As summer 2010 is rapidly coming to an end, another collection of seasonal anthems is in the books. Despite big album releases from Tom Petty, Drake, 3OH!3, and Arcade Fire, the genre of the summer was without a doubt dance pop. Being the biggest ladies in music at the moment, Lady Gaga and Ke$ha both had huge summer hits on the radio and in clubs, with “Alejandro” and “Your Love Is My Drug,” respectively.

In the men’s corner, Enrique Iglesias made a surprising comeback with “I Like It,” and Mike Posner became the season’s biggest newcomer, thanks to the success of his “Cooler Than Me.” Hip-hop took a turn towards alternative this summer with Travie McCoy’s “Billionaire” and B.o.B. and Haley Williams’ “Airplanes” (the song that everyone could not get out of their heads no matter how hard they tried).

However, as far as the ultimate summer anthem of 2010 goes, the battle comes down to “California Gurls” by Katy Perry, with a little help from Snoop Dogg, and Usher’s “OMG” featuring will.i.am. Both songs spent the majority of June and July capitalizing the top-2 positions on the Billboard Hot 100 and a considerable amount of time at number one. “California Gurls” is dancy, fun, and catchy, making it perfect for the radio or a club, but it’s mindless enough to provide the perfect backdrop to any summer party. Usher, on the other hand, takes a more laid-back approach with “OMG.” Still easy enough to dance to, the song is perfect for both parties and those low-key, chill-out moments. So who wins the title of 2010’s summer anthem? There’s no way to choose between these songs, so this one ends in a draw.

However, the true star of the summer was without a doubt Eminem. While the single “Not Afraid” was already a hit going into the summer, the song maintained popularity and became one of the most popular songs of the season. When his highly anticipated album, Recovery, was released, the album took the world by storm and spent five straight weeks at number one in the US. Recovery’s second single, “Love The Way You Lie,” which features Rihanna, debuted at number two, where it spent a few weeks before climbing up to number one and becoming one of the summer’s biggest hits.

From The Associated Press

Bret Michaels’ is expected to make a full recovery, according to his doctor.

The 47-year-old former Poison frontman’s will to live is “undeniable,” said Dr. Joseph Zabramski, chief of cerebrovascular surgery at the Barrow Neurological Institute at St. Joseph’s Hospital and Medical Center in Phoenix, who has been leading the team treating “The Celebrity Apprentice” contestant since he suffered a brain hemorrhage last week.

“Mr. Michaels will continue to undergo testing considering we have hit a few roadblocks, including hyponatremia, severe cranial and back pain suffered from blood drainage, an emergency appendectomy performed a week earlier and a lifelong history of Type 1 diabetes,” Zabramski said in a statement released Friday by Michaels’ publicist, Joann Mignano.

Michaels, who was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes at age 6 and underwent an emergency appendectomy April 12, was rushed to St. Joseph’s Hospital last week with a severe headache. He was later diagnosed with a subarachnoid hemorrhage, which causes bleeding in the fluid-filled spaces around the base of the brain. The cause of the hemorrhage is still unknown.

“There is no doubt that Mr. Michaels’ condition is serious,” Zabramski added.

He said Michaels, who has two daughters, 9-year-old Raine Elizabeth and 4-year-old Jorja Bleu, “did not want his family to wake up and see him lying unconscious in the middle of the floor.” He also said immediate medical attention and Michaels’ “fight to stay conscious during the hemorrhage” enabled doctors to stabilize his condition.

Other doctors said it is possible that Michaels could be healthy enough to appear on “The Celebrity Apprentice” live finale May 23. He is currently one of seven contestants remaining on Donald Trump’s competitive reality series, including pop singer Cyndi Lauper, reality TV diva Sharon Osbourne, celebrity chef Curtis Stone and actress Holly Robinson Peete.

“If all the studies he had done show no evidence of an aneurysm being found, it would really just depend on his energy level,” said Dr. Ronald Benitez, director of cerebrovascular surgery at Overlook Hospital in Summit, N.J. “If all the tests were negative, and I was watching the show at the end of May, I personally wouldn’t be surprised if he was on it.”

Michaels already filmed most of “The Celebrity Apprentice” last fall. However, the finale requires the last two contestants to debate against each other live in front of Trump. If Michaels ascends to the final showdown, it would be unprecedented in “The Apprentice” franchise history if he is not present to defend himself in the boardroom.

“We’ve never been confronted with anything like this,” Trump told Matt Lauer on NBC’s “Today” show Tuesday. “He is still in the show. He’s doing really, really well, and all of sudden … I can’t imagine. It’s going to be live for two hours, and it’s going to be in four weeks. I can’t imagine he’s going to be on the finale, but he very well might be.”

Whether he’s fired or hired by Trump during the May 23 finale or in an earlier installment, Michaels’ representatives are still giving his music fans something to believe in. While his appearances scheduled through May 21 have already been postponed, Michaels’ other concert dates, including his summer tour with Lynyrd Skynyrd, are going ahead as scheduled.

“At this time, we are planning to resume the tour May 26 in Ft. Smith, Ark., provided there are no further complications or setbacks,” said a statement posted Thursday on Michaels’ website by his tour manager, Janna Elias. “We will then continue with all scheduled dates throughout the summer and fall, including the June and July tour with Lynyrd Skynyrd.”

It certainly wouldn’t be Michaels’ first comeback tour. After glam-rock was edged out in the 1990s, the “Unskinny Bop” singer found renewed fame on reality TV. He starred as a judge on the third season of USA’s singing contest “Nashville Star” in 2005, then as the bad-boy bachelor looking for lust on VH1′s tawdry dating show “Rock of Love” from 2007 to 2009.

From The Associated Press

Lukasz “Dr. Luke” Gottwald and Jason Mraz are tops in song writing.

Gottwald was named songwriter of the year and Mraz received song of the year honors Wednesday at the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers’ 27th annual Pop Music Awards.

The awards recognize the writers and publishers of ASCAP’s most performed songs of the year.

Gottwald wrote five of the top hits of 2009, including Katy Perry’s “Hot N Cold,” Miley Cyrus’ “Party in the USA” and Flo Rida’s “Right Round.” Mraz’s song, “I’m Yours,” holds the record for the most weeks spent on Billboard’s Hot 100 chart: 76 and counting.

The honors for publisher of the year went to EMI Music Publishing, which had 15 award-winning songs in 2009.

Patti Smith received the organization’s Founders Award. ASCAP president and chairman Paul Williams called Smith “a songwriter, poet, trailblazer and rock icon whose creative genius and rock ‘n’ roll spirit will continue to inspire generations to come.”

Previous winners of that honor include Bob Dylan, Billy Joel, Annie Lennox, Tom Waits, Stevie Wonder and Joni Mitchell.

The Killers were presented with the Vanguard Award, which recognizes genres that help shape the future of American music. Past winners include the Beastie Boys, Modest Mouse, Nine Inch Nails and Jack Johnson.

Other songs honored during the private dinner ceremony at the Renaissance Hollywood Hotel include the Black Eyed Peas’ “Boom Boom Pow,” Jay-Z and Alicia Keys’ “Empire State of Mind” and Beyonce’s “Single Ladies.”

A complete list of winners is available on ASCAP’s website.

Established in 1914, ASCAP represents more than 8.5 million copyrighted musical works by 380,000 songwriters.

From The Associated Press

Pop star Kelly Clarkson’s upcoming concert in Indonesia will no longer be sponsored by a cigarette company, the promoter said Thursday following protests from fans and anti-tobacco groups.

Clarkson, a past American Idol winner, had previously said that while she was surprised to learn that billboards announcing her April 29 concert in Jakarta were prominently branded with the logo of the popular cigarette L.A. Lights, the show would go on with the controversial sponsorship.

“I refuse to cancel on my fans,” she wrote in a posting on her blog. She added that she’s not a smoker and does not advocate it.

Though Clarkson initially indicated that the sponsorship could not be pulled, promoter Adrie Subono said that his company Java Musikindo had reached a “final agreement” with cigarette company Djarum, the maker of L.A. Lights, and the sponsorship had been canceled. He said it would take one or two days to remove all the billboards and pull other advertisements, including those on TV.

“There will be no (L.A. Lights) media promotion at the Kelly Clarkson concert,” Subono told The Associated Press.

Djarum has declined to comment.

In a similar dispute two years ago, Grammy winner Alicia Keys apologized to fans and denounced the sponsorship of her Indonesian concert by an affiliate of U.S. tobacco giant Philip Morris International. She went ahead with the show, but only after the cigarette logo was removed from her promotions.

Indonesia, a nation of 235 million people, is one of the final frontiers where tobacco companies are given virtual free rein when it comes to selling, advertising and promoting their products, practices long banned in the U.S. and many other countries. The Marlboro Man still rides high on huge billboards that cross four-lane highways. Free samples are sometimes given out at events by young women dressed in matching short skirts.

About 63 percent of all men light up and a third of the country’s entire population smokes. A quarter of boys age 13 to 15 are already hooked.

In recent days, Clarkson’s Facebook page has been flooded with fans begging her to reject the cigarette sponsorship, saying she is sending the wrong message to kids about smoking. Anti-tobacco groups have blasted the singer for using her image to sell products that kill 200,000 Indonesians every year.

Clarkson fired back in her blog.

“I think the hardest part of situations like this is getting personally attacked for something I was completely unaware of and being used as some kind of political pawn,” she wrote.

NEW YORK – Chris Brown  will headline and host a benefit concert in Virginia next month.

FILE - In this Feb. 12, 2010 file photo, Chris Brown models at Naomi Campbell's Fashion For Relief - Haiti fashion benefit, shown during Fashion Week in New York. (AP Photo/Stuart Ramson, file)

“Virginia Stand Up! A Call to Action” will be held May 15 at Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond. Performers will include Trey Songz, Keri Hilson, T-Pain, Mario and Ryan Leslie.

The 20-year-old R&B singer said in a statement Monday he wanted to personally contribute to the Haitian relief effort and support an organization that helps people in his home state.

Proceeds will benefit the American Red Cross and the Central Virginia Foodbank.

Brown was sentenced last year to five years’ probation and six months of community labor after pleading guilty to felony assault. He was charged in an attack on his then-girlfriend Rihanna hours before the 2009 Grammys.

NEW YORK – Since the success of Slumdog Millionaire, composer A.R. Rahman not only has a larger profile, but he says he’s got a confidence boost, too.

FILE - In this Feb. 22, 2009 file photo, Indian composer and Oscar winner AR Rahman arrives at the Oscar After Party for Fox Searchlight's "Slumdog Millionaire" and "The Wrestler" in West Hollywood, Calif. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello, file)

“The main thing is self-confidence which is there,” Rahman said in a phone interview Monday morning before a press conference.

Rahman adds: “Coming from South India, you’re always very timid, you’re within your shell … we always think that, you know, maybe I don’t fit here, that kind of uncomfortableness.”

Rahman will be able to show off his new self on his upcoming U.S. tour, which kicks off Jun. 12 in New York.

He won two Grammy Awards and two Oscars for his work on “Slumdog Millionaire” and plans to release his own CD in the near future.

Photo credits to AP/Chris Pizzello.

From The Associated Press

Heavy-metal masters Metallica braved long bus and boat rides — and bitter memories of a band member’s death — to dodge the fallout of an Icelandic volcano and stick to its rigorous European tour schedule.

Lead guitarist Kirk Hammett told reporters in Vilnius, where the band was giving its second concert Wednesday, that Metallica traveled 28 hours to get from Oslo to the Latvian capital of Riga — a trip that normally takes just over two hours by plane.

“I just could not relax, thinking, ‘Wow, those buses have changed a lot since we traveled.’ They are so much more comfortable. You see, we did not use this means of transportation for more than two decades since the tragedy,” Hammett told reporters.

In September 1986, during a European tour, bassist Cliff Burton was killed when the band’s bus skidded out of control and flipped several times near Dorarp, Sweden.

“When we boarded the bus again this week and had to travel overnight, I realized that those bad memories are still here. I still haven’t overcome the fear of buses. But the show must go on,” Hammett said.

After a bus ride from Oslo to Stockholm, the band on Friday boarded a Tallink cruise ship and sailed to Riga, where it performed a day later.

On board the ship were many astonished Metallica fans who — grounded by the closed airports — grabbed last-minute tickets to make the Riga show.

“It was kind of exciting, like a big party,” said Liga Viskinte, 23, a Latvian who works in Stockholm but traveled home to see the concert.

She said Metallica singer James Hetfield and bassist Robert Trujillo drank beer in the ship’s crowded karaoke bar, where they watched a passenger do a rendition of “Whiskey in the Jar.”

“The singing was awful, but no one seemed to mind,” said Viskinte.

Metallica is scheduled to leave Lithuania for Moscow on Thursday — and Hammett said they’ll be taking the train, an approximate 13-hour journey, unless airspace restrictions are lifted.

“It would take a really great force to stop us,” Hammett said, adding that he had no idea how the band and its road crew would get back to the U.S. from Russia. “But we’ll figure it out somehow.”

From The Associated Press

When Carrie Underwood took the gamble and tried out for “American Idol,” she never imagined a night — or year — quite like this one.

Underwood made history Sunday night by becoming the first woman to win entertainer of the year twice at the Academy of Country Music Awards. She also has celebrated her 12th consecutive No. 1 single, the continued success of her album “Play On” and a premier headlining tour. Add in her impending wedding to NHL player Mike Fisher, and Underwood is living a fairy tale life at the moment.

“Whenever I was on ‘Idol’ I was just hoping to stay there for another week,” Underwood said. “That was as far as my calendar would go and I don’t think anybody could have possibly predicted any of this.”

Lady Antebellum was the dominant winner, grabbing five trophies, and Miranda Lambert won three, but Underwood stole the show.

She won the fan-voted award in a category that included most of country music’s major stars — Taylor Swift, Kenny Chesney, the Zac Brown Band, Toby Keith, Brad Paisley, George Strait and Keith Urban. Underwood also was recognized earlier in the evening with special trophy for achieving the “triple crown” of ACM wins — entertainer of the year, top female vocalist and top newcomer — in the course of her career.

“That just says everything about how great she is,” Paisley said.

The theme of the night might have been crossover success. Lead nominee Lady A, the top-selling trio that includes Hillary Scott, Charles Kelley and Dave Haywood, snapped Rascal Flatts’ seven-year run as best vocal group and won song and single record of the year for the crossover hit “Need You Now” (they got two trophies for their single record of the year win because they also produced the record, and also got two trophies for their song of the year win because they composed it).

They’re approaching the sale of 2 million albums and have reached the top of the all-genre charts on four different occasions since the January release of the “Need You Now” album.

“It’s just wild, man,” Kelley said. “You never know where a song can take you, and tonight is probably the pinnacle of our career.”

Adding to the emotion for the group was wins by good friends Lambert and Luke Bryan. The trio broke into cheers backstage when Lambert won top female vocalist. A stunned Lambert hugged Underwood as she made her way to the stage. She also won album of the year for “Revolution” and video of the year for “White Liar,” her first No. 1 single.

“I never cry and I cried tonight,” Lambert said. “You cracked me, people.”

Lady A openly lobbied for Lambert, even in categories where they competed, and celebrated the win of Bryan, who nabbed top new artist. Lady A’s Kelley and Haywood helped their good buddy write his hit, “Do I.”

“Everything about tonight was honestly just so fun,” Kelley said. “If we could’ve gone down the list and scripted it … ”

Lambert also won top female vocalist, snapping Underwood’s three-year run in that category.

Swift was shut out despite five nominations. It might have been the first awards show since her pop superstardom where she didn’t take home a trophy.

She had a big performance, though: She began her rendition of “Change” while soaring over the crowd on a platform. She ripped off her white dress to reveal a black outfit underneath, made her way through the crowd and joined the Tritones, a college a cappella group, on stage for a spirited chorus. She then fell backward into a crowd of fans.

Paisley, after a performance of his single “Water” where he fell backward into a pool of water on stage, won top male vocalist of the year for the fourth consecutive time. He accepted his trophy while drying off with a towel.

And Brooks & Dunn, who are retiring after a summer tour, won best vocal duo for the 10th time in their two-decade long career.

“We are currently in therapy with Brett Favre trying to figure out how to waffle on this,” Kix Brooks joked after the win.

___

AP Writer Oskar Garcia contributed to this report.

From The Associated Press

List of winners at the 45th Annual Academy of Country Music Awards from Las Vegas:

___

• Entertainer of the year: Carrie Underwood

• Top male vocalist: Brad Paisley

• Top female vocalist: Miranda Lambert

• Top vocal group: Lady Antebellum

• Top vocal duo: Brooks & Dunn

• Top new artist: Luke Bryan

• Top new solo vocalist: Luke Bryan

• Top new vocal duo: Joey + Rory

• Top new vocal group: Gloriana

• Album of the year: “Revolution,” Miranda Lambert

• Single record of the year: “Need You Now,” Lady Antebellum

• Song of the year: “Need You Now,” Lady Antebellum

• Video of the year: White Liar,” Miranda Lambert

• Vocal event of the year: “Hillbilly Bone,” Blake Shelton featuring Trace Adkins

Last week was filled with music as SCOPE held its annual Rock ’n’ Roll Week! The week kicked off on Monday with Mock Rock Videos. Students who stopped by the programming space were able to dress-up, jump in front of a green screen, and make their very own music video. Each student that participated left with a DVD of their video to amuse their friends and family.

On Tuesday, students came out to hear a lecture in the Alumni Lounge entitled “60’s Rock- When the Music Mattered.” The lecture was given by Barry Drake, a performer and songwriter with an extensive career who played alongside greats such as Van Morrison, Joni Mitchell, Jimi Hendrix, and James Taylor. The lecture involved slides, video clips, and of course, lots and lots of music. (Fun Fact: The last time Barry was at UNH it was called Sex, Drugs and Rock & Roll Week. Barry’s Question: What happened to the sex and drugs?)

On Wednesday, SCOPE held its monthly Beanhouse, an open mic night. After a late start due to some scheduling conflicts, the night went well with lots of great student performers, some doing well known songs and others their own original music.

Thursday was the annual Battle of the Bands, sponsored by MEISA. Eight bands took part in the competition: Sounds Like Spring, Ja Mustache Eddie’s, Casting Call, The Day Spring, Robbing the Vatican, Speak In Verse, Peter Pann, and As It Unfolds. It was a great event displaying some of the great student talent found at UNH. As part of the competition, each band performed a cover of a Lady Gaga song, to the great amusement of the audience. It was a close contest, but the winner was As It Unfolds.

On Friday, SCOPE brought in Dancing Heads, another opportunity for students to make their own videos. This time, students were placed in front of a green screen and wore green smocks so that only their head was visible to the camera. They then bobbed along to the music as their head was placed on an animated body. Once again students left with a DVD to commemorate the evening.

When Saturday arrived it was time for the annual Rock’N’Roll Week Concert, held in the bookstore parking lot. The opening group was As It Unfolds, the winners of Battle of the Bands.

The band is a local metal/alternative group with two members who are students at UNH. In total, the group has five members; Aaron Fife(Lead Vocals/Guitar), Frank Rodriguez(Scream Vocals), Jesse Morin(Guitar), Brennan DiLernia(Bass), and Ryan Weil(Drums/Vocals). The group was followed by the headliner, Addison Station, a pop/rock group out of Manchester, CT. The band and its four members, Trent Gerbers, Jeff Kenniston, Jon Coates, and Kyle Dunnack, have been gaining notoriety as they tour the northeast. It was a great show that filled the campus with music for one night. Students who attended the event were given free Rock’N’Roll Week t-shirts and a ticket for a prize drawing at the end of the night. Given away were numerous movies, an Xbox 360, and an electric guitar.

In all, Rock’N’Roll week continued to prove itself to be a great tradition at the University of New Haven. Credit should be given to the SCOPE Special Events Committee and all of the students who helped make this week a success.