Year of Teen Fantasy Books and Pop Music

This Blog is Now Closed.

2011-06-23T21:25:00.005-04:00

Hello, Reader!

My name is Leighton - as you could probably tell from my bio on the left hand side. From December 2009 to June 2011, my blog was a source of pop music songs and teen fantasy books that I enjoyed. I wrote these blog entries when I was 15 or 16, so the writing quality is not stellar. However, I thoroughly enjoyed writing these entries and hope that you will enjoy reading them in the archives. I've decided to close this blog (although I won't delete any of the entries or the blog itself), because I no longer have enough time - I'm going to be entering college in the fall. For more complete reasons for why I am closing the blog, see my previous post.

Overall, thank you to my wonderful readers for the 3,400+ views I have so far. Blogging has been a hugely enjoyable past-time of mine. Perhaps I will continue it later on in my life. Anyways, this is the last post. Feel free to go through the archives, thanks for visiting, and I hope you enjoy your stay. If you have any questions or feel the need to contact me, you can comment of any of my posts (including this one). I get comments sent directly to my email, so that's the easiest way to contact me.

Thanks & good-bye! =D

6/23/11
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Why I Love #13:The College Application Process

2011-06-23T19:43:00.009-04:00

Hi everyone! :) So... it's been a while.

I'm sorry I vanished without saying anything. I've been really busy with end-of-senior-year stuff like studying for my last 5 AP exams & deciding which college to attend. It's been a bumpy ride - this whole college application process - and I'm so glad that it's over. I guess there's no harm in revealing this, but I have decided to matriculate at Vassar College in the fall. It wasn't my dream school when I first started looking at colleges, but it has become my dream school now.

Normally, I would start giving out advice to prospective college applicants here, but I don't feel qualified to do this. Go research on your own, take others' advice with a grain of salt, & definitely visit College Confidential. It's an amazing forum website that is sure to have an answer to all of your questions. And always remember that "brand names" and Ivy Leagues aren't the answer to life. Although they are amazing schools, don't forget that there are thousands of colleges in the United States - and even more abroad. If you've decided to go to college, then I'm sure that there will be a perfect place for you. Life isn't a competition, and there are no winners in the end. (That last part wasn't meant to be pessimistic, it's just the truth.) I guess that my personal advice would be to aim for the stars, but realize how far away they are. High school students with 2400's get rejected from some colleges; and sometimes the college decisions will just seem so random. Perfect applicants will get rejected, and some not-so-stellar students will get accepted. That's life. Go into this process with your eyes wide open to the possibility of defeat. That's what I did. Although I got rejected by numerous colleges, I knew that that could happen, and I couldn't be happier with the college I've chosen to attend.

I've actually grown to love the college application process (not that I would EVER want to repeat it again). I've realized what my strengths and weaknesses are. I've become more organized. By doing all these things to prepare for my college apps; and by searching for the "perfect college" on my own, I've developed a new sense of independence and self-confidence. I've come out of this grueling process - an ordeal in life if I ever saw one - a better person. I know myself better than ever before, and I am also SO happy. I'm happy with where I'm going for college - I <3 Vassar - and I'm so glad that I've managed to succeed during high school.

I've done so many accomplishments in high school that I couldn't have even DREAMED of doing before entering. For instance, I started this blog in December 2009 (my junior year) in order to showcase pop music and teen fantasy books that I loved. I do believe that I've managed to achieve that goal. To date, I've posted over 100 times with various things that I <3. Also, this blog (it's my only one, btw) has amassed over 3,400 views. Personally, I think that's amazing. Thank you to my readers out there! You encouraged me to keep posting - even when life got in the way. And I'm sorry I was so busy during my 19-month run on this blog.

Well, here's a final announcement that you may have seen coming: I've decided to discontinue this blog. It's not because I've run out of things to say, or because I don't love blogging. I definitely do - although it can become frustrating if you think that you're just sending ideas into the blogosphere and no one's reading them. The real reason is because I haven't had time to post in the last several months. With college starting in the fall, I really want to focus on the academics, the intellectual side, and also the social side (the reasons I'm going to college). Basically, I won't be able to fit in blogging on the side. Rather than keeping you going with false hope that I will someday return, I'm just going to say that I'm done. I'm done. I'm done. Nevertheless, I'll always treasure this blog as a remnant of my high school years (which is why I'm not deleting any of these posts or the blog itself). Feel free to comb through the archives for some of my favorite songs and books.

Throughout my years in high school, which have been invaluable, I've learned so much more about myself that I never could have imagined. Blogging was an invaluable way for me to share things that I love with others (you) and also to practice writing. You should try it out if you have any interest in it. Also, I may return to blogging someday, but nowhere in the near future. I hope to continue writing in the future - and also a possible career - which is why I am planning to major in English. I have no idea what the future holds for me - particularly since everyone seems to think that an English major = no job or career prospects. Whatever happens, I know that God will bring me through it. He is the reason I'm here, and I am so grateful to Him for everything He's done!

Well, there's no use prolonging this. Thank you, readers, for visiting my page. After 19 months, this is the end. This is Leighton, signing off. Goodbye and good luck with all of your future endeavors!

Photo credit: What's the Idea? A Brand Consultancy.
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Why I Love #12: Stopping Underage Drinking

2011-02-26T15:48:00.005-05:00

"Alcohol? No way!"

This is a "Very Special Post", dedicated to the topic of underage drinking. I realize that this strays away from my normal posts of pop music and teen fantasy books, but I believe that this is a very important topic to talk about. Plus, it's my blog - so I can do what I want with it. <3

We've all seen the alcohol ads, the anti-drinking ads, the teachers talking about it, your peers in school talking about it... there are obviously two sides to the issue. In terms of Freud (we just learned about one of his principles in AP Psychology), the Id is saying "Let's have fun & drink! You're only young once!". The Superego is saying, "No! Drinking alcohol is terrible for you & you should never do it in your life!" The Ego (or compromiser) says, "Wait until you're of legal age before you make that decision". In this case, I agree strongly with Ego. I am very proud of the fact that I have never had a sip of any alcoholic beverage in my life. I actually don't plan to ever drink - even when I turn 21.

In my opinion, drinking (and along with smoking, drugs, etc.) is terrible for anyone. I respect my body way too much to willing ingest something would damage my liver, lungs, etc. As a runner (I'm on the track team in school), I work very hard in order to "stay in shape". My belief in Christianity also plays a role in this. I would never do any type of self-mutilation - and this includes drinking alcohol. Sure, you could have fun & get high off of it. However, it's only temporary, and may lead to lasting damaging effects on your body.

My second thought about alcohol is that it is very dangerous. I hear some of my classmates in school every week talking about parties. I see the photos of them with beer cans / alcohol bottles in their hands. I even see a few smoking outside of school. It's very troubling when one considers all the negative things about alcohol. Besides for the obvious damage to one's body, it also causes whoever is drinking it to lose control of their body, emotions, everything. I've heard horror stories that I won't put here (they're not my stories to tell) about teens who wake up the next day and have no idea what they were doing the last night. Terrible things can happen when you no longer have control, and I never want to wake up in that situation. So I will never allow myself to be put in that situation. I will never drink alcohol. (This is a vow I made when I was younger, and I am very glad that I have kept this promise to myself through high school. I will continue to never drink in college - I'll actually graduate before I turn the legal age of 21. Perhaps then, I will have changed my mind, but it's not very likely.)

Underage drinking is obviously very popular among the teenage crowd. What's worse, I see a glorification of drinking / drugs in the media targeted toward these age groups. Ads, TV shows like Jersey Shore, Pop songs about clubs and drinking, movies, the Internet... all of these glorify drinking, and promote it as a regular activity or phase that every youth is supposed to go through. Along with first dates, high school proms, senior trips, the American culture has put the idea that "alcohol is all right" into most teenagers' minds. I do not accept or promote this facet of popular culture, but there is no doubt that it is present.

So what can we do? Almost nothing. As a teenager, I do not have access to the media or the people controlling the media. I can't go up to the drug addicts in my high school (a perpetual clique in almost every school) & tell them to stop. They probably wouldn't listen anyway. I can't suddenly convince every one of my classmates that drinking at parties isn't cool. (It's scary, but sometimes I see that the most popular kids that everyone wants to know are the kids who are at parties drinking and doing drugs.)

What I CAN do however is use the power in my hands. I am writing this post (using my writing talents) on my blog that I created in 2009. Sure, it's not a standard topic on my blog, but I truly believe in it. Lastly, I made this video about stopping underage drinking almost one year ago. It's seriously the nicest feeling to know that you felt the same way one year ago & haven't changed much. Although my environments & surroundings have changed, my morals and values haven't. I had different priorites and prerogatives back then, but I still felt the same way about underage drinking. In the words of my video - which I created myself for the Courageous Persuaders contest - "Alcohol? No way!" <3

Photo Credit: Jim Benton, the creator of the Happy Bunny franchise.

Ingrid Michaelson - Parachute

2011-01-23T08:16:00.003-05:00

~Pop Song of the Day #73~

Meet Ingrid Michaelson, a 31 year-old New York-based indie-pop singer-songwriter. She is best known for her debut single "The Way I Am"- which was featured in a Macy's ad campaign. Her music has been featured in episodes of several popular television shows, and subsequent singles like "Be OK" and "Maybe" have garnered some radio play. Many of you may have heard "Parachute" already on Cheryl Cole's debut album, 3 Words. (Cheryl Cole is the only former Girls Aloud member with a successful solo career while the group is in indefinite hiatus.) Well, Ingrid was actually one of the co-writers of "Parachute", and after the song's success in the UK, she decided to release it as her new single in the US. I can't decide which version I like better...

Victoria Justice - Freak the Freak Out

2011-01-11T13:27:00.002-05:00

~Pop Song of the Day #72~

Meet Victoria Justice, a 17 year-old American singer and actress who is most well-known for her roles on the Nickelodeon TV shows, Victorious and Zoey 101. There's an expectation that all teenage Nick and Disney stars have to sing in addition to acting and whatever else they do. So I wasn't surprised when I heard that Victoria had a couple of songs out & had sung the theme song to her own TV show (sort of like Miranda Cosgrove and Jamie Lynn Spears before her). In many ways, this song is just another teen pop song. There's not anything special about it, and the video feels too short. However, the song was stuck in my head for weeks when I first listened to it. Overall, it's actually a good song and I <3 it, but it's not the most amazing song out there.

SoundGirl - I'm the Fool

2011-01-08T22:22:00.004-05:00

~Pop Song of the Day #71~

Meet SoundGirl, an up-and-coming UK girl group composed of Little Nikki, Izzy B, and Olivia. I actually featured SoundGirl last post- along with a bunch of other girl groups that are up-and-coming in the UK. I really like this song (obviously), because SoundGirl sounds like they really have their own distinct style. If you want to hear more, there are a couple of more full songs posted on their Youtube page (Walking on Air and the Game). Personally, I love all three of the songs that they've posted so far, and can't wait till their debut album comes out. Go check them out! (Sorry this post is short, but being a new group, their official page & Myspace don't give a lot of info yet.)

Wonderland by Tommy Kovac and Sonny Liew

2011-01-08T21:57:00.005-05:00

~Book Review #7~

Well, it's been a while since the last book review. And with this blog getting off-hiatus, I decided that it was time to post a new one. In the several months since the last review, I've read many books that will be the subject of future posts. However, I actually just finished a graphic novel today that completely took me by surprise and overall exceeded my expectations.

When I first started reading this book, I judged it by its cover (Yes, I know the expression...) I presumed that it was simply another retelling of the age-old classic, Alice in Wonderland. I thought that it would simply be a graphic novel with new illustrations / a new story adaption. Plus, considering that it is published by Disney, it wouldn't have any major story changes and would remain true to the original source material.

In short, I was dead wrong. Wonderland was the most amazing graphic novel I've read in recent weeks. The story is NOT an adaptation at all. Instead, it is a completely original take on the story of Mary Ann (the White Rabbit's housemaid in Lewis Carroll's original books) and set in Wonderland. Mary Ann- who was merely a minor character who is mistaken for Alice in the books- is the main character in this six-issue, award-winning miniseries. It was pure genius and creativity that caused the creators of this series to share her story.

The story / plotline was spectacular. We're introduced to new characters (such as the Queen of Spades) and old ones (the Mad Hatter, the Cheshire Cat, the White Rabbit are all present). And the writer actually stayed true to Lewis Carroll's "nonsense" world. There were clever puns throughout the book, and there was a perfect balance between having a plotline that moved forward splendidly and a world that did not make any sense in reality. The art was just as amazing. The characters were all drawn very cutely- with cartoon-like expressions. However, there was much detail put into the backgrounds of the comic and such. I could tell that the artist labored over every single panel. Each page looks like it could be hung on a wall or displayed on an art museum.

Overall, if you're a fan of the original Alice in Wonderland, this book is a must-have! I admit I don't follow the comics world as much as I used to, but I really should have heard of this book before!

5 out of 5 Stars. Completely Recommended!!

Photo Credit: Cover of Wonderland by Disney Press / SLG Publishing company.
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Upcoming Girl Groups of 2011!

2011-01-05T18:11:00.002-05:00

~Pop Song of the Day #70~

This is actually my 100th post on this blog. Whoo!

So to celebrate, I decided that I wouldn't just post one song this time. I found this great Youtube video that showcases a few of the new up-and-coming girl groups in the UK with their debut singles. With the Girls Aloud members going off on their own solo projects, it's time for a new girl group to take charge! Needless to say, these songs sound amazing. (Unfortunately, while girl groups have found much lasting sucess in the UK and Asia- to name a few places- the fall of PCD and Danity Kane in the US does not bode well for future girl groups here.) It's such a shame. Hopefully, some of the more sucessful girl groups in other countries (like 2NE1 or the Saturdays, for example) will cross-over to the US soon.

Avril Lavigne - What the H*ll

2011-01-03T22:45:00.007-05:00

~Pop Song of the Day #69~

You have to know who Avril is. She was my favorite singer before Ke$ha came along. I have all 3 of her albums, and love almost all of her songs- even though she changed genres from punk-rock to pop-rock. It was the longest wait ever for new music from her... she's literally been working on her new album for 2 years. I hear that it's going to be very acoustic, so this single is probably the only mainstream song on it. Her label definitely wants at least one chart-topper, since it is unlikely that the other songs on the album will chart high since they won't be pop-rock. But hey, you never know. This song is absolutely amazing. There are literally no words to describe how awesome it is. I've been listening to it on repeat every since it premiered on New Year's, and can't wait till her new album comes out. Whatever genre she's doing now, I'm sure that it will be awesome. Enjoy! :D

Why I Love #11: Pretty Little Liars vs Gossip Girl

2011-01-03T22:15:00.008-05:00

In my time zone, tonight was the season 2 premiere of Pretty Little Liars- a typical teen drama show that won many fans last year (summer 2010) when it debuted. I'm not to lie... this has been my favorite show ever since Dollhouse on Syfy was canceled. (By the way, I will probably post a review of Dollhouse sometime in the coming month.) Anyway, I am completely convinced that Pretty Little Liars is the best show on television right now. Granted, I don't watch that much television. I think the only currently running shows that I am watching right now besides this one is Glee, Young Justice (series premiere on Friday!), and sometimes Gossip Girl.

Believe it or not, when I first started high school (3 - 4 years ago), Gossip Girl was at the height of its popularity. It used to be my favorite show actually. I mean, there was the concept of a hidden blogger called "Gossip Girl" who would talk about the scandalous lives of Manhattan's elite. It sounded cool, and it was... for a while. I basically stopped watching this season. The reason is- the show is no longer as fun as it used to be. The first season was undoubtedly best SPOILERS. I will undoubtedly remember Serena whispering to Blair "I killed someone." right before the season finale for a while to come. Who could forget the creepy, eerie music that followed that statement either?

That first season was awesome. Unfortunately, it went downhill after that. I hated how the writers felt the need to pair every character on the show with every other character. I mean love triangles are fine, but sometimes, it felt like the writers at the studio were just picking names out of a hat and then make them into couples. After a while, the story no longer interested me either. Unlike other teen dramas, Gossip Girl literally has no drama. The most that happens is Georgina Sparks swoops in for a season finale and then takes off again. Ugh. Her character is so awesome, too. The most dramatic thing that happened last season was Chuck's death... and he didn't even really die! Hilary Duff brightened things up for a while (I'm a huge fan of hers), but ultimately, this show just lost it sparkle.

On the other hand, getting back to topic, Pretty Little Liars is chock-full of drama. NO SPOILERS HERE. The basic premise is that there were 5 best friends, but the Queen Bee- so to speak- gets murdered! (Right there, that's more of a plotline than an entire Gossip Girl season.) It turns out she was keeping a secret, since one year later, the other 4 best friends start getting dangerous texts from a person named A. And this mysterious person just starts to ruin their lives. It's not that difficult since all 4 of the girls have their own secrets to hide. I never read the books, so I can't compare the TV show to them; but I absolutely love the TV show! Every episode has a lot of "scary", suspenseful moments, and the plotlines/characters are amazing. Meanwhile, the mystery behind it all will leave you wondering "Who is A?!" Overall, if you haven't seen the show already, then what are you waiting for? :D

Five Stars. Completely Recommended.

Photo Credit: Pretty Little Liars advertisement by ABC Entertainment company
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Ciara - Gimme Dat

2010-12-31T16:57:00.004-05:00

~Pop Song of the Day #68~

Well you probably already know who Ciara is. (Honestly, I didn't... before this song came out.) She's an R&B artist (not really a pop music artist), but this song is the catchiest one I've heard this entire month. I think I will make this my unofficial anthem for the New Year! "I've been gone for too long, now it's time to take it back" <-- best hook ever. I believe Ciara's referring to how she hasn't had much success in the music biz lately, and is trying to reclaim her throne. Well good luck to her! I actually might check out her album...

As you think about your New Year's resolutions and look back on 2010, what have YOU been gone too long from? For me, it's everything... Are you ready to take it back in 2011? I, for one, am sooo ready! :D

Grand Reopening!

2010-12-31T16:48:00.003-05:00

~
Happy New Year everyone!! It's 2011! (or will be in a few hours).

I am announcing the Grand Reopening of this blog. I really missed it, but I just had too much to do. Well, now that I have finished college apps, I will be able to post and update more. So... I thought it would be a good idea to take this blog off hiatus. New posts will start in the New Year!

Hope all of your Winter Breaks have been good :D

Hiatus

2010-11-03T21:49:00.003-04:00

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Hello readers,

Unfortunately, as you may have noticed, I haven't been updating for a while. The reason is that I just don't have as much time as I did during the summer anymore. I have schoolwork, after-school activities, college apps, etc. It's not too hectic, but I just don't have time. Hopefully, once I finish all my college apps and essays, I'll have more free time. (I've heard tons of really good pop songs & read a lot of teen fantasy books that I really want to share with you.) Until then, though- this blog is on a hiatus. I am really grateful for the almost 3,000 views that this blog has gotten since it started nearly a year ago.

Thank you =D
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Sky Ferreira - One

2010-09-09T23:19:00.003-04:00

~Pop Song of the Day #67~

Meet Sky Ferreira, an 18 year-old up-and-coming Portuguese-American singer–songwriter and actress from Los Angeles. She was discovered on Myspace and recently released a few singles in the UK. I first heard Sky's songs through a pop blog that I frequently read, and I love all the ones that I've heard so far. I would say that her songs are electro-pop, but her voice is much more apparent than the sound effects. I can't wait till her debut album comes out. She reminds me of Lights a little. Unfortunately, Youtube won't let me embed the official videos for her songs. But whatever... definitely listen if you're tired of the "pop music" on the radio. Sky's songs are fresh, original, and current.

2NE1 - Clap Your Hands

2010-09-09T23:03:00.002-04:00

~Pop Song of the Day #66~

Meet 2NE1, a four-member Korean girl group that has achieved fame in their home country and beyond. I don't know much about K-POP, but this group is definitely very popular right now. For some reason, the clothes in their recent videos remind me of Lady Gaga in the way that their style of fashion is so different. They use auto-tune a lot, but the beats in their songs are very catchy. My favorite K-POP song, I Don't Care, is by them, too. Clap Your Hands is their highly-anticipated brand new single- video released yesterday! It took me 2 listens before I started loving it.

Why I Love #10: Back to School Week

2010-09-09T22:38:00.004-04:00

So you might be wondering why I love going back to school. Let's face it: everyone loves summer. Summer is that faraway dream-land away from SAT's, final exams, homework, and everything tedious about high school. It's that place where you can just relax and do absolutely nothing. So why would I want to go back to school?

After a while, summer gets boring. I mean, I'm the type of person who begins to miss studying if I don't do it for a while. There's only so much useless TV that you watch... (by the way, Pretty Little Liars is officially the best show ever. It's a new show that I discovered this summer & I really can't wait till the next season starts.) And there's only so much stuff you can do on the internet before you get bored of refreshing your email / Facebook page- checking for updates.

Over the summer, I kept listening to new pop music & reading new teen fantasy books. Some random ones I liked: Bleeding Violet, City of Bones (sort of), Nightschool, Cactus's Secret (the last two are manga). I really should start writing book reviews soon... maybe once the school year settles into a groove or something. There's no need for me to tell you what new music I like because I'm posting them now at Pop Songs of the Day. But I will start posting book reviews soon.

Anyway, yeah. During the summer, I did tons of stuff. Too much, in fact, because I ended up procrastinating summer reading until the last minute (as usual). I took math classes at a local college, got a part-time job, took driving lessons, started a science experiment, went away to camp twice, visited colleges, etc. It was hectic, and I literally would not have survived if I didn't have a handy-dandy organizing calendar to keep track of it all. Overall though, it got really crazy for a while & I ended up longing for the nice, scheduled days of high school.

So basically, I love going back to school because it gives me some structure in my life. I have to wake up at a certain time, go to scheduled classes, get homework every day. I sort of like having a routine. Of course, with my course-load this year, I will be spending a lot of my time studying. On the plus side, I get see my friends again after two months, talk about stuff, and everything that's nice about high school. I really enjoyed my first day of high school, and I hope every other day this year will be just as great!

Photo credit: The Paly Voice (Palo Alto High School online journalism)
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Nicki Minaj - Your Love

2010-09-02T11:22:00.004-04:00

~Pop Song of the Day #65~

Meet Nicki Minaj, a 25 year-old Trinidadian American rapper and singer who has recently become popular in the US. She has featured in MANY songs by different artist. I don't usually listen to the rap genre (unless it's mixed with pop or something); but I really like this song. Your Love is Nicki's official first single from her debut album, which will be released in November! If the other songs are like this one, then I will definitely buy the album. The video is very original and cute also- it's gotten a lot of criticism on Youtube though.

Brown Eyed Girls - How Come

2010-09-01T23:39:00.003-04:00

~Pop Song of the Day #64~

Meet Brown Eyed Girls, another Korean girl group. Since I don't keep up with K-POP for the most part, I have no idea how popular they are in their home country. However, this song is super-catchy, and I've posted a version with English sub-titles. The best part is the rap near the end, which is honestly so hilarious that it's actually good. Although this song is not new (I think their current single is Abracadabra), I still love listening to it. I wish someone would do an English cover of this song...

Lolene - Rich (Fake It Til You Make It)

2010-09-01T23:21:00.003-04:00

~Pop Song of the Day #63~

Meet Lolene, an 25 year-old up-and-coming British recording artist, songwriter, record producer and performer from Bristol, England. She released one promo single in the US, Sexy People, which I actually like better than the song I posted. However, Rich (Fake It Til You Make It) is her current debut single, and it really has not set the charts on fire yet- considering the video's been out for 2 months. I've listened to a lot of Lolene demos that probably won't be on her album, and her songs are of the amazing electro-pop variety. If you like Ke$ha, then you'll like Lolene. In my opinion, this one's not as catchy as Sexy People, which is why it hasn't been on the radio a lot. Regardless, I hope her debut album will come out soon!

Boys in Boxes

2010-09-01T23:16:00.004-04:00

I'm going to try something new here. I don't feel like writing a Why I Love post, and I don't have time to do a book review... still catching up on summer reading. Instead, below is a poem that I wrote nearly a year ago. It's one of the more experimental ones that I've done. I really hope you enjoy reading it... leave a comment if you want =D

You look at me like you’ve seen it all before,
Like you’ll see another one of me if you look out the door
You should really learn to appreciate what you got,
‘Cause none of us guys are the same as the rest of the lot

Boys like me don’t come in boxes
All wrapped up and set to deliver-
Don’t you know I’m a limited edition?
So put your cards away, ‘cause I’m priceless.

I don’t expire, I perspire
And I’m not made of plastic
I’m 100% authentic
If you find I’m not what you were looking for
Then return me before you break my heart
And look in some other store

Boys like me don’t come in boxes
All tied up and ready to order-
Don’t you know I’m one in a million?
So put your cards away, ‘cause I’m priceless.

I’m an original, the one and only, no copy
And I don’t have a satisfaction guarantee,
That says you can take the best parts that you like in me
If you find I’m not who you were looking for
Then grow up, let’s break up!
I don’t want to see you anymore…

I see you looking at him like a deluxe edition-
Fixed all my flaws, and with bonus features
Why can’t you see? I’ll never be him.
And he’ll never be…
Me.

Boys like me don’t come in boxes!
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Stephanie McIntosh - Mistake

2010-08-30T14:19:00.004-04:00

~Pop Song of the Day #62~

Meet Stephanie McIntosh, a 25 year-old Australian actress and singer, whose acting career was much more successful. She's one of the international pop music artists that I would have never heard if not for pop music blogs (like mine). She released her debut album, Tightrope, in 2006 following a successful debut single, Mistake, which reached #3 on the ARIA singles chart. After a few less successful singles and a failed attempt to cross-over to the UK, she has decided to re-focus on her acting career. I love her album though, and Mistake is one of the most awesome songs ever! I recently re-discovered it after not listening to it for a while & it's been stuck in my head all week.

Asia Cruise - Selfish

2010-08-29T17:28:00.004-04:00

~Pop Song of the Day #61~

Meet Asia Cruise, a 19 or 20 year-old American contemporary R&B singer signed to Hitz Committee/Jive Records. I always love listening to Asian singers, especially since there are so few of them in America! Unfortunately, Asia Cruise's debut single Selfish (released in 2008) did not make its mark on the Billboard charts. According to her Wikipedia page, she hasn't released anything since, but I really hope she does soon. Selfish is a really nice R&B song, and America needs more Asian singers! I mean, there's BoA and Utada Hikaru, but they're superstars in Korea / Japan that have "crossed-over" in the US... just my opinion.

Joanna - Out from Under

2010-08-29T16:11:00.004-04:00

~Pop Song of the Day #60~

Meet Joanna Pacitti, also known as Joanna, a 25 year-old American singer and RECENT lead vocalist in the band City (Comma) State. You may have seen her on the eighth season of American Idol, but I had heard her songs much earlier on a BUNCH of soundtracks. Her debut album, This Crazy Life, was released in 2007, but did not achieve mainstream success. Out From Under originally appeared on the Bratz Motion Picture soundtrack, where I first heard it, before Britney Spears snatched it up to record for her Circus album. I liked Circus, but I prefer Joanna's version much better! Out from Under is a nice, slow pop song, but Joanna's vocals put a lot of heart-breaking emotion into it.

Why I Love #9: Pop Music Artists with Personality

2010-08-28T17:22:00.006-04:00

No, "pop music artists with personality" probably does not mean what you think it means. I don't mean artists with a bad reputation or criminal history- like Paris Hilton and Lindsay Lohan. And before you say anything, I am huge fans of both of their music. I don't judge songs based on who sang them, I judge songs based on their content regardless of who the singer is. So yes, I do have "Nothing in this World" and "Ultimate" on my list of fave songs ever.

Pop Music Artists with Personality actually refers to pop songs themselves. I <3 when I hear a song and can tell who the singer is immediately without knowing before. This could be because of the singer's distinctive voice, or because their songs all have a certain "style" to them. Seriously, I doubt anyone would confuse a Ke$ha song with Taylor Swift one- or even a Lady Gaga song despite both being dance music. (By the way, I'm a huge fan of Ke$ha... I might devote an entire post to her one day.) I love artists that let their personality seep into their songs.

So the reason I'm bringing this up now is because I mentioned "personal style in music" in the past two posts. CRITICAL WARNING: Miranda Cosgrove fans should skip the rest of this post. Okay, I love teenage singers just like everyone else. And Miranda's songs are admittedly very catchy. I do have her CD in my collection because the songs are awesome. However, I recently read an interview where Miranda stated she tried to put her "own personal touch" on all the songs. Wait up! This is the girl whose biggest hit, About You Now, is a Sugababes cover! In fact, in her debut album, she covers Avril Lavigne "Daydream", Ke$ha "Disgusting", and my fave song on the album "Shakespeare" is also a cover- though of a less-known singer/songwriter.

When she only co-wrote one song on the album "There Will Be Tears", it's pretty hard to put a personal touch on an album. Her singing voice, though pleasant, is not very distinct by the way. So now you're thinking, she's just a manufactured teenage pop star- like Miley Cyrus. She can't help it. BUT SHE CAN. One of my fave singers is Keke Palmer, who is also a teenager star with a Nickelodeon TV show. One listen to Keke's album "So Uncool" and you'll instantly realize what her style is like. Whereas Miranda's album is just a mix-and-match of a bunch of random pop songs, Keke's album is actually cohesive- the songs work well together as well as being catchy. Though both of these stars are similar in ways, Keke managed to show her personal style on her debut album, and that's why I like her songs better. I hope you understand now the type of singers who I consider to be true pop music artists with personality. Thanks for reading!!

Photo credit: GenusPhotography
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Katy Perry - Teenage Dream

2010-08-28T17:10:00.003-04:00

~Pop Song of the Day #59~

You should know who Katy Perry is already. It seems like it's been forever since I heard her amazing song Hot N Cold for the first time. She was never one of my fave singers though. Personally, I thought she lacked a distinct personal style- besides for her suggestive song titles, of course. To be honest, I didn't like California Girls much at all. Sure, it was catchy like most disposable pop songs are, but there was absolutely no point / feeling to the song. Even dance-pop singers who sing with absolutely no emotion still need some sort of subject matter for their songs. Teenage Dream, her new single, is the exact opposite, and I <3 it. The lyrics are instantly relatable and personal, and there's actual emotion behind it- unlike CA Girls. Listen to it if you haven't heard it on the radio already.

Jessica Jarrell - Up and Running

2010-08-28T16:35:00.003-04:00

~Pop Song of the Day #58~

Meet Jessica Jarrell, a 15 year-old American singer that is a new-comer to the pop music industry and has collaborated with Justin Bieber. Unfortunately, she doesn't have a Wikipedia page yet, and her Myspace bio was pretty uninformative. I actually first started listening to her debut single, Almost Love (24/7), which I like better than Up and Running. But I decided to post her current single since she definitely needs the publicity. Her songs (of which I have heard 2) are absolutely amazing, and she definitely has her own style to her songs. Hopefully, chart success and a debut album are not far off. Listen for sure!!

Good News & Bad News

2010-08-28T16:23:00.003-04:00

What's up, readers? I'm really sorry for not updating in most of July and August. Well, it is summer after all, and I've been really busy with a lot of things -___- . Among other things, I'm about to enter my senior year of high school, so it's college application season! I'm taking a bunch of AP's this year, but I'll also have at least one free period. Hopefully I will be able to survive and not be completely sleep-deprived like I was last year (junior year). I'm more stressed out about college applications though. Anyway, that's just what's on my mind right now.

GOOD NEWS: I'm still listening to awesome pop songs and reading amazing teen fantasy books. Just because I'm not updating the blog, doesn't mean that I'm not enjoying doing the things that I love most. I have a TON of new books & music artists to fill y'all in on.

BAD NEWS: Like I mentioned before, with school starting, this may be a very stressful year for me- especially near the beginning. There may be days that you view this blog, and wonder "When is he going to update?!" However, keep in mind, that if you feel it's been too long, you can always let me know by commenting on a post or using the shoutbox. There's no greater incentive to blogging than a bunch of impatient readers ;)

Thank you for viewing my blog! I will try my best this year to consistently update =D
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Kat DeLuna - Push Push

2010-07-09T15:15:00.002-04:00

~Pop Song of the Day #57~

Meet Kat DeLuna, a 22 year-old American pop and r&b singer of Dominican heritage, who is currently signed to Universal Motown Records. There is not much information in her Wikipedia biography, since she really has not made it in the music industry yet (in the US, at least). Her debut album, 9 lives, was released in 2007, but did not achieve mainstream success. I remember when I listened to her CD, I liked half the songs and disliked the rest. She has achieved chart success with her singles in numerous other coutries (like France, Belgium, Finland, etc.) though- just not in the US. Perhaps with a 2nd album on the way, Kat DeLuna will be able to change that. The 1st single from the coming album was released about a month ago, and it is really catchy and dance-y.

The Gentlemen's Alliance Cross by Arina Tanemura

2010-07-09T11:02:00.006-04:00

~Book Review #6~

This post is a tribute to what is one of my favorite manga series of all time. And despite what you may think, I have read a TON of manga (mostly shojo), and I have never liked a series so much that did not have any fantasy elements in it. Most of the time, when I read a non-fantasy book, I'll say "it would have been better with magic" or etc. Well, this series is perfect exactly the way it is. (NO spoilers below.)

To start off, The Gentlemen's Alliance Cross is a shōjo manga series written and illustrated by Arina Tanemura that was collected in 11 tankobon (volumes). Rather than summarize the series myself and ruin something for non-readers, here's some info from Wikipedia: The series revolves around "15 year-old girl named Haine Otomiya, a student at the elite private Imperial Academy, who was sold to foster parents for fifty million yen. She used to be a Yanki (girl gang member), but reformed when she met Shizumasa Togu, who told her to live life how she wanted to. She fell in love with Shizumasa and entered the Imperial Academy to try and win his love. Shizumasa is the Emperor of the school. Being the president of the student council and the only member of the gold class, he is the one who everyone looks up to. Through various circumstances Haine is tricked by Maora, a student council member, into becoming his bodyguard and joining the student council. However, Shizumasa claims not to know her and is unexpectedly cold towards her."

Yeah, so it may sound like a typical shojo manga series, let me assure you that it is far superior to many. The school is (of course) very different from normal high schools- starting from the ranking, the student council, and many other things. But, this manga deals with a lot of mature themes (which is why it is rated at 16+). It doesn't show anything outright violent or sexual (honestly, I think that it should be rated 13+), but a lot of stuff is implied. Like the fact that Haine is a former Yanki (a real thing in Japan) means that she was part of a gang and probably participated in illegal activities. Stuff like that is implied, but definitely not shown, which is why it's rated 16+. Overall though, the series is very light-hearted and comical, and I fear that I may have over-emphasized the mature themes too much. It's a really a nice balance of funny and serious moments, and the writing is spectacular. I never expected some of the plot twists that occurred in later volumes.

The art itself is spectacular. Arina Tanemura may use more screentones in one chapter than other manga artists use in an entire volume! Just search for her art on Google images, and you'll see how truly beautiful her art is. It's like hang-on-your-wall type beautiful, seriously. I think she has several art books out. Anyway, so she's a great writer and artist, so this manga has everything. If you have never read anything by her before, be sure to check this series out! Tip: another series translated into English by her is Full Moon wo Sagashite- which keeps up the quality of the art and writing Gentlemen's Alliance Cross. If you read any further works (like Time Stranger Kyoko or earlier), the art will not be up to par- though it's still very readable. I can't wait till they translate some of her more recent works into English.

5 out of 5 stars. Completely Recommended!!

Photo credit: A Gentlemen's Alliance Cross image by Arina Tanemura.
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The Tings Tings - Great DJ

2010-07-08T22:56:00.003-04:00

~Pop Song of the Day #56~

Meet the Tings Tings, a British, Ivor Novello winning and Grammy nominated indie pop duo composed of Jules De Martino and Katie White that formed in 2007. Their most successful single so far "That's Not My Name", debuted at number one in the UK Singles Chart in 2008. I <3 this band. I think I first heard their music on Gossip Girl, and when I listened to their debut album, We Started Nothing, I realized how unique their brand of pop music was. You won't see any mainstream act with such unusual but super-catchy songs. They seem to have currently lost some of their popularity in the US, but that's soon to change with a new album on the way!

Keke Palmer - Friend Me Up

2010-07-06T22:46:00.004-04:00

~Pop Song of the Day #55~

So I'm pretty sure you already know who Keke Palmer is. In case you don't, she's a 16 year-old American actress and singer who currently stars in the Nickelodeon TV show- True Jackson, VP. (That show seriously suffers from the bad jokes. A few episodes are seriously funny, but for the majority, it's like the writers went on vacation!) Anyway, like Selena Gomez (who I featured recently), Keke Palmer is a current teen star who I <3. Her 2007 album is seriously underrated and ANY reader of this blog should listen to it! It's not exactly pop, it's very r&b, and ALL of the songs on the album are awesome and extremely catchy. I think listening to it was what caused me to start listening to r&b more. Definitely one of my fave albums ever & can't wait for her next one!!

The Unwritten by Mike Carey and Peter Gross

2010-07-03T17:21:00.005-04:00

~Book Review #5~

So I never thought that I would read a comic book on DC Comics' Vertigo imprint- besides for Fables. And after I stopped reading Fables after volume 6 or 7 (because it was getting very boring with the long texts and the storyline), I thought that I was done with comics that were rated for adults. Well, I read a preview of The Unwritten online at some comics website or something like that. And I really like the premise of it.

WARNING: I would definitely not read this comic if you can't handle adult material. There's swearing, super violent stuff, etc. And normally, I don't read that kind of stuff either. Like I don't watch rated R movies because I'll most likely get nightmares and be afraid to step outside my house. However, I think I was so interested in the story of this comic that I just skipped over the bloody and gory parts to get the actual plot.

So the basic story is that a father (author) based his famous book character on his own son, Tommy Taylor, and named it after him. The character is a boy wizard, but this is not a Harry Potter rip-off. The books become best-selling, but then the author disappears. Meanwhile, the son grows up and is sick of trying to live up to the storybook character that the whole world knows him as. When characters from the books start appearing in real life, it makes Tom question his origins. And that's where the story begins. According to the author, the book is based more on Christopher Robin (the real one, whose father based a character on from Winnie-the-Pooh) 's auto-biography than Harry Potter.

The story is definitely interesting, although gory as mentioned before. And I can't wait to read the next volume. (I just finished reading the first graphic novel.) Hopefully they will make the series short so that I can find out the ending soon; but I have a feeling that's not going to happen.

Recommended. 4 out of 5 stars.
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Katy Rose - Overdrive

2010-07-03T11:56:00.003-04:00

~Pop Song of the Day #54~

Meet Katy Rose, an American singer, songwriter, producer, musician and actress (according to Wikipedia). She's very punk rock (like early Avril Lavigne), and she worked on her debut album, Because I Can, for a major label at the age of 16. Her debut album was released in 2004, and after a less wide-spread release of her second album, Katy has sort of disappeared. Like a lot of other pop singers that released one or two albums, she has been talking about releasing new albums for a while now- but so far nothing's happened. I really hope she does though, because she's ONLY 23 and her first single, Overdrive, is amazing.

Scarlett Belle - Closure

2010-06-30T16:18:00.003-04:00

~Pop Song of the Day #53~

Meet Scarlett Belle, an up-and-coming Australian pop duo currently consisting of Tamara Jaber and Reigan Derry. The duo are currently based in Sydney and Los Angeles. On 10 May 2010, the duo made their music debut with the song, "Closure" (which has reached #11 on the Australian charts) and will be releasing their debut album in August 2010. It's a nice song, and it's really catchy. The video clip could be better though- if it had an actual story to it relating to the song.

Why I Love #8: Alice in Wonderland

2010-06-30T13:30:00.005-04:00

So I recently saw the new Alice in Wonderland by Disney that was directed by Tim Burton. I'm not really a Tim Burton fan.. I think I've only seen "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" and "9" before this. No, I have not seen The Nightmare Before Christmas, but based on the hype, I was expecting something more out of Alice in Wonderland. I mean, even though I haven't seen Nightmare, I've seen all sorts of merchandise and heard good reviews of his films.

Before I write about the film, I just want to say that I am huge fan of books like Alice in Wonderland, Peter Pan, The Wizard of Oz (especially this), the Chronicles of Narnia, and others. I like the idea of children journeying into magical fairylands and the power of imagination. I read a lot of these before I entered high school, and the land of Oz was definitely my favorite. I had read Alice in Wonderland before, but I never really liked it. I think that the various adaptations in comic books, other movies, and various merchandise are much better than the original book. Of course, without the original novel by Lewis Carroll, none of the current adaptators would have been able to "put a spin" on it.

(Spoilers after.) So the new movie was disappointing. With the grown-up Alice twist and the star cast (including Anne Hathaway), I expected more of a spin on the original tale. I'm not sure, but I think this was supposed to be a remake instead of a sequel. (Or vice versa?) But the entire film was just like the Disney cartoon one EXCEPT for the fight scene at the end between Alice and Jabberwocky. Everything else had already been done before in the cartoon or was completely uninteresting. And the revelation at the end where Alice goes "Oh! Those weren't dreams (where I was in Wonderland before)... those were actual memories!" was so completely obvious that I wanted to say "No duh!" I mean, even a child could have understood that from just watching the movie without her saying it. Seriously, they just copied everything from the cartoon and then added a mediocre fight scene.

Thus, I was really disappointed by this movie. I did not like it at all, and I think the Alice mini-series on Syfy was much better. In fact that cannot even be compared to this remake. So don't watch this movie. Not recommended. 3 out of 5 stars. Just because it had nice special effects and for the awesome new Alice merchandise. Watch the Alice mini-series on Syfy instead. Seriously =D

Photo credit: Disney's Alice in Wonderland poster (2010)
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Selena Gomez - Round and Round

2010-06-25T23:18:00.005-04:00

~Pop Song of the Day #52~

So you might be thinking "Sure, post the song that everyone's heard already, since it's totally new blah blah blah". Well, it's true that it IS new and has received a lot of hits on Youtube already, but Selena Gomez is not your typical Disney pop princess. When I saw her on Wizards of Waverly Place, I thought, "Ok, her album will be another manufactured pop CD". But I was completely wrong & blown away when I heard her album full of dance-y songs. Some may call the songs pop-rock, but the beats were all pure dance. They were completely not what I was expecting & I <3'd it. Round and Round is Selena Gomez and the Scene's 1st single from their 2nd album. Listen to it 2x and it'll get stuck in your head =D I didn't like it at first, but then it got stuck in my head lol. Note: I would have rather they released some of the other songs from the 1st album as singles (like my fave I Don't Miss You At All, or maybe I Got U, or As A Blonde); but I guess getting new songs is better.

Kimberly Cole - Smack You

2010-06-24T16:55:00.002-04:00

~Pop Song of the Day #51~

Meet Kimberly Cole, pretty much a new-comer in the music industry. Although she doesn't have a Wikipedia page (and I'm too lazy to look at her bio on her Myspace Music page), I'll just write what I know about her off the top of my head. First off, the first time I heard this song, I stopped it after the intro. If you're a Ke$ha fan, then you'll recognize the similarity of the intro, but the song is completely different and awesome. It's been playing non-stop on my computer for a few days now. Although the subject matter can seem a bit violent and vulgar, the song itself is catchy and dance-y. Kimberly doesn't have an album out yet, but one of her songs "Superstar (Smash It)" was featured on the TV series Dollhouse (which happens to be one of my fave TV shows).

Sorry for not posting!

2010-06-24T16:36:00.004-04:00

Hey guys, sorry for not posting for 2 - 3 months >.< I'm going to blame it on studying for AP exams, finals, etc. It's been a busy couple of months, but now that it's SUMMER ~ ! I will have much more time to post and update this blog. I have SO much new music to show you & I still start reviewing books more. I can't believe I got 300+ views even though I haven't been updating. Sorry again, and I will definitely keep posting over the summer. Thank you readers! =]

Picture credit: Me! I actually painted the picture in art class this yr, and just had time this month to save it onto my computer.
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After School - Bang!

2010-03-31T18:26:00.003-04:00

~Pop Song of the Day #50~

Meet After School... yet another Korean girlband. I've listened to a few of their singles, but this is the song that I am currently obsessed with. When I watched the music video, I was confused at first since I don't keep up with K-POP news. Apparently, they now have 8 members?! LOL, almost as much as Girls' Generation. Anyway, Bang! is their latest single, and it seems to have the theme of a "marching band"? On the first listen, I didn't think much of it. But after the second listen, I got hooked onto the melody (where they're shouting & stuff). It is super catchy... definitely listen to it!! =D

Anna Maria Perez de Taglé - Part of Your World

2010-03-31T18:17:00.003-04:00

~Pop Song of the Day #49~

Meet Anna Maria Perez de Taglé, a 19 year-old American actress, model, and singer of Filipino background. She is best known for her roles on Hannah Montana, Camp Rock, and Fame. It seems that she has an album coming out soon, so maybe she's going to be the next Disney starlet? Anyway, my friend Christine introduced me to this song on Facebook. (Shout out / thank you!!) I always love listening to Disney songs, becase most of the time, their pop songs are amazing.. this one is no exception. I haven't listened to Anna Maria's original songs yet, but I hope they will be awesome =D

Kid Sister - Daydreaming

2010-03-31T18:09:00.003-04:00

~Pop Song of the Day #48~

Meet Kid Sister AKA Melisa Young, a 29 year-old rap artist based in Chicago, Illinois. She's best known for her single "Pro Nails", featuring Kanye West, and is said to be Kanye West's protege. She recently finished her debut album, which was released in 2009. I didn't like this artist much at first. I listened to her first single off her debut album, Right Hand Hi, but didn't really like it. Then, I listened to her new 2nd single, Daydreaming, and I absolutely <3 it =D Although she's a hip hop / R&B / rap singer, this song sounds like something they could play on Lite FM lol. The melody seems like something ANYONE would enjoy..

Lesley Roy - I'm Gone, I'm Going

2010-03-31T18:00:00.002-04:00

~Pop Song of the Day #47~

Meet Lesley Roy, a 23 year-old pop singer-songwriter and guitarist from Balbriggan in Dublin, Ireland. According to Wikipedia, her genre is power pop. I don't listen to much of that genre (I generally listen to pop music), but her songs are absolutely amazing. I happened to listen to her song "I'm Gone, I'm Going" one day and I <3'd it. Just listen once!! It's probably one of the best break-up / feel good song ever! Lesley Roy's debut and only album was released in 2008 to mild chart success. I have no idea what she's doing now, but hopefully another album is on the way! The songs on the old one reminded me of Pink a little, but they were all sort of rock-ish and really good.

Girls' Generation - Run Devil Run

2010-03-31T17:55:00.002-04:00

~Pop Song of the Day #46~

So I know I've posted a lot of Girls' Generation already.. and I know there are a ton of Korean girlbands out there. (I promise to post more of these in the coming weeks. It seems that every time I look on Youtube, another Korean girlband has released a new single lol.) So Girls' Generation is probably most famous for being a girl group with 9 members. Many of their singles are also super-popular internationally. Their latest single, Run Devil Run, seems to be a Ke$ha cover. I have listened to a demo of this song by Ke$ha (check Youtube, I'm not sure), but this version is in Korean and I <3 it. It seems that their stream of super-catchy singles will never end =D

Kerli - Tea Party

2010-03-31T17:42:00.004-04:00

~Pop Song of the Day #45~

You can't be serious.. you haven't heard of Kerli?! She's one of my favorite singers ever!! & don't even try to call her a Lady Gaga copy-cat. Look up Kerli's song "Walking on Air" from her debut album.. it is awesome. Kerli Koiv is a 23 year-old Estonian singer-songwriter who is known for her electro-pop / pop-rock style and her album "Love Is Dead"- which charted in the Billboard 200 at #126 in the summer of 2008. In Estonia, they apparently have a "Kerli syndrome" named after her: go to Wikipedia to read more about it. I was SO excited when I found out that she had 2 songs on the new Alice in Wonderland sountrack. I definitely have to go buy it now.. I would say that her style is sort of a goth-pop, and I really hope she become more successful in the US =D

Lack of Updates?!

2010-03-31T17:33:00.004-04:00

To my readers:

I'm so, so sorry!! I know I barely posted anything this month.. And I got a few hundred views this month too o_O which is a pretty huge amount for me. SORRY if you were checking for updates. I know how it feels when you hate a website for never updating, so please bear with me... You know, sometimes it feels like I'm writing into empty space since I rarely get comments. But since you're reading this right now, it means I must have SOME sort of readership lol.

Anyway, sorry again for the lack of posts!! I've been really super-busy with various things + I'm still in high school, so there's tests, homework, ACT's, SAT's, AP's, and other stuff to worry about. I'll try to update more frequently- but don't count on it. It seems that I will get more busy as the school year comes to a close. Sigh.. why did I open a blog if I will rarely have time to update... I wonder. Please don't give up on this blog!! (Hmm... am I telling this to myself?) Teen Fantasy Books + Pop Music forever <3
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Utada Hikaru - Hotel Lobby

2010-03-05T18:21:00.002-05:00

~Pop Song of the Day #44~

Meet Utada Hikaru, a 27 year-old Japanese-American singer and songwriter, arranger, and record producer. Her debut album, First Love, went on to become the best-selling album in Oricon history, and three of her Japanese studio albums in the list of Top 10 best-selling albums ever in Japan. Utada has had fourteen number-one singles on the Oricon Singles chart, including five million-sellers and four in the Top 100 All-Time Best-selling Singles. Utada Hikaru has sold an estimated 50 million albums sold worldwide. You may remember her theme songs to the Disney/Square Enix "Kingdom Hearts" franchise: Simple and Clean, and Sanctuary. In addition to all of these accomplishments, she has released two English language albums in America & abroad. In my opinion, we need more Asian artists like her =D

Jordan McCoy - I Get Weak

2010-03-02T19:31:00.002-05:00

~Pop Song of the Day #43~

Meet Jordan McCoy, an 18 year-old American singer, guitarist, and American Juniors finalist. After singing from a young age, Jordan convinced her mom to take her to American Juniors competition auditions at the age of 11. After the show, she went to Los Angeles to start developing her music career and auditioned for TV and movie roles. According to Wikipedia, Diddy signed Jordan on the spot to Bad Boy Records after she sang for him at his hotel room. She is a member of the upcoming revival of the girl group Dream. She has only released one EP so far in 2009, which I own and love. Her pop songs are very good, and I wish she would release an album. Keep in mind that this is not the official music video, but it's a great song nonetheless =D

Samantha Mumba - Gotta Tell You

2010-03-01T20:07:00.002-05:00

~Pop Song of the Day #42~

Meet Samantha Mumba, an Irish singer and actress, who is most noted for her 2000 debut single Gotta Tell You, which was ultra-sucessful internationally. The single reached No. 1 on the Irish charts, No. 2 on the UK charts, and No. 4 on the Billboard Hot 100. Five more top 10 hits followed in the UK, but Samantha basically disappeared from the music scene after her first album. She has released several films since then, but a 2nd album has yet to see the light of day. Just one listen, and you will know why this song was so successful. Some songs just have that "hit" factor, most likely because of the chorus =D

Ashey Jade - I'm Dreaming

2010-02-28T21:02:00.003-05:00

~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

2010-02-27T14:13:00.002-05:00

~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

2010-02-27T13:48:00.003-05:00

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

2010-02-20T22:39:00.003-05:00

~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

2010-02-19T23:24:00.002-05:00

~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!

2010-02-18T21:26:00.003-05:00

~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?

2010-02-18T21:01:00.003-05:00

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

2010-02-13T22:26:00.003-05:00

~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)

2010-02-12T18:06:00.003-05:00

~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

2010-02-09T20:57:00.002-05:00

~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

2010-02-07T19:35:00.002-05:00

~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

2010-02-04T20:37:00.003-05:00

~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

2010-02-03T21:06:00.003-05:00

~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

Avril Lavigne - Alice

2010-01-29T14:23:00.003-05:00

~Pop Song of the Day #30~

Meet Avril Lavigne, a 25 year-old Canadian pop/rock singer-songwriter, fashion designer, and actress. She's known for her worldwide hits "Complicated", "My Happy Ending", and recently, "Girlfriend". Avril's also currently one of the top-selling pop music artists of the decade in the US. You seriously MUST have heard of her before. She's one of my favorite artists ever!! She caused some controversy when she changed from her old punk/rock genre to pop/rock; in other news, she recently got divorced... Alice is her first single since her The Best Damn Thing days, and fans have been eagerly anticipating this song. It's also going to be on the new Disney remake of Alice in Wonderland's soundtrack. She has been reported as saying that her new album will show off her singing voice more. This song is fantastic.. hope you enjoy listening!! =D

Why I Love #6: Movies That Aren't Sad

2010-01-29T13:22:00.006-05:00

You know what's one thing that always manages to get me down? (Well, besides for the usual everyday things in life, of course.) Sad movies. I absolutely do not like sad movies ie. My Sister's Keeper. I have seen enough of them to last a lifetime, believe me. I mean, is there really any point to have the audience leaving the movie theatre thinking, "Wow, that was so... SAD!" Ok, so I understand that sometimes there are reasons why the movie has to be sad. For instance, My Sister's Keeper is about a family's struggle when they realize that one of their daughters has cancer. (Hope I didn't spoil that for anyone.. there's also a twist at the end, that I totally wasn't expecting & so I didn't spoil anything really.)

So sometimes, it is necessary to make a movie sad because the subject material itself is aad, and it wouldn't make sense to turn a bad situation into a comedy. (Oh, I just realized that the title I put onto this blog post was a little ironic. Yep, we are not going to talk about something I love today.. instead, we are going to talk about the opposite of the title.) The thing is, I just really don't like sad movies at all. If a movie wants to make me cry, then I think, "Why did I just watch that movie?" I mean, real life is depressing enough. Do we really want to depressed over fictional characters that we don't know, also? I guess the answer is yes, since there is such a high market and large audience for these "sob story" movies. Do people honestly need a movie to get their "sad fix" or something?

So yesterday, I rented My Sister's Keeper from a local Redbox. (You can read more about my LOVE of Redboxes in a previous Why I Love post.) The thing is, I knew already that the movie was going to be pretty sad. So you might wonder why in the world I want to see a movie that I knew was going to be sad if I really really don't like sad movies. Well, the answer is that many of my friends/acquaintances had been going on and on about the movie lately. And I would hope you would know by now, I only watch new releases. That is, if I have time. (I rarely ever have time to sleep, let alone watch a 2 hour movie.) But I enjoy watching new releases, just so I can talk about them with people when it turns out we've watched the same ones. I guess you could call me a pop culture junkie.

Anyway, many of my friends on Facebook have been saying, "This movie was so sad... it made me cry." and such. So I decided to see the movie just because so many people that I know have seen it. I believe that you could call this "peer pressure" of a sort, because I watched it only because I didn't want to be left out. In conclusion, I watched the movie. (I don't normally watch a movie for the acting, plot elements, lighting, or anything like that... so don't even ask that.) Instead, I realized again exactly why I hate sad movies. Because... it was sad! Duh. Not to say that the movie was horrible, because it wasn't. I'm sure that someone in the world out there would praise the acting, the twist in the plot, etc. But I'm not going to.

The only positive thing that it did to me was open my eyes to what someone going through cancer has to go through. It was very informative in that way, and I learned a lot from this movie. (Note: it must be horrible to have to bleed and throw up and everything, and I feel really bad now that I'm saying that I didn't like this movie). The truth is, I chose My Sister's Keeper as a subject on this blog post simply because it was the first sad movie that I have watched since I got this blog. It could have been any other movie out there, so please don't hate me if you're a huge fan of My Sister's Keeper or something. Lastly, I hope that next time a really popular "sad" movie comes out, someone will remind me not to see it =D
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1,000 views!!

2010-01-28T17:01:00.005-05:00

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To my readers, thank you so much!! =D I know that you guys aren't doing anything for me besides reading my blog, but I sincerely want to thank you. Today, I checked my view count (which is on the bottom left corner of my blog), and I noticed that I had over 1000 views! I never imagined that so many people (or repeated visitors) would want to see what books or music artists that I recommend.. especially since I opened this blog less than 2 months ago. Again, the point of this blog is for me to review teen fantasy books that I like and recommend pop music songs that I love. I also have "Why I Love" sections where I post about random things. Well, if you seriously enjoy reading my blog, please send this link to your friends!

Thank you for the 1,000 views!! =D

Ps. You may have noticed the advertisements on the page lately.. well, these are basically "ads by Google". I'm pretty sure that all the ads have been tested by Google, so they are 100% safe. Just letting you know..
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Rachael Yamagata - Be Be Your Love

2010-01-28T16:50:00.002-05:00

~Pop Song of the Day #29~

Meet Rachael Yamagata, a 32 year-old American singer-songwriter and pianist. Born in Arlington, Virginia, she is a fourth-generation Japanese American on her father's side and of Italian and German ancestry on her mother's side. Be Be Your Love was a single released from her debut album, Happenstance, which was released in 2004. It was featured in the Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants and on One Tree Hill. Her songs have been featured in many other places, and her second (most recent) album, which had a darker sound, was released in 2008. I was thinking today that I hadn't featured any sad or melancholy songs lately. Well, here's a reminder that not all pop songs are completely happy and dance-type music =D

Gabriella Cilmi - On A Mission

2010-01-26T21:09:00.002-05:00

~Pop Song of the Day #28~

Meet Gabriella Cilmi, an 18 year-old Australian singer and songwriter, who is best known for her debut single "Sweet About Me". She has won six ARIA awards including Single of the Year and Best Female Artist in 2008, and has had very mild success her in the US. On A Mission is her first single from her second album, and on this song, she experiments with the dance-pop genre. I like this song much better than Sweet About Me. Although both are pretty catchy, On A Mission has been stuck in my head all week. Definitely listen to this more than once =D

Shontelle - Licky

2010-01-24T11:33:00.002-05:00

~Pop Song of the Day #27~

Meet Shontelle, a 24 year-old pop/r&b/reggae singer-songwriter from Barbados. She recently won the Barbados Music Award for "Song of the Year" for her song T-Shirt in 2009. She can be called a newcomer, since her debut album came out in 2008 and was only mildly successful in the US. She's definitely not a household name yet, even though her singles are very, very good. I became a fan of hers after listening to her debut album; however, I think that the only good songs were the ones that she released as singles. Shontelle is currently working on her 2nd album, and Licky is the first single to be released from it. It samples a Princess Superstar track (which I have not heard), but it is insanely catchy. Unfortunately, Youtube won't let me embed the official music video (what is with VEVO these days?!) but the song can stand well enough on its own =D

The Secret to Teen Power by Paul Harrington

2010-01-24T11:05:00.005-05:00

~Book Review #4~

So I picked up this book from my local library based on a recommendation from a friend. Sure, I had heard of The Secret before- I mean who hasn't heard of one of the latest best-selling books of all time (citation needed, lol)? I was initially interested, particularly because this book was aimed directly at teens. Being a teenager myself, I just HAD to read this book.

After reading this, I have pretty mixed opinions about this book. The logic of the Law of Attraction seems very sound- especially since the author mixed real-life quotes of famous people with stories from regular teenagers around the world. I just don't think that it will actually work. What, you say? How in the world could I not believe in The Secret after all the evidence that the book cites? Well, maybe it is because I already have a very very good life... in my opinion, I am one of the luckiest people that I know. So have I managed to attract very good things into my life even though I constantly think negative as well as positive thoughts?

I realize that some of you readers may have no idea what I'm talking about. Well, this post is for the people who also know about The Secret. (Spoiler warning.) Back to the subject. The book says that you can attract anything you want into your life simply by visualizing that it will happen, thinking positive thoughs, and believing that it will eventually come true. I just don't believe that this can happen. Sure, there are miracle stories, but I don't think that something will happen simply because you want it to. Also, people who think negatively all the time can still get what they want... it's common sense. In conclusion, I guess that The Secret may work for some people, and others may not ever understand it.

I still recommend this book though, because it is a very nice book that will let anyone get his or her self-confidence back. Overall, it's very positive, and I'm sure that anyone who truly believes in it will find that their life will become better. However, I call this the "placebo effect" (no, I didn't make that up). It's basically when a sick person takes medicine that doesn't do anything, but because the person believes that the medicine will work, the patient ends up getting better. I think that the same principle applies here. People who did not know The Secret may have been taking the good things in their life for granted, or not noticing them. However, once they get the book, they will start noticing all the good parts in their life and atttribute it to The Secret. That's my theory. I recommend this book to people who think that everything's going wrong in their life- perhaps The Secret will help them develop a more positive outlook and will "work" for them =D

Recommended. 3 out of 5 stars.
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Justin Bieber - Baby

2010-01-23T11:47:00.004-05:00

~Pop Song of the Day #26~

Meet Justin Bieber, a 15 year-old Canadian pop/R&B singer who was discovered on YouTube by Usher and signed a record deal with Island in the past year or so. He has become the only artist in Billboard history to have four singles from a debut album chart in the Top 40 of the Hot 100 before the album's release,and the first artist to have all songs from a single album to chart in the U.S. Hot 100. The album has been certified platinum in Canada and the US, which is an amazing feat for a 15 year-old. You know, hearing about all these successful teenagers around my age makes me wonder if only I was able to, too. Anyway, Baby is the lead single from the 2nd half of Justin's debut album, and it might be his catchiest song yet =D

2NE1 - I Don't Care

2010-01-18T12:22:00.002-05:00

~Pop Song of the Day #25~

So I don't know a lot about K-pop girlbands, except for the fact that their songs are awesome & there's an awful lot of them debuting within the past year. Perhaps Korean music executives want to cash in on the phase of successful girlbands like the Wonder Girls (who toured and released a single in the US last year- please support!) and Girl's Generation. Anyway, basically the only thing you have to do to find a girlband is find four girls who can sing/dance and look good & voila. And listening to K-pop girlbands makes everything better =D Like I said, I don't know any particulars about 2NE1, but definitely listen to this song!!

JoJo - Coming for You

2010-01-17T11:17:00.002-05:00

~Pop Song of the Day #24~

Meet Joanne Levesque, better known by her stage name JoJo, a 19 year-old American R&B singer–songwriter and actress. She had much success in her early days as a singer- her debut single "Leave (Get Out)" reached number one on the US Top 40 Mainstream songs, which made her the youngest artist to reach number one in the United Stats. Subsequent singles have reached high spots on the Billboard Top Singles, while her numerous acting roles have won her a large fanbase. Recently, she was involved in a lawsuit after she claimed that her label wouldn't let her out of her contract or release her 3rd already-recorded album. She has now moved to Interscope label, which is great since I'm sure everyone wants to hear her new album. Coming for You is a song off her 2nd album, and although it was not released as a single, it defintely had the potential. I remember listening to her 2nd album a couple of months ago, and when I heard this song, I thought "This is awesome!!" =D

Why I Love #5: Kamen Rider Dragon Knight

2010-01-17T09:36:00.004-05:00

Kamen Rider: Dragon Knight was literally the best show that I have ever watched in a long, long time.. and it aired on the unlikeliest of places because it was supposedly "aimed" at boys 7-12, or something like that. So the reason for this blog post is to the lament and sad and painful death of a truly wonderful show. Unfortuately for fans everywhere (I'm sure that there are some somewhere), Kamen Rider: Dragon Knight was officially cancelled due to low ratings- 2 episodes before the series finale. Yes, that's right.. they taped 40 episodes altogether, but they didn't air the last two. Two whole episodes. Redefines cliffhanger, doesn't it? Anyways, there's no use talking about it now.. I feel kind of powerless, like when I used to watch Pokemon back when I was little, and I didn't know anything really about the world. I would just be happy in my little bubble of what I knew and not care about anything else.

So I guess I better start talking about why I <3 Kamen Rider: Dragon Knight. Well, first off, from the picture, you would probably think that the show was like Power Rangers. The truth is, that is not even the littlest part true. Apparently in Japan, they have a whole genre of TV shows devoted to shows like Power Rangers and Kamen Rider- so no, it's not a Power Rangers rip-off. The fact is that Kamen Rider was intended for more mature audience. Sure, Power Rangers might have adult fans, but the storylines are obviously intended for children. With Kamen Rider, the storylines could be complicated, characters could be complicated (instead of just good or evil), everything just seemed more mature.

I guess I can compare it a little to Digimon or the first Pokemon movie. Back then, I think that there was less control over what children saw (with parents' groups and stuff, but that's a whole other topic). Digimon had very very dark and scary moments, and thinking back, I wonder if they would let kids watch it nowadays. The first Pokemon movie (if anyone remembers it?) also had the main character basically die- although he gets revived in the end. My point is that because Kamen Rider was not written entirely for children, young adults (like me) and people of all ages and genders could love it too. The plots were great, the characters were believable.. it was also unintentionally funny sometimes. With one word, I would describe the humor as "campy"- which I define as being a movie or TV show being unintentionally funny due to a low budget or other reasons. I loved tuning episodes of Kamen Rider & wondering if little 1/2 my age were watching the same show.

Overall, I guess this is good-bye to Kamen Rider.. with the show cancelled, even a DVD box-set would take some time to be released. I really hope that it does come out though- so that fans can finally see how the storyline gets resolved. Kamen Rider brought much joy into my life- especially since it was so different than all of the other shows. I'm sad that it's cancelled, but what can you do? Shows like this rarely popular anyway.. thank you, readers, for following along on my rant. If you want to check out Kamen Rider: Dragon Knight (and I recommend that you do), just search for it on Youtube on something. Let's ride!!
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Agnes Carlsson - Release Me

2010-01-16T10:56:00.002-05:00

~Pop Song of the Day #23~

Meet Agnes Carlsson, a 21 year-old Puerto Rican pop singer raised in Queens, New York, who became famous after winning the 2nd season of Swedish Idol in 2005. She has gone on to be one of Sweden's and Europe's most popular and best-selling female singers, selling over 180,000 albums in her home country alone. She has recently achieved internationl success, and Release Me is her first single released in the US. Just one listen, and you will know why it's a hit. Definitely listen if you're a fan of pop music with strong vocals, like Leona Lewis. I think she's going to be a household name soon..

Raven Symone - Anti-Love Song

2010-01-14T20:26:00.002-05:00

~Pop Song of the Day #22~

Meet Raven Symone, a 24 year-old American actress, singer-songwriter, fashion designer, and television producer. She's best known for her Disney Channel show "That's So Raven" and for being a part of the Disney franchise, the Cheetah Girls, for a limited time. It's kind of sad how once these Disney stars are no longer on a TV show/movie, their albums won't sell anymore. Case in point, Anti-Love song was one of Raven's songs from her latest self-titled album. However, Hollywood Records did little to no promotion (and coupled with the fact that Raven was no longer on a Disney Channel show), so her album basically flopped. It's a shame, since many of the songs there are very very good. Definitely take a listen if you like r&b/pop =D

Robyn - Be Mine

2010-01-09T21:52:00.003-05:00

~Pop Song of the Day #21~

Meet Robyn, a 30 year-old Grammy Award-nominated Swedish pop singer-songwriter. I'm not much of a fan of hers, since I only heard her latest US album, and I only like 2 songs (Be Mine and Robotboy). Apparently, she's very famous around the world- especially in her home country of Sweden. Below is a fanmade music video of Be Mine set to the CW television show, Gossip Girl. I didn't like the official music video a lot (what can I say?), so I put this one instead. The song itself is phenomenal... just one listen, and you'll probably love it =D

Vistoso Bosses - Delirious

2010-01-08T18:30:00.002-05:00

~Pop Song of the Day #20~

Meet the Vistoso Bosses, an up-and-coming American R&B and pop duo made up of Taylah P. and Kelci from Atlanta, Georgia. They're both teenagers, so I'm surprised that their debut song didn't instantly pick up a Radio Disney following. They're style is very bright and colorful (from their name, lol) and their songs are really really good. Delirious is their debut single, and it has hit number 42 on the American R&B charts- which is pretty good for a newcomer. When I first heard this song, I knew that I was going to love the Vistoso Bosses. Definitely listen if you like R&B =D

And Youtube won't let me embed the official musicvideo =( Whatever. They have other song samples from their upcoming debut album on their Myspace, but I no longer link to Myspaces to save time when writing posts. Just Google it instead =D

Kari Kimmel - It's Not Just Make Believe

2010-01-07T20:20:00.003-05:00

~Pop Song of the Day #19~

Meet Kari Kimmel, an American pop singer, songwriter, and producer from Los Angeles. Her debut and only album so far, A Life in the Day, was released in 2006. Many of her songs have been featured in TV shows, movies, and commercials, and several have also been covered by different artists. The song, It's Not Just Make Believe, was featured in the Disney movie, Ella Enchanted. I'm proud to say that I purchased her CD off of Amazon, and I love every single one of the songs on it. If you like catchy pop songs that appeal to adults as well as tweens, then definitely take a listen =D

Lily Allen - The Fear

2010-01-02T18:16:00.002-05:00

~Pop Song of the Day #18~

Meet Lily Allen, a 24 year-old British recording artist, talk show host, and actress who has had chart success in the UK. Although she may be well known in the US, her singles have charted less well here than in her home country. The Fear was her first single from her second album, It's Alright, Still and it became a #1 hit on the UK singles chart. Her second album is in the genre of electro/pop which is a change from her debut album. In my opinion, I like the songs on her second album much better than the first. Unfortunately, Lily Allen has recently stated that she has no plans of recording a third album.

Click HERE to visit Lily Allen's Myspace & listen to some of her songs.

Some & Any - Last Man Standing

2010-01-01T20:49:00.003-05:00

~Pop Song of the Day #17~

Meet Some & Any, a German pop duo, formed during the 8th season of the German version of the international talent show Popstars (similar to American Idol). Some & Any is comprised of 18 year-old Vanessa Meisinger and 20-year old Leonardo Ritzmann. The band's debut album, First Shot, was released December 18 2009. I have the album, and it is awesome!! The album shows electro, dance, and of course, pop influences, and the songs are very catchy. It is definitely one of my favorite new albums of 2009. Unfortunately, the album and single, Last Man Standing, charted on the worst positions in Popstars history.

Happy New Year!!

2010-01-01T20:40:00.004-05:00

Happy New Year, readers!! =D Hope you all enjoyed watching the ball in Times Square drop yesterday... I kept falling asleep xD And in the end, the channel I was watching didn't even show the ball dropping! lol. They just flashed to lovers kissings right after the countdown. Sigh, I wish that I could find true <3. My New Year's resolution is to stop leaving everything till the last minute aka stop procrastinating everything. Hopefully, I will be able to accomplish this =D I guess that the fact that I put it on my blog serves as proof that I will try. Anyway, now that the break's almost over, I might not be able to update daily. That means that you might have to go an entire week without posts! lol. Jk I will try to update as frequently as I can. Here's to hoping that 2010 will be just as good and even better than 2009!! =D
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Jameerah - All Eyes On Me

2009-12-31T07:06:00.004-05:00

~Pop Song of the Day #16~

Meet Jameerah, an international girlband in every sense of the word. All four of the girls come from different countries, and they are international celebrities. Three of them have previously won "Miss" competitions in their respective countries, and the fourth is a singer/model. The group is comprised of Jasmine Sendar (The Netherlands), Elisa Guarraci (Belgium/Italy), Tanja Dexters (Belgium), and Nelly Marie Bojahr (Germany). All Eyes On Me is their debut single, and it was just released this year. The video is of the dance remix, because in my opinion, it is much better than the original. The opening chords at the beginning are really really good, and the chorus lives up to the hype. They could have done without the flirting in the video though. Take a listen for yourself =D

Click HERE to visit Jameerah's Myspace & listen to some of their songs.

Natasha Bedingfield - If You're Gonna

2009-12-30T17:15:00.007-05:00

~Pop Song of the Day #15~

Meet Natasha Bedingfield, a 28 year-old Grammy award-nominated British pop singer and songwriter. You may remember her from her hit single "Unwritten", which peaked at number 5 on the US Billboard Hot 100 in 2006. I have both of her US albums, and she definitely knows how to write a good pop song. "If You're Gonna" is one of the songs off her debut album, and although it was not released as a single, it is still very catchy =D It has a little more rock in it than the rest of her songs, and I remember thinking that it was the best song on the album (with the possible exception of Unwritten) when I first heard it.

Click HERE to visit Natasha Bedingfield's Myspace & listen to some of her songs.

Why I Love #4: Redbox

2009-12-30T17:03:00.005-05:00

So I know what you're thinking... why would I <3 redboxes? I mean, they're cheap, dirty, and red DVD rental machines! What could possibly be lovable about them?! Well, to answer your questions, I only need one word: convenience. They are most convenient thing ever! I don't know if there are any where you live, but in case you don't know what they are, they can basically be summarized as "DVD rental machines". Basically, you pay $1 to rent a DVD for a night, and when you return, you can rent another DVD for the next night for... $1. Yeah. So the concept is pretty simple, but whoever thought of them is a genius. No longer do you have to buy the DVD in order to view it, or waste time in theatres, or pay Blockbuster ridiculous amounts of money in order to rent them for a week. (Who needs a week to watch a single DVD anyway?) I live right by a Redbox, so whenever I want to watch a movie that just came out, all I have to pay is $1. Seriously, I <3 Redboxes.
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Hilary Duff - Holiday

2009-12-29T23:26:00.004-05:00

~Pop Song of the Day #14~

If you were born in my generation, then I'm pretty sure you know who Hilary Duff is. She is best-known for starring in the Disney Channel series Lizzie McGuire as a teenager, and she has lately been seen on Gossip Girl. She's also a pop music artist, with three RIAA-certified platinum albums. Her last album, Dignity, was a more grown-up venture into dance/pop music, which is much better than the teen bubblegum pop music of her previous two albums. I've been a fan of hers for a long time now, and I'm looking forward to new music from her. If you don't like Hilary Duff, don't dismiss this song! Holiday was one of the two new songs on her latest "Best Of" compilation album, and in my opinion, it might be her best song yet =D

Click HERE to visit Hilary Duff's Myspace & listen to some of her songs.

Why I Love #3: School breaks

2009-12-29T22:58:00.007-05:00

Seriously, who doesn't love school breaks? I mean, if you're like me, you've worked hard on projects, regular homework, studying for tests, etc. Whenever a schedule school break comes along, I always feel like "I deserve this." LOL if you want. I've spent many sleepless nights finishing homework for teachers, and I think that I deserve all the breaks that I can get. So... it's not spring/summer break like in the picture obviously. And it's freezing cold outside, but still. A break is a break. Enjoy it while it lasts. (In my opinion, breaks always go by too fast- like the current one.) I always plan all these big things that I'm going to do during the breaks, but I almost never finish all of them, and I'm left doing some homework that I wish I had done earlier the night before I go back to school. Hopefully that won't happen this time lol. I have "school" things to do this break- including science projects, research papers, studying for SAT's. But I also have "me" things to do- like writing a bunch of poems so I can enter more poetry contests, keeping this blog up to date, and working on my itunes. Note: despite the huge amount of music on my laptop, I cannot seem to find time to put it all into itunes & sync it onto my ipod. In fact, my ipod is basically empty when compared to the music on my laptop. Anyway, back to the topic. So yeah, I <3 school breaks. There's not much to explain actually... I'm sure you all love school breaks, too =D

Photo credit: Ouran High School Host Club anime
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Cheryl Cole - Fight For This Love

2009-12-28T09:49:00.004-05:00

~Pop Song of the Day #13~

Meet Cheryl Cole, a British singer, song-writer,dancer, fashion designer, author, and celebrity. She is most known in the UK as a member of the ultra-successful pop group, Girls Aloud. (You must be living outside of the UK if you have never heard of them... they had 20 consecutive Top 10 singles on the UK charts since their debut, which is a completely amazing feat by itself.) Fight For This Love is Cheryl's first solo single, and it was the fastest- selling single of 2009 when it entered the UK and Irish Singles Charts at number 1. I couldn't find a regular version of the song to embed, so below is the Moto Blanco remix of the song. In my opinion, Fight For This Love is an awesome pop song.

Click HERE to visit Cheryl Cole's Myspace & listen to some of her songs.

Tiffany Giardina - Hurry Up and Save Me

2009-12-27T06:00:00.001-05:00

~Pop Song of the Day #12~

Meet Tiffany Giardina, a 16 year-old singer/song-writer from New York, who achieved limited success among the tween demographic with her album, No Average Angel, which was released in 2009. She is most known for having her singles, No Average Angel and Hurry Up and Save Me, on the Another Cinderella Story soundtrack. She started singing at a young age at various venues and continues to this day. I wish her luck, because her album definitely showed promise. While I didn't enjoy every single song on the CD, some tracks (like the one below) are insanely super-catchy. Take a listen for yourself =D

Click HERE to visit Tiffany Giardina's Myspace & listen to some of her songs.

Emily the Strange: The Lost Days by Rob Reger

2009-12-27T02:58:00.006-05:00

~Book Review #3~

Before I read this book, I knew little to nothing about Emily Strange. Sure, I had seen the usual franchise items: comic books, wallets, clothes, etc. But since I had never bothered to look up Emily's back-story, I was very much clueless when I started reading this book.

The plot of this book revolves around Emily who wakes up one day with no memory of who she is. At once, I felt that the premise of the book was interesting. The book is written in diary form, and as you read it, you start to realize just what kind of character that Emily Strange is. The plot is very, very interesting once you get into it. There are many strange happenings and characters in this book, and you get to experience all of them through Emily's eyes- and through illustrations that are characteristic of Emily Strange's gothic style.

At one point near the beginning, I began to feel bored with the book, and wondered if I should continue reading. This was because I had absolutely no idea what the book was going to be about or how it was going to end. The summaries of the book were very vague, and I did not want to spend days reading a 264-page (though easily readable) book if the ending was not borderline satisfying. Well, to put a long story short, I am very glad that I continued reading. The book is perfect if you're into mysteries, diaries, suspense, humor, or teen fantasy fiction- like me. Although there are no out-right supernatural elements, there are still a few fantastical characters/events that cause you to wonder.

Overall, I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who has ever wondered about the real story behind Emily Strange. I have a feeling that the book is aimed to tweens more than young adults, since there is nothing that I can recall that would be inappropriate for a 9 or 10-year old. If you like gothic settings, semi-snarky heroines, reading diaries, mysteries, and long lists, then you should definitely check this book out!!

Recommended. 4 out of 5 stars.

Click HERE to purchase the book off of Amazon.
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Britney Spears- Lucky

2009-12-26T14:03:00.003-05:00

~Pop Song of the Day #11~

I'm pretty sure you all know who Britney Spears is... usually, I won't feature a well-known, famous pop music artist like her on my blog, but this song has been stuck in my head lately. I'm more of a fan of her newer / more recent songs than some of her earlier stuff, but Lucky is one of the exceptions. It's really a very sad song, but uplifting at the same time. I wasn't a pop music fan when it came out, so it doesn't bring back feelings of nostalgia for me. However, maybe you will feel differently and enjoy the song as you remember the early years of this decade.

Click HERE to visit Britney Spear's Myspace & listen to some of her songs.

Merry Christmas!!

2009-12-25T11:40:00.003-05:00

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Merry Christmas, everyone!! =D

I hope you all enjoy a happy winter break, no matter what holiday you celebrate.. and as always, thank you for reading my blog!
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Avril Lavigne feat. Lil Mama - Girlfriend

2009-12-25T10:48:00.006-05:00

~Pop Song of the Day #10~

Today's very special pop song is, in my opinion, one of the best cross-genre collaborations of all time!! Avril Lavigne (one of my favorite singers ever!) is a 25 year-old Canadian pop/rock singer-songwriter, fashion designer, and actress. She's known for her worldwide hits "Complicated", "My Happy Ending", and of course, "Girlfriend". Avril's also currently one of the top-selling pop music artists of the decade in the US. You must be living under a rock if you haven't heard of her, lol. Lil Mama AKA Niatia Kirkland is a 20 year-old American rapper, singer-songwriter, and dancer who was recently released from Jive Records due to low album sales. I think that the remix version with the both of them is totally better than the original. It's definitely one of my favorite songs of all time!! =D

Click HERE to visit Avril Lavigne's Myspace.

Click HERE to visit Lil Mama's Myspace.

Hey Monday - Homecoming

2009-12-24T15:53:00.004-05:00

~Pop Song of the Day #9~

Meet Hey Monday, an American four-piece band from West Palm Beach, Florida that was formed in 2008. The band is fronted by lead singer, Cassadee Pope, and their debut album, Hold on Tight, was released in 2008. Homecoming was their first single, and one of their best songs in my opinion. Fans of other female-fronted pop/punk bands, like Paramore, should definitely listen to this band if they haven't already.

Click HERE to visit Hey Monday's Myspace & listen to some of their songs.

Note to My Readers

2009-12-24T15:34:00.005-05:00

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Hello!! =D If you're reading this note right now, you might be one of my regular readers, or you might have just stumbled onto my blog. The truth is, this blog was started less than a month ago... this is my 14th post. The reason for this post is to let my readers know what to expect from this blog. Now that I have been blogging for almost a month now, I think I know what I'm going to be doing:

1) Pop Songs of the Day: these are going to be Youtube music videos that I will post (hopefully) daily. So if you want some good pop songs to wake up or relax to, just view my blog. These songs will all be pretty recent (all from this decade), and they're all from artists/bands that I truly love. My goal is to introduce new/unknown pop music artists to my readers, so currently popular songs will only be featured if they're really really good. Take a look at my previously posted songs to see what to expect. Yesterday, I went through my music files on my computer & picked out around 150 pop songs from different artists that I will feature on the blog at some point during 2010. By the time I run out, I'll hopefully have reached my goal of posting a full "year" of pop music.

2) Book Reviews: I am an avid reader of teen fantasy books, so I will post reviews of books that I like. I will grade them on a 5-star rating system, so if you think that you will enjoy a book based on my review, then I encourage you to read it. Occasionally, I will review books that are not in the genre of teen fantasy.

3) Why I Love's: These posts will be random things that I love. Whether they're cliches, facebook groups, cute stuff, or inspiring things, they will all be things that I love. These posts will definitely be more personal than my music and book posts, so I hope you enjoy them!!

Thanks for reading!! =D Please add my blog to your favorites if you haven't already, and send the link to all of your friends who you think will enjoy reading it..
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Moonbaby - Here We Go

2009-12-23T19:41:00.005-05:00

~Pop Song of the Day #8~

Meet Moonbaby AKA Miranda Cooper, a British singer and song-writer who is currently a member of the UK-based songwriting and music production team Xenomania. She was around 25 years old when this music video was released in 2000. Here We Go was the only single that she released. After it failed on the UK charts, her album was dropped from the release schedules. This song has been covered many times (by artists such as Lene, Girls Aloud, etc.) and a modified version was used as the theme song for the cartoon, Totally Spies. That's where I heard and loved it for the first time, actually; and personally, I can't see why this song wasn't a hit =D

Thirst: The Last Vampire by Christopher Pike

2009-12-23T18:54:00.005-05:00

~Book Review #2~

Thirst: Vol. 1 is definitely one of the most interesting vampire books that I have ever read. Although many people would compare it to Twilight (just because both books are about vampires), Thirst is about as far from Twilight as you could possibly get in a genre. While Twilight is a romance at its heart, the story of Thirst contains romantic plotlines that are second to the action scenes.

(Note: Thirst: Vol. 1 is another of those "3-in-1" books that Simon & Schuster has been putting on shelves at an increasing rate recently. To learn more about these type of books and my thoughts on them, read my review of "Dark Visions" by L.J. Smith.)

The plot of Thirst (or the Last Vampire series, as they were originally published as in the 90's) revolves around the character of Alisa Perne, a 5,000 year-old vampire who looks like an average teenager. In the three books included in Vol. 1 (624 pages on total), Alisa gets hunted down by the person who made her into a vampire, finds true love, and becomes the last vampire. There's also a huge twist at the end of the third book that I won't spoil for you. The story contains a lot of action and violence. The author is also very skilled at including many philosophical thoughts that will make the reader think while reading the book. (Don't think of it as akin to "The Alchemist" by Paulo Coelho though- a book that I was assigned to read in high school. I didn't like that book much at all.) Instead, think of the issues presented as the same as those in "Skinned" by Robin Wasserman- a book that I liked much better. Overall, this was a very enjoyable read; though if you don't like violence and can't handle a bit of gore, then you should not bother going through the 600+ pages. There's more than a "little bit" of violence (much more than Twilight actually) and some scenes would be better suited toward a 16+ age group of readers. Be on the look-out for Vol. 2 of the Thirst series, which will conclude the series, and becomes available in the US next month. Personally, I can't wait to read the ending!! =D

Recommended. 4 out of 5 stars.

Click HERE to buy the book off of Amazon.
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Shanadoo - Love Space Ship

2009-12-22T18:59:00.004-05:00

~Pop Song of the Day #7~

Meet Shanadoo, a Japanese Eurodance girl group produced in Germany. The group, composed of Junko Fukuda, Chika Shibuya, Marina Genda and Manami Fuku, has been active since 2006. The majority of their songs were Japanese covers of the German dance act, E-Rotic, until recently. I have listened to a few of their English songs, but I was never really a fan until I heard this song. Love Space Ship is their latest single, and it is sung entirely in Japanese. However, the melody is super-happy, and when I listened to it for the first time, it reminded me why I love pop music. Not many songs can do that for me =D

Why I Love #2: When It Gets Dark at 5:00

2009-12-22T18:35:00.008-05:00

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So I know there's apparently a whole facebook group that's dedicated to "hating when it gets dark at 5:00". However, I actually LOVE when the days start getting darker. I don't actually have a reason for this. Maybe it's because there's a certain feeling that you get when you think "oh, it's getting dark soon... I have to hurry home". By having a longer night (that is darker and scarier) to contrast with, it makes the thought of home a lot more comforting. There's also that thrill that you get when you're with friends at night & you know that you'll be safe as long as you stay together. Often, when I am outside alone at night, it feels very romantic and inspiring- although I always wish that I had a friend with me. Watch Avril Lavigne's "I'm With You" or Queensberry's "I Can't Stop Feeling" music videos if you want to understand what feeling I'm talking about. Maybe I should feature them as Pop Songs of the Day later =D Overall, I love when it gets dark at 5:00; although come summer, I will probably like the longer days.

Photo credit: Nicolas Perriault's Flickr.
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The Saturdays - Ego

2009-12-19T06:41:00.006-05:00

~Pop Song of the Day #6~

Meet The Saturdays, a British girl group (comparable to Girls Aloud) formed in 2007 & made up of Una Healy, Mollie King, Frankie Sandford, Rochelle Wiseman and Vanessa White. Their debut album, Chasing Lights, produced four Top 10 UK singles, and they have just released their second album recently. Ego is their 2nd single from their 2nd album, and it might be their most catchiest song yet. The theme of the music video is all about superheroes. It's a great song, so be sure to take a listen to what the US is missing out on.

Click HERE to visit the Saturdays's Myspace & listen to some of their songs.

HAM - T.T Dance

2009-12-18T03:17:00.002-05:00

~Pop Song of the Day #5~

Meet HAM, one of the new Korean girlbands that just debuted this year. In case you haven't been keeping up with the K-pop music world lately, new girl group after girl group has debuted this year. Perhaps music executives want to catch onto the trend of successful girl groups such as Wonder Girls and Girl's Generation. This has resulted in a multitude of new K-pop girlband songs of varying qualities. T.T Dance is definitely one of the best K-pop songs out there, since it mixes rock/pop/rap into an awesome song with a super-catchy chorus.

Clique Girlz - Never Gonna Fly

2009-12-13T10:59:00.005-05:00

~Pop Song of the Day #4~

Meet the Clique Girlz, an American girl group composed of sisters Destinee and Paris Monroe. At the height of their popularity, they had released several EP's and had several songs on different soundtracks (See: Bratz movie soundtrack, The Clique soundtrack). Apparently, the original lineup (with Ariel Moore) had already recorded an album, Incredible, which has been pushed back many times. It has leaked online, along with many other songs that the girls recorded. Don't think of them as just another Radio Disney / pop girlband, because their songs are catchy and amazing. The two sisters are currently recording songs for a new album.

Click HERE to visit the Clique Girlz's Myspace & listen to some of their songs.