Pop Shots - Everyone Gets a Raise

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 Taylor Swift raising the bar for album sales, to some very famous voices raising funds for hurricane victims, to a Spice Girl raising a court ordered stop sign to a paparazzi, and since it’s Pop Shots you know everything is seasoned with a little bit of attitude.

* Taylor Swift proved that fans will still buy albums as long as those albums are filled with quality material. Her latest, Red, topped the charts this week with an amazing 1.2 million in sales, which is the highest one week total since Eminem’s 2002 follow up to The Marshall Mathers LP, The Eminem Show. In a related story, Conor Kennedy just realized how many people are going to find out about his high school years when Swift’s next album is released.

* Justin Timberlake had to do a little spin control last week when a video one of his friends created as a joke for him hit the net and created quite the commotion. In the clip, various homeless people, who were paid a nominal fee, congratulated Justin and his bride, Jessica Biel, on their nuptials. The joke was supposed to be that Justin didn’t have many friends. After admitting it was in poor taste, The former N*Sync singer described the video as a “lapse in judgement” by his friend. The really bad news stemming from this is Timberlake is probably going to be very careful with video footage for a while, which means we won’t be seeing a Jessica Biel sex tape anytime soon.

* Christina Aguilera, Jon Bon Jovi, and Bruce Springsteen headlined a concert to benefit the victims of Hurricane Sandy this past Friday. The special aired on NBC, Bravo, CNBC, E!, G4, MSNC, Style, Syfy and USA. I didn’t watch it, but I’m just gonna go ahead and assume the SyFy broadcast of the show included a CGI monster that ate Christina Aguilera.


* Spice Girl Mel B knows what she wants, what she really really wants, and it’s for photographer Jamie Fawcett to stop harassing her. The singer known as Scary Spice has been granted a restraining order against him in Sydney, Australia. I think the real story, however, is that it’s 2012 and someone still wants to take a picture of a Spice Girl. THIS is why I love life.

* Because one Taylor Swift story is never enough, the new ruler of the music universe will be co-hosting the Grammy nominations live from Nashville alongside LL Cool J. I wonder would it would take to get her to ask him “whatever happened with that whole Canibus thing?”

* Green Day has been forced to cancel their fall, and early 2013, tour dates due to lead singer Billie Joe Armstrong’s current stint in rehab (the substance abuse place, not the trendy nightclub in Las Vegas which could quite possibly send you to the substance abuse place if you continue to have a few too many at the bar. You hear me, Drunky McDrunkerson! I’m talking to you!). Since they won’t be performing live anytime soon, the band has decided to give fans some new music early, pushing up the release date of iTre! to December 11th. In a related story, Octomom has also entered rehab, but here’s hoping her stint there doesn’t inspire her to push up any release dates.


* Coldplay has announced that there will be a one night only screening of their upcoming live concert film, Coldplay Live 2012, at theaters around the world on November 13th. The film, and accompanying album, will hit stores on November 19th. If pushing the clocks back an hour didn’t get you enough sleep, this should do the trick.

* In really sad news, Blaque singer Natina Reed was killed on Saturday, October 27th when she was hit by a car while walking in a major roadway in Georgia at 10:30pm. Reed, in addition to being 1/3 of the “808” trio, also appeared in the cheerleading classic Bring It On.

* Finally, because I’d prefer to end things on a much lighter note... ZOMBIE HOEDOWN!


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