The Week: Most Recent Music Personalities

Lady Gaga's 20 million Tweeps: By the numbers

The Week — Wed, 07 Mar 2012 11:21:00 -0500

Lady Gaga made Twitter history this month by becoming the first person to amass 20 million followers or "Tweeps" (twitter + people) on the micro-blogging juggernaut. What accounts for her unrivaled popularity? Social media analyst Stewart Townsend tells BBC News that Gaga is "active, she participates, she listens, she engages." And unlike many other celebrities, Gaga reportedly writes her own tweets. Here, a numerical breakdown of the pop superstar's Twitter dominance:

20,255,774
Followers of @ladygaga as of Wednesday morning. Gaga's most recent tweet, from March 3: "Did ANYONE see SPRINGSTEEN...

Kanye West's astonishingly 'epic' Twitter spree: 4 takeaways

The Week — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 13:13:00 -0500

In what's being called an "86-tweet opus," Kanye West spent the early hours of Thursday morning indulging in a non-stop Twitter spree. In bursts of 140 characters or less, he erupted "like a Mount Vesuvius covered in Louis Vuitton" on a "cornucopia of topics" including fame, creativity, education, The Jetsons, and an ambitious new design venture he claims would position him as the next Steve Jobs. Here are the four of the most strangely fascinating takeaways from Kanye's "epic Twitter rant":

1. His "insane" plan to conquer tech
The biggest news to come out of West's Twitter spree was the news that...

Lady Gaga's 'epically weird' 'Marry the Night' video: 5 talking points

The Week — Fri, 02 Dec 2011 17:59:00 -0500

"I'm going to be a star," Lady Gaga says tearfully in her enigmatic, 14-minute "Marry the Night" music video. "You know why? Because I have nothing left to lose." The pop superstar claims that the brazen autobiographical saga recounts her struggle to achieve fame after Def Jam Records dropped her early in her career. Along the way, viewers are treated to scenes of Gaga writhing naked in a bathtub, a "Black Swan-style ballerina breakdown," an "instant classic" shot of her smearing Cheerios on her chest, and a lengthy introductory monologue set in a high-fashion psychiatric ward. (Watch the video...

Did Justin Bieber ruin Mariah Carey's 'All I Want for Christmas'?

The Week — Fri, 02 Dec 2011 12:31:00 -0500

The video: It's already hard to escape Mariah Carey's 1994 hit "All I Want for Christmas" during the holiday season — and the song's about to become even more ubiquitous. To the dismay of Carey fans, Justin Bieber has turned the track into a duet for his Christmas album Under the Mistletoe. The just-released video (watch it below), which features Bieber dance-shopping at New York's Macy's department store while Carey wiggles in a suggestive Santa Claus outfit, has dismayed more than Carey fans.

The reaction: I can't tell, says Katie Hasty at HitFix. Is this a music video, or a "four minute...

A Chinese choir's bizarrely 'brilliant' Lady Gaga cover

The Week — Thu, 10 Nov 2011 14:21:00 -0500

The video: Next year, the Chinese government will crack down on television that qualifies as "excessive entertainment." In the meantime, China can enjoy this "brilliant" and distinctly over-the-top rendition of Lady Gaga's 2009 hit "Bad Romance," as performed by an oddly euphoric crowd of Chinese citizens, some of whom are pushing 70. (See the video below). The show, held at Hunan Television's Mid-Autumn Festival Gala and televised to "hundreds of millions," opened with a troop of mini-skirted coquettes "playing" glass instruments. Next, a "bizarre," giant two-story dollhouse slides into place...

Is Justin Bieber a baby daddy?

The Week — Wed, 02 Nov 2011 16:21:00 -0400

Justin Bieber's hit song "Baby" may be taking on an entirely different new meaning. The 17-year-old pop megastar is facing allegations that he fathered a child with one of his fans, according to reports by Radar. Bieber's legal team swiftly denied the claims. Still, what are the details of the allegations, and what exactly does Team Bieber have to say about them? Here, a brief guide:

What are the allegations?
A 20-year-old female Justin Bieber fan alleges that she despoiled the erstwhile virgin backstage at a Los Angeles concert last year, and that the singer is the father of her three-month-old...

How Justin Bieber's haircut cost one toy maker $100,000

The Week — Tue, 11 Oct 2011 08:00:00 -0400

Justin Bieber's fans let out a collective OMG! when he cut his signature side-swept hairdo in February — but that was mild compared to the reaction of toy maker Jay Foreman and his employees. "I heard a lot of shrieks around me, and people running in and out of their offices," he said, as quoted at CNN Money. Foreman's company, The Bridge Direct, has the exclusive license to make Justin Bieber dolls, and the teen sensation's unexpected style change cost it a "whopping" $100,000. Here, a look at how a simple haircut became an expensive business nightmare:

First of all, the Biebs has a toy...

A Lady Gaga biopic: Too soon?

The Week — Thu, 06 Oct 2011 11:16:00 -0400

Lady Gaga may be at the height of her career, turning out hit singles at an enviable pace, but movie producers are already eyeing her (short) life story. According to Deadline, Lifetime is developing a TV biopic about Lady Gaga (aka Stefani Germanotta) titled Fame Monster: The Lady Gaga Story. Based on Maureen Callahan's 2010 book Poker Face: The Rise and Rise of Lady Gaga, the film will be about how the pop star rapidly transformed herself from a fringe performer in New York's Lower East Side burlesque scene into a global music sensation. But given that Gaga's career — let alone her life...

Kanye West's 'painful' fashion debut

The Week — Mon, 03 Oct 2011 12:36:00 -0400

Saturday night during Paris Fashion Week, Kanye West followed in the illustrious footsteps of celebs-turned-designers Lindsay Lohan, the Olsen Twins, and Victoria Beckham by debuting his first fashion collection. West's dramatic womenswear line for Spring/Summer 2012 featured luxurious materials, streamlined silhouettes, and an abundance of zippers and bare skin. Not surprisingly, it polarized critics. Was Kanye's extravagant runway show promising, or a "painful" sign that the hip hop impresario should stick to music?

This would have been impressive without Kanye's ego: For a debut collection...

Kanye West and Jay-Z's 'jovial' new 'Otis' music video

The Week — Fri, 12 Aug 2011 15:03:00 -0400

The video: High off the overwhelmingly positive reviews for their new collaborative album Watch the Throne, Kanye West and Jay-Z released the album's first music video Thursday night on MTV. (Watch it below.) Legendary music video director Spike Jonze (Beastie Boys' "Sabotage," Fatboy Slim's "Weapon of Choice") helmed the "jovial" clip for the duo's popular single "Otis." Alternating between footage of West and Jay stripping down (then joyriding in) a Maybach and the rappers spitting lyrics in front of an American flag, the sparse video also boasts brief cameos from a group of models and comedian...

Top 12 Kanye West outbursts: A timeline

The Week — Tue, 09 Aug 2011 18:21:00 -0400

Kanye West is no stranger to controversy. The rapper, who just released the well-received collaborative album Watch the Throne with Jay-Z, made headlines again this week for comparing himself to Hitler during a concert in England. It's not the first time his comments have overshadowed his music. From "George Bush doesn't like black people" to "I'mma let you finish," here's a look back at Kanye's 12 most controversial statements:

November 14, 2004
Nominated for Best New Artist at the American Music Awards for his debut album, The College Dropout, West is outraged when he loses to country star Gretchen...

Watch the Throne: Is Kanye West and Jay-Z's new album worth the hype?

The Week — Mon, 08 Aug 2011 13:05:00 -0400

With almost 40 million albums sold collectively, Jay-Z and Kanye West easily rule hip-hop music. So it's fairly predictable that critics are hailing Watch the Throne, the pair's collaborative album that hit iTunes Monday, as one of the "most historic music events ever." Throne — featuring guest vocals from Jay-Z's wife, Beyonce, and even Otis Redding, who died in 1967 — was first previewed last week at a closed-door listening party at New York's Hayden Planetarium. Just how good is it?

Bow down before Watch the Throne: This "stellar" album is nicely balanced between "hard...

'Otis': Kanye West and Jay-Z's 'crazy-soulful' new single

The Week — Fri, 22 Jul 2011 15:25:00 -0400

The audio: After numerous delays and teases, the collaborative album Watch the Thrones from rap giants Kanye West and Jay-Z will be released officially Aug. 2. With buzz for the album reaching cacophonous levels — even after a mixed response to "H.A.M.," the first single — the duo has released another new track from Throne to appease eager fans. (Listen to the song below.) Called "Otis," it samples the Otis Redding classic "Try a Little Tenderness" while 'Ye and Hova trade rhymes about living large.

The reaction: This song is "crazy-soulful...

Justin Bieber and 8 other failed magazine covers: A slideshow

The Week — Thu, 07 Jul 2011 06:20:00 -0400

Not everyone's a Belieber, it seems. The numbers are in on the teen sensation's February Vanity Fair cover, and they're not good. The issue sold just 246,000 copies, making it the lowest-selling Vanity Fair in 12 years. Bieber isn't exactly the first big name to do small sales on the newsstands. Here are eight other cover boy (and girl) fails:

What happened to all the 'next Justin Biebers'?

The Week — Thu, 23 Jun 2011 14:03:00 -0400

It seems each week, another precocious, strategically coiffed tween becomes a YouTube sensation and is crowned "the next Justin Bieber." That's no surprise, says Jason Richards at The Atlantic. Successful pop stars inevitably inspire imitators. The Backstreet Boys spawned *NSYNC, 98 Degrees, and others. Britney Spears was quickly replicated with Christina Aguilera, Jessica Simpson, and Mandy Moore. But that hasn't happened with the Biebs. The 17-year-old's nearly 4 million album sales, $70 million movie gross, and manic fandom (so far) stand alone. Why? Here, four theories:

1. The media can...

Justin Bieber's 'ridiculous' perfume commercial

The Week — Wed, 25 May 2011 13:12:00 -0400

The video: The first commercial for Someday, a perfume from mop-topped pop sensation Justin Bieber, has already hit the web. (Watch it below.) In the "appropriately ridiculous" ad, a young blond spritzes herself with Someday (which debuts June 20), prompting Bieber to magically appear in her bedroom. The pair are then "lifted into the sky, where they float in a loving embrace above all of the other, less smelly girls," says Sarah Anne Hughes in The Washington Post. The marketing campaign says the 17-year-old star "can't get enough" of the scent, "making those who wear it irresistible" to...