That said it should be an interesting American Music Awards show Sunday night, so we'll be live-blogging it right here. The AMAs tend to be packed with performances, and this year's lineup includes: The Black Eyed Peas, Mary J. Blige, Kelly Clarkson, Daughtry, Eminem, Green Day, Whitney Houston, Jay-Z, Alicia Keys, Gaga, Adam Lambert, Jennifer Lopez, Rihanna, Shakira, Carrie Underwood and Keith Urban. Janet Jackson will open the show.

Join Mario Tarradell, Samantha Urban and myself at 7 p.m. Sunday as we discuss all the action.

Virginia State Police said 10 people were on the bus when it went off the road and overturned. Cyrus was not on board and is not at the scene of the accident.

One person died, and another sustained minor injuries as a result of the crash.

The bus was heading to Greensboro, North Carolina where Cyrus is scheduled to perform on Sunday.

Talk about a cool piece of merchandise, especially if you're into the Twilight films, for which the crest was designed. (Right? I don't remember the mention of a crest in the books...)

Moreover, the soundtrack (featuring Death Cab for Cutie, Thom Yorke, The Killers and Muse) is one of the best albums of the year - that's right, I said it - and it would pretty awesome to get it AND a spare USB drive to take around. Consider this added to my Christmas list.

Hope Family Wines, a family-run wine producer with over 30 years of grape growing experience in Paso Robles, Calif., is inviting consumers to drink to a new beat. Winemaker and President Austin Hope announced the launch of Wine DJ, the Liberty School iPhone application created to build a playlist of "Music to Match Your Spirits" based on mood, setting and which Liberty School wine is being consumed. The app is available for download free via Apple's app store and on Apple's iTunes.

Upon launching the app, users are prompted to choose a Liberty School wine and are then presented with a series of sliders to adjust variables that correspond with their situation. Users will choose from settings such as "Candle Light/Strobe Light" and "Flying Solo/Entourage" and the app will stream a custom-made playlist. With music sourced from GrooveShark.com, the potential for unique playlists are immense. The app comes bundled with extensive information on Liberty School including tasting notes (both "what the people say" and "what the experts say") and a map feature that shows the nearest retailers who carry the wine.

"The Wine DJ app offers something original, fun and valuable to our customers," says Hope. "Who hasn't wondered what wine to open on a date, or what music to play at a dinner party? The Wine DJ app facilitates any music and wine scenario, and will hopefully attract new wine drinkers to discover the Hope Family brands in the process," he adds.

Photo: The Wine DJ app (Courtesy of Jarvis Communications).

Among the other new releases from Nov. 10, Flyleaf debuted at number eight, Switchfoot's Hello Hurricane was at 13 with 39,000 copies sold, and Dashboard Confessional took 19 with 30,000 copies sold of their new album.

How will this week's new releases rank? Tuesday saw the release of new albums from John Mayer, Norah Jones, Kris Allen and others.

The singer checked in to the London Clinic on Sunday after some over-the-counter cold remedy adversely reacted to some other medication in her system.

Although the group is best known for singles from their 2003 album The Beautiful Letdown, Switchfoot opened the show by playing every song from their most recent album, Hello Hurricane, which was released last week. (Of these songs, "Hello Hurricane" was undoubtedly the most fun to hear.)

Frontman Jon Foreman noted the unusual nature of using their most recent album as an opening act of sorts and thanked the audience for putting up with it. He observed that it must not have been terrible for everyone, because many fans towards the front already knew the words to each song, despite the album's recent release.

Performing under plastic seagulls hanging from the ceiling, the group hit their stride when they began to play their hits such as "Meant to Live." The high point came when Switchfoot performed "Only Hope" (which Foreman said hadn't been played in Dallas before) followed by "Dare You to Move." (Fans of A Walk to Remember: Rejoice!)

The audience was made up of a small group of casual fans hoping to hear radio hits, but mostly die-hard fans who sang along, waved their hands and took pictures with their phones during each number. But by the time Switchfoot came out for an encore, everyone in the venue had been charmed by the band's unassuming charm and passion for their tunes.

So who else should win? I'd like to see Owl City, Drake or Band of Skulls nominated. What about you?

Are you excited about seeing This Is It every few weeks on VH1 or would you have preferred the movie rights have gone to a major network?

If only the quintet and their fabulous backup band had stuck to those types of songs and steered away from all the covers, which were mostly carbon copies of the originals with nothing inventive in the arrangements. The all-over-the-place musical variety was a little too Lawrence Welk Show for me (including the hilariously bad choreography -- seems like each singer was given his very own, trademark dramatic gesture, to be used at least 10 times in every song) -- all it needed was some bubbles and a few polka chords, and we'd have been good to go. Still, these boys have their ardent fans; the atmosphere at Nokia evoked a Jonas Brothers concert attended mostly by middle-aged women and their moms. And to paraphrase Fried Green Tomatoes, we have more money and we can buy better tickets and concert tchochkes.

For our full review, visit here on Tuesday afternoon.

PHOTO: Decca Records

It may sound counterintuitive, but have you noticed how the mellowest music can be made when there are a whole bunch of musicians onstage, and the most intense when it's just one or two?

That's what the Swell Season was like Saturday night at the Palladium. The show really took off during Glen Hansard's hard-rocking solo performance in the middle of the set - one passionate guy, one beat-up acoustic guitar.

After 17 years with the Frames, who remain his backing band, the Irish troubadour became an overnight sensation when he and his songs starred in the hit indie film Once. Hansard and co-star Marketa Irglova won the Oscar for "Falling Slowly" and have continued to work together as the Swell Season ever since.

(Photo of the Swell Season by Conor Masterson)

Shakira's new video for "Give It Up to Me" with Lil Wayne and Timbaland premiered online at 2 p.m., and these were my immediate thoughts:

Love Shakira, but
this apes Nelly Furtado's
"Promiscuous Girl."

Seriously, is this Timbaland's fault or someone else's? Still, can't be mad at Weezy for his part, or for Shakira for stepping and having back up dancers for the first time. But it's not better than her last video, "Did it Again," with its bedroom acrobatics. Watch that one after the jump, and try sharing your thoughts in haiku form.

Um, really? Who still goes to MySpace regularly? I haven't logged on to the site in a good minute, and will likely soon delete my profile. I don't think I'm the only one that thinks the joint is dying, but they're also set to live stream video from the red carpet at the Twilight: New Moon premiere. At least they know their audience is mostly middle schoolers.

That aside, it's still exciting news. Opry performances between 8 and 9 p.m. will be shown, including appearances by Carrie Underwood, Martina McBride, Rodney Atkins, Jake Owen and others. The Opry continues to be broadcast on the radio, at 650 WSM-AM and now Sirius XM satellite radio, as well as on cable TV and at opry.com.

But wouldn't Facebook have been a better platform. Or even YouTube, which some dub "the new MTV" and is where U2 streamed their Rose Bowl concert last month. Thoughts?

PHOTO: Carrie Underwood performs at this week's CMA awards in Nashville. (Mark Humphery/AP)

Jupiter One opened for Spektor and seemed to have many fans of their own in the crowd. Not surprising considering their edgy sound and modern lyrics that partnered nicely with Spektor's own off the beaten path style.

Dressed in a knee length black and white tuxedo style dress, Spektor finally took the stage just after 9:00pm sitting at her grand piano with a drummer, violinist, and cellist behind her and opening with Calculation. The crowd filling the auditorium recognized the tune from the very first note as they seemed to do with every piece Spektor sang during the show. The songs Eet, Folding Chair, Ode to Divorce, and Machine followed and fans sang every word, every note, much to Spektor's delight.

And when the crowd cheers in the middle of a song and she smiles shyly and bows her head, you can imagine a young Spektor at the piano as a child imagining this very day.

She's one of those singer songwriter musicians who considers her voice an instrument to be used not just in the most obvious of ways but in a multitude of inventive ways, injecting a sense of surprise in all of the songs she sang tonight.

In fact, it can be hard to differentiate her voice from the string instruments behind her. It was so nice to be at a show where the performer sounds like she does on the CD for one simple reason - there's nothing manufactured about Spektor and it's a pleasure to listen to.

Spektor gets tongue tied on some of her own lyrics and giggles when she does, her trademark red lipstick framing her smile as she goes on to play Blue Lips, Anthem to the 80's (at the synthesizer), Bobbing for Apples (with her aqua guitar), and That Time. She also sang a really interesting piece acapella about, who would have guessed, eye color.

Between the layered, flouncy skirt of her dress, the black cardigan, cropped leggings, and simple flats, you can also imagine Spektor not in a huge theater, but instead in her living room, sharing her music with friends, especially when she sings, Apres Moi alone on stage seated on the padded bench at the grand piano.

The clarity, strength, and richness of her voice is truly impressive and downright refreshing really in this time of bubble gum pop, label created stars, and engineered voices.

At one point in the show, a stagehand brings out a single wooden chair and a drumstick. Spektor "plays" the chair like she was seated at the drums, though she continues to play the piano, tap her foot, and sing as well. Suddenly she is the strangest sort of one man band. Spektor goes on to sing Human of the Year, bathed in the glow of a single spotlight and Man of a Thousand Faces.

When Spektor then bows and leaves the stage, thanking the fans again and again, the entire audience is instantly on their feet awaiting her surely inevitable return. And just when you think the crowd can't get any louder, she sits back at the piano and they go even crazier. She plays Sampson and light emanates from Spekter literally and figuratively. "I loved you first," she sings and the violinist and cellist return to the stage. She hardly has a chance to play a note before the crowd is screaming.

She then plays Us (blue light flooding the stage), as well as Fidelity, and Hotel Song before she closed with what she calls her "country song." "I am in the middle of the country," she says. "I'll give it a try." Tonight at Nokia, she did more then give it a try, she gave one heck of a show.

Son Volt played Granada Theater on Thursday night, performing tracks such as Dynamite, Down to the wire, Roll on and Cocaine and Ashes from its most recent album, American Central Dust.