girls rock !!

We told you on this blog last week - there is a growing scandal over the biased American Idol judges and their non-stop anti-girl rants and disrespect. Even MTV have written about this season’s terrible judging and biased production.

So as we explained in last week’s post, it was inevitable that the show would put the girls at the bottom of the so-called “votes” this week - see the reasons here: http://girlsrock.today.com/2009/04/16/american-idol-judging-scandal-exposed-girls-will-suffer-next-week/

In other words, get most of the judges to disrespect the girls week after week and their confidence will suffer. Attack the girls, week after week, on clothes choice and song choice and arrangement choice, and they will suffer.

None of the non-stop attacks have been about vocal ability or talent. Just sniping about hair or “personality”. If anyone needs a personality transplant it’s Simon Cowell.

But that is not all. The judges constantly praise weak guys who can’t sing, who even the public dislike. Randy said way back at the start that he wanted a boy to win. American Idol this year is a sham - but also a tragedy.

There are some of us who much prefer to read what singers and musicians and actresses actually say - rather than the juvenile and copycat garbage of the gutter press and gutter web. So we love Twitter at the moment.

Our love for Miley Cyrus (photo with dad Billy Ray Cyrus) goes back pre-Twitter, however, although we now really enjoy Miley’s tweets. There is a wholesome quality, with strong family values, not to mention an inspiring work ethic. Our guess is dad Billy Ray had a lot to do with that.

If all the pop wannabees were even half as grounded and talented as Miley then the gutter press-n-web would be out of business already.

So we love Miley’s rock-chick passion, her headbanging concerts, and the lean and clean public profile. And it’s also highly visible thanks to Twitter. Go Miley - pure girl power !!

“This is Quentin Tarantino … and this is American Idol!” Music has been central to the films of Tarantino and he is a great fan of American Idol. So Songs of the Cinema proved a good theme, with Quentin offering the mentor comments. For us, the three A’s deserved the A Stars.

Allison Iraheta (photo 1) started the show, singing Aerosmith’s I Don’t Want To Miss A Thing and even Paula and Simon were able to avoid their anti-girl rants and offer some praise. With a husky voice, bags of passion and a real star quality, Allison continues to inspire and impress.

Anoop Desai chose to sing the love theme to Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, Everything I Do by Bryan Adams, and gave without doubt his best performance so far in the series.

Adam Lambert rolled with a classic Steppenwolf number Born to be Wild and really impressed the audience. Although Simon compared it to The Rocky Horror Picture Show in a negative way, many could see it as a plus. Adam’s voice was straining in parts, but soaring in others. He still seems like a serious contender for the final.

Lil Rounds failed completely to listen to Quentin and fell back on her usual fault of shouting the big parts of the song, which on Bette Midler’s The Rose was totally not good. Her voice wavered all over the place as well, flat in parts, and really disappointing. Which made it easy for Simon to let rip with his anti-girl campaign.

See our exclusive American Idol scorecard (photo 2) below for a summary.

As Today.com requests we reduce post sizes and images, go to clik4music for the full rundown.

Looking very tanned and brunette, High School Musical star Ashley Tisdale has a new single out to start the promotion for her next album. With a rock sound similar to Miley Cyrus, it seems the new teen music stars are following Kelly Clarkson rather than Taylor Swift.

The premiere of Tisdale’s new song It’s Alright, It’s Ok was on Ryan Seacrest’s radio show this week, and she talked about the themes of break up and revenge. The 23-year-old explained the song feels “really empowering, and it’s like an independent anthem song, which is great because it’s something I’m listening to right now.”

Ashley Tisdale (photo) also mentioned her second album Guilty Pleasure comes out on June 16th, followed shortly after with her upcoming movie called They Came From Upstairs which is due July 31st.

The album comes from personal experience and she said it is a reflection of where she is in her life. “I’m growing up, but I feel like my fans are growing with me,” Tisdale explained.

The credit crunch has revealed that the so-called “adult” male-focussed business world got it all wrong. The money makers, in store and online, are products and services for the girls. You won’t find IBM, Microsoft or Nokia in the top 10 for girls, nor Toyota, McDonald’s or BMW.

The companies gaining success with the girls are the ones making big bucks. Which means Apple appear in the top 10 twice. The magic combination of the iPhone, iPod and iTunes give Apple a 97% majority for digital sales with teens - the consumers of tomorrow. That No. 2 slot for popularity with girls is worth 97 percent of sales in the sector.

The Apple Mac appears in the No. 9 slot because it works better and feels better. Therefore the efficient user interface and high quality design leave the Windows pretenders for dead. Girl-power on the keyboards, folks.

Freedom from male jargon and boy’s toys have made big impacts eleswhere, so Starbucks, which men think only ranks at 85, is No. 4 for girls. Again, think friendly and easy to use.

As Today.com requests we reduce post sizes and images, go to clik4music for the full rundown.

With an impressive list of female stars, it would not be hard to make the case that British girl singers are equal to their sometimes more famous male counterparts. As the two-part series revealed, some Queens of British Pop were talented but also troubled.

Starting with the troubled, Dusty Springfield was an icon and chart-topper with enormous talent and crippling insecurity, not least because of her sexuality. In contrast, Marianne Faithfull had no problem with her sexuality, but was one of the first stars to be crucified by the media.

Happily, there are fantastic good news stories to provide some balance. Sandie Shaw brought freshness and carefree fashion to the uptight British tv system, while Suzi Quatro (photo 1) and Siouxsie Sioux provided rock-chick power and punk antagonism in equal measure.

At the top of the charts, in many respects, are adopted-Brit Kylie and “new comer” Leona. For personal power and ability to stay “6 months ahead of the rest of the world” it is hard to beat Kylie Minogue. From ultra-teen pop to progressive-trance and even moody-indie, Kylie rocks the charts and concert halls all around the world.

For sheer vocal talent, however, none come close to Leona Lewis (photo 2) and her record-breaking rise to stardom. That rise may have received a huge boost from X Factor, yet even Simon Cowell has said that Leona would have been signed to work with some of the world’s greatest producers and songwriters - whether she won X Factor or not. That trust has paid off with wonderful results for the listening public.

As Today.com has asked us to keep posts short, and not use many photos, you can see the full report at Cheerleaders In High Heels with additional comments on Alison Moyet, Geri Halliwell, Amy Winehouse, Kate Bush and Annie Lennox.

Music prodigy Prince has discovered another princess in his role of band leader and tutor. It may surprise you to know his recording life began 31 years ago, altho that perhaps suggests he knows a good tune and a good voice if he hears one.

Bria Valente (photo shows album cover for Elixer) is the latest protegee to emerge from the Prince kingdom and her album is part of a massive 3-album simultaneous release that launches the new Prince interactive website, LotusFlow3r

So as well as a wide range of styles on the three albums, the website presents a novel way to buy the music, a sort of buffet of download all you can eat for a fixed price.

If you like velvet vocals and funky rhythms - think Janet Jackson, Alicia Keys, etc - then Bria should appeal.

First, the good news - Allison is safe. Second, the good news - Scott is gone. Third, the good news - Kylie is on American Idol. Okay, not quite on the third.

The group song of the American Idol final 8 was a Kylie song - Can’t Get You Out Of My Head - and it was awful. Much as we love that single, the voices of most Idols this year can’t hold a tune with that delicacy. Only Allison Iraheta (photo 1) and Adam get good marks.

Fourth, the good news - Britney is on the show. Okay, not quite. But the Ford spot with the Idols as magicians and performing to Britney’s Circus was great. Again, Allison and Adam (photo 2) really shone.

Fifth, the good news - our exclusive scorecard was on the money. Just one point separated the bottom few and our lowest ranked contestant went home. With another guy gone, the odds are in better shape for our favourite girl - the wonderful Allison Iraheta - girls rock !!

This is a brief report of the elimination show as Today.com asked us to shorten the posts and reduce the number of photos. For the full report and more photos go to clik4music where you will also see the American Idol scorecard for the episode.

Songs from the year the contestants were born can be a real danger ride for the hopefuls on American Idol, and 2009 was no different.

This is a brief report of the performances as Today.com has asked me to shorten the posts and reduce the number of photos.

Danny Gokey was born in 1980 and the oldest contestant. He chose Stand By Me, a slow song that reveals the weaknesses in his voice. Simon Cowell is so uninterested now that he spends his time putting Paula Abdul down rather than making use of his time to talk about the music.

Youngster Allison Iraheta (born 1992) sang Bonnie Raitt’s I Can’t Make You Love Me - a beautiful song, sung beautifully with power, passion and skill. Another awesome Allison performance - and at last Randy Jackson was allowed to offer some praise.

Allison Irahete (photo) could record an album tomorrow and sell millions - just like Kelly Clarkson is our prediction. So even though the judges will vote Allison off, she will sell more records than whoever the winning boy turns out to be.

Lil Rounds (1984) sang Tina Turner’s What’s Love Got To Do With It and, as usual, hasn’t got the big voice to do much more than sound like a pretend diva - shouty karaoke.

For the full report and more photos go to clik4music where you will also see the American Idol scorecard for the episode. Hope Today.com can sort the problems soon.

With Justin Timberlake, Will.I.Am and Jay-Z lined up with work on the second album, Leona Lewis is also receiving musical, production and songwriting input from plenty of other A-List collaborators.

One report says: “Timbaland can’t wait to work with Leona and make her feisty like Beyonce and Rihanna. The ballads will still be there but the tracks will be racier and there’ll be dancefloor anthems too.”

One songwriter producing demos for the Leona album is Tiffany Starr, while Ne-Yo has confirmed he has been writing for Leona. Also submitting songs is Enpho who is associated with superproducer Brian Kennedy.

Ruth-Anne Cunningham spent January in London writing for Leona Lewis along with Robbie Williams’ former right-hand man Guy Chambers. She previously wrote Perfection for Leona. In other words, the second album should be a fantastic collection of modern music making.