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Archive for the ‘Pop’ Category

Britney Spears’ Femme FataleTour launches in Sacramento in three days! That is just 72 hours! With the start date merely 4,320 minutes away, Spears has previewed the show for a small crowd of friends, family, bloggers, and bloggers who used to write mean things about her but changed their tune in exchange for loads of Brit exclusives. So now we know a few things: Britney is singing live (or “somewhat live,” as Perez likely more accurately reported), she makes nine wardrobe changes, and she performs a 22-song set list. Here’s how it breaks down:

Just like there’s a fine line between parody and homage, there’s just a tiny stripe of neon separating “Yay, the ’80s!” from “Oy, the ’80s.” Katy Perry crosses both barriers in her “Last Friday Night (T.G.I.F.)” video, which is like a game of Girl Talk come to life in the least fun way possible.

No Doubt have been stingy with details about their first album in a decade, but EW did leak one detail from a big interview with the band scheduled to run later this week: Gwen Stefani is done playing pop star. Calling her solo career — which included 2004′s Love. Angel. Music. Baby., 2006′s The Sweet Escape, and two tours in 2005 and 2007 — a “moment in time,” Stefani explained, “It went on a little longer than we all thought it would, because it was inspired and you have to go with wherever you’re at in that time in your life … [But] everything works out how it should.”

Is it mean to say this sounds like Vanessa Carlton’s “A Thousand Miles” paired with Ryan Tedder’s signature thump beat and some finger-wagging “Irreplaceable”-style girl power? Because that’s how this aggressively un-edgy single sounds. “Sucks to be you right now,” B sings (flawlessly, of course) on the Babyface-written slo-jam. We do not want to hear Beyoncé singing “Sucks to be you right now.” Some folks thought “Run the World (Girls)” was a little too out there, but Beyoncé already countered with sexed-up ballad “1 + 1″ and this is way too generic a sound for a star as unique as Sasha Fierce. Plus, it does not easily lend itself to incredible feats of multimedia awesomeness. Hey also, has Beyoncé mentioned she’s really into girl power?