Pop Shots - World’s Strongest Pop Star

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 another entity finally recognizing the power of Taylor Swift, to Maple Leif Garrett (aka Justin Bieber) looking to start a rivalry with One Direction, to Selena Gomez being motivated by a negative emotion, and since it’s Pop Shots you know everything is seasoned with a little bit of attitude.

* Taylor Swift graces the cover of the latest GQ, and what they have to say about her will seem extremely familiar to anyone who's read Pop Shots over the years. GQ writes, "Taylor Swift rules the world, and we are her loyal subjects." Gee, I've only been writing that exact same thing for MULTIPLE YEARS here. Let it be known, Pop Shots broke the news that Taylor Swift is our benevolent overlord (which is why we'll have a special place in her kingdom).

* Speaking of the queen of the universe, after an incident where Swift misinterpreted a tweet by Nicki Minaj, sparking a small, but very public, back and forth, she’s now taking precautions to make sure she’ll never have that kind of “Bad Blood” in her life again. In an interview with music magazine NME, Swift explained, "I send text messages now. If there seems to be some kind of misunderstanding, I go to someone's management, I get their number, and I text them. It's an important lesson for anyone to learn in 2015." Here's hoping we can revert even further back, and take a lesson from Blondie


* Maple Leif Garrett, aka Justin Bieber, tattooed the name up his upcoming album, Purpose, over his abs. Imagine if Fiona Apple had considered this for When the Pawn...

* In more Bieber news, the singer feels One Direction, the biggest boy band on the planet, has the same album release date as him because they need the promotion. He joked about this on Snapchat, but his comments during a recent radio interview made it seem like he was serious, as he said, "They're not really going on the road much, but we're talking about them right now, so it gives them some promo, right? So, that’s probably why they did it." Not going on the road much? One Direction has been on a tour that started in February, goes through October, and has grossed nearly $200 million dollars. The only way they could be more "on the road" is if their tour manager was named Dean Moriarity.

* Demi Lovato was in Washington D.C. this past week at the National Council for Behavioral Health's Hill Day to speak with legislators as part of the Be Vocal: Speak Up for Mental Health initiative. Not seen at the proceedings... these guys


* Tori Kelly is featured in a new "Joy of Pepsi" commercial, becoming the first artist to sing the jingle since Britney Spears did so 15 years ago. Things will get dicey for Kelly come Christmas, however, when the Coca-Cola bears attempt to eat her.

* Speaking of the holidays, Mariah Carey is directing the upcoming Hallmark film, A Christmas Melody, and she reportedly hand-picked Mean Girls actress Lacey Chabert to be the lead. We're all thinking the same thing, right? The movie HAS to include a dance number done to "Jingle Bell Rock."


* While discussing the inspiration behind her new album, Revival, Selena Gomez told Billboard, “The hate motivated me.” If you had Selena Gomez in your "Artist Who Will Embody 2Pac in Interviews" pool, you win!

* Iggy Azalea announced her second album will be titled Digital Distortion, and she'll be releasing a song called "Zillion" "fairly soon." "Fairly soon?" OK, that’s fine, but has she considered finding a time machine, and releasing it in 2014, because I think that might be optimal for her.

* Finally, heavy metal drummer Mike Portnoy on a Hello Kitty drum kit is the kind of thing you need to see to start your week right.


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