There are many starlets nowadays gracing the covers of fashion and entertainment magazines, who are getting airplay that is disproportionate to the quality of music they offer. I know, starlets are actresses, not singers, but what with all the acting they have to do in their video clips and during interviews (and, some might argue, in every aspect of their lives), I think I can pull off calling them starlets.
Semantics aside, it’s quite refreshing when a starlet reveals herself to be worthy of the airplay time she gets. Christina Aguilera, with her amazing voice, is one of them. She broke out early on from the teen pop princess image she had been told to emulate to become the more mature artist she is today. Mandy Moore is another such starlet. While she, too, started as a teen pop princess, her great voice and her down to earth attitude helped her break way from it and turn towards singing what she wants, rather than what sells (speaking of which, this is quite unfortunate, as her latest album is amazing). And Katy Perry may be the latest; she might be the it, cool, rock girl of the day, but perhaps it doesn’t only have to do with her label’s drive to make more money, but rather by something else.
How so? Well, we have come to learn more about her ever since "I Kissed a Girl" came out, and as the stories leaked and interviews were given and performances televised and YouTubed around the world, it seemed that this young girl with the good voice is also the main creative drive behind her music. This would mean that – gasp – she actually is behind the songs on her CD. And now, courtesy of MTV Unplugged, we find out that yes, she is actually talented and doesn’t need for her voice to be either digitally manipulated before being burned on a CD nor drowned by the music during a concert.
Isn’t that refreshing (somewhat shockingly so)?
To some, MTV’s Unplugged sessions seem like a cheap ploy to make easy money off already existing songs, but I have come to really appreciate them. And so I was looking forward to see how Katy Perry was going to perform her high energy tunes in such an intimate and simple environment. This type of setting seems a lot more appropriate for someone like Mandy Moore, whose cover of Rihanna’s "Umbrella" sealed the deal for many (including myself). While some of Katy’s slower tunes were obvious choices for this session of Unplugged, I couldn’t imagine her doing "I kissed a Girl" or "Waking up in Vegas" in such a setting.