Rihanna turns casts an uncompromising eye on her recent experiences and current state. Is this an artistic statement you can warm up to? Read more in the review of Rated R.

_{Album cover courtesy Def Jam}

This week the chart is topped by clearly the hottest artist in popular music of the moment. She is followed by nine other great songs on the rise. Check out all the details in this week's Top 10 Hot Pop Songs chart.

These are the songs that made the decade that is coming to a close a great one for pop music. Check out all of the great music! Enjoy the complete list of the Top 100 Pop Songs of the 2000s

Pre-orders for Susan Boyle's first album I Dreamed a Dream were so strong that she set a global record at Amazon.com for the most pre-orders ever. Now it appears the in-store sales are holding up as well. Hits Daily Double is reporting that I Dreamed a Dream is already selling two to three times the estimated pre-release totals. They estimate first week sales will go over 500,000.

In the UK the story is similar. Reuters is reporting that music retailer HMV expects Susan Boyle's album to be the biggest selling album of the year. It looked like she was going to sell nearly 150,000 copies of I Dreamed a Dream on its first day of release. HMV initially projected she would sell 300,000 copies in the first week in the UK, but now they are revising their estimate upward to 400,000. Numbers like that have not been seen in the UK since the release of Take That's The Circus last December.

_{Album cover courtesy Columbia Recods}

X Factor is completely dominant on the UK charts this week with current finalists ruling the singles chart and a past champion owning the top of the album chart. Check out all the details in this week's coverage of the UK pop music charts.

_{Album cover courtesy J Records}

53 years ago it was Elvis Presley's hip gyrations on the Ed Sullivan Show that signaled popular music in the form of rock 'n roll could be a threat to mainstream sexual morality. Six years ago it was a Britney Spears and Madonna kiss generating commentary on the imminent downfall of the Western social order. Adam Lambert's pressing a face into his crotch, pulling boys on leashes, and full tongue mash of a kiss with a reportedly straight male keyboardist joins a long, vital and illustrious list of pop and rock performers who have pounded at the edges of what was deemed acceptable to show on television. Even a cursory glance at the lyrics of the song "For Your Entertainment" from the album of the same name would have nearly dictated a performance like this if the stage interpretation were true to the words.

Some who have commented on the performance are saddened that Adam Lambert focused more on spectacle than on his admittedly spectacular vocal skills. For any of us who sat through the season of American Idol, he really had nothing more to prove about his voice. However, many of us wondered if he could move beyond the restrictions of the American Idol competition and "compete in the big leagues" with the likes of Lady Gaga? There are a number of successful competitors who have thus far failed when faced with "going it alone" outside the show. We now have our answer to that question which is an emphatic yes. On the night that Gaga smashed glass and played on a burning piano while violinists suffered in gas masks, Adam Lambert was still the talk of the show. If part of successful performance is riveting an audience's attention, he has graduated into the big leagues.

Questions have also been asked whether the performance was appropriate in case children were watching. I would expect that concern is part of why Adam Lambert's performance was saved for the end of the show at 11 p.m. ET instead of the spot occupied by Janet Jackson's crotch grabbing at 8 p.m. It seems that it is a regular occurrence on network television to include explicit sexual material, bondage and fetish story lines as well as extreme violence on weekly dramatic series earlier in the evening than Adam Lambert's performance. This was not presented in family hour.

Last night Adam Lambert achieved the top goal of most highly successful entertainers. He captured our attention and forced us to talk about him. At the moment his music itself is not that important. His audacity at pushing our boundaries is. Thank you Adam, and welcome to the pop big leagues.

_{Photo by Kevork Djansezian / Getty Images}

It's been less than a year since Lady Gaga first topped the pop singles chart, but she has a brand new collection of eight songs to share with you. Does it continue her momentum that has brought five top 10 pop singles in the past calendar year? Read more in the review of The Fame Monster.

_{Album cover courtesy Interscope}

The 2009 American Music Awards kicked off with the arrival of top pop stars. The red carpet is the opportunity to show off the visual appeal of the top artists in the business. Check out the picture gallery of the 2009 American Music Awards Red Carpet.

_{Photo by Jason Merritt / Getty Images}

It's the biggest week of the year for pop music with the hottest stars of the moment performing. It may be a holiday week, but it is a week filled with great music. Check out all of the details in this week's Pop Music on TV.

Leading into the 2009 American Music Awards there was some degree of controversy over Michael Jackson earning so many nominations for music that in most cases is over a decade old. Indeed, Michael Jackson did win four awards on the night, but it was Taylor Swift who captured the top prize, Artist of the Year, and the most awards overall with five. It was a night of huge performance productions from the likes of Lady Gaga, Rihanna, and Adam Lambert. However, if there was an award for the top performance during the show, I would have to hand that statue to the Black Eyed Peas. With a medley of "Meet Me Halfway" and "Boom Boom Pow," they looked like they were pointing out there is no other current pop group that knows better how to simply have fun. Check out the major winners below:

• Artist of the Year - Taylor Swift
• Favorite Pop/Rock Male Artist - Michael Jackson
• Favorite Pop/Rock Female Artist - Taylor Swift
• Favorite Pop/Rock Band, Duo or Group - Black Eyed Peas
• Favorite Pop/Rock Album - Michael Jackson - Number Ones
• Favorite Soundtrack - Twilight
• Favorite Adult Contemporary Artist - Taylor Swift

_{Photo by Kevork Djansezian / Getty Images}