An Update On Ashley Tisdale

Ashley Tisdale was one of two EdgeMusic Artists of the Week featured from June 20-27, 2009. She tied for first with KSM. Since then, she has done heavy promotion for her second album "Guilty Pleasure" and her most recent film "Aliens In The Attic" which both premiered during the same week in July.

Since then, her film opened up below average at #5 with 8 million in its first weekend. The film has grossed over $24 million, but she's still at work on acting. She's continuing her voiceover role as Candace on Disney's "Phineas and Ferb". Also, she's at work on a new role, which had her switch back to blonde hair for the first time in a year. Currently, she hasn't confirmed the whole detail on the film, but she plans to reveal the full lowdown in the weeks to come. Ashley was born a brunette, but I was introduced to her as a blonde, so I'm glad she went back to blonde. The brunette hair fit better than I expected for the album, but I was concerned that she would put herself as another ripoff of Miley Cyrus's ripoffs of Diana DeGarmo.

Ashley Tisdale "Guilty Pleasure" CD Review

Ashley Tisdale's first album "Headstrong" started off in a rough spot commercially. Either no one took the time to hear it, or Ashley (June 21 - 28, 2009) didn't take the time to promote it fully with shooting of "High School Musical 2" around that same time. Afterwards, she made up the rest of the promo duties in October of 2007. After earning a Gold certification at 471,000 copies sold, it didn't make a giant impact. But it wasn't a disaster like we quickly assumed considering that it sounded similar to the failed debut album that Diana DeGarmo (May 25 - June 1, 2008) put out.

Now in the year 2009, Ashley might have went to the same hairstylist that DeGarmo had and came out a brunette. But that's not her only change. Her second album "Guilty Pleasure" takes on the pop/rock sound with the electrorock subgenre, which was different from the first album. With the exception of the Timbaland-ish "Crank It Up", the entire album is jammed in the middle between the Hilary Duff/Lindsay Lohan teen rock from Disney's past and the Miley Cyrus/Selena Gomez electronic pop/rock from Disney's present.

The "High School Musical" breakout, whose vocals still aren't as powerful as Demi Lovato's (April 26 - May 3, 2009), sounds scattered on "It's Alright, It's OK". Limping from note to note to high note and sounding like Kidz Bop covering "So What" by Pink (March 1 - 8, 2009), the album's first single doesn't make a giant mistake like it wanted to. As much as she tries to show her growth, the vocals sound constrained, and the amazement is not there. Tisdale hasn't even gotten a handle on the slow ballads yet. On "What If", she struggles to shake off the Broadway pitch for "American Idol" judge Kara DioGuardi's soft tune. It comes across as an outtake from the "High School Musical 3" soundtrack as well as a sequel to the wobbly ballad "Unlove You" from her debut album.

When listening to the lyrics on "Hair", those who miss the blonde ambition she had with Sharpay Evans and Maddie from "The Suite Life of Zack & Cody" will find it hard to endure through the full song. Also sounding like a bad pun, "Hot Mess" is a decent track, but considering what didn't impress already, the album could have been either summed up as a hot mess or made into a more appropriate title for this album until the rest of the album is played.

Listeners are prone to doubt the potential of Disney stars but have never counted out Ashley. As you listen to "Overrated" you can somehow identify it as a top 40 ready smash that would have made a better first single than "It's Alright, It's OK". Ashley could have also substituted in "Masquerade". This radio-friendly jam sounds pitchy when sung live, but it gives Ashley room to grow as a vocalist. She comes out swinging toward the end of the album with knockouts like "Me Without You" and "Switch".

In a typical discussion, Tisdale is often labeled as the fabricated Disney tycoon instantly, but Tisdale's showbiz record has less in common with everyone else than anyone takes the time to notice. While she had her first encounter with Disney at the regular starting age of 13, her first appearance in a Disney product was in the 1998 Pixar film "A Bug's Life". While every other Disney star was still a teenager at their breakthrough, Tisdale turned 21 when "High School Musical" took off. While all of her good Disney friends got record deals from Hollywood Records, Ashley made a bold decision by signing to Warner Bros. Records. It may not get her videos on YouTube due to the label's feud with that website, but they supported every decision Ashley went with. Most of these songs flow better than the first single, and she finishes this round feeling like a champion.

This review can also be read on my Rate Your Music profile (misterturk182)

Diana DeGarmo Is Donning The Dreamcoat Again

Diana DeGarmo (May 25 - June 1, 2009) is enlisted for the Lyric Theatre of Oklahoma's upcoming production of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dream, which she did as a child in Georgia. DeGarmo will be the narrator, while another former American Idol finalist, Anthony Federov, will be Joseph. We are more than glad to see Diana in this new role, but I'm a little concerned. If Diana knew her recording career was still on the line, she would have known better than to not go back to play productions and Broadway musicals.

EdgeMusic Alums Mourn Michael Jackson On Twitter Pt. 2

We continue covering all of the Twitter updates from our EdgeMusic alums mourning the loss of Michael Jackson. Almost everyone has been discussing it on here, so we had to do more than one article. This tweet comes from Varsity Fanclub (VARSITYFC):

"Sad day today :( please pray for Michael Jacksons family and children-VFC"

This next tweet comes from David Archuleta (DavidArchie):

"Ah, I can't get over MJ. I know everyone's talking about it but he deserves the respect. I hope people will appreciate what he's done."

This tweet comes from Jimmy Wayne (JimmyWayne):

"This is one of those days that we'll never forget..."

This next tweet comes from Demi Lovato (ddlovato). This tweet doesn't directly specify the death of Michael Jackson, but you can tell that she's referring to him, because she's combining her mourning for two celebrities since Farrah Fawcett also died yesterday:

"Such a sad day... My prayers are going out to all of the families who lost such inspiring people this week."

Diana DeGarmo (DianaDeGarmo) does her tweet the same way, mourning both Michael and Farrah's death as well as Ed McMahon's death earlier this week:

"i'm already all weepy from Ed Mcmahon, Farrah Fawcet, and MJ. i'm a hot mess right now!"

Diana DeGarmo Can Now Work Without Interruption

Today, we bring you an update on Tanya Marie Quattrocchi, the infamous stalker that has been harassing Diana DeGarmo (May 25 - June 1, 2008) for almost 4 years now. Well, the latest news is that she has plead guilty to four counts of stalking the EdgeMusic alum. The charges also include stalking her mother and a flatmate. Also, the word "flatmate" is the Australian term for "roommate".

Diana, who experienced stardom through season 3 of American Idol, finishing second to Fantasia Barrino. About to turn 22 next month, she has recently starred in "Back to Bacharach & David" and released an independent country EP titled "Unplugged in Nashville" on iTunes.

The 23 year old Australian woman first got charged with identity theft when she stole DeGarmo's credit card information. She then went further into a series of phone calls, text messages, and e-mails. Since then, she has hacked Diana's personal websites and emails, and she phoned ant texted her 939 times in a six month period. Whoa!

Apparently, that's just the beginning. Quattrocchi sent sexually explicit emails to DeGarmo's sister-in-law and work colleague, and in January last year, she sent an email to Diana DeGarmo. It gets even worse. She has hacked into Diana's MySpace profile 700 TIMES between May 2008 and January 2009. We can only wonder if Tanya was the one that convinced us to remove one of Diana's fans from our Vice-President election last November.

Defendant Shaun Pascoe told the judge that she was planning to write a book, and the judge went against it. If released, the book would have given her a FIFTH count of stalking. Pascoe also argued against an immediate jail sentence because of her age. However, Prosecutor Susan Borg ruled in favor of a jail sentence sayting that if she does not go to jail, she will continue stalking Diana.

Yesterday, it has been announced that Tanya has been sentenced to 26 months in Australian prison. That means she won't break free until July 2011, although she will eligible for parole 12 months from now. Australia better not have any computers in their prisons, because Diana cannot afford any more distractions for her career.