It started off as a well-publicized event in and of itself: Coldplay and Jay-Z co-headlining a show on New Year's Eve at Brooklyn's Barclays Center. Ringing in 2013 with two great onstage acts? What could be better?

How about Gwyneth Paltrow making an appearance onstage, dancing to "Run This Town" in this now-viral video?

Paltrow (who's married to Coldplay frontman Chris Martin) is visible on the stage along with their kids Apple and Moses. Paltrow engages in what some are calling "champagne sway-dancing," or "pony-tail whipping," while trying to entice the little ones to groove along with her.

It's been fodder for a good bit of mockery, but in our opinion, the Goop-goddess is rightly taking advantage of one of the perks of being one degree of separation from music's most-inner circle.

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The ever-popular rock band Coldplay might be ready to take an extended break, according to a hint bandleader Chris Martin dropped during a recent concert in Brisbane, Australia.

Shane Wenzlick / Getty Images file

Chris Martin of Coldplay.

"This is the last big show for three years or so," Martin told the stadium crowd during the Nov. 21 show. "I don't want to stop," he added, according to a Billboard reporter who attended the concert. Technically, Martin and company won't have to stop in the most immediate future. Coldplay is scheduled to play three more shows in 2012 -- one on Dec. 29 at Mohegan Sun Arena in Connecticut, and shows on Dec. 30 and 31 at Brooklyn's Barclays Center. Beyond that, though, nothing is scheduled.

The British band has been together since they dropped their first album in 2000, "Parachutes." Billboard aptly describes Coldplay as "the mainstream rock group of their generation, a group who can shut down parts of a city on the other side of the world like they did here, and count small children and grandparents among the fans."

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"Hurts Like Heaven" isn't a brand-new Coldplay song, but the new video for it -- done in comic book-style animation -- is racking up huge hits ever since it was released on Monday.

Directed by two-time Oscar nominee Mark Osborne ("Kung Fu Panda") the video is meant to be a prequel to the band's upcoming six-part comic book series, "Mylo Xyloto," which can be pre-ordered here at the band's store. ("Mylo Xyloto" is the title of Coldplay's 2011 album.)

Told in a constantly moving style with lots of camera motion, the story tracks a a group of apparently noseless heroes, who flee the police (and a villain named Major Minus) through gray streets and sudden flashes of cloud-like color. It's dystopian and futuristic, but eye-catching and hugely entertaining. Plus, it's a great tease for the upcoming comics. Check it out!

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If you haven't heard any of the songs in this pop music mash-up, you're either very lucky or we should be discussing rock. Like the one you live under.

YouTube user Vissagan has uploaded a 3:55 nod to commercial radio, earworms, viral videos, the tween next door and the club downtown with this mix of the best music Auto-Tune can produce.

The seamless blend of bubblegum transitions from Rihanna to Katy Perry to Carly Rae Jepsen to ... we've lost track, we're too busy dancing. And filming a lip dub. And remembering prom.

Here come boy banders One Direction, and LMFAO, and Flo Rida, and Coldplay, and ... is summer over yet? Close your windows!

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Vissagan says in the video description, "I was listening to the radio when I realized I could mix every song I had just heard. Pop songs are so replaceable these days ..."

Perhaps the artists who created these songs would view that as a good thing. You might not like Katy Perry in particular, but thanks to all the stuff that sounds like Katy Perry, you're listening to a lot of Katy Perry.

No one here is opposed to a little dance pop on the radio dial. But when even the shuffle function on your iPod is out of ideas, it's time to mix things up -- in a good way.  

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