Otis Day's Blog-A-Doodle-Doo - XER

1. In February 2011, 21 debuted at #1 on the Billboard 200 albums chart with first-week sales of 352,000 copies. It stayed in the top three for 24 consecutive weeks and has never fallen out of the top 10 since its release.

2. In the year since its release, 21's lowest chart position was #7, in November 2011. The following week, it was back at #2, and it hasn't left the top three since.

3. With her, Adele has broken the record previously held by the late Whitney Houston's soundtrack to "The Bodyguard" by notching 21 non-consecutive weeks at #1.

4. The album's 21 weeks atop the chart also mean that it spent a staggering 40 percent of the past year as the country's #1 album.

5. 21 was not only the best-selling album of 2011 in the U.S. — with sales of more than 5.8 million — it's also the best-selling digital album of all time in this country, racking up more than 2 million downloads to date.

6. The album debuted at #1 in the U.K. upon its release on January 30, 2011, and held that spot for four weeks. After she sang "Someone Like You" on the BRIT Awards telecast, sales increased by nearly 900 percent on Amazon.co.uk within an hour of her performance. She also set a Guinness World Record in September 2011 by becoming the first female artist to have two singles and two albums in the U.K. top five simultaneously.

7. 21 was also the best-selling album of the 21st century in the U.K., passing Amy Winehouse's Back to Black.

8. 21 has topped the charts in 27 different countries, including Switzerland, Sweden, Mexico, Poland and Greece, and has sold more than 17 million copies worldwide.

9. In the U.S. alone, 21 has sold more copies in one year than Katy Perry's Teenage Dream, Lady Gaga's Born This Way, Rihanna's Talk That Talk and Beyoncé's 4 combined.

10. After canceling the remainder of her tour in October to undergo vocal surgery, Adele has played just 34 North American shows in support of 21.

11. Even more incredibly, she's released just three official singles off the album in the U.S., with a fourth ("Rumour Has It") set to hit radio next month.

12. One of those singles, "Someone Like You," was released as a digital track in February 2011, right around the time the album hit stores here in the States, but didn't take off until after Adele performed it at the MTV Video Music Awards in late August: In September 2011, it leapt from 19 to #1 on the Billboard Hot 100, giving it the biggest jump to the top position in the chart's 53-year history that wasn't tied to the release of a single.

13. According to Billboard, "Someone Like You," was the first piano-and-vocal-only ballad to top the Hot 100 chart since its founding in 1958. That feat is even more incredible considering that 1,008 songs have made it to #1 on that chart, but all, even Elton John's "Candle in the Wind," featured additional instruments.

14. The runaway success of 21 set off a worldwide manhunt for the ex-boyfriend who inspired the amazing kiss-off "Rolling in the Deep." According to the New York Post, that mystery man is a British musician/actor named Slinky Winfield. Legend has it she began writing the tune just hours after their nasty breakup.

15. How big a hit was "Rolling"? It was the biggest crossover song in the past 25 years, according to Billboard, showing up on a dozen different radio format lists — even Latin — and charting on the magazine's Adult Contemporary, Alternative Songs, Hot Dance Club Songs, Hot R&B/ Hip-Hop Songs, Rock Songs, Pop Songs and Adult Pop Songs charts.

16. Some have speculated that "Rolling" became such a huge hit Stateside because of its intriguing title. Adele explained that she chose a British slang, "roll deep," as inspiration, referring to knowing that someone always has your back in a fight. "And that's how I felt in the relationship that the record's about, especially 'Rolling in the Deep,' " she told Rolling Stone magazine. "That's how I felt, you know, I thought that's what I was always going to have, and um, it ended up not being the case."

17. All that heartbreak paid off at the 54th Grammy Awards, where Adele swept the top categories and went six-for-six on the night. The mark tied her with Beyoncé for the most wins in a single night by a female artist.

18. Included in her Grammy haul were the awards for Album, Record and Song of the Year, making Adele just the sixth artist ever to sweep the so-called Big Three, joining a list that includes Paul Simon, Carole King and Eric Clapton.

19. When combined with the Best New Artist Grammy she won in 2009, Adele is just the second artist to have won the Big Four awards, alongside Christopher Cross.

20. If you count Paul Epworth's Producer of the Year win, 21's seven total Grammys make it the third-most-honored album in the awards' history, trailing only U2's How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb, Santana's Supernatural, Norah Jones' Come Away With Me, Ray Charles' Genius Loves Company and, uh, Thriller.

21. 21 was honored with exactly 31 pounds, 8 ounces of Grammys, a weight equal to 20 dozen eggs, four gallons of water or exactly one young emperor penguin.

You may have heard the news about a chain of Kidney donations that set a world record and gave 30 people a new chance at life. But how did it happen?

A healthy 44-year-old man from Riverside, CA decided to donate his kidney to a complete stranger in New Jersey. The man who needed the kidney in New Jersey actually had a niece who wanted to donate her kidney to him. Her blood type didn't match, so she decided to donate her kidney to a woman in Madison, WI and the chain continued from there.

That one kidney donation set off a four-month chain involving 17 hospitals across 11 states and saved 30 people who likely would have died without the transplants.

Facebook has an app that lets you send out a message after you die. This is an odd idea...you record your message(video) ahead of time, then choose a few trusted people that can confirm death, and the "message" gets released after death. And you can do more than one message. And you can delay them...and send them out over time. You'd be like 2Pac and Biggie...you'd just keep showing up year after year.

What will your video say?

The Polar Plunge is tomorrow....we'll be there. I actually did it a few years ago.

Some singer in Brazil is claiming that Madonna borrowed a portion of his song "L.O.V.E. Banana's" in her new song "Gimmie All Your Luvin."

Joao Brasil claims that the track's chorus has elements from his song.  Brasil's record company is thinking about a lawsuit over the track, but Brasil himself says he doesn't want to face off against Madonna.

He said: "I still don't understand what happened. I'm a huge fan of hers. If it's plagiarism, then even better. She is always at the cutting edge of music, so it's a good sign about what I do."

"It's in the record label's hands, they're looking at how to proceed and what they can do. But personally I don't want to do anything. The last thing I need in my life is a fight with Madonna."

"Give Me All Your Luvin'' is featured on Madonna's new album, "MDNA".

I think this is ridiculous. They sound nothing alike. See what you think!

A new camera app allows users to automatically erase unwanted objects from photos, without using expensive photo-editing software.

Users can take pictures in a busy public place, but make it look like they are the only one in the photo.

The app is called Remove and was designed for Android phones.

The camera takes several photographs in a row, analyses them and builds a composite image that users can edit. The composite picture will have objects highlighted to allow the user to toggle them in or out of the shot.

No word yet on when it will be released.

An honest movie trailer for the re-release of "The Phantom Menace".

Their Valentines day present to you...the new video! Enjoy the product placement!

A little language in this that may not be suitable for work(or your kids). It's him reading a facebook post from his 15 year old daughter....she's got a bit of a mouth on her.

Stick through to the end when he brings out the gun!

Photos of a ‘sniper nest' at the Super Bowl are making the rounds on the web.

They show a sniper checking out his space in the rafters of Lucas Oil Stadium.

Some folks may not know that snipers watch over high-profile events, but it's standard procedure, especially at the Super Bowl.

Do you think they have them at Lambeau ever? Maybe NFC Championship game? I mean we really never even knew about it until just now, so is it so ridiculous to think they may?

"American Idol" executive producer Nigel Lythgoe spoke with reporters and was asked how he felt about the ratings success of "The Voice"'s second season and whether or not it's contributing to "American Idol"'s ratings decline.

Lythgoe said: "My thoughts on "The Voice" at the moment are I think it's a fun format. It's very gimmicky, which is interesting at this moment and time. I particularly like the relationship between Blake [Shelton] and Adam [Levine]. Other than that, I think they need stronger talent. We'll see."

"Idol"'s numbers are down from last season, but Lythgoe isn't worried. He said: "After 11 years, I am thrilled with these ratings. We're constantly compared against ourselves and against our own ratings.

"Of course, there's going to be some kind of deterioration in the ratings. We've now got two major programs in "The Voice" and "The X Factor" against us. Whether people like them or dislike them, they're still feeding from the same talent and it's still going to dilute our audience."

Lythgoe was also asked about Ryan Seacrest's future as the host of "American Idol" and whether the show could survive without him. Nigel replied: "There can always be an Idol without anybody. I'm surprised that question's still being asked after Simon [Cowell] left us when everybody said there wouldn't be an Idol without Simon."

Though the show can go on without him, it doesn't mean Lythgoe wants it to. He says, "Seacrest is probably the best host in the business. Why he hasn't received an Emmy yet, I'm not sure. I hate to think of him leaving American Idol. I think he is the glue that sticks it all together and moves it along.

"I don't have anything bad to say about Ryan, apart from he's too good-looking and he's got too much money. I just hope he doesn't leave, to be frank with you. I think they should try and sort out a deal."

SINGING COMPETITION FEUD, TAKE 2: SIMON COWELL SLAMS 'THE VOICE', DENIES BEYONCE RUMORS

Simon Cowell spoke about the changes at his show "The X Factor".

Host Steve Jones, and both female judges Paula Abdul and Nicole Scherzinger are not returning to the show.

Simon knew that the firings were coming "at the beginning of the year" and was "told it had to happen straight away".

Simon spoke with (ex-girlfriend) Terri Seymour in an interview with Extra airing today.

He added that he would have liked to keep Paula Abdul, and said: "She was very gracious... She understands it's business; it's never personal".

Simon added that he felt Nicole Sherzinger was "not mad. I think she's disappointed." The other judge who will be staying with the show, L.A. Reid, is essential to the show: "Because there is not a record executive out there that is as good as him for the job.".

According to Simon, "What impressed me about LA was that he was there 7 days a week. He was on it and I thought he was amazing."

As for who else will be joining him at the judges' table next season, Simon was quick to shoot down rumors of Beyonce. He said, "The budget for the show is $100 million. That would never ever happen. It's absolute nonsense. No one is going to pay $100 million for someone. I genuinely haven't had a conversation with her about it. Not at all".

And while he would love Mariah Carey to join the show, she's not on the list of candidates. Simon explained: " You have to work five days a week and all the travelling, so she will not be on the list.

 "I adore her, love her, but you can't expect someone who has just had two kids, has a record career to make the kind of commitment we would need on this show."

Extra also asked Simon if he feels threatened by his NBC competition, "The Voice", which has been pushing the fact that their judges (Christina Aguilera, Blake Shelton, Cee-Lo Green and Adam Levine) are Grammy-winning artists.

Simon fired back: "I would ask how many records have they made, how many artists have they discovered?"

He also mentioned that he does not watch his competitor's shows. Simon adds, "That's where we have to be different on the judging panel. It's very important that you have people on the panel that have actually signed and made artists successful all over the world, not just have made hit records yourself."

Watch a preview here: