Ashey Jade - I'm Dreaming

~Pop Song of the Day #41~

Ashley Jade is a 22 or 23 year-old singer-songwriter and actress from Greater Manchester, England, who was previously a part of the pop music band, Soda Club. She released her debut solo and only album "Dreaming" in the US and abroad in 2005. According to Wikipedia, three mostly unsucessful singles were taken from her debut album. The genre for this album was dance-pop or dance-club type music. If you like dance music, then her album is perfect for you! I'm pretty sure that I found her "new" music myspace a few years ago, where the songs were no longer dance music, but more singer-songwriter type. I remember thinking that I liked her dance music better...

Hayden Panettiere - Wake Up Call

~Pop Song of the Day #40~

Meet Hayden Panettiere, a 20 year-old American actress and singer. She came to professional prominence at the age of eleven in Disney's Remember the Titans, and had held roles in two soap operas. Panettiere is best known for her starring role as Claire Bennet on the 2006 NBC television series Heroes, and her activist campaigns for saving whales. She has had many songs on Disney and other soundtracks (Try, Go to Girl, and Your New Girlfriend are the best of those in my opinion), and Wake Up Call was released as her official debut and only single in 2008. I really like her songs, and wish she would release an album, although I haven't heard anything of that yet. Wake Up Call has a very tropical feel, and is a good standard pop song.

Why I Love #7: High School Stereotypes

So... I haven't done a "Why I Love" post in a while. It's been Pop Songs of the Day for over a week now lol. Anyway, so today, I'm going to write about why I absolutely <3 high school stereotypes. (By the way, I'm not saying that stereotypes in general, because sometimes they are untrue and hurtful.) However, the high school stereotypes are typically funny, because most people do not fit into only one mold. See the picture on the left? That "was" High School Musical, the most popular thing before teen vampires. One of the things that has struck me since I watched those movies (besides the inability of any of the HSM stars to put out a successful album) is the "Stick to the Status Quo" song. The general message of the films was that a person could be whoever he or she wanted to be. For example, a basketball team star or a science geek could both become musical stars if they wanted to. Well, in reality, it would be very hard for a guy or girl to be on a sports team year-round if he or she also had musical practice every day after school. Although I know plenty of overachievers (like me) that are in several different clubs that meet once a week. Anyway, this is a topic for another day.

The real point of this post is to point out how most ppl do not fit into any ONE high school stereotype. Most can fit into two or more. For example, a geek can be on a sports team, just like an emo person can be popular. There are many stereotypes in high school that are true, but very few people fit into only one. That's why I love movies that have the "be whoever you want to be in high school" msg- like High School Musical and Bratz. It's kind of funny that 8th graders go into high school expecting there to be cliques of people who fit the traditional stereotypes. I certainly don't see this in my high school. So, in conclusion, I love the irony of high school stereotypes. Be whoever you want to be! Don't change yourself in order to fit in! Just be friendly and follow your dreams! =D

Photo credit: Disney's High School Musical
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Cascada - What Hurts the Most

~Pop Song of the Day #39~

Meet Cascada, a German eurodance group active since 2004 that consists of German-born English singer Natalie Horler, and record producers DJ Manian and Yanou. They are most famous for their hit singles "Everytime We Touch", which won them a World Music Award in 2007, "What Hurts the Most", and "Evacuate the Dancefloor", which recently became their first UK number one single. I feel like Cascada's been around forever, and I liked their earlier singles, so it's amazing that they still manage to have recent hits like "Evacuate the Dancefloor" which did moderately well on US Billboard charts. If you like Cascada, they have a NEW single out called "Pyromania", which is more like their recent singles than the dance hits that they became famous for.

Jason Derulo - Whatcha Say

~Pop Song of the Day #38~

Meet Jason Derulo, a 20 year-old American singer, songwriter, actor and dancer, who is an up-and-coming star. I'm sure that he's going to be as famous as some of the other big names out there by the time that his debut album comes out. Jason Derulo was propelled to international stardom after his debut single, Whatcha Say (which samples a track by Imogen Heap), reached #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 and top places on charts in other countries. He has also proved that he is not a one-hit wonder, since his second single, In My Head, has been doing well on the charts also. All I can say is that Whatcha Say is an amazing song. I can't wait for his album =D

Girls' Generation - Oh!

~Pop Song of the Day #37~

So I know that I just featured Girls' Generation on the blog a few days ago, but I recently found out that they had a new single out called "Oh!". So I listened to it, and watched the video, and now I am addicted to this song! It wasn't so good after the first listen, but then I listened to it again, and the chorus started running through my head. I've been listening to this song non-stop all week. The video, like all of their videos, is super-cute, and the song is catchy like always. I think that this is my favorite video by them so far. The end is epic =D

Suggestions for this Blog?

Hello readers!

I'm sorry for the long time between updates recently.. I don't know how many of you actually check this blog frequently for updates, but judging from my viewcount, it must be a lot. I'm sorry I don't update daily like I want to =( It's just that I'm just an average high school student, and I have homework just like everyone else. But the fact is, I'm probably taking more AP / college-level courses than the average 15 year-old. That, coupled with my numerous extra-curricular activities and my tendency to sign up for extra things, makes my life extremely busy. However, when I started this blog, I vowed that I would try to update consistently, and I'm going to try to stick to that =D

On another note, I would love if you (my readers) would give suggestions for this blog! I have a "Comment Here" section on the left side of this blog. It is extremely easy to use- you don't even have to fill in your "name" or "website" if you don't want to. Just write what you want to see on my blog. For example, are you frustrated that I don't post book reviews as often as I used to? Do you want more "Why I Love"'s instead of "Pop Songs"? Would you like to see a new section in the blog altogther? Just let me know!

Ps. As I've said before, the "Ads by Google" on this blog are 100% safe.. just saying. I'm not going to intentionally feature any spam websites on this blog.
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Slinkee Minx - Summer Rain

~Pop Song of the Day #36~

Meet Slinkee Minx, an Australian dance girl group that is comprised of Annemarie Failla, Michelle Palmer and Belinda Tartaglia. Their cover of Summer Rain was their debut and most successful single, which spent 11 weeks at number one on the Australian ARIA Dance charts in 2004. Their later singles have made the chart in several countries, but have not matched the success of Summer Rain. Their debut album, Electric Dreams, was released in 2007. After listening to it, my opinion is that Summer Rain is definitely their best song, although the others are not bad if you're into dance music (like Cascada).

Sabrina Washington - OMG (Oh My Gosh)

~Pop Song of the Day #35~

Meet Sabrina Washington, a 31 year-old British singer-songwriter and dancer who rose to fame as the lead singer of the successful UK girlband, Mis-Teeq. I have heard several of Mis-Teeq's songs, although I am not a huge fan, and they definitely deserved all of the sucess that they achieved. One of the girls, Alesha Dixon, has consequently become famous in her own right after the girlband broke up. OMG (Oh My Gosh) is Sabrina's first single going solo, and it's NEW!! It is currently one of my favorite songs, and I recommend it for people who like dance music- like Lady Gaga.

Willa Ford - I Wanna Be Bad

~Pop Song of the Day #34~

Meet Willa Ford, an American singer, songwriter, model, television personality and film actress. She became known in 2001 as the self-proclaimed "Bad Girl of Pop," when she released her debut album, Willa Was Here. Aside from her music career, Ford has had acting roles in movies, hosted several reality television shows, and has competed on ABC's Dancing with the Stars. She can be considered a one-hit wonder, since her only success on the music charts was this song. I Wanna Be Bad is the song that she is best known for, and it is very catchy. It cannot compare to the songs out today (partly because it is a decade old), but it's still a fun song. Listen if you like Britney Spears's earlier songs.

Girl's Generation - Gee

~Pop Song of the Day #33~

So I admit that I don't know that much about Girl's Generation. I don't know much about Korean girlbands in general, since I don't live in Korea. However, they have begun to increase in popularity in the US recently- particularly because of website like Youtube where anyone can view music videos. Many of my friends in the US are fans of Girl's Generation (also called SNSD) even though they aren't Korean. From this song, Gee (their comeback single / one of their hits), it is easy to tell why they have such cross-over appeal. I would love if they were able to release songs overseas & get a fanbase here like other Asian artists BoA and Wonder Girls. One thing that many first-time listeners wonder about is how 9 girls in one girl group are able to get along. Well, the answer is that they share singing roles (unlike PCD), live together, and have become friends with each other. Enjoy the song =D

The Beu Sisters - I Was Only Seventeen

~Pop Song of the Day #32~

Meet the Beu Sisters, a pop-rock girl group from Florida made up of sisters, Candice, Christie, Jiliane, and Danielle. By the end of the nineties, they had formed an a cappella act and received a a contract with S-Curve Records. Yes, this song is pretty old. In 2002, the Beu Sisters' debut album, Decisions, was released. Nine out of thirteen tracks on the album were co-written by the sisters, and to promote their album, the Beu Sisters toured as the opening act on Kelly Clarkson and Clay Aiken's 2004 Independent Tour and appeared on numerous soundtracks (where I first heard of them). They are currently working on new material, but out of their debut album, I think that this song is the best. The music video is seriously up for interpretation, but the sad feelings behind the song definitely show through.

Keri Hilson - I Like

~Pop Song of the Day #31~

Meet Keri Hilson, a 27 year-old Grammy-nominated American recording artist signed to Zone 4, Mosley Music Group and Interscope Records. Through the early and late 2000s, Hilson wrote songs for multiple rappers and singers, guest-starred on other artists' singles, and later began a solo carrer. Her debut album, In a Perfect World…, was released in early 2009, spawning hit singles "Energy", "Turnin' Me On", and "Knock You Down". I was initially attracted to Keri Hilson because of her unique name, and her beautiful CD cover (go check it out). I Like is her new single, and it has reached #1 in Germany after being featured on the soundtrack of a German movie. In my opinion, it is her best song yet (though all of her songs are good), so definitely listen to it!! =D