Obsessively blogging about pop music, pop videos, pop stars, and pop culture from inside the MTV headquarters in Times Square. We also have a slight Jonas Brothers problem. And a little fixation with Tokio Hotel.
I have a painful friendship crush on Anjulie already. What do you want to hear about first? Her compulsive farting problem? Why she thinks she's really a guy? She only scratches the surface of these little nuggets of oversharing in her "The 5" interview below. Also, I am obsessed with Anjulie because, during an internship at a recording studio, the company fired her for accepting a date -- but more on that later.
First, let's get to Anjulie's video, "Boom," a dark, willowy and almost lurid number -- yet oddly, it's totally pop, and I want it on my party mix NOW. The video -- Anjulie in a tutu, alongside pop-up-book sets -- offers child-like Alice in Wonderland allusions. Damn, this video is almost as good as Anjulie's shoulder pads and deadpan farting stories. (I'm still pinning down the biological connection between singing and farting, by the way.)
Anyway, Anjulie grew up in Canada, and she's half Guyanese (like Leona Lewis, FYI). You may also have heard two of Anjulie's unreleased singles on The Hills and The City; although her musical stylings and even her vocals are so disparate track to track that you might not even make the connection. Speaking of disparate, Anjulie opened for Jesse McCartney last year... Anyway, Anjulie's self-titled debut album comes out August 4, and already I can tell it's the kind of spiked pop I NEED in my lifestyle. Daily.
Oh yeah, this isn't in the interview you're about to watch, but Metalworks Recording studios in Canada fired a 17-year-old Anjulie from her internship for accepting a lunch invitation from Jon Levine, of the Toronto band The Philosopher Kings. Oh, well! Jon went on to become a huge champion and even a musical collaborator of Anjulie's, so it looks like office flirtation has its benefits.
'Kay. Watch Anjulie tell you all about her flatulence and more, and watch her "Boom" video after the jump.
Anjulie is obsessed with music. Since she was a kid, the Toronto temptress has been singing and writing songs. And although she's had some success penning hits for other artists, has toured with Jesse McCartney and had her own songs featured on The Hills and The City, nothing up to this point compares to "Boom," the lead single from her Boom EP.
Anjulie's new single is as sultry as an August apartment in a power-out. Her bold vocals ride a seductive boom-bap beat, reeling in listeners with whispered sexuality.
The Adria Petty (Kings Of Leon, Paris Hilton)-directed video is equally alluring. In it, a bustier-clad Anjulie walks a tightrope between mile-high desert crags, coyly twirling an umbrella. She bats her lashes -- every line a come-on -- tip-toeing in fishnets toward a relationship she knows won't work. And then... BOOM! She falls, and the whole thing comes to undulating life.
Saturday night was Nickelodeon's Kids' Choice Awards 2009, also known as THE NIGHT JOE JONAS REVEALED HIS NEW HAIRCUT! But other things happened too! And instead of just TALKING about them, let's LOOK AT THE PHOTOS, shall we?
Miley Cyrus won Favorite Female Singer, and she cried. And cried. And cried. She cried so much she became Cryly Cyrus. Cyley Crylus even! I don't remember if she thanked Jesus, but she was super verklempt and definitely thanked her fans. And cried some more. She managed to do it in a classy way. Like, her face wasn't all full of bawly snot or anything. Congrats, Miley!
Archidorable McArchipants David Archuleta, fresh off the U.S. leg of his tour, accepted the Favorite Reality Show award on behalf of American Idol along with Paula Abdul, who OF COURSE interrupted him AND scared the crap out of me in what looked like costume castaways from a performance of "Disturbia." (Seriously, what WAS that?)
Demi Lovatowas an absolute golden GODDESS. She was dressed up without looking OVERLY made-up. And her amazing gold metallic dress is an Ina Soltani, if you're taking notes, and her heels are YSL.
I included this photo of Josh Peck because I have a total crush on him. I'm pretty sure he was sending secret eye signals to me through the TV and telling me he wants to run away with me. I'm positive.
And, finally, here it is, your moment of Zen -- Best Music Group winners the Jonas Brothers and Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson in a loin cloth or something, all wet and slimy and mens-like -- which is going to push me into therapy... or an early grave...
Just as I was drifting off to sleep last night, in that weird not-quite-sleeping/not-quite-awake state, I was stricken with a thought so intense that I was propelled forth out of my bed and swept away to my computer, causing an unfortunate mishap whereby my Archi-Teddy was knocked to the floor and almost eaten by my dog!
Anyway, that thought was: What on EARTH has America's favorite Idol runner-upper/ full-time Cutie von Cuterson David Archuleta been up to lately?
In case you too were wondering what David Archuleta's been up to, here's the latest Archu-scoop. "ROP!"
+ Always a do-gooder, our Archi-baby recently joined DoSomething.org as the (cutest! sweetest! little) face of their newly launched campaign on disaster relief. And he's exclusively focused on REAL disasters, people... not these sorts of disasters). (Archuleta Fan Scene)
+ David is on tour! His shows are mostly sold out (duh) but he's getting some rave reviews along the way so far. (See previous "duh.") (Boston Herald, Star Exponent)
+ Arch Madness is under way! There are clues, and codes and it all seems slightly confusing, but I'll play because it's probs lots of Archie fun! (David Archuleta Network)
+ We're all, obvs, still kind of reeling over the news that Archie's gonna be on an upcoming Hannah Montana episode! Miley Cyrus + David Archuleta!? FULL ON BEST OF BOTH WORLDS! (Buzzworthy)
+ David made a video in the Atlanta Airport, and he said POO!!! OOOH! (Just Jared Jr.)
+ 16-year-old Twilight hottie and rising New Moon star Taylor Lautner is forbidden from dating until he's 28??? As long as Madonna is distracted by Jesus, you should be fine Tay. (Radar Online)
+ Lindsay Lohan and Lily Allen thought they founded the Unique Girls Club by getting "shhh" tattooed on their index finger -- until they learned Rihanna had the same thing done over a year ago. I TOLD them to get tribals but they wouldn't listen. (Pop Crunch)
+ Duffy brings "cheeky" to a whole new level. (The Sun)
+ The best concept for a concept album? No concept at all (at least that's the case for My Chemical Romance this time around). (MTV Newsroom)
+ In case you need another reason to love Katy Perry, she used to be a pageant girl (!?!) and also finds the WE television series Little Miss Perfect as morbidly fascinating as we do. (Katy Perry's Blog)
+ Sad panther Lily Allen says celebrity has gotten in the way of her everyday life. "There are some things I just can't do any more," she laments. "Like when I've had sex, I can't go to the sexual health clinic... I can't go to a shop to get condoms." At least she's keepin' it clean! (The Mirror - UK)
+ Semi-related side note: the clinically-deprived Allen recently propositioned Simon Cowell via "accidental" text message. (Simon, please see above.) (Scandalist)
+ Zac Efron plays a 40-year-old trapped in a teenager's body for his new flick, 17 Again. So how'd he get into character? "I tried to do a few things that I learned from my dad — things that he thinks are cool but are really dorky." Way to make your old man proud, dude. (MTV News)
+ Watch out, Amy Winehouse -- looks like Blake Fielder-Civil's stepping up his divorce game. So far, the ordinarily degenerate druggie has already hired a "top lawyer," compiled "a file of Amy's errors" and contacted "the men Amy’s meant to have slept with." (Perez Hilton)
+ John Mayer admits that he and girlfriend Jennifer Aniston occasionally have "sleepovers" and says her crazy/high-tech pad is like something out of Inspector Gadget. (Usmagazine.com)
Fairfax, Virginia -- home of the annual, edible-sculpture-producing Chocolate Lovers Festival -- hasn't turned out any Wikipedia-worthy national news since the Civil War. Well, all that's about to change thanks to the explosive emergence of an unignorably raucous new pop-punk band called The Friday Night Boys.
If the name sounds familiar, maybe you caught them among MTV.com's "Pop-Punk Rookies of 2009," or playing live on TRL's 'On Your Radar.' Maybe you're one of their 63,949 (as of 7:00 tonight) MySpace friends.
Regardless, if you're already a Friday Night Boys fan, you're about to have a whole lotta company! Nevermind the fact that they sold 45,000 downloads of their SELF-RELEASED debut EP. The Fueled By Ramen freshmen recently got to work on their first full-length album with producer Emanuel Kiriakou (the same dude who's turned out hit after hit for David Archuleta, Jesse McCartney, Jordin Sparks and so many more) and it is all but guaranteed to SMOKE.
Watch for the full-length later this year... In the meantime, bone up on The Friday Night Boys and get ready to be dominated.
We will forever worship Jesse McCartney for his hand in co-writing Leona Lewis' smash hit, "Bleeding Love." But these days, the actor-slash-pop star would rather talk about his latest project: Departure. Find out which song Jesse describes as "the icing on the cake," hear why 3am recording seshes are the absolute bestest and learn how Mr. McCartney managed to survive on a steady diet of Michael Jackson, Prince and Madonna for the better part of a year.
You saw our "Best Female Video" nominee rundown. Now check out some of our favorite of the many videos vying for a "Best Male Video" VMA nom. Then hurry up and vote for the video you think should be nominated! You've only got until 11am ET tomorrow to vote, so get crackalackin'! And watch FNMTV this Friday to see who the final nominees are.
+ Snoop Dogg, "Sensual Seduction" -- '80s cable access, ladies dressed like Apollonia, and Snoop in his pimpinest gear yet! We're still working on a way to work "I'm not gonna rush the stroke" into our daily vernacular.
+ Chris Brown, "Forever" -- It's like he's just showing off at this point, but we're still watching what he can do with his feet.
+ Jesse McCartney, "Leavin'" -- Lil J's all growed up and sounds so sexy singing about G5 that we don't even care about the massive carbon footprint that thing's "leavin'" behind.
+ Lil Wayne, "A Milli (Live)" -- Ultimate stuntin' = Weezy pulls out this be-all-end-all FNMTVperformance the same day he passes the mil mark on the charts. Genius!
We're posting this video for two reasons: 1.) it was about a trillion degrees today in Brooklyn; and 2.) while sweltering in the aforementioned heat, we were reading Nylon's music issue, which features a piece on how to achieve the iconic slicked-back-bun, overly bright-lips, smoky eye look of Robert Palmer's girls. Patrick Nagel paintings come (almost) to life. When we were youngins, we so wanted to be one of those chicks, even though they couldn't play guitar. And now that we're slightly grown up (and still can't play guitar), Robert Palmer remains, in our estimation, one of the most legendary -- and dearly missed -- artists of the '80s. And while it's impossible to separate the '80s visual of those nameless, mute, mannequin-like models, Palmer's sexy and urgent sound still has meaning, over two decades later.
