Saturday, April 07, 2007

Rehearsal Pictures





I think these pictures are from Hilary rehearsing for her performance on Jimmy Kimmel.

Credit: HDuff.net

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Burbank Photoshoot

New photoshoot of Hilary that was taken in Burbank on March 30th.





Credit: Sarah/HDuff.net

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Hilary Duff and Lindsay Lohan - Dignity Release Party

Lindsay Lohan attended Hilary Duff's album release party for her new album Dignity. There were rumors that the two were friendly with each other and were even making fun of Paris Hilton. I don't know how accurate those rumors are, but I guess it's certainly possible. My personal belief is that Hilary doesn't like Lindsay very much. You can believe what you want but that's just what I think. Hilary doesn't exactly look very happy in the picture, but I guess the fact that Lindsay was at the party in the first place means something.



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Friday, April 06, 2007

Hilary Duff Rejected by Casting Directors

According to an article at Teen Hollywood, Hilary Duff has been turned down for several movie roles by casting directors who wouldn't even let her audition. Hilary says in the article, "It always shocks me the lack of openness, the lack of imagination that some casting directors have. I would read a script and be so in love with that, and someone would be like, 'Hilary Duff? Oh no, we don't want her for that.'"

Despite having tons of experience for someone her age, Hilary's acting has never really been praised by critics. Hilary has been typecast as being a "teen movie" actor, and she might have to prove that she can act on a bigger stage. I would think that there enough roles out there that Hilary would be able to get work if she really wants it, but she might have to prove herself by taking some smaller parts, like in War Inc.

I think one of Hilary's biggest problems is that people aren't really sure how much time she will have to devote to acting because she spends so much time on her music. If Hilary is really serious about getting better parts she might have to give music a break for a while. I don't see that happening anytime soon though since the new album just came out and she will be going on tour this summer.

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Hilary and Haylie Duff at Entourage Party - April 5, 2007




Credit: HDuffWorld. Visit them for more pictures from this event.

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Hilary Duff on Jimmy Kimmel - Interview and Performance



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Wednesday, April 04, 2007

Dignity - One Day Sales

Hits Daily Double is projecting that based on one day sales Hilary Duff's new album Dignity will sell 120,000 copies in its opening week. This would put Hilary behind both Tim McGraw and Timbaland on next week's chart, both are projected to sell 140,000. Martina McBride is also projected to sell 120,000.

Although these numbers are only projections, from my experience Hits Daily Double has always been very accurate in their one day sales estimates.

We'll have to wait for the official numbers to come out next week to know for sure, but it's a little disappointing to know that Dignity will most likely not be number one.

Tuesday, April 03, 2007

My really long Dignity Review

So where do I start. I guess the first thing to say is that the wait is finally over. It’s been almost 3 years since Hilary Duff released her last full-length album and I am definitely happy to hear some new music.

As expected the sound of Dignity is significantly different than any of Hilary’s previous albums. Just like the sound of Hilary Duff was significantly different than the sound of Metamorphosis. I’m not really sure what to make of the change in musical style. Is Hilary just changing herself to fit in to what’s popular at the moment? Or is she experimenting with new sounds in an effort to grow as an artist? After hearing Dignity it seems like a little bit of both.

Hilary Duff is definitely growing as a musical artist. She co-wrote 13 out of the 14 tracks on Dignity, and she seems much more polished as a singer than in previous outings. I think it’s kind of ironic that my favorite song on Dignity is the one song she didn’t write, because Hilary’s writing is good if not great. It’s not that she’s an expert wordsmith or anything, but what makes the writing so good is that Hilary’s songs are so personal.

In countless radio and television interviews leading up to the album release date Hilary said that she really opened herself up to write this album, and didn’t hold anything back. She wasn’t kidding. The lyrics are serious, deep, and at times almost haunting. That seems like a crazy way to describe a Hilary Duff album, but listen to Burned, Dreamer, or Gypsy Woman and you will get a glimpse of Hilary’s life that we have never seen before. When we see Hilary Duff on TV or in pictures she often looks like a perfect picture of beauty and elegance, but the songs on Dignity show a much different person who feels emotions of fear, anger and regret. This was briefly explored on Hilary Duff with songs like Dangerous to Know and Underneath This Smile, but it seems so much more powerful on Dignity because Hilary actually wrote the songs and they are connected to specific events in her life.

Did I mention this is a dance album? Yeah, it’s kind of weird that most of the songs on Dignity have serious meanings, but the lyrics are surrounded by fast, upbeat electronic dance music. It certainly provides for an interesting contrast. Many people have talked about how this album is so much more “grown up” than Hilary’s other albums, but I actually think this record will be very popular with younger fans because most of the songs are catchy and fun despite the sometimes serious undertones.

I’ve probably written too much and over analyzed this, so I’ll just finish up by saying that I really like the album. I like the fact that Hilary is experimenting with different genres of music. I like the fact that she is starting to write her own stuff. I like the cool and different sounds of each song on this album. I like Outside of You. I like Hilary’s voice, and I had actually forgotten how much I liked it. I don’t know if this is Hilary’s best album but it is certainly a huge step in her musical development, and more than anything makes me wonder where Hilary will go from here. I just hope we don’t have to wait 3 more years to find out.

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Dignity - Song by Song Breakdown

As if my review wasn't long enough, I decided to write a little bit about each song:

Stranger: Supposedly is going to be the next single on the album. I’m not too crazy about it. I’m not saying it’s a bad song – and I like it as the first song on the album because it sets a tone – but I don’t know how radio friendly it would be with the ethnic sound and downbeat lyrics.

Dignity: Hilary lashes out at the Hollywood lifestyle in a song that is very fun and up-tempo, but has a cynical outlook. Hilary just seems disgusted at whoever the song is directed at, which is assumed to be the Paris and Britneys of the world.

With Love: By now everyone has heard this song a million times. It seems kind of out of place on the album, but that’s probably just because I’ve heard it so much. It’s really hard to me to compare a song that I’ve heard a lot with songs that I haven’t heard that much. Even today I have a hard time comparing Fly and So Yesterday with the other songs on their respective albums.

Danger: This song is about Hilary’s involvement with an older man. Of course there is going to be speculation about whom that older man is. The first line of the Danger is “Were you born in 74?” When I first heard the song I thought of Kevin Connolly, and what do you know, I just looked it up and he was born on March 5, 1974. Let the rumors start flying.

Gypsy Woman: Originally speculated to be about Nicole Richie, Gypsy Woman was actually confirmed by Hilary to be about the relationship her dad had with another woman. Obviously a serious topic, a Winston Churchill sound clip at the beginning and a hypnotizing chorus lightens up this song. This is one of the better songs on the album in my opinion.

Never Stop: Most likely directed at Joel Madden, this is a super slick, sugary sweet memoir about the ups and downs of their relationship. The song title pretty much says it all with the chorus repeating, “I’ll never stop loving you.” This song seems to reflect what Hilary and Joel have said publicly about their breakup. Although they are no longer together they still respect and in some ways “love” each other.

No Work, All Play: Not really sure about this song. I think it’s about the importance of work ethic and self-improvement. Pretty much saying that life isn’t perfect but you just have to deal with it. I think. Right now this isn’t one of my favorite songs, but I’ve only heard the album a few times, so that could change.

Between You and Me: Another song that I’m not crazy about. I don’t know what it is about the beat (maybe the xylophone?), but I don't really like it.

Dreamer: I really like this song. It is presumably about the stalker who was arrested and put in jail for stalking Hilary. The song is ultra-catchy, and pretty funny. Hilary gets back at her stalker by calling him out for being pathetic. The chorus repeats “Stop watching me.”

Happy: This was one of the first songs that we heard about a long time ago. It was actually featured in the Material Girls trailer, but with a different beat. It was speculated that Happy and Play With Fire were actually the same song, but we now know that they are in fact two different songs. Despite the title, I don’t think Hilary sounds very happy singing this song.

Burned: Another song that I really like. I don’t know how literal the song is, but Hilary really shows some insecurity here, asking questions like, “What's wrong with me?” “Why can't I just fit in?” and “Why can't I do what everyone else does?” Obviously you wouldn’t think someone like Hilary would ever have trouble fitting in, but I guess things aren’t always what they seem.

Outside of You: This is my favorite song on the album right now. This is the one song that Hilary didn’t co-write. She said that she wanted to write the whole album but this song was so good that they just had to add it. I agree. The first time I heard the song I couldn’t get it out of my head, and I still can’t.

I Wish: Another song where Hilary examines some of her shortcomings, saying she wishes she could be better, and that she was “Riding high, but now I’m feeling so low.” The song is so upbeat though that even though the lyrics may suggest that it’s a sad song, it really doesn’t come off that way.

Play With Fire: Like With Love, this is really a hard song to compare in terms of the album. They seemed to tweak the song slightly from the original radio version that was released, but it’s still pretty much the same.

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Pictures - Dignity Album Release Party


Hilary is the belle of the ball. I think that's Jamie Spears on the left.


Hayden Panettiere and Hilary Duff.


Hilary shares a fun moment with Troy Rowland.


Two Duffs are better than one.


Hilary looking very dignified.

Credit: HDuffOnline. Check them out for more pics of this event.

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Hilary Performs With Love on the Tonight Show with Jay Leno



Pretty much the standard With Love performace that we've seen a few times now. I was a little bummed that Hilary didn't get any couch time with Jay - it was just the performance.

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Sunday, April 01, 2007

Hilary Duff at the Kids Choice Awards - March 31, 2007

Hilary presented an award at the Kids Choice Awards last night. I know I've been saying this a lot lately, but Hilary looks so great here. Some people were saying that they didn't like the dress, but I think it's pretty hot.







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Roundup of Pictures from Last Week

Hey everyone, sorry I wasn't able to make many updates last week. It's really bothering me that I haven't had as much time as I want to devote to this blog lately, especially since this is such a big time in Hilary's career. I am going to make it my personal goal to get back to making daily updates in the future.

Anyways, here are some pictures of Hilary from this week:

New York City. March 27, 2007.



Hilary Duff arrives at MTV to host Total Request Live. March 27, 2007.


New York City. March 27, 2007.


Hilary Duff arrives at MTV to host Total Request Live. March 26, 2007.


Hilary hosts TRL with guests Will Ferrell and Jon Heder.



Hilary hosts TRL with guest Jennifer Lopez.


Thanks to Oh-Hilary for these pictures.

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