Tag Archives: Christmas

Rihanna Bested By Susan Boyle, Jackie Evancho On Billboard 200

Two “Talent” show singers top the charts, while Rihanna’s Loud debuts at #3. By Gil Kaufman Rihanna Photo: Matt Harper/ MTV News Though it’s an American holiday, Thanksgiving must be turning into Susan Boyle ‘s favorite. After setting records last week with her second album, The Gift, former “Britain’s Got Talent” runner-up Boyle will retain the #1 spot on the Billboard 200 chart next week thanks to sales of another 335,000 copies, and despite challenges from nine new competitors, according to figures provided by Nielsen SoundScan. Last week, Boyle became the first woman, and only other artist besides the Beatles and the Monkees, to land two straight #1 albums within a calendar year in both England and the U.S. She retains the crown as another reality singer from a Simon Cowell-produced show, 10-year-old “America’s Got Talent” runner-up Jackie Evancho , comes in just behind with her debut EP, O Holy Night (#2, 239,000). That means Rihanna has to settle for a #3 debut for her fifth album, Loud, which sold 207,000 copies. It marked her best U.S. chart sales debut to date, besting the #4 bow of last year’s Rated R, which came in with sales of 181,000. She leads a parade of new names in the top 10 which also includes Josh Groban ‘s Rick Rubin-produced Illuminations (#4, 191,000), Kid Rock ‘s Rubin-produced Born Free (#5, 189,000), Rascal Flatts ‘ Nothing Like This (#6, 165,000), Keith Urban ‘s Get Closer (#7, 162,000), the “Glee” Christmas album (#8, 161,000) and Nelly ‘s 5.0 (#10, 63,000). The only other hold-over from last week’s top 10 is Taylor Swift , whose Speak Now figures dropped by more than 30 percent to 146,000 as her first month of sales crossed the 1.7 million mark. Pink ‘s greatest-hits collection, Greatest Hits So Far! , comes in at #14 (53,000), just beating out the Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band ‘s Darkness on the Edge of Town outtakes collection The Promise (#16, 47,000). Season nine “American Idol” winner Lee DeWyze set a new record for “Idol” champs, just not the kind he probably wanted. His first major-label effort, Live It Up, is officially the poorest-selling debut from an “Idol” champ in history, notching a lowly #19 chart bow on anemic sales of 39,000. The title was previously held by season-eight winner Kris Allen, whose debut hit the charts in 2009 at #11 on sales of 80,000. It was a very rough second week for Kid Cudi , whose Man on the Moon 2: The Legend of Mr. Rager plummets nearly 80 percent to #21 on sales of 34,000, while Eminem ‘s Recovery drops 12 spots to #23 while holding steady on sales at 34,000 and crossing the 3 million mark. It was also a big comedown for Cee Lo , as his solo album The Lady Killer nosedives 30 spots to #39 after sales shriveled by 40 percent to 25,000. Despite selling 2 million digital tracks and 450,000 digital albums in their iTunes coming-out party, the Beatles have only one album in the top 50, with Abbey Road slipping in at #50 (19,000). Thirteen other digital albums chart in the lower regions of the top 200. The Fab Four are having better luck on the iTunes album chart, where Abbey Road comes in at #6 and a special box set closes out the tally at #10. But it is all Rihanna on that chart, as Loud holds the #1 slot, followed by the “Glee” Christmas album, Rascal Flatts, A Day to Remember ‘s What Separates Me From You, Urban, Swift, Groban and Kanye West ‘s My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy. iTunes doesn’t release sales figures, but “Glee” rules the singles countdown thanks to guest Gwyneth Paltrow’s cover of Cee Lo’s “Forget You,” followed by Ke$ha ‘s “We R Who We R,” Cee Lo’s own sanitized version of his profane hit single, Katy Perry ‘s “Firework,” Pink’s “Raise Your Glass” and the “Glee” cast’s recording of “Singing in the Rain/Umbrella.” The rest of the singles chart includes #7 song “What’s My Name?” by Rihanna and Drake , the Black Eyed Peas ‘ “The Time (Dirty Bit),” Rihanna’s “Only Girl (In the World)” and Far East Movement ‘s “Like a G6.” Things will get shuffled all over again next week with chart debuts from Kanye, Justin Bieber, Nicki Minaj, My Chemical Romance, Ne-Yo, Jay-Z, Akon, Alan Jackson, Ke$ha and the “Burlesque” soundtrack. Related Videos MTV News Extended Play: Rihanna Related Photos Rihanna and Ke$ha Perform At Madison Square Garden Related Artists Rihanna Susan Boyle

Visit link:
Rihanna Bested By Susan Boyle, Jackie Evancho On Billboard 200

Mars Needs Moms Trailer: An Argument Against Motion-Capture Animation

The trailer for the latest (and possibly final ) Robert Zemeckis-produced motion-capture opus Mars Needs Moms has arrived and, to it’s credit, the CGI humans here do not look quite as much like horrifying corpses as they did in The Polar Express and A Christmas Carol . The premise is cute, as far as this sort of thing goes, and some of the space landscapes are rendered beautifully…and yet, more than any other trailer recently, Mars Needs Moms makes me yearn for old-school animation.

Go here to see the original:
Mars Needs Moms Trailer: An Argument Against Motion-Capture Animation

Mark Wahlberg Gives Thanks For ‘The Fighter,’ ‘The Other Guys’ In 2010

He’s also thankful for ‘Boardwalk Empire’ — and we’re thankful for him. By Kara Warner, with reporting by Josh Horowitz Mark Wahlberg Photo: MTV News Next up on our short list of people for whom we’re most thankful this year: Mark Wahlberg . Certain generations will always remember him as Marky Mark from his days of “Good Vibrations” and Calvin Klein underwear ads. But in the last decade, Wahlberg has emerged as one of the industry’s most savvy and bankable players. In 2010, we were introduced to a new side of Wahlberg — his comedic timing — which he showcased by way of “Date Night,” “The Other Guys” and MTV’s own “The Knife Show.” Behind the screen, Wahlberg teamed up with heavyweights Martin Scorsese and Terrence Winter (“The Sopranos”) to bring “Boardwalk Empire” to HBO. He also produced and stars in “The Fighter.” The man has been busy, and we’re happy about it. MTV : You’re one of the people we’re most thankful for. Has this year been particularly better than others? Mark Wahlberg : It has. Every year above ground was a special year. Professionally, things couldn’t be better. Personally, my kids are healthy — aside from my youngest having a double ear infection. My wife is healthy and happy and everything is good, so really I’m so blessed and so fortunate. We’ve had a chance to talk and play around, but I’m not one of these guys who feels, like, entitled to be in this position. I feel so grateful and so humble. I’ve obviously worked very hard, it’s been an amazing journey, but if it ended today, I would be happy because I was on the ride. MTV : Is there a highlight from this year? Wahlberg : I would have to say between the movie stuff and the television stuff — with “Boardwalk Empire” premiering, “The Other Guys” did so well. Getting to go do a comedy at the beginning of this year with Seth McFarlane, his directorial debut. I’m so excited, it’s off-the-charts funny. MTV : Tell me about “Teddy Bear,” because it sounds absurd and amazing at the same time. Wahlberg : I don’t know how much he wants me to tell, but it’s about this kid who gets a bear for Christmas, it’s in the ’70s, it’s one of those Teddy Ruxpin-ish bears where you squeeze it and it says, “I love you!” The kid wishes and dreams that the bear would come alive, and a Christmas wish must be granted and it does. And Seth McFarlane is voicing the bear, but the bear is going to look like a little teddy bear, but it’s motion-capture, like “Avatar.” It’s never been done before. It’s insane. What the bear does is just … MTV : An R-rated comedy? I assume when Seth McFarlane is involved … Wahlberg : Yeah. The bear becomes famous, and then that’s my ticket to getting things and living a life of privilege. MTV : How satisfying was it for you to finally make “The Fighter”? Wahlberg : Just to be able to get the movie made was such an uphill battle. I was so happy we got it made, and then the fact that we were able to make a great movie and, I think, the best possible version of the movie. There were so many times where I thought I would make the movie just to get it done, but it happened for the right reasons. MTV : Do you have plans to direct? Wahlberg : I want to direct, but I don’t want to direct myself in a movie, because then it becomes about directing my performance. I don’t have the ability to be that kind of multitasker. Producing was tough enough. But in the future, I’d like to take a crack at it. MTV : What’s next? You’ve talked about “Cocaine Cowboys.” Wahlberg : Yeah, probably right now. And then there’s this other thing, “Broken City,” that I want to do at the end of next year with Allen Hughes directing, which is on the Black List. [ Editor’s note: The Black List is a compendium of unproduced screenplays that different studios/readers have given high marks to. ] It’s one of the best unproduced screenplays, an amazing piece of material that should attract amazing talent. … Hopefully “Fighter” will make it a little easier to get some of these passion projects off the ground. MTV : What kind of film is “Broken City”? Wahlberg : Crime, mystery. It’s in the vein of those old classics, “Chinatown,” even “L.A. Confidential.” Thanksgiving is a time for taking stock, expressing gratitude and, most importantly, overeating. We at MTV News have been gorging all year at movie theaters, so it’s about time we looked back and gave thanks to our favorite actors and filmmakers of 2010. Enjoy exclusive interviews with our winners all week long. Check out everything we’ve got on “The Fighter.” For breaking news, celebrity columns, humor and more — updated around the clock — visit MTVMoviesBlog.com . Related Videos MTV Rough Cut: Mark Wahlberg

Go here to see the original:
Mark Wahlberg Gives Thanks For ‘The Fighter,’ ‘The Other Guys’ In 2010

Searching for Christmas, and the Missing Layoff Stories

This is the sixth year I have looked into how the media treats these two topics:

David Archuleta to Fans: Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas!

At the official Christmas tree lighting yesterday at The Grove in Los Angeles, David Archuleta and Charice took to the stage and sent an important message to listeners: Have yourself a merry little holiday, people! Indeed, the former American Idol finalist teamed up with the Glee guest star to sing a Christmas classic. Listen to it below and consider: Archie says he’s never had a girlfriend . Think he and Charice would make a good couple? David Archuleta and Charice

See the original post here:
David Archuleta to Fans: Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas!

Kanye West, Justin Bieber Join Tradition Of Mega-Release Weeks

This isn’t the first time labels have loaded the shelves with new releases all at once. By Vaughn Trudeau Schoonmaker Kanye West Photo: Gareth Cattermole/Getty Images The sheer volume of mainstream albums dropping this week makes our head spin like that ancient artifact, the vinyl record. Monday saw the release of Nicki Minaj’s Pink Friday, Kanye West’s My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy, Ke$ha’s Cannibal, Jay-Z’s The Hits Collection Vol. 1, Lloyd Banks’ Hunger for More 2 and My Chemical Romance’s Danger Days: The True Lives of the Fabulous Killjoys. And Friday is the big day for Justin Bieber’s My Worlds Acoustic. Many may wonder why the big wigs of the music industry would put out such a gargantuan selection all at once. But there’s a precedent for this kind of strategy. In fact, music lovers have been through this very same overload dilemma a handful of times over the last decade. Here’s a look back at some of them: September 11, 2001 became a national tragedy, it was supposed to be a huge day for the music business. Mariah Carey’s “Glitter” soundtrack, Jay-Z’s Blueprint, Bob Dylan’s Love and Theft, Ben Folds’ Rockin’ the Suburbs, Nickelback’s Silver Side Up and P.O.D.’s Satellite were among the many albums that were released at the beginning of the week. November 18, 2003 marked the start to one of the year’s biggest music release weeks. The range of albums seemed to hit every demographic imaginable. Releases included Britney Spears’ In the Zone, Blink-182’s self-titled fifth studio album, Timbaland & Magoo’s Under Construction, Part II, Christmas albums from Whitey Houston and Ashanti, compilations from Michael Jackson, Moby and Joe Satriani, and live albums/DVDs from Dave Matthews Band and Linkin Park. Following the pattern of Thanksgiving week album releases, November 22, 2004 began another big week. Two “American Idol” winners, Fantasia and Ruben Studdard went head-to-head with Free Yourself and I Need an Angel, respectively. The shelves were also packed with U2’s How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb, Gwen Stefani’s solo debut Love. Angel. Music. Baby., as well as other releases from Creed, Anthrax, Evanescence, Nirvana and Jessica Simpson. September 12, 2006 was the drop date of Justin Timberlake’s second solo album, FutureSex/LoveSounds, which produced five smash hit singles. That week John Mayer’s Continuum and Bob Seger’s Face the Promise were released, and both eventually went platinum. Other albums and compilations came from the Mars Volta, Papa Roach, Lionel Richie, Veruca Salt, Everclear, and the Barenaked Ladies. On September 11, 2007 after threatening to retire from music if his album Curtis was outsold, 50 Cent came in second to Kanye West’s Graduation. And though he wasn’t included in the 50 Cent Challenge, Kenny Chesney’s Just Who I Am: Pirates and Poets was released the same day and sold very well. The date also marked the release of Animal Collective’s Strawberry Jam, which didn’t exactly pose a threat. One of the wildest weeks of 2009’s album drop calendar was easily that of November 16 . Lady Gaga’s The Fame Monster, Justin Bieber’s My World, Leona Lewis’ Echo, OneRepublic’s Waking Up, Kris Allen’s self-titled debut, Norah Jones’ The Fall, and compilations from both Janet Jackson and Fall Out Boy were some of the new additions to the music scene. Which new albums are you buying this week? Talk about it in the comments! Open the floodgates! It’s Mega-Release Week, with Kanye West, Nicki Minaj, Jay-Z, Ne-Yo, Ke$ha, My Chemical Romance and Lloyd Banks all dropping new albums. Stick with MTV News for everything you need to know about the brand-new music. Related Artists Kanye West Justin Bieber

Read more from the original source:
Kanye West, Justin Bieber Join Tradition Of Mega-Release Weeks

Weekday Vegetarian: Spiced Almonds

Photo: Kelly Rossiter We no sooner get through Thanksgiving when the Christmas party season starts. Here is a simple recipe for roasted almonds that you can serve yourself, or take as a hostess gift. I took these nuts to a party this week and they were a big hit. Like most nuts , they are totally addictive. In fact, I’m snacking on some now as I write this. … Read the full story on TreeHugger

See the rest here:
Weekday Vegetarian: Spiced Almonds

Jessica Simpson 1990 photo

This shot of Jessica Simpson and Ashlee Simpson-Wentz with their parents in 1990, shows the girls celebrating an exciting moment in their young lives: getting these “Debbie Gibson outfits” for Christmas! Jessica Simpson releases her Christmas album on Monday, but 20 years ago, the newly-engaged singer was just a 10-year-old in Texas, celebrating the holidays with her family. “Me and my sister would always sleep together in the same room when Santa came,” Simpson said on CBS#39;s Early Show Mon

Read more:
Jessica Simpson 1990 photo

Katy Perry Sets Off ‘Firework’ At AMAs

Singer sparkles during-high energy American Music Awards set on Sunday. By James Dinh Katy Perry performs at the American Music Awards on Sunday Photo: Kevin Winter/AMA2010/Getty Images/DCP Katy Perry has already revealed her inspiration for her latest single, “Firework.” But the pop star took the track a step further during a high-energy performance that included sparklers at the American Music Awards on Sunday (November 21). As the number began, a children’s choir crooned the chorus of the empowering tune. It was Perry, however, who really made an entrance, descending from a star suspended from the ceiling. Dressed in a furry red dress (one she later ripped off to reveal another ensemble), the “Teenage Dream” singer walked to the front of the stage as the choir dispersed and backup dancers joined her onstage. Meanwhile, backdrop screens showed a slew of fireworks as Perry’s dancers shot sparklers through hand-held gadgets. The pop star ended the visual light-fest on a high note, singing the last few notes of “Firework” while her dancers lifted her high up in the air. Perry is also nominated in multiple AMA categories , including Favorite Female Artist, Favorite Album and Artist of the Year. The newly married Mrs. Brand teased the performance via Twitter a few days ago, writing, “Just finished AMA rehearsal… I am so excited about this remix performance. It’s going to be a mixture of adorable & gorgeous. #AMA’S.” Perry spoke to MTV News about writing the inspirational track, her third single from Teenage Dream. “I think that’s why I wrote it, is because I really believe in people and I believe that people have a spark to be a firework,” she said. “It’s just up to them, and a lot of times it’s only us that’s standing in the way of reaching our goals, fulfilling our destinies, being the best version of who we possibly can be, so that’s why I wrote it.” What did you think of Katy’s sparkling performance? Share your thoughts below! Related Videos AMA 2010 Performance Highlights Related Photos Performances At The 2010 American Music Awards Related Artists Katy Perry

The rest is here:
Katy Perry Sets Off ‘Firework’ At AMAs

Blake Lively Is A Big Star

It’s that time of year again when the annoying Christmas carols and decoration start to show up absolutely everywhere driving me insane, there’s only so much Christmas cheer a man can take. Luckily the people at the Rockefeller Plaza decided to let a hottie like Blake Lively unveil this years giant star ornament in New York yesterday so I’m feeling a little better. I don’t give a crap about the star, I’m just glad Blake wore a little skirt. Sexy. more pictures of Blake Lively here