No Section

Pop spotlight: KDWB's Jingle Ball

By Jon Bream

December 9, 2013 at 9:32PM

Miley Cyrus performs at the 2013 MTV Europe Music Awards in Amsterdam, Netherlands, Sunday, Nov. 10, 2013. (Associated Press - Ap/The Minnesota Star Tribune)

Tuesday: This year's Jingle Ball could have the best and most timely "gets" since KDWB landed Kanye West back in, oh, he canceled, remember? Actually, Jingle Ball 2013 is for the first time a bona fide tour — not a show tailored for the Twin Cities — put together by Clear Channel Media and the Ryan Seacrest Foundation, bringing the same lineup to 12 cities. Has there been any more-talked-about pop star this year than Miley Cyrus? "We Can't Stop," "Wrecking Ball," that foam finger? Enough. Her MTV VMAs partner in crime, Robin Thicke, will be jingling, too, with "Blurred Lines," one of 2013's biggest songs. Other Ballers include "I Like It" hitmaker and KDWB Jingle Ball vet Enrique Iglesias, "Whistle" rapper Flo Rida, enduring emo rockers Fall Out Boy, big-voiced Nickelodeon star Ariana Grande, YouTube teen sensation Austin Mahone and "X Factor" girl group Fifth Harmony. (7:30 p.m. Tue., Xcel Energy Center, Kellogg Blvd. & W. 7th St., St. Paul, $38-$153.)

about the writer

Jon Bream

Critic / Reporter

Jon Bream has been a music critic at the Star Tribune since 1975, making him the longest tenured pop critic at a U.S. daily newspaper. He has attended more than 8,000 concerts and written four books (on Prince, Led Zeppelin, Neil Diamond and Bob Dylan). Thus far, he has ignored readers’ suggestions that he take a music-appreciation class.