J. Lo is on top - SOUNDS FAMILIAR by Baby Gil

Call it a well-planned maneuver or just her lucky stars working overtime. Whatever it was, it accomplished the seemingly impossible for pop artist Jennifer Lopez. Three weeks ago, Lopez zoomed to the top of the hit charts with the release of her new album J. Lo. Sales figures on the first week notched 272,000 copies. Not ‘N Sync standards but still huge. At about the same time, The Wedding Planner, the movie where she stars opposite Matthew McConaughey made its theater debut and instantly became number one at the box-office. No signs of another Titanic but the musical comedy grossed an excellent $14 million.

While feats like these are not really unheard of, it is still unusual for an artist to dominate both the music and film charts at the same time. Whitney Houston did it with Bodyguard. So did Barbra Streisand with A Star is Born. Lopez’s though, is still an isolated case because J. Lo is not a movie soundtrack album and its contents have nothing to do with The Wedding Planner. Even stranger still is the fact that teen diva Christina Aguilera can sing circles around Jennifer anytime and to top it all, she is not yet a Julia Roberts or even Madonna as an actress.

But cue yourself for something still more remarkable. J. Lo is Jennifer’s second album. This is her follow up to On the 6, which came out more than a year ago. That was the big one with the ubiquitous Let’s Get Loud. As you must already know by now, sophomore outings can make or break an artist. While it is fairly easy to generate the kind of excitement that gets the first one off the ground, music buyers tend to become more difficult to please with the next release. In fact, the dustbin of pop music history is filled with artists who glowed brightly for a while but fell flat on their faces when they faced the audience anew with their second efforts.

But not Jennifer Lopez. This girl is not only a star, she is also turning out to be a production and marketing genius. J. Lo is so cleverly put together you forget whatever vocal limitations she has. All that you want to do with this album is dance to the infectious tunes and hope that you are moving as gracefully as Lopez does in those music videos. Dance is what Lopez does best. She has been known to get six-year olds and their Grannys moving to her rhythm. With the help of topnotch producers that include her former boyfriend Sean "Puffy" Combs, she has parlayed this innate know-how with the beat into another hit album.

Love Don’t Cost a Thing is the first single release. This turned out to be a very good choice. Walking on Sunshine also elicits lots of moves and should go big with the young crowd. Those who like Latin music will be glad to get the riveting Carino and Jennifer’s passionate duet with heartthrob Chayanne, Dame (Touch Me). If I remember right, this guy was Vanessa Williams’ leading man in Dance with Me.

The other cuts included in the album are I’m Real, Play, Ain’t It Funny, Come Over, We Gotta Talk, That’s Not Me, Dance with Me, Secretly, I’m Gonna be Alright, That’s the Way and Si Ya Se Acabo.

Now, just in case you wish to know. Rumors have it that J. Lo’s incredibly beautiful body of the shapely figure and gorgeous skin, is insured for $1 billion. Wonder if she gets paid anything if she suffers a razor nick or gets a pimple. As for her famous butt, it is protected with a cool $300 million.

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J. Lo is still a long way from an Academy Award nomination but you might be interested to know that the songs nominated for the upcoming Oscars are the following: A Love Before Time by Jorge Calandrelli/Tan Dun and James Schamus from Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon; I’ve Seen It All by Bjork from Dancer in the Dark; My Funny Friend and Me by Sting from The Emperor’s New Groove; A Fool in Love by Randy Newman from Meet the Parents; and Things Have Changed by Bob Dylan from Wonder Boys.

Dylan won the Best Song trophy from the Golden Globes. It was his first award for a motion picture theme song. If his luck holds out, he might bring home the equivalent award, also his first, from the Oscars come March.