Pop Blitz

Ke$ha - Tik Tok
Previously known as the vocalist on Flo-Rida's obnoxious Right Round, Ke$ha is being compared (unjustly) to Lady Gaga. I'd take Bad Romance over this any day. Everything's pretty derivative here. It's not horrible, but it wouldn't be a hit if Gaga wasn't big. Oh, and the lyrics are annoying. C

David Guetta ft. Akon - Sexy Bitch
The lyrics here are so ridiculous that you'd gotta just laugh at them. Luckily, the melody and beat are some of Guetta's strongest, and Akon, who I'm usually not a fan of, fits this type of pop sleaze perfectly. B+

Black Eyed Peas - Meet Me Halfway
After their previous two singles got overplayed to death on the radio, no one should be excited about another BEP single. Thankfully, it's one of the better cuts from the album, with a catchy pop chorus that undoubtedly will become, you guessed it, overplayed to death. B-

Lady Gaga - Bad Romance
Gaga's gutsiest single yet, this sounds like Poker Face on speed. There are about a thousand hooks buried inside of this, each one complimenting the others. More importantly, I get the feeling of Lady Gaga as an artist in this song, which is hard to accomplish in radio pop music. A

Michael Jackson - This Is It
Far more underwhelming than I'd anticipated, this gentle ballad took a few spins to really hook me. Compared to most of his back catalog, it's pretty slight, but compared to most of the stuff out there now, it's an A-

Rihanna - Russian Roulette
A bizarre single choice, for sure, this dark ballad opens with a processed guitar and ends with a gunshot. Not what anyone was expecting, right? One listen doesn't do it justice, because I didn't like it the first time. Though not her best single, it's a statement of intent that I can appreciate and I'm enjoying it more each listen. B+

Westlife - What About Now
I can't imagine anything worse. I hated this song the first time. I didn't think I could dislike it more, but then Westlife trotted on up and did the impossible. F