Oh Halloween, the greatest barometer of what’s in and what’s out when it comes to pop culture landscape. Over the years we’ve been inundated with Sarah Palins, Black Swans and even got our drink knocked over by a Golden Girl or two. This year saw Miley Cyrus as one of the hottest trends when it comes to costumes because is there anything really quite as terrifying as an upwardly mobile, well-connected, ass-less celebrity appropriating parts of Black culture in a bid to be seen as adult? Yes, it’s called a “Beer Schlong."
Anyway, while we appreciated the scores of Mileys “twerking” across the Tri-State area, we were sadly disappointed that some of our ideas for pop culture costumes didn’t come to fruition so here are some ideas of costumes we wish we had seen this Halloween in a segment we've dubbed:
Our first costume choice is going as the ghost of Azealia Banks’ once promising the career. The “212” rapper seemed to have everything going for her: indie credibility, a banging single and a wave of hype surrounding her. So what happened? Azealia Banks decided she needed to feud with everybody from Perez Hilton to Lady GaGa to probably even one of our neighbors. The same social media that helped make Azealia a rising star seems to be the same one that has dimmed it as she’s become way more famous for her vitriol-filled tweets than for any of her singles.
Below, Azealia’s Tumblr-fashion-page-come-to-life music video, “ATM Jam."
Things necessary for an Azealia costume: a foul-mouth, a colorful array of wigs and weaves, and a whole lot of wasted potential.
But don’t worry, Azealia. Even though it seems like your serially-delayed debut album is about as likely to come out as a Keri Hilson Greatest Hits Album, the fact that Sky Ferreira finally put out her debut album, “Night Time, My Time,” should give you some sort of hope.
Our next choice is the British boy band The Wanted. The “Chasing the Sun” crooners are on the verge of launching an American tour of theatres, clubs and we’re sure some high school auditoriums. We’re not quite sure why The Wanted never took off in the States the same way as their counterparts One Direction. Maybe it was a lack of radio support or them not being as non-threateningly attractive as the One Direction boys or all that time they spent paling around with Lindsay Lohan. We here at the Mixtape still occasionally Spotify their song “Glad You Came” and wait with feverish anticipation when their inevitable Men.com video debuts with the same title.
Things necessary for costume: a British accent, a nice suit and a lot of singles that nobody ever got around to buying.
And our final Halloween costume is going as one of the scariest things to affect America: a member of Congress. Just think about it. Due to the rampant polarization of the two parties, we found ourselves in the midst of a government shutdown and on the brink of defaulting on our bills. We now live in a time where our political representatives govern by crisis, usually coming to some agreement at the very last second. That is at least scarier than the last two “Paranormal Activity” movies.
Things necessary for costume: a suit, a podium and, if you’re going as Sen. Ted Cruz, a Dr. Seuss book.
Keep reading as the Mixtape tackles the Jonas Brothers break-up, the upcoming YouTube Awards and an open letter to Julianne Hough.
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| Source: RealityTVGifs |
This week saw the announcement from former teen idols turned oh-they-still-trying-it group Jonas Brothers that they are breaking up. And like any group that was so at odds with each other that they had to cancel both a tour and an album, they went on a
We can't say we feel that strongly one way or another about the break-up since we never paid attention that closely to the Jonas Brothers or their music other than the time we thought their song "Love Bug" was about getting a STI.
Prior to the break-up announcement, The Brothers Jonai were getting lots of press attention due to rumors that Joe Jonas had allegedly embraced his inner Lamar Odom while Nick Jonas was posting shirtless selfies. You now add in this break-up into the mix and the Jonas Brothers have done something that two seasons of Kevin's "Married to Jonas" reality show couldn't: make them interesting.
Seriously, they haven't had this much attention since Nick and Joe were breaking the hearts of Taylor, Miley and Demi. The fact that all three ladies have better careers post-Jonas dating than the actual brothers makes the boys the pop music equivalent of "Good Luck Chuck."
Below, Demi Lovato’s new single “Let It Go” from the “Frozen” soundtrack.
And from one promo tour to another, Lady GaGa has been everywhere in anticipation of her third album “ArtPop.” This week saw the Mother Monster taking the stage at the British version of “X-Factor” to perform new songs “Venus” and “Do What U Want.”
Gaga may have taken her wig off mid-performance, but the real wig snatching happened on Twitter as Gaga’s perpetual feud with Kelly Osbourne got some new life as Osbourne took offense that Gaga tweeted a photo of herself and Kelly’s mother/X-Factor judge Sharon Osbourne with a cake in honor of Kelly’s birthday.
"Not to be ungrateful but why would you send me a birthday cake via my MOTHER in a country half the (world) away?" JustSendItToMe #LoveNotWar."
Apparently fearing that she may come off too level-headed and mature, Osbourne took to her Instagram and wrote “#EatMyShit#Hypocrisy.”
There hasn’t been this much of a fuss made over cake since probably Marie Antoinette.
And from one feud to another, inexplicably popular Food Network Guy Fieri got into a skirmish with his hairstylist and it was all caught on video.
And somewhere “Barefoot Contessa” host Ina Garten is curb stomping somebody for not using good vanilla in one of her recipes.
In other pop culture news, CBS in talks for a “How I Met Your Mother” spin-off titled “How I Met Your Father.” In related news, the network is also planning to do a spin-off of “The Big Bang Theory” called “Creationism Is The Only Way, You Soul-Less Heathen Bastards.”
Looking to cement its status as the official replacement of MTV, YouTube will be hosting its inaugural YouTube Music Awards this Sunday with Jason Schwartzman as host and live performances from Eminem, Lady Gaga, Arcade Fire, Kendrick Lamar and more. Categories will include things like YouTube Artist of the Year, Video of the Year, YouTube Phenomenon, Video Innovation of the Year, and YouTube Breakthrough.
We here at the Mixtape don’t mind these categories as they do cover a wide spectrum but they seem to be missing out on the things that make YouTube such a unique vehicle for entertainment so we’ve come up with a few categories of our own:
Best Acoustic Cover of a Rap Song By a White Girl or Group
Most Egregiously Racist Music Video
Best Drag Queen Music Video
Now get out your crumpets because it's time for some:
Just because Halloween is over doesn’t mean you can’t get high on severely discounted candy and go see some Halloween-ish theatre productions happening in town this weekend.
Over at the Muse Theatre, it’s the final weekend of their staging of the musical “Bat Boy: The Musical.” Loosely based on a tabloid story, the musical is a campy romp detailing the misadventures of a young man who is part boy/part bat as he tries to navigate the non-cave world after being discovered and brought into the home of a veterinarian, his wife and his teenage daughter . The music is catchy blend of various styles from traditional Broadway to country music to even some rap music thrown in for good measure. The acting performances from the cast are appropriately campy to match the book of the musical and while there are the occasional pitch issues, the show flies by at a brisk pace based on the general enthusiasm emanating from the gung-ho cast.
Across town at the Pump House Regional Arts Center, it’s the final weekend of the delightfully dark play “Mr. Marmalade.” The play details the curious life of a four year old girl who has an imaginary friend named Mr. Marmalade who just happens to be a coked-out businessman who never seems to have all that much time to play with her. It’s a show that delicately and successfully walks the line between being darkly funny and just being bleak with powerhouse performances from its cast that always plays to the emotional truth of the crazy situations they find themselves in. Be sure to get to the show early to enjoy some pre-show music that gets you in the mood for the show.
And now we bring you:
Dear Julianne Hough,
Here is a helpful guide to the times where donning blackface is appropriate and not offensive in the least: never. Hope you can wrap your mind around all those subtleties. Next year we suggest you instead go as a witch or a vampire or, if you really wanted to scare everybody, you could just print the box office total for “Rock of Ages” on a shirt and wear that.
We end this Mixtape with special remembrances to "Simpsons" voice actress/"Bob Newhart" star Marcia Wallace and Velvet Underground/rock legend Lou Reed who both passed away this week.
And that's it for this week, dahlings. Be sure to like our Facebook page, follow us on Twitter or buy us a vodka Diet Seven if you run into us downtown.
As always, have a glorious weekend and remember:
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