Too Old Too Fast?

Yet another one of the Disney Channel stars has grown up and stepped into a different persona. Miley Cyrus is following in the footsteps of Brittney Spears, Justin Timberlake and Christina Aguilera. Miley grew up in front of America on the television screen as Hannah Montana, now as her new music video is released “Can’t Be Tamed” Miley is jumping into adulthood. With millions of little girls looking up to Hannah Montana, it is if left to be questioned on how the public feels about her latest transformation. In her video Miley is dressed in a scandalous, shredded black leather jumpsuit dancing in a bird cage, surrounded by seductive dancers. What happened to the fresh faced teen idol? There are many mixed emotions about the music video and Mileys’ new look. I personally think that being so young the sex appeal could be taken down a notch especially with so many young girls looking up to her, but then again with celebrities like Lady Gaga setting the stage the music industry seems to be changing itself.

-LCJ

Calling all Glee fans!!!!

Calling all Glee fans!!!! The Lexington Opera House has revealed its 2010-11 Broadway Live season! Glee has amped up the interest in Broadway shows everywhere, and luckily Lexington has a ROCKIN’ six show season that includes something for everyone.

Series subscribers will have the first opportunity to buy tickets for Tony and Emmy Award winner John Lithgow's one-man show, Stories by Heart, as part of the Alltech Fortnight Festival! Stories by Heart has received rave reviews in NYC and is a show not to be missed!

2010-2011 Broadway Live season:

The Color Purple, Sept. 10-12: experience Steven Spielberg's movie on Broadway brought to you by Oprah Winfrey.

Spring Awakening, Oct. 29-31: 2007 Tony Award winner for best musical, Spring Awakening is cited along with Hair and Rent as musicals that changed Broadway. Glee’s Lea Michele and Jonathan Groff starred in the original Broadway production!

A Chorus Line, Nov. 19-21: The revival of the 1975 hit stayed true to the show's origins and time. A must see!

Spamalot, Jan. 14-16: Killer bunnies, knights who say "Ni", the Lady of the Lake and other favorite Monty Python bits make the stage version of Monty Python and the Holy Grail HILARIOUS.

Fiddler on the Roof, Feb. 11-13: Including the classic show tunes “Matchmaker, Matchmaker” and “If I Were A Rich Man” the 1964 musical about Tevye the Milkman struggling with changes big and small in his Russian village is a timeless favorite.

Legally Blonde, April 15-17: Bend…and SNAP! This show made Lexington Catholic High School graduate Laura Bell Bundy a Broadway star as she originated the role of Elle Woods in NYC!

And your 2010 American Idol is...

Well, you all know it now. Lee Dewyze is the official American Idol. We, as the AFF team here, are pretty split down the middle on this one. Some wanted Crystal, some were pulling for Lee, and some were rooting for both (to the point where it didn't really matter who won anymore, I mean, we all know they are BOTH going to be recording albums). This leads me to, my question I want to pose: Is it better to win Idol or to be runner-up? Automatic album is good of course, but how much control do these Idol winners get over their own sound? It is hard to say. Many break away shortly after to do their own thing. So let's hear your thoughts on the big finale last night.

Nashville Rising: A Benefit Concert

June 22nd the stars will align, and I'm not talking about Ursa Major and Minor, I'm talking everyone's favorite country stars. Tim McGraw, Faith Hill, Toby Keith, Taylor Swift, Carrie Underwood, Brooks & Dunn and Miley Cyrus are among the artists who will perform at a benefit to assist victims of the middle Tennessee flooding. The benefit was organized by McGraw and Hill and will benefit the Community Foundation which provides philanthropic services that enhance the Middle Tennessee area. Also featured at the event at Bridgestone Arena (formerly Sommet Center (formerly Gaylord Arena)) will be artists like Luke Bryan, Amy Grant, Jason Aldean, Miranda Lambert, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Martina McBride, LeAnn Rimes and Michael W. Smith.

Tickets go on sale May 14th at 10am on ticketmaster.com and range from $25-$75. Visit nashvillerising.org for more information!

Betty White Boosts SNL

This weekend, over 510,000 facebook fans got their wish as 88 year-old Betty White hosted Saturday Night Live. It all started with a group called "Betty White to Host SNL (please?)!" on this popular social networking site and it ended in a victory for NBC and facebookers nationwide. Saturday Night Live picked up a rating of 8.8, the highest rating for the show in 18 MONTHS! The highest since the always popular pre-presidental election.

Jay-Z was brought in as the musical guest, so there was not a dull moment throughout the show. Jay even dedicated his performance of his latest hit, Young Forever to the "Most Incredible Betty White".

Betty kept the audience on the edge of their seats from the very beginning with help from an entourage of former SNL lady favorites Tina Fey, Amy Poehler, Molly Shannon, Ana Gasteyer, Rachel Dratch and Maya Rudolph.

Next week, this season closes with host Alec Baldwin and musical guest Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers. We'll see if they can top last week's 8.8 rating....(I'll bet against it)

-JAI

"I Gotta Feeling" It Broke A Record

The Black Eyed Peas slide into the number one spot, declaring their hit single, " I Gotta Feeling" the #1 most digitally downloaded song of all-time. With over 5.56 million downloads, this single just slipped past Flo Rida's "Low" (5.53 million downloads) to claim the top spot.

Flo Rida has enjoyed holding down the #1 most downloaded spot since March 2008, when it passed Soulja Boy Tell'em's 2007 hit "Crank That."

The BEP are not only sitting pretty at #1, but their song "Boom Boom Pow" from the same record is in fourth place with 5.29 million downloads.

So the current top five most downloaded songs of all time are:

1. I Gotta Feeling: Black Eyed Peas (5,561,000)
2. Low: Flo Rida (5,536,000)
3. Just Dance: Lady Gaga (5,364,000)
4. Boom Boom Pow: Black Eyed Peas (5,298,000)
5. Poker Face: Lady Gaga (5,131,000)

So it looks like if you're planning on making it into the top five one of these days, you better write a song with some thumping bass, a heavy beat and a catchy, repetitive chorus.

-JAI

Can HANSON Make the Greatest Comeback Of All-Time?

They've changed their look, cut their hair and even had a few babies along the way. Most people probably don't even kow that HANSON has released four albums since their debut smash album, "Middle Of Nowhere" that featured songs like "MMMBop" and "Where's The Love". Already chalked down as the biggest one-hit-wonder ever, HANSON has a final chance to make the greatest comeback of all-time.

HANSON announced the release of their new record, Shout It Out, on June 8, 2010. It’s a fantastically infectious collection of finely crafted, R&B-flavored pop-rock -- an homage to the music that inspired the band when they started out. The album was recorded in a studio on a 2,000-acre pecan farm in El Paso, Texas, and was produced and written exclusively by HANSON, augmented with special guests: Funk Brothers bassist Bob Babbitt, who played on some of Motown’s greatest hits, as well as horn arranger Jerry Hey, who worked with Michael Jackson, Quincy Jones, Earth, Wind and Fire and many more.

They released their first music video from the upcoming album today and can be found here:

http://www.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=music.videos&videoId=104317949

And yes, that is Weird Al playing the tambourine. I'm diggin' the old school, funky motown sound and would love to see HANSON top the charts again!

-JAI