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Carly Rae Jepsen: Juno Award Winner, Definitely

Posted on Apr 22nd 2013 12:00PM by Joshua Ostroff
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eCarly Rae Jepsen Juno AwardsCARAS

Carly Rae Jepsen may have left the Grammys empty-handed earlier this year, losing even best song for her 2012-defining smash "Call Me Maybe," but the Canadian singer had much better luck on home ice at the 2013 Juno Awards.

Jepsen claimed three trophies, including Album of the Year and Pop Album of the Year for Kiss and song of the year for "Call Me Maybe."

"I feel so blessed. It's crazy to think how one song can change your life," Jepsen said onstage. "I'm moved beyond words, " she added backstage. "It's going to be a challenge [to top it]," she said. "It's a gift to have a song like that -- but you have to prove you have more than one song in you. And I think I can."

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Filed under: Hot Off the Press, Exclusive

Beyonce and Kelly Clarkson Perform Powerfully at President Obama's Inauguration (VIDEO)

Posted on Jan 21st 2013 1:25PM by Joshua Ostroff
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Beyonce Kelly Clarkson InaugurationGetty | Getty

President Barack Obama was ushered back into the history books by a pair of America's brightest stars, Kelly Clarkson and Beyonce.

Clarkson took to the podium on the national mall first, looking out at the hundreds of thousands of people who had just heard President Obama's moving inaugural address, and withstood the pressure of her opening act with an incredibly powerful rendition of "My Country, 'Tis of Thee."

Displaying the pipes that not only won her the first 'American Idol' but have kept her famous for the dozen years since, Clarkson belted out the unofficial national anthem accompanied by the United States Marine Band.

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Filed under: Hot Off the Press

Carly Rae Jepsen's 'Call Me Maybe' Marianas Trench Songwriting Connection

Posted on Jan 17th 2013 11:45AM by Joshua Ostroff
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Carly Rae Jepsen Josh Ramsay Marianas TrenchGetty | Getty

2012 will be remembered for countless things, but most of these memories will be soundtracked by Carly Rae Jepsen's "Call Me Maybe," a song that pretty much single-handedly reminded everyone why pop music matters.

It's easy to forget in the song's stratospheric rise that, while Justin Bieber may have accelerated its ascent -- or, let's be honest, got people to give it a chance in the first place -- the song was written, recorded and released well before Biebz and his wunderkind manager Scooter Braun got involved.

It's even easier to forget, albeit mostly because few people ever knew, that the now-classic song was co-written by Josh Ramsay, the emo-haired lead singer of Canadian pop-rock outfit Marianas Trench.

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Filed under: Hot Off the Press, Exclusive

Cody Simpson: 'Cyberbullying Is Something I Experience Online Everyday'

Posted on Nov 9th 2012 11:30AM by Joshua Ostroff
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Cody SimpsonJag Gundu, Getty

Cody Simpson has it pretty sweet, right? The 15-year-old pop star grew up on Australia's Gold Coast where he was an award-winning swimmer before his career took off online. Not only did the then-preteen's bedroom covers blow-up Justin Bieber-style, but last year he even snagged Biebz boy-genius manager Scooter Braun.

But as much as Cody's life may seem as golden as the coast he grew up on, the truth is that being famous doesn't mean you don't have feelings -- or that those feelings aren't as easily hurt as anyone else's.

"Cyberbullying is something that I experience online everyday, you know? Being a public figure a lot of people will really love what you do, but you know there is also a ton of people who will hate on it," Simpson told AOL Music Blog at Free the Children's We Day youth rally in Vancouver last month, a city still reeling from the suicide of bullying victim Amanda Todd.

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Filed under: Hot Off the Press, Exclusive

Nelly Furtado's 'Spirit Indestructible': Doesn't Care About Poor Sales, Calls Making New Album 'Liberating'

Posted on Oct 25th 2012 1:00PM by Joshua Ostroff
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Frazer Harrison, Getty

Nelly Furtado broke out as a pop star back in 2000 with the acoustic earworm "I'm Like a Bird," but only went stratospheric after trading her crunchy west coast persona for a sexed-up man-eating one on her 10 million-selling Timbaland collab Loose. But that was 2006.

This year's long-awaited The Spirit Indestructible, her proper follow-up after 2009's Spanish-language Mi Plan, showed her formerly indestructible chart presence had some cracks, with lead single "Big Hoops (Bigger the Better)" making little impression on radio and the album barely denting the pop charts.

"Just like a lot of my albums, actually. I have very few albums that debut high," Furtado tells AOL Music Blog, and certainly The Spirit Indestructible debuting at 79 on the Billboard chart (and number 18 at home in Canada) with 6,000 copies sold doesn't compare well to the "Promiscuous"-fueled Loose, which opened at number one and sold 219,000.

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Filed under: Hot Off the Press, Exclusive

Barack Obama, 'Boyfriend': Justin Bieber's Pop Smash as 'Sung' by the President (VIDEO)

Posted on Jun 27th 2012 12:45PM by Joshua Ostroff
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AFP | Getty

We always figured Barack Obama for a Jay-Z man, but lately the president seems to be getting his pop on. Or at least he is via rising YouTube star BarackDubs who first cut-up Obama's speeches into a hypnotic cover of Carly Rae Jepsen's "Call Me Maybe," which has 16 million (!) views so far.

Now Obama is "covering" Jepsen mentor Justin Bieber's "Boyfriend" in another ingenious feat of editing magic. Though to be honest, we'd happily watch a three-minute clip of Obama saying "swag" on loop.

Take it away, Barack, tell us how you'll never let us go!

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Filed under: New Videos, Hot Off the Press

Carly Rae Jepsen 'Call Me Maybe' Supercut Proves Why Pop Music Matters

Posted on May 28th 2012 2:10PM by Joshua Ostroff
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Carly Rae Jepsen, Pop music isn't cool. Never has been. But cool is overrated. There's a reason why songs like Carly Rae Jepsen's smash "Call Me Maybe" become so popular -- because they are good. Doubters need only listen to U.K. alt-folkie Ben Howard's dark-hued acoustic cover to hear the ace songwriting underneath the Canadian pop gloss. But why be a doubter in the first place?

"Call Me Maybe" has been generating joy since Justin Bieber, Selena Gomez and friends made a lip-dub that went viral and gave Bieber's compatriot the fuel to instant pop stardom. But he was merely the first and most famous. Countless fans have uploaded similar videos since, providing crowd-sourced evidence of why pop music matters.

Popdust collected 75 of the best ones into a viral-ready supercut ranging from soldiers in Afghanistan and frat boys in a van to tween girls with ukuleles and teen boys with guitars to Katy Perry by the pool and James Franco in a beard. Not to mention grandmas, cheerleaders, toddlers, a guy in a gimp mask and an amazing young drummer without arms. These videos were shot in bedrooms, barracks, rivers, forests, schoolyards, toy stores, showers, talk show sets and an empty Burger King.


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Filed under: Music Memes, Hot Off the Press
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