Music Blogs

photo: Michael Becker/Fox“American Idol” diehards have been not-so-secretly power-voting for years, but now the show has made it official: Starting this week, as Season 12 finally moves into the live voting rounds, the show will debut a new “SuperVote” feature, which will grant fans the ability to cast FIFTY online votes at once. A viewer can divvy up those 50 votes across multiple contestants, or (more likely) give ‘em all to a single favorite. SuperVoting begins this Tuesday, when the 10 female semifinalists compete, and continues Wednesday with the 10 boys.

Well, this certainly is an interesting development, one that could have major ramifications for the show and its ultimate Season 12 outcome. Why, after 11 seasons—and only two years after opening up voting online at all—is “Idol” encouraging SuperVoting? Here are my theories why…

The powers-that-be want to fudge the numbers. Ryan Seacrest always loves to boast about the gazillion jillion votes tallied every week. But let’s face it, a gazillion jillion

Could the indie-rap duo Macklemore & Ryan Lewis get any more ubiquitous in pop culture than they already were, with a single, "Thrift Shop," that's sold 3.9 million copies and is up to 140 million YouTube views?

The answer is yes, when it comes to a galvanizing, leaping-and-bounding appearance on Saturday Night Live that proved they're not just a one-download wonder. The duo's growing legion of fans now know Macklemore, the frontman of the pair, is as compelling a live performer as he is a low-budget clothes horse—as seen in this performance:

Since the duo may well be around for a while, here's a primer on some other things you might not have known about them, besides what a barrel of dynamism Macklemore is on stage:

* He's the anti-Puffy. Thriftiness might rank at the very bottom of the list of virtues held dear among rappers. But with the recession far from over for all Americans, music fans were ready for a hip-hop star who doesn't seem to live in an economical fantasy land. Hence:

We’re all thoroughly in love with Miranda Lambert’s new video for “Mama’s Broken Heart”—as if we could love her any more? The famously fiery songstress is known for going off the rails in her songs and videos, but she reaches new heights in this particular clip, both visually and dramatically.

Lambert portrays her best Stepford Wife in the beginning of the video, perfectly coiffed and gowned…but quickly degenerates into a reasonable facsimile of—dare we say it?—Courtney Love, complete with ripped fishnets, tangled blond hair, cigarettes, and smeared makeup.

But, aside from the fun of seeing Lambert unravel into a punk-rock mess, most notable is how the singer’s acting skills have expanded considerably with this project. She displays a pitch-perfect balance of humor with drama in the clip, right down to the forced/crazed smile she sports while examining a carving knife at the dinner table.

YouTubeWhat do Lance Bass, Wynonna, the Village People, and Susan Boyle have in common--other than being musicians, of course?

The answer will surprise you: They all apparently love Miracle Whip Dressing!

Or, at least, they’re willing to shill for the product. This hilarious commercial features a “We Are The World”-style ensemble in which *NSYNC’s Bass—who’s also joined by ‘80s pop tart Tiffany, metal legend Don Dokken, former Guns N’ Roses guitarist Gilby Clarke, and several other faces that will amuse hardcore music fans—urges all the hungry people out there to “Open your mind, open your mouth” and just try some Miracle Whip next lunchtime.

Bass, who additionally stars in a print ad campaign for the sandwich spread, truly outdoes himself in this spot…he even sports a tear trickling down his cheek for the poor misunderstood brand’s sake.

Dinnerstein and Merritt (Photo: Lisa Marie Mazzucco)At first, the combination seems somewhat off-kilter. An Americana/country artist who's self-taughtand always done her own thing...paired with a classically trained New York concert pianist.

But, like many seemingly strange combinations, the pairing of Tift Merritt and Simone Dinnerstein--who are releasing a collaborative effort, Night, which explores the common threads between such disparate genres as folk, jazz, classical, and rock, just works in a beautiful way. We hope you enjoy Yahoo! Music's premiere of the first video from this eclectic and exciting project.

The making of Night was not as easy as the butter-smooth sounds of its result would have music fans think, however. Both artists had their share of doubts when approaching the collaboration.

"I was kind of hesitant because I didn't even know how we'd have band practice," admits Merritt. "I thought were so many ways it could go wrong. I don't really play music that's on the page and she doesn't really play music that's off

"The Voice" Season 3 runner-up Terry McDermott recently had a whirlwind week in Los Angeles, which involved writing and recording a stunning new power ballad, "Pictures," with his friend, Todd Burman of Australia's Juke Kartel; rushing the song to iTunes; seeing the song go straight to number one on the iTunes rock chart; and swinging by Yahoo! HQ to perform the song publicly for the first time. And now Terry has released the official music video for "Pictures," which was shot during his week in L.A.