The American Idol watchers amongst you will recognize Elliott Yamin from that show. An unorthodox contestant for the show, Yamin nevertheless gained major approval from Simon Cowell, who lauded him as “potentially the best male vocalist ever” on Idol.

With For You is Elliott’s first official single from his forthcoming self-titled album.

The song is a very conventional R&B ballad mixing a piano melody with a pulsing electronic bass drum. The whole effect is very similar to the material on fellow Idol Reuben Studdard’s The Return album: a modern approach to romantic music that is less than engaging, bordering on dull.

This is unfortunately the trap that many post-reality TV artists fall into: playing it safe to capture (or retain) the public’s affection. And while Wait For You may sell Yamin a few records among his fan base, it’s not different enough to capture a wider audience. Obscurity beckons…

Then she has the double problem that her sound is very like the aforementioned Miss Knowles.

I can’t explain, but I consider Amerie the fresher sounding artist in this particular showdown. Maybe it’s because she’s got a distinctive, throaty vocal and sounds a little bit edgy in comparison with Beyonce’s smooth multi-layered recordings.

In other respects, the two artists are extremely similar: big, funky R&B sounds, have a very eclectic dance style and love to show off their legs. Still, I think Amerie wins on two counts: hotpants and attitude.

Anyway, I’m backing Amerie for the moment. But she’s got to start differentiating herself from Beyonce. Those last three singles: 1 Thing, Take Control and now Gotta Work all sound pretty similar to each other. She needs to show us another side before it gets stale.

In contrast to the smooth R&B of Umbrella, Shut Up And Drive ramps up the distorted guitars and we end up with an infectious fusion of rock and pop.

If you’re expecting as strong a track as Umbrella, don’t. This is good, but I have to agree with the team at Urban Review:

This Rock tinged track has some simple, unfortunate, pop inspired lyrics, but looking past that is a hot single that should do well. It’s not my favourite track from the album but will serve Riri well as a second single.

I don’t know who the hell is doing makeup and wardrobe on these videos for Rihanna, but she looks her absolute best when she’s cute and girly. Some of the hairstyles and clothes they give her are ridiculous. Yes, that includes those ridiculous oversized shades…

Shut Up And Drive made our list of the Top 5 Rihanna Singles. Go check it out.

Never in a million years did I think the shouter singer of Caught Out There could do sensitive. But that’s exactly what she manages to achieve with Little Star. It’s a funky soulful collaboration with Cee-Lo. Funny, but the name Cee-Lo meant nothing to me, until I saw the video and recognised him instantly as ‘the big guy from Gnarls Barkley’.

You know, I only heard Little Star for the first time during the week and it’s already becoming a firm favourite. It’s just a beautiful positive song, and you don’t get many of those for your money, do you?

Anyway, check out the video. It’s very cutesy. Well, apart from Kelis’ hair, which is frankly brutal looking, although some seem to like it. I can handle the shiny jacket, just put on a damned hat, woman!

I’m not afraid to admit that I was an early fan of Destiny’s Child. There was always something aluring about their ‘independent woman’ attitude, infectious tunes and skimpy clothes. Beyonce could kick my ass to the curb any day of the week…

That all changed when Beyonce seemed to become a parody of her sexy self and turned into a loathsome clothes horse as displayed on the pages of Heat magazine every week. Then came the gangsta’s moll phase, when she hooked up with Jay-Z. The girlie Beyonce was replaced by a horrible soft porn version. Not nice.

With the release of Irreplacable, Beyonce seems to have gone back to her roots. And a welcome return it is.

The instrumentation is stripped right back: basically just guitar and a simple drumbeat carrying the tune. A very simple verse/chorus arrangement is enhanced by Beyonce’s most honest vocal performance in recent memory. Beautiful melody in the verses and a chorus so catchy it’ll take a lobotomy to stop you singing it.

Subject matter is a return to Independent Women and Bills, Bills, Bills territory – very much woman on top type of thing.

The video for Irreplaceable carries on the ’stripped down’ theme – Beyonce looking her most natural in ages. The storyline reminds me slightly of the Emotion single Destiny’s Child release a couple of years ago. There’s a little bit of posturing by Ms Knowles, enough to keep the lads happy without being as OTT as her other recent singles.

You mus’ not know ’bout a-me, you mus’ not know ’bout a-me….(contributed by Levee)