via//chicago

R.I.P. Idolator

I never got around to dropping a link over in my sidebar, but Idolator was one of the regular music blogs I visited from time to time. I won't claim it was a daily stop because honestly, about half of the pop stuff they covered I could care less about, but when I did it was generally a good read. Sometimes a little heavy on the snark, but even that was typically balanced out by the kind of intelligence and thought that is all too uncommon in today's big hype blogs. Former fearless leader Maura Johnston, always a fun read, parted ways with Idolator on Monday and the site pretty much went directly into a tailspin. The two new writers Robbie and Becky have done little but regurgitate press releases and bash out gossip-less gossip in a style that would probably make a seventh-grade paper editor pause. It's rare to be able to watch a beloved blog crash and burn in almost real time. A few choice nuggets courtesy of the new content providers (I really can't call them "writers" at this point):

Oh, well. At least some Amerie posters and album samplers were given away at the album release party thrown at San Francisco’s Gus Presents Social Club the other night, right?

Rihanna was honored as one of Glamour Magazine’s Women of the Year last night, beginning her speech by crying and admitting “I’m PMSed, sorry.” So this is the new face of PMS? A gorgeous, exotic pop star? I guess now guys can stop complaining when their girlfriends get bitchy once a month in the hopes that they turn into Rihanna.

Is my review bias? Mmm, perhaps, since I happened to be sitting three rows behind Billie Joe Armstrong and Tre Cool and stared at the back of their heads during song breaks, but that rockstar spotting was just the icing to an already awesome show. [Fantastic use of grammar in that first sentence.]

Another day, another super hot but kind of creepy thing Shakira does with her body. Shaks (we’re on a nickname basis) performed “Give It Up To Me” on Letterman last night, showcasing her usual body contortions, but with one new addition: dreadlocks. [Shaks? Really? Shaks? Don't we already have one Perez Hilton?]

You get the point. I'm sure there are some people that love this gossipy style of music news reporting, but I don't think any of them were regular Idolator readers before this change. Such a shame to see the site sink to these depths.