Glee on Location in NYC (Spoilerish) (More Pics)

Toe-tapping.

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Glee S2E18: BornThis Way

"The only straight I am is straight up bitch."

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U.S. Chart Roundup: Lady Gaga #1 For A Sixth Week, Britney Spears Plummets

While Lady Gaga notches a sixth week at the top of the Billboard Hot 100 chart with "Born This Way," poor Weaveney Spears sees her single "Till The World Ends" drop from #9 to #23 in only its third week on the chart, following the leak of her album Femme Fatale.

Said album will finally have its official release this coming Tuesday, and it will be interesting to see how many Britney stans actually cough up the cash to buy (remember that word, chyldren?) the record, rather than just settle for their illegally-downloaded version.

"Loser Like Me," a Max Martin-co-written original song from Glee, enters the Hot 100 at #6. Pretty impressive this week, but like The Wig's jam, it'll drop faster than a three-dollar hooker in the presence of an oil tycoon with a bulging wallet and a loose zipper at a bachelor party in Vegas.

Elsewhere, Chris Brown weasels his way into the Top 10 for the first time in three years with "Look At Me Now" (#8). And speaking of stans, I remember stanning hard for "Forever," Breezy's last big hit. Too bad his latest antics (a violent offstage freak-out Tuesday at Good Morning America) further cement his douchebag status. And is anyone else irked to no end that his just-released album F.A.M.E. is going to be #1 next week (with possibly over 250,000 copies sold), according to Billboard?

Selene Gomez debuts down at #24 on the Hot 100 with new single "Who Says," which ties with "Round & Round" for her peak chart position. Still, neither of those so-so offerings stack up to her ultimate jam, "Naturally," in my book.



On a final note, soul goddess Rebecca Black (who Lady Gaga calls a "genius") debuts at #72 with her touching ode to the best day of the week, "Friday." Although, that's not true—Saturday's pretty good, too. Rebecca Black...YOU WHORE!!!!

The U.S. Top 10:

1. "Born This Way" - Lady Gaga *6 weeks*
2. "E.T." - Katy Perry feat. Kanye West
3. "S&M" - Rihanna
4. "Fuck You" - Cee Lo Green
5. "Just Can't Get Enough" - The Black Eyed Peas
6. "Loser Like Me" - Glee Cast *new*
7. "Fuckin' Perfect" - Pink
8. "Look At Me Now" - Chris Brown featt. Lil Wayne & Busta Rhymes
9. "Grenade" - Bruno Mars
10. "Down On Me" - Jeremih feat. 50 Cent

U.S. Chart Roundup: Lady Gaga Is #1, And There Are Three "Fuck" Songs In The Top 10

Much has already been made of this week's milestone Billboard Hot 100 chart, so let's just recap:

* Lady Gaga's "Born This Way" has debuted at #1
* "Born This Way" is the 1000th single to top the Hot 100
* The first #1 on the Hot 100: Ricky Nelson's "Poor Little Fool," in 1958
* This is is Gaga's third single to top the Hot 100
* "Just Dance" and "Poker Face" were the other two
* "Born This Way" sold 448,000 downloads between last Friday and Sunday
* It's now the fourth-best debut sales week ever for a digital single
* It also marks the best opening sales week for a female artist
* It's the first #1 containing words "drag," "gay," "lesbian" & "transgendered"
* "Born This Way" is the 19th single to debut at #1

Billboard also points out another chart achievement this week: the cast of Glee has notched a grand total of 113 song entries on the Hot 100 to date, which now surpasses the record 108 by Elvis Presley.

That's great and all, but the publication clearly overlooked the MAIN triumph on the new chart: all three current hits with the word "fuck" in the title—Pink's "Fuckin' Perfect," Enrique Iglesias' "Tonight (I'm Fuckin' You)" and Cee Lo Green's "Fuck You"—are finally in the Top 10 together (now that Cee Lo's had a Grammys-fueled rebound).

And, even better, all three songs are stacked on top of each other at #5 through #7. So it's like they're—well, you know...

The U.S. Top 10:

1. "Born This Way" - Lady Gaga *new* *1 week*
2. "Firework" - Katy Perry
3. "Grenade" - Bruno Mars 
4. "Black And Yellow" - Wiz Khalifa
5. "Fuckin' Perfect" - Pink
6. "Tonight (I'm Lovin' You)" - Enrique Iglesias ft. Ludacris & DJ Frank E
7. "Fuck You" - Cee Lo Green
8. "S&M" - Rihanna
9. "The Time (Dirty Bit)" - The Black Eyed Peas
10. "Hold It Against Me" - Britney Spears

Darren Criss Covers 'Out', Uncovers Inside

Not only is Glee actor/crooner/hot piece of tail Darren Criss adept at covering songs by other artists, he's also quite skilled at covering magazines these days, too.

Following his Entertainment Weekly spread (ahem!) with Golden Globe-winning co-star Chris Colfer last month, Glee newie Darren is splashed front and center on the new issue of Out magazine. Yes, Out—which is published by those fuckers Regent/Here, who still owe me a hundred bucks from two years ago. That Out. But I'm not holding a grudge.

What the hell are we talking about? Oh, yeah—this:

[Via Pink Is The New Blog]

Darren Criss, Chris Colfer And The 'Entertainment Weekly' Gay Issues: 1995, 2011

Here are the pics of Glee's cute as all hell "Teenage Dream" crooner Darren Criss and Golden Globe-winner Chris Colfer from inside their Entertainment Weekly cover story. I just got the issue in the mail yesterday—with the 'Gay Teens On TV' special report—and it got me thinking about EW's 'The Gay '90s' feature, which was the cover story in the September 8, 1995 issue.

I had a subscription to the mag the whole time I was in college back then, and for whatever reason, I grabbed that issue and a couple others when I was back in Pennsylvania in February last year.

Here's an interesting bit—if only for the quaintness of it all—from the "What's Out Now" music section in the 1995 article:

"Just three years ago, even a self-proclaimed drag queen like Boy George felt it threatening to identify himself as anything more than 'bisexual.' Yet in the mid-'90s, Erasure and the Pet Shop Boys—both featuring gay vocalists—have won over as many fans for their dance beats as for their gay-themed lyrics, and despite Michael Stipe's ambiguous sexual stance, R.E.M. has seen no drop-off in its arena drawing power. Kurt Cobain moved rock a step forward by proclaiming in the liner notes to Nirvana's Incesticide that he didn't want homophobes buying the group's albums, and country golden boy Garth Brooks' album The Chase included 'We Shall Be Free' in support of gay rights. Small wonder that it's hip to have a band member announce an alternative lifestyle (including players in the Breeders, Sugar, Luscious Jackson, Kitchens Of Distinction and Faith No More)."

The moral of the story? The Breeders = good, good times.

Darren Criss And Chris Colfer Cover This Week's 'Entertainment Weekly'

"Gay Teens On TV" ... played by 23-year-old Darren Criss and 20-year-old Chris Colfer. But anyway, let's not get technical. Very cute cover (and very timely, given Colfer's Golden Globe win for Glee on Sunday).

U.S. Chart Roundup: Rihanna Makes Hot 100 History With "Only Girl (In The World)"

This week Rihanna not only becomes the first female singer to nab four #1 singles within one year on the Billboard Hot 100, she's also the first artist ever to have the first single from an album top the chart after the second single did.

Yes, RiRi's "Only Girl (In The World)" has finally inched its way to the top spot, two weeks after her second Loud single "What's My Name" was #1. Earlier this year she ruled with both her hooker jam "Rude Boy" and Eminem's "Love The Way You Lie."

Meanwhile, over on the Top 200, Rihanna settles for a #3 debut with Loud, behind Susan Boyle's The Gift (#1 for a second week) and 10-year-old Pittsburgh native/America's Got Talent runner-up Jackie Evancho's O Holy Night (#2). That's right—bow to SuBo's powerful thong, you amateurs!

Back on the Hot 100, just behind Rihanna is Pink's "Raise Your Glass" at #2. Her only other single to chart higher (not counting collaborative cover "Lady Marmalade" or shit "We Are The World 25") is "So What", which reached #1 two years ago.

It's annoying to think of that time period in the early '00s where labels by and large weren't offering CD singles in the U.S., and the iTunes store wasn't around yet. Because surely "Get The Party Started" would have been a #1 hit, rather than peaking at #4 on airplay alone? At any rate, Pink's Greatest Hits...So Far!!! debuts at #14 this week over on the Top 200.

Cee Lo Green's "Fuck You" finally cracks the Top 10 (#9), likely thanks to last week's episode of Glee. Gwyneth Paltrow's own tame version of "Forget You" from the episode debuts at #11.



And, hey—maybe this will pave a highly fuckable path for Enrique Iglesias' new single, "Tonight (I'm Fuckin' You)"?

On a final single note, Michael Jackson and Akon's duet "Hold My Hand" debuts at #84. Currently it's up to #30 at the iTunes store. Will this will become MJ's first Top 40 hit in nearly 10 years, Jacko fans? Eeeeeeeeeeee-Heeeeeeeeeeeeeee!

And on a final album note, 2010 American Idol winner Lee DeWyze appears to be dead on arrival. His debut LP Live It Up pretty much kicked the bucket with its #19 debut.

The U.S. Top 10:

1. "Only Girl (In The World)" - Rihanna *1 week*
2. "Raise Your Glass" - Pink
3. "Like A G6" - Far*East Movement
4. "We R Who We R" - Ke$ha
5. "Just A Dream" - Nelly 
6. "Firework" - Katy Perry 
7. "Just The Way You Are" - Bruno Mars
8. "What's My Name" - Rihanna feat. Drake
9. "Fuck You" - Cee Lo Green
10. "Bottoms Up" - Trey Songz feat. Nicki Minaj

U.S. Chart Roundup: Rihanna & Drake Fall, Pink Climbs And Glee's "Teenage Dream" Comes True

Some interesting trash going on in the Billboard Hot 100 this week, starting with the fact that Rihanna and Drake's "What's My Name" plummets from #1 to #7. And I know I said last week that it's one of her most forgettable singles, but—dammit!—that effing song is actually growing on me now. I think if it had Drake stripped out altogether, a la how she's been performing the tune during her TV appearances all week, it would take on a whole new dimension of pop radness. Alas—well, dropping to #7 says it all, really.

That brings us to Pink, whose "Raise Your Glass" hops up from #7 to #4. It's shocking to think that, if we don't count the collaborative 2001 cover of "Lady Marmalade," this is really only Pink's fourth Top 5 hit, following "Most Girls" (#4, 2000) "Get The Party Started" (#4, 2001) and "So What" (#1, 2008). I, for one, have been jamming all week to her Greatest Hits...So Far!!! Yeah—she got my cold hard  cash for that one. She's gonna need it to buy that kid she has on the way some leather or brass knuckles.

Debuting at #8 is Darren Criss' Glee cover of Katy Perry's "Teenage Dream," a week after the original version dropped out of the Top 10. So far it's become the best-selling single during a one-week period from the Fox series, even though it didn't quite land as high as "Don't Stop Believing" (#4, 2009) on the Hot 100.

Here's Darren performing "Teenage Dream" at L.A. venue The Mint last weekend:



On a final note, the Black Eyed Peas' absolutely wretched "The Time (The Dirty Bit)" debuts at #12. If ever there was an uninspired, rushed single that deserves to flop...

The U.S. Top 10:

1. "Like A G6" - Far*East Movement *3 weeks*
2. "Only Girl (In The World)" - Rihanna
3. "Just The Way You Are" - Bruno Mars
4. "Raise Your Glass" - Pink 
5. "Just A Dream" - Nelly 
6. "We R Who We R" - Ke$ha
7. "What's My Name" - Rihanna feat. Drake
8. "Teenage Dream" - Glee Cast *new*
9. "Firework" - Katy Perry
10. "Bottoms Up" - Trey Songz feat. Nicki Minaj

Darren Criss' "Teenage Dream" Cover On 'Glee' Turned Out To Be Pretty Major

That cover of Katy Perry's "Teenage Dream" that was performed by Darren Criss (aka "Blaine") on Glee last week didn't just have the gays fizzing with excitement. (Though, admittedly, I fizzed.) Billboard reports that the a cappella rendition had the best one-week sales ever for a single from the show after racking up 214,000 paid downloads. (That beats previous record holder "Don't Stop Believing" from the series pilot episode.)

With little to no radio play, I find it hard to believe this version of "Teenage Dream" will debut at #1 on the Hot 100 tomorrow. But at least Criss is now signed as a full-time regular Glee cast member.

Too bad last night's episode was snooze central.

'Glee' Newbie Amps Up The Gayness (Like The Show Needed It) With "Teenage Dream"

If all goes according to the much-denied rumors out there, Kurt (Chris Colfer) will finally get some hot sausage this season on Glee, in the form of newcomer (ahem) Blaine (played by Darren Criss, above).

Tuesday's episode is called "Never Been Kissed," and in it Blaine fronts gay show choir Dalton Academy Warblers and dazzles Kurt with an a cappella rendition of Katy Perry's "Teenage Dream."

Let's just say it's better than Jedward.

My Interview With Mark Salling Of 'Glee'

I interviewed Mark Salling, who plays full-lipped, mohawked jock Puck on Glee and has a new album called Pipe Dreams coming out on Monday. The one-on-one is up now over at Idolator.

U.S. Chart Roundup: Brace Yourselves—'Glee' Is A Hit Or Something

The main activity on the Billboard Hot 100 this week comes from the songs that appeared in the Season 2 premiere of Glee. The singing troupe of TV dorks see their following covers hit the chart: "Empire State Of Mind" (#21), "Telephone" (#23), "Billionaire" (#28) [Note: for the record, I fucking hate this song], "Listen" (#38) and "What I Did For Love" (#51).

Elsewhere, all does not seem lost just yet for Selena Gomez & The Scene's moody dance-pop jam "A Year Without Rain." After dropping from #35 to #65 last week, the single now jumps up to #53. Her same-named album debuts on the Top 200 album chart at #4. (Is it any good? I've only heard a few clips—seems decent enough?)

That brings us to Florence + The Machine, whose "Dog Days Are Over" sadly falls from #21—where it flew to after Flo's stellar MTV VMAs performance the other week—to #73. Over on the Top 200, FATM's Lungs has a less dramatic plunge from #14 to #28.

And we'll end with these two final notes—first up, Brandon Flowers' Flamingo, which debuted at #8 last week, drops to #30. I actually made it the whole way through this album twice. It's not bad. It's just...there.

And at least Christina Aguilera can be happy that she's finally #1 again somewhere. Her Bionic single "You Lost Me" has topped the Dance/Club Play Songs chart. Triumph!

The U.S. Top 10:

1. "Just The Way You Are" - Bruno Mars" *2 weeks*
2. "Teenage Dream" - Katy Perry
3. "Love The Way You Lie" - Eminem feat. Rihanna
4. "DJ Got Us Fallin' In Love" - Usher feat. Pitbull
5. "Dynamite" - Taio Cruz
6. "Like A G6" - Far*East Movement 
7. "Just A Dream" - Nelly
8. "Only Girl (In The World)" - Rihanna
9. "I Like It" - Enrique Iglesias feat. Pitbull
10. "Club Can't Handle Me" - Flo Rida feat. David Guetta