[ Free For All Friday]

Free For All Friday time! Posts have been lacking this week- apologies! I was going to throw one together today, but got up late and now need to run! Hopefully they'll be a new profile up this weekend, as well as a spruced up oldie!  Happy Halloween!

If you don't know the score, here be the rules:

• Try not to get too perverted-this site still needs to basically be "safe for work".
• If somebody starts a controversial subject, try keeping it civil when dealing with it. If things get out of hand please flag the conversation.
• It would be nice if it stuck to music, but it's not a requirement! So talk about news, current events, how you're getting your hair done next time you hit the hairdresser! Whateves, really!
• No nasty comments aimed at other users.

Inappropriate hugs to all y'all, and wishing you an awesome weekend!

[Watch] Lady Gaga delivers Slightly Sloppy Performance of "Venus" And "Do What U Want" @ X-Factor UK

Lady Gaga brought the ArtPop promotional trail to X-Factor (UK) today. Looking a little worse for wear, the Diva opened the medley with her first ever solo-produced track, Venus. The virtually a capella opening was indicative of the great standard of vocal that was to follow from the Diva- being well supported and well placed pretty much throughout. However, along with her appearance, the performance was, as a whole, kinda sloppy. I'm actually a little surprised to see a performer as accomplished as Gaga serving up something as unbaked as this.

It's actually disconcerting to see the Diva, who has just started the promotion for her third album, already looking exhausted. Hopefully it's not a sign of things to come, as the campaign is only going to intensify. But I'll get off her back because I'm not a physician and for all I know, it could have been some other reason-like her late night yesterday at G-A-Y- that was the cause of the rough edges around today's performance.

[Listen] Mariah Carey Piques Interest With "Art Of Letting Go" Teaser

11.11.13 is the date for the Facebook release (say what?) of Mariah Carey's new single, The Art Of Letting Go. I didn't see this teaser on the date it was released as it was a certain special day for myself, but I thankfully happened to stumble upon it by chance today, three days later.

I am genuinely sooo exited about the song after watching the video. The Diva speaking about the project previously had failed to get my juices going, and even listening to her repeating old clichés during the clip itself didn't excite.

The music playing in the background, however, spoke more loudly than anything Mariah could say: live orchestra, beautiful whistle notes and Larry Gold! All excellent signs that this project will see an evolution and maturing of the Rnb-pop sound Carey has been pushing for well over a decade.

Take a listen to the teaser, below!

[Discuss] Lady Gaga Releases "Venus" Audio While Continuing to Mess-Up ArtPop Campaign

What is going on with Lady Gaga's promotional campaign this era? Artpop got off to an unplanned start when its lead single Applause leaked early, causing the campaign to start ahead of schedule. But that doesn't really excuse, or explain, what's been going on since then.

Venus was billed as the follow-up to Applause, and it seemed like control could finally be taken of the bolting horse. That was until preview/buzz track Do What U Want was (stupidly) released- spending all of ten seconds at number one on an Itune chart somewhere- prompting Gaga's team to give it second single status instead of the planned Venus.

Now that's fair enough. The reaction to the R. Kelly duet was good, so I can understand why they'd want to capitalise on a potential hit record. But with it getting the single treatment, why did team Gaga decide to confuse things by now releasing Venus -which is single number three- in its entirety. Surely it would have made sense to keep the public's focus squarely on Do What U Want, and not cannibalise and distract from it with a future single.

With the messy route being taken, the whole project is in danger of loosing the goodwill and anticipation that the months Gaga went AWOL built. I seriously don't understand how such a valuable commodity- to the record label- can be so dreadfully mismanaged, especially at such an important juncture in her career.

As for Venus, I like it. But it won't be replacing Kylie Minogue's Aphrodite as my favourite pop ode to a Goddess of love. Take a listen to it below, and let me know your thoughts on it and the ArtPop era in general.

[Watch] Janelle Monáe Performs "Electric Lady" @ SNL

Janelle Monáe is one talented firecracker of a Diva. Enjoying (much deserved) critical acclaim with album number three, The Electric Lady, the singer took to Saturday Night Live to give the audience a taster of the LP's title track, where she not only impressed with her elastic pipes, but also her skills as a rapper. (Seriously, I would buy an album of her just spitting bars.)

The monochromatic wonder also performed Dance Apocalyptic, where she apparently knocked over her microphone (but recovered like a boss). However I can't find that clip on video sites, and NBC player won't let me watch it from my country! DARN YOU!  I'm sure it'll pop up at some point. I'll amend the post when that happens!

Enjoy!