Frank Kogan

OK, now that I've admitted finally that Lea Michele is a talent, is there anything you guys want to tell TV-free me about her, or Rachel, or the show? What's she like as an actress? Does she need freeing from the theatah?

In the meantime, Miranda Lambert's "The House That Built Me" is digging in around 30, neither climbing nor falling much, while at 47 "Pray For You" by Jaron And The Long Road To Love seems also to be crossing from country to pop, at least in a minor way. The guy's obvious in his sarcasm, but he's more fun and less of a fuddy-duddy than Aldean or Turner, at least this song is.

( Miley Cyrus )

( Glee Cast )

( Glee Cast )

( Mike Posner )

Ke$ha holds off Artists For Haiti, a result that some people have qualms about, but not me. After all, there are far more avenues for getting money to Haiti than for getting money to Ke$ha.

( Artists For Haiti )

( Josh Turner )

( B.o.B )

New week, little change, and I apparently missed that Disney's green charity track first entered the 40 last week, so really there's only one newbie.

( Disney's Friends For Change )

( Jason DeRulo )

Black Eyed Peas stay on top but Drake emerges as a challenger. And I'm four days late as I rehabilitate my shoulder and deal with the weirdness of embittered strangers.

( Hannah Montana )

( Mariah Carey )

( Boys Like Girls )

( Jason Aldean )

Fairly nondescript week that manages to run the table. Meanwhile, "Stanky Legg" breaks into the Top 50, and the U2 album displaces Taylor, w/ Kelly waiting in the wings.

( Miley Cyrus )

( Beyoncé )

( Darius Rucker )

( Maino f. T-Pain )

Billboard was late posting the Hot 100 yesterday, so this was pushed back a day.

This week, an onslaught of singles from Camp Rock, most of which will fall off the charts after the initial download flurry, since they'll get little airplay beyond Disney. Results are middling: lyrics are rote self discovery with no discernible character, a contradiction I don't find charming, especially given all the Taylors and Alys and AJs (not to mention the Ashlees and Britneys and Lindsays who used to dominate the genre) who do have character and are much more deserving of attention. Demi Lovato has potential as an actual Avril Lite, if she were given better settings, and I prefer "Our Time Is Here" to the charting singles. The Jonas Brothers had a fine moment several years ago where they turned "Anarchy In The U.K." into Hanson-style bubbleboy pop, and they're generally not terrible but haven't matched that moment since. So, a lot of tracks are on the borderline this week. Oh yeah, and buried amidst all this is a song I've currently got penciled in as my number three of the year and that could rise, by someone who's not much older than the mediocrities hanging out at Camp Rock.

( Miley Cyrus )

( Demi Lovato & Joe Jonas )

( Rihanna )

( The Jonas Brothers )

( Joe Jonas )

( Cast Of Camp Rock )

( Flo Rida f. will.i.am )

( My Top 20 Country Singles for 2007 )

EDIT: I've posted MySpace links for most of these (correcting about 10 of my posting errors; apologies if you tried links that went nowhere), linked the vids for the ones that either weren't on the MySpace page or were only there in abbreviated versions. Linked both for "Nothin' Better To Do" because I especially like the vid.

Will possibly post commentary in the comments as the day goes on.

BIRD REPORT: You should know that one of these singers flips a bird ("The One In The Middle," duh) and one of them gets the bird flipped on her ("That Kind Of Day"). Add Craig Morgan's "International Harvester," and that's three bird flips I've heard in one day.