girls rock !!

It could be said that Vanity Fair would have a reasonable idea of the World’s Most Beautiful Woman, but even they must have been surprised at the results of their recent online poll. Not just the winning margin, but also the low ranking of stars like Beyonce Knowles and Carla Bruni.

The explanation behind the poll included the thought that modern-day Helens of Troy could start wars - and that is a pretty close description of what we term modern amazons.

So huge respect to Angelina Jolie (photo) for such a tremendous result. Another surprise, and also pleasant, was the comparatively high result for Jennifer Connelly, who we happen to have loved for years - through thick and thin.

• 1) Angelina Jolie 58 per cent
• 2) Gisele Bundchen 9 per cent
• 3) Halle Berry 4 per cent
• 4) Penelope Cruz 3 per cent
• 4) Scarlett Johansson 3 per cent
• 4) Jennifer Connelly 3 per cent

Of course we could be biased, but Angelina and Jennifer are more “complete” women than some of the others, having both acting and personal talents which show strong minds and passionate emotions. A great combination from our perspective.

In a remarkably strong result, Leona Lewis topped an online poll of “ultimate natural beauty” according to women, and also came in 6th in the votes by men.

With a 21% result, Leona Lewis (photo 1) was twice as popular as No. 2 place, Alesha Dixon (photo 2) with 11% of the votes. Kelly Brook, who had topped the poll by the men voters, came in a weak third for the women at 9%.

Surprises in the results were the absence of Kate Moss from the men’s results (No. 8 for women) and the absence of Denise Van Outen from the women’s list (No. 4 for the men).

The sponsors of the poll said it was interesting to see how differently men and women perceive natural beauty, and also their findings reveal that being a natural beauty “is about feeling more comfortable and more confident in your skin - and not about cosmetic surgery and artificial beauty.”

In fact, so-called celebrities like Jordan (Katie Price) and Jodie Marsh were top of the Fake list.

A combination of playful and tearful Miley Cyrus had a good night at the Nickelodeon 2009 Kids’ Choice Awards. The playful was with host Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson who appeared in one segment in the same dress as Miley.

However, while accepting the trademark orange blimp of the Award for Favorite Female Singer, her voice wavered when she had a moment of self-doubt: “I really thought I was gonna lose, so thank you, guys.”

Miley won two awards last year, for Favorite Female Singer and Favorite TV Actress, so we think she is really great and can rest easy that she is doing a terrific job.

Also of note was American Idol winning an award for Favourite TV Show.

With over 90 million viewer votes being cast at Nick’s web site, the popularity of the winners can hardly be disputed.

Although the Top 13 contestants of American Idol had plenty to celebrate, and put on a perfect red-carpet performance, perhaps it was no surprise that the guest list would include ‘bikini girl’ Katrina Darrell who, in fairly tasteful green, accepted the opportunity for a little more self-marrketing.

The real ’stars’ included Allison Iraheta (photo 1) who mentions influences like Pink and Selena The 16-year-old always seems very comfortable with her style, which often includes her cherry red hair in contrast to punky clothes.

Big diamond hoop earrings were the choice for petite Alexis Grace (photo 2). Hailing from Memphis, Alexis has mentioned she will include more country flair in her upcoming performances.

Listing Bjork, Amy Winehouse and Adele as influences may not do Megan Corkrey (photo 3) many favors with the hardcore-pop Idol audience, but she doesn’t plan to change to get more votes. She said she’s happy just “doing what I do” and hopes people accept her.

Meanwhile, Katrina Darrell (photo 4) explained that she has been in a bikini many, many times prior to American Idol and so it just seemed to suit the very hot day and gave an opportunity to tan while waiting in line. “You know, I did runway modeling in my bikini so it’s nothing that hasn’t been seen before. I did runway for Ed Hardy, I’ve walked with Tyrese and Eva Pigford from America’s Next Top Model. I’ve done a lot of runway.” Nuff said.

One person in the news a lot lately, for all the right reasons, is Miley Cyrus. The nominations are finalised and the voting is taking place for the Kids’ Choice Awards 2009, with Miley featured in two categories.

In the Favourite Female Singer list it might be a good year for Miley Cyrus (photo 3). The others in the category could have less appeal for various reasons. The music of Alicia Keys (photo 1) may be seen by many as being too “old” - closer to adult contemporary or even jazz and so not “pop”.

Although Rihanna (photo 4) has also been in the headlines a lot, some may feel it’s for the wrong reasons, so her popularity could take a nosedive, even if the situation is not her fault. Or she may get a big sympathy vote. The fourth nomination is Beyonce (photo 2) and we all know the huge support she has. Our guess is a vote battle between Miley and Beyonce this year.

In the Favourite Song category, similar problems may exist for Rihanna and her nominated single Don’t Stop the Music is perhaps a little too close to real life. Beyonce is in the mix again as well, with Single Ladies (Put A Ring On It) and that is certainly catchy. Our pick, though, is Katy Perry’s I Kissed A Girl because it is more pure pop than the others, and possibly more reflective of the mood of the times.

The Favourite Music Group is a real mash-up of styles and ages. Surely Daughtry and Linkin Park are too “old” to do well. So that leaves the Jonas Brothers versus Pussycat Dolls (photo 5) . Our guess is the Dolls because the Jonas film bombed.

Miley Cyrus is back in the nominations for Favourite TV Actress and is up against strong competition. Can Hannah Montana succeed against America Ferrera and The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants and Ugly Betty. The other two nominations are Miranda Cosgrove for Drake & Josh and iCarly, plus Selena Gomez for The Wizards of Waverly Place and Another Cinderella Story, so this award is too hard to pick.

Just to round out the perfect triple, Miley is also in the running for the Favourite Voice From An Animated Movie for her work on Bolt. And, of course, that duet with John Travolta.

Madonna made the most money of all the music stars during 2008. Further, every one of the top 20 acts on Billboard’s Moneymakers list of 2008 went on the road with major concert tours.

Although Madonna achieved only the 50th-best-selling album, she made 4 times the income of acts like Coldplay or the Jonas Brothers. Further, Madonna made almost $100m (yes one hundred million dollars) more than numbers 2 and 3 on the list (Bon Jovi and Bruce Springsteen).

In other words, to make BIG money in music, go on tour. No matter the success of your retail sales or radio play, or even the music style, concert tours provide the biggest exposure and the largest earnings.

The top 5 money earners for 2008 for the girls may surprise you:

Madonna …… $242,176,466
Celine Dion ….. $99,171,237
Miley Cyrus …. $48,920,806
Taylor Swift …. $45,588,730
Mary J. Blige … $43,472,850

The message is clear - get your music together and hit the road !!

Despite having a heavy cold, probably courtesy of Britain’s worst winter in 20 years, Katy Perry scooped up the award for Best International Female in London last Wednesday night.

Other good news is Katy’s album One Of The Boys has gone platinum. So the Brit Award was icing on the cake for a very successful 2008 for Katy. Other highlights include Best New Act at the MTV Europe Music Awards, Favorite Pop Song at the People’s Choice Awards for I Kissed a Girl and International Album of the Year at the NRJ Music Awards.

Some other awards nominations show the impact of Katy’s clever and quirky style, including Most Addictive Track and a long list of Video categories: Best Art Direction, Best Cinematography, Best Editing, Best Female Video and Best New Artist. Katy’s rise to fame has been built on solid hard work and some considerable skill at perfecting her vocal talent.

There have often been juvenile and petty criticisms of the success of singers and musicians who come through reality TV shows. But this year’s Brit Awards nominations show a bias that is hard to explain. The X Factor finalists and winners sold over 2 million singles during 2008. The Brit Awards nominations (read favourites) have sold only half that figure.

Even worse, the two most successful singles of the year have been excluded. And 4 of the top 5 have been omitted. As the sales figures below show, to exhibit such biased preference for Duffy and Adele is wrong.

888,000 .. Alexandra Burke .. Hallelujah
751,000 .. X Factor Finalists .. Hero
536,000 .. Duffy .. Mercy
458,000 .. Estelle Ft Kanye West .. American Boy
362,000 .. Leona Lewis .. Run
349,000 .. Girls Aloud .. The Promise
300,000 .. Ting Tings .. That’s Not My Name
296,000 .. Coldplay .. Viva La Vida
284,000 .. Adele .. Chasing Pavements
237,000 .. Leona Lewis .. Better in Time

But the Brits went even further when they excluded all X Factor artists from two other major categories:

• British Female Solo Artist
• British Breakthrough Act

Yet, again, they included Adele and Duffy in both of those lists to receive awards.

Rather than promoting British music as a whole, the BRIT Trust is favouring and promoting minority acts, and using its Awards process to provide a false view of the true music successes of the year. Disgraceful.

More details here

Since setting chart records from the start of her X Factor success story, Leona Lewis scored the top selling track of the year with Bleeding Love. It sold 3.37 million in a year when digital sales set new records. 2008 was the first year to see over 1 billion digital downloads, up 27% compared to 844 million in 2007.

Leona’s debut single A Moment Like This broke the world record for downloads when it tallied over 50,000 within thirty minutes of its release. More download records followed when Leona’s cover of Snow Patrol’s Run became the fastest selling digital-only release of all time. It sold 69,244 in just two days.

Further success came with Leona’s debut album Spirit became the fastest-selling debut album ever in both the United Kingdom and Ireland. When released in North America Spirit debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 album chart, the first British solo artist to top the chart with a debut album.

To put Leona’s achievements into further context -as if the records are not enough - only huge hits are above Leona in the singles charts:

Candle in the Wind - Elton John - over 11 million copies
We Are the World - USA for Africa - over 8 million
Hey Jude - The Beatles - over 4 million
Hound Dog / Don’t Be Cruel - Elvis Presley - over 4 million
I Will Always Love You - Whitney Houston - over 4 million
Bleeding Love - Leona Lewis - over 3 million
(Everything I Do) I Do It for You - Bryan Adams - over 3 million
How Do I Live - LeAnn Rimes - over 3 million
Love Me Tender/Any Way You Want Me - Elvis Presley - over 3 million
4 Minutes - Madonna feat. Justin Timberlake and Timbaland - over 2 million
All Shook Up - Elvis Presley - over 2 million
Another One Bites the Dust - Queen - over 2 million

When only Elvis Presley has sold more singles than you, and you are more succesful than The Beatles, Madonna and Michael Jackson, it’s possible you have set some other records on your rise to the top.

That is certainly true for Mariah Carey, who was the first recording artist to have her first five singles go to No. 1 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart. She is also Columbia Records’s highest-selling act.

As well as being the most successful artist of the 1990s in the United States, Mariah was named the Best-selling Female Pop Artist of the Millennium at the World Music Awards.

Carey’s singles have, collectively, topped the charts for seventy-nine weeks, which places her just behind Presley, who topped the combined charts for eighty weeks. Mariah also has the most number-one singles for a solo artist in the United States, currently 18, which is just second overall behind The Beatles.

An alto with a five-octave range, Carey has “a range wide enough to cover all the octaves between an alto and a soprano … and the agility to move between those roles with swiftness and aplomb” and her vocal trademark is the ability to sing in the whistle register.

She has cited Minnie Riperton as the greatest influence on her singing technique. At one time The Guinness Book of Records recorded there was no other singer who could hold a higher note than Carey.

Mariah’s impressive tally of Gold, Platinum and Multi-Platinum is also likely to remain unchallenged by any modern recording artist for some time:

1. 54G+27P+8MP    Elvis Presley
2. 23G+10P+2MP    Mariah Carey
3. 26G+6P+2MP    Madonna
4. 24G+6P+4MP    The Beatles
5. 21G+5P+0MP    Janet Jackson
6. 18G+7P+1MP    Whitney Houston
7. 16G+9P+0MP    Michael Jackson
8. 17G+6P+1MP    Elton John
9. 17G+6P+0MP    The Temptations
10. 12G+5P+1MP    Beyonce Knowles