News

Tis The Season For... Things We Love (To Hate!)

With the holiday season upon us in full force, we thought it would be totally inappropriate if we came up with this list of things in the entertainment world that totally annoy us, repulse us, bother us, and that we just plain can't stand. Yeah, "hate" is a really strong word so we aren't going to use that any further than just hyperbole for our headline here.

But seriously, we get tired of hearing about the celebs, despise these films and cannot stand either the music or image of the bands and musicians listed below. Be sure to add your comments at let us know who you can't stand at the end!



Katy Perry Fills Music's Quirky Girl Void
December 19th, 2008 9:54am


LOS ANGELES (AP) - Don't get Katy Perry twisted: She absolutely loves being pop's quirky poster girl, the wild child who doesn't censor herself and causes raised eyebrows with songs like "Ur So Gay" and "I Kissed a Girl."

But for all her success over the last year, Perry is hoping that songs like her most recent No. 1, "Hot n Cold," show she has more to offer than kitsch and controversy. "It's my personality, which is up and down and sassy and cheeky," says Perry, who recently became a Grammy nominee. "You're gonna see me with all kinds of different things. Maybe you won't expect it, but that's what I like to do - keep people on their toes."

Offering the unexpected was a key factor in Perry becoming one of pop's breakout stars this year. While "Ur So Gay" - a taunting song to an ex-lover more enamored with flatirons and skinny jeans than his ex-girlfriend - became an underground talker, it was her equally ear-catching song "I Kissed a Girl," about girl-on-girl experimentation, that resonated with mainstream music fans, becoming a No. 1 summer smash. "She's not scared to rattle some people's cages lyrically, and say some risqué stuff," says singer-songwriter Butch Walker, who collaborated with Perry on some of the tracks on her debut album, "One of the Boys." ''She brings a little bit of the underground, a little bit of the hipster and underground culture to the mainstream, and that's what sells her ... as different."

And that's what Perry hoped her role in pop music would be. The 24-year-old, who was raised by ministers and dabbled in Christian music before heading to Los Angeles as a 17-year-old aspiring artist, found most of pop's princesses to be manufactured and boring. "I was a bit let down by maybe their personality or their delivery or their consistency," says Perry during an interview at her Capitol Records label offices. "They were so like careful with everything."

Well, what's the point of being in pop or rock 'n' roll music if you're going to be a windup doll?" Perry says. "Use your own wheels and bolts, even if they break, do it yourself."

But Perry found that a colorful personality, strong voice and well-crafted songs didn't guarantee her pop stardom, or even an album. Though she worked with top producers such as Glen Ballard and The Matrix, she bounced from label to label. (Blender magazine profiled her as one to watch in 2004.) "She was signed and dropped like twice before the record came out," says Walker. "I was afraid that her career and those songs were never gonna see the light of day."

Even Perry wondered whether she should just give up. But her competition gave her hope. "Every time I thought maybe there was a girl that would take my place, I would watch her and I would kind of sit back and say, 'Almost! No no no, there's still a void!'" she recalls.

Now that she's come along to fill it, Perry looks back on her struggles as a badge of honor. "It's like training," she says.

And she has this advice for those hoping to be the next Katy Perry: Find your own identity. "When I first started at 17 in Los Angeles, the hit song was 'Complicated,' and everyone wanted me to write a 'Complicated,'" she says of Avril Lavigne's early hit. "I'm like, 'Look that's her, this is me. Everybody loves that song - hopefully everyone will love my song.'"


Katy Perry: 'I'm Not Engaged'
December 17th, 2008 2:38pm


Katy Perry has blasted reports she is engaged to her long-term boyfriend Travis McCoy, insisting the Gym Class Heroes frontman did not propose in Paris, France.

McCoy, who has been dating the singer since last year, reportedly popped the question during a recent romantic break to the French capital by kissing the star with a diamond ring in his mouth. But the I Kissed A Girl singer has chastised the New York newspaper that started the rumor.

In a posting entitled "From the horse's mouth", written on her blog on Wednesday she proclaims, "NOT engaged! But thanks for the free press, New York Daily News! You should fact check with the source before you spread world-wide news like that."

Perry received a yellow diamond promise ring from her partner this summer and was subsequently forced to deny engagement rumors after she was spotted wearing the gem.


Gross Quote Of The Day: Katy Perry Picks Her Nose, Farts
December 16th, 2008 2:45pm


"I say what I think. I'm a real person, not some manufactured pop tart who's afraid to step out of the hotel room. I am flawed. I swear, I have the occasional cocktail, I pick my nose and I fart. I'm not running for any presidential campaign at the moment. I'm a sassy girl." Fashionable singer Katy Perry talks down her glammed-up image.



Katy Perry's Sexy Santa Dress - Hot Or Not?
December 15th, 2008 7:35pm


Never one to shy away from the oppurtunity to wear risque, over-the-top looks, here's Katy Perry in a sexy Santa inspired Christmas dress complete with fishnet stockings at the Z100 Jingle Ball. Rihanna, Ashley Tisdale and many more celebrities were also at the event. Click here for more 2008 Z100 Jingle Ball pics.



Slideshow: Katy Perry & Zooey Deschanel - Twins?
December 11th, 2008 10:25am


We pointed out how much singer Katy Perry and actress Zooey Deschanel look alike in our Stars Who Look Like Other Stars article earlier this year. Examine the uncanny resemblance for yourself in this photo slideshow.


Katy Perry Apologizes For 'Skinny' Joke
December 10th, 2008 10:04am


Katy Perry has apologized to fellow pop star Lily Allen after branding herself a "skinnier version" of the British singer.

Allen hit out at her American rival this week after learning the I Kissed A Girl hit-maker described herself as "a fatter version of Amy Winehouse and a skinnier version of Lily Allen". However Perry is desperate to mend their rift, insisting the remark was made in jest.

She tells UsMagazine.com, "Yeah, I made a joke about (that) earlier this year. I was just kind of joking and trying to be funny. I didn't mean anything by it. Comedians are not necessarily to be taken super seriously."


Lily Allen Blasts Katy Perry
December 9th, 2008 12:34pm


British pop star Lily Allen has slammed her American rival Katy Perry - branding her lyrics "crass" and criticizing her for not writing her own songs.


Who is better, Lily Allen or Katy Perry?

Katy Perry

Lily Allen

Like them equally

Neither


Getting poll results. Please wait...
Allen is adamant that Perry was only given a record deal because U.S. music moguls wanted to create their own version of the Smile hit-maker. And she is convinced the I Kissed A Girl singer's music is a just a poor imitation of her own.

She tells British radio station Capital Fm, "I happen to know for a fact that she was an American version of me. She was signed by my label in America as, 'We need to find something controversial and kooky like Lily Allen.' And then they found her... I think the lyrics and stuff are a bit crass."

"When I met her I was a bit frosty with her because someone asked her to describe herself. She's like, 'Aha, I'm like a fatter version of Amy Winehouse and a skinner version of Lily Allen!'. It's like, you're not English and you don't write your own songs, shut up!"