It’s not surprising that of all the singers to pick from, Feist was chosen to be on Sesame Street to help kick off their 39th season, which premieres August 11th. Her monster hit single “1,2,3,4” has been reworked into “1,2,3,4 Monsters Crawling Across The Floor” in order to help teach the kiddies learn to count to four. I mean, who cares about learning to count from five to infinitive when Feist is singing to you?

So are you ready to see the cutest thing in the world? There is happy music, singing chickens and penguins, so consider yourself warned. You may want to find someone’s cheeks to grab onto because you are going to want to squeeze the heck out of them once you are done watching the video.

Has counting to four ever been so joyful? Watching that makes me want to buy the world a coke, hug each and every one of you and maybe even adopt four dancing penguins. I love counting to four. … continue reading

First, a disclaimer. The official Feist idolator (I hope that's an actual word) around here was the fondly missed scribegrrrl, as you might remember. Obviously, these are very big shoes to fill, but I'll give it my best shot: I. Love. Feist. Love, love, love. Looove.

Want proof? She's coming to my neck of the woods on June 11 and I have had the ticket for months. And I can hardly keep myself from running to the venue right now and sleeping there to get a front row seat. The only reason I don't do that? I have to blog for AfterEllen.com, obviously! Well, and I'm sane too. (Also, I'm going to a Cat Power concert on May 26, so I'm sleeping there first.)

The lovely Leslie chatted with Stephen Colbert on Monday for a few minutes only, but that was quite enough to make me like her even more. First of all, her outfit. She looked absofreakinlutely fantastic. Seriously, a tie and a vest? No wonder Colbert told her, "So you swing both ways." He was actually talking about her dual citizenship (she's a citizen of both the U.S. and Canada), but we can still dream, right?

Colbert tried to understand what kind of an indie singer-songwriter Feist is, as he said he discovered her "in a little out-of-the-way club I call an iPod commercial." Heh. He then asked her if he should call her Feist or Leslie or Leslie Feist, to which she answered, "As long as you call me, Stephen Colbert, you can call me anything you want." Lucky %#$$&!

Feist and Colbert have a nice interaction, but it's way too short. Still, it's worth watching, so go ahead: … continue reading

So, if you watched last night’s telecast of the 50th Grammy Awards, you probably have some questions. Questions like, who is that guy, and why did he steal Amy Winehouse’s Grammy for Best Album of the Year? Or how is it that the Beatles won only four Grammys when they were together, while Fergie already has three? Or did Amy really thank her husband as “my Blake incarcerated” in her acceptance speech? Yes, yes she did. So without further ado, here are some of your most burning (though hopefully not itching) Grammy questions revealed.

Q: How it is it that the most electrifying performer in the room wasn’t even in the room?

A: Visa problems kept The Winehouse 5,500 miles away in London, but she still electrified via satellite with a performance that was equal parts raw, campy, sassy and defiant. Plus, she brought the one thing the somewhat stodgy awards affair sorely lacked — the air of unpredictability. God bless you, Amy Winehouse. Now get back to rehab and get better. … continue reading

I keep coming across lists I can't really improve on, so I'm just going to list them. In a list. Of lists. (A few of these are via Pop Candy, which is always a good source for lists and, well, just about everything else.)

1. 10 Star Wars toys that unintentionally look like other celebrities

When I was a kid, I often complained that my Princess Leia action figure just wasn't made right — it kept toppling over. And it annoyed me that her gun was so flimsy and useless, especially compared to Chewbacca's giant over-the-arm weapon. But at least the '70s toy version of Leia didn't look like Christian Bale:

And then there's Mon Mothma and Laura Bush:

The list includes other frighteningly spot-on comparisons, like Han Solo/Josh Brolin and Yak Face/Robert De Niro.

2. 13 movies worth preserving

EW.com readers recently named the films they'd like to add to the National Film Registry. I agree with Raising Arizona and The Women — and with the reader who submitted the latter and said, "I can't believe it's not already there." … continue reading

My crush on Feist gets bigger every day. It's more than a crush, actually; it's a "looking up to" sort of thing. Like when I was 7 and really looked up to that forward on my sister's basketball team. Um, maybe that was a crush too.

Anyway, Feist is simply brilliant. She's a serious artist, but she's also silly sometimes. And she's lovely. And all of that comes through loud and clear in the new video for "I Feel It All." This should have a warning label on it: May cause fireworks to go off in your heart.

Feist once again teamed with director Patrick Daughters for this one (he also directed the videos for "1 2 3 4" and "My Man, My Moon," which you can watch here). That's a match made in music video heaven.

Over the weekend, I spent a couple of hours feasting my eyes and ears on Feist. It wasn't a concert; she was part of the New York Times Arts & Leisure Week, which featured several artists (and I guess leisurists?) talking about their work. She was gorgeous, charming, funny, smart and incredibly inspiring.

I mean, we already knew she was all of those things, but I didn't expect to be quite so moved. I took notes, so here they are.

How to handle fame: "I do my best to not live externally." She talked about the way some people see life through the lenses of fame: "I don't want to see through those eyes, but through my own."

Her February show with the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra: Feist will be doing a concert with the orchestra and plans to turn it into a "jangly folk orchestra," with violinists playing tambourines (for example).

The iPod commercial: She admitted that she's tired of answering questions about how the iPod commercial came about, and joked that she "busked outside Steve Jobs' house" until he noticed. She also noted that Apple as a company is "artistically respectful" and let her song stand on its own.

Grammys and Junos and the like: "It's all great fortune, as long as what I'm doing makes sense to me." She noted that her Juno awards are on the mantel at her mom's house. … continue reading

The nominations for the 50th annual Grammy Awards were announced yesterday. As you've probably heard, the leaders of the pack are Kanye West (eight nominations) and Amy Winehouse (six nominations). Rihanna was nominated for four awards, as was Feist.

But I don't care about the numbers. I'm focusing on Best New Artist and Best Female Pop Vocal Performance. Both of those categories pit two of my favorites of 2007 (and probably of a lifetime) against each other: Winehouse and Feist.

I really don't know who to root for. In fact, I have never felt more conflicted in my life (well, I guess I should say I have never felt more conflicted about something that ultimately means so little to me). … continue reading

Let me start out with an apology. This post will make you watch commercials. Actually, if I’m going to split hairs, this post really only requires that you listen to commercials. So, if you’re against our culture’s rampant consumerism, just click play and turn your head. OK, end of apology. Though, really, considering all the great music in commercials these days, I don’t think I have much to be sorry about. In fact, quite the opposite. I mean, any ad that includes a phenomenal artist like Feist is an ad that will make me stop channel surfing.

Each time the ever-present iPod nano commercial featuring Feist’s video for “1234” comes on, I feel like dancing. Or, more accurately, I feel like dancing in a big Technicolor Broadway spectacular. Thanks to Scribe Grrrl, I had discovered the Canadian chanteuse before the ad hit the airwaves. Since the commercials began airing, Feist’s album sales have soared. To which I say, bless you Steve Jobs. … continue reading

I just came across this photo of Tina Turner and Janis Joplin performing at Madison Square Garden in 1969. It's Tina. And Janis. Together!

The photo is by Amalie R. Rothschild and is currently part of the Music and Fashion 1965–1975 exhibit at the Staley-Wise Gallery. Rothschild has taken some stunning shots of rock stars, many of which are included in her book Live at the Fillmore East: A Photographic Memoir.

I really can't fathom the idea of Janis and Tina on a stage together. Who needs caffeine (or whatever the crowd was on) with that kind of raw genius nearby? The idea of two talents and a microphone made me imagine some other rock duos (or folk duos or whatever-else duos) I'd like to see. Here are a few ideas. They may not really make much sense, but that's why I'm calling them fantasy duos.

Stevie Nicks and Amy Winehouse
"Rhiannon" meets "Rehab" — how great would that be? But Stevie might have flashbacks when confronted by Winehouse's in-your-face hedonism. She would make her cry, make her break down!

… continue reading

Feist's new CD The Reminder was released this week. In a word, it's phenomenal. (Don't let the fact that it's available at Starbucks scare you away.)

I don't know why Canadian singer-songwriters are so gifted, but Leslie Feist continues to live up to what I've come to expect of them. The Reminder is expansive, complex, brave, imperfect, honest. … continue reading

I was surprised to see Feist on the front page of the Arts and Entertainment section of the Sunday New York Times. Surprised, then excited, then worried.

… continue reading

I'm excited for her, because if anyone deserves mainstream success, Feist does. But I'm worried, because sometimes when good musicians make it big, they also become a little less, um, good.