Blog Posts by Caryn Ganz

Kelly Clarkson was bummed folks were hearing a less-than-stellar-quality version of her upcoming song "What Doesn't Kill You (Stronger)," so she slapped it up on the Internet herself with the note, "I want you to hear the real thing!" This girl, Beyoncé, and Jay-Z seem to be the only folks in music who know how to respond to a leak with style. Clarkson has dubbed the tune the most "Since U Been Gone"-y on her October 24th album Stronger, and it does indeed have all the same basic ingredients: a proclamation of the awesomeness of singlehood, a neck-swiveling chorus, and an intrinsic ability to make drunk girls think they can sing it at karaoke (speculating on the last one, but we have a hunch).

Kelly's "Stronger" is so superb, it has forced The Amp to totally rethink our Official "Stronger" Power Rankings. As of today, it is holding strong in Number Two, topped only by...

Britney Spears' "Stronger"

Numbers Three through Six can be found below:

Kanye West's "Stronger"

Mary J. Blige's

Who's Number One: Jay-Z's protégé J. Cole, who sold 218,000 copies of his debut disc Cole World: The Sideline Story, according to Nielsen SoundScan. That's definitely an impressive lunge to Number One considering the album was delayed for eons, has yet to produce a blockbuster single, and leaked a few weeks before release. Cue the Illuminati rumors!

Who's Bummed Out: Blink-182, whose comeback album Neighborhoods sold 151,000 in Number Two. Rock hasn't been having the most awesome year on the charts, but the Foo Fighters did considerably better with Wasting Light, which opened with 235,000 copies sold in April.

So That Means: Adele's 21 came in third with 118,000, followed by last week's Number One, Tony Bennett's Duets II (91,000). Wilco's best album in years, The Whole Love, arrived in Number Five with 82,000. Lady Antebellum's Own the Night sold 75,000 in Number Six and Lil Wayne's Tha Carter IV moved 68,000 in Number Seven. The back end of the Top 10 is filled with rock debuts:

"Me and Mrs. Jones" is a 1972 standard by the legendary songwriting team Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff that was first performed by Billy Paul. Its subject: an extramarital affair both parties "know it's wrong/But it's much too strong to let it cool down." Amy Winehouse flipped the script a bit on her 2006 album Back to Black with "Me & Mr Jones," a song about a crush who "played me out like that" and even made her miss a Slick Rick show. Its subject: Nas!

There was some gossipy chatter about the Queens MC and the British soul star in the past, but Nas tells XXL (via Hip-Hop Wired) he was well aware he was the "Mr. Jones" in question (his real name is Nasir bin Olu Dara Jones). "I don't really remember if Salaam, who was really close to her, who introduced us, if he told me about it or not," Nas said, referring to the track's producer, Winehouse's longtime collaborator Salaam Remi. "But, I heard a lot about it before I even heard the song."

Now that we know that, some of the track's

Due to "unavoidable circumstances" we can only assume were "reading the Internet," the Black Eyed Peas have yanked their performance from October 8th's Michael Forever tribute concert in Wales, a maligned event honoring Michael Jackson that is taking place without the consent or aid of the late star's estate. Fans have literally begged the show's promoters to call off the concert, but it is proceeding as planned (well, sans Peas) with Christina Aguilera, Beyoncé (via video feed), Cee Lo Green, Smokey Robinson, Leona Lewis, Jennifer Hudson, Ne-Yo, Gladys Knight, La Toya Jackson, and curiously, Alien Ant Farm, among another artists.

The event was first announced in July as timed to the dubious anniversary of "40 years almost to the day of the beginning of the solo career of the man we are celebrating, the release of his hit single 'Got to Be There.' " Jermaine, Randy, and Janet Jackson immediately distanced themselves from the show because it coincides with the manslaughter trial of

Last night Feist played "How Come You Never Go There" from her gorgeous new album Metals on the Late Show With David Letterman. The night before, she serenaded 100 lucky fans in the crypt of a Harlem church. But the Canadian singer/songwriter saved some of her best performances for an exclusive Yahoo! set you can now watch right here! The ridiculously tight harmonies come courtesy of folk group Mountain Man, who will be touring with Leslie this fall. These clips are so fantastic, if you don't like them, The Amp isn't sure we can really be friends anymore.

One year ago, a super-stylish 9-year-old girl with a common yet famous last name had the world wrapped around her tiny little finger -- remember Willow Smith? She whipped her hair back and forth, everyone went nuts? She put out a video for "21st Century Girl" in March but hasn't been heard from since, which means she has aged to an ancient 23 in pop-star years. But rest assured, old Willow is still making an album -- she signed to Jay-Z's Roc Nation empire, after all -- and made a five-minute video documenting the process.

Reporting live from her rehearsal space, Smith dishes about the first song she's ever written and says she needs fans' feedback "because I've never really done this before." The song is called "The Epiphany" because she realized she can dance ballet in addition to singing. Huh? Well she's 10. The fact that she even knows the word "epiphany" is something.

There's footage of Smith playing some piano chords, singing along in the studio's control room, and barking

Pop stars rarely herald comebacks with acknowledgements that they've been gone long enough to warrant a comeback, but '80s pop star Martika has been out of the spotlight for so many years, she kind of had to say it. "I'm officially coming back with new material," she announced in a new video blog posted on Perez Hiton's site today, mentioning an album is in the works along with a 2012 tour. She did make one tactical error -- she asked fans to join her "Toy Soldier Army," evidently what she's decided to name her fans. Too soon, Martika. And that branch of the pop military doesn't sound like much of a match for the Rihanna Navy.

But, hey, Martika is coming back! If you don't remember her 1989 Number One hit "Toy Soldiers," you did not exchange any friendship bracelets for mixtapes with your camp buddies that year. Eminem sampled the track on 2004's "Like Toy Soldiers," too. Also important to know: Martika was on Kids Incorporated with Fergie.

Why come back now? Why not -- a quick

If a new show absolutely must join the already jam-packed lineup of reality-singing competitions on the airwaves, at least it's a series where contestants will be in physical peril for our amusement. Deadline reports that TruTV is jumping into a field crowded with American Idol, The Voice, The X Factor, The Sing-Off, Karaoke Battle USA, and lord knows what else with Killer Karaoke, a take-off of a British show called Sing If You Can. It's hard to get excited about yet another hour of Journey covers during prime time, but this helps: It's "described as the Wipeout of singing competitions" where contestants try "to sing a hit song while being put through extreme, wild and unexpected physical challenges."

Go on, we're listening.

The original series has featured challenges like "performing a song from a specially designed erupting volcano and doing a solo while having one's chest waxed." This sounds like a job for a Jackass, and fittingly Steve-O has been tapped to host Killer Karaoke.