Rihanna - You Da One

This posts makes the fifth song by Rihanna that I've done, putting her two above everyone else. Is it because she's such a talented artist that I can't help but talk about her? No, sadly, it's not. It's because while most artists give us a bit of a grace period between singles and albums, Rihanna doesn't. I'm really getting sick of her, but "You Da One" has me really conflicted.

Let's start with the good: she's not doing the same old stuff. "You Da One" is really different and quite shocking on the first listen. The song offers a sing-songy island sound complete with an electronic breakdown at the end. This shows a new side of Rihanna which will give us a break from the repetitive dance music she's been shoving at us.

Now, onto the bad. This song has got to be the most annoying song Rihanna has ever released. Most of her songs I could listen to for a bit before I started to get bored; not this one. If the nonstop repetition of, "Oh na na, what's my name," or, "Na na na na c'mon," didn't drive you crazy, this will. The song's chorus is catchy enough to get stuck in your head even after the first listen. Which could be a good thing, but the problem is that it's more of a whiny chant than actual music.

Trying something new was a good idea, but it was a bad idea to release a song that will get old before it even ends its first play. Sadly this seems to be a theme this year, both Lady Gaga and Beyonce tried to go a little crazy to attract attention with "Judas" and "Countdown" and both songs failed. I could see that some people could like this song, but I'm not sure if it's going to be enough and, more importantly, if it's going to last. This song could be another hit, or it could flop and will hopefully be a wakeup call that Rihanna needs to take a little more time with her music.

Kelly Clarkson - What Doesn't Kill You

"Mr. Know It All" was good start for Kelly Clarkson's latest album, it doesn't look like it's going to make it to number one though; but that's okay because "What Doesn't Kill You" definitely will. It's really got that signature Kelly Clarkson sound that made her so successful, but she still sounds fresh and unique. This type of song has been done before by Britney ("Stronger") and Xtina ("Fighter") but Kelly holds her own with her powerful version.

We've heard Kelly sing about breaking up before, like with "Since U Been Gone," but "What doesn't Kill You" has got to be her most powerful song. Kelly completely expells power with her chanting chorus about, believe it or not, empowerment. The rest of the song is also delivered very firmly, overall connecting it into a great song.

The lyrics aren't particularily unique, like I said we've heard them befoe, but what's important is that Kelly is still able to put emotion behind them. The song is not only strong because of her voice but also because of the clear meaning that she's putting into her singing.

This is the sort of song that should take over the charts by storm. It's different from dance, but is still incredibly catchy. It has a lot of power and emotion that a lot of songs lack currently. And it's a return for the signature sound of Kelly Clarkson that we all love so much. Absolutely number one material.

Taio Cruz - Hangover

Taio Cruz has been really hit and miss for me. His team up with Kylie Minogue, "Higher," is one of the best dance tracks of the year; while his nonsense, tuneless, unoriginal, overplayed, "Dynamite," has got to be one of my most hated songs of all times.

"Hangover" already has one step ahead of "Dynamite" since it's not painful to lesson to. In fact it is a really good dance track. It's got a catchy chorus from Taio, eletronic breaks to connect the verses and an appearance from one of the biggest dance rappers, Flo Rida. Like "Higher" this is a song that's easy to just get carried away dancing with.

On the other hand, as almost of today's dance music has along with great catchy beats, is nonsensical lyrics. This song at least has some coherence, but really the idea behind it isn't that great. Taio sings about wanting to just keep drinking...even though he has a hangover? Yeah, weird. But lyrics seem to becoming less and less important in today's market, so I'm just happy that it's not absolute gibberish.

The song starts off strong, and does slow down in momentum. It's got a variety of different sounds that are all familar to Taio. Plus the verse from Flo Rida keeps things going. Overall I think that Taio Cruz might have his next big hit on his hands.

Now, as usual, a bit on The X Factor. I was absolutely crushed when inTENsity was booted off in favour of the Stereo Hogzz. So I moved onto Lakoda Rayne as my favorite act, and I was ready for them to get screwwed over like all my other favorite acts when they were in the final two with Stereo Hogzz. But to my amazement, the judges actually saved Lakoda Rayne instead. Paula must be feeling pretty down having to pick between two of her acts twice now. I'm hoping that Lakoda Rayne will make it, and we can get rid of Leroy Bell and Marcus Canty.

Beyonce - Countdown

After much confusion, it would seem as though this will be Beyonce's next single. Beyonce has been floundering behind the other major divas this year. "Run the World" was an epic failure, and "Best Thing I Never Had" was just plain boring. "Countdown" is anything but boring, but it still might not be what Beyonce needs.

Beyonce seems to have realized that she can't rely on the same sound over and over again, so "Countdown" is something completely different. It's a very speedy song that's more dancehall than actual dance. It's definitely interesting on the first listen, maybe even overwhelming. Once you get into it, it's got a good beat and is a pretty fun song.

The real problem with "Countdown" is that she's gone a little too far. With so many background instruments, electronic counting, and Beyonce smashing her way through the lyrics all at the same time, it can be a bit much. It tends to clash at points which throw off the overall- beat and rhythm. And as for the lyrics, I can't make any sense of them, so let's just not go there.

This song will certainly catch people's attention, and that may give Beyonce a boost (that along with her pregnancy.) But I still don't think that it's going to be the big hit Beyonce's no doubt been hoping for. As Lady Gaga's "Judas" showed us, even if a song is incredibly surprising the first listen, that's not enough to carry it to the top. We might be coming up to a hiatus from Beyonce with her upcoming baby, so it might be a while if she ever releases another album. If that time does come, hopefully she'll be able to reclaim the glory that has recently evaded her.

Enrique Iglesias - I Like How it Feels

I remember not too long ago when OneRepublic were talking about their song, "Good Life," and asked, "When was the last time you heard a song with whistling?" Well it seems as though all the major artists are following their example, since Britney, Foster the People, Maroon 5, Jason Derulo, and now Enrique Iglesias have all followed suit.

My first thought about a new Enrique song that featured Pitbull and had the phrase, "I Like" in the title was that we might be getting just another repeat of "I Like It." But it turns out that "I Like How it Feels" is something a little different. Enriques slows it down for the opening showing us a new kind of sound. Of course it eventually builds into a dancy chorus, but it's clear that effort was put into making a song that was something new.

The downside to the song though, is that even though it sounds a little different, it still gets tiresome just listening to Enrique chanting, "I like how it feels," over and over again. They tried to break it up by adding a Pitbull verse in there, which is good a idea in theory, but Pitbull was a bad choice. He's been so overplayed this year that hearing him has just got annoying, plus Enrique already featured Pitbull so it's not like it's anything new for him. I'd like to see him team up with someone else for a change, like Flo Rida or Nicki Minaj maybe.

"I Like How it Feels" is an overall average song. It's something unique while still dancy, yet it gets old fast. Enrique's last song, "Dirty Dancer," was a bit of an unexpected flop, so it's really up in the air whether "I Like How it Feels" will do the same, or continue his trend of hits.