Extra-curricular activities

If the blog has seemed slightly neglected over the last few weeks, here’s why: A series of “high profile” (slightly desperate) and “expertly crafted” (cobbled together) features on the BBC News website. Links and bonus content as follows:

The Veronicas interview

What were they like? Hungover, flirty, hilarious

Most useless quote: “My favourite thing to do, aside from singing, is laugh” (Lisa)

Best bit that didn’t make it: On whether they were pissed off that Katy Perry had nicked the “kissed a girl” line from Take Me On The Floor:
Jessica: “It’s true! She totally stole our thunder!”
Lisa: “We’re friends with Katy, so it’s cool. Her song is very different from ours. Apart from the kissing girls bit.”

Pixie Lott interview

What was she like? Amazingly, for a stage school graduate, really interested in music. Made me give her my copy of Daniel Merriweather’s album.

Most useless quote: “When I was younger I’d always sing the Whitney classics and the Mariah classics”.

Best bit that didn’t make it: “There’s a song on the album called Jack, which was written by a girl band called M2M seven years ago. One of them used to go out with Zac from Hanson, and when they broke up she was really upset and wrote a song about it. But she didn’t want to make it obvious it was about him, so she called it Jack. I’m singing their break-up song, which means that, technically, I’ve dated Zac Hanson.”

Black Eyed Peas interview

What were they like? Jetlagged, but polite. Interestingly, Taboo, Fergie and apl defer to will.i.am on all matters, on and off-camera.

Most useless quote: “This record is just more focused on dance sounds. It’s like the dance knob is at 200, instead of 75, 50, the way it used to be.” (will.i.am)

Best bit that didn’t make it: Will.i.am on the new wave of hip-hop: “Here we are in 2009 and there’s Boom Boom Pow and there’s Kid Cudi and there’s Kanye West experimenting with electro. It’s back to the early 90s when Technotronic did ‘pump up the jam, pump it up, yo pump it’.”

Britney Spears concert review

What was she like? A high-quality drag act.

Most useless quote: “What’s Up London? Awesome!”

Best bit that didn’t make it: Britney’s voicebox.

New Video: Black Eyed Peas – I Gotta Feelin’

I Gotta Feelin’ is the second single from the BEP’s new album, THE END, and it’s much more representative of the record’s electro-hop party vibe than Boom Boom Pow. Produced by French DJ David Guetta it’s a big, demented pop song about a rather raucous summer barbeque.

“I got my money
Let’s spend it up
Go out and smash it
Like Oh My God
Jump off that sofa
Let’s get get off!”

Although the single mix never quite achieves the arms-in-the-air crescendo you’d expect, the various remixes will take care of that. Meanwhile, the video has a few inexplicable faux-bisexual soft porn elements. Do the Black Eyed Peas really believe they can become the hip-hop Scissor Sisters?

Black Eyed Peas – I Gotta Feelin’

This will be number one on Sunday

Well done, the public. You have killed music.

Black Eyed Peas – Boom Boom Pow