andPOP - Pop Culture With Substance

This week on Peak Season: Episode Six

Episode six of Peak Season was, for lack of a better word, overwhelming. To clarify, take the best parts of the Real World, Twilight and Intervention, mash them together, and you’ve got an imitation of life in Whistler. Don’t let those serene snowflakes at the beginning fool you, that’s what some people refer to as the calm before the storm, and this episode was a level nine on the Richter scale.

What happens:

Matt and Elle: Adrenaline-Junkies.

On a coffee date, Elle questions the value of remaining in Whistler to Matt, while he sheepishly defends his actions at the club earlier. One thing I really like about the Australians is their lingo, which consists of talking how I did in elementary school. I mean, how can Elle even consider leaving after hearing how “sucky” it will be for poor Matt?

Fortunately, all it takes is accompanying Elle to a skills competition, consisting of jumps, backflips and your typical ring of fire. I half-expected a bearded lady to Allie Oop through the ring after the competitors. After this, they continue on to complete their couple bonding by tandem bungee-jumping off a bridge. I’ll give it to Matt, he certainly knows how to make unique apologies. These Canadian fellows need to step it up!

Matt continues his new gentleman act at the bar when the Australian posse meets up for beers. When Elle is hit on, he immediately gets defensive, which translates into standing on the bar and making faces at the perpetrator. The poor guy is already single, don’t you think he has enough problems? A bar fight ensues, where they end up sloppy-UFC’ing outside in slippery conditions. Elle cries, because that’s what girls do best when someone else gets hit, and Matt the manly man comforts her outside the bar. All’s well that ends well.

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One of the best collections of sneakers belongs to the late DJ AM, and they are about to be auctioned off online for charity on eBay, according to People.

Before the DJ tragically passed away this summer, he’d accumulated in excess of 800 pairs of sneakers, including the rare pair of Eminem Air Jordans (one of 50 ever made).

The auction begins at 4:30 p.m. PST on Sunday, November 15. According to the auction site, 100 per cent of the proceeds will go toward the DJ AM Memorial Fund, which supports “organizations and projects committed to addressing issues of addiction and recovery.”

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Would you crawl back to Chris Brown?

In the lyrics to the R&B-singer’s song, “Crawl,” Brown seems to be calling for the return of his ex-girlfriend Rihanna, with whom he has apparently finally split in the aftermath on his assault on her in February,

“So we’ll crawl, until we can walk again,” Brown sings on the tune. “Then we’ll run, until we’re strong enough to jump/Then we’ll fly, until there is no wind/So let’s crawl, crawl, back to love.”

But, according to mtvnews.com, Brown told them that the song isn’t just about his own relationship. He said “Crawl” is more of a universal message dedicated to moving on past any type of heartache. The video debuted on “The Wendy Williams Show” on Friday (November 13).

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One day before they invaded Los Angeles’ Hollywood & Highland Centre, the cast of “New Moon” kicked off their tour with a stop at a Nordstrom packed with infatuated Twilighters. Featuring appearances by fan favorites Edi Gathegi, Christian Serratos, Alex Meraz, Chaske Spencer, Bronson Pelletier and Kiowa Gordon, the group spoke exclusively to MTV News about their future plans between now and the premiere of “New Moon” on November 20.

“We’re here today — half the wolf pack, a sexy vampire and a regular human,” laughed Gathegi, who plays the (mostly) evil Laurent in the saga. “We’re here to meet 125 fans, take pictures with them and send them home happy.”

Apparently they did their job. Eager Twilighters were ecstatic to meet their favorite members if the “Twilight” saga. The merchandise also assisted in the general elated atmosphere as well.

“There’s this white shirt, and it has a giant tree on it and a bird,” Serratos said of her favorite piece in the Nordstrom “Twilight” line. “It’s really tight; I like it.”

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This Week on Peak Season: Episode Five

Another Monday night has passed, and with it, another drama-filled episode of Peak Season. As I sat down with my twelve-pack of beer and snow globe (the closest I can get to be Whistler local), I realized this episode marks the halfway point of the first season. It’s almost like the six month anniversary of a relationship, when you decide to persist or ditch. Is it worth the emotional investment, the time and the mind games? In my opinion, yes. Sure, it’s maddening when your emotional other can only dedicate thirty minutes to you a week, but sometimes, that’s what these one-ended relationships consist of. I mean, what other show has tractors plowing snow as a riveting opening shot? It’s one-of-a-kind, and I’m excited to see where this season will take the psychologically-insane individuals of Whistler.

What happens:

Stephanie Just: The fearless snowboarder.

In this episode, a lot of focus is put on Steph and her snowboarding. Her pass for the slopes has been reinstated, and she wastes no time getting back on the hill. When watching Steph in the park, hitting every jump and rail possible, it’s hard not to feel inadequate in comparison. I find myself on my feet, carving and leaning as though she is my Wii character (outfitted in my baggy pants and Jamaican toque), and I’m (not her!) garnering points for every trick. It works wonders for temporary self-esteem boosts.

In shows like The Hills, Lauren and Lo can use their powers to bypass lines at celebrity-infested club events. However, in shows like Peak Season, Steph and her friend use their overwhelming star power to wheedle and talk their way into getting spots in full Snowboarding competitions, more specifically, the “Showcase Showdown.” This competition features inflatable Redbull, gnarly tricks and Steph’s announced “aggressive frontside board slide.” I feel as though this is a personality characteristic of girls in Whistler. Instead of long walks on the beach, the new thing to enjoy is aggressively grinding a rail (no inappropriate innuendo implied).

After placing a respectable fifth place in the competition, probably due to a tragic bail on her final run, Steph congratulates her third-placing companion with a reassuring “I told you, if you beat me, I would kill you.. Congratulations!”

It’s truly hard not to love this girl.

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When Iyaz received a message in his MySpace inbox from Sean Kingston, he initially thought it was a joke and ignored him. But when Kingston didn’t stop pursuing the artist, Iyaz reconsidered.

“I ignored him for like a week,” chuckles Iyaz, 22, during an interview with andPOP. “Come on, that’s like Jay-Z messaging you and telling you that he’s interested. I just thought he was a fake or a knock-off, so I even gave him a bogus number at one point. He was in Japan at the time, and eventually I gave him my real number, and he flew me out to see him.”

The rest was history.

The two soul-infused artists clicked immediately, and within two weeks, Iyaz was subsequently signed to Kingston’s freshly-formed company, Time is Money Entertainment.

J.R. Rotem, the talented songwriter and producer behind most of Iyaz’s tracks, subsequently signed Iyaz through Time Is Money/Beluga Heights, which has a new label partnership with Warner Bros. Records.

In fact, Iyaz doesn’t even consider the label in business terms, rather just with affection. “It’s like being a part of a family. I don’t even consider it a label, I consider it my family. We love producing music together, performing together. It’s an amazing atmosphere, we have a lot of fun.”  He even laughs that Kingston’s mom is just like his.

Iyaz, whose actual name is Keidran Jones, was born in the U.S. Virgin Islands but raised in the British Virgin Islands in Tortola. He attributes much of his musical passion and talent to the influence his home and family had on him as he grew up. Son of two extremely musical parents, the talent has apparently passed on to their children. He describes his sound as “reggae infused, with pop, and R&B. You never really know what you’re going to get. There’s that island sound as well.”

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Beyoncé was the big winner at the 2009 MTV Europe Music Awards (EMAs), held at the O2 World in Berlin, Germany.  The global music icon walked away with three of the night’s biggest awards– Best Female, Best Song, (“Halo”) and Best Video, (“Single Ladies (Put A Ring On It).”  She had been nominated for four EMAs, including Best Live Act. The win for Best Video repeats her win at the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards (VMAs), held in New York last September 13.  Beyoncé used the occasion in Berlin to thank her husband, Jay-Z for “putting a ring on it.”

The audience at Berlin’s O2 World was treated to a spectacular performance of “Sweet Dreams,” by Beyoncé and television viewers across Europe tuned in to the live telecast.  MTV US channels, mtvU and MTV2, will air a one-hour version of the Awards on Sunday, November 15; 12:00 AM on MTV2 and 8:00 PM on mtvU.  MTV Tr3s will also air a one-hour version on Saturday, November 21 at 2:00 PM and the full show will air on Palladia on Saturday, November 28 at 9:00 PM with a repeat at Midnight.  All times are Eastern Standard.

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Chris Brown opened up about his assault on former girlfriend Rihanna during the MTV News special “Chris Brown: The Interview” on Friday (November 6), elaborating on his destructive behavior, explaining his previous apologies and describing his ongoing therapy sessions.

According to mtvnews.com, Brown told MTV News correspondent Sway that he has finally come to terms with the fact that he was capable of such violence.

“I think you’d be in denial and be totally naive not to,” he said. “And not being able to realize and own up to the fact of your own wrongs. I mean, me, I’ve come to terms with it and I’m working on it. … For that moment or whatever had me at that place, I want to erase that from what my character is. I want to be totally different from now on. I don’t want to be that person.”

“I’m confused right now as far as the public perception [of me],” he said. “Like, I think with my fans, they still love me, they support me, definitely. You have those people who will support you. So it’s kinda like 50/50 for me. I got the people that will come out and support and then the people that don’t wanna see me do anything. They basically want me in jail.”

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What better way to honor the prince?

“Michael Jackson’s This Is It” made motion picture history as the highest grossing concert film of all time. That’s not all. The two-disc companion to the movie released by Sony Music’s Epic Records makes its first week debut in the #1 spot on Canada’s Nielsen SoundScan Top 200 album chart, the U.S. Billboard Top 200 chart, as well as the Soundtrack album chart in both countries.

Sales totaled 44,441 in Canada and 373,100 units in the U.S., according to Nielsen SoundScan, and this figure does not include significant sales from non-traditional retailers. In Canada, “This Is It” is Jackson’s first number one album since the establishment of SoundScan in 1997. With over 40,000 in first week sales, the album claims the third best sales week of 2009, trailing only behind U2 and Eminem’s releases. It’s no surprise that “This Is It” also claimed the #1 spot in 15 other countries, including Japan, France, Italy, Holland, Belgium, Turkey, New Zealand, Hong Kong, Korea, Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand, the Middle East and Colombia. It was also top-3 in the UK, Australia, Argentina, Austra, Denmark, Norway, Portugal, Switzerland and Spain. Furthermore, a simultaneous #1 album and #1 documentary film as not happened since 1971 when the Rolling Stones did it with the album “Sticky Fingers” and movie “Gimme Shelter.”

Michael Jackson albums now occupy the top five spots of Billboard catalog album chart at #1, #3 and #4; his Number Ones album is this year’s best-selling overall album year to date. Michael Jackson’s accomplishments continue in Canada with eleven albums charting in Nielsen SoundScan’s Top Catalogue Albums including Thriller (Remastered), Thriller 25^th Anniversary Edition, Essential Michael Jackson, and Number Ones. Throughout his career, Michael Jackson has spent a total of 51 weeks at #1 on the Billboard album chart. Only The Beatles and Elvis Presley have spent more weeks at the top.

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Not much has been spilled regarding Lady Gagas much-anticipated appearance on the show, Gossip Girl.

According to perezhilton.com, the cast has only confirmed that she will be appearing and eluded that it will be something pretty spectacular. Lady Gaga, on the other hand, has revealed actual details about the upcoming appearance.

Gaga explained hat if she was going to do the show, she not settling for a randomly inserted musical performance.

“I hate TV series performances, because they kind of come in out of nowhere, and everyone’s, like, really into the story, and then all of a sudden somebody breaks into song. And it has nothing to do with the storyline, and then it screws everything up. I really sat down with the writers. I was like, ‘Look, I want to do this, and the reason I want to do this is because I am trying to say something that is not mainstream in a mainstream capacity. So, if I can say it on your show, that would be, like, a real coup d’état for me as a performance artist.’ ”

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