20: Rihanna - "Disturbia" (from Good Girl Gone Bad: Reloaded)
Part "Thriller" and part "Blue (Da Ba Dee)" but all smoking hot pop beat and crazy-making lyrics, "Disturbia" is the poppiest single Rihanna had all year. A major feat in a year that saw six singles from the new pop princess. Listen here.
19: Chicane vs. Natasha Bedingfield - "Bruised Water" (from Best Of Chicane)
Recipe for pop perfection: Take the beat and instrumentation of a UK techno hit from almost ten years ago. Layer the vocals of a failed single from Natasha Bedingfield's debut album. Utilize a snippet of Maire Brennan's vocal on "Saltwater" to create a hair raising bridge. Serve on a video about a mermaid returning to the water and enjoy. Listen here.
18: Adele -"Chasing Pavements" (from 19)
Adele may be one of the "new Amys" but she truly has her own voice. The sound is retro-soul, like Estelle and Duffy, but the lyric is pure introspective singer-songwriter. It's a thrilling debut single, and I welcome a new female singer-songwriter to the Lilith Fair that plays in my mind. Listen Here.
17: Madonna feat. Justin Timberlake - "4 Minutes" (from Hard Candy)
When the apocalypse comes, I pray to mine and Karen's Lord Jesus that I'm standing next to Justin Timberlake. I will tell him we only got four minutes to save the world, and the only way to save it is by making out. Or we could just have a dance-off to this floor-filling Timbaland creation. Listen Here.
16: Katy Perry - "Hot N Cold" (from One Of The Boys)
Did you know Katy Perry had it in her? A totally non-controvesial dance-pop creation with a killer first line: "You change your mind like a girl changes clothes, yeah you PMS like a bitch, I would know." Listen Here.
15: Flyleaf - "All Around Me" (from Flyleaf)
There is little I love more than chick rock. Something about the female voice surrounded by growling guitars and smashing cymbals just thrills me. And Lacey Mosely has the most fragile voice in rock music, so heartbreakingly sweet for a rock star. "All Around Me" combines those qualities in an ecstatic eruption of religious fervor. Listen Here.
14: Robyn - "Konichiwa Bitches" (from Robyn)
Robyn will put you in your place, so watch yourself American pop stars. Little Miss Powerhouse is the shit, and she's not afraid to tell you all about it. She'll "tear you down like I'm in demolition... I'm so very hot that when I rob your mansion you ain't call the cops you call the fire station." I could sling lines from this song all weekend... Listen Here.
13: David Cook - "Light On" (from David Cook)
David's sensually gruff vocals are the centerpiece of this Chris Cornell-penned single, from the Idol winner's second disc. I will leave a light on for you, my sexy bear cub. Listen Here.
12: Cazwell feat. Johnny Makeup - "I Seen Beyonce" (single)
It's a lark, a goof and a snappy bit of electro-pop. The tale of a simple queen who lends Mrs. Jay-Z a ten-spot for some cheeseburgers, "I Seen Beyonce" is electronica at it's goofy lightest.
Listen Here.
11: David Cook - "Always Be My Baby" (from Always Be My Baby American Idol Studio Performances)
Even Mariah Carey was impressed that the Idol frontrunner could take her melisma-laden stalker anthem and rock the house with it. Hell, I was nursing a Ron Jeremy sized crush on Cookie and I was even surprised at his talent. Listen Here.
10: David Cook - "Permanent" (from David Cook)
Again with the Idol hottie! "Permanent" is a beautiful piano ballad, a love song from a man to his sick brother. I'm not easily moved, but when he cries "Oh god, is there some way for me to take his place" I am a tiny ball of emotion. "When all you know is far away and feels so temporary, rest your head: I'm permanent." Listen Here.
9: Kerli - "Love Is Dead" (from Love Is Dead)
The drum loop draw you in and the strings clobber you into submission before Kerli's aged-child vocals force you to confront your deepest fear before a creepy chorus: "Love is dead, love is gone, love don't live here any more." Listen Here.
8: Robyn feat. Kleerup- "With Every Heartbeat" (from Robyn)
Another stunning pop single from the one woman Swedish Invasion. Kleerup provides the string quartet backed beat and Robyn provides the heart stopping vocals on this tale of love lost. When she repeats the title on the bridge, I weep. Listen Here.
7: Brooke White - "Love Is A Battlefield" (from Love Is A Battlefield American Idol Performance)
Sometimes, you really have to KISS: Keep It Simple, Stupid. Brooke White took the stage on '80s week with the Pat Benatar classic backed by just an acoustic guitar and revealed the heartbreaking meaning behind the song: love is battlefield on which nobody wins. Listen Here.
6: Katy Perry - "I Kissed A Girl" (from One Of The Boys)
With a Gary Glitter-esque rock beat and a sapphic subject matter, former gospel singer Katy Perry burned up the charts with an ode to lipstick lesbian experimentation. She kissed a girl, and everyone on the dance floor liked it. Listen Here.
5: Robyn - "Be Mine!" (from Robyn)
Robyn's heartbreak is truly pop gold. From "Every Heartbeat" to "Eclipse" Robyn is a pile of broken hearts wrapped in shiny hooks. "Be Mine!" is ridiculously catchy, and heartbreakingly honest. When she describes running into an ex tying his new chick's laces, over the refrain "you never were and you will be mine" your heart will break, too. Listen Here.
4: Goldfrapp - "A&E" (from Seventh Tree)
How did Alison Goldfrapp end up "in a backless dress on a pastel ward that's shining?" I think she tried to off herself, in hopes of getting her ex back with her. I don't know that I'd try that tactic, but I think we've all considered it. No? Just me? Oops... Listen Here.
3: Jay Brannan - "Housewife" (from Goddamned)
The opening line sums it all up: "Two bodies pressed together, two boys are falling hard." It's a beautiful love song, one I think we'd all like to live. Just having someone next to you, he's working on the car while you're making lunch. It's wistful, it's a dream, it's the devious homosexual agenda: to be loved by someone. Listen Here.
2: Snoop Dogg feat Robyn - "Sexual Eruption (Fyre Department Remix)" (original mix from Ego Trippin')
I like my music to have a heart, to have a deep emotional resonance. But there are times when I just want to get down and dirty and groove with some filthy lyrics and a bouncing beat. That's when I throw "Sexual Eruption" on the ol' iTunes and get my freak on. Listen Here.
1: Leona Lewis - "Bleeding Love" (from Spirit)
It's a diva song, written by a former teen heartthrob and that dude from OneRepublic. The single opens with a church organ and a vocal run, then the drum loop kicks in. We hit the chorus, and I am hooked, I am raising my roof and wailing along. "You cut me open and keep bleeding, keep, keep bleeding love" and I do the chest taps, the face tearing, every diva cliche pours out of my limbs. It's like Mary J, Mariah, Celine, Christina and Elton had a giant orgy, and I was the resulting infant. Then you think it's about end, and SHE COMES BACK! A massive run, that trills into the atmosphere, riding that beat like a porn star on Spanish fly. I can't describe the swell I get when this song comes one, it's still my third most played song on my iPod, as well as some CD spins in my car and the thousands of times I've heard it on radio. I can't get enough, I keep bleeding love for this song! Listen Here.
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