Welcome to another edition of the Playlist, our regularly scheduled music column! This week we have a little mixture of everything… some news, YouTube videos and new music!
News & Tidbits
Here at the Playlist, in previous issues I’ve heavily touted two of my favourite artists – Mariah Carey and Leona Lewis! Well it’s with extreme pleasure I’m able to share some chart news on both of these talented divas (of the musical kind)!
• Last week, Leona Lewis made history when she became the first British female artist in history to top the Billboard album charts! Leona’s debut album Spirit sold just over 200,000 copies to give her the number one album in the United States. In fact, Leona also had the #1 single in the country too making her week extra special as she topped both the singles and album charts! (More Leona after the cut, when we YouTube her American Idol performance last night!)
• Last week was Leona’s week, but this week – the original diva, Mariah Carey knocked her off the top spot as her new album E=MC2 topped the album charts, giving Mimi her highest selling debut week of all time! Her 11th studio album sold 463,000 copies over the course of a week. Mariah’s last album, The Emancipation of Mimi was her previous record setter with 404,000 copies in it’s first week. (More Mimi after the cut in our new music section!)
For new music and a YouTube video of Leona on Idol:
Leona Lewis on American Idol
Leona’s American domination continued this week as she appeared on American Idol, performing her massive #1 single Bleeding Love on last night’s show. Now, having followed Leona since her very first audition on X Factor and having seen every performance of Bleeding Love imaginable since it’s UK release last October, I have to say this is one of my personal favourites. In fact, I’d say it’s her best performance of the song after her very first performance of it on The X Factor last year:
What do you think of Leona’s performance? Are you tired of Bleeding Love yet?
New Music
New music has been in abundance this week! In fact, four of the biggest artists in America right now have jumped on the collaboration bandwagon. Usher and Mariah Carey have recruited Mr and Mrs Carter… Jay-Z and Beyonce on new music! Beyonce features on “Part 2” of Usher’s #1 smash hit Love In This Club while Jay-Z features on a remix of Mimi’s next single, Bye Bye.
Elsewhere, Fergie has recorded the official single for the upcoming Sex and the City movie, adding vocals over the show’s theme music. I love the show, don’t love Fergie… don’t love the song. But if you’re a Fergie fan or just a fan of the show, it’s worth one listen at least.
This week, Robin Antin created a brand new girl group, Girlicious, on The CW’s reality show “Pussycat Dolls Present…” The winning foursome are pretty much Pussycat Dolls 2.0. Anyway, they debuted their first single and it’s accompanying video yesterday. The song is called “Like Me” and sounds exactly like PCD, the video is exactly like PCD… what was the point in making a new group, anyway? Check out the video by clicking here.
» Usher ft. Beyonce – Love In This Club (Part 2)
» Mariah Carey ft. Jay-Z – Bye Bye (Remix)
» Fergie – Labels Or Love
» Girlicious – Like Me
That’s all for now! Stay tuned this week for the first ever Playlist Top 10!
