Pop Shots - Big Time Battles

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 who’s trying to take on Taylor Swift, to Justin Bieber attempting to defeat his past, to the animal that once picked a fight with Shakira, and since it’s Pop Shots you know everything is seasoned with a little bit of attitude.

* Britney Spears released the video for her “Pretty Girls” collaboration with Iggy Azalea just four days before Taylor Swift released the star studded video for her own new single, "Bad Blood." Swift's release date had been announced well in advance, so for Spears' camp this was basically the equivalent of sending a puppy to attack Godzilla. In this case, Godzilla happens to be a really attractive young woman who makes amazing music, and has seamlessly transitioned from country to pop. Of course, if Taylor wanted to crush Tokyo, she probably could, but they have way too much cute cat stuff for her to ever contemplate such a thing.

* American Idol crowned Nick Fradiani their season 14 winner, but the celebration was a muted one as FOX announced Idol would be coming to an end after next season. During its run, Idol gave us a number of legitimate superstars, including Carrie Underwood, Jennifer Hudson, Kelly Clarkson, and Daughtry, as well as some entertaining wannabes, like William Hung, the "Pants on the Ground" guy, and Bikini Girl. Idol also brought us Ryan Seacrest, so we can at least partially blame the show for the rise of the Kardashians. Kardashians aside, I really only brought up Seacrest as an excuse to post THIS


* In an interview with Seventeen magazine, Maple Leif Garrett, aka Justin Bieber, attempted to shine up his tarnished image, taking responsibility for his bad behavior in recent years. While that’s all well and good, he has yet to apologize for getting that damned “As Long As You Love Me” song stuck in my head.

* Jennifer Lopez's deal with Planet Hollywood Las Vegas Resort & Casino is official, as her headlining show was announced during American Idol's season finale. In a statement, she said of her upcoming Vegas performance residency, which will begin January 20th, 2016, "I've been preparing for this moment my entire life." To that I say, really? Even when you were fighting off a giant CGI snake with Ice Cube?


* In an interview with Billboard, Pete Wentz reminisced about the time Fall Out Boy brought a small monkey to an award show, saying, "We ran into Shakira, and she was like, 'Ooh! Can I pet him?' Then the monkey bit Shakira." This is another example of why you can’t imitate everything from the TV show Friends. (You thought I was going to go with a “monkey” as “penis” joke, weren’t you? You thought I was going to say, “I wish Shakira would offer to pet my monkey,” but look at me, being all mature, and stuff)

* According to E!, Cody Simpson and Gigi Hadid have broken up. I’d like to use this as an opportunity to reach out to Gigi in her time of need, and say, from the bottom of my heart... how YOU doin? (see, that’s an example of something you can imitate from Friends. Oh, and here’s a picture of Gigi Hadid, just because)


* Because the world makes no sense, Mumford & Sons scored their second number one album on the Billboard 200, with their latest release, Wilder Mind, moving 249,000 equivalent album units in the week ending May 10th. I guess hipsters do spend their money on something.

* Singer/actress Zendaya reached a milestone of adolescence this past week, as she graduated from high school. She did so after attending the Oscars, and the Met Gala, so basically, good luck to her parents in their attempts to plan a graduation party for her.

* Finally, the other day I was driving to the gym and Toto’s seminal 80s hit “Africa” came on the radio. I became far more hyped than I ever imagined I would. Does the song do the same thing for you?


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