Despite all the hype surrounding Taylor Swift‘s upcoming fifth studio album, 1989, the “Shake It Off” singer has somehow managed to keep the bulk of her new LP under wraps ahead of its October 27 release. (I mean, we literally just got a track list Wednesday night.) Welcome to the longest week of every Swiftie’s life — but will it prove worth the wait?

According to the first official reviews of the album, which began popping up on Thursday (October 23), it will be.

Related: Which Taylor Swift Song Are You?

Critics agree, for the most part, that Taylor is “thriving” in her new, decidedly pop-oriented material. The same is mostly true for the ’80s-throwback sound tying the effort together, although one dissenting reviewer found the retro inspiration more derivative than ingenious.

As for her songwriting, Jim Farber of the New York Daily News was not quite won over, writing that Swift’s direction on 1989 is “more regressive, teenage and girlish than ever.” Jon Caramanica of The New York Times disagreed, writing: “Don’t be distracted for whom the belle trolls; she trolls with glee, and that’s what matters.”

See what else the critics are saying about Taylor Swift’s 1989 below.

The Good

“By making pop with almost no contemporary references, Ms. Swift is aiming somewhere even higher, a mode of timelessness that few true pop stars — aside from, say, Adele, who has a vocal gift that demands such ...

Another day, another set of awards-show nominations with Iggy Azalea‘s name written all over ‘em.

On Thursday (October 23), it was announced that the “Iggy SZN” rapper had been nominated for Best New Musician (Female) at the 2014 NewNowNext Awards, Logo TV’s annual awards ceremony celebrating the year’s biggest breakout stars across music, TV, movies and more.

Vote Now For The 2014 NewNowNext Awards!

Her competition at the show airing December 7 on Logo TV and December 12 on MTV, includes Mary Lambert, Meghan Trainor, Betty Who and past Iggy collaborator Charli XCX. Hey, all’s fair in love and war fanciness.

Over on the dude side of things, Nick Jonas and Sam Smith will go head-to-head for Best New Musician (Male), along with Hozier, John Newman and Paolo Nutini.

Who will win? Will America’s most emotional citizens be able to handle the showdown? When reached for comment, they calmly stated: “NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO.”

Rounding out the music categories is Best New Music Group, for which A Great Big World, Bastille, Bleachers, Disclosure and Pentatonix are all nominated.

Elsewhere, Justin Simien’s “Dear White People” is nominated for Best Motion Picture By A New Filmmaker, Gillian Robespierre might win Best New Screenwriter for “Obvious Child” and Rosamund Pike from “Gone Girl” is up for the Kathleen Turner Prize for Special Achievement in Vocal Huskiness. I mean, Read More →

The brand-new teaser trailer for “Avengers: Age Of Ultron” opens with its titular villain announcing that he’s “gonna show you something beautiful.” And — OH MY GOD! — is he ever right.

Related: Who’s The Tallest Avenger? Check Out Our Marvel Height Chart

The preview for the “Avengers” sequel, which Marvel officially released on YouTube following an unexpected leak on Wednesday (October 22), has everything: Iron Man, Thor, Captain America, Black Widow, a creepily slowed-down version of “I’ve Got No Strings” from Disney’s “Pinocchio” — EVERYTHING.

Well, except for Mark Ruffalo’s shirt. Watch the teaser trailer below.

Marvel also took to its verified Twitter account on Wednesday night to tweet the superhero action film’s official teaser poster.

In it, a mechanized “A” glows with a foreboding red light over a black background. Two words are engraved into the letter: “ASSEMBLE 2015.”

Marvel/Walt Disney via Twitter (@MarvelEntertainment)

Your fanboy/fangirl feels. I feel them.

Marvel’s “Avengers: Age of Ultron” was written and directed by Joss Whedon. The film stars Robert Downey, Jr., Chris Evans, Chris Hemsworth, Mark Ruffalo and Scarlett Johansson, among others, and it will hit theaters in May 2015, putting an end to Marvel Phase Two (and all this anxiiiiiiiety).

John Walker

Bad at filling out bios seeks same.

Because the haters truly are gonna hate, a 10-year-old girl says that she was bullied after she cut her hair very short — for charity.

Jetta Fosberg of Dayton, Ohio, told WHIO last week that some of her classmates at Pathway School of Discovery began making fun of her appearance after she donated 14 inches of her hair to Wigs For Kids, an organization that aids children undergoing cancer treatment.

Yet despite comments about her “wanting to be a boy” and “being ugly,” Fosberg is staying strong. “It was the right thing to do,” she told the news station, “and it makes me feel good.”

This is just wrong on so many levels. First of all, girls can short hair, and boys can have long hair. One’s gender does not determine their required hair length. Has the world learned nothing from the man-bun?

Plus, Spirit Day — a day dedicated to raising awareness about bullying — was literally last week. Once again, HAVE YOU LEARNED NOTHING.

As for Jetta, she has received a huge outpouring of support, both online and off. WHIO reported that her school officials will promote respect as their “value of the month” as they discuss “appropriate behaviors towards other students.”

And on the Internet, a Twitter hashtag, #standwithjetta, and a Facebook page have been created for people to show their support. Fosberg’s mother, Heidi, has also begun selling “#standwithjetta” T-shirts, the profits from which will be split and donated ...

Hello, heart attack. With nothing even resembling a warning, Taylor Swift has finally revealed the official track list for her new album, 1989.

Instagram (@taylorswift)

Packed around previously released songs like “Welcome To New York,” “Style,” “Out Of The Woods” and lead single “Shake It Off” are a couple of as-yet unannounced titles: “Blank Space,” “Wildest Dreams,” “How You Get The Girl,” “This Love,” “I Know Places” and “Clean.”

The track list also confirms that all of the tracks that the 24-year-old singer teased in her Rolling Stone cover story last month have made the final cut.

“All You Had To Do Was Stay” is about a commitment-phobic lover (the RS feature suggested Taylor’s ex, Harry Styles), and “I Wish You Would” centers on a former flame who buys a home mere blocks from Swift’s own (again, the mag pointed to the One Direction member.)

Related: Which Taylor Swift Song Are You?

Perhaps the most anticipated track on the album is “Bad Blood,” which Taylor told RS is about a female musician who she claims “tried to sabotage [her] entire arena tour.” Now, the two are “straight-up enemies,” Taylor said. Media speculation has landed on Katy Perry, although no confirmation has been given by other pop star’s camp.

Look for Taylor Swift’s fifth studio album, 1989, when it’s released on October 27 — that is, if your eyes didn’t, like, roll outta your ...

Benedict Cumberbatch will hit the silver screen on November 21, playing computer scientist (and super-important figure in LGBT history!) Alan Turing in “The Imitation Game.” Speaking of imitation games, LOOK AT THIS WAX FIGURE OF BENEDICT CUMBERBATCH.

Related: Benedict Cumberbatch Can’t Say “Penguins”

The figure, unveiled at Madame Tussauds London on Tuesday (October 21), is so eerily accurate. Like, which ‘batch is which whach? Can you tell which of the following photos are of the “Sherlock” star and which depict his waxy doppelgänger?

Is Benedict Cumberbatch looking all dreamy or looking all waxy?

Getty Images

Pondering the meaning of life, or pondering nothing but “OMG WAIT AM I MADE OF WAX?!”

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Is this the real Benedict getting his shoulder Cumber-brushed?

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And is this Cumberwax, taking a selfie with some personal space-defying fans?

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Well, surprise!

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They were all Benedict Cumberbatch’s wax figure.

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John Walker

Bad at filling out bios seeks same.

There is one question that has haunted humanity since the beginning of time — and by the beginning of time, I mean, like, 2006 or something. Which Taylor Swift song are you? Which Taylor Swift song am I? Which Taylor Swift song are any of us? We’ve just got to know.

Related: Taylor Swift’s New Song Will Never Go Out Of “Style”

Are you feeling “22″? Do you want to go “Back To December,” or are you just going to “Shake It Off”? Maybe your song’s a slammin’ screen door? Or, maybe it’s just a SICK DROP. There’s only one way to know for sure, and that’s by taking our Which Taylor Swift Song Are You? quiz below.

John Walker

Bad at filling out bios seeks same.

Last week, Kesha filed a lawsuit against Dr. Luke, claiming that he had abused and, in one instance, sexually assaulted her in the years that they had worked together.

Newly unsealed court documents from the past, however, appear to contradict those allegations, at least if taken at face value.

“Dr. Luke never made sexual advances at me,” the “Timber” singer, born Kesha Rose Sebert, is quoted swearing under oath in a deposition from 2011.

She was in the middle of a legal battle with her former management company, DAS Communications, which had sued her and Luke in 2010 over a contractual dispute and alleged owed finances.

Related: A History Of Kesha & Dr. Luke’s Complicated Working Relationship

The 27-year-old artist denied that she and Dr. Luke — a.k.a. Lukasz Gottwald, the man who executive-produced her second studio album, Warrior — had ever had an “intimate relationship.”

She also denied that he had ever given her coke or roofies, although she said she didn’t know whether he had ever given her “drugs that are not purchasable at the pharmacy.”

When asked if she had ever woken up in his hotel bed, unable to recall what had happened, she answered: “I don’t remember.”

In another deposition, Kesha’s mother, Pebe Sebert, denied prior knowledge of a sexual relationship between her daughter and Luke. She also denied ever hearing about the producer supplying Kesha with drugs of any kind.

Related: Dr. Luke Hits Back At Kesha’s ...