Biggest Chart Debut album of 2009

Whitney Houston's latest album, 'I Look To You' debuted at #1 on the Billboard album charts and became 2009's biggest chart-debut album with over 400,000 albums sold in the opening week alone.

Just over a month later, Michael Jackson's posthumous soundtrack album release, 'This Is It' debut at #1 this week and beat Whitney's as the year's biggest selling chart debut album, by (just) a couple of thousand copies.

Although, it's worth mentioning that :

1) Whitney's album 'I Look To You' is still the biggest album chart debut this year for a female artiste and is already guaranteed to be one of this year's biggest selling albums by both a female singer and overall.
This album is critically aclaimed and is already slated for a Grammy nod and will likely continue to sell strongly for months and even years to come.

2) Michael's soundtrack album is essentially a greatest hits mixed into a 'live' setting as heard in the movie. It is obbviously banking on the late singer's hype over his sudden death and his upcoming biopic movie. It's not an album with material we haven't already heard, like, ten thousand times in the past in various formats. So , indeed, it rides only on the hype that will soon wear thin.

Interestingly,

1) Whitney will be replacing Mike for his string of concert-venue dates at O2 Arena, London which he was preparing for before his untimely demise.

2) Whitney's 'The Bodyguard' album is also the 2nd biggest selling album of all time , at 43 million copies and still going strong , after Michael Jackson's 'Thriller' album which sold 45 million copies but is as Halloween-dead as the singer himself.




'This is It' is unlikely to sell anywhere close to 'The Bodyguard' anyway, so it's discussion closed.

So, the battle rages on between The (late) King of Pop and The (comeback) Queen of the Night.

Q

Queen of the Night to take over King of Pop

Whitney Houston is set to take over Michael Jackson's London shows.

The the multi platinum best selling artist has a new record due out this year, and is being lined up for 23 of the dates the 'King of Pop' - who died of a suspected cardiac arrest on June 25 - was due to perform at The O2 arena early next year.


'Whitney Houston has been on the O2 arena wish-list for a while - she has the voice and hits to sell the arena out several times over.'

Michael had been scheduled to play 50 dates at the venue starting earlier this month and stretching into next year.

If the plan goes ahead, Whitney, could stage shows in January, February and March 2010.

She is expected to play greatest hits sets as well as her new material.

Whitney's 'I Look to You' comes out in August, and is her first new studio LP in the last few years.

~ MSN Entertainment


Q .... It's only right and fitting since Whitney's album 'The Bodyguard' is the world's 2nd biggest selling album after Michael's 'Thriller'.

Some Nose None the Better

Michael Jackson's nose was missing as he lay in state.

An eyewitness claims he saw the 'Beat It' singer's body on an autopsy table of a Los Angeles morgue with part of his face completely disappeared.

The witness said: 'The prosthesis he normally attached to his damaged nose was missing, revealing bits of cartilage surrounding a small dark hole.'

Jackson - who died a month ago today of a suspected cardiac arrest - was believed to have had a number of surgical operations change the shape of his nose, which eventually eroded it away. He was also thought to be obsessed with plastic surgery and altering his appearance.

The witness added: 'Jackson's face - which he had so painfully reworked and concealed from the public for decades now - lay out in the open undisguised under the harsh lights.'

One of the 'King Of Pop's former housekeepers has previously told how the singer kept a number of false noses, which he applied using plasters and glue.

Adrian McManus said: 'In his closet he had a jar of fake noses and stage glue, which he told me he used for disguises. But some were similar to his real nose, just without the hole.'

Reasons for Jackson's fascination with surgery are unclear, though he has hinted it was because he was bullied as a child. Other sources said he was desperate not to look like his father, Joe Jackson, whom he had accused of hitting him as a youngster and aking fun of his appearance. ~MSN


Q

King of Lollipop

Michael Jackson had an 'insatiable' appetite for gay sex, it has been claimed.

The late 'Beat It' singer's unofficial biographer Ian Halperin claims to have spoken to two of the star's male lovers, including an actor named only as Lawrence.

Lawrence told the author: 'He was very shy. But when he started to have sex, he was insatiable.'
According to Halperin -

who makes the allegations in his book 'Unmasked: The Final Years of Michael Jackson' - 'virtually everyone' around the singer knew he was gay and he used to meet lovers in a run-down motel dressed as a woman.

One alleged lover said: 'The very first time he had sex with me he said, 'The King of Pop's going to lick your lollipop.' I still laugh thinking about that.'

Jackson moved to Los Angeles in 2007 and barely left his home, except to meet one of his lovers for secret liaisons.

A source told Halperin: 'He met a construction worker and fell madly in love with him. Michael would leave the house in disguise, often dressed as a woman, and would go to meet his boyfriend at a motel that was one of Vegas' grungiest dives. Michael was broke. He struggled to put food on the table for his children. It was all he could afford then.'

Halperin added: 'A close aide of Jackson who confirmed the affair to me said that he had no knowledge of what went on behind closed doors at the motel.

'But the aide said Jackson would dress as a woman after midnight to meet a worker employed by the city of Las Vegas.'

Meanwhile, toxicology tests carried out on the singer's body reportedly showed lethal levels of the painkillers Demerol and heroin substitute Methadone in his system before he died.

Preliminary toxicology reports submitted to the Los Angeles county coroner's office also showed high levels of anti-anxiety drug Xanax, 'significant' amounts of painkiller Dilaudid, lower levels of Propofol - allegedly used by the singer as a sleeping aid - plus 'therapeutic' levels of strong painkillers Fentanyl and Vicodin, anti-anxiety tablet Valium and sleeping drug Ambien.

A source said

: 'Michael Jackson was a walking drug store when he died - he never stood a chance.

The body can build up extreme tolerances to huge doses of drugs but eventually it overloads and just shuts down. That is what happened to Michael.'

The levels of drugs in his system were so high, police may turn the enquiry into his death into a manslaughter investigation.

The source added: 'This is sure to increase pressure on police to establish exactly how one man obtained so many prescription medications - and which doctors were responsible.

'There is increasing talk of manslaughter charges if it can be shown he was given drugs without proper regard for his safety.'

Police Chief William Bratton is waiting for the final toxicology reports before deciding whether to pursue an investigation.

He said: 'Based on those, we will have an idea what we are dealing with. Are we dealing with a homicide or are we dealing with accidental overdose?'~ MSN News

Q.. "Lick It" .

Total Freak Show

Michael Jackson was 'severely emaciated' when he died.

The pop legend weighed just 51kg when he passed away last week after suffering a suspected cardiac arrest at his Los Angeles home.

Leaked autopsy details reportedly show the singer was a 'virtual skeleton', whose stomach was empty except for partially-dissolved prescription pills.

It is understood he ate just one tiny meal a day.

His hips, thighs and shoulders were covered in needle marks, believed to be the result of narcotic painkillers the singer took three times a day.

There were also four injection sites near his heart - evidence of a failed bid to pump adrenaline directly into the organ in an attempt to restart it.

Medical examiners were also believed to be shocked by the surgery scars, which suggest Michael had at least 13 cosmetic procedures.

The bridge of his nose had vanished and its right side had collapsed.

He was reportedly wearing a wig at the time of his death. Underneath it, he was almost bald, with only 'peach fuzz' covering his scalp.

He had several broken ribs and extensive bruising to his chest consistent with someone trying to revive him.

The singer also had unexplained bruises on his knees and the front of both shins and cuts and grazes on his back.

A source said: 'Michael's family and fans will be horrified when they realise the appalling state he was in. He was skin and bone, his hair had fallen out and had been eating nothing but pills when he died.

'Injection marks all over his body and the disfigurement caused by years of plastic surgery show he'd been in terminal decline for years.'

A second autopsy was carried out on Saturday (27.06.09) after the Jackson family was dissatisfied by the first one, which ruled out 'foul play' but could not determine a cause of death.

Michael's funeral will reportedly be held on Wednesday (01.07.09).

His brother Tito said the family spent the weekend organising the send-off.

They have yet to decide whether it will be a public or private funeral.

Q ...Fame?

Thriller Conspiracy ?

Bye, Mike!

>Or is it his way to exit the world of fame with a bang when he realises that he can no longer be who he used to be?

Or

>A big gamble to run away from massive debtors?

or

>To go into permanent recluse to finally seek the peace he needs?

or

>Wants to rival Elvis in the 'He's still Alive' legend?

Q... Whatever it is, a great and magnificent life was led. Most of us continue to live in mediocrity to our final days.

He on the other hand, had a chimp and touched many boys.

Disciplined to Thrill

Janet's Discipline album cover

The owner of the world's most famous tit-piercing is at her most alluring S&M-brand of music, again.

"Light skin, dark skin ; My Asian Persuasion. Do you like my Style? Yeah I'm Sexy sexy sexy.",

she coos. (And she's not singing about her famous brother, I hope.)

Yeah, I like her style. Sexy. Indeed. And, yes, she's taking in all the Feedback.

While her ultra glossy previous album '20 Y.O' bombed due to dismal promotion and her trying to go mainstream and Mariah-ish, this time round, Miss Janet is having all her Son(s)-of-a-Gun out and going back to her roots of edgy dance pop she learnt so well from brother Michael.

Be enamoured by the top-notch production of the lead single 'Feedback' and ignore the over-ambitious music video and you'll actually find yourself hitting the replay button.

Then there is the whole album of gems (and jams) which you'd be head over heals with in no time at all.

The song to highlight is the ultra-edgy, and certainly, not so subtle in its message and intent, 'So Much Betta'.

In this track, the studio wizardy that transforms Janet into a sexual-hobbit and have her chanting hypnotically 'Tired of being Number two, I can do what she can do. So much betta, I'm for you." Such an immense ear-worm.

Now, try making a wild guess which dog-whistling demi-goddess she's referring to.

(Hint.)<

It really doesn't take much discipline for yourself to sit down and have a spin, it will get you hooked from the word go. It's that good.

Indeed, Kyoko, the apparent femme-bot-cum-music-player-cum-lifestyle whatever, which is oh-so-polite to Miss Janet and hums to her every whim, rounds up what is probably, Miss J's best album in years.

_______________________________________________________

Also from the Jackson clan, the other famous being, , is celebrating his 25-th Anniversary of his mega-selling album, 'Thriller'.

Any album which has hit the record books as being the World's Biggest Selling Album of All time, selling over 45 million copies, has got to have enough clout for an exclusive relaunch.

(Album or flagging-career, you decide.)

Song's like the #1 hit 'Billy Jean' , 'Thriller' featuring the late and charming Vincent Price as well as a slew of other Top 10 hits such as 'The Girl is Mine' and 'Beat It', that made this album an 8-Grammy Award-winning album, remains here in all its heyday glory.

Then there are the really smoove 2008 updates of some of the hits featuring the likes of current-day big wigs like Will-I-Am, Fergie, Akon and Kanye West.

Will-I-Am is bursting with regae-tivity while his gal-prodige, Fergie, is as big-lunged and manic as ever.

Akon is still depressingly groovy in a Shawn Kingston-soppy kind of way.
Really shining above the rest though is the midas touch of Kanye West for 'Billie Jean' that screams (pun intended) #1 Hit all over again.

Befitting an Anniversary edition, this album comes with a disc 2 DVD that contains the famous-as-hell (pun indended again) videos for Billie Jean, Beat It and of course, Thriller.

Both discs are Gold-plated and all 10+6 tracks are fully digitally remastered, all packed impressivey in a glossy sleeve with a pre-opt Michael up front and a 'Thriller-fied' him at the back. An irony in itself.

As Vincent Price husks in track 10,

'Michael Jackson is The Thriller. Can you dig it? "

You betcha. 45 million others have.


If you love pop and strange noses (seriously, I do mean 'nose' not 'noise'), both Janet's and Michael's latest offerings are Must-gets.

Q