Pop

As many of you may have guessed by my June gushing about John Mayer and The Police, we are no stranger to Pop.

We've encountered some performances recently that are worthy of note. Justin Timberlake gets one thumb down, saved from a second by whoever created his show distracting most of the world from the lack of tunefulness and interest in his recent songs. I liked the thing he did on the Super Bowl a few years ago, and when he was on SNL and sat at a Rhodes piano and sang a nice groovy song. I like his take on Michael Jackson style dancing, though. It's good. Britney Spears has likewise lost my adoration with her MTV performance last night. I don't understand it, at all.

On the upside, Avril Lavigne keeps my interest with the above performance that continues the line of breezy entertainment equally suited to an arena or a bar mitzvah. This song wastes no energy on the performer's ability to sing, nay, the schoolyard clap-n-stance hook would discourage a performer from all but the simplest delivery. In contrast to Gwen Stefani's cheerleader-inspired hit of a few years ago, Hollaback, whose serpentine playground hooks connote a rusty swingset and denote maladjusted combatant kids, Lavigne's girlfriend playfully paws at our sense of loyalty and attraction while remaining totally honest and direct. We're not staying tuned in for her ballads just yet (we think 1987 Whitney Houston has that covered, thanks), but think this song gets right to the heart of entertainment. Maybe we don't get out enough.