Music Stars Reflect on 2009 And Talk Plans for 2010

Billboard caught up with some of our favorite celebrities and asked them about their personal highlights from 2009 and what they’re planning for 2010.

2009 has been year filled with new faces on the music scene. Will it prove to be the year of one hit wonders, or will we be hearing more from these new artists in 2010.

Here are some highlights from the Billboard interviews:

Ke$ha says 2009 was a whirlwind for her. The “TiK ToK” singer says she, “worked really, really hard for the moment she could say she was No. 1.” But what was the highlight of her 2009? She got to leave her waitressing job. She says she told her employers, “I quit, bitches!” In 2010, look out for her album “Animal” on Jan. 5, and soon thereafter, a big tour. “I’m just trying to cover the world in glitter, one country at a time.”

Adam Lambert is so over the controversy surrounding his bawdy performance at the American Music Awards in November (“It’s all in the past,” he says). 2009′s highlight for him was the “American Idol” finale. He calls getting to sing with Queen and Kiss “totally surreal.” In 2010, Lambert will be coming to a town near you, possibly starting with a spring tour that “pulls out all the stops: costumes, fire, dancers, the whole nine yards.”

Justin Bieber’s plans for 2010 include releasing the second half of his album so the “ladies… don’t have to wait.” He says his favorite moment of 2009 was getting to perform at Wembly in London, “even though I broke my foot. I’ll never forget it.” See the cast for yourself in the video as Bieber performs “Love Me” live in New York.

Jay Sean celebrated his first Hot 100 No. 1 in 2009. He says, “how many people manage to get a No. 1? It was such a blessing.” How did he react to finding out his single “Down” had topped the chart? “I dropped the phone!” Sean lets us in on the fact that he may possibly work with Taylor Swift in the new year.

Orianthi first wowed American crowds as the dexterous guitarist for Michael Jackson. She was prominently featured in the footage that makes up the doc “This Is It.” As you might guess, the Australian says that the best moments of 2009 for her were “getting to audition for Michael Jackson’s band and working with him. It was life-changing.” Up her sleeve for 2010 is the release of her debut album, “Believe,” which features a song with Steve Vai and “guitar solos on every track,” as well as a tour in Feb. or March.

The Fray were pleased with the warm reception to their self-titled second album in 2009, they say. But the top moment? Easy. The record was nominated for a Best Pop Vocal Album” Grammy on Dec. 2.

Taylor Momsen Just Wants Her Music To Be “Taken Seriously”

Taylor Momsen is tired of people refusing to take her band, The Pretty Reckless, seriously.

Taylor Momsen who is only 16 years old, became famous after starring in the Blockbuster “How The Grinch Stole Christmas” in the early 2000′s. She’s apparently had a hard time getting people to get past her role in that movie and to look past the “child star” title. Now Taylor is starring on the hit T.V. show, “Gossip Girl.”

Momsen insists that she is wise beyond her years and she just want’s people to take her music and band seriously.

She tells Seventeen magazine, “I think people don’t really take me seriously because I’m 16. And they think most 16 year olds don’t know what they want to do. But I actually really do, because I’ve been thinking about it since I was two… I love working. I’m a workaholic, and no one believes it. I’m in the recording studio until three in the morning.”

“I am angsty. I’ll be angsty until I’m 80 years old. I think that keeps things fresh. But I always think angst is such a derogatory word toward teenagers. It just means you’re figuring s**t out, and I don’t know why that’s a negative thing.”

Michael Jackson’s ‘Thriller’ Video Added To National Film Registry

Michael Jackson’s iconic ‘Thriller’ video has been inducted into the 2009 National Film Registry of the Library of Congress. ‘Thriller’ was one of 25 films that will now rest among other national treasures in the world’s largest archive of film, TV and sound recordings.

‘Thriller’ is the first music video to be named to the registry.

“Because of the way the recording industry is evolving and changing, we thought it would be good to go back to the development of an earlier seismic shift, which was the development of the music video,” said Steve Leggett, coordinator of the National Film Preservation Board.

John Mayer Wants To Get Rid Of His Boobs And Have More Sex

John Mayer is going to be taking a break from dating after all of the publicity surrounding his romance with Jennifer Aniston this past year. Even though he’s going to avoid the dating scene he was recently quoted saying he wants to have more sex.

He told the New York Times about a month ago, “I should be having sex with more girls… It’s crazy to me that in my head, that being 32 and dating women is going to get me in trouble.”

Mayer is a little unhappy with his body right now. Maybe he’s planning on putting on his famous Borat swimsuit?

John said, “I need to get back into the gym. I’m all for having boobs against my chest but not when they’re mine.”

KE$HA Sets New Digital Download Record

KE$HA’s starting off the new year with a bang. She’s at the top of the billboard charts and she just set a new digital download record for the most downloads by a female artist in one week. Her single ‘Tik Tok’ was downloaded 610,000 times beating the previous record of 419,000 held by Lady Gaga’s ‘Just Dance’, which was set exactly one year ago this week.

Interestingly, the overall record for the most digital downloads belongs to Flo-Rida’s ‘Right Round’ which sold 636,000 digital tracks. If the female voice singing the hook sounds familiar, that’s because it belongs to KE$HA. Could it be that everything she touches will turn to gold? If you didn’t know that voice was KE$HA’s, that’s because KE$HA requested not to have a feature credit on the song. She didn’t want it to distract from her debut solo album.

Here’s hoping we’ll be talking a lot more about KE$HA in 2010.

Mika Doesn’t Like Getting Naked

Singer Mika insists he doesn’t like taking his clothes off even though he’s dancing around just wearing white boxer shorts in his music video for “We Are Golden.”

He says, “I’m so prudish. I hate taking my clothes off and it seems funny that I’m now known for running around and dancing in my underpants!”

Mika revealed his fears of getting naked originated from being bullied at school, insisting the bullying left him “cripplingly shy.”

He adds, “As a teenager I was a coward and a loser. I was shy. I was very camp in my own way but I didn’t realize I was. I was bullied for being different. It was so bad that I was worried about surviving into my 20s.”

iMusicDaily’s Top 10 Most Talked About Music Acts of 2009

1. Lady Gaga
The entire world went loco for Gaga this past year. Lady Gaga started 2009 at the top of the Billboard Charts and managed to find her way back there with hit after hit. Just Dance, Poker Face, Love Game, Paparazzi, Bad Romance…the list goes on and on. And don’t forget, “Is Lady Gaga a man?” was one of the most asked questions of 2009. Has anyone figured it out?

2. Taylor Swift
Taylor Swift won the heart of America by being the sweetest and most gracious teenager in history, all while winning every major award at every single awards show including Entertainer of The Year in 2009. She accomplished more in 2009 than most celebrities accomplish over the span of their career. Swift’s star got even brighter following the incident with Kanye West at the MTV VMAs.

3. Michael Jackson
The unfortunate passing of Michael Jackson became the greatest celebration of an artist in history. Sales of Jackson’s music topped the charts and the documentary, ‘This Is It’, made from Jackson’s final dress rehearsal, became a blockbuster at the box office.

4. Susan Boyle
Susan Boyle became a YouTube sensation seemingly overnight while she was a contestant on Britain’s Got Talent. Although Boyle did not win the competition, she has taken the world by storm and sold over 3 million copies of her debut album in the United States alone.

5. Miley Cyrus
From her pole dancing routine at the Teen Choice Awards to her significantly older boyfriend, Disney star Miley Cyrus has been a hot topic of conversation. With all of the scandals aside, it was a big year for Miley with the success of her hits ‘The Climb’ and ‘Party In The USA’. And don’t forget that Miley officially became a Diva this year on Vh1.

6. Beyoncé
Two Words: ‘Single Ladies’.

7. Black Eyed Peas
The Black Eyed Peas officially made a comeback and topped the charts with their first single ‘Boom Boom Pow’ for 12 weeks. The Peas went on to score another No. 1 hit with their second single ‘I Gotta Feeling’.

8. Britney Spears
Many people doubted she could pull off a world tour after the rollercoaster her life has been on, but she proved everyone wrong. In 2009, Britney showed the world that she’s back on track and capable of topping the charts once again. Britney released her singles collection and scored a No. 1 hit with her new single ‘3’.

9. Kelly Clarkson
In 2009, Kelly Clarkson proved that life would suck without her. Clarkson released her fourth studio album, All I Ever Wanted, and topped the charts with her first single ‘My Life Would Suck Without You’. Clarkson’s third single ‘Already Gone’ sparked some controversy for sounding strikingly similar to Beyonce’s ‘Halo’, both written by OneRepublic’s Ryan Tedder.

10. Kings Of Leon
It should come as no surprise that Kings of Leon’s hit ‘Use Somebody’ has been nominated for four Grammy Awards. Their album Only By The Night was just named iTunes Album Of The Year. ‘Use Somebody’ became one of the biggest cover songs of the year with acts like Paramore and Kelly Clarkson performing it.

The Top 10 Singles and Albums On iTunes

Check out iTunes’ top 10 selling singles and albums of the week ending Dec. 28, 2009:

Singles:

1. “Tik Tok,” Ke$ha

2. “Replay,” Iyaz

3. “Fireflies,” Owl City

4. “Bad Romance,” Lady GaGa

5. “Empire State of Mind (feat. Alicia Keys),” Jay-Z

6. “Down (feat. Lil Wayne),” Jay Sean

7. “Whatcha Say,” Jason Derulo

8. “Party In the U.S.A.,” Miley Cyrus

9. “Do You Remember (feat. Sean Paul & Lil Jon),” Jay Sean

10. “Meet Me Halfway,” Black Eyed Peas

Albums:

1. “Ocean Eyes,” Owl City

2. “The Fame Monster (standard),” Lady GaGa

3. “We Are Young Money,” Young Money

4. “Stronger with Each Tear,” Mary J. Blige

5. “Relapse,” Eminem

6. “Glee — The Music, Vol. 2,” Glee Cast

7. “My World,” Justin Bieber

8. “The Element of Freedom,” Alicia Keys

9. “Fearless,” Taylor Swift

10. “Alvin and The Chipmunks: The Squeakquel (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack), Various Artists

Music listeners are eating up Ke$ha’s “Tik Tok.” It is currently burning up the charts, and I think it should be. She has great sound and some catchy fun lyrics.

R&B Singer Mario Joins PETA Campaign

Grammy-nominated R&B Singer Mario is the latest celebrity to lend himself to the PETA campaign in an effort to bring awareness to the treatment of animals. Mario’s image is being used for the “Ink, Not Mink” campaign and you can see the artists “Soul Truth” tattoo on his back. Mario encourages his fans to “be comfortable in your own skin, and let animals keep theirs.”

Still On Top: Susan Boyle Surpasses 3 Million In Sales

Susan Boyle is truly the unlikeliest sensation in the history of music, but she has taken the world by storm since she emerged as a YouTube star following her appearance on Britain’s Got Talent.

Boyle is No. 1 once again on the Billboard charts and is expected to sell another 560,000 copies this week according to HitsDoubleDaily, which has her sales total surpassing 3 million copies in the U.S. alone! That’s not so great news for Mary J. Blige who has to settle for the No. 2 spot, selling 340,000 copies.

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