And on the subject of pop, the
top ten of the Aria charts (ie. Australia's pop singles chart) has been thoroughly overrun by shiny pop and r'n'b, banishing flaccid crap like Leah Haywood to the lower regions. While I applaud this, I'm somewhat surprised by the public's choices. I mean, seeing Pink at nine and Destiny's Child at number one pleases me, but Melanie C? Toni Braxton? Speaking of the latter, "He Wasn't Man Enough For Me" is Rodney "Darkchild" Jerkins' least interesting production yet. He's obviously past peaking, which makes "Say My Name" his last gasp of creativity. I saw a televised live appearance of the new Child line-up performing the song on the Pepsi Chart show, and I must say I love the jump-squat-hipswivel routine they do during the fast bit (much like in the clip), because it makes those bits (which are some of the joyous pop moments of the year) the hook that stays with you, rather than the slightly grating chorus. As for the unfortunate homeboy styling of Pink's live performance of "There You Go", well, the less said the better. I was even more surprised though when I flipped from this to Channel V in time to catch Sisqo's excellent "Thong Song". We're living in a golden age, my friends.