Kumpisal ni Lozada

"Mayroon ho akong isang pungungumpisal na gagawin sa inyo ngayon dahil ito po ay isang sakripisyo na naman na kailangan kong gawin para sa inyo,"Lozada said during the mass.

--Nanumbat ka pa...

American Idol cuts 4 more contestants

NEW YORK - Four more aspiring singers failed to convince viewers that they have what it takes to win the star-making talent contest "American Idol."

The voting public cut loose Alaina Whitaker, Jason Yeager, Robbie Carrico and Alexandrea Lushington, trimming the number of contestants to 16 Thursday night.

Whitaker, a 16-year-old from Tulsa, Okla., let out a sob after she heard the result.

"Sorry, this is so embarrassing," she told host Ryan Seacrest, who consoled her with a hug.

The other "Idol" female contestants gathered on stage to lend moral support to Whitaker as she gave a final performance of "Hopelessly Devoted to You." Several contestants wiped away tears.

"You are a gifted, bright young talent. ... This is the start of an amazing career from you," said judge Paula Abdul, who gave Whitaker a standing ovation.

Simon Cowell wasn't surprised by Yeager's exit.

"Your problem — quite simply — is that you don't stand out in the crowd at the moment," the cranky judge told Yeager, a 28-year-old single dad from Grand Prairie, Texas.

Cowell told Carrico, who sang Foreigner's "Hot Blooded," that his rocker act "just never ever felt real." Carrico, 26, from Melbourne, Fla., was part of the pop group Boyz N Girlz United.

Lushington, a 17-year-old Douglasville, Ga., resident (and a snappy dresser and favorite of judge Randy Jackson's), displayed a lack of confidence Wednesday, acting sheepish and uncomfortable onstage, following her cover of Chicago's "If You Leave Me Now." Jackson said the '70s song didn't suit her youthful style.

A standout this week was 17-year-old David Archuleta, who sang a soulful cover of "Imagine."

Brooke White, 24, also scored a glowing review from Cowell for her bare-bones performance of "You're So Vain."

Cowell joked he thought the song was about him.

"American Idol," now running three times a week, will return to a twice-weekly schedule March 11 for the elimination of the final dozen. The decision-making finale will be held in May. - AP

Bripman's 26th Birthday!

Look at Bripman and HIS husband Ren-Ren...

I don't want to pollute my blog so I'm just going to paste a link here where you can find a dedicate post for our birthday boss (he's 26 Y.O. Gurang na).

bripmans beerday post

Cinema Paradiso

Progress always comes late a quote from a Alfredo that truly reflects every situation. Well the movie was boring, but, it really amused me especially how the characters evolved/developed (because of this you wont notice the boring stuff of the movie). For me, the movie really signifies growth, how a person matures over the course of time, in order for us to learn and to focus on what we really want to do or to achieve our goals we need to set aside our emotions, sacrifice things that we really love, and to leave the excess baggage or set aside the things that set us back from doing or achieving those goals (very EMO but true).

All in all Cinema Paradiso is an examination of change. Times change, people change, and so do their priorities. It's a perfect movie of a never ending cycle of life, that people needs to discover and find his sole purpose and his role on this earth...

FYI: I really hate Art Films... But after watching the movie Malena, my views actually changed and I began to appreciate and to like art films.

Alicia Keys postpones 2 UK tour dates

NEW YORK - Alicia Keys postponed two concerts on her European tour after being put on vocal rest by her doctor, her publicist said Saturday.

Keys, whose latest album, "As I Am," has sold millions of copies worldwide, was supposed to perform Monday in Glasgow, Scotland, and Tuesday in Manchester, England. But the Grammy-winning singer was told to spend the next few days off the stage because of laryngitis, publicist Patti Webster said in a statement.

The Glasgow and Manchester dates were to be rescheduled. - AP

"Touch My Body" Debuts at #57 on Billboard's Hot 100

"Touch My Body" is this week's HOT SHOT DEBUT on the Billboard Hot 100 Singles Chart at #57 (Billboard issue date: March 1, 2008).

This is Mariah's highest debut on the chart that is based on first week's airplay alone.

In comparison, after their first week of airplay, "We Belong Together" debuted at #81 and "It's Like That" was #104 (#4 on the bubbling under Hot 100 chart.)

On the Hot 100 Airplay chart, the song debuts at #23 this week and becomes Mariah's highest debut on the chart since 1997's "Honey" which debuted at the same position.

"Touch My Body" also rockets up to #20 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart, an incredible 58 spots jump from its last week's debut at #78.

An All Access banner from Island Def Jam announces "Touch My Body" at #23 on Billboard's Hot 100 Airplay (Greatest Gainer) as well as the fact it is the #1 most added record across all formats this week.

Johnson Remains No. 1; Winehouse, Hancock Soar

February 20, 2008, 11:00 AM ET
Katie Hasty, N.Y.

In a slow week for new releases, Jack Johnson's "Sleep Through the Static" remains No. 1 on The Billboard 200 for a second week, despite a 52% sales slide. The Brushfire effort sold 180,000 copies in the U.S., according to Nielsen SoundScan.

The bigger news is significant jumps for artists who appeared on the Feb. 10 Grammy Awards, led by top winner Amy Winehouse. Her Universal Republic set "Back to Black" bounces back into the top 10 in a big way, zooming up 24-2 for a new charting high and sales week with 115,000. Winehouse led the Grammy field with five wins.

Album of the year winner Herbie Hancock's "River: The Joni Letters" (Verve) explodes 159-5, with a 967% bump to 54,000, while Foo Fighters' "Echoes, Silence, Patience and Grace" (Roswell/RCA) climbs 65-22 with 33,000 (+160%). Kanye West's "Graduation" (Roc-A-Fella/Def Jam) ascends 64-40 with a 74% gain, selling 23,000.

"As I Am" (J) by Alicia Keys, who performed twice at the ceremony, stays put at No. 3 for a second week with 109,000 (+36%). The "2008 Grammy Nominees" compilation climbs a notch 5-4 with 72,000, a 40% increase.

Back on The Billboard 200, the Rhino soundtrack to "Juno" holds tight at No. 6 with 53,000 (+13%), while Taylor Swift's Big Machine self-titled album ascends 10-7 with 52,000 (+35%). Also moving 52,000, Sheryl Crow's "Detours" (A&M/Interscope) falls 2-8 with a 44% sales hit.

Mary J. Blige's Matriarch/Geffen album "Growing Pains" slips 7-9 with 49,000 (+9%) as Atlantic's soundtrack to the film "Step Up 2" steps up 13-10, moving 45,000 units with a 44% increase.

Considering its status as a catalog release, the new 25th anniversary reissue of Michael Jackson's "Thriller" (Epic/Legacy) was ineligible to chart on The Billboard 200 this week. But it does bow at No. 1 on the Top Pop Catalog Albums tally after selling 166,000. The project includes reworked "Thriller" tracks by Akon, Kanye West, Fergie and will.i.am.

Only two other albums bow inside the top 50. Simple Plan's self-titled Lava/Atlantic album starts at No. 14 with 39,000, and the "WOW Gospel 2008" multi-label compilation debuts at No. 34 with 28,000.

Sales this week are up 16.1% from last week at 9.78 million units and down 11.6% from the same week last year.

Source: Billboard

Japanese Name

I didn't know that my grandma gave me a Japanese name and guess what, she called me Fujiwara Yoshisaki, LOL! My dad told me about our Japanese ancestry, By the way my dad's full name is Carlos Y. (Y for Yoshisaki) Carlos II. So now I'm in sole searching about my family's lost heritage which has been originated from Japan (I got the chance to visit the country but never had the opportunity to researh or to find my lost ancestors). Well I hope and wish I have the money to pursue my quest in finding my lost family tree.

PICTURE: Could This Be Sony's PSPhone?

The gaming community is buzzing this morning from some supposedly leaked scans of a possible PSPhone would give it a full 480 x 272 display, mini-analog stick, and drop UMD in favor of playing full PSP games via M2. Turns out they're scans from Stuff magazine from months ago, which seems to have passed under everyone's radar (including our own, initially) because so few people seem to actually read it.

[Via PSP Fanboy, with help from Engadget Español]

"New in 2008: July-Dec
Top box: Between both keyboards there is a 3 inches screen with the same resolution of the PSP (480x272 pixels) which guarantees a good gaming experience. Good as well for movies.

Lower right box: PSP functionalities were replicated in this architecture, making possible that all PSP games can be played. It won't have UMD slot, but it'll have M2 cards instead

Left box: Slide on one side and you'll find a joypad with analog stick for PSP controls. Slide to the other side and a number keyboard will show up enjoying the ergonomics of Sony Ericsson.

Plenty of opinion, final word: Probability of existence: 35%"

source: engadget

Tatanggapin ko ba o Hindi?

Eto walang magawa ang inyong lingkod kaya nagblog na lang ako kesa matulog sa worstation ko... Umpisahan natin ang lahat sa mga bagay-bagay na nangyari sa akin kahapon. May sideline ako ngayon na related sa aking trabaho ngayon (ang mag promote ng websites ng kompanya namin) at hindi ko inakala na sa akin nila ibibigay o iaalok ang nakakalulang offer ng aking extra work... Ni hindi nga ako makapiwala sa mga sinabi sa akin, sinong ba namang hindi malulula sa alok na doble pa ng nakukuha ko sa employer/kompanya ko ngayon, at tuloy na stress na naman ako sa kakaisip kagabi kung kukunin ko ba ang alok na yon, siyempre inisip ko ang mga pros & cons kung aalis ako at tatanggapin ang inaalok nila sa akin at eto ang mga napagnilayan ko...

Positibo

• Home base so walang hassle sa pagpunta ng opisina at makipag digma sa mga barbaro at amazona na kasabayan ko sa MRT.
• Malaki ang alok (pera) at wala pang kaltas (tax, SSS, PhilHealth).
• Pwede akong tamarin at matulog maghapon dahil pasulpot sulpot lang ang aking mga gagawin.
• Hawak ko ang buhay ko at ligtas ako sa mga mandurugas at mandurukot ng outside world.
• Yung quota/work load eh madaling e meet.

Negatibo

• Wala akong social life.
• Mawawalan ako ng kaibigan at connection sa outside world.
• Pwede akong ilaglag ng kompanya na lilipatan anytime or anyday na gugustuhin nila.
• Walang kasiguraduhan kung tutupad sila sa mga agreement na binigay nila sa akin.
• Magiging total EMO and loner ako.

Final Verdict

...Hindi ko tinanggap ang alok nila sa kadahilanan na mas masayang pumapasok sa opisina na nakikita mo ang mga bagay nagpapasaya at bumubuo ng araw mo (maliban yung mga taong nasa ika-anim na palapag, dusa ang inaabot ko sa kanila kada a-kinse at katapusan ng buwan)... Yun lang po. hehehe

Natalie Cole: Amy Didn’t Deserve Her Grammys

It's a good thing Amy Winehouse was far away in jolly old London during the Grammy Awards or there might have been some serious weave-pulling at last night's ceremony. Natalie Cole is lashing out at the “Rehab” singer and those who awarded her with five Grammys, including Song of the Year.

"I don't think she should have won. I think it sends a bad message to our young people who are trying to get into this business, the ones who are trying to do it right and really trying to keep themselves together," Natalie told People.com. "We have to stop rewarding bad behavior."

The “Unforgettable” singer admitted that she lost five years of her life to substance abuse. "I mean, she could die,” Natalie said. “This is about discipline and hard work, and you don't get to just do your drugs and go onstage and get rewarded."

The fact that Amy, 24, recently said “yes” to rehab wasn’t enough to satisfy the 58-year-old crooner. "I'm sorry. I think the girl is talented, gifted, but it's not right for her to be able to have her cake and eat it too. She needs to get herself together."

Natalie rated Amy’s performance as “fine” but said that she doesn’t think the beehived songbird deserved the awards. “I don't take anything away from her talent, but I just feel like she's stepping into a place that she hasn't earned yet."

Irish Idol: Smithson's Secret Past

American Idol is supposed to be all about giving undiscovered talent a chance. Please note I used the word "undiscovered." As in, artists who have not had record deals yet. Artists who need a show like this to GET a record deal in the first place. Artists who have not already had major labels waste millions of dollars unsuccessfully trying to mold them into next big things.

What's my point? Well, last night the visa-challenged Irish artist formerly known as Carly Hennessy--but now conveniently going under her new married name, Carly Smithson--made it into American Idol's top 24, despite having had a flop album out on MCA Records nearly seven years ago. An album that sold only hundreds of copies, despite the fact that MCA spent millions of dollars trying to promote it.

No, I am not making this up. Here's Carly's biography from AMG (note the sections I have highlighted in bold to emphasize my point):

"Irish singer Carly Hennessy, despite having slowly and steadily building a resume that included modeling and acting, became a cautionary tale when she entered the highly competitive teen pop market. Born in Dublin, Hennessy, whose mother was a known fashion model in Ireland, was appearing in print ads as a young child. Her family briefly relocated to South Africa, but upon their return to Dublin, Hennessey chose to pursue more artistic endeavors. At the age of nine, she beat out a large number of hopefuls to land a role in the international production of Les Miserables. She also continued to model, raising her profile in her native Ireland as the featured model in a national ad campaign for a sausage company. There was also the release of an album of holiday songs in Ireland and the U.K., as well as a small role in the movie Fools Of Fortune. However, a music career was the goal of the young singer and, with her father, she went to Los Angeles to peddle a demo. Her demo landed in the hands of MCA's president, who signed Hennessy on the spot to a contract, with the label setting her up to record a debut album. The initial results apparently pleased neither the label or the singer and former New Radical Gregg Alexander came aboard to salvage the project. The resulting album, Ultimate High, finally was issued in late 2001 and received solid reviews. Unfortunately, and despite MCA having reportedly spent in excess of two million dollars on the effort, it failed to dent the exhausted teen market with none of the singles taking off and the album selling in the hundreds as opposed to the hundreds of thousands which would have been necessary for all involved to recoup on their investment."

And here are some excerpts from a 2002 Wall Street Journal story (again, bolded for emphasis) titled "Pop Singer Fails To Strike A Chord," all about the catastrophic failure of Carly's ironically titled low-selling album, Ultimate High:

"Ultimate High was released in stores nationwide three months ago. So far, it has sold only 378 copies--amounting to about $4,900 at its suggested retail price....The story of MCA and Ms. Hennessy shows the dysfunctional economics of the music industry at work. MCA, one of Universal Music's major labels, initially hooked up with the spunky teenager three years ago because it was trying to get a piece of the great success competitors enjoyed with young pop artists like Britney Spears and 'N Sync. Ms. Hennessy, a native of Dublin, had released her debut musical effort, Carly's Christmas Album, in Ireland at age 10, after performing all over Europe as Little Cosette in Les Miserables. At 13, she was named the Irish national spokesmodel for the Denny sausage brand. Soon, she and her family began hoping for much more, and Ms. Hennessy dropped out of high school....

"Unfortunately [after she recorded her MCA album], neither Ms. Hennessy nor MCA were happy with the results....MCA decided to rerecord Ms. Hennessy's album from scratch...In April 2001, with the album still unfinished, MCA decided to try to get Ms. Hennessy some notice by releasing her first single, a bouncy tune called 'I'm Gonna Blow Your Mind'....MCA spent $250,000 on a video that showed Ms. Hennessy dancing in a disco and jumping around with pals in their sleepwear. On a call-in show, Nickelodeon asked viewers to rate 30 seconds of the video, but the audience was unresponsive. The video was quickly shelved."

The article goes on for many paragraphs after that. But I think you get the picture.

Now, I'm not saying that Carly isn't talented. Sure, she is. The girl can sing. But she's already had a shot--more than one shot, actually, if you count her stints in musical theater, modeling, film, and, um, sausage promotion. Meanwhile, some of the popular fan favorites on Idol this season who didn't make it--like Josiah Leming and Kyle Ensley--are still unproven newbies, still waiting for a label to spend millions of dollars on them. So why waste a spot in the Idol top 24 on someone like Carly, who's already tried and failed at the major-label level? And furthermore, is it really fair to pit an experienced professional like Carly against true undiscovered amateurs who've never made a $250K music video or worked with Gregg Alexander?

It makes me wonder if Carly is a pre-arranged plant, someone whose relationship with 19 Management and Simon Cowell and Clive Davis dates back all the way to 2001. I even wonder if the whole Idol competition is fixed this season, to ensure that a real seasoned pro prevails and no Taylor Hickses or Sanjaya Malakars make it through.

Let the conspiracy theorizing begin!

Oh, and by the way, do you think it's a coincidence that Carly's suddenly using a different surname now? Or that the bio video pieces on American Idol--which went into deep personal detail about Kyle's political goals, Josiah's homelessness, or Asia'h's father's pre-audition death--failed to mention Carly's MCA deal and failed album? That's a sad story itself--a saga of a naive and hopeful young talent, only 18 at the time, being chewed up and spit out by the fickle music business. This story could have even garnered viewer sympathy and made Carly a more interesting underdog character. But American Idol neatly erased that entire MCA chapter from Carly's story, because then potential fans/voters would know that they'd already had an opportunity to buy a Carly album and make Carly a star--and they didn't.

Anyway, check out this video from Carly's past (sorry, no disco dancing or pajama parties in this version) and judge for yourself if Hennessy/Smithson deserves to have a few more million dollars spent on her, this time courtesy of Clive Davis:

American Idol Season 7

If you noticed all the 24 finalist from American Idol Season 7 are all bunch of young and raw talents... Young and talented singers of the future!!!

Here are my personal bets...

David Archuleta

Amanda Overmyer

V for Valentines

...It's valentines day and so what?

Winehouse dominates Grammys from afar

By RYAN PEARSON
AP Entertainment Writer

On a night filled with nods to the show's 50-year history, the most trophies went to a 24-year-old singer known for her old-soul voice, and the most sought-after prize went to a veteran jazzman's Joni Mitchell tribute album.

Both Amy Winehouse and Herbie Hancock were dumbstruck by the honors, fumbling for words and thank-you lists, respectively.

"I can't believe I've won five awards," Winehouse said. She coyly sang "Rehab" and "You Know I'm No Good" via satellite link from London, then dedicated her record of the year trophy to her hometown, parents and jailed husband, "my Blake, my Blake incarcerated."

Hancock, whose "River: The Joni Letters" won album of the year, said after the show Sunday night at the Staples Center that it was "immeasurable how surprised I am."

Presenter Quincy Jones seemed even more excited for the 11-time Grammy winner, throwing his hands wide after reading Hancock's name. "Aaaahhh! Unbelievable. That's unbelievable, man," Jones exclaimed.

Industry observers had expected either Winehouse's "Back in Black" or Kanye West's "Graduation" to take the prize. There was speculation the two may have split the vote of younger, more pop-centric National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences voters, leaving the door open for Hancock.

That result left the typically outspoken West in no mood to share his thoughts. West won four trophies, but after losing out once again in the album of the year category he'd made no secret of coveting, he skipped post-show interview rooms to instead pose for photos with his fiance and members of his entourage.

"I'm good," he said quietly, in response to questions about how he felt. It was a subdued echo of the exuberant call on his "Good Life," which won for rap song.

Winehouse, who won five of the six awards for which she was nominated, perhaps best embodied the evening's spirit of joining the old with the new. Her sound, cultivated on "Back to Black" by producer of the year winner Mark Ronson, blends '50s flavors with modern subject matter and hip-hop influences.

Along those lines, show producers began the evening with Alicia Keys singing "Learnin' The Blues" alongside archival footage of Frank Sinatra, a la Natalie Cole's "Unforgettable" duet with her deceased father in 1992.

"Yeah, Frank," Keys interjected during a Sinatra verse. "Tell 'em."

Beyonce was paired with Tina Turner for a showy — and leggy — rendition of "Proud Mary." Kid Rock joined up with Keely Smith, a winner in the very first Grammys in 1958, for "That Old Black Magic." Hancock and Chinese wunderkind Lang Lang did the dueling pianos thing for a compelling take on George Gershwin's "Rhapsody in Blue."

The Beatles were honored by performers from two new interpretations of their music, the Cirque du Soleil show "Love" and Julie Taymor's film "Across the Universe."

Memories dominated West's performance of "Hey Mama," a once-exuberant song from his 2005 album "Late Registration" that he has transformed into a somber tribute since his mother Donda's sudden death last year.

"Last night I saw you in my dreams. Now I can't wait to go to sleep," he sang in the night's most emotional performance.

Accepting the award for rap album, West spoke to his mother: "I appreciate everything and I know you are really proud of me right now and I know you wouldn't want me to stop and you'd want me to be the No. 1 artist in the world."

Veteran rocker Bruce Springsteen took home three Grammys, including best rock song for "Radio Nowhere." Chaka Khan picked up two trophies, including one for best R&B album for "Funk This."

Politics were a subtle backdrop to the evening. Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama won an award for spoken word album, for the audio version of his book, "The Audacity of Hope." Presenter George Lopez took note of the historic nature of the Hillary Clinton and Obama candidacies, and will.i.am urged the crowd to vote after a strange free-wheeling freestyle billed as a "mash-up."

And finally, Hancock borrowed Obama's favorite campaign phrase, "Yes we can," when summing up the significance of a jazz artist winning album of the year. (The last was 1964's "Getz/Gilberto," a collaboration between Stan Getz and Joao Gilberto.)

"I'd like to thank the academy for courageously breaking the mold this time," he said. "This is a new day, that proves that the impossible can be made possible. Yes we can, to coin a phrase."

Boys Like Girls - Hero/Heroine

Lyrics | Hero / Heroine lyrics

Flo Rida's 'Low' Remains Hot 100 King

February 07, 2008, 10:30 AM ET
Jonathan Cohen, N.Y.

Flo Rida remains atop the Billboard Hot 100 for a seventh week with "Low," although strong challenges are being mounted by Chris Brown's "With You" (3-2) and Rihanna's "Don't Stop the Music" (the top airplay gainer with a 5-3 increase).

Timbaland's "Apologize" featuring OneRepublic holds at No. 4, while Alicia Keys' "No One" slips 2-5. Sara Bareilles' "Love Song" rebounds 9-6, Fergie's "Clumsy" slips 6-7 and Snoop Dogg's "Sensual Seduction" remains No. 8.

But the biggest news in the top 10 is the No. 9 debut of Yael Naim's "New Soul," the chart's best entry since "What Time Is It" by High School Musical Cast (No. 6) and Akon's "Sorry, Blame It on Me" (No. 7) bowed in the Aug. 11, 2007, issue.

Featured in the TV commercial for Apple's newly launched Apple MacBook Air, the track also debuts at No. 2 on Hot Digital Songs with 135,000 downloads. With "New Soul" generating only three plays on the nearly 1,300 monitored Hot 100 Airplay stations, TV is the sole source of its lofty sales and Hot 100 ranking.

Sean Kingston's "Take You There" drops 7-10 to round out the top tier. Buckcherry has the top digital gainer with "Sorry," which soars 22-11. The track sold 85,000 downloads last week.

Keys' "Like You'll Never See Me Again" rules Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs for a seventh week. On that chart, the top debut comes from Trey Songz' Last Time" at No. 69.

Brad Paisley's "Letter to Me" starts a third week atop Hot Country Songs, where four songs cross into the top 10, the first time that has happened in nearly a decade. New to the upper rungs are Alan Jackson's "Small Town Southern Man" (11-7), Carrie Underwood's "All-American Girl" (12-8), Chuck Wicks' "Stealing Cinderella" (13-9) and Craig Morgan's "International Harvester" (15-10).

There's no stopping Seether on Billboard's rock charts. The band's track "Fake It" is No. 1 on Modern Rock for a seventh week and atop Mainstream Rock for a 14th. Panic At The Disco has the top debut on Modern Rock at No. 29 with "Nine in the Afternoon"; the song will appear on its new album, "Pretty. Odd.," due March 25.


Additional reporting by Silvio Pietroluongo and Wade Jessen.

Dems head for messy nomination process

By: Roger Simon
Feb 6, 2008 12:54 AM EST

Because of party reforms in the past and a close race for delegates this year, a nightmare scenario is building for the Democratic National Convention in August: It is easy to imagine that Barack Obama could get to Denver with more pledged delegates than Hillary Clinton, but that she could get the nomination based on the votes of the superdelegates.

“And that,” a senior Obama aide told me Tuesday night, “would create havoc.”

Pledged delegates are those won in primaries and cacucuses. Superdelegates are party big-shots.

The Associated Press, CNN, CBS and a website called 2008 Democratic Convention Watch all disagree on exactly how the superdelegates are currently split.

But they all agree that Clinton has more of them than Obama, with hundreds still up for grabs.

Being a superdelegate is usually just a way of getting to go to the convention, cast a meaningless vote and have a good time.

But that could change this year.

And that’s because superdelegates make up one-fifth of all the delegates at the convention, and this year they could determine the nominee.

Why?

As Clinton spokesman Howard Wolfson puts it: “The process is designed really to avoid picking a nominee rather than pick one.”

In other words, by banning winner-take-all contests and by awarding delegates on a proportional basis, the Democrats draw out the process.

They do this to be “fair” and to protect underdog candidates.

Usually it doesn’t matter. But this time it could because the pledged delegate race could be so close.

“We have a 15 pledged delegate lead going into tonight,” David Plouffe, Obama’s campaign manager, said on Super Tuesday evening.

(The number, with California still being counted, would grow to 43 according to the Obama campaign.)

“And with the superdelegates, we have made real progress. Before Iowa, Sen. Clinton had a lead over 100 to 120 and we have whittled that down to 55 by our count. A lot of [superdelegates] who chose Sen. Clinton, chose her last year. We think we will continue to do well.”

The system of superdelegates was invented not just to reward party fatcats, but to make sure “fairness” did not get out of hand.

Superdelegates are designed to protect front-runners and make sure dark horses don’t run away with things.

Superdelegates grow in number as the party gets more successful: They include all Democratic members of Congress, members of the Democratic National Committee, Democratic governors.

They also are the party warhorses and include “all former Democratic presidents, all former Democratic vice presidents, all former Democratic leaders of the U.S. Senate, all former Democratic speakers of the U.S. House of Representatives and Democratic minority leaders, as applicable, and all former chairs of the Democratic National Committee.”

This means that not only Bill Clinton, but Terry McAuliffe, Hillary Clinton’s campaign chairman, are superdelegates.

And their votes count just as much as the delegates chosen by actual primary voters.

But what happens if the margin of victory at the convention is the superdelegates. Is that the the way the party really will choose a nominee?

By letting the big-shots pick the winner?

Instead, there could be a huge floor flight. The convention can make whatever rules it wants, and I am guessing there would be a fight to bar the superdelegates and accept the votes of only the pledged delegates.

And then there is the problem of Florida and Michigan, whose delegates, both pledged and superdelegates, are currently banned.

The Clinton campaign has announced it wants them to count.

“There is a role for superdelegates as per the rules of our party, and they are not rules that we set,” Wolfson of the Clinton campaign said.

“We will play under rules we are given. [But] we believe the delegates from Michigan and Florida ought to be seated.

But how do you really do that? In Michigan, Hillary Clinton was the only name on the Democratic ballot.

In Florida, Democratic candidates were banned from campaigning.

Are the Democrats really going to seat them if they could make the difference in who wins and who loses?

As I said, a fine mess. Which, quite possibly, could lead to something we are not used to: a convention that is more than just a TV show whose ending we know in advance.

Keys Notches Fourth Week At No. 1

February 06, 2008, 11:15 AM ET
Katie Hasty, N.Y.

Alicia Keys returns to the top of The Billboard 200 with "As I Am," making this her fourth non-consecutive week at No. 1. The J Records effort had a 3% sales bump to 61,000 copies in the United States, according to Nielsen SoundScan. The Rhino soundtrack to "Juno" is displaced 1-2 with 55,000, a 15% slip.

Moving 54,000 copies, the Mars Volta earns its best charting week ever, arriving at No. 3. The rock band has put two previous albums into the top 10, with better sales results: 2005's "Frances the Mute" bowed at No. 4 with 123,000 while 2006's "Amputechture" debuted at No. 9 with 59,000.

Bullet For My Valentine has a big charting and sales week, as "Scream Aim Fire" starts at No. 4 with 53,000. It easily trumps the band's previous best, the group's 2006 album "The Poison" only climbed to No. 128; that set, however, has gone on to sell 375,000.

The "2008 Grammy Nominees" multi-artist compilation album bows at No. 5 with 50,000 units. As one would expect, the Grammy Recordings/Hip-O/UMe set boasts tracks from this year's biggest awards nominees, including Feist, Amy Winehouse, Maroon 5, Kanye West and Herbie Hancock. Last year's "2007" edition started at No. 4 with 77,000 but rebounded two weeks later to a series-high chart peak and sales week at No. 3 with 131,000.

Mary J. Blige's Matriarch/Geffen album "Growing Pains" falls 4-6 with 47,000, a 4% sales increase.

Featuring dance remixes of the original "Hannah Montana 2" Disney movie soundtrack, the "Hannah Montana 2: Non-Stop Dance Party" album begins at No. 7 with 40,000. It comes on the heels of a weekend when Miley Cyrus' "Best of Both Worlds Concert Tour" film started atop the U.S. and Canadian box office with a powerful $31 million.

Keyshia Cole's "Just Like You" (Confidential/Imani/Geffen) holds tight at No. 8 for a second week with a 17% sales increase to 36,000 while Taylor Swift's Big Machine self-titled debut slips 6-9 with a 4% increase to 36,000. Miley Cyrus' double-disc "Hannah Montana 2 (Soundtrack)/Meet Miley Cyrus" clings to the No. 10 slot for a third week with 35,000 (+19%).

Three other efforts bow inside the top 50 on The Billboard 200 this week. Sarah Brightman scores her highest charting spot as "Symphony" (Manhattan) debuts at No. 13 with 31,000 (her previous high-water mark came with 2000's "La Luna," which peaked at No. 17). XL signees Vampire Weekend's much-hyped self-titled debut climbs on board at No. 17, moving 28,000 copies. Opera star Andrea Bocelli's CD/DVD package "Vivere: Live in Tuscany" (Decca) bows at No. 22, coincidentally, with 22,000.

Sales this week are up 4% from last week at 7.60 million units and down 18.9% from the same week last year. At 38.2 million units, this year's sales total is down 12% from the same sum last year.

Source: billboard.com