the scoop

the scoop
fall out boy is no. 1
Fall Out Boy, the rock quartet from the suburbs of Chicago and nicked its name from "The Simpsons," had the No. 1 album in the U.S. this week with "Infinity on High," which sold 260,000 copies its first week in stores, according to Nielsen SoundScan.
It was a narrow victory for the pop-punk band. Last week's No. 1 album, Norah Jones' "Not Too Late," sold 235,000 copies to finish No. 2 and bring its two-week total to 642,000.
Fall Out Boy -- which shares its name with the sidekick of Bart Simpson's fave superhero, Radioactive Man -- first caught the eye of fans on the Warped Tour and then cut through to major commercial success with the hit "Sugar, We're Going Down" and the multiplatinum album "From Under the Cork Tree," which cracked the Top 10 in 2005.
The reach of "High School Musical," the surprise hit of 2006, continues as another one of its alumni tries to graduate to a solo career. Ashley Tisdale, the New Jersey native who portrayed the cloying Sharpay Evans in the hit Disney Channel movie, debuts at No. 5 this week with her first solo album, "Headstrong," which sold 64,000 copies.
Tisdale made a bit of music history in 2006 when "What I've Been Looking For" and "Bop to the Top," two songs she sang in "High School Musical," made her the first female artist to ever debut with two songs simultaneously on the Billboard Hot 100.
dance dance dance
WARREN -- Free ballroom dance lessons for high school students will be held every Saturday in March at John F. Kennedy High School, in partnership with USA Dance. The goal is to help students learn the ballroom dances see on television, like the Cha Cha, Salsa, East Coast Swing, Waltz and Tango.
Participants must be current Mahoning or Trumbull County high school students. Advance registration is required. Class size is limited to the first 100 couples who mail in their signed registration form. Registration forms are available at each high school office or at Usabda215.tripod.com.
hip-hop boot camp
CLEVELAND -- Playhouse Square Center's (PSC) Arts Education Department is offering a hip-hop boot camp for adults and teens March 9-10.
Participants will explore various aspects of hip-hop culture including its dynamic history, dancing, rapping, DJing and turntable techniques and graffiti art.
Teaching artists from Progressive Arts Alliance will lead each session.
"This boot camp is for anyone who has ever wanted to learn how hip-hop artists sample from previously recorded music, to try 'scratching' like a DJ or to find out how graffiti art got started," said Colleen Porter, director of arts education at PSC.
Classes are held in the Idea Center at Playhouse Square, in downtown Cleveland's Theater District at 1375 Euclid Ave.
The cost is 150. For more information or to register, go to PlayhouseSquare.org/arts-education or call (216) 771-4444, ext. 3338.
'gears of war' wins
LAS VEGAS -- The DICE (Design, Innovate, Communicate, Entertain) Summit was the site of the 10th annual Interactive Achievement Awards, honoring the best video games of 2006. The big winner was Microsoft's "Gears of War," which chain-sawed through the competition to collect eight troophies.
new video games
New in stores: Fans of Nintendo's "Wii Sports" finally get the follow-up they've been craving: "Wii Play," which includes a shooting gallery, air hockey, billiards and six other games, and comes bundled with one of those elusive Wii remote controls. ... Valentine's Day was also a holiday for PlayStation Portable owners, with Sony's "Ratchet & amp; Clank: Size Matters," Atlus' "Monster Kingdom: Jewel Summoner" and Rockstar's "The Warriors." ... 2K's "Ghost Rider" (for the PS2, PSP and Game Boy) screeched into stores this week ... And then there's a genuine oddity: Natsume's "Chulip" (for the PS2), in which your goal is to impress a cute girl so she'll give you a kiss.
Romance games are very popular in Japan; "Chulip" could be the first to find a U.S. audience.
next week's music
Due in stores Tuesday:
Toni Braxton, "The Essential Toni Braxton" (LaFace).
Electric Light Orchestra, "Out of the Blue -- 30th Anniversary Edition" (Sony Legacy). Finally, ELO's popular and grandiose 1977 two-LP set gets the remastering treatment lesser ELO discs have enjoyed for years. Includes the hits "Turn to Stone," "Sweet Talkin' Woman," "It's Over" and "Mr. Blue Sky."
Erasure, "On the Road to Nashville" (Mute). Live CD/DVD.
Jefferson Airplane, "Last Flight" (Charly). Live 1972 concert recorded before the band morphed into Jefferson Starship.
Kids Bop Kids, "Kidz Bop 11" (Razor & amp; Tie).
Soundtrack, "Rome: Music from the HBO Series" (Rykodisc).
Various Artists, "We All Love Ennio Morricone" (Sony). Diverse lot pays tribute to film composer. A CD with both Celine Dion and Metallica on it? The good, the bad and the ugly.