Summer Jam 2010: June 7 Winners

Oh boy oh how. Whereas last week we saw our early leaders, "Nothing on You" and "Rude Boy" tumble hard, this week they're completely out. There's a lot of new songs that emerged with a vengeance here and it's exciting to get into them. Some we could see from far off, others were surprising. Let's get started:

#8: "Break Your Heart" - Taio Cruz ft. Ludacris

Yes! This song fell tremendously but is still fighting on a title this week. It's got enough Summer Pizzazz to last a big longer and deserves too. What will cost it a Crown isn't any fault of its own, Superior Competition wins the day.

#7: "Bulletproof" - La Roux

A bit in and out, but La Roux finally lands on the Contender List. This track has some staying power based on its catchiness as well as the nostalgia it evokes. I think this could last now that it has a foothold after flashing in and out for the past couple months. It's competing with a lot of minor songs right now but La Roux has the talent and stands out enough to distinguish the song from a crowded field. Also check out this rad cover version, dude:



#6: "Alejandro" - Lady GaGa

This song has been pretty consistent though it seems like a #1 won't be as easy as it was last winter when her only competition was "Tik Tok" and the third month of a continuous "Empire State of Mind" loop. It's still a fantastic song with that heavy Ace of Base beat. Anyway, the video should be coming out pretty soon, possibly today actually so keep your eyes open. Last week she showed a snippet on Larry King Live, and from the looks of it, it just appears absolutely insane. Pretty typical GaGa. I can only imagine Larry's internal reaction to this crazy little vixen on his set, that must have been awesome. He's clued in, man. He's clued in. When the vid comes out it will probably increase both popularity and airplay giving GaGa a better shot at a Title. We'll see.

#5: "Young Forever" - Jay-Z and Mr. Hudson

I heard this song a lot this week, certainly less than last week, but it hasn't charted as well. This song is definitely irritating, unnecessary and isn't even rapped that well. It's still all over the radio though, but it seems like the burst of popularity it had last week is starting to fall. We'll see if it pulls through but for now, it does not look like another "Empire State of Mind."

#4: "California Gurls" - Katy Perry ft. Snoop Dogg

This is my current favourite Summer Song. The beat is ridiculously sunny, the tone fantastically upbeat, the lyrics describe a dream. The inclusion of Snoop is vital and Katy really gets a chance to belt out some silkycute vocals. This song will soon be everywhere, it's #1 on Billboard's Digitial Downloads which indicates that people are not hearing it as much as they want to. I'll admit I mostly listened to it online this week. Like GaGa there's a video coming very soon which looks to be massively sexy and pretty insane (in a cute candy way, not a frightening monster way like GaGa). Also it's spectacular inclusion in last night's MTV Movie Awards basically announcing its Summer Smash Status is sure to help. Check out the apparent teaser below:



Bikinis, Zucchinis, Martinis.

#3: "Your Love is My Drug" - Ke$ha

This was a tough race for the top three, but the end result seems legitimate as I'm looking at it. At number three is Ke$ha, who I really hadn't even heard much until an explosive peak very late in the week. The song is still the worst of anything she's released and feels more like a typical pop song with just a hint of edginess. I do want to take a moment and talk about Ke$ha for a second because I'm developing a few theories. Before we do anything, watch her performance from SNL:



What do you think? Pretty fucking awful I say. Every part of this performance sucks. The vocals are shit, the choreography is lacking, costumes ungood. In general I get the impression it that Ke$ha is uncomfortable and embarrassed with her own image and attitude. She's not cute, not fit and more and more seems manufactured rather than spontaneous, which when performing live becomes obviously juxtaposed with a genuine personality. She was like this when she presented a Grammy earlier this year as well. She just looks scared and awkward, probably because her songs are ridiculously trashy. She's not a consummate diva. GaGa owns live, because her image is who she is and she comfortably revels in it. Ke$ha sucks. This is party music, girl. Have some fun with it! Anyway, I just needed to rant about that for a bit.

#2: "Airplanes" - B.o.B ft. Hayley Williams

This track is quickly gaining speed, and like "California Gurls" and "Alejandro," lacks a video so far, which I believe will give it a boost when it drops in a few weeks. So far I've heard mostly Part I, which is a shame because the Eminem addition really seals the deal on this song. B.o.B and Eminem both lay down some of the deepest rhymes in the past few years of their careers. I'll complain that the song's content though hopeful still has a melancholy twinge that detracts from its Summer-y-ness, but other than that, this track just kills.

#1: "OMG" - Usher ft. Will.i.am

Yeah, this gets the hot spot. It's been leading the Hot 100 for a long time but I never really had faith in its power until it really became pretty ubiquitous this week. By far it leans on the line "Honey got some boobies like wow oh wow." Legendary, Usher. Legendary. Boobies. I'm glad you like this girl's boobies. The video looks like it was made in 2004 (hahaha that's an awesome criticism), and I'm still wondering why the OMG stands for "Oh My Gosh," apparently Usher just obeys the Third Commandment. Nothing wrong with that, baby.

So there we are. The Summer Crown is still wide open and there's a lot of songs chomping at the bit to get a piece. Honourable Mentions for the week include "Eenie Meenie" by Sean Kingston & Justin Bieber (we haven't heard the last of this by far), contender a few weeks ago "Lay You Down" and "You and Your Heart," part of Jack Johnson's new album, To the Sea. There's a lot of summer in these songs, hopefully they can make a splash oh ho ho.