Single Battle: Kris Allen's "Live Like We're Dying" v.s. Adam Lambert's "For Your Entertainment"

VS

November has officially arrived, which means two things to me: it's my birthday month and the American Idol albums are coming out.

Now, as its been since the days of Kelly and Justin Guarini (remember him?), is the time when we see whether America made the right choice for its Idol and if either of the contestants actually have a viable career in pop music. Nine rounds in, we've had monumental successes (Kelly, Carrie, Daughtry, Jennifer), disastrous flops (Ruben, Taylor, in some ways Fantasia) and unexplainable anomalies (William Hung). The question this time is, where will winner Kris and runner-up Adam will lie?

This year is all the more interesting considering a pretty huge amount of people believe Lambert was robbed this past May. Are their claims validated when you compare their lead singles.

Guess its time for a single battle (it's been a long time, huh)!

"Live Like We're Dying" by Kris Allen - A cover from Irish band The Script, this pop/rock song is nothing less than you would expect from the acoustic guitar-wielding Allen. It's not the most daring arrangement (see his Heartless performance), but it features a more-than-pleasant vocal performance from Kris Allen. Lyrically, its inspirational and realistic without being drippy or corny, even though its a bit safe. If I am being honest, this sounds like a song he would've performed during an off week on Idol. That being said, Kris' off weeks were still pretty spectacular. It is a solid first single, but the push to buy the album still comes from his brilliant American Idol performance.

"For Your Entertainment" by Adam Lambert - Where Kris is safe, Adam is downright dangerous. This glossy glam-pop song is all about mixing pain and pleasure, fun and fire, and any other opposing noun with obvious sexual undertones. Coming from someone who wasn't crazy about some of Adam's over-the-top performances (Ring of Fire was nightmarish), I was pleased to hear some restraint in the vocal department. His singing in the verses are delightfully menacing, and the trademarking high-note shrieking was saved from the middle eight, which was a very smart move. The song itself sounds perfect for radio without sounding too similar to everything else. This a great first single.

As I much I like Kris Allen and am glad he won, the first single battle has to go to Lambert. His is a bit more interesting and cool than Allen's, and it's got me really intrigued about the album.

If its any consolation, Kris' album cover shits on Adam's.

THINK I'M WRONG! VOTE ON THE BEST SINGLE BELOW:

Slim Shady v. Mimi Part Four! Eminem Strikes Back at Mariah With Diss Track, and He Goes In!

So, Mariah Carey finally fought back against Eminem with her single and video "Obsessed" after years of him talking about her. Clearly, he wasn't amused, because now he is going after her and her husband Nick Cannon on the new diss track "Warning".

In the song, he goes after the diva full throttle, and as much a Mariah fan I am, I've got to admit, he slays her on this track. Like never before, he drops some serious bombs about his and Mariah's purported relationship. He gets pretty graphic, even recalling a time when they were together and he, erm, came early.

Yeah, gross. Too much information.

He continues to blow up her spot with various tidbits, but it gets really interesting when he drops this: "when me and Luis were trying to stick two CDs in the same slot". Luis is most like Latin singer Luis Miguel, who Mariah dated for a while in the early 90's. Now, he is either saying she was involved with both men at the same time, or that they had a threesome. Either way, it is totally over the line.

Of course, what most people will be talking about on Twitter is Mariah herself, on the track. Toward the end of the song, Eminem splices in clips of a woman (Mariah) apparently leaving a voicemail for him. Among other things, she says she loves him and she calls herself Mary Poppins. It's quite shocking to hear, and I haven't decided whether or not it's Mariah.

Eminem has really gone too far with this diss stuff. I mean, it's so juvenile, and it makes him so petty and quite pathetic. At the same time, Mariah would've been nuts not to think that he wasn't going to respond to "Obsessed" (and she can cut it; the song's about him and we all know it). Both need to chill themselves out.

That said, i would not be against Mariah going after Eminem, harder this time.

Usher's Album Sales Fury

R&B singer Usher is absolutely furious that his album sales have been lowered than his last.

According to the Rush & Molly from the New York Daily News, Usher is so upset that he is even considering the return of his mother Jonetta Patton as his manager. Last year, he shockingly dropped his mother in favor of Benny Medina, the man behind the careers of Mariah Carey, Jennifer Lopez, and formerly Tyra Banks.

He has reportedly blamed Medina for his album's failure, while Medina has assured him that the disappointing sales were because of the dying music industry. His blockbuster record, Confessions, sold a staggering 1.1 million copies in its debut week in 2004. Medina may have been right, but the case wasn't helped when, two weeks later, Lil' Wayne stunned the music industry when he sold 1 million in his debut week. Coldplay sold over 700,000 copies the next week. To date, Usher has only sold 741,000 copies of latest record Here I Stand, even though he had a #1 single with "Love In This Club". It's also been poorly reviewed, with many claiming a lack of growth between the two records (I call it boring, uninspiring, and formulaic).

"Usher was livid! He threatened to fire everyone.", an insider told the Daily News.

Another troubling sign of his career possibly fading is the BET Awards ratings. He opened this year's show with a terribly lackluster performance, which only brought in 5.8 million viewers. Beyonce's opener last year brought 6.3 million.

Another source told the Daily News, "People have been telling Usher to listen to his mother. Nobody knows how to sell him better than she does. Usher can be stubborn. But he may be ready."

Reasons for why his mom was sacked have been subject to much rumor and speculation, with the lead reason being that she and Tameka Foster, his publicly unpopular wife, have not gotten along well. However, things have improved between the two since the birth of their son, Usher Raymond IV.

If Usher was smart, he would definitely take his mother back. His promotion has been weak at best, focused squarely on promoting his wife's image instead of his album. Plus, Benny Medina's methods are pretty suspect. He was allegedly fired by Tyra for inappropriately using his position as executive producer of her talk show to get more perks.

You know what they say, mother knows best.

UPDATE (AUGUST 7TH): Usher has fired his management team and rehired his mother. To see the follow-up to this post, click here

Who's Better Live: Demi Lovato or Miley Cyrus?

I have seen a few things online saying that Demi Lovato, the star of Camp Rock, is much better a singer than Miley Cyrus, TV's Hannah Montana.

For me to decide, I found a live performances from both of them to compare. Demi was on Regis and Kelly today, singing "This Is Me". Miley was singing "See You Again" at the 2008 Disney Channel Games.

Here's Demi:



Here's Miley:



While Demi does seem to have a better voice than Miley's, her performance was borderlining on bad. Vocally, she was all over the place, and she hit many flat, cringeworthy notes. She definitely needs a vocal coach to help control her voice. Miley definitely wins with stage presence. For a 15-year old, she knows how to work a crowd like a pro. Her voice isn't terrible, but it sure as hell isn't Faith Hill (the LA Times compared her song "7 Things" to her).

Based on these performances, I have to give it to Miley as the better performer.

What do YOU think?

Single Battle: Chris Brown's Forever v.s. Ne-Yo's Closer

It's very funny how closely linked these two are.

Both Chris Brown and Ne-Yo came out around the same time. Both had #1 singles that were virtually inescapable. Both had successful albums released. They even toured together.

Now, they both have dance-pop singles out, released THE EXACT SAME DAY!

Coincidence? You decide.

Anyway, both seem to be capitalizing on the surprising success of Rihanna's "Don't Stop The Music" with their new singles. Chris Brown's song "Forever" was released in support of the Deluxe Edition of his platinum-selling album Exclusive. Ne-Yo's single "Closer" is the lead of his new album, The Year of the Gentleman. So, which single is worth the 99 cents?

First off is Chris Brown. It makes sense that the R&B prince would take a different approach after his extremely successful ballad "With You". Instead of going for the typical R&B/Hip-Hop uptempo song with an appearance from either T-Pain or someone else, he goes it alone on this dance song. It starts off with a synth melody, then quickly breaks with the beat. The beat in infectious, almost forcing you to dance. Honestly, Chris's voice is rather inconsequential; its all about the music. If you actually paid attention to the lyrics and his singing, its still good. Its very pop, without jumping that annoying line into bubblegum. Since its already #3 on iTunes, it seems to be another hit for Brown. Rating: 8/10

Onto Ne-Yo. This song is extremely experimental, and its a better song for it. It begins with this guitar riff, leading into a beat where Ne-Yo whispers "Closer". Then, a softer guitar comes in. Then a beat and a slightly annoying squeak mixes in. Then comes the claps. Everything melts into one sound when the song hits the chorus. You would think that all of those sounds would be distracting, but they're not. In fact, it makes the song cool, both as a club smash and an iPod-buster. Ne-Yo said he wanted to try new things with the song, and he certainly did not disappoint. Rating: 9/10

Now comes the question, which is better: Ne-Yo's or Chris's?

If you simply want a song to dance to, then go with Forever. It is a great club song that will easily blow up, but those looking for something fresh and new won't really find much.

Those looking for a fresh sound she go with Closer. It's not only a great dance song, but it is also experimental and cool. For this song alone, I would check out his new album come June.

Overall, I say Ne-Yo wins this single battle.

Both songs are available on iTunes. "Forever" will be on the front page, but you'll have to look for "Closer" in Ne-Yo's artist page.