Adam Lambert Says 'OUT' Magazine 'Really Crossed A Line'

Adam Lambert—who appears on the cover of OUT's 'OUT 100: Class Of 2009' issue—responded to an open letter the mag's editor Aaron Hicklin penned (complaining about, as Entertainment Weekly states it, "certain stipulations placed on the interview and cover shoot by Lambert’s management team").

Here's what Lambo had to say in reply to EW:

"What people don’t realize is, I am managing my image, more than maybe the editor of OUT magazine likes to give anybody credit for. My team is a team. And I really feel fortunate that 19 Management and Simon Fuller said to me, from the get-go, 'We want to do what you want to do. You need to tell us how you want to do things, what interests you have,' and they’ve been incredibly supportive of me. I really mean it. I’m not being puppeted around. I didn’t want to jump onto a gay magazine as my first thing, because I feel like that’s putting myself in a box and limiting myself. It was my desire to stay away from talking about certain political and civil rights issues because I’m not a politician. I’m an entertainer. That is not my area of expertise. I can talk about relationships and personal experiences because as an artist those things involve writing lyrics and that part of my process. But I didn’t feel comfortable talking about the March on Washington. I didn’t feel comfortable, so I asked my publicist to ask the interviewer to stay away from the political questions. I take full responsibility for that. I think that the editor has his agenda and has his opinions, which I respect, but they’re not necessarily my opinions. And I wish there was a little respect for that. Not every gay man is the same gay man... If there are things going on behind the scenes with my management, it has nothing to do with my interview with them. He really crossed a line."

Well, okay. But why isn't anyone talking about the real issue at hand—how great Cyndi Lauper looks on the cover!

How Was *This* Not Aqua's Lead Single Off The 'Greatest Hits' Collection?

"Spin Me Your Christmas" is ten kazillion times better than "Back To The '80s." And maybe four times better than "My Mamma Said." Pity it's only being tacked onto the re-release of Aqua's Greatest Hits in Denmark.

Kesha Is A Kla$$ Act

When Kesha first arrived while screeching on Flo Rida's overplayed "Right Round" earlier this year, I posted 10 reasons why we need to love her after noting:

"I sort of hypothesized that Kesha (or Ke$ha, if you're cla$$y) is probably some 400 lb. housewife who occasionally comes into the studio to mop up after hours, who Dr. Luke grabbed and asked to warble the chorus."

And, who knows? That may still be true! But in any event, Kesha's Dr. Luke-produced solo jam "TiK ToK" has leapt like an acrobatic, spring-footed stripper into the Top 10 (at #10). Of course, getting played on Project Runway and The Hills probably helped the cause, while also answering the question: Is anyone still actually watching those shows?

Oh, yeah—and Jay-Z and Alicia Keys jointly nab their fourth #1 singles with "Empire State Of Mind."

Over on the Top 200 Albums chart, Britney Spears' The Singles Collection debuts at #22—much lower than the #7 position Madonna's Celebration hits set entered at. And look where that one's flizz-opped to after only seven weeks—all the way down to #114.

Holida-ay....Chk-chk. BLAMMM!

The U.S. Top 10:

1. "Empire State Of Mind" - Jay-Z feat. Alica Keys *1 week*
2. "Fireflies" - Owl City
3. "Whatcha Say" - Jason DeRulo
4. "Replay" - Iyaz
5. "Need You Now" - Lady Antebellum
6. "3" - Britney Spears
7. "Down" - Jay Sean feat. Lil Wayne
8. "Party In The U.S.A." - Miley Cyrus
9. "Paparazzi" - Lady GaGa
10. "TiK ToK" - Kesha

The Two Best Songs On Chris Brown's 'Graffiti'

I remember getting really jazzed the first time I heard Chris Brown's "Forever" in spring 2008. It was like, where has this singular slice of pure American-grown pop been hiding this entire decade? It eventually went on to top Chart Rigger's 10 Best Pop Singles Of 2008 list.

But fast forward a year, and it's kinda hard to listen to Chris Brown—or even look at a photo of him—without the Rihanna scandal playing into the mental equation.

I posted the snippets of Brown's upcoming album Graffiti today over at Idolator (which proved to cause quite the drama in the comments). To me, there are two standout tracks, the main one being "I.Y.A." Next comes "Pass Out." Were these different times, there'd probably be a fair amount of raving on this end about them.

Ah, well. Without much fanfare, here are clips of "I.Y.A." and "Pass Out." Listen (if you can) without prejudice:

Interviewing Annie

Had a sitdown with Annie—who's new album Don't Stop was released in the States today (physical copies containing a five-song EP called All Night)—yesterday. The interview is now up at Idolator.

There's a lot of good stuff in there for all you Xenomania and Saint Etienne fans, too! Speaking of which, here's a quote from her that ended up on the cutting room floor about Saint Etienne's Bob Stanley:

"I met Bob in London years ago. I used to play in a really shit band called Suitcase. I met him and I think he was working for EMI, or maybe it was Heavenly. I'm not sure. I just talked about the project, and he was like, 'It sounds good. You should send me a record.' He wanted to come see us play live in Bergen, but I think just before that we broke up. We had this meeting and all the guys were saying, 'Okay, now we're gonna start to do trip hop.' I was like, I'm never gonna do trip hop. No way! I'm quitting. Because of that I started my own project. So of course, Bob Stanley never got to see us live. Then it went a couple of years, and I put out Anniemal and got the offer of playing a gig with them. I was like, 'Hey, do you remember—I sent you a tape.' Bob was like, 'What?' Then I just talked about Suitcase. He said, 'Wow! Okay, yeah—Suitcase. I never got to see you, and I was really interested and excited.' It was just really funny to meet him again with my own project."

Beyonce And Lady Gaga's 'Video Phone' Clip Is Nice To Look At, But Then There's The Song

Beyonce's remix of "Video Phone" featuring Lady Gaga—to be included on B's re-release of I Am...Sasha Fierce, out next week—has about as much melody as a hooker being jammed into a wood chipper. Actually, that might spray out a better hook. Nice visuals in the vid, though.



To reiterate once again, when it comes to these broads' two duets, I'm 100% Team "Telephone!" (Hear it here!)

D:ream Gearing Up For New Album

What the hell?!? I was surprised to find that Irish dance outfit D:ream quietly reformed after Peter Cunnah and Al Mackenzie ran into each other last year, and began working on new material. (You may recall my d'luvvly D:ream-themed "Throwback" post from last June.)

In digging for some info on their current venture, this groovy interview with the duo from Music Fascination popped up and shed a bit of light on the matter:

AL: l had been out all night and ended up in a park having a few glasses of red to calm me down after an 'incident,' shall we say. Pete was just up and out with the family. Our paths crossed and now we are here talking to you. How did that happen?

New single "All Things To All Men" (EP available on U.S. iTunes and at Amazon's MP3 store) was released on the band's own User label in September, and next single "Drop Beats Not Bombs" can be heard on D:ream's MySpace, along with several other new tracks.

Here's the "All Things To All Men" vid:



You can also catch another new song, "We Are Fans," on D:ream's official site. Upcoming album In Memory Of... is slated for a February release.

"We may do a free digital release in December," says the duo. "Then again, we may not."

Robbie Williams Beat (Again) By JLS, Chartjackers End Up Jacking The Chart

This week's big U.K. chart news, album-wise, comes in the form of former X Factor contestants JLS beating Robbie Williams to #1. The boy band's self-titled debut album relegated Reality Killed The Video Star to the runner-up position.

But the foursome might not exactly be popping champagne corks in celebration, since the victory is marred by about 60 of their fans being injured at a Christmas lights switch-on concert yesterday in Birmingham.



Elsewhere, Dame Shirley Bassey's The Performance—which features a star-studded roster of songwriters—comes in at #20.

Over on the singles chart, Leona Lewis suffers a similar Robbie Williams-esque upset as the Black Eyed Peas beat her to #1 with "Meet Me Halfway." And rightly so, I say! Leona might wanna watch her back, though—Shayne Ward's lead single off his sophomore album once debuted at #2 as well, and not too long after he was chained up, thrown in a dumpster and rolled into the English Channel.

Britney Spears' "3" enters the chart at #7, but that song's a total snooze at this point. More interesting is Sugababes popping in at #8 with "About A Girl," because this actually marks the first time in three albums that the gals have landed two Top 10 singles off the same LP. The last time was "Push The Button" (#1) and "Ugly" (#3), from Taller In More Ways back in 2005. (Plus, if we wanna be technical, there's also "Red Dress" (#4) from the same album.)

Of course, this probably has much to do with the fact that the 'babes Sweet 7 isn't even out yet, and "About A Girl" might have charted lower if it were, given that their fans would already have the RedOne tune along with the rest of the album.

On a final note, Internet project/phenom Chartjackers have managed to jack their way to the soaring heights of #36 with Children In Need charity single "I've Got Nothing." And, what the heck—here's the vid:



The U.K. Top 10:

1. "Meet Me Halfway" - The Black Eyed Peas *1 week*
2. "Happy" - Leona Lewis *new*
3. "Everybody In Love" - JLS
4. "Fight For This Love" - Cheryl Cole
5. "I Need You" - N-Dubz *new*

6. "TiK ToK" - Kesha
7. "3" - Britney Spears *new*

8. "About A Girl" - Sugababes *new*

9. "Down" - Jay Sean feat. Lil Wayne
10. "Bad Boys" - Alexandra Burke feat. Flo Rida

What Would Erik Hassle Think Of This?

You remember this guy—he jerked around in front of his video camera to Kelly Clarkson's "I Do Not Hook Up" this past spring while wearing nothing but a towel. Now he's writhing in what looks like naughty pain to Erik Hassle's "Love Me To Pieces," clad in a T-shirt and...well, nothing else.

All I keep thinking is, Stop stretching the neck of that shirt out! I've knifed people for doing that to my tees before.

If You Wish Mini Viva's 'I Wish' Could Sound More Poptastic, Your Wish Has Come True

"I Wish," Xenomania-produced Mini Viva's second single, was pretty close to perfection to begin with. Then along comes the Cahill radio mix:



I'm thinking downtown L.A. could use a Mini Viva-ing every day.

Thanks, XOLondon, for the email tip.