Pop Shots - Staying Hungry

Welcome to your weekly dose of pop world musings. Covering all things pop culture, this week Pop Shots is hitting you with thoughts on everything from the hugeness of The Hunger Games, to 98 Degrees and Aerosmith hungering to get back on the road (but not together), to Madonna hungering for more attention, and since it’s Pop Shots you know everything is seasoned with a little bit of attitude.

* The Hunger Games has taken over the country as the movie has made a bajillion dollars, and the soundtrack debuted at number one of the Billboard album chart. Also, children can now be seen killing each other for food every Wednesday night on... (what, you know it's the next logical step).

* 98 Degrees is reportedly set to reunite and embark on a 15 city US tour. They really hope selling out venues won’t be the new hardest thing they’ll ever have to do.

* Fergie has decided being a judge on The X Factor is not in her immediate future, saying “it’s not the right time” for her to become a part of the show. What does Fergie think it's the right time for? A pizza bagel, because...


* Bobby Brown was charged with drunk driving and driving on a suspended license when he was pulled over and failed a sobriety test last Wednesday... at noon. Bobby plans on using his foolproof “Humpin Around” defense in court, where he says “get up off my back. Save your heart attack. Ain’t nobody humpin around” and the defense has no recourse other than to get funky.

* Aerosmith will be hitting the road for 18 US dates as a part of their Global Warming Tour, which is named after how they keep turning up the thermostat at the old folks home they live in. The band has also announced their next album will bring “a little of 1975 back” because nothing gets the youth of today motivated like reminiscing about the end of the Vietnam War.

* Bee Gees singer Robin Gibb, who has been making a recovery from cancer, recently had further surgery, forcing him to cancel several commitments. I think the surgery was a good decision, though, since Pop Shots’ crack legal team informs me that if Gibb dies his estate will owe a refund to everyone who purchased the single “Stayin’ Alive.” Oh, and FYI, Pop Shots’ crack legal team is this chimpanzee in a shirt and tie. He’s dressed nicely and he’s at a desk, so you know he means business.


* Rapper Lil' B is going to speak at NYU, which I think is NYU's way of saying "Hey Rutgers, we'll see your Snooki, & lower the bar EVEN FURTHER!"

* Madonna is really good at two things - marketing herself, and stealing others’ ideas. In the past decade-plus she’s mostly stolen from Cher, but with her new album, MDNA, she’s decided to be an EDM artist, which makes tons of sense because the party scene has really been in need of an AARP member to represent it. At the Ultra Music Festival in Miami Madonna proved exactly how much of an interloper she really is when she made a drug reference EDM veteran Deadmau5 did not take kindly to (and let’s face it, as the mother of a teenage girl, and someone who routinely tries to steal children from other countries, promoting ecstasy use probably isn’t a great idea). Deadmau5 called her out, and Madonna responded with a really weak excuse/apology that he accepted. I don’t think he should have accepted it, though, because Madonna having a televised debate with a guy in a giant mouse head would have been epic.

* This past week I discovered the music of 17 year old Swedish chanteuse Amanda Mair. She may be young in age, but her music has a very old school vibe, as does her video for her song “Sense.” I’m really diggin it!


And with that, my time is up for the week, but I'll be back next week with more shots on all things pop.