Save Mariah: Mimi's Memoirs Flop

Last week was a big week for record industry, with 6.87 million albums sold. That's 16% more than the week before (although it's down 8% from the same week last year). Most of the press was given to Mariah Carey and Paramore as they battled for the No. 1 spot on the album chart, but singer Barbra Streisand ended up surprising both artists for a first place finish.

Streisand's Love Is The Answer sold 207,000 copies, enough to give her her ninth No. 1 album, the record for female singers. Chart watchers didn't see Streisand coming as she sold extremely well in non-traditional outlets such as QVC and Starbucks.

Paramore's Brand New Eyes managed to reach No. 2 with 175,000 copies sold. Mariah Carey's Memoirs of an Imperfect Angel lived up to its title by debuting at a less than perfect No. 3. That makes it Carey's lowest charting album since 2001's Glitter.

Poor Mimi. The drama surrounding her albums lead single, "Obsessed" made her and her fans the laughing stock of the blogosphere and things still aren't looking up. "Obsessed" managed to crack the top ten of the Hot 100 where it has bumbled around for a few weeks, but her cover of Foreigner's "I Want To Know What Love Is" is languishing at No. 60.

Chart Watch: Mariah Makes Top Ten...Finally

It took nine weeks, but Mariah Carey has finally landed in the top ten as "Obsessed" moves 11-7. Unfortunately for her (and fortunately for the Black Eyed Peas), this comes as a result of declining sales and airplay for other songs in the top ten. It will be interesting to see if "Obsessed" has anymore steam. After being stuck at No. 11 for three straight weeks, I didn't see a move to No. 7 coming at all. "Run This Town", Jay-Z's guest heavy, radio-will-eat-this-up track moves up to No. 4. "Run" seems like the only song in the top ten capable of toppling Fergie and Co. It is currently the No. 1 song in the UK.

1. "I've Gotta Feelin'" - The Black Eyed Peas

2. "Down" - Jay Sean feat. Lil Wayne

3. "Party in the USA" - Miley Cyrus

4. "Run This Town" - Jay-Z feat. Kanye West & Rihanna

5. "Use Somebody" - Kings of Leon

6. "You Belong With Me" - Taylor Swift

7. "Obsessed" - Mariah Carey

8. "Hotel Room Service" - Pitbull

9. "Whatcha Say" - Jason DeRulo

10. "Best I Ever Had" - Drake

Mariah Fans "Obsessed" No Longer

After five weeks on the chart's, Mariah Carey's "Obsessed" has still failed to generate much interest besides the blog-fueled drama surrounding the singer's rivalry with Eminem and the insanity of her fans. In an update of a previous story, the blog set up by "allamb" to raise money to buy a higher chart position has posted an apology.

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"Once in awhile, somebody makes a terrible mistake and does something totally stupid. This weekend, I was the one who made that mistake and decided that the way to help Mariah’s new single was to collect donations. This was NOT approved by Mariah or Def Jam records.
After hearing from Mariah’s record company and her other fans, I have returned all Paypal donations. The fact that we made $178 in donations shows how dedicated Mariah’s fans are. But lets use this money to help feed the homeless, to help keep up animal shelters, and other things. Mariah will definitely get a number one single with her upcoming hit single 100 Percent. Lets consider supporting her in all the correct ways possible.
Once again, I would like to express how sorry I am to Mariah Carey, Def Jam Records and anybody else I embarrassed."

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Haha, that was funny. The end.

Save Mariah: Eminem Fights Back, Makes "Obsessed" A Little More Relevant

Mariah Carey's Eminem-bashing "Obsessed" has enraged Marshall Mathers enough to release his own diss record entitled "The Warning". While Carey is probably livid about the crude song and the...um...graphic description of...um...a supposed...encounter...between the two artists, this is going to light the blogosphere on fire and might sell a few more copies of "Obsessed". "I'm obsessed now? Oh geez, that supposed to be in the video with the goatee? Wow Mariah didn't expect you to go balls out" raps Eminem. Here's the song but be warned, there are some naughty words in it.

Save Mariah: A Look At What "Obsessed" Fans Have Already Done

As we await 17 tracks readers' videos for the Carey flop "Obsessed", here are some clips that lambs have already made. Perhaps one of these is the Internet sensation we've all been waiting for?

This first clip proves that "Obsessed" can be sung without auto-tune.

I've never understood why people continue to dance to songs in their house and think they are sexy. I thought the whole "Single Ladies" phenomenon cemented that.

This has got to be the most likely clip to go viral. Unfortunatley it actually makes me less likley to drop $1.29 on "Obsessed".

If all else fails, maybe cute little girls dancing is enough to save the song. Two thumbs up for the girls putting up a a sheet behind them for a nice backdrop. It looks a lot more professional than a bookshelf or bathroom door.

Save Mariah

Mariah Carey's Memoirs of an Imperfect Angel was originally slated for an August 25th release date but, after the cool reception lead single "Obsessed" has received, the album has been pushed back to September 15th.

Mimi's minions, commonly referred to as "lambs", have mobilized in an attempt to rescue their diva's song from its mediocre (for her) chart placing. A blog run by "Allamb" has popped up asking fans to donate their money to purchasing as many copies of the track as possible. Allamb went on to say:

"This looks to be the biggest flop for Mariah since “Loverboy,” which we lambs made a hit by gathering together and buying several copies. We can do the same for “Obsessed.”
I am asking you to make a donation to wannaknowlove@gmail.com. I will spend my time buying several copies of the single. I have already collected $80 from one fan. If you don’t feel comfortable with that, we are setting Saturday as “Obsessed” download day. Please download at least five copies! By the remixes! Mariah needs our help!"

Does Allamb realize that we're in a recession! The key isn't swindling MC fans of their hard earned cash (even though one commenter, LambDahling, boasted in donated $200.00 to the cause), but creating some viral Internet sensation. Idolator has been following one such incident as "Jill and Kevin's Wedding Dance" set to Chris Brown's "Forever" has sent the song hurtling back into the upper reaches of digital music stores. "Forever" currently sits at No. 7 on iTunes and No. 3 on Amazon's music charts.

Does that make you want to go out and buy "Forever"? Me neither. It does make me want to craft some sort of viral video for "Obsessed" that will land me on next Saturday's Today Show, move the song up from its current spot at No. 20 on the Hot 100 and, allow all Carey's fans to donate their money to a cause more substantive.

Have any ideas? Make a clip, upload it to YouTube, and post it here on 17 Tracks. The creator of the best one wins a copy of Memoirs if it ever ends up being released.

Hova Declares Death of Auto-Tune While Mimi Jumps On the Bandwagon.

The "only rapper to rewrite history without a pen" proclaims the end of the inescapable auto-tune which has come to dominate rap in recent years. His single, "D.O.A" (Death of Auto-tune) was c0-produced Kanye West which makes the line "you rappers singin' too much, get back to rap you T-Painin' too much" all the more ironic. Apparently however, Jay has no problem with West's 808s & Heartbreaks because he used it with an ear for melody. Other artists use it as a crutch.

Meanwhile, one of the few voices in pop that has no need for auto-tune whatsoever has jumped on the band wagon and rammed her voice through the vocal paper shredder. Mariah Carey's "Obsessed" leaves the star sounding like a talentless robot, but hey, she'll probably make it her 19th No. 1 hit. Only one more after that and John Lennon will be rolling in his grave. The song allegedly disses rapper Eminem who bashed MC's hubby Nick Cannon in his new release Relapse.