Melody Plant

If you had to think about Australia’s hottest stars and how much they’re worth I don’t think these guys would cross your mind. The Wiggles are popular children’s entertainers. They are known worldwide among kids everywhere. For the second year now they have beaten out other celebs from down under to be named the highest paid Aussie stars. For 2006 the group has made 43 million dollars. Nicole Kidman came in second with 30 million. She was followed by Hugh Jackman and Kylie Minogue. That’s a pretty good year of work for four guys who get paid to act like total morons to make kids laugh. I guess at the end of the day it makes making a fool out of yourself to be a very good living.

Clay Aiken was involved in an airplane disturbance with another passenger Saturday while en route to Tulsa International Airport, a newspaper reported. Interesting how they leave out the fact that Clay Aiken was asleep, having done a concert the previous night and on his way to another concert in Tulsa. He’s 6′1″ with long legs and usually crosses one over the other. So while sleeping, his foot touched the lady’s armrest. According to witnesses, she began pushing it, then yelling at him, at which point he woke up. He did not confront her or cause any problems. The media is a joke. And what a mess there is over a foot, if it were just another passenger then it would have passed as just another funny incident. The lady would have recognized Clay and therefore must have taken it as a chance to have her name in the papers.

With explosive sales in their first week of digital release, Rihanna’s “Umbrella” and Shop Boyz’ “Party Like a Rockstar” rocket to the peak of the Billboard Hot 100. “Umbrella” soars 42-1 with 277,000 digital sales; the highest debut week sum since Nielsen SoundScan began tracking downloads in 2003. Meanwhile, “Party Like a Rockstar” flies 52-2 thanks to sales of 173,000 digital downloads.
For Rihanna, this is the second Hot 100 chart-topper of her young career, following “SOS” in 2006. As for “Party Like a Rockstar” its digital arrival results in a steep decline for a similarly named but musically different cut, “Do It Just Like a Rockstar” by Freak Nasty featuring Crazy Mike. That song, which has been available digitally and was mistakenly purchased by many consumers thinking it was the Shop Boyz track, plummets off the chart from No. 45 after a 62% drop in sales.
Last week’s Hot 100 No. 1, Maroon 5’s “Makes Me Wonder” slips to No. 3 this week. T-Pain’s “Buy U a Drank (Shawty Snappin’)” featuring Yung Joc is down 2-4, while Daughtry’s “Home” inches up 6-5. Justin Timberlake’s “Summer Love” rises 9-6, followed by Avril Lavigne’s “Girlfriend” which is down 3-7. Fergie’s “Big Girls Don’t Cry” climbs 21-8 and is the chart’s greatest digital gainer, giving the Black Eyed Peas vocalist her fourth top 10 hit from her 2006 solo album, “The Dutchess”.
Unsurprisingly, “Idol” winner Jordin Sparks has the Hot 100’s top debut with “This Is My Now” at No. 15. At 74,500 downloads, it’s the lowest first-week sales total for an “Idol” coronation song ever, although this year’s release is the first to be digital only, accompanied by a multi-track EP. “Idol” runner-up Blake Lewis debuts at No. 18 with his version of Bon Jovi’s “You Give Love a Bad Name”.
On Hot Latin Songs, Enrique Iglesias’ “Dimelo” is No. 1 for a third week, while John Mayer’s “Waiting on the World To Change” returns to No. 1 on the Adult Contemporary chart with a 3-1 move. The song previously topped the chart in late February.

I’ve mentioned this before but he’s out to make it even more known. And this time, it’s not just all talk. Blake Lewis is man enough to take the walk.

Blake may not have won the AI title but he says that he pretty much pegged Jordin Sparks to win as soon as he heard her sing. He also says that he is completely satisfied at coming in second and that he would actually still be happy if he came in at 6th. He openly admits that his sound isn’t mainstream but that he likes it just like that.

Idol runner-ups always get a chance to do a record of their own as long as it’s released after the new AI winner’s CD drops. It’s what he plans to do. He is reportedly moving to LA for some time to be closer to his record company.

As for what to expect from him… Maroon 5 meets Duran Duran meets Jamiroquai. Eclectic choices for the eclectic Blake.

Personally, I want to see his version of Bon Jovi’s ‘You Give Love a Bad Name’, coz Blake baby, you gave that song a bad ass flavor!

Looks like Fergie is not so “Glamorous” anymore, she falls down to number 3. Avril Lavigne’s “Girlfriend” is now leading the top of MTV’s Top10 Videos at number 1. Next to the girl punk rocker is Beyonce’s “Beautiful Liar” on number 2. Will the punk rock attitude of Avril be able to hold her on the top of the chart? Below are the top 10 hit makers.

1. Girlfriend • Avril Lavigne
2. Beautiful Liar • Beyonce
3. Glamorous • Fergie
4. Don’t Matter • Akon
5. Like A Boy • Ciara
6. Sweet Sacrifice • Evanescence
7. What Goes Around….Comes Around • Justin Timberlake
8. Candyman • Christina Aguilera
9. With Love • Hilary Duff
10. Like This • Kelly Rowland

Broken toe nails for Britney!

In a shocking turn of events, Melinda Dolittle has been eliminated from American Idol. The girl that everyone from fans to so-called psychics thought would win takes her final bow on the Idol stage. It’s highly reminiscent of the Chris Daughtry issue of last season when he was shockingly eliminated as well after being deemed as a shoe-in as well as a fan favourite.

America what did you do?!?!

Oh well… There are cases where one of the eliminated contestants actually becomes more famous or at the very least, critically acclaimed, than the actual American Idol. Take for example Clay Aiken and Chris Daughtry. Given her talent, I’m sure she’d soar no matter what.