Tracks...

It's that time again - a bunch of tracks that I am currently listening to (although some of these were actually released a year or two ago). Enjoy!

G On M...

Lady Gaga has spoken about Madonna performing one of her singles during her MDNA world tour. Madonna performed a mash-up of her 1989 hit "Express Yourself" with Gaga's 2011 hit "Born This Way", after comparisons between the tracks caused worldwide controversy.

"I have to be really honest, I was completely kind of floored that Madonna was singing my song on her stage every night," Gaga told Attitude magazine.



"I'm certainly not thinking about anybody but me and my fans when I'm on stage. The fact that I was on her mind at all. I mean, Madonna's... she's Madonna. I looked up to her for a long time. I'm not quite sure what her intention was - to do that in the show - but I don't really care."

She added: "I think playing into the gossip of the tabloids and, I guess the fodder of the competition, that's just not what I'm about. She chooses to use her voice the way she chooses to use hers and I choose to use mine the way I use mine. All it meant to me was that Madonna Ciccone was singing my song on her stage and I'm 27! And as a punk-rocker from New York, I've basically been hoping that I would become so good that one day I would piss off Madonna!"



Speaking further about the accusations of plagiarism, Gaga explained: "I truthfully believe that there was nothing about those records sounding alike, and everything about this gay icon versus gay icon nonsense. I don't need to take anybody's torch. I have no interest in taking anybody's torch. I am over here and they are over there and if you feel connected to it, the door is open for you to come in and enjoy this with us. But this need for competition was everything that 'Born This Way' isn't about!"

Good way to handle it, me thinks. Lady Gaga's new album ARTPOP will be released worldwide on November 11. It has so far been met with mixed reviews, with reviewers saying the album is messy and too long, but with some excellent tracks and killer choruses. So I guess it's basically Born This Way, Part 2...

Oh Dear...

Can't say I'm loving the "artwork" for the latest Lady Gaga releases. The woman seems to have become allergic to clothes (don't all female singers these days?), her music is now complete s**t and her recent on-line ramblings, along with some seriously dubious interviews seems to suggest that perhaps the "lady" should check herself into rehab before trying to get her career back on track? Just saying...

No Applause?...

After endless delays, the full tracklist for the new Lady Gaga album has been published. Supposedly last minute tracks have been added on to the album (including a RedOne track) and that explains the delays. Panic in Gaga camp? Who knows, but here is the final tracklist:

1. Aura

2. Venus

3. G.U.Y.

4. Sexxx Dreams

5. Jewels N' Drugs (ft. T.I., Too $hort, and Twista)

6. MANiCURE

7. Do What U Want (ft. R. Kelly)

8. ARTPOP

9. Swine

10. Donatella

11. Fashion!

12. Mary Jane Holland

13. Dope

14. Gypsy

15. Applause

As I have said before, I loved her first two albums. But her music has been on a massive down slide since then and "Applause" certainly did nothing to indicate a step in the right direction. Her public persona has also become a bit of a joke, not to mention a large part of her fanbase! Time will tell if the whole album is as bad as the cover...

Hot - And Bothered...

We all know that the singles charts have become a complete joke in recent years – especially the US one. I completely stopped following the US single chart in the late 90s when Billboard decided that somewhere around 85-90% of data used to compile the charts would come from radio play – with what little was left coming from actual sales. This meant, in many cases that the biggest selling single in the country was barely charting on the Hot 100 – because it was a song that either „didn‘t fit in“ to the radio playlists, or because the artist/s was considered „over the hill“.

Now, with all the bloody digital things, Billboard are using, of all things, YouTube hits to count towards their charts! So, if I were to check out a song on YouTube, finding it awful and never, ever wanting to hear it again, I have just contributed to the songs chart success!

Of course this opens up several cans of worms. Example:

Lady Gaga has been criticised by Billboard boss Bill Werde for promoting the inflation of views for her new music video.

The US Hot 100 recently adjusted their chart-placing formula to include online streams, which include the number of clicks an online lyrics video, audio stream or music video gets on YouTube and VEVO.

Gaga urged her fans to watch the clip for her new single "Applause" and then retweet it to urge other fans to dramatically inflate the number of streams. "We count multiple views per person. Go to VEVO and keep watching a video on your own and we count it," Werde explained.

"An artist tweeting out and facebooking a link that enables a fan to hit play and leave their computer is not in the spirit of what we chart. Tweeting that other artists game the system is like telling a cop other people were speeding. When we catch it we stop it." He continued: "Please keep this in context. Streaming is only a portion of Hot100 and surely overwhelming percent of views have been well-earned. I just hate to see anyone try to game the charts, be it fans or artists. It's not in the spirit of what we do, celebrating success."

Gaga's fans were accused of creating YouTube playlists that would contain the same "Applause" video 150 times, clicking play and letting the streams accumulate through the night.

Of course manipulating the charts isn't a new thing. Who can forget the Mariah Carey thing in the late 90s, when her record company gave away her singles to the record stores. In return the stores promoted them heavily and sold them for less then 50 cents - which in return made people buy them since they were much, much cheaper then singles by other artists. But with this latest decision Billboard have once again made sure that their singles chart does not in the slightest reflect what people in the States are actually buying. Now excuse me while I go and create a couple of playlists for the new Cher single - I'll just push play, mute and go to sleep while the diva ranks up a massive hit...

A Bourgeois Construct & More...

Well, I'm back. After taking a much needed time out from everything, I am back at school, back at work and back in the Galaxy.

Not much seems to be happening at the moment in the music world, but here are a couple of things that have been going on in the last couple of weeks:

Pet Shop Boys will release their new single "Love is a bourgeois construct" on September 2nd. The song is taken from the highly acclaimed current album Electric (which entered the UK album chart at Number 3) and was musically inspired by Michael Nyman’s “Chasing Sheep Is Best Left To Shepherds”.

"Love is a bourgeois construct" will be released on CD and digital bundle with a 12” to follow, and will also be accompanied by remixes and the brand new songs "Entschuldigung!" and "Get it online". More information on the remixes will be announced shortly. In the meantime, the 9 track CD single for "Vocal" is already out.

     

Electric has been doing very well in the charts, entering the top 5 in the UK, Germany, Norway, Denmark, Spain, Sweden and Finland. The album also entered the Top 30 in the US and Australia.


*It seems that Madonna's MDNA Tour release has been pushed back to September, due to delays in production. Interscope/Universal will release several formats, including a 2CD+DVD deluxe package, a stand alone DVD, stand alone 2CD (including the whole show) and a Blu Ray. In the meantime, here is the second trailer for the Secret Project:



*Celine Dion has announced her new album. "Loved Me Back To Life",which is her first English language album since 2007, will be released in October. Here is the very first performance of the title track, live in concert:

*Lana Del Rey has revealed the poster for her upcoming 30 minute short film Tropico. Not much is known about the project, but I'm pretty sure it will be more interesting then what is below...



*Lady Gaga has announced the first single from her Artpop album. The track is called "Applause" and she will perform it live at the MTV Music Awards in late August. There have of course been some "nude" promo photos, comments about her being not one icon but every icon, her "art" etc. Business as usual then - still wondering if she will be able to back the bullshit up with an actually good song (like her first batch of singles).





And finally: Kylie Minogue has announced that she plans to do another tour next year. Hurrah! Here is a new interview with the princess:

She exploded onto the music scene in 1988 with "The Loco-Motion," and 25 years later, Kylie Minogue's hitmaking pop train keeps chugging along and shows no signs of slowing down.

The 45-year-old Aussie charmer, who's released 14 albums throughout her prolific career, is gearing up for the arrival of her latest effort—her first after signing up with Jay-Z's Roc Nation label earlier this year.

And she's ready to give fans a small, succulent taste of what's to come. Minogue has debuted the first single from that deal: "Skirt," an infectious and thumping club banger that reveals a harder, driving sound than what we've come to expect from the syrupy-voiced siren.

"Well, that's just a little teaser, a little taster," she tells E! News during a refreshingly candid chat at a restaurant inside Manhattan's Saks Fifth Avenue, her tiny but voluptuous frame poured into a slinky black-lace minidresss.

Interestingly, despite her slinky persona, in person Minogue is less come-hither vixen and more girl next door, her smile deployed in generous bursts and her laugh unfurling with unaffected ease. Minogue is here for a book signing to hype her new tome, a lavish coffee-table book called Kylie Fashion that collects her most iconic looks. And judging by the snaking line of breathless fans waiting outside, the Cult of Kylie has lost none of its faithful."I like to think of it as being the amuse-bouche of the meal," she says of "Skirt." "Your entire meal's not going to be like that; my album's not going to be like that."

And although the song's grinding grooves clearly put a fresh spin on the songbird's signature sound, Minogue admits those hard-charging beats "would be as hard as it gets," before adding: "I think my DNA is gonna be infused through the album, even if I didn't want it to be. It's there."

So how does one distill that sonic DNA? "It would have some sparkle, some sex, some insouciance," she says of her new album, a follow-up to 2012's Aphrodite. "And joy—that's what I would hope. That's what people tell me...There's a lot to be said for making people feel good. That's, like, the most rewarding part of what I do."

The unnamed album—she's still in the process of exploring material and says she hopes to release it later this year—has yet to fully take shape, but she does know one thing: It won't stray too far from the one theme that's become a stalwart of her music.

"There will be still be a lot of love in there," she tells us as she goes over some of her past hits. "I mean, 'Can't Get You Out of My Head' is about an obsessive form of love. 'Love at First Sight' is the first moment of falling in love."

Minogue waits a beat before flashing a naughty smile and throwing this rowdy kicker: "I haven't decided to sing about the rainforest at this point." She has, however, switched up the business side of things: Minogue, who won a Grammy in 2003 for her smash "Come Into My World" and who has notched eight No. 1 hits on Billboard's Hot Dance Club Play chart, signed with Jay-Z's Roc Nation in February.

Which leads to the inevitable question: a duet?

"Not collaborating with him, not at this stage anyway," she reveals. She has, however, quickly taken to her new music family. "I think there's experienced people there, Jay-Z being one of them," Minogue says, giving props to a "dynamic group of young people" who help create "a real feeling of being a part of a family—you're in the Roc family, and that's really cool."

As for whether she'll hit the road anytime soon, well, you can't keep a good pop diva off the stage for long."Hell, yeah!" she says about her touring plans. "I don't know when, but maybe next year. But I always love the idea. Touring for me is the best."

No doubt, the throng of fans waiting patiently outside at Saks for their high priestess of pop—Kylie books in hand, ready to be autographed—won't argue with that.

Pretentious Art...

Lady Gaga has announced her new album, Artpop. Below is the rather pretentious/hilarious press release.

War...

A bit of a war is going on between Lady Gaga and Sharon Osbourne.



Lady Gaga's open letter to Kelly Osbourne

Dear Kelly, While I wish you had reached out to me personally, as the head of the Born This Way foundation with my mother Cynthia we would like to respond. Everyday, through my music and public voice I choose to be positive and work towards a kinder and braver world with our community of followers. I encourage them to ignore criticism, stand up to bullies, know their own value and see that we are all the same and no one person is worth more than another. I know I’m perceived as a wild child, but in reality I am woman that deeply cares for humanity. I have empathy for you Kelly, but I feel it culturally important to note that you have chosen a less compassionate path. Your work on E! with the Fashion Police is rooted in criticism, judgment, and rating people's beauty against one another. “Appearance” is the most used reason for bullying in the world. Your show breeds negativity, and over the years has even become comedic in nature. It glorifies you and Joan Rivers pointing in the camera, laughing, and making jokes about artists and celebrities as if we are zoo animals. What about your body revolution? It used to make me truly sad when I would hear people talk about your weight when you were younger, as I was bullied too. To see you blossoming into a beautiful slender woman who makes fun of others for a living is astounding. Why not help others? Why not defend others who are bullied for their image and share your story? I am pointing this out not to take a crack at your character, as we’ve met before and you’re lovely. However, I urge you to take responsibility and accountability for the example that you are setting for young people. They look up to you because you are famous, and if you treat others that way on TV, many adolescents at home on twitter assume your actions are acceptable: well if she does it, why can’t I? I cannot control my fans, and I discourage them from any negativity and violence, because that is wrong and hurtful -- and I do feel badly that your feelings were hurt. However, we can all do our part in the media to set a standard of respect, compassion, and love. I wish for you to be treated with the kindness and respect that everyone deserves. While some of my fans have learning to do, most of them share the same values as I, and it's what bonds us together. And that bond is strong.
Sincerely Gaga and Cynthia www.bornthiswayfoundation.org

PS. And to any media or celebrities that happen to find this letter in their path, I hope you, too, consider the power of your voices. Lets work together and make 2013 a year of unity.



Sharon Osbourne's open letter to Lady Gaga

Ms. Gaga,
I am responding to your open letter to my daughter Kelly, and I am perplexed as to why you would go public with an open letter. Regarding this current situation; Kelly didn’t contact you, I was the one that contacted your manager today and the email is attached below for your reference. I reached out to him as Kelly’s manager and mother to ask him if you could address your “little monster” fans and stop them from writing libelous, slanderous and vile comments about my family, including death threats to Kelly. Your open letter is hypocritical and full of contradictions. And as your mother Cynthia supports you, I support my daughter Kelly. I must say your opinions on what is politically correct and acceptable totally differ from mine, but that is what makes the world so interesting…we are all different. How sweet that you have empathy for my daughter, as you feel that she has taken a less passionate path in life. You say her work on E! with the Fashion Police is “rooted in criticism, judgment, and rating people’s beauty against one another.” Welcome to the real world. Example, when I saw you wear a dress made out of raw meat, I was sickened. When I see you wearing fur, and using it as a fashion statement, the fact that defenseless animals have been killed so you can get your picture in the press is abhorrent to me. Shouldn’t you be teaching your “little monster” fans to respect animals and life? I don’t feel I have to justify Kelly’s choices in life to you. By your actions to Kelly right now, you have shown me that you are nothing more than a publicly seeking hypocrite and an attention seeker. You know it would have been much more dignified of you to do this privately. I am calling you a bully because you have 32 million followers hanging on your every word and you are criticizing Kelly in your open letter. Are you so desperate that you needed to make this public?
You state “Everyday, through my music and public voice I choose to be positive and work towards a kinder and braver world with our community of followers.” Well this obviously is not translating well to your fans, as a large portion of them have not only been vile to Kelly, but also other celebrities such as Madonna, Adele and Rihanna. “You say a kinder, braver world” I don’t know what world you live in, but supporting disgraceful fan comments doesn’t fall under the words “kinder and braver.” It comes under the heading of bullshit.
In closing, stop wearing fur, stop looking for publicity, and stop using your fans to belittle not just Kelly but an endless stream of celebrities. A word from you would stop all the hideous, negative and vile threats from your “little monsters.” Let me know if you want to continue this debate. I’m an open playing field for you my darling.
Sincerely,
Sharon Osbourne



Normally I wouldn't care at all about this, but surprisingly both Gaga and Sharon have some valid points. My support goes to Gaga though - she is making some very good points, although she probably should not make them via an open letter. However, what Sharon says about some of those bloody "monsters" is very, very true. They way these people are behaving online, wishing other female singers death, gang rapes and god knows what, it is quite obvious that a part of Gaga's fanbase is made up of very troubled and disturbed individuals...

Gaga In Iceland...

Lady Gaga is in Iceland at the moment. She flew in yesterday on her private plane to accept the LennonOno piece prize. She stayed at Hotel Borg and accepted her award at Harpa today during a closed ceremony.



Below are some photos, links and videos from her stay here in Iceland. Hopefully she will return for a concert sometime in the future.




Article v/arrival video - Visir
Arrival article - Mbl
Article w/video - DV
Article w/video and pictures - Visir
Gaga's acceptance speech - Visir
Article w/video - Mbl
Article w/video - Mbl
Gaga's acceptance speech - RUV

Gallery

Really???...

If this is true, poor little Lady Gaga really needs to get her act together!






Also, I came across this article which qute nicely sums up my thoughts on the recent "nippledrama":

So Madonna flashed a nipple during a performance in Istanbul. Good on her. Why shouldn't older women flaunt their stuff?

Oh Gawd. Madonna's at it again. By which I mean being provocative, as everyone who has given the media even a cursory glance in the past 30 years will know. She has a bit of a back history with this stuff, after all: dry humping a black Jesus in the Like a Prayer video, snogging Britney, saying the f word on David Letterman, hanging out on a crucifix. Now she's gone and flashed her old lady nipple. Oh, the humanity! It seems Twitter twits such as Piers Morgan think her lady-nubs might not be entirely age appropriate. Cue internet outrage, articles in the Daily Mail, angry feminist backlash, and this piece.

Older women simply can't win. And despite the fact that Madonna is a veritable goddess of excellent pop campery, she is, to her detriment, also 53. Which is about the same age as my mum. Now, I'm not suggesting that my mum should start flashing people in Buckingham Waitrose, but that's because she's not a multimillion-dollar recording artist under pressure to keep things saucy. Madonna is, and if she chooses to flash her half-a-century-old nipples, by God, I defend her right to do it.

If you're a middle-aged woman, it's often said that, in the eyes of the media, you are invisible. However, proponents of that theory are forgetting one key fact: the Stifler's Mom/Mrs Robinson paradigm. Post-menopausal women recast as sexy older cougars who rob horny young men of their sexual innocence. In light of this, the message that Madonna and women her age are receiving is clear: go hot, or go home.

If you're an older man on the other hand, like Iggy Pop or Bruce 'The Boss' Springsteen, you can carry on doing your thing – which in Iggy's case is getting his crinkly bollocks out through the recognised medium of transparent trousers. Much to my disappointment, the perpetually hot and youthful Bruce is keeping his under wraps, but Iggy, despite the fact that he begins to resemble Frank Gallagher more by the day, is still flying the flag for pre-geriatric nudity. And why not?

There's an assumption that aged bodies are somehow shameful, that they cease to be sexual vessels, especially where women are concerned. Madonna, in her own way, is giving that cultural assumption a pretty categorical V sign.

I don't want to assume that Madonna flashing her nipple is some kind of post-modern commentary on patriarchal gender norms. Maybe she just wanted to experience the feeling the cool breeze of a thousand gay men's sighs caressing her nip. But since 'nipplegate' has officially become a thing, it's worth remembering that women's bodies and their activities are still regarded as common property.

What's even more ridiculous about this whole furore is how Madonna doesn't even look 53. Do you have any idea how hard she works to please you people? I read in Closer magazine the other day (and before you start, it's my job), that she covers herself in £500 moisturiser and sleeps in a plastic suit. And what does she get in return? All-round twit Piers Morgan saying it was 'the most desperate attempt in the history of music'.

Madonna is not desperate. She is sensational. Morgan is forgetting the myriad desperate moments that have graced musical history over the years – not least the Steps comeback tour. And in a world of quasi-pornographic pop booty shaking, Madonna's nipple is hardly shocking. It may not be my world, or my mum's world, or your world, but it's Madonna's world, and she's not letting go of it just yet, nor should she.

Posters...

 

The poster for the new Lady Gaga tour. It looks like an advert  for a B-horror movie.

 

 

The poster for the new Madonna tour. Plain, slick and uber cool!

This Is PATHETIC!...

Earn Money Trashing Madonna!

Okay, Little Monsters. This is it! Madonna's album kickoff officially starts tomorrow and the Lady Gaga Project is paying you to make negative and cruel insults on different web sites after they post articles. A lot of people read these comments, especially on the Huffington Post, so this will hurt her. We will pay you per page hit (5 to 10 cents depending on how strong the site is on Google News). Please contact littlemonster19912@gmail.com This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it to get in the program. The first one will be from this Friday to Sunday evening.

You will be paid for long, negative comments on any Google News approved site. The biggest one we are monitoring is the one on Huffington Post. Here is the link to Huffington Post's entertainment page. Other suggestions: Daily Mail, Entertainment Weekly, ABC News, Queerty, Towleroad, People, USA Today, UK Sun, Breitbart.com, Yahoo.com, Idolator, Just Jared, Pop Crush.

Your comments must be at least five sentences long and cover one of the following topics:

1. Madonna's new single is flopping. It's getting bad reviews.

2. Madonna is a has-been. Lady Gaga is more current.

3. "WE" is getting really bad reviews.

4. Madonna is a copycat, not Lady Gaga.

5. Madonna's Super Bowl show was awful.

6. Madonna's body parts (mostly her grotesque arms).

More to come. Please be a part of our program. Take off work this weekend and earn money here! Thanks to Little Monster Salvatore and Little Monster Rebecca for donating money to this. Thanks to Little Monster Super Amanda for suggesting we do this in the first place. PAWS UP!

helpmothermonster.blogspot.com/2012/02/e...rashing-madonna.html

These people really need help! And they have already been quite busy on YouTube, leaving comments on the new Madonna video. Sadly, this is not the first time this happens - long before the sad little monsters, there were Mariah´s lambs, who also felt the need to go around the internet leaving awful comments about Madonna (and praies about their shepard, apperantly). These people must have waaaaaay too much time on their hands.

And Off We Go...

Lady Gaga has confirmed that she will release a new album in 2012.

Discussing her plans for the year ahead, the singer revealed that she is looking forward to touring as well as releasing her third LP.

"I just want to keep going. I'm not as goal obsessed as I am process obsessed. I just want to keep writing music. I'm looking forward to putting out another album and going on tour.

"I feel very blessed to be an artist who gets to make a living doing from what I love."

Asked later if she hopes to be a mother one day, she replied: "Someday - long, long day from now. My next baby will be my new record."



Jason Donovan has also announced plans to unveil a new album later this year.

The singer will release his as-yet-untitled sixth studio album on March 12 through Polydor Records.

"It feels great to be going back in the studio," Donovan explained. "I know exactly how I want the new album to sound and I'm as excited as I've ever been about a record."

He added: "I want to give a massive thank you to my fans for all their support in 2011, here's to a brilliant 2012!"

The new album will serve as the follow-up to Donovan's 2010 album Soundtrack of the 80s.

Tracks...

Some tracks I like at the moment:

For Inspiration...

In a new interview with Rolling Stone, Cyndi Lauper speaks briefly about Madonna. When asked if she feels a kinship with other female musicians who came to fame in the 80s, Cyndi said:

“Well I had my alter-image, Madonna [laughs]. No matter what I did, there she was, and no matter what she did, there I was. And it wasn’t similar and it was never intentional. We inspired each other. I am inspired by her because she still does it and she looks great and I’m always on a diet, I can never keep a diet, but she looks fantastic, she always does, so that’s inspiring.”




She added: “I was really heartbroken that they would pit us against each other. Because I’ve always believed sisterhood is a powerful thing and I just wanted to have a friend in the industry. Another rocker. But they always isolate you when you become popular, when you become famous and then you’re isolated all of a sudden. Nobody can get to you, I guess because everybody wants to get to you.”



Madonna is reported to have answered "Lady who?" in response to Lady Gaga while promoting her latest movie W.E..Gaga has moved to deny any possible rift between the two by describing Madonna as a "wonderful influence".

"Madonna is a wonderful influence on me," she told the Sunday Mirror. "I feel blessed to have grown up with a powerful, blonde woman to show us the ropes.

"It's all down to her that I'm able to do what I do. I really like her new single too. The one that was leaked. There's no problem between us."
And in some other Madonna news: she will perform in Paris at Stade De France on July 14th!!! She might also perform in Nice. The official announcement for her 2012 world tour must be close now...

Just In Time For X-mas...

Lady Gaga has announced the release of a live DVD of her recent Madison Square Garden concert and a remix album.

Lady GaGa Presents The Monster's Ball Tour at Madison Square Garden will include the Emmy Award-winning HBO special about her performance in February, along with exclusive unseen footage from the event. Also announced was a 14-track remix collection called Born This Way Remixes.

As well as being sold separately, the live DVD and remix album will also be available alongside the singer's second album Born This Way in a special package called Born This Way: The Collection. The 14-track collection will include tracks by some of today’s most prominent artists, DJs and producers, including Foster the People, Michael Woods and The Weekend.

A new photobook; Lady Gaga X Terry Richardson will be published on the same date.

These are all scheduled to be released in stores on November 21.

Sadly I must admit I am VERY tired of Gaga at the moment. Her latest album left a lot to be desired and her constant copycat antics are really getting on my nerves. I wonder what the DVD will be like...

Tiny...

Some tiny bits of various music news:

*Kim Wilde has revealed the first three tracks on her new covers album:

It's Alright (by East 17)
Inbetween Days (by The Cure)
About You Now ( by The Sugababes)

*Lady Gaga is releasing one of the most boring tracks on her new album as the next single - "You And I". I loved "Speechless" from her previous album, but this track sounds like a cheap imitaion of it. Zzzzzzz... The video, with Gaga stumbling around some desert will debut soon. She should just abandon that record already, release a good album and start to come up with her OWN ideas instead of her endless ripoffs.

*Cher has revealed that the Gaga written track "The Greatest Thing", which will appear on the new Cher album, will also have vocals by Gaga on it.



*Diana Vickers about her next album: "It's pop, but it's different from the last one.I've grown up and have a lot more I want to write about. I was influenced by '80s Madonna, it's edgy - it definitely has an attitude." She also revealed that she has been working with songwriter legend Diane Warren.

*The new box set from Kylie Minogue entered the UK album chart at #37. Not bad for this kind of release!

*The new album from Gloria Estefan will be out "this fall". Come on Gloria, give us a proper release date!

And finally: there have been LOADS of rumour going around regarding the upcoming Madonna album. Here is what seems to be happening:

The album will most likely be released in late 2011/early 2012. Martin Solveig seems to be one of the producers, along with two others who have not been named yet. And that's it - the rest: the usual lies and rumours!

And in other M news: While the official announcement won’t occur until Thursday, Variety is reporting what appears to be the majority of the lineup for the 2011 Venice Film Festival.
Madonna’s W.E. is in competition with new works from David Cronenberg, Steven Soderbergh, Roman Polanski, Todd Solondz, Jonathan Demme, Alexander Sokurov, Mary Harron and William Friedkin.

The Greatest Thing?...

Cher has revealed that Lady Gaga has written a song for her upcoming album. The track, titled "The Greatest Thing", was co-written by RedOne.

Cher is currently working on her first studio album since 2001's Living Proof - and the diva has promised that the album will be "big"!
Cher wrote on Twitter: "I have something tell u that's so great I don't know exactly how 2 say it! Been keeping it secret 4 long time. Just walked in from studio... Finished 1st track on new cd &........'Gaga' 'You Are The Greatest Thing To Me.

She later added: "It's not a duet! Who knows? One can wish! It's one of her songs & she & Redone gave it to me 4 my cd! I would love duet with GaGa, but she gave me Great song & I'm beyond grateful!!!! It's called 'The Greatest Thing'."

Tracks...

Some of my favourite new and recent tracks:

SCRUB!...

Lady Gaga prepares for the return of the queen of pop...