The Royal Wedding : Who Looked the Best?

The Royal Wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton, now the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, was one of the biggest events this past weekend. I was tired of the coverage after the wedding was over, but I did like all of the fashion.

Even though Kate was the center of attention in her Alexander McQueen by Sarah Burton dress, some of the guests showed up in their best (or so they thought) for the most watched wedding of the year.

Some looks stood out more than others and here are the ones that did:

First, the other Royal couple, Posh and Becks!

Not only is Victoria Beckham almost 7 months pregnant, but she also showed up in sky high custom made Christian Louboutin heels and a navy blue Phillip Treacy pillbox hat and dress from her collection, being that she has also added "fashion designer" to her list of careers. Her husband David Beckham was dressed head to toe in Ralph Lauren for the occasion.

Someone who also caught my eye, along with the fact that I didn't know why she would be invited, was British singer Joss Stone.

The singer showed up in bright pink and she's probably on the phone with someone so she can be popular here in the U.S. like she was once before.

There was also the "Evil Stepsisters" category that was filled by Prince William's cousins, Princesses Eugenie and Beatrice.

I get what they're trying to do here, but it falls flat.

But to me, this gravy boat on British Socialite Tara Palmer Tomkinson just ruined such a nice outfit.

But, out of all of these guests, I'm sure they enjoyed the wedding, unlike William's 3 year-old goddaughter and flower girl Grace:

Random Movie Post: Are Horror Movies losing their appeal?

This weekend I saw Scream 4 and I was actually impressed. It was very much like the first Scream and it's apparent that Scream writer Kevin Williamson was the main reason. But, it didn't do as well as many hoped, especially the people who want a new Scream trilogy (like me!), only gaining a little under $20 Million in the Box  Office.

I love Horror movies, and the Scream trilogy is very high on top of my favorite Horror movies. But, is the appeal  starting to fade?

For a while, it was always known that if any movie was released the same weekend as a Horror movie, the Horror movie would end up on top of the Box Office chart. But, in 2011, the most popular movies have been Children's movies. Rio earned close to $40 Million this weekend, and other movies, like Hop or Diary of a Wimpy Kid 2 : Rodrick Rules, both kid movies, have been the #1 movies previous weekends. But, another factor (which I saw myself at Scream 4) is young kids sneaking into R-rated movies after buying a ticket for something like Rio, which affects the system.

SO, what does someone have to do to get their movie to be #1 at the Box Office over a Kid movie? For now, only a Blockbuster like Pirates of the Caribbean 4 or Fast and the Furious 5 are our only hope.

Female Pop Stars: The More Editing the Better?

Music is always ever changing, but a certain trend, the more digital sound, has become the norm for music, especially pop music, and the artists that use it the most seem to be the female pop singers.

It's not a secret that artists, like Britney Spears or Ke$ha, use synthesizing and auto tune, which are two seperate types of editing to make the voice sound more digital or enhance the quality of a somewhat dull voice. Synthesizing is used more than Auto-tuning because it still keeps the person's real voice intact, unlike auto-tune, that became well-known after artists such as T-Pain and Kanye West started making songs that were full of autotune and lacking of vocal talent. 

But is there really proof that anyone has vocal talent if they have their voice edited to the extreme and lip-sync so well that we can't even tell if anyone is singing anymore? 

Britney Spears is the epitome of this, being that she constantly lip syncs, and has her voice on every track edited to death so that she has a voice that is basically unachievable by a human being. She has become such a pro at Lip-syncing, her tracks have been edited for live performances to make it appear that she's really singing.

Ke$ha barely sings live because her songs are so synthesized to death, that when she sings live, she sounds terrible, and at times tone deaf. Her songs are catchy, but sound like roadkill live.

Another artist, who's vocal quality is improving as her number of studio albums increase, that uses this is Rihanna.

Rihanna is trying to make her career more of a reputable one by improving her vocal strength and popularity by performing at different events to broaden her audience, like her duet with Country singer Jennifer Nettles of Sugarland at the Academy of Country Music Awards earlier this month.


Even artists who can actually sing well use editing to make their track more of a "dance" track.

Aubrey O'Day, formerly of Danity Kane and star of the hit Reality show All About Aubrey, who just released a dance track called "Automatic" that showcased her great voice, but also had a digital quality to it. Other artists like Lady GaGa and Beyonce, who have vocal talent, also use this technology.

While it might make the track more modern and "dancey", I personally think that if it's going to be done, it should be done well. On a new remix of Rihanna's hit "S&M" featuring Britney Spears, Britney was edited so much that she sounded like she was in need of some Nasonex or some type of decongestant.

But, while this may be popular now, I hope that real talent will prevail over edited talent once again, like Adele, who's sophomore album 21 is currently the highest selling album of 2011. Even though I like dancing to these songs, I'd also like to have the same, if not a better, experience live. I'm talking to you Britney and Ke$ha.

Here's an example of Britney now with her "live" vocals: 

Here's Rihanna at her best...: 



...and at her not so best: 




And an example of non-edited vocal talent, Adele: 

Interview Assignment

Interview on my Tumblr Page

For my Interview Assignment, I interviewed my friend Cassandra McLennon, who works in the Fashion Industry at a company that produces sweaters for various retailers, such as  Forever 21, Charlotte Russe, and H&M, among others. I talked to her about Fashion, and it's ties to Music, Reality TV, and Movies. Click on the link that goes to my Tumblr Page to listen to my interview! 

(By the way, I was being silly in this picture, so don't judge! haha) 

Nickelodeon and the Academy of Country Music Brought Out the Stars this Weekend

This weekend, the Kids Choice Awards and the Academy of Country Music Awards were held this weekend, and Today's hottest stars came out in droves. 

The Kids Choice Awards, hosted by Jack Black, had performances from Willow Smith, the Black Eyed Peas and even Britney Spears showed up and had a small part in the fun. Slimed Celebrities included Russell Brand, Heidi Klum, Jason Segel, and Snoop Dogg. 

Justin Bieber won Favorite Male Singer and Favorite Song, while the remake of The Karate Kid won Favorite Movie. 

At the ACMs, held in Las Vegas in the MGM Grand Hotel, hosts Reba McEntire and Blake Shelton ran the pace pretty well on Country's biggest night. 

Big name Country Performers included Miranda Lambert, Taylor Swift, Carrie Underwood (who was joined by Steven Tyler) ;  a duet with Jennifer Nettles of the Country duo Sugarland and Pop Superstar Rihanna basically stole the show, as the pair sang Rihanna's next single off her album Loud, California King Bed. 

The nights biggest winner was Miranda Lambert who walked away with 4 awards, including Top Female Vocalist and Song of the Year for The House that Built Me.

Taylor Swift walked away with the fan determined Entertainer of the Year, the biggest award of the night, which was the big shocker of the night. 

All of these ladies looked lovely, even though Rihanna showed up looking like a member of Desperate Housewives instead of a vibrant 23 year-old Pop star. 

In Awards to come, next Monday the New Now Next Awards will be aired on LOGO, which was one of Lady GaGa's first gigs when the awards were held in 2008. She will be making an appearance at the show, which has gotten a good amount of buzz this year, being that LOGO, the LGBTIQ (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Intersex and Questioning) sister station to MTV, has gotten a surge of viewers with the highly popular RuPaul's Drag Race, currently in it's 3rd season. The Awards acknowledge upcoming Artists and Celebrities and look at what's "New Now and Next" in Pop Culture. 

Here are some videos of the performances at the ACMs: 

Rihanna and Jennifer Nettles - California King Bed (Full Performance at ACMs):


Carrie Underwood & Steven Tyler - Walk This Way (Part of Carrie's Full ACM Performance):

The X Factor & The Voice : Are They Stiff Competition for Idol?

American Idol has come back strong this year with new judges Jennifer Lopez and Steven Tyler joining Randy Jackson as the show recovers from ratings phenom and "meanie" judge Simon Cowell's departure as he prepares to take his UK export/worldwide phenomenon talent show called The X Factor as it comes across the pond to the US later this year. With the new judges and talent being at it's best, I've definitely tuned in. But, will American viewers tune into it's new "competition" the X Factor and the somewhat rushed to TV The Voice?

It's true, people love to watch people do stuff and famous people judge it. That's why American Idol has been around for so long, but can The X Factor and The Voice bump Idol off its pedestal? Well, The X Factor, in my opinion, has potential, while The Voice looks like a rushed effort. 

The Voice is NBC's competition for FOX as it tries to change the talent formula by choosing someone for only their voice. It felt like yesterday when I heard that the show was on it's way to our small screens, and now there's commercials advertising it for April 26th. Country singer Blake Shelton, Maroon 5 front man Adam Levine, R&B Crooner Cee-Lo Green and the most popular of them all, Vocal Powerhouse Christina Aguilera, are all the judges/mentors trying to find The Voice. And even though it's concept sounds good, we'll keep a watch out for this show and see how it fairs. 

The X Factor formula is a formula that has worked in numerous countries, and creator Simon Cowell is bringing it here. Behind the career of Leona Lewis and previous season 2nd runner up / anticipated newcomer Cher Lloyd, The X Factor replaced Pop Idol in the UK (the origin of American Idol) and continued making normal people into superstars. For example, Leona Lewis went from a secretary to one of the biggest stars in the UK and a hit maker in the US. This show started the mentor and mentee relationship between the judges and the contestants, making the emotional factor increase, and viewers love emotional! Also, the contestants audition in front of arenas full of people (like the Prudential Center in Newark, NJ where auditions will be held soon), which I think is gold. I personally think this has the X Factor to overthrow American Idol; I love the UK version (I watched it online), and if they have the star power that is looking to be promised, I'll be tuning in for sure. 

Reality TV Corner! : Jersey & Music Edition

In the Reality TV world, two entertaining topics are the basis for shows in this genre: Music and New Jersey. Both are big players in the ratings game for their respective networks. 
In terms of Music, it's a common thread in the world of Reality. From Music stars, background music to set the tone, to the brains behind the music, music impacts the show whether the main star does music or eventually gets into the world of music. 

Stars from the music industry that have (or had) their own reality shows include Gene Simmons, R&B stars Keyshia Cole and Monica, Former Moesha star Brandy and her brother Ray J (who also had his entertaining, yet sleazy reality dating show called For the Love of Ray J), Bret Michaels (who also had 3 seasons of a dating show), Mel B formerly of the Spice Girls, and now, Aubrey O'Day, from Diddy's Making the Band and his first girl group, the short lived Danity Kane, who's show, All About Aubrey premiered March 7th on the Oxygen Network, and it's premiere was the highest rated docu-series premiere in network history among all key demographics. 

And, as always, a Kardashian has put them-self in the story. Kim Kardashian recently released a single on iTunes, called Jam (Turn it Up) or as I like to call it Turn it Down, and profiled the making of the single on the E! show she and her sister Kourtney are on, Kourtney and Kim Take New York.

Jersey is also a ratings juggernaut in the Reality TV world, and has shown that people love the way we say things, such as "coffee" and "talk" or phonetically speaking, "tawk" and "cawfee."  Shows like Jersey Shore, which only one person is actually a true Jerseyan (the much criticized Sammi Sweetheart), Jerseylicious, The Real Housewives of New Jersey, Jersey Couture, and the Style Network special The Glam Fairy, a spin off effort from Jerseylicious, who's season finale was one of Style's highest rated episodes ever. 

Jersey shows are coincidentally (or not) my favorite, because I see a lot of places I've been, places that are around me, or I see people I know and I feel somewhat connected to the show (one of my friends was offered to be on Jerseylicious and went to beauty school with the show's pivotal characters, while another was actually on the show as a model). Music star reality shows are also one of my favorite micro-genres because it does show a life I would want to live, but I don't feel as connected to them, so if I had to choose one of these two micro-genres of the macro-genre of Reality TV, I would choose Jersey of course!