Juliet, 8, from Brisbane released 'My First Hardcore Song' earlier tonight, and in less than a minute she's forced Sophia Grace and Rosie back into the shadows.

The song and video - a school holiday project - sees Juliet showcasing attitude and angst that would put a seasoned professional to shame, proving she has the genre downpat. 

I'm predicting a performance on Ellen by the end of the month.

Roller Derby is one of Australia's fastest growing sports, helped along by the success of the Drew Barrymore-produced Whip It. With leagues popping up in every city and a host of international teams touring our shores, it's been hard to ignore the roller derby juggernaut.

We headed along to the Victorian Roller Derby's sold out Double Dissolution bout to find out exactly what the sport is about... And of course to check out the bashers, crashers and smashers.

Photo: NovaFM.com.au / Cameron Stewart
Video editing & filming: Talitha Conway

Apple is one company that's perfected hype marketing. Each time a new iPhone or iPad hits the shelves, we see hysteria on a global scale.

When the iPhone 4 was released in Australia we decided to join the queue and chat to those camping out for the night and even spoke to the person who managed to buy Australia's very first iPhone 4.

Photo: Apple
Video editing & filming: Talitha Conway 

Katy Perry's debut album, One Of The Boys, demonstrated an innate ability for creating instant familiarity in pop music. On Teenage Dream Perry proves it wasn't a fluke.

Those who witnessed Perry in full flight on stage in Melbourne last month can attest to that fact as the singer belted out what sounded like a greatest hits set, still weeks out from the release of her second album.

And it's that talent which sees the release of Teenage Dream move Perry a step closer to the pop throne she's been propelling herself toward.

Teenage Dream is her most promising step up yet, following the path many great pop albums do: swinging from exceptional to very, very bad. For every head-invading, chart-topping, pop anthem on Teenage Dream there are cringeworthy moments ready to counteract them.

But it's a proven formula in pop music. Madonna's Like A Prayer yielded the title track alongside "Act of Contrition". Britney Spears fronted up with "...Baby One More Time" and "Email My Heart" on her debut album. And Lady Gaga delivered "Poker Face" and "Eh Eh (Nothing Else I Can Say)" all within a few tracks of each other on The Fame.

Lead singles "California Gurls" and "Teenage Dream" are two of the album's said anthems, but Perry hasn't played her hand too early by unleashing those first up.

Teenage Dream is an effortless throwback to Perry's younger years. Retelling the rollercoaster ride of teenage emotions -- from euphoria to melancholy and back again -- Teenage Dream offers a warning against growing up too fast and skipping over life's defining moments.

The "Hey Mickey" inspired "Peacock", full of thinly veiled innuendos as Perry chants "I wanna see your peacock, cock, cock", is Teenage Dream's surefire third single.

"Last Friday Night (T.G.I.F.)" lets the Teenage Dream continue as Perry sings about maxing out credit cards, threesomes, skinny dipping and everything else we all get up to on an average Friday night.

Reminiscing about college days, "The One That Got Away" provides another album high, detailing a lost love and making out to Radiohead in a Mustang.

On occasion Perry's sugary overtones are too saccharin creating a paraody of herself she'd be best avoiding. "E.T." is Katy Perry gone too far while the faux-angst of "Circle The Drain" just doesn't sell itself.

But the lows on Teenage Dream are well and truly eclipsed by sundrenched anthems, seeing Katy Perry convincingly avoid the sophomore slump.

With enough hooks and potential singles to propel her through 2011, it's not a stretch to declare Teenage Dream this summer's soundtrack while we're still wallowing in winter. And you can't help but think that's exactly what Perry was aiming for.

Teenage Dream is in store now.

This piece originally appeared on NovaFM.com.au on 30/08/2010

It's been a long time coming for Bliss N Eso, but the hip hop trio finally took out the #1 spot on the ARIA album chart this week with fourth album, Running on Air, after ten years in the game.

Bliss N Eso's ascension sees them topple Eminem's Recovery from the top spot after a six week rein.

The band's second album, Day of the Dog, became the first Australian hip hop album to debut in the ARIA top 50, landing at #43 in the chart back in 2006. That's when punters first started to take note of the Bliss N Eso juggernaut.

It wasn't until the release of 2008's Flying Colours -- which debuted in the top ten of the ARIA album chart and saw the boys take home an ARIA award -- that Australians began to embrace the brilliance of Bliss N Eso.

Four huge singles resulted from Flying Colours, followed by appearances at every music festival worthy of a mention, a North American tour and an appearance before 80 000 at Melbourne's Sound Relief event, announcing to the world that Bliss N Eso had well and truly arrived.

The release of Running on Air and resulting #1 is icing on the cake for the Bliss N Eso team.

"We were rehearsing for our new show when we got the news on Friday night about the sales and chart position," MC Eso explained to NovaFM.com.au earlier today.

"The three of us were huddled around the phone when we got the call from Matt and Adam at Illusive and the result was hard to comprehend. It just reinforces that if you believe, you can achieve."

Bliss N Eso are currently on tour across Australia. Running on Air is available now.

Bliss N Eso tour dates:
Friday 13 August - Palace Theatre, Melbourne - SOLD OUT
Thursday 19 August - Enmore Theatre, Sydney - SOLD OUT
Friday 20 August - The Tivoli, Brisbane - SOLD OUT
Saturday 21 August - Thebarton Theatre, Adelaide

This piece originally appeared on NovaFM.com.au on 09/08/2010