day 230

leighton meester wants "somebody to love"

gossip girl's leighton meester's first official single ("somebody to love") has dropped and, well, it's just blah. after making her musical debut as the featured artist of one of the summer's hottest songs, cobra starship's "good girls go bad," i was expecting a lot more from leighton. the single, which features r&b sensation robin thicke, has a retro vibe but relies little on vocal talent. leighton does this bizarre sing/speak thing for most of the track and, when she does sing, she's drowned out by thicke. i'm also confused as to what the genre leighton is attempting is. the song isn't straight forward pop, isn't soft rock, and isn't r&b. it's a weird combination of the three. check it out above and listen for yourself. hopefully leighton's whole album won't be as conceptual as this single. and, hopefully, a second single is released sooner rather than later so that miss meester's singing career doesn't crash and burn before it even gets off the ground. the song will probably get some play at the clubs - i see at least 10 remixes in its future - but i don't see it taking off on radio. it's too slow and not catchy enough, mainly because the only hook is the repetition of "somebody to love."

glee to bring glee to a city near you

this is probably some of the best news i've heard in a long, long time. the creative team behind glee is reportedly putting together a summer concert tour featuring the cast that would bring the show choir routines we get to enjoy each week on the show to life. while it's still in the early planning stages, talk of a tour have been around since the show's preview episode last spring. while it hasn't been a complete ratings darling, glee has held solid with about 7 million viewers per week. add to that the amount of dvr playback it gets and the crazy amount of money the songs are raking in on itunes, it's a no brainer that there are plenty of people out there that would be willing to shell out some cash to see the likes of lea michelle and cory monteith rock it out to "don't stop believe it" live. this is extremely good news after the cast's recent boot from the macy's thanksgiving day parade. while no contract had been signed, the cast was reportedly offered a verbal deal by macy's to appear in the parade next month. the problem? the parade is broadcast by nbc and the peacock net allegedly wasn't too keen on promoting another network (that is beating nbc) and it's star show of the new season. while nbc has promoted other competing casts in the past (american idol, high school musical), it was after they had become a phenomenon in their own right. glee creator ryan murphy responded to the boot with, "i completely understand nbc’s position, and look forward to seeing a jay leno float,” an obvious jab to the network's recent turn to shunning original series. getting rid of 5 hours of primetime tv has been a big issue in hollywood's creative community and many aren't interested in sending their projects to the network. if nbc keeps it up, they may not have any new shows (or hits) to stay afloat much longer.