Bark + Bite

Anoop Desai just wants to mend a broken heart

Anoop Desai released his EP Zero.0 in March, and now he's in the midst of a video viral campaign to draw attention to his effort. To that end, he's put together a few music videos, which is great since we never got one for his Bollywood jam "My Name."

The videos aren't high-budget, Lady Gaga affairs though. Instead, they're simple but heartfelt mini-movies that are meant to tie the songs to something with feeling. In one video, he wants to mend a broken heart, and in the other, he longs to mend his broken heart. Clearly, Anoop's gonna need some duct tape to put back together all of the broken pieces.

The video for "You Should Be Loved," a song produced by Sak Pasé of "Man Down" fame, is pretty much boy meets girl on the subway. Nothing overcomplicated and nothing that needs an extraordinary amount of explanation.

The girl in question is harassed and hurt from being neglected by a lover who doesn't treat her the way she deserves to be treated. You can call Anoop Dr. Feelgood, because all he wants to do is it all feel better. Time and time again, Anoop and the lady in question bump into each other, but in the end, their amorous intentions remain unfulfilled.

Kelly Clarkson makes her return with new single "Mr. Know It All"

At first glance, Kelly Clarkson's new single, "Mr. Know It All," seems to be a sequel to one of her first hits, "Miss Independent." In reality, the song represents a very different point in Clarkson's career, and unfortunatly it's a bit of a step back for the original American Idol winner.

The singer who brought us super catchy loud hits such as "Since U Been Gone" and "I Do Not Hook Up" as well as softer, slower classics like "Breakaway," has always been a master at knowing when to pump up the noise and when to tone it down and let her voice shine. Yet on this track, the balance is off. Softer instrumentals are paired with a Pink-esqe tone to Clarkson's vocals, and the mix just doesn't quite click.

When listeners get to the chorus and the gruffness in her singing is dropped (for the most part), the song gets a whole lot better. As Clarkson sings, "You think that you know me/That's why I'm leaving you lonely," it's difficult not to groove along.

But that's another problem with this song: It doesn't exactly lend itself to blasting in the car and screaming the lyrics at the top of your lungs (whether or not the windows are rolled up on down, that depends on you). It's frustratingly close to being a mega-hit; if the instrumentals and the vocals matched more consistently, there'd be no stopping Clarkson yet again. Instead, we're left with a track that won't be remembered as one of Kelly Clarkson's Greatest Hits but that is close enough that it won't disappoint most fans.

What do you think - do you love it? Hate it? Couldn't care less? Listen below and sound off!

Should J.Lo go back to American Idol next year?

On the one hand, American Idol has been an absolute plus as far as raising Jennifer Lopez's profile. Prior to her stint on Idol, J.Lo was mired in the stench of flop. Flop movies and a flop album, to be more specific. But with Idol, she got to wipe away all that muck and grime with her gig as a high profile judge.

On the other hand, doing a judging gig like Idol longterm doesn't bode well for a viable music career. Just ask JC Chasez and Lil' Mama, who've pretty much thrown in the towel as recording artists and now seem to have no ambitions beyond collecting a paycheck for their judging gigs on Randy Jackson's America's Best Dance Crew.

J.Lo was asked up front in an interview with BBC and she left her future role on the show ambiguous. For now, Jennifer says she's "on the fence" about returning next year.

So what's the best move for Jennifer Lopez now that she's completed her first year on Idol?

Lady Gaga scares your children, performs "Edge of Glory" on Idol

Lady Gaga's "Edge of Glory" is a rather optimistic song about life inspired by the death of her grandfather. After roughly two years of doom and gloom from Gaga, it's a bit of a breath of fresh air, really, even if it does follow the worn out path of "love yourself, believe in yourself" anthems that all the pop divas (Katy Perry, Pink, Ke$ha, etc.) have been trotting out.

But for her performance of the song on Idol, Gaga bathed the stage in darkness and perched herself atop a faux mountain, overdecorated in glittered studs, black leather and other biker wear. The weirdness factor really hit the roof when Gaga and a male dancer engaged in an interpretive dance break during the sax solo. It was like a community college theater performance, crossed with The Dark Crystal and Kanye's BET Awards performance of "Power." As always with Gaga, the end result was fascinating in a "I-don't-know-what-I'm-seeing-but-I-can't-look-away" kind of way.

Adam Lambert and James Durbin have beef

If you've tuned into this season of American Idol, then the similarities between James Durbin and season 8 contestant Adam Lambert have been apparent since the moment Durbin opened his mouth to let out that Lambert-esque banshee scream. Glamberts and many Idol fans were not amused, but James stuck around long enough to make it to the top 5.

But he finally got the boot last week and now the claws are coming out for the original manshee, Adam Lambert. As most former Idol contestants do, Lambert was asked to provide commentary on the current crop of contestants and he said that he was "over" James Durbin. It wasn't the nicest thing to say, but given all the biting and swaggerjacking James has been doing, he could've justifiably gone in even harder on James. Instead, Adam kept it at that and didn't throw Durbin any further under the bus.

In Durbin's mind though, he doesn't even get why people compared them in the first place, because Adam is pop/dance and he is rock/metal. Uh, hi, James. Did you not see Adam Lambert rockin' out with Kiss? James needs to fall back about 10 steps.

"I don't know what the comparison's all about. He sings pop and electronic, and I sing rock and metal," Durbin told MTV News on Monday.
Durbin dismisses any theories that Adam's opinion swayed fans to another camp, although he did take notice when his "Idol" inspiration told The Hollywood Reporter that he was "kind of over" James.
Durbin casually shrugged, "I was nothing [but] nice to that guy and, you know, he decided to take it to a different level. Whatever."

SOURCE: MTV

What say you? Is James Durbin getting too big for his britches or should Adam have been a little gentler in handling the upstart wannabe?

Enrique Iglesias struggles with his falsetto in shaky Idol performance

Enrique Iglesias caused a commotion after he abruptly pulled out of the Femme Fatale tour with Britney Spears, but if this Idol performance is anything to go by, Brit might've dodged a bullet.

Enrique opened up his Idol performance with his latest single featuring Usher, "Dirty Dancer." Ursha is on tour so he couldn't be there in person to join Enrique, so instead, Usher recorded his part which was blasted on the big screen.

It was kind of weird; like the Wizard of Oz was singing to us. Enrique would've been better off coming up with a solo version of the song so that he can perform without throwing the giant video screen.

After the duet with his TV, Enrique went into "I Like It." He had problems with his falsetto on "Dirty Dancer" but things just went sour like spoiled milk during "I Like It." Though Enrique seems to continue to pile up the hits on the charts, as a live performer, he still leaves so much to be desired.

Watch Enrique Iglesias perform his set on Idol below

Jordin Sparks is all grown up, shows off her lady parts in spicy Idol performance

The chubby, virginal Jordin Sparks is dead and gone. In her place is a slightly awkward, but leggy young woman who has spent a few afternoons and evenings studying her The Beyonce Experience DVD closely. After a flop album, what else you were expecting? Jordin had no choice but to tart things up.

Like Beyonce, her obvious inspiration, Jordin is pushing girl power in her new single "I Am Woman." Lyrically, it's serving light garbage with a side of whatever, but the chorus is kind of shouty fun in the way that Kelly Clarkson's "Miss Independent" was.

But Jordin hasn't gone all bad girl on us. She showed her humanitarian side by planting a big wet one on senior citizen Steven Tyler. While the gesture was sweet, it's a good thing she didn't sit on Old Steven's lap. That could've been really awkward.

Jennifer Lopez sets the floor on fire with blazing Idol performance

Jennifer Lopez is back. No ifs, ands or buts about it. After scoring a hit on the Billboard Hot 100 with "On The Floor," Jennifer finally proved that she still has what it takes to set the stage on fire when she performed the hit song during the results show on Idol.

In a carefully choreographed routine, Jennifer dropped it, popped it and rocked the crowd with every bit of spectacle she had in her possession. She managed to break glass, rise on an elevated podium and throw a hair flip with a burst of flames behind her all in one performance. Pitbull was also there to pump up the hype in his signature sports coat and shades.

The climax was Jennifer's eye-popping floor routine. The recent mother of two pounded the floor and got to humpin' around like Bobby Brown. Thank god this turned out so much better than when the last time an Idol judge took to the stage. Sorry, Paula.

Watch Jennifer Lopez's smokin' performance on Idol below