VOA英语2010年-Pop Goes Viral in 2010

Released late in 2009, Lady Gaga's "Bad Romance" reached second place on the Billboard¹ Hot 100 Pop Singles Chart, while earning a Grammy Award nomination² for Best Female Pop Vocal³ Performance. More significant, however, was the accompanying video. The surreal five-minute clip has to date attracted 319 million views on YouTube...and it's far from the year's most-watched music video.

 
AP
Justin Bieber
That honor goes to Justin Bieber, a 16-year-old Canadian singer whose mother kick-started his career by uploading his home performances on the internet. Today, he's become a global teen-pop phenomenon with two Grammy nominations⁴ - including Best New Artist - and the single most-watched video on YouTube. "Baby," featuring rapper Ludacris, has to date received 411 million views, proving beyond a doubt that music marketing⁵ has entered a new age.

Social media

 

Rihanna's "Music Of The Sun" CD
The importance of so-called "social media" in connecting artists with the public was underscored in December, when Billboard Magazine introduced a new chart. The "Social 50" ranks acts based on their activity in such outlets⁶ as YouTube, MySpace, Facebook, and Twitter. The first winner was Rihanna, who left memories of her 2009 beating at the hands of Chris Brown far behind in the new year. The young native of Barbados enjoyed four chart-topping singles in 2010, bringing her career total to nine.

Among them was "Love The Way You Lie," by Eminem. The rapper says he chose Rihanna specifically for this ballad⁷, which spent seven weeks atop the Billboard Hot 100 chart. Eminem's album Recovery, which celebrated⁸ his victory over drug addiction⁹, topped year-end Rhythm and Blues¹⁰, Rap, and Digital Album charts.

Best seller

 

Susan Boyle's album "The Gift" reached number one on Billboard's Top Two Hundred albums chart.
The top-selling album act, however, came not from the worlds of pop, rap, or dance music. Forty-nine-year-old Scottish native Susan Boyle stunned¹¹ an English crowd with her April, 2009 performance on the TV program Britain's Got Talent. From there, her voice took to cyberspace¹², and by the end of 2010, her debut¹³ album I Dreamed A Dream had sold nine million copies while topping charts worldwide...among them, Billboard's year-end album list.

Dance Pop Domination

 

Ke$ha's 'TiK ToK' single
Bieber and Boyle aside, the year belonged not to an artist, but to a musical genre¹⁴. Dance pop dominated the charts in 2010, starting on January 2. That day, Ke$ha, a longtime musical striver who once broke into Prince's house to leave her demo tape, became the decade's first new number one act. Her debut single "Tik Tok" held the title for nine weeks, setting the template for the dominant¹⁵ sound of 2010.

Along with dance pop, the charts were fed a constant stream of cover hits, courtesy of the fresh-faced cast of Glee. This U.S. TV series about a high school chorus hit a milestone¹⁶ in October, when it broke The Beatles' record for most appearances by a non-solo act on the Hot 100 singles chart.

Web surge

While the Web buzzed with activity, traditional music outlets weakened. Compact disc sales continued their decade-long nosedive, while U.S. downloads turned flat, after exploding in the previous few years. Concert attendance was also low and some tours were cancelled in 2010, but the urge to physically¹⁷ connect with their musical idols¹⁸ proved irresistible¹⁹ to millions of fans.

VOA
Bon Jovi
Bon Jovi, an old-fashioned rock band with a 25-year track record of hits, emerged the year's most successful touring act. The New Jersey²⁰ band drew 1.5 million fans while grossing $146 million in 2010. Following it were U2 and AC/DC, proving classic rock can still pull its weight in the new age of viral music.

Among the musical stars who left us in 2010 was iconic singer-actress Lena Horne, who passed away in May at age 92. Fans also said farewell to Rhythm and Blues star Teddy Pendergrass; rapper Keith "Guru" Elam; rock singer Ronnie James Dio; soul singer Solomon Burke; and reggae star Gregory Isaacs. December 8 also marked the 30th anniversary of the shooting death of John Lennon. Fans around the world observed the solemn occasion.

1 billboard   

n.布告板，揭示栏，广告牌

参考例句：

• He ploughed his energies into his father's billboard business.他把精力投入到父亲的广告牌业务中。
• Billboard spreads will be simpler and more eye-catching.广告牌广告会比较简单且更引人注目。

2 nomination   

n.提名，任命，提名权

参考例句：

• John is favourite to get the nomination for club president.约翰最有希望被提名为俱乐部主席。
• Few people pronounced for his nomination.很少人表示赞成他的提名。

3 vocal   

adj.直言不讳的；嗓音的；n.[pl.]声乐节目

参考例句：

• The tongue is a vocal organ.舌头是一个发音器官。
• Public opinion at last became vocal.终于舆论哗然。

4 nominations   

n.提名，任命( nomination的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Nominations are invited for the post of party chairman. 为党主席职位征集候选人。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Much coverage surrounded his abortive bids for the 1960,1964, and 1968 Republican Presidential nominations. 许多消息报道都围绕着1960年、1964年和1968年他为争取提名为共和党总统候选人所做努力的失败。 来自辞典例句

5 marketing   

n.行销，在市场的买卖，买东西

参考例句：

• They are developing marketing network.他们正在发展销售网络。
• He often goes marketing.他经常去市场做生意。

6 outlets   

n.出口( outlet的名词复数 )；经销店；插座；廉价经销店

参考例句：

• The dumping of foreign cotton blocked outlets for locally grown cotton. 外国棉花的倾销阻滞了当地生产的棉花的销路。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• They must find outlets for their products. 他们必须为自己的产品寻找出路。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

7 ballad   

n.歌谣，民谣，流行爱情歌曲

参考例句：

• This poem has the distinctive flavour of a ballad.这首诗有民歌风味。
• This is a romantic ballad that is pure corn.这是一首极为伤感的浪漫小曲。

8 celebrated   

adj.有名的，声誉卓著的

参考例句：

• He was soon one of the most celebrated young painters in England.不久他就成了英格兰最负盛名的年轻画家之一。
• The celebrated violinist was mobbed by the audience.观众团团围住了这位著名的小提琴演奏家。

9 addiction   

n.上瘾入迷，嗜好

参考例句：

• He stole money from his parents to feed his addiction.他从父母那儿偷钱以满足自己的嗜好。
• Areas of drug dealing are hellholes of addiction,poverty and murder.贩卖毒品的地区往往是吸毒上瘾、贫困和发生谋杀的地方。

10 blues   

n.抑郁，沮丧；布鲁斯音乐

参考例句：

• She was in the back of a smoky bar singing the blues.她在烟雾弥漫的酒吧深处唱着布鲁斯歌曲。
• He was in the blues on account of his failure in business.他因事业失败而意志消沉。

11 stunned   

adj. 震惊的，惊讶的 动词stun的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• The fall stunned me for a moment. 那一下摔得我昏迷了片刻。
• The leaders of the Kopper Company were then stunned speechless. 科伯公司的领导们当时被惊得目瞪口呆。

12 cyberspace   

n.虚拟信息空间，网络空间，计算机化世界

参考例句：

• She travels in cyberspace by sending messages to friends around the world.她利用电子空间给世界各地的朋友们发送信件。
• The teens spend more time in cyberspace than in the real world of friends and family.青少年花费在电脑上的时间比他们和真正的朋友及家人在一起的时间要多。

13 debut   

n.首次演出，初次露面

参考例句：

• That same year he made his Broadway debut, playing a suave radio journalist.在那同一年里，他初次在百老汇登台，扮演一个温文而雅的电台记者。
• The actress made her debut in the new comedy.这位演员在那出新喜剧中首次登台演出。

14 genre   

n.(文学、艺术等的)类型，体裁，风格

参考例句：

• My favorite music genre is blues.我最喜欢的音乐种类是布鲁斯音乐。
• Superficially,this Shakespeare's work seems to fit into the same genre.从表面上看， 莎士比亚的这个剧本似乎属于同一类型。

15 dominant   

adj.支配的，统治的；占优势的；显性的；n.主因，要素，主要的人(或物)；显性基因

参考例句：

• The British were formerly dominant in India.英国人从前统治印度。
• She was a dominant figure in the French film industry.她在法国电影界是个举足轻重的人物。

16 milestone   

n.里程碑；划时代的事件

参考例句：

• The film proved to be a milestone in the history of cinema.事实证明这部影片是电影史上的一个里程碑。
• I think this is a very important milestone in the relations between our two countries.我认为这是我们两国关系中一个十分重要的里程碑。

17 physically   

adj.物质上，体格上，身体上，按自然规律

参考例句：

• He was out of sorts physically,as well as disordered mentally.他浑身不舒服，心绪也很乱。
• Every time I think about it I feel physically sick.一想起那件事我就感到极恶心。

18 idols   

偶像( idol的名词复数 )； 受崇拜的人或物； 受到热爱和崇拜的人或物； 神像

参考例句：

• The genii will give evidence against those who have worshipped idols. 魔怪将提供证据来反对那些崇拜偶像的人。 来自英汉非文学 - 文明史
• Teenagers are very sequacious and they often emulate the behavior of their idols. 青少年非常盲从，经常模仿他们的偶像的行为。

19 irresistible   

adj.非常诱人的，无法拒绝的，无法抗拒的

参考例句：

• The wheel of history rolls forward with an irresistible force.历史车轮滚滚向前，势不可挡。
• She saw an irresistible skirt in the store window.她看见商店的橱窗里有一条叫人着迷的裙子。

20 jersey   

n.运动衫

参考例句：

• He wears a cotton jersey when he plays football.他穿运动衫踢足球。
• They were dressed alike in blue jersey and knickers.他们穿着一致，都是蓝色的运动衫和灯笼短裤。