Is it me or has the music world been pretty dry lately? The biggest music news as of late is The Game threatened to kick David Beckham’s ass and one of The Mamas and The Papas died – to which I say, “They were still alive?”

The problem may lie in the slash – you know, the singer-slash-actor roll people try to play.

Justin Timberlake [[who split from Cameron Diaz not too long after former girlfriend Britney Spears divorced her second husband – coincidence?]] stars in the movie “Alpha Dog.” He’s supposed to be tough and tattooed, but all I see is a Mouseketeer. In fact, Justin said he had enough training on the Mickey Mouse Club that he didn’t need any additional training before the flick. He could have used the phrase “prior acting experiences,” but we’d all know he meant when he sported mouse ears. I haven’t seen the movie, and I’m not planning on it.

I’ve been over Justin since he threw a tantrum because Rolling Stone named him the King of Pop. He wanted to be known as an R&B act, and even got a nod from the Soul Train Awards, but he’s still a vanilla pop star to me.

I’m as big of a fan of Justin as I am of Beyoncé. I didn’t have her in The Pink Panther, but I wonder how she would do in a roll that wasn’t type casted [[I wonder the same about Jack Black]]. Beyoncé can sing, she just doesn’t sing stuff that I want to hear every time I turn on the radio.

I know it’s terrible, but I’m kind of happy she got snubbed at the Golden Globes. She was nominated for Best Actress for her roll in Dreamgirls, but she lost to Meryl Streep who starred in The Devil Wears Prada. She lost in the Best Song category to Prince, who sang the song to The Pursuit of Happyness [[apparently proper spelling wasn’t a qualifying factor]].

To complete the “Beyoncé got owned” trifecta, ex-American Idol finalist Jennifer Hudson thanked nearly everyone in Dreamgirls when she won a Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actress – but conspicuously omitted Beyoncé. I heard Beyoncé was rude to her, but maybe it was just an honest mistake.

The slash works sometimes, but not always. Does anyone remember Glitter or Crossroads?

Exactly.

Jessica Simpson found success when she was a reality-TV star – but she also found the end of her marriage.

I almost think singers should be warned against those moves, but I’m sure Jessica Simpson has more zeroes at the end of her paycheck than I do, so what do I know?

Lisa Sokolowski is the editor-in-chief of the webzine cactus i.v., which can be found at http://www.cactusiv.com. She oversees the staff, hires freelancers and writes a weekly music column. In her free time, she... wait... what's free time?

Source: www.isnare.com