End of Decade Blowout pt 4: Top 60 Singles, 15-1

Here's the top 15 singles. Oh, the excitement.

15. Alcazar - "This Is the World We Live In"
Year: 2004
Chart Peak: n/a (#15 UK)
Youtube: "This Is the World We Live In"
Commentary: For pure silly fun, I think this may be the best of the decade (behind just one other song, coming up in two spots). Really silly lyrics, and music/melody that's just a mashup of "Upside Down" and "Land of Confusion" but it all works so well. The "Inside Out" beat is amazing, especially translated to a Europop context, the chorus works better than any Genesis chorus should, and "When you're moving up with Alcazar" is so catchy. About 100x better than it has any right to be.

14. Jordin Sparks ft. Chris Brown - "No Air"
Year: 2008
Chart Peak: #3
Youtube: "No Air"
Commentary: The air of aching depression on this song gives it a great emotional weight, and then when you add on a gorgeous midtempo ballad melody and give it to just about the two best pop singers right now you end up with a really great ballad. There's nothing particularly to this song, it just all adds up so well to create as thick a set of emotions as any song this decade is capable of producing.

13. 'N Sync - "Bye Bye Bye"
Year: 2000
Chart Peak: #4 (#1 Pop)
Youtube: "Bye Bye Bye"
Commentary: Totally iconic, and deservedly so. Really silly that this just hit #4, but here it is. I'm not going to pretend there's some kind of incredible depth to this one, but the melody, the video, and the chorus are all-time classics. OK, maybe the boy band movement hasn't aged to well and isn't remembered too fondly today, but this is an all-time pop classic! Plus it was used hilariously in possibly my all time favorite Scrubs scene.

12. Amy Diamond - "Don't Cry Your Heart Out"
Year: 2006
Chart Peak: n/a
Youtube: "Don't Cry Your Heart Out"
Commentary: Even in the pop community, there doesn't seem to be any huge groundswell of support for this song. I may actually be the biggest fan of this song in the whole world. Well I say screw everybody else this song is straight out amazing. Amy's singing has never been better, and the melody and lyrics are both really great! The "then you SEE then you KNOW that you REAP what you SOW" part is my favorite part of this song, and maybe my favorite part of any song this decade. Also don't miss the live acoustic version found here. (talk about awkward dancing)

11. Kylie Minogue - "Love at First Sight"
Year: 2002
Chart Peak: #22
Youtube: "Love at First Sight"
Commentary: Kylie Minogue was just about as massive, in terms of widespread love and critical acclaim, as any pop act this decade for a while. It seems most of the Kylie love these days goes to "Can't Get You Out of My Head", which, to be sure, is an outstanding pop song. I prefer, though, the pure overloaded pop bliss of "Love at First Sight", a true banger which demands attention.

(At this point, the reader may wish to pause to guess the top 10. I bet you can't.)

10. Eminem - "The Real Slim Shady"
Year: 2000
Chart Peak: #4
Youtube: "The Real Slim Shady"
Commentary: Like "Bye Bye Bye", this gets a little extra credit for being a genuine cultural milestone, while still being an amazing song. The lyrics are clever and funny, though a bit dated, Eminem's rapping and beats are great as usual. This is a song that made Eminem a huge superstar, and all it takes is one listen to tell that it was inevitable all along.

9. Sara Evans - "Suds in the Bucket"
Year: 2004
Chart Peak: #33 (#1 Country)
Youtube: "Suds in the Bucket"
Commentary: Other than No Place That Far (which was 1998 anyways), Sara has yet to release a truly great album start to finish. But, she has been one of the best, maybe the very best overall, country singles artists of the decade. And this ode to eloping is probably her best song, thanks to a very nice melody and just a generally extremely fun atmosphere.

8. Lillix - "Sweet Temptation (Hollow)"
Year: 2006
Chart Peak: n/a
Youtube: "Sweet Temptation (Hollow)"
Commentary: It's got the catchiest melody+music of the decade, and it has the best hooks of the decade. The singing isn't anything super special, and the lyrics are nonsense, so it doesn't rank any higher than this, but this could well be the song I most enjoy to listen to, out of all the songs listed.

7. Hilary Duff - "Come Clean"
Year: 2004
Chart Peak: #35
Youtube: "Come Clean"
Commentary: I think that if this song wasn't by Hilary Duff, and therefore didn't have all of the attendant baggage, it would be today generally recognized as a pop classic. Because Hilary's ultra-thin voice and the ultra-thin melody are both absolutely perfect for the fragility of the lyrics, and all in all, it's a very impressively put together song. Plus a kicking chorus.

6. Rachel Stevens - "I Said Never Again (But Here We Are)"
Year: 2005
Chart Peak: n/a (#12 UK)
Youtube: "I Said Never Again (But Here We Are)"
Commentary: I love the lyrics to this song, as kind of a flipside to the lyrics for "I May Hate Myself in the Morning", and there's no doubt that the melody is massive. It's the best song on my #2 album of the decade, an album filled to the brim with classic pop singles, and this one manages to outshine them all.

5. Daft Punk - "Digital Love"
Year: 2001
Chart Peak: n/a (#9 US Dance Play)
Youtube: "Digital Love"
Commentary: This is the very best sample of the whole decade, I could listen to it loop on and on forever. The robotic melody is also really great, and that's combined with very sweet love song lyrics. This song is a stunning triumph on all levels.

4. The White Stripes - "Fell in Love with a Girl"
Year: 2002
Chart Peak: n/a (#12 Modern Rock)
Youtube: "Fell in Love with a Girl"
Commentary: I find it hard to say much about this song, given that it's on everybody's decade best list, and probably for the same reasons. The incredibly powerful and driving rock melody and guitars, the excellent lyrics, the all-time classic video, etc. I have nothing to add

3. Miley Cyrus - "See You Again"
Year: 2007
Chart Peak: #10
Youtube: "See You Again"
Commentary: The best pure melody of the decade (well, maybe "Moi...Lolita). And NOT ONLY that, but it features Miley's best ever vocal performance, by far. The whole chorus is just pure musical genius. Best part is still "My best friend Leslie says 'Oh she's just being Miley'."

2. Franz Ferdinand - "Take Me Out"
Year: 2004
Chart Peak: #66 (#3 Modern Rock)
Youtube: "Take Me Out"
Commentary: Clearly, the reason this is up here is that I am a SHAMELESS INDIE. My relationship to this song has been complicated over the years, but I have finally just given in to the power. Yes, yes yes, best guitar riff of the decade, good chorus, amazing intro, etc. This seems to have fallen somewhat out of favor lately, but it still sounds great to me.

1. Michelle Branch - "Everywhere"
Year: 2001
Chart Peak: #12
Youtube: "Everywhere"
Commentary: Yes, this is really my favorite single of the decade and no I'm not even going to try to justify it. Sure, I could talk about the amazing chorus, the great lyrics, the huge influence, etc. but ultimately it's just my favorite. I could just listen to this song over and over and over again, and it just never gets old. A fact which, by the way, I know from personal experience.

The Full List:
60. Wu Tang Clan - "Gravel Pit"
59. Guided by Voices - "The Best of Jill Hives"
58. Kanye West - "Through the Wire"
57. Fall Out Boy - "The Takeover, the Break's Over"
56. Nelly Furtado - "Say It Right"
55. Junior Senior - "Move Your Feet"
54. Alicia Keys - "Fallin'"
53. The Bloodhound Gang - "The Bad Touch"
52. Ashlee Simpson - "La La"
51. Carrie Underwood - "Before He Cheats"
50. Avril Lavigne - "Complicated"
49. Wheatus - "Teenage Dirtbag"
48. The Sugababes - "About You Now"
47. Backstreet Boys - "The Call"
46. David Banner - "Cadillac on 22s"
45. Electric Six - "Danger! High Voltage"
44. Martina McBride - "This One's for the Girls"
43. Jennifer Lopez ft. Ja Rule - "I'm Real (Murder Remix)"
42. Ashlee Simpson - "Little Miss Obsessive"
41. Girls Aloud - "Love Machine"
40. System of the Down - "Chop Suey!"
39. Nelly ft. Kelly Rowland - "Dilemma"
38. Phoenix - "If I Ever Feel Better"
37. Cam'ron - "Hey Ma"
36. Mint Royale ft. Pos - "Show Me"
35. Natasha Bedingfield - "I Wanna Have Your Babies"
34. Destiny's Child - "Survivor"
33. Beyonce - "Irreplaceable"
32. Charlotte Church - "Moodswings (to Come at Me Like That)"
31. Spoon - "The Underdog"
30. Marit Larsen - "Only a Fool"
29. Kelly Clarkson - "Behind These Hazel Eyes"
28. Eminem - "Stan"
27. Aly & AJ - "Rush"
26. Anna Nalick - "Breathe (2AM)"
25. A*Teens - "Floorfiller"
24. Keith Urban - "Stupid Boy"
23. The New Pornographers - "Letter from an Occupant"
22. Rachel Stevens - "Sweet Dreams My LA Ex"
21. Shooter Jennings - "4th of July"
20. Alizee - "Moi...Lolita"
19. Lee Ann Womack - "I May Hate Myself in the Morning"
18. Annie - "Heartbeat"
17. Twista ft. Jamie Foxx and Kanye West - "Slow Jamz"
16. t.A.T.u. - "All the Things She Said"
15. Alcazar - "This is the World We Live In"
14. Jordin Sparks ft. Chris Brown - "No Air"
13. 'N Sync - "Bye Bye Bye"
12. Amy Diamond - "Don't Cry Your Heart Out"
11. Kylie Minogue - "Love at First Sight"
10. Eminem - "The Real Slim Shady
9. Sara Evans - "Suds in the Bucket"
8. Lillix - "Sweet Temptation (Hollow)"
7. Hilary Duff - "Come Clean"
6. Rachel Stevens - "I Said Never Again (But Here We Are)"
5. Daft Punk - "Digital Love"
4. The White Stripes - "Fell in Love with a Girl"
3. Miley Cyrus - "See You Again"
2. Franz Ferdinand - "Take Me Out"
1. Michele Branch - "Everywhere"

Best Songs of 2008?

Last year by this time I had already posted 2 lists of my favorite singles of the year. I just haven't been too up on music this year and seem to have little desire to catch up. Thus there are many good albums and songs I haven't heard. So before I post this list let me clarify that I have not heard any 2008 output from Danity Kane, Jordan Pruitt, Vanessa Hudgens, any rock music, and most other non-hit music. I am not worrying about single eligibility or year of release too much here, either. Nevertheless, these are my favorite songs this year of what I've heard:

1. Cassie - "Thirsty": OK let's assume this counts. My guess is that it will never be released. At least 3 or 4 of the leaked Cassie songs would be on this list if I counted them all, but I'll need to see the album released before I pull that trigger. Nevertheless this is my favorite of the songs and I will be shocked if it does not end up being my song of the year.

2. Jordin Sparks ft. Chris Brown - "No Air": A really, really pretty ballad filled with tons of drama and great singing. And it's also really catchy! This is a top 10 of the year worthy song, for sure.

3. Ashlee Simpson - "Little Miss Obsessive": I really love the lyrics to this song and it also has an excellent melody. Maybe should be rated higher due to awesomeness of lyrics? But, I dunno, I love the two songs above so much. The top three are really close and may well end up being my top 3 of the year.

4. Sara Bareilles - "Love Song": The latest in the line of very soft female fronted coffee shop style songs that I adopt and love ("White Flag", "Hunter", "Unwritten", "Breathe (2AM)", "I Wanna Have Your Babies"). For whatever reason I really love this style of song and this is a great example of it.

5. Brooke White - "Let It Be": Brooke White took one of my least favorite Beatles songs and made me really care about it. She has a beautiful voice and you can tell she's really earnest. This is truly remarkable and my favorite ever American Idol performance.

6. Miley Cyrus - "Goodbye": The latest Armato/James masterpiece is this closing ballad from Miley's new album, and by far the best song on it.

That's it, only 6 songs, but all 6 will seriously compete for top 10 of the year. If I had to round it out to 10, I'd throw in "Bleeding Love", and a few more Ashlee/Cassie songs. I couldn't help but notice that all 6 are female fronted ballads. That's just the way it's gone so far this year. Once I catch up on the other music of the year (if I in fact ever do), the list will probably round out with a little more variety. I mean I love female ballads, but normally only 1 or 2 will make my year end list. Then again, I really love all 6 songs, so it could just be a banner year, I dunno.

Any songs you think I should check out? Let me know in the comments.

A Peek through the RD Top 30

I have not listened to Radio Disney in several months. Checking the top 30 I noticed many songs I haven't heard. Let's see what I'm missing...

1. Jonas Brothers - "When You Look Me In The Eyes"
Did I Already Know It: Yes
Review: Actually, this song has generated some airplay on one of the local top 40 stations, and is slowly climbing up the Billboard Hot 100 (currently #27). And I have absolutely no idea why, cause it sounds pretty damn boring to me. Actually, you know what it sounds like? A teen pop Rascal Flatts. And I don't think anybody needs that. 3/10

2. Miley Cyrus - "See You Again" <--Still no official video! Did I Already Know It: Of course. Review: Yeah, I like the song. 10/10

3. Aly & AJ - "Like Whoa"
Did I Already Know It: Yes
Review: This is a superior track from Insomniatic, which was one of my favorite albums of 2007. There's a few other tracks on the album that I like more ("Potential Break Up Song", "Division", "Like It or Leave It"), but this is still a fun and catchy song. Also, I like the video. It's really sassy. This will contend for top 25 of the year. 8/10.

4. Chris Brown - "With You"
Did I Already Know It: Yes
Review: This was a Billboard Hot 100 number one hit, and it has crossed over apparently into Radio Disney. This strikes me as a basically mediocre R&B ballad. I dunno why anybody would listen to this over, say, Ne-Yo or "No Air". But it's not bad I suppose. 6/10.

5. Miley Cyrus as Hannah Montana - "Rock Star"
Did I Already Know It: Yes
Review: I think this song is pretty good, though not as good as it could be, but the fact that they've gotten this far means that maybe they've dipped a bit too far into the singles well on the Hannah Montana 2 soundtrack. I mean, this is, what, the 8th or 9th single from it? Some songs were just destined to be pretty good album tracks. 7/10.

6. Sara Bareilles - "Love Song"
Did I Already Know It: Yes
Review: People who know my tastes will not be surprised at all to hear that I love this single. It's just that type of sweet piano based female BS that I always seem to go for. And what's more it's one of the best songs of its type in this decade (behind some TashBed and "Breathe (2AM)" and maybe "Whie Flag"). But it's pretty and catchy and has good lyrics and even though it's been ridiculously overplayed it still hasn't really diminished for me. A possible top 10 of the year entrant. Awful video though. 9/10.

7. Taylor Swift - "Teardrops on My Guitar (Pop Remix)"
Did I Already Know It: Yes
Review: I've never been as big a fan of this song as some other people are, and I like the pop remix even less than the original mix. I'm glad it's catching on on pop radio, if that's a sign that it's OK to play country on top 40. But as an actual song it's kinda boring, and the plainly emotional lyrics kinda go nowhere. A little too weepy for me. 6/10.

8. Selena Gomez - "Cruella De Vil"
Did I Already Know It: Yes
Review: This is at least the third cover of a "Cruella De Vil" by a Disney actress that I know of (the other two are by Hayden Panettiere and LaLaine). And hey this one's got a little edge to it! I like her singing and the arrangement is pretty catchy. This is a lot better than I thought it was going to be. Still, they should have released a full version of the (totally awesome) theme song to Wizards of Waverly Place first. 7.5/10.

9. Mitchel Musso - "Lean On Me"
Did I Already Know It: No
Review: OK, this is the first song on the countdown I have not heard before. And I assume it will be a cover of the classic Bill Withers tune. What I did not expect is that the nerdy kid from Hannah Montana would release a RAP single. And he is a terrible rapper. Holy crap, what a bad idea this was. Not only is this awful, I don't see how anybody could think that it is not awful. This is an embarrassment. 0/10.

10. Miley Cyrus - "Start All Over"
Did I Already Know It: Yes
Review: This was my #25 single of 2007, and if anything it was underrated there. Yeah, energetic and catchy and totally shallow. I really like the instrumental riff that plays below the chorus. Really good video too! 8/10.

11. Emily Osment - "I Don't Think About It"
Did I Already Know It: No
Review: So this is the fifth single so far out of eleven that is by a star of Hannah Montana. Like the Mitchel I have actually never heard this song. After one listen I'm convinced that it was an outtake from the Hannah Montana 2 recording sessions. It's not bad but it is highly reminiscent of a decent Hannah Montana track, and Emily's voice is not nearly as good as Miley's. Also, the track is incredibly repetitive. Despite all this, it's a decent track thanks to its catchiness. 6/10.

12. Jonas Brothers - "That's Just the Way We Roll"
Did I Already Know It: No
Review: This one is certainly upbeat, and I tend to like the uptempo JB songs more than their ballads. And this is supposed to be some kind of band theme song or something? And is that a Hanson bash I hear in the middle? Weird lyrics and pretty lame guitar riff, but the song is catchy and the vocals are decent. I have no desire to ever hear this song again. 5/10

13. Corbin Bleu - "Run It Back Again"
Did I Already Know It: No
Review: Generally, I have liked the Corbin Bleu solo career a lot more than I thought I would. And, whoa, this is a dance track! With dance-y vocal effects and everything. This is from that time travel Disney movie starring Jason Dolley that I've already forgotten the name of. But, man, this is not what I expected at all and it's pretty good. Even though I historically have bashed Corbin, his run of pretty good singles continues. Maybe I'll actually listen to his album. 7/10.

14. Raven - "Double Dutch Bus"
Did I Already Know It: No
Review: Ugh, I am not looking forward to this at all. This is a pretty standard R&B/rap song these days, with the exception that it has horrible vocals, apparently no hook. Man, it just noodles on and on with no content for minutes. I admit that I wanted to hate this song going into it, but the song does a pretty good of making me hate it on its own merits. Still it is marginally better than the Mitchel Musso track. 2/10.

15. Jordin Sparks - "Tattoo"
Did I Already Know It: Yes
Review: This was an inescapable radio hit for a few months there, and I've really really grown tired of it. There's not much to the melody or production and, yeah, Jordin's vocals are good but that doesn't go very far any more after 100 listens. It's not the song's fault that it was so overplayed, but I have to call it like I see it. And the way I see it this is a very mediocre track. 4/10.

Part 2 to come later.

29th Annual Young Artist Awards

American Idol content will start only when the show really starts (i.e. when fan voting kicks in) and no earlier. In the meantime, here's the 29th Annual Young Artist Awards. Full nomination list is available on the YAA wesbsite. I could do actual research here, try to watch all the nominated shows and movies, etc. but I'm going with my extremely ill informed opinions here, lucky you.

BEST PERFORMANCE IN A FEATURE FILM/Leading Young Actor

Alex Etel Miles Heizer Freddie Highmore Josh Hutcherson Jacob Kogan Logan Lerman Zach Mills Alex Neuberger Chris O’Neil Alejandro Polanco

"The Water Horse" "Rails & Ties" "August Rush" "Bridge to Terabithia" "Joshua" "3:10 To Yuma" "Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium" "Underdog" "The Last Mimzy" "Chop Shop"

TCR Endorsed Selection: Yikes, I was really not up on family films last year. I have never even heard of Joshua, Rails & Ties, or Chop Shop and, of the nominated movies, have only seen 3:10 to Yuma and Bridge to Terabithia. So I guess this is unfair, but my choice is Logan Lerman, who gave the best performance and starred in the best of the nominated films. (Logan is the reigning winner in this category.)

BEST PERFORMANCE IN A FEATURE FILM/Leading Young Actress

Gracie Bednarczyk Abigail Breslin Isamar Gonzales Kay Panabaker Dakota Blue Richards AnnaSophia Robb Emma Roberts Saoirse Ronan

"Grace Is Gone" "No Reservations" "Chop Shop" "Moondance Alexander" "The Golden Compass" "Bridge to Terabithia" "Nancy Drew" "Atonement"

TCR Endorsed Selection: Egad! This is a really tough category. We can quickly eliminate it down to KPB, AnnaSophia, Emma, and Saiorse, since I have seen none of the other nominated movies. Saiorse is actually nominated for the Academy Award. KPB is the patron saint of this blog (though, due to a lack of wide release I have not actually seen the film in question). AnnaSophia gave a decent performance in a decent film. Emma gave a great performance in a film I loved. Obviously, my choice here is Emma Roberts, though my guess is had I seen Moondance Alexander the choice would be much closer. As much as it hurts me to go against Kay, I can't give an award to somebody in a film I never saw, especially when there's already another great performance in the category.

BEST PERFORMANCE IN A FEATURE FILM/Supporting Young Actor - Fantasy or Drama

Alex Ferris Dillon Freasier Soren Fulton Jordan Garrett Devon Gearhart Bailey Hughes Leon G. Thomas III

"The Invisible" "There Will Be Blood" "South of Pico" "Death Sentence" "Canvas" "Good Time Max" "August Rush"

TCR Endorsed Selection: They didn't split this category last year, and God only knows why they split it up into "Fantasy or Drama" vs. "Comedy" this year. I'd think Fantasy is a lot closer to Comedy than Drama, but whatever. I have not heard of a single one of these nominated films except There Will Be Blood, which I didn't see. N/A

BEST PERFORMANCE IN A FEATURE FILM/Supporting Young Actor - Comedy or Musical

Max Baldry Jimmy Bennett Zachary Gordon Dylan McLaughlin Graham Phillips Ed Sanders

"Mr. Bean’s Holiday" "Evan Almighty" "Georgia Rule" "Georgia Rule" "Evan Almighty" "Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street"

TCR Endorsed Selection: Ed Sanders. He gave an excellent performance in one of my favorite films of the year. An easy choice.

BEST PERFORMANCE IN A FEATURE FILM/Supporting Young Actress

Jasmine Jessica Anthony Courtney Taylor Burness Hannah Lochner Taylor Momsen Jamia Simone Nash Keke Palmer Kristen Stewart

"1408" "Premonition" "Firehouse Dog" "Underdog" "August Rush" "Cleaner" "Into the Wild"

TCR Endorsed Selection: Can I just say that I don't understand these categories at all? Why is supporting young actor the only one that's split up? I don't get it... Anyways, though I once again haven't seen any of the films, in the absence of other indicators I'm going to give this to Keke Palmer, who I've liked a lot in everything I've seen her in. Unfair I suppose but that's how I roll.

BEST PERFORMANCE IN A FEATURE FILM/Young Actor Aged 10 or Under

Nicholas Art Micah Berry Jackson Bond Bobby Coleman Nathan Gamble Samuel Garland Dakota Goyo Jeremy Karson Austin Williams

"The Nanny Diaries" "Things We Lost in the Fire" "The Invasion" "Martian Child" "The Mist" "The Reaping" "Resurrecting the Champ" "Music & Lyrics" "Michael Clayton"

TCR Endorsed Selection: In contrast to other categories, this category features three films from last year that I genuinely loved. Two made my top 10 list and the third ("Michael Clayton") would have except I forgot about it. None of the three actors had particularly memorable or important roles in their respective movies, but ultimately, Nathan Gamble gave the best performance, in my opinion.

BEST PERFORMANCE IN A FEATURE FILM/Young Actress Aged 10 or Under

Rachel Covey Bailee Madison Megan McKinnon Madison Pettis Willow Smith Rhiannon Leigh Wryn

"Enchanted" "Bridge to Terabithia" "Project Grey" "The Game Plan" "I Am Legend" "The Last Mimzy"

TCR Endorsed Selection: Rachel Covey gives a good performance in my favorite film of the last few years. This is a no brainer.

BEST PERFORMANCE IN A FEATURE FILM/Young Ensemble Cast
Bridge to Terabithia
Daddy Day Camp
The Last Mimzy
Nancy Drew

TCR Endorsed Selection: HMM, I really wonder. Nancy Drew. Note that Kay Panabaker and Amy Bruckner are included in the young ensemble cast for this, even though they have less than 5 minutes of screen time apiece, which means that I get to support both Emma and Kay here. Yay!

(I am skipping here various awards related to international films, short films, and TV movies/miniseries. Between the 6 categories I haven't heard of a single one of the actors or films nominated, so it's probably better to save space.)

BEST PERFORMANCE IN A TV SERIES/Leading Young Actor

Keir Gilchrist Noah Gray-Cabey Carter Jenkins Jamie Johnston Angus T. Jones Sean Keenan Kyle Massey Devon Werkheiser Tyler James Williams

"The Winner" "Heroes" "Viva Laughlin" "Degrassi: The Next Generation" "Two And A Half Men" "Lockie Leonard" "Corey In The House" "Ned's Declassified School Survival Guide" "Everybody Hates Chris"

TCR Endorsed Selection: I watch a lot more TV than movies so I'm more qualified on these categories. I've seen all the nominated shows except Viva Laughlin and Lockie Leonard (what the hell?). While I'm not crazy about any of the nominated performances, my opinion is that the best choice is Jamie Johnston. Heroes is the best nominated show, but Noah is kinda annoying. Kyle Massey is the reigning winner in this category, but his casual smugness has become kind of grating over time. The others are basically forgettable. That makes Jamie a default choice as much as anything, but he does a good job and would be a fine winner.

BEST PERFORMANCE IN A TV SERIES/Leading Young Actress

Rhyon Nicole Brown Miranda Cosgrove Miley Cyrus Chloe Greenfield Emma Roberts Jamie Lynn Spears

"Lincoln Heights" "iCarly" "Hannah Montana" "ER" "Unfabulous" "Zoey 101"

TCR Endorsed Selection: My opinion is that the best choice would be Emma Roberts and if I really still have to explain that at this point then my blog truly has been a failure. (Miranda Cosgrove is quite good and Miley is improving, Emma is still way better. I would liked to have seen Selena Gomez nominated here.)

BEST PERFORMANCE IN A TV SERIES/Supporting Young Actor

Dean Collins Jason Dolley Alexander Gould Mitch Holleman Mark Indelicato Nathan Kress Daniel Magder Vincent Martella Aidan Mitchell Slade Pearce

"The War at Home" "Corey in the House" "Weeds" "Reba" "Ugly Betty" "iCarly" "Life With Derek" "Everybody Hates Chris" "The Riches" "October Road"

TCR Endorsed Selection: For a category with such a bloated number of nominees, there's not much to get excited over here. Jason Dolley is a Read It and Weep alum, which normally would get him a ton of bonus points, but he stars on a show that's one of the worst on TV. Daniel Magder is a part of a cast I've previously professed to like a lot, but he's the weak link among the kids. The best choice here is Nathan Kress, who does a fine job on iCarly, a mediocre show.

BEST PERFORMANCE IN A TV SERIES/Supporting Young Actress

Taylor Atelian Malese Jow Tinashe Kachingwe Jennette McCurdy Mary Matilyn Mouser Adair Tishler

"According to Jim" "Unfabulous" "Out of Jimmy's Head" "iCarly" "Life Is Wild" "Heroes"

TCR Endorsed Selection: This is one of the weakest categories yet. Malese Jow is a weird nomination, her bad performance is one of the few things that I hate about Unfabulous. Jennette McCurdy is, similarly, the weak link in a pretty good cast. Fortunately, Adair Tishler is here and she's a cutie and gives a great performance as Molly Walker. She's the biggest winner yet in any category.

BEST PERFORMANCE IN A TV SERIES/Young Actor Age 10 or Younger

Lorenzo Brino Nikolas Brino Joseph Castanon Field Cate Khamani Griffin Trevor Gagnon Dylan Minnette Conner Rayburn

"7th Heaven" "7th Heaven" "I Hate My 30's" "Pushing Daisies" "All of Us" "New Adventures of Old Christine" "Saving Grace" "According to Jim"

TCR Endorsed Selection: Oh my god the Brinos are nominated! I'm reasonably certain that the Brinos are, in fact, the worst young actors age 10 or younger on TV and how the hell would you distinguish between them anyways? Can I go with an N/A here? I hate the young Ned scenes on Pushing Daisies, the Brino twins are horrible and I haven't seen any of the other nominated shows. (I saw one episode of I Hate My 30's, apparently Joseph Castanon did not feature in that episode.)

No award for young actress aged 10 or under! Sexual discrimination alert!

BEST PERFORMANCE IN A TV SERIES/Guest Starring Young Actor

Cameron Bright Chandler Canterbury Nicholas Elia Dylan Everett Colin Ford Soren Fulton Dominic Scott Kay Quinn Lord Justin Martin Dylan Patton Colby Paul Cole Petersen Remy Thorne

"The 4400" (ep:'Wrath of Graham') "Criminal Minds" (ep:'In Birth and Death') "Supernatural" (ep:'The Kids Are Alright') "The Dresden Files" (ep:'Birds of a Feather') "Journeyman" (ep:'Blowback') "Bones" (ep:'The Priest in the Churchyard') "Navy NCIS" (ep:'Lost & Found') "Smallville" (ep:'Bizarro') "Cold Case" (ep:'It Takes a Village') "Cold Cas"e (ep:'Blackout') "Pushing Daisies" (ep:'Corpsicle') "CSI: Miami" (ep:'Stand Your Ground') "Criminal Minds" (ep:'Revelations')

TCR Endorsed Selection: Cameron Bright was good in his guest role on The 4400, in one of the best episodes of the season, and he definitely deserves the trophy.

BEST PERFORMANCE IN A TV SERIES/Guest Starring Young Actress

Jasmine Jessica Anthony Jenna Boyd Darcy Rose Byrnes Conchita Campbell Bailee Madison Ashlyn Sanchez Bella Thorne

"Ugly Betty" (ep:'Something Wicked This Way Comes') "Ghost Whisperer" (ep:'Children of Ghosts') "Cold Case" (ep:'A Dollar, A Dream') "Supernatural" (ep:'Playthings') "House" (ep:'Act Your Age') "Without a Trace" (ep:'Desert Springs') "The O.C." (ep:'The Case of the Franks')

TCR Endorsed Selection: The only one of these I specifically recognize is that actress from House, and I see nothing about her performance that is award worthy. I'm giving this to Conchita Campbell in general principle, even though I've never seen and barely even heard of Supernatural.

BEST PERFORMANCE IN A TV SERIES/Recurring Young Actor

Jake Cherry Marc Donato Caden Michael Gray Mick Hazen Dominic Janes Ty Panitz Connor Price K'Sun Ray Will Shadley Cainan Wiebe Calum Worthy

"Desperate Housewives" "Degrassi: The Next Generation" "Out of Jimmy's Head" "As the World Turns" "ER" "Bones" "The Dead Zone" "Smith" "Dirty Sexy Money" "Sanctuary" "Psych"

TCR Endorsed Selection: Hard to say. The young Psych scenes are much more entertaining than the young Pushing Daisies scenes, and it only seems fair to give some of that credit to Calum Worthy. Yeah, he's my pick.

BEST PERFORMANCE IN A TV SERIES/Recurring Young Actress

Kristen Alderson Rachel G. Fox Danielle Hanratty Sammi Hanratty Chloe Grace Moretz Ryan Newman Christina Robinson Darcy Rose Byrnes Erin Sanders Christian Serratos Alyson Stoner Kylie & Keaton Tyndall

"One Life to Live" "Desperate Housewives" "The Unit" "The Suite Life of Zack and Cody" "Dirty Sexy Money" "Hannah Montana" "Dexter" "The Young and the Restless" "Zoey 101" "Neds Declassified School Survival Guide" "The Suite Life of Zack and Cody" "Big Love"

TCR Endorsed Selection: Ryan Newman plays young Miley on Hannah Montana, in a few episodes. Her performance is completely forgettable, but she's a real cutie-pie, so I can't really argue with giving her the award here in an apparently really weak category.

BEST YOUNG ENSEMBLE PERFORMANCE IN A TV SERIES
Hannah Montana
The Naked Brothers Band
Out of Jimmy's Head
Unfabulous
The Wizards of Waverly Place
Zoey 101

TCR Endorsed Selection: OK, this is a really hard category, and it's complicated by the fact that two of the strongest nominees (NBB and Wizards) received no individual nominations, while all 3 main actors for iCarly were nominated and it was shut out here. Zoey 101 (the two time reigning champ in this category) and Out of Jimmy's Head are instant eliminees, because I really dislike Zoey and have never seen OOJH. After that it's really close. Similar to last year, I'm eliminating Unfabulous because the supporting cast isn't good enough. I'll eliminate NBB because it's just not quite good enough. Hannah just has too many annoying cast members (ugh, Rico and Oliver) to qualify here. My opinion is that the newcomer Wizards of Waverly Place is the best choice here. Bad joke writing brings down the overall quality of the show, but I'm a big fan of the young cast, and the show does have some potential.

(Skipping two categories for voice overs that I have no idea about.)

BEST FAMILY TELEVISION MOVIE or SPECIAL

"High School Musical" "The Last Day of Summer" "Naked Brothers Band: The Movie" "You've Got A Friend"

TCR Endorsed Selection: Um, perhaps they mean High School Musical 2? It deserves to win regardless.

BEST FAMILY TELEVISION SERIES

"Hannah Montana" "Life Is Wild" "The Naked Brothers Band" "Ned's Declassified School Survival Guide" "Out of Jimmy's Head" "The Winner" "Zoey 101"

TCR Endorsed Selection: No surprise here that my choice in this category is Hannah Montana. Unfabulous still shoulda been nominated. (Last year this category was split into comedy and drama, this year all the nominees are comedies.)

BEST FAMILY TELEVISION REALITY SHOW, GAME SHOW or DOCUMENTARY

"Are You Smarter Than a Fifth Grader?" "Endurance" "Kid Nation" "My Life as a Child" "Who Cares About Girls?"

TCR Endorsed Selection: This is a new category this year, and it's a weird one. I've never heard of My Life as a Child or Who Cares About Girls?, but the best choice here among the shows I know is Endurance, and I like it enough that I suspect it would be the choice regardless.

(skip categories on short and international films)

BEST FAMILY FEATURE FILM (Animation)

"Bee Movie" "Meet the Robinsons" "Ratatouille" "Surf's Up"

TCR Endorsed Selection: Ratatouille is the best movie and it will win.

BEST FAMILY FEATURE FILM (Fantasy or Musical)

"Alvin and the Chipmunks" "Bridge to Terabithia" "The Golden Compass" "Underdog" "The Water Horse"

TCR Endorsed Selection: I saw only one of these films (Bridge to Terabithia), and it wasn't good enough for me to say it deserves an award. So, N/A.

BEST FAMILY FEATURE FILM (Comedy or Drama)

"August Rush" "Evan Almighty" "Firehouse Dog" "Hairspray" "The Last Mimzy" "Martian Child" "Nancy Drew"

TCR Endorsed Selection: It's so obvious that I'm gonna pick Nancy Drew here that I'm going to bitch about the categories instead of justifying it. WHY IS BEST SUPPORING YOUNG ACTOR SPLIT INTO FANTASY OR DRAMA AND COMEDY OR MUSICAL AND BEST PICTURE SPLIT INTO FANTASY OR MUSICAL AND COMEDY OR DRAMA? WHY GOD WHY?

TCR Top 30 Singles of 2007

I going to wait until the new year to post this, but screw it. I'm probably not going to get the chance to post it for another couple weeks, so I'd rather get it out while I've been tinkering with it than leave it alone for a couple weeks.

30. Enrique Iglesias - "Do You Know (The Ping Pong Song)"
This is Enrique's best single in a very long while, very possibly ever. Sure, it follows the normal Enrique formula and there's not a whole ocean of difference between this and "Escape" or "Be With You", but the melody to this is just so sharp and the ping pong percussion is amazing. Just ridiculously catchy. Of course really catchy pop songs are kinda dime a dozen, which is why it doesn't rank higher, but I appreciate it for what it is.

29. Lori McKenna - "Unglamorous"
One of the best country singles of the year barely even qualifies as a country song at all. Nevertheless, it's a great celebration of ordinary life, with a good melody and a great twangy country singer. A great pop song with a slight country twang, I recommend this to anybody, even people who don't normally like country.

28. Colbie Caillat - "Bubbly"
For whatever reason, I feel free to openly proclaim how much I like Hilary Duff or Aly & AJ, but I just feel so embarrassed for liking this. It's "inoffensive" and "vanilla". Somewhere along the line, those became the biggest insults you can give a song. But I don't mind inoffensive and vanilla (both of which this definitely is). It lacks a huge vocal hook. But it's sweet and cute and infectious. I think there's a place for sweet and cute in music. I love the way the over-cuteness and preciousness of the lyrics interact with the over-cuteness of the music to make some kind of pure, uncut cute. It's like the Milo and Otis of pop songs.

27. Finger Eleven - "Paralyzer"
This is a song that I originally was not too big a fan of, but I've come around on it. Yeah, it's a "Take Me Out" ripoff, but "Take Me Out" is one of my very favorite songs of the decade so that doesn't bother me. I like the disco-fied indie rock a lot better than normal indie rock, so I'm glad that a song like this can come around a become a hit. Danceable and catchy, and one of the five or ten best choruses of the year. Not much to like about this song beyond the chorus, I'm not a big fan of the vocals, the instrumentals are boring "Take Me Out"-lite, and the verses go nowhere. This is scientifically exactly how far a great chorus can take a mediocre song.

26. Ciara - "Like a Boy"
Possibly underrated here. I love the minimalist beat and the vocals are great. The lyrics do nothing to grab me, and while I like the melody I don't love it. It's still one of the best R&B songs of the year and it's a real damn shame it wasn't a bigger hit. I just wish it had a bigger hook.

25. Miley Cyrus - "Start All Over"
A great slice of catchy teen pop-rock, manages to keep an extremely high energy throughout without becoming tiresome. Great for dancing around to, and one of my very favorite melodies of the year. A true highlight from Miley's sophomore album, which even though it was exactly as good as her first album was still disappointing.

24. Sara Evans - "As If"
Really weird and unsettling to think about these lyrics in the context of her personal life, so I just ignore that aspect. It does have good lyrics though, about ignoring all the bad crap in a relationship in a desperate grab to hold on to the good stuff. Easily relateable and not too common in song lyrics. What is harder to ignore than the lyrical context is the awesome pop country melody and Sara's knockout vocal performance. Better instrumentation/production could have pushed this a lot higher.

23. Ashley Tisdale - "He Said, She Said"
Ashley Tisdale's vocal performance is very, very bland in this song and the lyrics are very generic and boring. Which means there's nothing to recommend this song beyond the melody and the production. Fortunately, they manage to be strong recommendations. I love the clappy, stuttering percussion on this song, it really lends a sense of urgency to the verses. It's all building up with a stuttering rhythm and swelling music in the pre-chorus, then it all falls out into a gorgeous, spare chorus. Amazing.

22. Tim Armstrong ft. Skye Sweetnam - "Into Action"
A ska song in my top 25! A song off the Tim Armstrong solo album in my top 25! I never would have guessed, even though I do like a lot of the old Rancid ska songs like "Time Bomb" and "Ruby Soho". This is the natural extension of the sound he had there, and it rolls along nicely into the second or third catchiest hook of the year, as sung amazingly by Skye Sweetnam. It's a lumbering rhino of a song, but it's a great one nevertheless.

21. Cupid ft. DJ Unk and Fabo - "Cupid Shuffle (Remix)"
I think it's well established by now that I love novelty songs an unhealthy amount, and this is one of the best in a long time. I've never actually danced this song, nor have I heard it played on a dance floor, I just genuinely like the song on its own merits.

20. Sophie Ellis-Bextor - "Catch You"
The best Blondie song never released by Blondie. A real dizzying delight, and the first song of 2007 that I really loved, even if it is a bit of a pure pop overload.

19. Katharine McPhee - "Over It"
I have long been a fan of Katharine McPhee, ever since I first saw her on Idol. She was my favorite that season, despite a bad tendency to oversing songs and her seeming compulsion to be the big Whitney/X-tina diva that she totally is not. I worried that would spill over to her music, but turns out her album is mostly just a bunch of warmed over R&B stuff. There are some highlights on there, like "Open Toes" and especially this song, a direct "Too Little, Too Late" rip that works because the formula is so awesome and because Kat sings the hell out of the song. In it's own subtle way it manages to be one of the prettiest ballads of the year. (Not that I mind blatantly pretty ballads a la Mariah but they just aren't right for Kat).

18. Ne-Yo - "Because Of You"
Speaking of which, this mid-tempo ballad is one of the prettiest songs of the year in an unsubtle way. The strings and bass in the musical backdrop are awesome, and the melody is just such an awesome gliding, soaring triumph. This is what Ne-Yo excels at, and he sings the hell out of it. It's the male "Irreplaceable", and though I don't like it quite as much as that song, it's still a really great one.

17. My Chemical Romance - "Famous Last Words"
"It starts out fairly standard, but ends up being nothing short of a genuine rock epic, weaving about 3 or 4 different, equally big, parts together with a great deftness, and all 3 or 4 parts are great, especially the main chorus! It sneaks up on you, but once it hits, it hits hard: emo-rock has met its peak with this song." -- That's my singles jukebox review of the song, and I'm a little bit lower on it now than I was then, but it's basically true. (In particular, it is not even the highest rated emo-rock song on this list).

16. Vanessa Anne Hudgens - "Say OK"
I think I've run out of words to say about this song. I still think it's the second-prettiest dang song of the year and that Vanessa's blank, piercing voice is just startlingly perfect for this song. Nobody appears to like this as much as I do, and I've come to terms with that. I'll just keep listening.

15. LeAnn Rimes - "Nothing Better to Do"
The best country song of the year is this barn-burning stomper by LeAnn, that is probably underrated on this list, but this is where it felt right. High energy and catchy and awesome in the same way that the best Miley songs are high energy and awesome. It hits you right in the face. Probably the best song she's ever released.

14. Fall Out Boy - "The Takeover, The Break's Over"
This is emo-rock only because of who it's by. It sounds like a normal rock song to me, and Patrick Stump is one of my favorite rock vocalists working today. It intricately weaves melodies together just as deftly as "Famous Last Words" and while it's not nearly as anthemic as that song, it's just as well-constructed. The way it bursts into its main chorus is great, and it manages to hold it all together with a simple but great "We don't fight fair" hook and a simple but great guitar line.

13. LCD Soundsystem - "Someone Great"
This was immediately my favorite song on the LCD Soundsystem album, which is possibly a sign of rapidly approaching middle age. Actually, I just love the hooks to this song, though the emotion is apparent throughout and lends it a certain depth. I don't have much to say about this song that any other publication doesn't.

12. Amy Diamond - "Stay My Baby"
Man, it's so awesome. Amy's made a habit of actually releasing her best songs as singles (except "All The Money In The World"), which allows her to do really well on my lists. This Max Martin penned ballad is just as catchy a ballad, it's own way, as most of his classic boy band ballads were. A great return to form from both Max and Amy.

11. Eve ft. Sean Paul - "Give It To You"
For whatever reason, I've always really loved Sean Paul, even though his hooks kinda are all the same. This is his best song since "Get Busy". Not to minimize the accomplishments of Eve, who provides amazing rapping, and this is all on top of a ridiculously catchy guitar loop. A real surprise.

10. Girls Aloud - "Call the Shots"
Much better than anything off Chemistry, and just as good as all of their classic hits. I guess "The Show" and "No Good Advice" are still their best songs, but this is a great ballad. I never thought they would release another song I loved this much, much less a ballad! I love love the bouncing rubber bandy musical backdrop to this, and the slight electro-flair in the chorus. I often think that GA songs go too far on the electro stuff, but it's really restrained here and I think the song really benefits from it. Another real surprise.

9. Britney Spears - "Gimme More"
IT'S BRITNEY BITCH. Not that much better than a few other similar songs on her album, I guess, but the melody to this grabs me. Who could have guessed this song would be this good? More on Britney in the rest of my year end stuff. "Gimme gimme more/gimme more/gimme gimme more" is my #1 favorite hook of the year.

8. Shop Boyz - "Party Like a Rockstar"
Awesome novelty song+really catchy chorus+rap song glorifying golf+genuinely funny lyrics+"t-t-totally dude"= top 10 spot on Greg's list, guaranteed.

7. Natalie Imbruglia - "Glorious"
The higher we get up the list, the more we get to songs I've already written a lot about, which makes it hard to add more. This is still the absolute prettiest song of the year and Natalie is still probably my favorite female vocalist. Oh hell, I'll quote myself: "A really pretty acoustic ballad from Natalie. OK, all of Natalie's songs sound kinda the same -- that's true, and this will win her no new fans. But I'm a previously declared fan of Ms. Imbruglia, and I really, really love this song. It's so pretty and summery! It's got a very catchy melody, and Natalie continues to be one of my 3 or so favorite vocalists in pop music today. This contends for her best non-"Torn" song. Really fun and amazing."

6. My Chemical Romance - "Teenagers"
This is bratty, entitled pop-punk in the way a lot of people hear Avril, but I always just find Avril silly. Not that I don't like Avril. Anyways, this is MCR's "Girlfriend", and it beats Avril at her own game, as it manages to have an even more infectious chorus, and be self-entitled in a much less annoying way.

5. Rihanna - "Shut Up and Drive"
I love the lyrics to this though, even if the central analogy is a bit obvious (Prince, for one, made the same analogy 20 years ago). The melody grabs me too, and yeah the "Blue Monday" sample is a bit too obvious for my tastes, but I think it all works.

4. Spoon - "The Underdog"
Yeah, this one shocked me. I thought there was no way I could like another indie song this much, and had basically written off that "Take Me Out" was a fluke and I was done with indie after that. This, on the other hand, is definitely the best indie song since "Take Me Out", with it's stuttering guitar line, hand claps, and great horn hook. The vocal hook is deceptively simple on this, it seems like he's just rambling on and on, but it gets hella stuck in my head anyways. It's all about the instrumentation on this, and it manages to be really danceable too!

3. Aly & AJ - "Potential Break Up Song"
OMG Greg likes an Aly and AJ Song. I dedicated an entire post to this song. It is located here.

2. Natasha Bedingfield - "I Wanna Have Your Babies"
I'm absolutely shocked that TashBed released a song that I like even more than "Unwritten", but here we are. If Natalie Imbruglia is not my favorite female vocalist in pop today, then TashBed is. I dunno what it is about her mannered vocals I love, but it just works for me. This is completely bonkers in both the music and the lyrics, and I admire its sheer dedication to bonkers-ness. Tash's performance really sells here that she's holding in, about to explode, ready to burst. The whole song is just bursting just below the seams with warmth and energy and love. It makes this the most true to new crush/first love song I've heard in a long, long time. This was #1 on my list for a lot of the year, and I keep liking it more and more. I like this song more than I liked "Sweet Temptation", but less than I liked "Not This Year".

1. Miley Cyrus - "See You Again"
Obviously, this is not a surprising placement. I have written very much about this song already, which is my favorite Miley song ever and has the best pure melody since "Come Clean", at least. And NOT ONLY that, but it features Miley's best ever vocal performance, by far. The whole chorus is just pure musical genius. Best part is still "My best friend Leslie says 'Oh she's just being Miley'."

Thus we have the best 30 singles of the year. Future posts will explore best albums, TV shows, and movies (featuring a TRUE SHOCKER at #1), but not for another week or two probably.

Album Review: Hannah Montana 2/Meet Miley Cyrus

Really belated review of the new Hannah Montana soundtrack, but better late than never. Or so they say.

The new Hannah Montana soundtrack features two different disks, one of which is by "Hannah Montana" and the other is by "Miley Cyrus". From a musical standpoint, there's not too much of a difference, but from a lyrical standpoint, the first disk consists primarily of lyrics very similar to the first soundtrack: songs that directly reference the show/character, inspirational stuff, etc. Disk 2 seems to have lyrics that are more typical of a teen pop album of this era: boys, breakups, etc. But what they both have in common is their maddening inconsistency. Disney, for the life of them, just cannot seem to develop a whole album's worth of good songs for Hannah. In this case, going with the two disk format was probably a mistake, as a really solid album could be made from the highlights of the two disks.

The main problem with the Hannah Montana disk is the proliferation of really boring ballads that go nowhere ("Make Some Noise", "True Friend") and boring rock songs that go nowhere ("You and Me Together", "Bigger Than Us") and boring R&B songs that go nowhere ("Old Blue Jeans"). Three of the four Radio Disney focus songs to this point (namely "Nobody's Perfect", "We Got The Party", and "Life's What You Make It") are actually quite good songs, somewhat surprisingly. "Nobody's Perfect" is a song that I really disliked originally, but which repeated RD exposure has brought me around on. I really like it now! And "We Got the Party" is just such a fun little reggae rock song. Additionally, "One in a Million" is a really pretty ballad that I like a lot, and "Rock Star", though not quite as good as it could be, is still a good little song. Still, that's a hit rate of 5/10, which is not particularly impressive.

Meet Miley Cyrus opens with a bang, as the first two songs on the album are the 2 best songs on the entire 2-cd album. The opening track is "See You Again" and my God it's amazing. When was it released, 1986? It's got such an awesome retro sound and melody and great lyrics too! The album segues from that to "East Northumberland High", another really catchy number. "ENH" has really great teen lyrics and a fun melody. Unfortunately, it all noodles into pretty boring teen dance stuff and ballads after that, and it's off to snooze-land. There's a bit of interesting musical choices, like the latin tinge to "Let's Dance", but for the most part the melodies aren't too catchy and the sugar rush overload production is a bit too much and gets annoying. Which isn't too say the whole rest of the album is bad: "Right Here" is a good song, so is "Start All Over", just that it all tends to blend together and that it's tough to listen to in long stretches.

Inspired by Dave Moore Here's a one album condensation that might actually make an enjoyable listening experience:

Hannah Montana 2
1. "We Got The Party"
2. "Nobody's Perfect"
3. "Rock Star"
4. "Life's What You Make It"
5. "One in a Million"

Meet Miley Cyrus
6. "See You Again"
7. "East Northumberland High"
8. "Right Here"
9. "Start All Over"
10. "I Miss You"

As it stands, though the highlights are as high as any album released this year, I cannot imagine listening to this whole thing in one go, and I can't in good conscience rate an album like that highly. C+. (The one disk condensation would be like a B+ or something). But you have to at least listen to "See You Again", which is probably the best song the Diz machinery will ever produce. There's a pretty good chance it will end up my single of the year (I like both it and "Shut Up And Drive" better than "Sweet Temptation (Hollow)", my single of the year for 2006).

28th Annual Young Artist Awards

Before I get into the 28th annual Young Artist Award nominations, let me take a second to revise my previous post. I said that I didn't know why I loved Antonella Barba, but actually it's pretty clear. She is (by far) the most attractive female finalist, she's got a really great soulful tone to her voice, she's confident without being cocky, and she comes off as genuinely likeable. It still seems like AI wanted me to hate her, but I think she's an almost lock for the top 12 (I'd say her, Gina, Melinda, and Jordin seem very likely to make the final 12 at this point). Doing a bit of research at lunch today I noted there is a strong correlation between Antonella fans and McPhee fans, which makes me feel better.

OK, the main thrust. The nominations for the 28th annual Young Artist Awards have been released, and here I will go through them, blow by blow, giving the offical TCR endorsed winner in each category. There's a shitload of categories, so strap in. Fun.

BEST PERFORMANCE IN A FEATURE FILM/Leading Young Actor
Thomas Sangster - "Nanny McPhee"
Logan Lerman - "Hoot"
Connor Donovan - "Twelve and Holding"
Alex Neuberger - "Running Scared"
Cameron Bright - "Running Scared"
Josh Hutcherson - "RV"

TCR Endorsed Selection: Logan Lerman. He stars in the only of these movies I've seen, though he wasn't anything special. I've never even heard of 2 of em.

BEST PERFORMANCE IN A FEATURE FILM/Leading Young Actress
Sara Paxton - "Aquamarine"
Dakota Fanning - "Charlotte's Web"
Brie Larson - "Hoot"
Keke Palmer - "Akeelah and the Bee"
Emily Rios - "Quinceanera"
Keisha Castle-Hughes - "Nativity Story"

TCR Endorsed Selection: Keke Palmer. My love for Sara Paxton and Brie Larson are well known by now but they aren't very good in these respective roles. Sorry Sara, take a walk. Keke, on the other hand, was great (and was good in Jump In too). Do they give speeches at these awards? If so, I'd lean towards supporting Brie just to hear her acceptance speech. For now I'll stick with Keke. Dakota is the reigning winner in this category (Dreamer).

BEST PERFORMANCE IN A FEATURE FILM/Supporting Young Actor
Cameron Bright - "X-Men: The Last Stand"
Tristan Lake Leabu - "Superman Returns"
Rory Culkin - "The Night Listener"
Connor Paolo - "World Trade Center"
Chase Ellison - "End of the Spear"
Troy Gentile - "Nacho Libre"
Josh Flitter - "Big Momma's House 2"

TCR Endorsed Selection: Cameron Bright. I only saw two of these movies, and I hated the little kid in Superman Returns. Leech is the choice here, despite his rather unchallenging role. At least he didn't screw anything up.

BEST PERFORMANCE IN A FEATURE FILM/Supporting Young Actress
Zoe Weizenbaum - "Twelve and Holding"
Emma Roberts - "Aquamarine"
Joanna "Jojo" Levesque - "Aquamarine"
Hallie Kate Eisenberg - "How to Eat Fried Worms"
Hannah Marks - "Accepted"
Lucy Boynton - "Miss Potter"
Allison Stoner - "Step Up"

TCR Endorsed Selection: Emma Roberts. The movie sucked, and it wasn't her best performance, but she was still very good.

BEST PERFORMANCE IN A FEATURE FILM/Young Actor Age Ten or Younger
Seamus Davey-Fitzpatrick - "Omen"
Jimmy Bennett - "Firewall"
Noah Gray-Cabey - "Lady in the Water"
Jake Johnson - "Talladega Nights"
Nathan Gamble - "Babel"
Dylan Blue - "Deck the Halls"
Jake Cherry - "Night at the Museum"

TCR Endorsed Selection: Jake Cherry. Didn't see a single one of these films and haven't heard of a single one of these actors. Just picked at random. From now on I'll skip a category if I have no idea or no favorite.

BEST PERFORMANCE IN A FEATURE FILM/Young Actress Age Ten or Younger
Tatum McCann - "Click"
Ryan Newman - "Zoom"
Chloe Grace Moretz - "Big Momma's House 2"
Elle Fanning - "Babel"
Sage Kermes - "Sweetland"
Abigail Breslin - "Little Miss Sunshine"

TCR Endorsed Selection: Abigail Breslin is the obvious choice here. Probably a slam dunk, as she is nominated for an Oscar (won't win, but still...).

BEST PERFORMANCE IN A FEATURE FILM/Young Ensemble Cast
"Nanny McPhee"
"How to Eat Fried Worms"
"Santa Clause 3: The Escape Clause"
"Unaccompanied Minors"

TCR Endorsed Selection: "Unaccompanied Minors". An entertaining film.

[Skipping various international and short film categories, for hopefully obvious reasons.]

BEST PERFORMANCE IN A TV MOVIE, MINISERIES or SPECIAL (Comedy or Drama)/Leading Young Actor
Zac Efron - "High School Musical"
Jason Dolley - "Read It and Weep"
Matthew Knight - "Candles on Bay Street"
Micah Williams - "The Ron Clarke Story"
Brandon Smith - "The Ron Clarke Story"

TCR Endorsed Selection: Zac Efron. He was truly great as Troy Bolton, kid's got some real talent.

BEST PERFORMANCE IN A TV MOVIE, MINISERIES or SPECIAL (Comedy or Drama)/Leading Young Actress
Vanessa Anne Hudgens - "High School Musical"
Sammi Hannatty - "Hello Sister, Goodbye Life"
Kay Panabaker - "Read It and Weep"
Maya Ritter - "Molly: American Girl on the Homefront"
Hannah Hodson - "The Ron Clarke Story"

TCR Endorsed Selection: Kay Panabaker. Hopefully by now this won't surprise anybody. As explained in an old post here, Sammi Hanratty's nomination is a big joke.

BEST PERFORMANCE IN A TV MOVIE, MINISERIES or SPECIAL (Comedy or Drama)/Supporting Young Actor
Corbin Bleu - "High School Musical"
Beans El-Balaui - "Half Light"
Jake Smith - "For the Love of a Child"
Jonah Meyerson - "Griffin and Phoenix"
Andrew Chalmers - "Molly: American Girl on the Homefront"
Benjamin Petry - "The Lost Room"

TCR Endorsed Selection: Anybody but Corbin Bleu. Too hammy in that role, for my taste (he was good in Jump In). Lucas Grabeel was robbed (too old?).

[Skipping best supporting actress as I know nothing of any of the nominated films. Nobody from HSM was nominated. Presumably, Ashley Tisdale was already too old.]

BEST PERFORMANCE IN A TV SERIES (Comedy or Drama)/Leading Young Actor
Cole Sprouse - "The Suite Life of Zack and Cody"
Tyler Williams - "Everybody Hates Chris"
Michael Seater - "Life With Derek"
Dylan Sprouse - "The Suite Life of Zack and Cody"
Devon Werkheiser - "Ned's Declassified School Survival Guide"
Kyle Massey - "That's So Raven"
Jamie Johnston - "Degrassi: The Next Generation"

TCR Endorsed Selection: Michael Seater. He was great on Strange Days at Blake Holsey High and is great on this show too, despite the fact that it's not that good. Kyle and Jamie would be fine choices as well. The Sprouses were nominated together last year, but separately this year. If they win, there is no God.

BEST PERFORMANCE IN A TV SERIES (Comedy or Drama)/Leading Young Actress
Ashley Leggat - "Life With Derek"
Emma Roberts - "Unfabulous"
Jamie Lynn Spears - "Zoey 101"
Mikey Cyrus - "Hannah Montana"
Christa B. Allen - "Cake"

TCR Endorsed Selection: Emma Roberts. Once again, by now this will not surprise any reader of my blog. I think Emma's superb. Jamie Lynn and Miley being nominated is another hilarious joke. Ashley Leggat does very fine work on her show (and is a personal favorite). She wouldn't be a bad choice except that Emma totally outclasses her.

BEST PERFORMANCE IN A TV SERIES (Comedy or Drama)Supporting Young Actor
Daniel Magder - "Life With Derek"
Andrew Chalmers - "Darcy's Wild Life"
Dan Curtiss Lee - "Ned's Declassified School Survival Guide"
Paul Butcher - "Zoey 101"
Dean Collins - "The War at Home"
Alexander Gould - "Weeds"
Jesse Plemons - "Friday Night Lights"

TCR Endorsed Selection: Andrew Chalmers. I don't think I've talked about Darcy's much here, but I'm a big fan of the show. Sara Paxton's a big part of that, but the supporting cast is very talented as well.

BEST PERFORMANCE IN A TV SERIES (Comedy or Drama)Supporting Young Actress
Miranda Cosgrove - "Drake and Josh"
Victoria Justice - "Zoey 101"
Emily Osment - "Hannah Montana"
Allie Grant - "Weeds"
Mackenzie Rosman - "7th Heaven"
Aimee Teegarden - "Friday Night Lights"
Hayden Panettiere - "Heroes"

TCR Endorsed Selection: Mackenzie Rosman. The best actor on the show, which I admittedly haven't seen in a couple years. Hayden's really improved over the course of the season, but not good enough. Emily Osment wouldn't be a bad choice either, I suppose, but she's a bit manic and shouty for my taste. And Hannah Montana winning an acting award would be so very wrong.

[Skipping Best Age 10 or under actor as the only ones I recognize are the Brino twins from Seventh Heaven and CJ Sanders from Heroes and I hate em both.]

BEST PERFORMANCE IN A TV SERIES (Comedy or Drama)/Young Actress Age Ten or Younger
Ariel Gade - "Invasion"
Ariel Waller - "Life With Derek"
Maria Lark - "Medium"
Billi Bruno - "According to Jim"
Conchita Campbell - "The 4400"
Emily Everhard - "Cake"

TCR Endorsed Selection: Oh, Conchita Campbell by a mile, she's really great. All due respect to the v. good Ariel Walker, but this is the biggest walk in any category yet.

BEST PERFORMANCE IN A TV SERIES (Comedy or Drama)/Guest Starring Young Actress
Alyson Stoner - "The Suite Life of Zack and Cody"
Emily Hirst - "Smallville"
Sammi Hanratty - "The Suite Life of Zack and Cody"
Tay Blessey - "Cold Case"
Monet Monico - "The Suite Life of Zack and Cody"
Chloe Grace Monetz - "Desparate Housewives"
Rachel Rogers - "Monk"

TCR Endorsed Selection: Was gonna skip this, but Chloe Grace Monetz deserves to win, she's a cutie pie. Had no idea (two time YAA nominated!) Sammi Hanratty was in Suite Life. Love Monk but Rachel had about 2 lines in this role.

BEST PERFORMANCE IN A TV SERIES (Comedy or Drama) Recurring Young Actor
Louis T. Noyle - "My Name Is Earl"
Noah Crawford - "My Name is Earl"
Masam Holden - "ER"
Daniel Goldman - "Dexter"
Jacob Kraemer - "Naturally Sadie"
Tyler Patrick Jones - "The Ghost Whisperer"
Cody Linley - "Hannah Montana"
Charley Stewart - "The Suite Life of Zack and Cody"
Adam Langley - "Ned's Declassified School Survival Guide"
Marc Donato - "Degrassi: The Next Generation"

TCR Endorsed Selection: Cody Linley. He's the best part of the show, when he's on. Way too many nominees in this category.

[Skipping recurring young actress as I have no feelings one way or another on any of the nominated ones. I've heard of a few of them, but none make an impression.]

BEST YOUNG ENSEMBLE PERFROMANCE IN A TV SERIES (Comedy or Drama)
"Unfabulous"
"Life With Derek"
"Darcy's Wild Life"
"Zoey 101"

TCR Endorsed Selection: Life With Derek. A very strong category, any of the choices would make me happy except Zoey 101 (actually the reigning winner). I was nearly tempted to pick Unfabulous, entirely based on Emma, but Derek has the much deeper cast overall. And it feels more like an ensemble, than Unfabulous, which is a one person show. Just because the writing sucks isn't their fault. Darcy's Wild Life, like Unfabulous, is too dependent on the excellent performance of its lead to deserve an award like this.

BEST FAMILY TELEVISION MOVIE or SPECIAL
"The Ron Clark Story"
"High School Musical"
"Hello Sister, Goodbye Life"
"Candles on Baystreet"
"Molly: An American Girl on the Homefront"
"For the Love of a Child"

TCR Endorsed Selection: High School Musical. Hello Sister, Goodbye Life being nominated over Read It and Weep is awful, but HSM would deserve to win anyways. Presumably it will win.

BEST FAMILY TELEVISION SERIES (Drama)
"Invasion"
"Saved"
"Flight 29 Down"
"7th Heaven"
"Brothers and Sisters"
"Ghost Whisperer"
"Friday Night Lights"

TCR Endorsed Selection: Flight 29 Down, though none of these shows are really any good. Ghost Whisperer stole Joan of Arcadia from me, and I will always hate it for that.

BEST FAMILY TELEVISION SERIES (Comedy)
"The Suite Life of Zack and Cody"
"Darcy's Wild Life"
"Ned's Declassified School Survival Guide"
"Unfabulous"
"Zoey 101"
"My Name is Earl"

TCR Endorsed Selection: Unfabulous. Interesting to me that Life With Derek wasn't nominated after all those cast nominations, but the writing is just so bad. Anyways Unfabulous an easy choice to me, though Darcy's Wild Life is good too. But just say no (justfanoe) to Zoey 101.

[The last four categories are all awards for best feature films in various ways, and since I saw so few movies I'm skipping them all. I do, however, support Akeelah and the Bee for best drama.]

Final Year End Listamania

Year End Miscellany:

Contrary to previous posts I've decided to forgo a top 10 albums list this year. The reason being that I am laughably behind in album listening this year. By the time I get around to processing all of the albums there's a good chance that I'll like from this year, it will be well beyond the point at which it would be reasonable to release a 2006 year in review list. There are about 5 albums this year that I am pretty confident will make my top 10 this year, when I've finally processed all the relevant albums. They are, in approximately this order, Amy Diamond's Still Me Still Now Marit Larsen's Under the Surface Gothic Archies' The Tragic Treasury Paris Hilton's Paris and Ciara's The Evolution. You could call that a top 5, I guess, except that there are in all likelihood at least one (maybe more) albums I have yet to listen to that might make the top 5, and I'm still processing Ciara, and she might move up. I'm pretty confident in declaring Amy Diamond's Still Me Still Now as the album of the year, at this point. Top 5 artists of the year: Aly & AJ, Miley Cyrus, Dr. Luke, Amy Diamond, Fergie. Fergie, not because she made the best music of anybody not above her, but because she managed to shatter my previous extreme hatred of her prior to this year, which was a remarkable accomplishment. I'm counting Miley's TV work, which may be unfair, but it is what it is. And it's better for Aly & AJ overall if I don't count Cow Belles. I do count Aly's work on Phil of the Future because as explained I consider that to be a key part of their image, but it doesn't matter because they'd rank number 1 without it anyways. And like I said before I didn't even see 10 movies this year, but my favorite movie that I DID see was, of course, High School Musical with The Departed being the best real movie that I saw.

So congrats to Lillix, The 4400, Amy Diamond, Aly & AJ, and High School Musical for winning all the TCR awards this year.

Top 11 Things to Look Forward to in 2007

OK with all year end content out of the way, let's look forward instead of backwards and see what we have to look forward to in 2007. Unlike all the prior year in review stuff, I will confine this to the theme of my blog. So it's solely things in the entertainment media that are in a broad sense relevant to teen culture. This is for entertainment purposes only, I'm just basing this on what I know for a fact is coming out in 2007, with little research to figure out what else is gonna be out. TV and movies, for whatever reason tend to take me by surprise more than music, so there is more music on this list than the other two. OK, with those caveats, here goes:

11. Ashely Tisdale
Coming out with a new album in 2007, starring in High School Musical 2 and The Suite Life of Zack & Cody, 2007 looks like it may be an even better year for The Tis than 2006 was. She was always my favorite of the HSM stars, and while her new singles aren't outstanding, they are pretty good, and I'm certainly looking forward to seeing what she has in store for us in 2007. Her acting will, I'm sure, be excellent as always, though wasted on the cesspool that is The Suite Life

10. Jordan Pruitt - No Ordinary Girl
The full album by Jordan Pruitt promises to be a good one, as I've enjoyed all the songs she's released so far, though to varying degrees. I can only hope they are going more with the confessional sound of "Outside Looking In" than the R&B sounds of her other songs.

9. Natasha Bedingfield - Blank Canvas
Her first album, Unwritten, is not impossibly one of my top 10 albums of the 2000's, and it spawned several great singles. Including the title track, which was one of my 10 favorite singles of 2005. I have no particular reason to think that this one will be inferior to her debut, but for whatever reason I am not super psyched for this release. Still, for all my (possibly unfounded) doubts that this one will rise to the heights of her debut, I'm obviously looking forward to this release by one of my favorite current British pop stars (probably my second favorite, behind Rachel Stevens. [Hey when's her comeback gonna be?])

8. New Brie Larson Album
Contrary to the above, I'm actually not 100% sure that this is coming out in 2007. But I'm listing it anyways because I think it is and I love Brie Larson. Anyways, even though her last album wasn't great, the three tracks she's since posted on her Myspace ("Coming Around" [Greg's #28 single of the year], "Stilts and the Titanic" and a cover of "A Day in the Life") have all been better than any of the songs on her first album. This, plus the great writing on her blog, makes me extremely excited for the full new album to be released.

7. Hannah Montana
New season of the show and new songs? Awesome! I guess I'm not 100% sure that new Hannah Montana songs will be released in 2007, which is why this doesn't rank higher, but it's probably a safe assumption. The new season of Hannah Montana, presumably featuring the return of Jake Ryan and showcasing improved acting talents from the kids, promises to be superior to the first year of the show. My number 2 artist of 2006 may well by my number 1 artist of 2007 if she is able to keep up.

6. Nancy Drew
I've hardly seen a movie with more disparagingly negative comments about it prior to its release. Everywhere that I've read about it has been an attack on the proposed casting of the roles. Apparently they are cast too young or against type or whatever. I don't know and I don't care because I never have and never intend to read a Nancy Drew book. Mystery movies and books bore me. BUT, this movie stars Emma Roberts as Nancy, and Kay Panabaker and Amy Bruckner as her best friends, so I'm extremely excited for it. Kay Panabaker doesn't have much to make me excited for 2007, just this movie a mediocre looking horse movie called Moondance Alexander (that I surely will nonetheless see on opening day) and a likely straight to DVD release of an update of the Prince and the Pauper starring the Sprouse twins. A fairly weak slate, but she plus Emma make this movie one that I am marking in my calendar.

5. New Hilary Duff album
Hilary has yet to release a consistently great album, and I have no reason to think that this will be the one. But she has been a consistently great singles artist, and her two albums so far have all featured several excellent songs. Even Most Wanted had a great original ("Wake Up") and a pretty good original ("Beat of My Heart"). "Play With Fire" was amazing, "With Love" sounds pretty good, and there's no reason to think there won't be at least a couple other songs on this new album that I will absolutely love. I can't wait.

4. High School Musical 2
Well, I have my doubts that they will be able to re-capture the magic of the first movie, but how could I not be really excited for this film. Will it be as effortlessly enjoyable as the first movie? Will it spawn another single as great as "Breaking Free"? Who knows! Like I said, I have my doubts, but I certainly hope so, and I'm certainly looking forward to finding out. The whole main four of the cast is great, so if nothing else, I'm sure they will salvage entertainment out of the film.

3. Season 3 of Unfabulous
My favorite teen/tween TV show currently on the air returns for a third season this year, delayed way too long since the end of season 2. Season 2 ended on a high note with Addie and Jake getting together. I hope they can run with that and produce a season even better than they've gotten so far, propelling this into the list of the truly great shows of its type, such as Phil of the Future. OK, maybe that's not very likely. But as long as it's got Emma Roberts on board it's gonna stay one of the most entertaining shows on television.

2. New Aly & AJ album
You know what, I think I've finally written enough about them. Please though let this be their first consistently great album.

1. New Kelly Clarkson album
The number one slot on this list was a lock before the list was even drawn up. Breakaway remains, as I have noted several times before, my favorite album of the decade to this point (Come and Get It is close). The new songs that she's debuted on tour, including "Maybe" and "Anymore" have been absolutely amazing. So, I'll conveniently ignore that the most recent song she's released, a song called "Go" written for Ford, was completely mediocre. There is not a piece of entertainment media that I have ever looked forward to as much as I am looking forward to this.

Of course, I'm sure most of my favorites by year-end won't be represented on this list, but that's part of the fun! We can check how good my predictions were later.

Top 14 Shows on TV

As part 2 of my year-end content, I'm going to cover my 14 favorite current shows on TV (again considering all shows, not just those relevant to my blog). All that remains is my top 10 albums list, which will be coming soon. No movies list because I don't watch movies. I didn't even see 10 movies this year, if you don't count TV movies, which makes it rather difficult to make a top 10.

So here are my top 14 shows on TV. Counting mainly the "current" quality of the show (meaning the recent episodes and how good I expect the future episodes to be), with historical quality being used as a tiebreaker. And of course only shows currently airing new episodes are eligible for this list. Presented in convenient countdown format, as always, with some commentary.

(14, because I was having trouble narrowing it down to 10 and there was a big dropoff after 14. Didn't count because I don't know if they are gonna air new episodes: Beauty and the Geek and Darcy's Wild Life.)

14. Heroes (NBC)
NBC's new hit show has promise but moves a bit too slowly for my tastes. It's starting to show signs that it's all gonna pay off, and not totally fizzle out (like, say, Lost), but I have my doubts that it's all gonna end satisfactorily. Nevertheless, it's been a fun setup and I'm enjoying the show a lot as is. I won't feel comfortable ranking it higher until I see how the storylines start to ravel up. The last episode before the new year was a great start in that regard. This could move way up in short fashion.

13. Desperate Housewives (ABC)
I think this is the best of ABC's trifecta of hit dramas (this show, Grey's Anatomy, and Lost), because unlike those shows this show has compelling plots and likeable characters. And this last season has been the best one yet, even better than the first season. Extremely entertaining and watchable; just because it does not engage one intellectually doesn't mean it's bad. There's a place for brainless fun on television, and this does it better than most.

12. True Life/Made/The Real World (MTV)
This is cheating, but this slot represents the entirety of the MTV reality show catalogue. None of MTV's other reality shows engage me. Laguna Beach would have made it last year, but the last season sucked ass. But I do so love these 3 shows. The Real World has been down lately, but the Denver season looks to be the best one since San Diego, after a long string of mediocre seasons. True Life and Made are always entertaining looks into the real world. The problem with Made is that a lot of the kids are annoying and unlikeable, but when the kid on the show is likeable (as in, say, the "Girly Girl" or "Beauty Pageant" episode, or the one with the fat kid who wanted to be skinny and then struck out with his crush) it's one of the most entertaining shows on television. Similarly, True Life has many boring episodes, but it also has produced a lot of extremely compelling TV (like the "Friends With Benefits" episode or the one about dieting). A very underrated network. Inconsistency prevents it from climbing higher on the list

11. Entourage (HBO)
Entourage had a great first two seasons. The last season, season 3, was rather weak but I still hold high hope that this can find its voice again. Jeremy Piven is, of course, excellent and the rest of the cast is quite good as well. A funny show, and it can really crackle when the plots are working and pushing forward, as in season 1 and 2, but when the show is running in traction with Vince acting like a whiny baby all the time and Ari not given much to do but yell a lot it gets tedious, the show can really drag. One that would have ranked much higher a year ago, and that hopefully will rank much higher again.

10. Hannah Montana (Disney Channel)
As I've said several times before, its still a show I see great promise in. Yeah, it's got the same problems it's always had. The acting is poor, the plots and jokes are ridiculous, the physical comedy is over the top, the characters and drama are not handeld well. But it's also still incredibly cute and eminently watchable, the music is great, and the kids have great chemistry. Not exactly a classic, and Phil of the Future is still way better, but this is still wholly entertaining.

9. American Idol (Fox)
Speaking of shallow, eminently watchable, slightly guilty pleasures...Well, once again, I love this show. I guess that shouldn't surprise any of the readers here. But this show, among all reality shows, does a great job of getting people to root for their favorites and hate their least favorites. And they don't even develop personalities or anything! I can't explain it, but I find it totally engrossing. Maybe the talent's not the greatest, but that hardly even matters. And the show is still capable of producing great musical moments like Kelly C's "Stuff Like That There".

8. Shark (CBS)
The best of the new class of shows, in my opinion, this show seems on the surface to be a rote copying of the procedural crime/lawyer shows that currently permeate the air. And in a lot of ways it is. But James Woods is appropriately over-the-top as the main character, Jeri Ryan is great as always, and even the assistant DA's are all a lot of fun to watch. Maybe the crimes/mysteries aren't super engrossing, but the character interactions are always fun to watch. And, yeah, Danielle Panabaker as Shark's daugher certainly doesn't hurt. She does a really great job, and is starting to be pretty attractive. I would expect no less of a member of the Panabaker clan.

7. How Do I Look? (Style)
This show is a fashion makeover show, which makes it one of a hundred on TV. But I really love how every episode of this show tells a completed story. Everybody starts out confident in their style, gets torn down through meanness and sadness, and then is built back up from scratch, as a confident woman! Yay! Finola Hughes is great as the host, and the scene where all the family members tear into the main subject for their bad fashion is oddly compelling. Maybe it's one of a large type, but it's the best of that type by far.

6. House (Fox)
I still love this show, even though the format is getting a little stale. Hugh Laurie's performance, though great, is untested as he is always given the exact same things to do episode after episode. House's assistants are all growing to be a bit too one note as well. The episodes are too formulaic, and most of their attempts to break from the formula (e.g. the season finale for season 2 and season premiere for season 3) have gone really poorly (although "Three Stories" was, of course, a classic). The multi-episode arcs (Vogler, Stacy, Tritter) have all been disasters. That being said, all the actors have their characters nailed by now, and the formula IS extremely entertaining. This last season hasn't been too great, but it's still got those great actors and that great formula going for it. And Dr. Cameron is a hottie.

5. Unfabulous (Nickelodon)
Still the best teen/tween show on TV. Executed perfectly. Emma Roberts is great. For all this and more, see this post I already wrote, extolling the virtues of the show. Genuinely funny, and I love how they begin every episode with an out-of-context clip from later on in that same episode.

4. Monk (USA)
Although this show HAS become a bit weaker over time, it's still firing on most of its cylinders. I actually prefer Natalie to Sharona (or at least I like them equally), because even though Traylor Howard may not be Bitty Schram's equal, I love Natalie's cute and sweet relationship with "Mr. Monk" (I also like how she calls him "Mr. Monk") . And I like Julie a hell of a lot more than I ever liked Benji. The problem is that the plots to the episodes have become progressively more and more gimmicky and progressively less and less about any of the characters other than Monk. Not that I don't like Monk, and Tony Shalhoub is brilliant of course, but I love the supporting characters too! The actors and characters still make this show extremely entertaining.

3. It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia (FX)
The funniest show on TV, yet sadly it seems to be little known. There's no depth to the show, and no real characters or relationships, but that's hardly what a show like this is about. As much as I normally strongly prefer "clean" and simple humor to the more "adult" kind, and as much as I normally dislike humor based mostly around shattering taboos, every single episode of this show has several big laughs. But all this talk of "adult" humor or "simple" humor or "shattering taboos" is silly and lazy, because most of the humor of this show IS of the classic variety, based around hilarious dialogue and irony. To me, as always, humor based on hilarious dialogue is way funnier than humor based on characters being put in funny situations or acting self-consciously wacky or stupid. (Which is, by the way, why I still can't stand Meet the Parents, Will Ferrell movies, and the majority of modern comedies.) But the humor on that show rarely reaches this level.

2. How I Met Your Mother (CBS)
The best show on network TV today singlehandedly proves that the seemingly stale old sitcom formula still has plenty of life in it. I am a big fan of that old formula, and this show IS the modern day Friends, which I loved (although is it intellectual suicide to admit that?). While not quite reaching the heights of humor of It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia there is an underlying sweetness that permeates this show, and that plus the great character relationships push that above this. Not that this show isn't hilarious, because it is. And the second season, currently in the middle of airing, has been a big step above the first season (see, for example "Ted Moseby, Architect" or "Slap Bet"). The first season had its share of highlights as well (in particular "Okay Awesome" and "The Pineapple Incident"), but it got worse towards the end. So I was totally unprepared for the complete awesomeness of season 2. If it keeps up the quality of the first half of the second season, we could be seeing a real classic unfolding here.

1. The 4400 (USA)
Like Lost or Heroes this show is a science fiction type show with long, epic storylines that unfold during the course of several episodes. Unlike those shows, this show maintains a strong interest throughout by moving at a breakneck pace. Multiple important events and revelations during each episode is a matter of course, with all the events leading to further interesting mysteries and storylines. Maybe it's because one season of The 4400 is barely more than half the length of those other shows, so they have to pack everything in much faster. Maybe it's just that the writers have better ideas. I dunno. All I know is that with all the questions that have been done on this show, few have been settled too slowly or quickly and few have been answered unsatisfactorily. Each season has been totally different from the last, and each has been better than the last. And the most recent season, season 3, ended last summer with an excellent series finale that left several interesting cliffhangers which may, in fact, change the entire nature of the show yet again. There's no way I could have seen this coming from the mediocre original miniseries, but I feel quite comfortable declaring this to be the best show on TV right now. And Heroes is totally a ripoff of this.