Dancing to the beat of the Madagascar 5

Penguins must be the in creatures these days. They are in the movies as in the acclaimed documentary March of the Penguins which featured real penguins or as wacky computer-bred commandos in Madagascar. That is the flick about how animals from the New York Zoo cope with being accidentally thrust back into the wild. The black and white coated birds proved to be so appealing that they even starred in a straight to video spin-off released during last year’s Christmas Season, The Madagascar Penguins in a Christmas Caper.

Recently I got I Like to Move It CD by the Madagascar 5 from Germany and there are penguins in the group. I do not think it has anything to do with the Madagascar movie. For one, there are only three penguins instead of four and there are also two chickens in the group. But then the point here is all about how penguins have become the latest wisecracking cutesies from the animal kingdom to invade media. I do not know if this is how penguins will sound if they could talk but with this release, penguins are now also singers.

The Madagascar 5 performs old and new tunes, most of them with danceable arrangements. The original versions of two of these, I Like to Move It and Stayin’ Alive, were used in the Madagascar soundtrack. Western Dance Party featuring Chicken Charlie is the first single release. The other cuts are Popcorn, Caribbean Time, New York, New York, Summer Dance Party, Dolce Vita, Happy Children, My Dove, A Friend again with Chicken Charlie on solo, No Limits and two more mixes each of I Like to Move It and Popcorn.

Kiddies will enjoy dancing to this one. It is also a reminder that the party season will be upon us any time soon. June is over. The year is half-way through. There are now only 177 days till Christmas and 184 days until 2007. How time flies.

Taylor Hicks on a roll

Barely a month after Taylor Hicks won the American Idol title, the guy from Alabama is now a star. I saw him a few nights ago in The Tonight Show with Jay Leno and he looked every inch the part as he amiably chatted about Bobby Darin with fellow guest Kevin Spacey and about gray hair with the also salt and peppered host. A week before that he came out on the cover of People Magazine where he was named Bachelor of the Year in an issue about the hottest bachelors of the moment.

The day before his first single release Do I Make You Proud zoomed to No. 1 in Billboard Magazine’s Hot 100 Chart, the singles sales chart and the Pop 100 chart. Wow! This guy is really raking it in. The song was the inspiring new original that Taylor performed during the American Idol finals last May in Los Angeles. The debut single also includes Hicks’ cover of the Doobie Brothers classic Takin’ It to the Streets.

The list of the Top 10 songs in Billboard’s Hot 100 this week is as follows: Do I Make You Proud by Hicks; Hips Don’t Lie by Shakira featuring Wyclef Jean; Promiscuous by Nelly Furtado featuring Timbaland; It’s Goin’ Down by Yung Joc; Ridin’ by Chamillionaire featuring Krayzie Bone; Crazy by Gnarls Barkley; Life is a Highway by Rascal Flatts; Unfaithful by Rihanna; Me & U by Cassie; and Snap Yo Fingers by Lil Jon featuring E-40 & Sean Paul of YoungBloodz.

The Top 10 titles in the Billboard 200 albums are The Big Bang by Busta Rhymes; Taking the Long Way by the Dixie Chicks; Decemberunderground by AFI; High School Musical, the soundtrack album by Various Artists; Cars, also a soundtrack from the animated film; Stadium Arcadium by the Red Hot Chili Peppers; Me and My Gang by Rascal Flatts; New Joc City by Yung Joc; and Laugh Now Cry Later by Ice Cube.

MYX’s Top 20 videos

Hereabouts, the MYX music channel lists down the Top 20 videos of the week: 241 by Rivermaya; Jeepney by Kala; I Care by Rachelle Ann Go; Buttons by The Pussycat Dolls; Wait Forever by Gary V; Pwede Ba by Soap Dish; Jeepney by Sponge Cola; Dahil Ikaw by True Faith; Walang Kadala-dala by Sandwich; The Ordertaker by Parokya ni Edgar; Say Something by Mariah Carey; S.O.S. by Rihanna; Love Isn’t by Same Same; Dani California by Red Hot Chili Peppers; Direction by Slapshock; 24 Hours by Cueshé; A Promise by Chicosci; Endless, a Silent Whisper by Urbandub; When You’re Mad by Ne-yo; and Stars are Blind by Paris Hilton.