Pop Shots - Strength In Numbers


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 Kelly Clarkson’s new sales record, to the home of Coachella wanting to cash in on concert attendance, to Celine Dion not understanding how many hours are in a workweek, and since it’s Pop Shots you know everything is seasoned with a little bit of attitude.

* Kelly Clarkson’s “Stronger” has surpassed Carrie Underwood’s “Before He Cheats” as the best selling single from an American Idol alum. What we can glean from this information is that the vast majority of American Idol’s audience is made up of girls who are being dumped and/or cheated on.

* Frank Ocean took to the internet to fairly casually announce that when he was 19 he fell in love with a man. Apparently this is one ocean that was filled when The Weather Girls announced it was raining men. (Side note: I’m obviously making a joke here. If Frank Ocean’s sexuality alters how you feel about his music you are a grade A buffoon.)

* If a proposed tax hike in Indio, California, goes through, resulting in a 5-10 percent tax imposed on admissions to events that draw more than 2,500 people, the Coachella music festival may skip its 2014 show and find a new location for the future. While this will disappoint celebrity wannabe hippies, bands that don’t draw well can’t wait to flock to Indio for their Nobody Really Likes Us Festival.


* In an unbelievably tight race, Linkin Park’s latest album, Living Things, beat Maroon 5’s latest, Overexposed, by just over a thousand copies sold to take the top spot on Billboard’s album chart. Living Things moved 223,000 units, while Adam Levine and crew sold 222,000. In other words, people wanted to “Burn It Down” just a little bit more than they wanted to find a “Payphone.”

* Rihanna, Drake, Nicki Minaj and Deadmau5 are slated to headline this year’s London Music Festival. No one let Chris Brown know Rihanna and Drake will be together! Lord knows what alcoholic beverage he may order, and then be hit with, next!

* Carol Hawkins, a former personal assistant to U2 bassist Adam Clayton, was found guilty of stealing $3.5 million from the musician. Obviously theft is always a bad thing, but if you’re Clayton, and you don’t notice that your personal assistant has bought a racehorse and a stable (yes, Hawkins really did that), maybe you’re not paying enough attention to the people around you.


(Pop Shots' approximation of what the horse looks like)

* Lauryn Hill pled guilty to three counts of tax evasion. Each count carries a maximum penalty of one year in prison and a $100K fine. Who knew when she released The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill that the album title would end up being so literal?

* Celine Dion is being sued by a former employee who claims that he was illegally denied overtime compensation, routinely working over 40 hours per week. Apparently for Celine, her employees’ hours, much like her heart, will go on.

* Tired of fighting with his label over the release of his next album, 50 Cent released 5 (Murder By Numbers) for free last Friday. It’s actually kind of poetic, because 50’s career really is being murdered by numbers, and those numbers are his album sales.

* Cher Lloyd’s “Want U Back” has become a song I turn up despite its lyrical issues, and by issues I mean it makes no sense. In the first verse she sings about dumping a guy, but seeing him happy with someone else, and wanting him back. In the second verse she says he’ll “come crawling back” to her. Really? It sounds like she’s the one doing the crawling. That being said, her cheeky personality, and unbelievably awesome grunts, make this pretty irresistible.


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

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