Lily Allen, Joanna Pacitti, Kimberley Locke & Utada

Lily Allen: I was super excited to find out that Lily Allen was going on a US club tour this April. Tickets went on sale today for her Boston show at the soon-to-be-opening House of Blues. I saw her twice a couple years back when she last visited Boston. The first time she showed up at the now closed Axis (or was it Avalon?). She then returned a few months later and performed at the Roxy. Both were good shows! Her new tour is in support of her new album, It's Not Me, It's You - released this Monday and Tuesday in the UK and US, respectively. Apparently, through a special partnership between Amazon & MySpace Music, you can get Lily's new CD for $3.99 but I can't seem to figure out how that works. Oh well. Get the CD in your respective countries this week! Oh...and pick up tickets for her tour!

Joanna Pacitti: This girl's been the center of quite a bit of controversy/drama in her time. A current American Idol contestant, she's been getting a lot of flack from a previous big-time record deal with Geffen Records. I guess current Idol laws only prevent anyone with a CURRENT record deal from auditioning for the show. This is calling into concern Idol's tendency to let people on who actually have or had music careers of some sort. I don't know how I feel about this. I do like the idea of crafting someone with no professional music background into a new star...like Idol did with Kelly Clarkson...but at the same time, there are some Idol contestants from years past that came close to winning that I had NO desire to hear from ever again (Clay Aiken, Ruben Studdard, etc.). So part of me likes the idea that truly talented individuals, no matter what their professional background, are getting through.

At any rate, I downloaded a couple of Joanna's tracks - her single "Let It Slide" from her 2006 debut album, and then "Out From Under," which appeared on the soundtrack album for the 2007 film Bratz...and was recently covered by Britney Spears on her new album. I have to say, vocally, Joanna's version of "Out From Under" is stronger, but production wise I much prefer Brit's electro-infused cut. What do you all think of Idol's history with letting former industry professionals onto the big stage?

Kimberley Locke: I've always loved Kimberley Locke. I have to admit that her season of Idol was one of two that I did not watch and I now regret it! I need to start watching American Idol: Rewind! Locke's first album was fun. Her second album was way more grown up and she's already mulling over ideas for her third album. According to a recent Q&A session that appeared on her official MySpace Blog...here's what she had to say about her third album: "I have definitely thought of recording a dance album. It makes total sense! I have had so much success on the dance charts. This is not out of the question. A dance album will be in the top three options for the next album."

This is really exciting news! While I adore the album and single versions of her songs, remixes are where it's at for me! According to her MySpace page, Billboard Magazine has released their year end charts and Locke was named the 6th top dance artist of 2008! I hope she seriously considers a dance album! That would be fantastic! Read the rest of the Q&A here.

Utada: I was excited to see that remixes are being released for Utada's new single that I mentioned a few posts ago. Remixes are by Quentin Harris, Seamus Haji & Paul Emanuel, Tony Moran & Mike Rizzo. Can't wait for these! Brilliant! The song is quickly growing on me! The song is the first single off her new album called This Is The One.