Reuss ‘Just Give Me a Reason’ v. One Republic ‘Counting Stars’

Pharrell ‘Happy’ v. Imagine Dragons ‘Radioactive’

Eminem/Rihanna ‘The Monster’ v. Macklemore & Ryan Lewis ‘Can’t Hold Us’

Katy Perry ‘Roar’ v. Daft Punk/Pharrell ‘Get Lucky’

Macklemore & Ryan Lewis ‘Thrift Shop’ v. Pitbull/Ke$ha ‘Timber’

Miley Cyrus ‘Wrecking Ball’ v. One Direction ‘Best Song Ever’

Katy Perry/Juicy J ‘Dark Horse’ v. Robin Thicke/Pharrell/T.I. ‘Blurred Lines’

Tune back in next week for the official standings. It’s all up to the fans to vote so we’ll see. Vote here!

Lorde’s, Pure Heroine, Hits 1 Million

April 2011 marked the first huge benchmark for Adele when her debut album, 19, sold over a million by the end of the April 3rd week. Now three years later Lorde is now added to this elite class by being the first woman to debut and hit the  million mark since Adele with her debut album, Pure Heroine. In addition, she’s the first debut album to hit the mark since Hunter Hayes’ self-titled debut passed the million mark in October 2013.

Aside from her debut record, she becomes the second woman this year to reach a million. Katy Perry’s, PRISM, was the first. In the entire year of 2013 Beyonce’s unexpected self titled album release was the only female album to hit the million mark. As Billboard stated in their article:

 …had Beyonce not released her surprise album, 2013 wouldn’t have had a million-seller by a female artist.

Lorde is still in the top 10 of the Billboard 200 and has not left the chart since her October 19, 2013 debut. Her debut and Grammy award winning single, ‘Royals,’ spent 9 weeks at #1 in 2013 and the second single ‘Team’ remains in the top 10 on the Hot 100. Her new single, ‘Glory & Gove’ has debuted at #88 on the Hot 100. We’ll see where that goes.

CONGRATS!

Video Review: Katy Perry x Juicy J, ‘Dark Horse’

Katy Perry unsuccessfully channeled Michael Jackson’s ‘Remember The Time’ in her video for ‘Dark Horse.’ I completely understood the Egyptian theme with a colorful, futuristic take, but there were parts that just didn’t fit. The video opened up with the quote:

Kings travel from around the world to win her heart, but only one will be ‘top dawg.’

There were men of all sorts coming in to impress Queen KP, but none really succeeded. Their gifts weren’t good enough and she turned them into sand. The premise of the video went perfectly with the lyrics.

What threw me off was the turning point in Juicy J’s entrance. It would’ve been better if she turned Juicy J into sand after he tried to impress her or something. Instead it was a dragon, but he was really a man that she turned into a dog. On top of that she had an impromptu strip club theme with her doing a toe touch on the pole before going into a split while Juicy J was rapping.

I wasn’t impressed with the turning point of the video. That just killed the whole vibe for me. The song is such a great song lyrically, but the video did not do it any justice. If the Juicy J scenes would’ve been done differently it would’ve been ok. The video overall could’ve been better and had more though with deeper meaning. The Egyptian theme went with the video, it just didn’t seem thought out. Clearly the stripper pole explains that.

Brit Awards 2014, The Performances

The Brit Awards aired for the first time via YouTube today, February 19, 2014.

Here’s a look at the performances:

Beyoncé took to the stage to perform her track, ‘XO,’ and it was turned down set compared to that of her Grammy performance. She lit up the room with her dress and set. No dancing, just singing. Classic Beyoncé and a very nice dress might I add. I wasn’t a huge fan of her Grammy performance, but this was quite nice.

Bruno Mars also took to the stage to perform “Treasure.’ I still am in AWE over his Superbowl performance and his set at the Brit Awards is his usual set for the track. He had his Hooligans doing their thing and I loved their casual attire. Congrats to Bruno for taking home International Male Solo Artist.

Katy Perry took to the stage to perform ‘Dark Horse’ without Juicy J and the set was very similar to that of her Grammy performance. The main difference was the Egyptian theme which comes from her video that is set to debut tomorrow, 2.20.14. I must say that at first I HATED this song, but since I’ve heard it over & over it’s grown on me and being the 3rd song she’s released from her album, it’s my favorite. Expect a video review.

Pharrell ended the show with Daft Punk’s ‘Get Lucky’ before segueing into his Oscar-nominated track, ‘Happy.’ He had a choir, doo-wop dancers and his infamous hat. The one from NBA All-Star Weekend in RED is by far the best statement. The audio in this performance was better as well because during the All-Star performance I could not hear anything. Kudos to Pharrell for reinventing his career. His new album, G I R L, is due out March 3rd.

To see the full list of winners click here.

January Favs

 

Katy Perry Prismatic North American Tour Dates

Katy Perry has already announced the dates for her international tour for her album, Prism, which will feature Icona Pop and now the North American dates are out. The tour will start internationally on May 7th and hits the states on June 22nd on Raleigh (NC) and hit 46 cities in a span of 4 months. Kacey Musgraves, Tegan & Sara, and Capital Cities will serve as opening acts for different locations.

Head over to Billboard for the official tour dates and who will be appearing where for the opening act.