POP ROUND-UP (Consists of Spanish Divas, mostly)

Since I've been busy featuring Swedish acts so much has happened in pop. So its rather difficult to start. So I'll kick off with what I know and that is the fabulous land of Spanish pop....

Alex Manga has collaborated with those wonderful girls from Feminnem in a nice Croatian-Spanish alliance. The song...Oye Oye Oye is typical Europop but with a twist. This is not the usual Spanglish summer track:

His proper debut single, Bailar Sin Control, is also out and his video is a rather glorious male version of Britney's classic ....Baby One More Time promo. I utterly dig any video that cross references High School Musical, Fame and Britney. Moreover the song is incredibly camptastic with deep male voices ala The Village People backed with his Cher-esq vocals. Yummy!

Gloria Trevi's record, Todos Me Miran is all over the summer discos of Gran Canaria. Video includes drag queens, Gloria at her most fiercest and sampling I Will Survive. As expected, the record is huge (as is its parent album which I highly recommend!)

Not to be outdone in the "diva-stakes" is the glorious Monica Naranjo! She has just released a very special edition of Tarantula. It comes with a book, live CD and DVD. The album is now slowly outselling her previous material so we can safely say Monica's comeback was a tad successful. While Kylie is about to perform in Madrid Monica's mind-blowing appearance in the very same city will be fresh in the minds of its citizens. This is what she's up against! A diva who has a golden toilet on her stage that she uses and a naked man at the end of the song. Utterly extreme but sinfully fabulous:

Then there's the diva that is Soraya. Since flopping at Eurovision with her rather poptastic song, she has released her album once again with fabulous bonus stuff, although not as good as Monica's stunning bonuses. She's also rushed released Caminare. A song that once featured Kate Ryan. The immediacy of its release and disappearance of her fellow singing partner is probably down to the flop of the Eurovision attempt and the current mocking of Soraya throughout Spanish TV of the singers accent. Yes, showbiz is a harsh world. They are knocking a singer because she can't pronounce certain words properly. Something that is fucking disgraceful in my books. Spain, sort yourself out. You've got huge inflation and the nation is picking on someone who says pata instead of para. Its not wise and grown up. Anyway, is the perfect performance of the solo version of Caminare:

Recalling the early days of PWL is the excellent Chico y Chica. I love the song, I love the leather gear and cute hats. But moreover, I heart the presence of what appears to be their mothers as their fans. Sometimes pop feels your insides with utter warmth and the new one, Bomba Latina, does that to me. For sure this is cheap around the edges but it contains everything that the likes of BwO lack: pure human warmth.

Next up: Something Norwegian!