Happy New Year: I Won The Lottery

I'll be kicking off 2013 by cashing in my TWO winning lottery tickets. Granted, I won a whole $14... so I guess I'll still be catching you around this corner of the Internet for some time to come.HAPPY NEW YEAR!! And check this shit out if you haven't already:* The 10 Worst Singles Of 2012* The Best Pop Singles Of 2012* The Best Pop Singles Of 2011* The Best Pop Singles Of 2010* The Best Pop Singles Of 2009 * The Best Pop Singles Of 2008* The Best...

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Shayne Ward's Career Veering Closer & Closer To Porn (FINALLY)

Following his stint in Rock Of Ages on the West End, UK crooner Shayne Ward will next appear in Power Tops IV: Drill, Baby, Drill. Well, okay — that's wishful thinking, maybe, on my part. He'll actually be starring in the eighth series of Dancing On Ice in his home country (starting January 6), alongside such gems as, um, Pamela Anderson.In a bit of "promo" for his latest project, Shayne whipped off his clothes (you don't really have to ask him twice,...

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UK Chart Roundup: James Arthur's Noise Is Back On Top

This year's winner of The X Factor UK, James Arthur, sees his cover of Shontelle's "Impossible" return to the top of the Brit chart in the final stretch of 2012. The trash dirge has reportedly sold 897,000 copies in just three weeks.Exciting stuff.The UK Top 10:1. "Impossible" - James Arthur *2 weeks*2. "Scream And Shout" - will.i.am feat. Britney Spears3. "Gangnam Style" - PSY 4. "Troublemaker" - Olly Murs feat. Flo Rida5. "He Ain't Heavy..." -...

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US Chart Roundup: The #1s Of 2012 (And When Are The Swedish House Mafia Guys Gonna Bang?)

Bruno Mars still rules the Billboard Hot 100 on the first official chart of 2013 (dated January 5). Or you can look at it like the last chart published in 2012. Whatever.Here's a rundown of the 13 singles that hit #1 this year:1. "Sexy And I Know It" - LMFAO (2 weeks)2. "We Found Love" - Rihanna feat. Calvin Harris (2 weeks in '12)3. "Set Fire To The Rain" - Adele (2 weeks)4. "Stronger (What Doesn't Kill You)" - Kelly Clarkson (3 weeks)5. "Part Of...

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The 10 Best Pop Singles Of 2012

Let's face it — 2012 was one dark year as far as pop was concerned. In fact, my trusty sidekick in all things chart rigging Moogaboo and I shouldn't have had as much fun and ease assembling our Worst Singles Of 2012 list, alas...That said, there were a some bright moments, like diamonds in the sky, even if we had to go digging to find them. And dig we did; this is actually probably the most unconventional Best list since I started doing them annually...

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UK Chart Roundup: The Justice Collective Take Christmas #1 From 'The X Factor'

A bunch of people — including Robbie Williams, Paul McCartney, Paloma Faith, Beverley Knight, Melanie Chisholm, Eliza Doolittle and Holly Johnson — covered "He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother" to raise cash for charities that benefit the 1989 Hillsborough football disaster, and it's now #1 in the UK. (Sorry, whoever that guy is who won The X Factor the other week and whose name you won't remember, either, by February.)Guy Chambers produced the single....

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PWL Hit Factory Live: Watch Kylie Minogue, Jason Donovan, Rick Astley & Others At The O2 Arena

No, the world didn't end on Friday, December 21, 2012. The delayed PWL Hit Factory Live concert at London's O2 Arena went down instead, and featured performances by, well, everybody listed below — basically all the big artists associated with Pete Waterman from the mid-'80s to the late-'90s.And because I got bored for 40 minutes this evening, I decided to round up as many of the videos that made their way onto YouTube as I could find. Enjoy yourself!2...

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It's Dido's "Let Us Move On"

I'm crawling out from under being sick the past week, and am finally getting around to Dido's "Let Us Move On," which was officially released on iTunes on Tuesday. There's a lyric video for this, her first single from her upcoming fourth album, Girl Who Got Away, and you can catch that trash below.I used to really dig Dido, especially around the time of her first album, No Angel. I remember picking it up a full year before Eminem sampled "Thank You"...

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US Chart Roundup: A Decade Of Year-End #1 Singles

With Bruno Mars' "Don't Stand So Close To Me" knockoff "Locked Out Of Heaven" at #1 for a second week, it's now the final chart-topping single on the Billboard Hot 100 in 2012 (on the chart dated December 29). Hoo-ray.Let's celebrate this classy triumph by looking back at the past 10 years of year-end #1 singles, shall we? No? Fuck you — we're doing it anyway:2002: Eminem, "Lose Yourself"2003: Outkast, "Hey Ya!"2004: Snoop Dogg feat. Pharrell, "Drop...

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The 10 Worst Singles Of 2012: We Are Never Ever Ever ... Like Ever!

"Jeez. You guys are so mean. Even if you are right, why are you so tasteless?" These were were words posted by some FLOP in the comments on last year's Worst Singles list here on Chart Rigger. And Moogaboo, my partner in all things pop, and yours D'luvvly have asked ourselves this question on several occasions: why are we so tasteless? The answer: we're not the tasteless ones, hooker; we're simply here to help the masses avoid ear-assaulting noise...

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Katy B & Jessie Ware's "Aaliyah" Is A Jam

This popped up last week but I didn't get around to posting until now. It's retro-sounding, '90s house-leaning "Aaliyah," a new song from Katy B that finds her pairing up with fellow British singer Jessie Ware and Geeneus. The song appears on Katy's new (free) EP Danger, and it's a pretty solid throwba...

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UK Chart Roundup: 'X Factor' Winner James Arthur Does The Not-So-"Impossible," Lands At #1

If you didn't see this coming, punch yourself in the face: The X Factor UK's Season 9 winner James Arthur tops the chart in his home country this week with coronation song/Shontelle cover (!!) "Impossible." The song's writers Arnthor Birgisson and Ina Wroldsen have slummed doing tracks for past X Factor winners like Leona Lewis and Alexandra Burke, but are perhaps best known for their vast contributions to The Saturdays' catalog. At any rate, will.i.am...

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It's Taylor Swift's "I Knew You Were Trouble" Video

Normally I'd be more interested in eating lit firecrackers than waxing philosophical over a Taylor Swift video, but I find "I Knew You Were Trouble" to be kind of intriguing. Forget the fact that the Max Martin/Shellback co-production will probably go down as the definitive moment where Taylor chucked her country cred out the window in exchange for a massive pop hit (complete with a hefty heaping of dubstep on the side). No, the Anthony Mandler video...

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US Chart Roundup: Bruno Mars Throws Rihanna Off A Cliff

That Rihanna reign just let up, and she got bitch-smacked off the top of the Billboard Hot 100 by Bruno Mars and his Police knockoff "Locked Out Of Heaven." Ah, good old Bruno Mars. He came dangerously close to topping Chart Rigger's 10 Worst Singles list last year. Only Beyonce's colossally floptastic string of 4 noise saved him from that fate. That said, I will concede that "Locked Out Of Heaven" is far better than "The Lazy Song." Oh, and keep...

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Jessie Ware, Bright Light Bright Light & Beach House Made My Albums Of The Year

Over at Idolator, we rounded up 10 albums we felt were the best of 2012. I chose Jessie Ware's Devotion, Bright Light Bright Light's Make Me Believe In Hope and Beach House's Bloom. Why those ones in particular? Well, you'll just have to go and read, now, won't you?In the meantime, my partner in Chart Rigger crime Moogaboo and I have got a couple classy lists coming your way in mere da...

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Here's Pet Shop Boys' "Memory Of The Future" Mixes & B-Sides Out In US On January 1

Pet Shop Boys' third Elysium single "Memory Of The Future" will get an official US release via two digital bundles on January 1. Below is the tracklist and the lyric video, which features the Stuart Price seven-inch mix of the song.DIGITAL BUNDLE 1Memory of the future – Stuart Price new single mixListeningOne nightInsideDIGITAL BUNDLE 2 (Memory of the future remixed)Stuart Price remixUlrich Schnauss remixDJ Waldo Squash remixDigital Dog re...

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Shy Swedish Broad Sally Shapiro Returns: Watch Her Video For "What Can I Do"

I love Sally Shapiro. Really, I do. Hearing her whispery Swede pop takes me back to my days working at Instinct Magazine, when I first discovered her Disco Romance album. Then, when I was on the dole in 2009, I even interviewed her for this blog, during her promotion for My Guilty Pleasure.Now Sally is back with a charming video for new single "What Can I Do," ahead of the February 26, 2013 release of her new album Somewhere Else. Consider it a pleasant...

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UK Chart Roundup: The "Power Of Love" John Lewis Holiday Commerical Is A Tearjerker

"The Power Of Love," originally a Trevor Horn-produced #1 single recorded by Frankie Goes To Hollywood in 1984, has once again landed at the top of the UK Chart. The latest rendition, covered fantastically by 20-year-old British singer Gabrielle Aplin, has been steadily climbing thanks to its inclusion in a holiday ad by retailer John Lewis. And if you're a big old baby like me, you'll turn on the waterworks for this trash (see it below).Here's Frankie...

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US Chart Roundup: I'd Pay, Like, Ten Bucks To Watch The Swedish House Mafia Members Sex each Other

Rihanna's "Diamonds" has now spent three weeks atop the Hot 100, matching the length of her run in 2006 with her very first US #1, "SOS." I'm still not sick of that trash yet, and I feel it'll join the ranks of the classic pop jams of this decade when all is said and done. If you don't believe me, then go Barbie Doll leg yourself violently until you do.Elsewhere, Swedish House Mafia's former British, Australian and, naturally, Swedish #1 single "Don't...

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UK Chart Roundup: There's Nowhere To Go But Down For Girls Aloud (Business As Usual)

It's a relatively blase week on the UK singles roundup; Olly Murs' "Troublemaker" retains its #1 position while the X Factor alum's third LP Right Place Right Time debuts atop the album chart. Meanwhile, Girls Aloud's "comeback" appears to be going the way of a bargain basement hooker after a bachelor party (read: dismembered and in a landfill), as "Something New" plummets from last week's #2 debut to #14.Elsewhere, the bimbo brigade's useless hits...

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