Jarrett Barrios, the President of the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD), offered a column about why Ricky Martin coming out is important at PopEater. Barrios writes:
Ricky Martin coming out is, for many people, like having a friend or family member come out. “Gay” isn’t an abstract to them anymore, but the kid you knew when you were 14. The power of Ricky’s celebrity status makes fans understand gay people differently, too.
Annie Lennox updatd fans on her blog at MySpace on Thursday (February 25), discussing the issues women face in developing countries. The Eurythmics singer writes:
You see, I had the good fortune to be invited to visit orphanages, clinics, townships, people’s homes, community centers, hospitals, NGO’s…. and it was a complete paradigm shift. It totally transformed my world view. Now, every time I turn on my shower it’s like… HOT WATER ON TAP!!!! Boy am I the lucky one!!..
And every aspect of my life is like a heavenly realm compared to billions who live in chronic, obscene, unremitting, vicious poverty. That is what drives my focus.. Especially as a woman.
Check out the entire post and responses here.
Ke$ha has been taking heat in recent days for being a bit too influenced by Uffie or the relatively unknown Chrissy Snow on her breakout hit ‘Tik Tok’, not to mention that song having a beat sounding suspiciously lifted from Kylie Minogue’s ‘Love at First Sight’ which is demonstrated by the mash-up below. Kegan Zema of The Maine Campus weighed in on the former ‘Simple Life’ roomie of Paris Hilton and Nicole Richie, writing:
Ke$ha is unoriginal and mind-numbing. Her songs appeal to the lowest common denominator and are spoon-fed to the masses. Everything about her — appearance, musical style, demeanor — is a rip-off from some other artist.
The worst part however, is that her hit single ‘Tik Tok’ is a blatant, copyright-infringing knock-off of a song written two years ago by the truly unique artists Uffie and Justice.
Check out the entire article at mainecampus.com.
Update: The New York Post’s PopWrap weighs in.
John Mayer is offering insight on a video on TMZ.com that featured ‘Avatar’ director James Cameron involved in a verbal scuffle with an autograph resller confronted him for a signature at LAX. The singer songwriter explained on his tumblr.com blog:
While I can’t speak to what happened before the segment of video on TMZ, I can tell you that the man in the tiny hat with the ‘Avatar’ poster had probably engaged with Cameron from at least 50 paces before the automatic doors. That’s how it goes down; they walk alongside you. They bark requests at you, trying to get your pulse to quicken. If you give in and sign, the guy with the poster gets to sell it and make a few bucks. If you don’t give in, as it gets harder to acquiesce with each successive yelp, then the stench of cash really starts to waft in as Video Camera Guy gets the goods while you explain in no uncertain terms to Obnoxious E-bay Poster Guy that he’s not going to get what he’s asking for tonight.
Five Times August’s Brad Skistimas checked in with fans on his blog at MySpace on Thursday (October 29), commenting on attending a showing of ‘Michael Jackson’s This Is It’. The Dallas singer songwriter tells readers:
Like so many other people, yesterday I saw the new Michael Jackson movie “This Is It.” It was a great inside look to what would have been an amazing show. Sadly it will never be seen the way Michael intended. It got me thinking a little bit about my childhood, growing up with Michael’s music. Many people don’t know this, but before I picked up a guitar I was dancing like Michael Jackson in my room at 10 years old. He was my first musical idol and inspired me to be an entertainer. For years I fell out of touch with that love for his music. I’m sure a lot of us did. Several months before he died I had started getting back into not only Michael’s music, but the whole Jackson 5/ Jacksons catalog. Sure enough, once he passed away, the entire world rekindled that love for his music again, and now here we all are going Michael crazy.
One thing that makes me sad is that the media in this country (in particular) tore him down, inside and out, yet, now they praise him. It seems like a very fraudulent appreciation. For me, I never fell into the hype of all the controversy surrounding his personal life. Though we can all agree there were many eccentricities about Michael, I don’t think a person with that much love and respect for the world behind his music would do a lot of what he was accused of. If you watch a lot of his older interviews you can tell he was a shy and lonely person. Yet, it seemed no matter how hard people took punches at him he tried to keep his message of love above it. He’s the only celebrity I can really think of that made those messages about the world and could back it up with their actions. Still, the media destroyed him. It’s sad to me that someone with so much talent, that gave us so many great memories, and tried so hard to spread such a positive message was annihilated by the same public and media that once adored him.
Check out the entire post here.
Moby is continuing to speak out for health care reform on his blog at MySpace on Thursday (August 6), pointing out many of the senior citizens objecting to “socialized medicine” are themselves on Medicaid or Medicare. Moby writes:
We need health care reform. We cannot be one of the most prosperous nations on the planet and have millions and millions of people walking around without some sort of coverage. It’s beneath us. And we cannot be one of the most prosperous nations on the planet And deny coverage to people who’ve actually paid for it. Again, it’s beneath us. We should not resemble Dickensian England, where the wealthiest have access to health care and the poorest die in the streets (‘please HMO, can I have some more?’).
Sorry to rant, but health care reform is both necessary and moral, and the Republicans are trying to block it solely at the bequest of the insurance companies.
Check out the entire post here.
Andy Bull updated fans on his blog at MySpace on Wednesday (July 1), talking about the death of Michael Jackson and the aftermath from the family, notably his father Joe, and the media. The Australian singer songwriter tells readers:
Now that Michael has died, the swarms are left to pick over his carrion. The wreckage of his once enviable life seems to me like a giant junkyard. The Black Entertainment Awards was distinguished by Janet Jackson appearing to say a few words, representing a family that were “too upset” to appear themselves. Since then we’ve seen footage, pictures and quotes of Michael’s father looking not like a man broken by the loss of a son, but like a business man who’s business deal has just fallen through. A mild disappointment, rather than a tragic grief, is about all we get from Jackson Snr. His words of mourning seem rather hollow… compounded by the product spruiking epilogue of his official statement, that went along the lines of “in conclusion, the next product I want to show you is this terrific blue-ray disc player”. It becomes pretty clear that Mr Jackson Snr was the ultimate stage parent, a salesman who ultimately sold out his own children. Michael Jackson, like a whatever the hell Joe is selling now, was pimped from the beginning, and, like a girl who’s only ever felt good when people tell her she’s pretty, Michael relied completely on that song and dance for any sense of worth or connection. It filled the place, rather poorly, of real familial relationships (particularly paternal)…
Check out the entire post here.
Ramin Setoodeh of Newsweek is offering a list of reasons why Kris Allen was able to defeat Adam Lambert on Wednesday night’s ‘American Idol’ finale, despite most people believing Adam had wrapped up the singing competition. Setoodeh said the judges’ bias in favor of Adam made his voters lazy, adding that the Kara DioGuardi co-written song ‘No Boundaries’ was “the worst coronation song ever” that neither singer could pull off worked to Kris’ advantage. Kris also being a devout Christian while Adam hasn’t spoken about his religious beliefs aided Allen among conservatives, as no doubt did the Perez Hilton fueled speculation about Adam’s sexuality.
Setoodeh writes: “This shouldn’t be an issue in 2009. But if you’ve read any of online chatter about Idol this year, you know that sadly, there’s still plenty of hate out there. Adam has millions of fans, and it looked like he could strike an emphatic blow against homophobia, much the same way that Obama broke through the race barrier when he became the country’s first black president. But his ambiguous sexuality still cost Adam votes.” Read more.
Five Times August’s Brad Skistimas weighed in on the accelerating marijuana legalization debate on his blog at MySpace on Sunday (March 8) as California explores the topic due to the worldwide economic crisis. Skistimas writes:
Look, I know the economy is bad. I’m a musician for crying out loud! You think I’m making money right now?! Ha, guess what? I wish music was in prohibition right now, maybe then people would actually buy it! I be dealin’ ma tunes like they be weed baby!
Anyway, the point is that times are obviously tough right now. Can we at least keep some of our values while we try to dig ourselves out of this hole? Or, is it that every time we get into a financial jam we decide to break our own laws? I mean, we did it with alcohol to get us out of the depression in the early 30’s and hey, it worked! Now California can do it with marijuana. Then other states can legalize it when they go bankrupt too! Then once weed is legal everywhere and we get ourselves in another financial bind down the road I guess we could fully legalize prostitution. Then I guess after prostitution we could legalize crack and cocaine, maybe LSD, then maybe heroin the time after that…
Get my drift?
Check out the entire post here.
Moby checked in with fans on his official web site’s blog on Sunday (January 18), reacting to news that George W. Bush’s final approval rating is at 22%, the lowest of the Republican’s eight year run. Moby tells readers:
In any case, the 8 years of Bush and Republican rule are coming to an end. The remainder of Bush’s term can be measured in hours. Tick tock tick tock. I mean, it’s almost done. 8 years of Bush and Cheney and Tom Delay and Donald Rumsfeld and Trent Lott and etc etc. Almost done. America is still crazy, and could theoretically still elect a dangerously arrogant and incompetent president in the future. Most Americans still employ the ‘he seems like a fun guy to have a beer with’ criteria when voting and are invariably less discriminating in choosing a president than they are in choosing a plumber (I mean, would anyone pick a plumber based on the ‘he seems like a fun guy to have a beer with’ criteria?). But maybe we’ve learned. I doubt it, but it’s possible that enough people have learned and there’ll be a reasonable and reasonably informed majority who will at least try to make informed and educated choices when they vote. Who knows what will happen in 2 and 4 years when America votes again. In the meantime it’s 96 hours until regime change.
Check out the entire post here.