POP TRUMPS: Week 8

[katstevens.livejournal.com]

I'll be on a train to the Frozen North tomorrow so Pop Trumps has been shifted forward a day!

The rules are here but it couldn't be simpler. 10 is the highest, 0 is the lowest, if you really don't know then go for 5. Giving reasons for your scores in the comments is encouraged!

Stepping into the Pop Trumps arena this week is a former Mouseketeer who seems increasingly only able to make videos that feature at least one other famous person:


Justin Timberlake

Should Justin's N*SYNC output be taken into account? That's up to you!

[Poll #1157394]

Bjork ratings:
- Singing voice/musical ability: 8
- Consistency: 7
- H0TTness: 6
- Dancing Skillz/Visual: 8
- Chart success: 5
- Extra-curricular activity: 7
- Party Animal Rating: 5
- Eccentricity: 9
- Legacy: 7
- Best track: Bachelorette

Comments

[katstevens.livejournal.com]

Justin was definitely a part of my 21st century pop resurgence - Rock Your Body and Senorita were SO GOOD that I totally started listening to pop music again! Even though I barely knew who N*Sync were!

Futuresexx/Lovesounds = also an absolutely cracking album, I just wish he hadn't gone and spoiled it by a) stringing it out for nearly 2 years b) making that dire Scarlet Johanssen video and ruining a perfectly good song in the process.

H0ttness-wise, he looked better with his curly mop than all shaved off. But he's still super-h0tt. Except in the Scarlet Johanssen video where he's just CREEPY.

[chezghost.livejournal.com]

is he hott in the new Gnarls Barkley?

[lockedintheatti.livejournal.com]

A few years ago I'd have given him a 10 for h0ttness. But he seems so smug and self-satisfied about himself that he's dropping attractiveness points rapidly.

[justfanoe.livejournal.com]

This is the highest average marks I've given anybody. And it's not really that I'm that crazy about his music, he just fits the categories well. The extra-curricular I gave him points for is dating lots and lots of beautiful women. Maybe I should consider the great NSync tunes in extra-curricular. Hmm.

Can anybody convince me to raise my eccentricity vote from 0? He seems like a pretty normal dude, especially for a pop star.

[umlauts.livejournal.com]

No. He's dead boring.

I don't like JT very much, I have to admit, but "Rock Your Body" was good and "Lovestoned" was exceptional. Apart from that, he kind of makes me go "eh". JC is better and hotter.

[freakytigger.livejournal.com]

The smugness is a real issue generally. He gives off this aura now of "I, Justin Timberlake, was once a more pop star but have now mastered cool"

[freakytigger.livejournal.com]

MERE

as in merewolf.

[jeff-worrell.livejournal.com]

LOL re the legacy scores so far.

My marks solely reflect his Mickey Mouse Club output ;)

[lockedintheatti.livejournal.com]

I realised how much of an issue this has become for me when I found myself immediately negatively predisposed towards Madge's new single (of which I note there appears to have been zero discussion of round these parts so far) as soon as I heard he was on it.

[bengraham.livejournal.com]

He's a very pretty boy. Glad everyone agrees that he's totally not eccentric.

Very consistent output... hardly put a foot wrong in his solo career to date.

[awesomewells.livejournal.com]

THIS IS THE BEST THING ABOUT HIM ARE YOU MAD???

[awesomewells.livejournal.com]

Dude gets an average mark on singing voice/musical ability and consistency but a massive 10 on extracurricular activity.

[koganbot]

I couldn't think of what to put for best song, since the best music he's sung on so far is "I Want You Back" or "Tearin' Up My Heart," but his singing on those is kind of so-what, the songs transcending the singers. He's really much better now; his breakthrough was probably "Gone," where he was suddenly credible doing a Michael Jackson style ballad. I'd have liked it more if I liked Michael Jackson style ballads more.

I'll probably go and pencil in "Cry Me A River."

[koganbot]

Naw, I put "I Want You Back" anyway.

[credoimprobus]

Ha! Rock Your Body was one of the first pop singles I bought again when I started losing my ill-conceived pop shame as well! It was a tough year to remain an indie elitist, that was. :D

(Oh god, I could froth at the mouth for AN ETERNITY about the storyline in the What Goes Around video. Which is why I'm not saying anything about it, hahaha.)

[skyecaptain.livejournal.com]

I was kind of astonished to write "What Goes Around..." for best song, but since I wasn't astonished that, even though I like him a lot, I don't think much of Justin Timberlake, it makes sense that most recent best song made the cut. "Cry Me a River" is pretty great, I guess. I dunno. (I didn't count *NSync since once upon a time *NSync wasn't just "Justin").

[alexmacpherson.livejournal.com]

yeah DITTO on every point.

his rolling stone cover = maybe the most beautiful thing I have ever seen in my life? I think I bought like five copies of that, had such a massive crush on him. it's completely evaporated now, though obv I'd still totally do him.

[alexmacpherson.livejournal.com]

dude even though I no longer fancy JT, there is no possible universe in which JC is hotter.

they're about equal, music-wise. JT has higher highs and lower lows.

[alexmacpherson.livejournal.com]

my issue with 'what goes around...' wasn't it per se, it's got a gorgeous sound and a strong melody - it's just that when I first heard it I literally put my head in my hands and shouted at the CD player, "TIMBALAND YOU HAVE MADE THIS SONG 94832922733 TIMES NOW PLEASE STOP WITH THE EPIC STRINGS AND COUNTRY GUITAR AND AAAAGH".

only songs on FS/LS I still listen to = 'Chop Me Up' and 'Sexy Back'.

[alexmacpherson.livejournal.com]

Actually I TOTALLY RESCIND what I said about not fancying him any more holy shit this photo:

this discussion is woefully incomplete without this cover:

[alexmacpherson.livejournal.com]

Re: this discussion is woefully incomplete without this cover:

[skyecaptain.livejournal.com]

I dunno, looks like a shaved caveman.

[jel-bugle.livejournal.com]

JT just still seems a bit creepy and not that great to me. He has annoying nostrils.

[piratemoggy.livejournal.com]

DO. NOT. WANT.

And not just because he broke up *NSync, who were amazing but because he has created such a monumental aura of smug surrounding his mediocre hush-hush soft-pop that it has made all music more exciting than lunch with distant relatives feel self-conscious and not release itself. WHICH IS BAD.

Not only that but he gives people ideas that they're non-elitist because they once quite liked 'Sexyback,' even if they villify anyone who likes anything ever in the chart just because it was in the chart. Which is not the point.

Although actually I quite like his music, as a sort of mum-shock-pop thing. (As in music for mums, wot shocks them a bit because of all the Young People's Sex in it and consequently makes them feel young and edgy again which is alright I suppose. My mum hates it, mind you.)

Also, I agree with jel_bugle, his nostrils are annoying.

[umlauts.livejournal.com]

Oh please. JT is an upper-body queen who looks like he cries after sex.