Yet Another Year In Pop: 46

[katstevens.livejournal.com]

Black Eyed Peas beat Leona to #1 - news which has rocked the OCC to its very core i.e. they haven't updated their site yet this morning so we'll have to make do with slightly unreliable Yahoo Music instead (apols for duplications/omissions etc).

[Poll #1486190]

Reminder! You have roughly 24 hours to vote in Heat #6 of 2003, where Missy, Lumidee, Benassi and Blur are all battling it out for the last two qualification spots. Don't forget to put your new favourite in the text box!

Comments

[katstevens.livejournal.com]

Leona = tick mainly thx to the video which I haven't blogged yet argh, otherwise Ryan Tedder can eff off
Britney = awesome brilliant all must tick
Pixie = I actually liked Mama Do unlike 99% of everyone else, but this is rotten
N-Dubz/Robbie = endearing enough but songs both v weak
Sugababes = oh Heidi WHY
Chartjackers = not heard yet

[rechabite.livejournal.com]

The BEP triumph - even though they owe it in some part to the Cowell factor - may be the first chink of revolt as far as the Cowell gameplan is concerned.

Leona's performance on the show was complacent as though another number one was a formality. With a 15,000 sales difference it clearly wasn't.

Perhaps people are finally beginning of tire of the conveyor belt. It'll be interesting to see how well the charity single "Your Burgers Are The Best" does or how long it stays on the list.

But there you go. In the States you have Miley, Britney and Owl City getting to the top - over here it's pabulum bought by people who don't particularly like music.

I suppose the only other way out is for Cowell to go mad and have a Hughie Green "Stand Up And Be Counted" moment on the Christmas edition.

[jeff-worrell.livejournal.com]

For a moment there I thought you'd typed "a Howard Beale moment".

[rechabite.livejournal.com]

For Hughie's own "Howard Beale moment" (sadly, audio only) see here:



I fully expect an X-Factor Finalists cover sooner rather than later.

[jeff-worrell.livejournal.com]

Hmmm, first BEP/Fergie single in a long while I'm not really feeling, though as ever Fergie's contribution is the best thing about it. They had a great run though: still my singles act of the decade.

[koganbot]

Leona Lewis "Happy": Her voice is going to waste here, but I don't blame the song or arrangement all that much, but rather her disinclination to romp through her range of styles and emotions and notes to see what she can see. This is more like cataloging what's already there. So she apes the Mariah adventure while totally missing what's adventurous about it. I do like where she briefly goes fragile and quiet, at about 1:24. NO TICK.

N-Dubz "I Need You": Various dance and rap and island elements strung together to little effect, though I'm amused by the fellow's traveling the whole wide web in search of the woman he loves. NO TICK.

Britney Spears "3": Catchy, like the flu, or crabs. A Song Of The Year, I say with a grimace. (But here - seriously - is a better version.) TICK.

Sugababes "About A Girl": Typical fuzzed-up pushy RedOne rhythm overwhelms what could have been reasonable bread-and-butter disco. Can't say the 'Babes bring much, either. NO TICK.

Robbie Williams "You Know Me": Retro rock 'n' roll embedded in undifferentiated lushness. Seems like a botch to me, I mean pacing and placement and such. This is a week for overcrowded, impact-free pop. NO TICK.

Pixie Lott "Cry Me Out": Pipes and setting don't sabotage each other, but the song has no tune or riff worth singing. NO TICK.

Chartjackers "I've Got Nothing": Indie pop that clomps up what could have been an OK ditty. NO TICK.

[ijgrieve.livejournal.com]

'I've Got Nothing' sounds like a Smashmouth song done at karaoke by two people who've never met before.

[jel-bugle.livejournal.com]

Happy = Nothing Compares 2 U, but much better.