Singing about partying and drinking alcohol all night long makes it pretty clear why a recent up-and-coming artist like Ke$ha is sure to spark controversy. Last year, Kesha Rose Sebert (now known as Ke$ha) debuted her new hit single,“Tik Tok,” which ended up reaching number one in eleven different countries.

Despite this, Ke$ha was unable to stake her claim to many people as a musical artist. Many of her songs, actually all of her songs, feature a more recently popular feature called auto-tune. The way this works is a singer will sing the words of his or her song into the microphone almost completely ignoring pitch and tone; the recording is then digitally altered so that the voice stays in one key and sounds tolerable.

This feature is used by many new artists such as T-Pain, Flo-Rida and Britney Spears (but not Lady GaGa), and has begun to worry many music enthusiasts. People are beginning to wonder whether today’s pop stars have talent, or are they simply relying on computer software to do their work for them?

In iTunes, Ke$ha is labeled as an artist, but this is the only option because it is highly doubtful that they have an untalented individuals section. Although she’s labeled as an artist, many still disagree.

Senior Andrew Lee says, “I think the music she creates is not an art because it's too easy to auto tune your own voice, it's too cliché and it all sounds the same. I could do that.”

Others believe that she may just be a bit misunderstood.

Senior Caroline Perdue says, “I think she is an artist, but different from the traditional idea of an artist. She produces music that is both entertaining and pleasant to listen to, and to me, that makes her an artist."

The fact of the matter is that people in the music business are slowly being taken over by machines. Maybe sometime in the future, the only type of music the world will have will be electronic and auto-tuned dance music. However, whether Ke$ha is a talented singer or not, she is becoming richer as her songs become more and more popular, so she must be doing something right.

If you are in the Halloween spirit or simply enjoy being terrified for 125 minutes, 'Paranormal Activity 2' will grab your attention. The movie, directed by Todd Williams, premiered on October 22 and left horror fans satisfied across the globe.

'Paranormal Activity 2' is cleverly interwoven into the original 'Paranormal Activity' which premiered on October 16, 2009. Overall, I was disappointed with the first movie, which had  minimal frightening scenes and many slow scenes throughout, leaving the audience wondering when the plot would pick up tempo. I did not have high expectations heading into ‘Paranormal Activity 2’, and only anticipated a few banging doors that would scare the audience.

‘Paranormal Activity 2’ does a very good job of introducing Daniel (Brian Boland), wife Kristi (Sprague Grayden)-- who is the sister of the original protagonist, Katie (Katie Featherston)-- daughter Ali (Molly Ephraim), son Hunter and the family’s German shepherd. Although a good amount of time was spent introducing the characters, I appreciated the personal connection with the family throughout the film.

Once the family is properly introduced, the story quickly begins. Early in the movie, pots and pans mysteriously falling to the floor transition into people being dragged throughout the house by a demon. Unlike ‘Paranormal Activity’, there is no shortage of frightening scenes. In fact, I found myself holding my breath and clenching whatever my hands could find as suspense built up. Numerous times, I uncontrollably yelled loudly, which I am sorry to say included vulgar language.

The audience watching ‘Paranormal Activity 2’ is quickly aware that the demon has a sinister objective; there is no question if the demon will accomplish it’s goal, there is just a question of how. You are forced to watch the characters you have developed a personal bond with appear as though they are lambs heading into the lion’s den.

The plot of the movie definitely makes up for the predictable conclusion. Todd Williams did an excellent job directing the audience’s eyes to one side of the screen only to have an event occur on the other. This thrill ride came to an abrupt stop, but seems to have little effect on the overall movie.

I would definitely recommend this movie to anyone who is a remote fan of the horror genre, but be prepared to get very little sleep that night as you jump at every little creak in your house.

Riddle me this: what costs almost nothing to make and reeks of similarity in the worst way possible?  “Paranormal Activity 2,” coming to theaters Friday, October 22.

Granted, it is the continuation of the original “Paranormal Activity,” a horror movie released last year which was one of the most profitable movies ever made although it cost very little to produce.  However, the promise of high earnings for this sequel isn’t very likely.

With the exception of “Toy Story 2,” sequels are usually not as good as their prequels, maybe because the audience already has an idea of what to expect from the movie and can somewhat guess the plot.  “Paranormal Activity” was a one-time scare, seemingly very realistic because the characters, Kate and Micah, seemed to be making a home video of the “demons” haunting their house, adding a unique quality to the movie.

But can a movie with the same plot and different characters become a box office hit?  You tell me, because I will not be standing in line for a ticket come Friday.

“Paranormal Activity 2” is not the only new release that does not seem entirely promising: “Life As We Know It,” “Easy A” and “You Again” are other examples of low budget movies taking over the box office at an alarming rate this season.  However, “The Social Network” and “Jackass 3D” are two of the few movies worth spending $11-plus on.

When creating the rainbow flag, artist Gilbert Baker assigned each of the eight colors he used a different meaning. Purple had spirit bestowed upon it, and surely the spirit of the LGBT community needs bolstering in these harrowing times.

Media giants such as CNN have been recently broadcasting the tragic loss of six students whose suicides can all be attributed to homophobic abuse, all within one month of each other. The public responded by setting up events for people to wear purple in honor of the six students.

As the president of the George Mason High School Gay-Straight Alliance, I strongly urge any and all students to wear purple on Wednesday, October 20 to show that you care for the students and wish for this kind of torment to end.

Lights out, beat thumping, and anticipation high. The man in cargo pants and a plain black tee appeared, sending the sea of almost 4,000 fans into a frenzy.

"I came here tonight in an attempt to further our relationship," Drake said as he began his concert on Saturday, October 2. Back-up dancers took the stage as Drake paused between songs to single out fans in DAR Constitution Hall, after Tyga gave an entertaining but not particularly captivating performance as a warm-up to Drake.

In what might have been another effort to connect with the crowd, the hip-hop sensation called a fan on stage after a short dance and presented her with a Blackberry Touch, courtesy of his AT&T and Blackberry sponsors.

Throughout the show, Drake attempted to make the crowd feel special. Although repeatedly saying that it was his first show in D.C., he had seemingly forgotten about a performance he had given at the 9:30 Club this past June. Later, he was forced to rush off the stage without an encore, because he was booked at another club in D.C. with a short amount of time to arrive.

Fans of the platinum-selling artist crowded into the small arena and gave roars of approval between songs. However, the crowd was hushed and energy appeared to be lost when the singer performed some of his slower songs, although a quick turn-around to his upbeat rap electrified the crowd once more. The crowd became very enthusiastic during “Fireworks,” during which actual fireworks were set off in the small arena.

He also recognized his connections to the Young Money Entertainment label by regularly mentioning his close friend Lil' Wayne. Referring to the recent arrest of Wayne, Drake mentioned a call he received from him while in jail and began chanting, “Young Money, Free Weezy."

Set list included Drake’s own verses in:

”9AM in Dallas”
“Forever”
“Up All Night”
“Show Me a Good Time”
“The Resistance”
“Karaoke”
“Successful”
“Fireworks”
“Lose My Mind (Remix)”
“Money to Blow” (feat. Birdman)
“I’m Goin’ In”
“Right Above It”
“Every Girl”
“Bedrock”
“Un-Thinkable” (I’m Ready) (Remix/Alicia Keys cover)
“Nothing On You” (Cover)
“A Night Off”
“Shut It Down”
“Unforgettable”
“Light Up” (W/ Run This Town)
“Say Something”
“Miss Me”
“Best I Ever Had”
“Fancy”
“Find Your Love” (W/ Paris Morton Music)

Did you know that Alex Ovechkin's favorite game is Tetris? This was just one of the many answered questions at the Washington Capitals Convention in the Walter E. Washington Convention Center-- a day devoted to the ice hockey team's fans. A day where anyone that had heard of The Red Fury or The Great 8 could learn anything and everything about the Washington Capitals.

The Caps did as much as they could to give back to the fans: private photo sessions were offered where fans that had bought photo tickets could get a photo next to some of the greatest skaters in Washington. Although there was a professional photographer, all were welcome to take photos where even a camera phone could capture a great shot. Fans could also test their hockey skills at activity stations, but the Caps players schooled them by showing off their skills.

For all of the kids that aren't friends with Ovechkin on Facebook or don't know what the superstar's favorite color is (blue), there was a session just for that. Ovechkin, Matt Bradley, and Eric Fehr answered questions from kids 14 and under. The questions ranged from "how many bones have you broken?" to "could you sing happy birthday to a little girl in English and Russian?" However, it was surprising that most of the questions were about fighting and the rivalry between the Caps and the Penguins. The intensity of their rivalry? An 11 on a scale of 1 to 10.

When asked how important the President's Cup-- the award for best regular season record-- is for the Capitals, Ovechkin said "I don't want to win President's Cup, I want to win Stanley Cup."

The Capitals' and Penguins' rivalry has currently been taken to the next level. For the past couple years, a baseball field has been used as an outdoor hockey rink, and the teams go head to head on New Year's Day. However, the turnout this year is expected to be so vast that instead of playing in the Pittsburg Pirates stadium, the intense Capitals versus Penguins game will be played in the Pittsburg Steelers football stadium-- a 26,554 seat difference.

The video of Penguins and Caps players shooting pucks through the goal posts at Heinz field is a ridiculous feat, given that I couldn't even shoot the puck into the goal on the field.