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Kristi Turnquist offers a handful of reasons to obsess about pop culture this week
moviesVAMPIRES INVADE OREGON!
It’s the same old story: teenage girl meets boy; falls for him; learns he’s a vampire. The forbidden love between mortal and immortal is at the core of “Twilight,” the young adult novel that’s become a publishing phenomenon. Stephenie Meyer’s original has been followed by two sequels, with the fourth and final book in the series, “Breaking Dawn,” due Aug. 2. “Twilight” fans are also agog over the movie version of the first book, which has been filming in Portland (at Madison High School, among other spots) and around the Northwest. On her Web site (www.stepheniemeyer.com), Meyer recalls how she came to set her story in Forks, Wash. She turned to Google to look “for the place with the most rainfall in the U.S. This turned out to be the Olympic Peninsula in Washington state. I pulled up maps of the area and studied them, looking for something small, out of the way, surrounded by forest. . . . And there, right where I wanted it to be, was a tiny town called ‘Forks.’ It couldn’t have been more perfect if I had named it myself.” Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson play the star-crossed lovers, and Catherine Hardwicke (”Thirteen” and “Lords of Dogtown”) directs. The movie’s due to open Dec. 12.
toysSPEAKING OF PHENOMS . . .
While I was minding my own business, something called Bakugan has apparently been driving boys into a purchasing frenzy. Baku-what, you say? Actually, that’s what I said. And a helpful press kit enlightened me: “From the Japanese words ‘baku,’ meaning ‘to explode,’ and ‘gan,’ meaning ’sphere,’ Bakugan are small spheres that pop open into powerful Bakugan monster action figures when skillfully rolled onto the game’s cards. Each player must strategically choose their Bakugan and cards to play, which affect the battle differently, and when two opposing Bakugan land on the same card, they do battle. Once the points are added up, the winner is determined.” Whew. As if the hot-selling Bakugan toys weren’t enough, there is — of course — an animated TV series, which debuted at No. 1 in its time slot on Cartoon Network in February. Parents — consider yourselves warned!

oregonlive.com

Kristi Turnquist offers a handful of reasons to obsess about pop culture this week
moviesVAMPIRES INVADE OREGON!
It’s the same old story: teenage girl meets boy; falls for him; learns he’s a vampire. The forbidden love between mortal and immortal is at the core of “Twilight,” the young adult novel that’s become a publishing phenomenon. Stephenie Meyer’s original has been followed by two sequels, with the fourth and final book in the series, “Breaking Dawn,” due Aug. 2. “Twilight” fans are also agog over the movie version of the first book, which has been filming in Portland (at Madison High School, among other spots) and around the Northwest. On her Web site (www.stepheniemeyer.com), Meyer recalls how she came to set her story in Forks, Wash. She turned to Google to look “for the place with the most rainfall in the U.S. This turned out to be the Olympic Peninsula in Washington state. I pulled up maps of the area and studied them, looking for something small, out of the way, surrounded by forest. . . . And there, right where I wanted it to be, was a tiny town called ‘Forks.’ It couldn’t have been more perfect if I had named it myself.” Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson play the star-crossed lovers, and Catherine Hardwicke (”Thirteen” and “Lords of Dogtown”) directs. The movie’s due to open Dec. 12.
toysSPEAKING OF PHENOMS . . .
While I was minding my own business, something called Bakugan has apparently been driving boys into a purchasing frenzy. Baku-what, you say? Actually, that’s what I said. And a helpful press kit enlightened me: “From the Japanese words ‘baku,’ meaning ‘to explode,’ and ‘gan,’ meaning ’sphere,’ Bakugan are small spheres that pop open into powerful Bakugan monster action figures when skillfully rolled onto the game’s cards. Each player must strategically choose their Bakugan and cards to play, which affect the battle differently, and when two opposing Bakugan land on the same card, they do battle. Once the points are added up, the winner is determined.” Whew. As if the hot-selling Bakugan toys weren’t enough, there is — of course — an animated TV series, which debuted at No. 1 in its time slot on Cartoon Network in February. Parents — consider yourselves warned!

oregonlive.com

Cook sang “Forever” during Tuesday night’s performance episode. Idol judge Randy Jackson had said he “didn’t think that was amazing” and added “there were a couple of pitchy notes in the first part” before commenting she “definitely started stepping up towards the end.”
Fellow judge Paula Abdul said she was “blown away,” enjoyed the arrangement and thought Cook would “have a hit with it in the country-western world.” Not surprisingly, Simon Cowell disagreed.
“Well you probably weren’t jumping for joy when you heard it was Mariah Carey week,” Cowell told Cook during Tuesday night’s broadcast.
“I was just happy I gave her chills,” answered Cook, referring to Carey’s comments about getting goosebumps.
“Okay, well you didn’t give me chills,” replied Cowell. “I think you managed with what you could. It was a little bit whiny at times. It wasn’t ever going to be an advantage for you. So I think you were quite smart. It just wasn’t great.”
Prior to Cook’s elimination last night, Syesha Mercado, a 21-year-old from Sarasota, FL who currently resides in Miami, FL, and Brooke White, a 24-year-old from Mesa, AZ who currently resides in Van Nuys, CA, were revealed to be the other members of this week’s bottom three vote-getters.
“It’s tough. It’s tough every week now,” Jackson said when White and Cook were revealed to be the last two finalists in danger of elimination. “I don’t know man. I can’t call this one dude.”
“No surprises,” added Cowell. “Maybe Kristy, you know, your time’s up this time sweetheart.”
Seacrest then revealed that — after being among the bottom three four out of her six weeks in the Top 12 — Cook had been eliminated from this competition.
Earlier in the broadcast, Carly Smithson had openly expressed her displeasure with the way Cowell had been criticizing her.

realitytvworld.com

‘I Didn’t Know I Could
Mariah tied with Elvis with 17 No. 1 singles!
Will her latest album, E=MC2, take her past the Beatles?
Privacy—or the lack thereof—being what it is for Mariah Carey, we are conducting an interview in the backseat of her car.
As you might imagine, this is not just any automobile. This is a $400,000 Maybach Touring Sedan—long and sleek, with deeply tinted windows mirrored on the outside. Passersby who gawk see only themselves. When you live in a fishbowl, it’s nice to be able to turn the tables now and then.
Aspiring pop divas, take note: It’s lonely at the top, but not lonely enough.
It’s a quarter after 12 on a cold night in New York City, and Carey—one of the best-selling recording artists of all time—is about to go into a studio to put the finishing touches on her latest album, E=MC2. We’re the only ones in the car, both Carey’s chauffeur and her boyfriend, record producer Mark Sudack, having obligingly vanished.
“Not to give a woe-is-me moment,” the 38-year-old singer/songwriter says, “but it’s not as easy as everybody thinks to have this kind of life. Even sitting here talking to you, I feel like there should be a bit of intimacy, and when there is always somebody else around, it’s tough.”
There’s a brief silence. It’s so cozy and quiet that I feel an overwhelming temptation to pop the big question.
“Are you a diva?” I ask.
Carey rolls her eyes. “They throw that word around like it’s a friggin’ Frisbee!” she says.
“I grew up hearing it, because my mother is an opera singer,” Carey tells me. “The actual definition is ‘a talented female singer.’ Definition two is ‘a difficult woman who is successful,’ I believe. So I take it as a compliment.”

parade.com

Man, those Irish people must be an adventurous lot.
Bell X1’s “Flock” (Yep Roc) has already gone five-times-platinum in Ireland, where the band is big enough to play castles, kind of like that other Irish import, U2. The album has spawned four Top 20 singles there and like the band’s previous incarnation Juniper, which included Damien Rice, Bell X1 is now being touted as the Next Big Thing.
That’s pretty amazing considering how noncommercial “Flock” sounds, with its shape-shifting collection of modern rock styles and quirky, unconventional lyrics delivered by singer Paul Noonan.
Bell X1 gets all Talking Heads-ish and chants, “I wanna be near you and blink in your light and toast marshmallows on a cold, dark night” in “Flame.” They channel Dave Matthews Band to talk about self-esteem issues on “Bad Skin Day.” They mix Flaming Lips and Coldplay for the first single “Rocky Took a Lover,” about a homeless man finding a soul mate. And they reissue “Eve, the Apple of My Eye” from their first album (and from an episode of “The OC”) and the lovely “Just Like Mr. Ben,” which sound much more like you’d expect Rice’s former mates to sound.
“Flock” is filled with surprising twists and turns that somehow still lead somewhere safe, making Bell X1 like that charming friend who takes you on an adventurous night of pub crawling yet still makes sure you get home safely. Who doesn’t like that guy?

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Hey boys & girls,
I have been a Mariah Carey fan since her first album in the 90’s. As an expert fan of hers and her music, she is very successful worldwide, selling over 150 million records. People are always saying she is finished. NOT! Everything she releases sell, even GLITTER, a movie soundtrack, sold over 4 million copies world wide and over 600,000 in US. (Check MariahDailyJournal.com for further statistics). Stop hating on her. Not anyone on this comment section has her fame, money, and reputation, which is good by the way. No, the old 90’s Vision of Love Mariah is not coming back anytime soon. This is because she never left. She just changed her music style, which has been POP and R&B, to mainly contemporary R&B/ Hip Hop (Vision of Love/Love Takes Time were R&B/Pop Hits). Get over it! Whatever she will release will definitely be a hit like always. It is the fans, buying her albums, and not the Media that causes her albums and records to sell and be successful. Like it or not, Mariah is here to stay. Get a life and find someone else to trash children.
Hello again children,
I forgot to mention. Someone stated that Mariah’s “Emancipation of Mimi” album was not a smash hit. Well statistically speaking, it sold over 5.8 million copies in the US alone, and over 10 million records worldwide. If this isn’t a smash, then what is? How many of you have album hits, have sold many record, and are rich? Even “American Idol” fans can not sing Mariah’s signature songs. Overall musical success is especially good for Mariah, since having been around for over 18 years. Even Madonna, Janet, Dolly Parton, and a string of other famous musical female and male artists have not lasted or sold nearly as many records. Again, hate on someone else, but leave Mariah alone, children (adults would not be so immature and unnecessarily cruel/rude).

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“Fox411 columnist Roger Friedman has weighed in on Island/Def Jam’s two big anticipated releases, “E=MC2″ from Mariah Carey and “Discipline” from Janet Jackson.
Freidman said he spent more than an hour at the record label Thursday listening to both projects. The verdict? Both are “pretty damn good,” he says.
Starting with ” E=MC2,” due April 15, Freidman wrote:
In the order I enjoyed them came first “Bye, Bye,” a powerful ballad that should be a single and probably will close the album. It’s a natural singalong in concert, too, which could make it not only wildly popular but a possible Grammy contender next year.
The next most commercial number is “Thanks for Nothing,” a witty and rueful tune with another great melody, courtesy of Jermaine Dupri and Carey. As on “Bye Bye,” Carey’s vocals are superb. Her infamous eight-octave range has suffered a little wear and tear over the years, but Carey still can flutter from great highs to mellow lows like no one else.
Some other highlights included “Cruise Control,” featuring Damian Marley with a driving reggae subtext; “Migrate” with T-Pain, which should be a single and perhaps the album’s kick-off track; “Last Kiss,” with Dupri on vocals; a breathy disco dance hit called “I’m That Chick”; and out-and-out pop song “Loving You a Long Time,” which samples DeBarge’s “Stay with Me” and recalls the melodic riff of the “Hill Street Blues” theme music.

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