Mariah anoints a new diva on American Idol as Candice Glover absolutely blows the roof off the joint with her take on The Cure's "Lovesong"...

What follows is a list of 125 household-name artists grouped by the last years in which they appeeared on a single that hit the Top 40 of Billboard's "Hot 100" chart in America. As a recovering teen chart nut, I find this stuff fascinating. It speaks to their relevance as artists in some cases, but speaks to the relevance of having a "hit single" in cases where the artists are clearly still quite successful by other measures.

Most of all, it's just wow-inducing to see how long it's been for some of these artists, who have sold millions and millions of records in their storied careers. It's also interesting seeing the groups of artists who enjoyed their last Top 40 success together...Gloria Gaynor and Patti Smith, for example.

(Please feel free to correct me if I am wrong on any; it's hard juggling artists' singles, featured appearances, etc.)

Enjoy...

"You ain't got a prayer, honey."

Last night on American Idol, Mariah dismissed "Like a Prayer" as being "not a big singing song." Look, plenty of Madonna's songs, including indelible pop classics like "Into the Groove" or "Borderline," could fairly and objectively be classified outside the "big singing song" category. Not so with "Like a Prayer," which even without its big singing choral aspect has plenty of opportunity within its verses for belting (and which features one of Madonna's best vocal performances ever).

For Mariah Carey to sing a song, she almost always insists on oversinging it. Give her "For He's a Jolly Good Fellow" and "fellow" would have 18.5 syllables.

Studly soccer star Robbie Rogers: "I'm gay! I'm retired."

Robbie's fellow players don't kick him when he's out.

HOT IN HERRE: Largest climate-change rally in history.

Wedding mag does the right thing, allows same-sex ad.

Stephen Amell once revealed his aft on Dante's Cove.

New Mariah Carey song from Oz, The Great and Powerful.

Progressive Robin Kelly gets good news in IL race.

98° reunion is giving fans what they want.

A Lucky Guy actress posts pic of Bosom Buddies reunion on Bway:

Tom Hanks, Holland Taylor, Deirdre Lovejoy & Peter Scolari 

Via Sticky (Work Unfriendly): I know Madonna is considered massively vain (in spite of running around with zero makeup in public all the time), but is any star more vain than Mariah Carey? I don't see any difference between her right and left sides—she looks fine!—and yet in this interview, where the camera was set up on her "bad" side, she spent the entire time awkwardly craning her face in the opposite direction. Hysterical.

Beasts of the Southern Wild, one of 2012's best

The year 2012 in black cinema + in memoriam.

GO WITH THE FLOW: Mexico OK with gay blood?

Thom Bierdz is a sexy show-off (Work Unfriendly).

New faces, young bodies = camerabait.

Righties pushing gun control—on David Gregory.

Consuelos & Stamos to The New Normal.

JET's 1st gay married couple hits TV.

New Jersey: The state of marriage equality.

Newsweek's #lastprintissue.

Kenya's 1st gay candidate quits, explains.

UK gays defecting to Tories over marriage.

Catholic overlords still very anti-gay.

Addressing "the gay tax." 

Bandsies vs. anti-gay bullying.

All Mariah wants for Christmas is taste.

Jessica Simpson is knocked up—the sequel.

Madonna's very Gaga Christmas:

 

Longtime readers of Boy Culture may be surprised that I made it out to Rihanna's 777 gig last night at Webster Hall; I haven't exactly written of my undying affection for the Barbadian bad girl.

But while I haven't been able to relate to her reaction to her Chris Brown beat-down, I have to admit she has a string of hit songs, many of which feel like indelible classics. Is it really so hard to imagine people listening to and loving "Only Girl (In the World)", "Don't Stop the Music", "We Found Love" or "Umbrella" decades from now? Speaking of which, with her new single "Diamonds" hitting #1, she ties Madonna and The Supremes with 12 pole-positioners, putting her behind only Michael Jackson, Mariah Carey and The Beatles for most #1 hits. And she's only 24...the same age Madonna was when she released her very first single. (Yes, yes, I know—Rihanna has had guests, Rihanna has benefited from iTunes. But it's still fucking impressive.

The gimmick of Rihanna's (tumultuous!) 777 is that the surprise gigs are free and first-come-first-served. She was traveling with press and superfans to complete 7 gigs in 7 countries in 7 days. With New York the last stop, I felt lucky to be invited so showed up at 7:30. Doors were at 7, my contact told me she was expected at 9. Famous last words.

Inside, I was three to four people back from the stage. The gatekeepers made sure that the venue was only about 1/4 full until 9...people seemed to be trickling in. As soon as I found my spot, a brassy twentysomething girl, hanging on her hot boyfriend, asked me to take their picture, which I happily did. Much to my dismay, she became my arch-nemesis, pushing hard against me as she danced wildly to the endless warm-up music, hours before Rihanna graced us with her presence. Finally, she asked if I could move over slightly. I did so. She took up that space and continued. I was at a loss...we really weren't even packed in yet.

Even through all the blood-thirsty diva wars, it's nice to know that almost every one of the divas I can think of—Madonna, Gaga, P!nk, Katy Perry, Rihanna, Beyoncé, Aretha—is on the right side of history and sings from the left side of the aisle.

Even Mariah Carey, one of my least faves, is smart enough to want to "Bring It On Home" for President Obama, as she does with this song of the same title that she's just released in his honor.

"Get in control! Get in control!"

Nicki Minaj brought the North Carolina American Idol auditions to an end with a tirade against "her fucking highness" Mariah Carey, and TMZ has the full video. It's shocking to see an actual diva war amidst so many fake or overblown battles. Off video, Minaj allegedly threatened to knock Mariah out.

I'm not a fan of the series, but I'd tune in to see that.

Here is Mariah Carey's new single, "Triumphant (Get 'em)". Haven't been hearing enthusiastic reactions from people who like or love Mariah—of which I am not one (hence the totally biased title)—but what do YOU think?

And what about the artwork?

And do you think she will spice up American Idol? I must admit I'd be scared shitless to sing in front of a real singer like her and yet, as someone who's never sung, I wouldn't sweat it if I had to warble for the likes of Paula Abdul or Britney Spears.