Pressing Play on Born This Way

May 30, 2011, by rebecca@top7.com

Born this Way, Lady Gaga’s highly anticipated new album just dropped, and crazy as it seems, this is actually only her second album. We now have about twice as many songs to listen to by today’s reigning queen of pop.

What else dropped? Her newest song. Not “Judas” – “Three Way”. When Justin Timberlake hosted SNL with Lady Gaga as musical guest, they premiered “Three Way”, their homage to the acceptability of a menage a trois with each other, so long as there’s a chick involved somehow. Her guest appearance on Andy Samberg and Justin Timberlake’s tune about the golden rule is now viral as the diseases those characters in the videos likely have.

An Unstoppable Trio

But as for her solo work, nearly 5000 Top7 users voted for their favorite Lady GaGa songs, and there appears to be a consensus on which ones are the best across genders and age groups. First off, every single demographic considers “Bad Romance” to be the most epic Lady GaGa song to date. The ode to love gone bad resonated with all the fans the most, or maybe it easy to remember chorus of “Ra Ma Ra Ma Ma Ga Ga Ooh La La” — lyrical genius.

This is how I break up with people too.

Next up, most Top7 user demographics appreciated GaGa’s anthem of self-acceptance slash alien birth, “Born this Way”, but in all demographics above 25 years old, the song actually dropped from #2 favorite to #7 favorite. it seems that the farther the audience was from their own birth, the less they appreciated the song.

Coming in at #3 for all groups was GaGa’s rebuke of cellular communications, aptly titled “Telephone”. For 25-25 year olds, it was higher, at #2, and the over 35 year old set, probably not understanding her beef with the telephone device they love so dearly, the song came in at #4.

“Alejandro” appears as #4 in most groups, but boys like it for #5. The older you get the more likely you are to appreciate “Alejandro”, as for 25-35 year olds it comes in at #4, and for the 35+ set.

Rounding out the top 5 for most groups was the anthem for gambling technique: “Poker Face”. Men liked it a little better, coming in at #4, and also same for 25-35 year olds. The 35+ crowd liked it as #3.

This time her bad romance betrayed Jesus.

And the rest of the hits? “Judas,” her newest single, didn’t crack the top 5 except for with 13-17 year old girls, at #5. “Just Dance” was the most popular with 25-35 year olds, who apparently best appreciate GaGa’s debut single. And my personal favorite, the ballad of the invasive photographer, “Paparazzi” was most popular with those over 35.

Want to see the results? Click here.
Want to put in your two cents? Click here.
Interested in Lady GaGa’s favorite outfits? Click here.


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Beating the iPhone at Its Own Games

May 22, 2011, by rebecca@top7.com

I waited in line overnight and then when I had it in my paws, it was a dream come true. When I finally ripped my sparkly new iPhone out of the hands of that store clerk, it was a magical moment never to be forgotten. But that moment was fleeting. After that initial tingly feeling of elation came over me, suddenly a crushing sense of doom set in. Why? Because this darn thing is full of infinite possibilities and I had no idea where to start. Certainly not by making a phone call! That is so 2004.

I often find myself in line for things, so I figured I would get some games. I can now get something USEFUL done as I wait for the bathroom at Starbucks. But seriously there are umpteen million to choose from. Angry Birds was a given. I’m a dog so the thought of flinging birds all over the place is pretty appealing. And Top7 rankers agreed with that statement – of every age group and equally amongst men and women, Angry Birds is generally agreed to be THE game to get for your iPhone. So it is settled. Angry Birds is on my phone now, to the delight of all those billionaires in Finland at Rovio Mobile.

Doodle Jump is definitely second on the to-game list. It appears in the top 5 for every age group, although if you’re 18-35 it rounds out your top five whereas if you’re younger than 18 or older than 35, odds are its higher. That four-legged thingamabobber looks pretty delicious to me also, most importantly, human people enjoy how its like an iPhone Wii game where you move your entire phone in order to play.

Jetpacks are so hot right now.

Fruit Ninja is also a must have. Who ever thought slicing fruit would be such an addictive activity? Working at Jamba Juice must be highly rewarding. It is universally in the top five games for everyone, men, women, and across all ages.

Boys love Assassin’s Creed and Asphalt 5. Racing cars, like in Asphalt 5, is one of the more classic video game ideas so far for my iPhone from this list of the most best, but Assassin’s Creed is definitely a cool spin on the “killing people” genre of video games. When I started playing it, and the killing people aspect of the game was pretty standard, but learning about Renaissance history was definitely unexpected. When I caught myself suddenly super knowledgeable about ancient Jerusalem, I’ll tell you the truth: I felt a little violated.

Time travel is cool, but for added spice, it's better when you also kill people.

On the other hand, girls love Cut the Rope and Glee Karaoke. The latter is fairly straightforward as a game, but Cut the Rope is a pretty cool puzzle. Feeding the monster Om Nom with candy is kind of a creative game and also a clever way to promote childhood obesity. I kid, I kid. Everyone loves candy.

Vicariously snacking through this little monster-munchkin.

If you’re a teen, you’ll probably like Assassin’s Creed and Asphalt 5 a lot. Twenty somethings like those too, but if youre over 35, get your ghetto on because you’re probably going to be a fan of Original Gangstaz Rock. Not sure why the over 35 set likes to imagine themselves in a giant gang war, but I’m only three dog years old, so maybe one day I will understand.

To check out the results yourself, click HERE

And to add your two cents, click HERE to rank


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Back from the Dead and Straight to the Top

May 5, 2011, by rebecca@top7.com

This week, on May 1, we had the anniversary of the day Family Guy was brought back from beyond the grave and put right back in the primetime lineup. Apart from reboots like 90210 and Melrose Place, I can’t think of a single other precedent for this kind of thing. This really meant a lot for me because as a talking dog myself (or more of a canine scribe, as it were) Brian Griffin really paved the way for professional pups like me breaking into the biz.

Family Guy is often compared to The Simpsons and South Park, as all three are relatively potty-mouthed pop culture commentators. But these days, it seems people have a special place in their hearts for the Quahog residents, the same way the Simpsons were the “it” family of the 1990s.

Revenge is a dish best served by a fire blaster

Stewie Griffin, diabolical baby genius, is squarely at the top. Everyone loves an evil infant, apparently: men, women and everyone of all ages.

Then papa bear Peter Griffin comes in for second place with just about everyone as well. Men and women equally appreciate his crude nature and low-intellectual capacity.

Brian Griffin, the intellectual yin to Peter Griffin’s dimwit yang, rounds out the consensus top 3. If you ask me, he should be number 1, but maybe I’m biased because he’s my people. Dog people.

Brian can drive - I hope one day to get a license

Glenn Quagmire is generally thought to be the fourth best of the extended Family Guy family, but 13-17 year old girls liked the oversexed creepy neighbor slightly less than everyone else. They actually prefer the Evil Monkey.

Men like Ernie the Giant Chicken for #5, and they voted for him just enough to make him round out the top five for the general ranking population. But overall, girls preferred Evil Monkey, and they only liked Ernie enough to be #8. I suppose they aren’t as big of fans of his prolonged action takeaway scenes with Peter as they are of the scary little animal that torments Chris.

And among 18-24 year olds of both genders, Death was #5 character above both Ernie the Giant Chicken and Evil Monkey. I guess 18-24 year olds are pretty fearless!

Men like Cleveland more than women, and women like Lois way more than men. Lois doesn’t show up in any top ten for men of any age group, in fact, but she appears in ALL of them for women.

Women also prefer Chris Griffin to Herbert (the pedophile), and the only group that shows Meg Griffin any top ten love is 13-17 year old girls. And surprisingly or not, Kool Aid Guy gets the most support from women over 35. Analyze that how you will.

Koolio, as I like to call him, showing up uninvited

If you want to see the results yourself, click here, and if you want to put in your two cents, rank away right here.
If you want to rank Family Guy Episodes, click here, and if you want to vote for the best cartoon characters, click here.


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