So, I've always liked Kelly Rowland more than Beyonce, it's just that B is way more prolific so she kind of hogs the attention like that. Kelly feels less plastic fantastic and less preened to celebrity. Having said that, her first CD was a dog (does anyone even remember it?) so I am so happy that she's back with a new CD entitled Ms. Kelly and from the tracks that I've heard so far it's actually quite great. Still, it could turn out to be actually quite crap, but I hold faith.
Forget the fact that she is wearing a hideous silver panterloon jumpsuit on the album sleeve though. The first single is "Like This" featuring Eve (listen to it here) which is pretty good as these sort of songs go - I can just imagine it being sung by someone monotone like Ciara who sucks the fun out of anything she ever sings. I am also quietly in love with "Comeback" and the remix of "In Love With My Ex" is the third most played song on my iTunes. Ever. Only Groove Armada and Mutya's "Song 4 Mutya" and Madonna's "Get Together" are higher. Impressive, non?
So, my newly ignited love for, of all people, Enrique Iglesias is officially OVER. I've mentioned earlier about how much I liked first single "Do You Know (The Ping Pong Song)" and after last weeks G-A-Y shenanigans I thought "hey, maybe, he's for real this time!" Alas, no. He's just as boring as he always was. And in case listeners had forgotten his blandness they tacked on dance remixes of "Hero" and "Not in Love" onto his new CD Insomniac. Not even Enrique is free from the dreaded "Featuring Lil' so-and-so" curse. Why does he need a song with Lil' Wayne? Honestly. Ugh. You blew your chance Enrique! Sometimes I coulda swore I was listening to Richard Marx by, er, Richard Marx. Except without "Right Here Waiting". Or "Should've Known Better". Oh! Oh! Or without "Endless Summer Nights". Man, I was totally addicted to that album as a wee-little five-year-old in 1990.
Why couldn't Enrique have taken a page out of Rihanna's book. She entered 2007 with an uncertain career, but by April she had emerged with "Umbrella" and instead of resting on her laurels she went on to make what will surely be one of the albums of the year and rescued her career. THAT is how a pop career revival is supposed to happen!
Here's Rihanna giving an electric performance at the MTV Movie Awards. If you need any more evidence to the fact that "Umbrella" is the zeitgeist hit of the year then just pay attention to the moment when Rihanna emerges from beneath the stage to those rockin' guitars. She's workin' it and everybody is going apeshit over her. A-Maze-Ing-!!! Just ignore that she's wearing a repurposed garbage bag-tutu ensemble, okay.
God, how amazing is that?!? The entire part after the slow refrain in the middle is just crazy brilliant. If it was at all possible for me to love this song even more, I think they just accomplished it. I wish the album version ended the way the live performances do with that final bang, ya know? That umbrella choreography is so cool. I'm kinda gonna practice that tomorrow. But... do I have an umbrella?
