Xposition - October, 2015

Attention!!!

Country Music's biggest night is just a few days away. The 2015 Country Music Association Awards or CMAs for short is to be held on November 4, 2015 hosted by Carrie Underwood and Brad Paisley for the eighth consecutive year. Some of the biggest names in the industry have been nominated. Sam Hunt, Maddie & Tae, Thomas Rhett, Chris Stapleton and Kelsea Ballerini are vying for the New Artist of the Year. It's a big battle among the contenders for Song of the Year - Kenny Chesney's American Kids, Little Big Town's Girl Crush, Lee Brice's I Don't Dance, Sam Hunt's Take Your Time and Eric Church's Talladega. All the heavyweights in the industry such as Miranda Lambert, Luke Bryan, Blake Shelton, Lady Antebellum, The Band Perry, Florida Georgia Line, Zac Brown Band, Kacey Musgraves, Dierks Bentley and Carrie Underwood are all nominated. 

Next up we have the American Music Awards to be held on November 22, 2015 hosted by none other than Jennifer Lopez. Taylor Swift leads the nominations with 6 including Artist of the Year, Favorite Pop/Rock Female Artist and Song of the Year. Ed Sheeran and The Weeknd have been each nominated 5 times while Nicki Minaj, Meghan Trainor and Sam Smith have been nominated four times. Swift, who has 16 career AMAs to her name (three of which are artist of the year honors), is a sweep away from eclipsing Whitney Houston as the AMAs' most decorated artist. Song of the Year can be anyone's guess as radio favorites like Wiz Khalifa and Charlie Puth's See You Again, Uptown Funk! by Mark Ronson ft. Bruno Mars, Sheeran's Thinking Out Loud and The Weeknd's Can’t Feel My Face and Swift's Blank Space face off. 

Moreover, Swift's Blank Space video has become the most watched video on VEVO surpassing Justin Bieber's Baby which previously held the record having garnered more than 1 billion views. Swift's milestones do not end there as there are whispers and whiffs of the contenders for the 2016 Grammys with Swift leading the way. With the eligibility period for the Grammys (September 30, 2015) behind us, now its going to be all about the Grammys. The contenders for the Album of the Year include Swift's 1989, The Weeknd's Beauty Behind The Madness, Kendrick Lamar's To Pimp A Butterfly, and Foo Fighters' Sonic Highways. 

For Record of the Year we have so many contenders but which one will get the nod. Uptown Funk!, Thinking Out Loud, Can't Feel My Face, Blank Space and Cheerleader all seem to be favored. For Song of the Year it does not seem to be a different blend since we do not know which song of The Weeknd or Swift will be chosen and what of Thinking Out Loud, Uptown Funk and also Rachel Platten's Fight Song, Lady Gaga's Til It Happens To You and John Legend and Common's Glory. 

Now we come to the 2015 MTV Europe Music Awards. With star studded performances by Jason Derulo's Want To Want Me, Ellie Goulding's Love Me Like You Do, James Bay's Hold Back The River, Justin Bieber's What Do You Mean? and a stunning curtain closer with Pharrell Williams' Freedom the show proved to be entertaining. Best Song went to Taylor Swift ft. Kendrick Lamar's Bad Blood whilst Best Video went to Macklemore & Ryan Lewis' Downtown. Some of the other significant winners include:
  • Best Female - Rihanna
  • Best Male - Justin Bieber
  • Best New Act - Shawn Mendes
  • Best Pop - One Direction
  • Best Electronic - Martin Garrix
  • Best Alternative - Lana Del Rey
  • Best Hip-Hop - Nicki Minaj
  • Best Rock - Coldplay
Meanwhile, the most anticipated song of the year debuted at the end of the month although its eligibility for the Grammys falls short. Adele's Hello is supposed to be the fastest selling digital single of 2015 which may break the record achieved by Ellie Goulding's Love Me Like You Do early this year. Hello's performance on the charts are yet to be determined, although it is hyped up to debut at No.1. It's video is the second fastest to reach 100 million views second only to PSY's Gentleman which reached this feat in merely 4 days.

Over to the UK where this year's biggest chart battle, the prestigious Christmas No.1 looks pretty open for grabs. With the X Factor finals being held two weeks prior to Christmas, the crowning song will only debut on the charts the week prior to Christmas, which leaves the slot open. For the past two years the X Factor winner's singles Sam Bailey's cover of Demi Lovato's Skyscraper and Ben Haenow's cover of OneRepublic's Something I Need both debuted atop the charts during the Christmas week. So will it be a charity single, a fan favorite or a Christmas carol/song that takes the crown; we will have to wait and see.

Lady Gaga is to be feted as Billboard's 2015 Woman of the Year, succeeding Taylor Swift, who was bestowed with the honorary title that also celebrated Aretha Franklin, Ariana Grande, Iggy Azalea, Jessie J, Charli XCX and Idina Menzel at the Billboard's annual Women in Music event. She is to be felicitated for her industry leadership, artistry, philanthropy, innovative contribution to music and inspiration to millions. Meanwhile, Selena Gomez who is on a chart topping streak with her newest album Revival and smash hits The Heart Wants What It Wants, Good For You and Same Old Love will be honored with the Chart Topper award at the event, which was given to Iggy Azalea last year.

Moving on to the charts, in the US The Weeknd continued to reign atop the Hot 100 after replacing his Can't Feel My Face with The Hills. The latter gained quite a following after two remixes involving Eminem and Nicki Minaj were released. The Hills remained at the top for the entire month although Drake's Hotline Bling peaked at No.2 during the month attempting to grab the crown. Meanwhile, Taylor Swift's Wildest Dreams and Shawn Mendes' Stitches entered the Top 10 during the month.

In the UK, Justin Bieber continued his reign with his comeback hit What Do You Mean? into the first week of October although it was replaced by Sam Smith's Writing's On The Wall during the second week. Writing's On The Wall released from the soundtrack of the newest James Bond film Spectre is the first James Bond theme song to reach the top in the UK. The third week saw Bieber returning to the top with What Do You Mean? and remained at the top for another week accumulating five non-consecutive weeks atop the charts. KDA ft. Tinie Tempah & Katy B's Turn The Music Louder (Rumble) took the crown in the fifth and final week.

Other songs which became popular during the month were:
  • One Direction - Perfect
  • Justin Bieber - Sorry
  • Ellie Goulding - On my mind 
  • Natalie La Rose ft. Fetty Wap - Around the world 
  • Olly Murs - Kiss me 
  • Selena Gomez - Same old love 
  • Naughty Boy ft. Beyonce & Arrow Benjamin - Runnin' (lose it all)
Till the next beat...

At Ease!!!

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