Settle in for what will surely be a good run at #1. Leona Lewis beat Raymond Quinn Saturday night to become this years winner of The X Factor, Britain's popular reality gameshow that effectively replaced Pop Idol a few years ago. Leona's debut is a remake of Kelly Clarkson's first single, "A Moment Like This," which was originally released by Clarkson in 2002 shortly after she was crowned the first winner of American Idol. As such, it's an inspired choice for a release; couldn't Jörgen Elofsson have written something new like he did last year for Shayne Ward? Given that "A Moment Like This" was never released in the UK, this will be new for anyone who doesn't own Clarkson's first album. It's a pretty good rendition of the song, but that's only because it's not that much different than Clarkson's. Very ho-hum, and certainly not better than Clarkson's original.
So who else has a shot at being in the Christmas top 10? Several other artists come to mind, primarily McFly, who've never had a single not land in the top 10. "Sorry's Not Good Enough" is actually their most decent single in a while. It's a got a good hook in the chorus; good enough to take them into the top 5. Girls Aloud also offer up a new single, the second from their recent greatest hits album. It's a remake of Tiffany's '80s classic, "I Think We're Alone Now," souped up in modern Girls Aloud style by producers Xenomania. Opt for the new single mix, which has superior keyboards to the original album version (trust me, it's better).
Rock band Razorlight scored a massive #1 hit with their last single, "America," and are looking for another top 10 with "Before I Fall to Pieces," a fun single, but as I've said in other reviews, suffers from the poor vocal performance from the band's lead singer--his first line has an obviously off-key delivery, not a good sign. It's too bad, because otherwise this would be a really great song.
James Morrison returns with the beautifully soulful "The Pieces Don't Fit Here Anymore," perhaps his best single yet. Mary J. Blige offers "MJB Da MVP;" originally from her last album, The Breakthrough, the song also appears on her new greatest hits collection, and appropriately so, given that the song charts her rise as a popular hip-hop/R&B artist, naming her albums and major singles in the process, all over a generous sample of The Game's "Hate it or Love It." All Angels covers Robbie Williams' "Angels." Given that no one else should be singing that song (certainly not Jessica Simpson), skip that, in favor of the other track on the double-A, a lovely version of "Silent Night."
Leona Lewis (3/5), McFly (3.5/5), Razorlight (3/5), James Morrison (4/5), Mary J. Blige (4/5), All Angels (3.5/5)
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