As I'm sure most of you know, Katy Perry has been in the news this week for having her guest appearance on Sesame Street banned from TV thanks to complaints from some parents for showing too much cleavage. At the same time, some parents complained that she shouldn't have been on Sesame Street in the first place, considering that her biggest pop hits involved kissing girls and basically okaying teen sex, including some suggestive videos where she is almost naked. She decided to parody her recent issues with Sesame Street on Saturday Night Live last night in a skit where she played a local teen who volunteers to read books to children at her local library. Unbeknownst to some people, her character seems to have "blossomed" into womanhood in a short period to time.

But I digress. Whatever you think of her skills as an actress and/or comedienne, she's obviously more well known for her music. I watched her musical performances on SNL last night, and while she's is admittedly easy on the eyes as a vocalist she is at her very best just an average singer. She has benefited from some great pop songwriting and some crafty musical hooks. And while she certainly plays up her sexual asssets, she also tends to mock them at times by wearing attention grabbing outfits that play more like Bjork's swan outfit then Pamela Anderson. I couldn't quite figure out what to think about her, and then it sort of hit me that she is the musical equivalent of Jenny McCarthy.

As many people know, Jenny McCarthy was a former Playboy Playmate of the Year who prior to becoming an activist for children with autism was the host of MTV's dating show Singled Out, and she became known as much for her goofy antics as her sexy body. This led to her own brief series on MTV and NBC and numerous guest appearances in other TV sitcoms. She could play physical comedy pretty well, but when it came to playing more nuanced characters on TV or more sophisticated humor, she fell short.

Now that I look back, I noticed Katy Perry is doing the same things musically, at least with her public persona. While Britney Spears, Beyonce and Christina Aguilera may use their sexuality as a way to draw attention to themselves as hot ladies, and Lady GaGa may use it to shock people and make a point about society at large, Katy Perry often uses it in a self-deprecating way to mock her sexpot image as well as play it up. Having said that, I donlt know if she has enough vocal chops to break out of this image and really mature as a musical artist.

Thats a LOOOOOOONG way from watching Aliana Reed Hall damn, talk about feeling like a dinosaur.

And I agree with those folks taking issue with her pushing sexuality to the show, but their issue must've been directed toward the show's producers.

Let the kids be kids,,,,and let the nymphomania continue invading everything else.

I thought along the same lines ever since I saw the clip of her falling at some concert, and goofing about it rather than getting all pissy.

728huey said:

As I'm sure most of you know, Katy Perry has been in the news this week for having her guest appearance on Sesame Street banned from TV thanks to complaints from some parents for showing too much cleavage. At the same time, some parents complained that she shouldn't have been on Sesame Street in the first place, considering that her biggest pop hits involved kissing girls and basically okaying teen sex, including some suggestive videos where she is almost naked. She decided to parody her recent issues with Sesame Street on Saturday Night Live last night in a skit where she played a local teen who volunteers to read books to children at her local library. Unbeknownst to some people, her character seems to have "blossomed" into womanhood in a short period to time.

But I digress. Whatever you think of her skills as an actress and/or comedienne, she's obviously more well known for her music. I watched her musical performances on SNL last night, and while she's is admittedly easy on the eyes as a vocalist she is at her very best just an average singer. She has benefited from some great pop songwriting and some crafty musical hooks. And while she certainly plays up her sexual asssets, she also tends to mock them at times by wearing attention grabbing outfits that play more like Bjork's swan outfit then Pamela Anderson. I couldn't quite figure out what to think about her, and then it sort of hit me that she is the musical equivalent of Jenny McCarthy.

As many people know, Jenny McCarthy was a former Playboy Playmate of the Year who prior to becoming an activist for children with autism was the host of MTV's dating show Singled Out, and she became known as much for her goofy antics as her sexy body. This led to her own brief series on MTV and NBC and numerous guest appearances in other TV sitcoms. She could play physical comedy pretty well, but when it came to playing more nuanced characters on TV or more sophisticated humor, she fell short.

Now that I look back, I noticed Katy Perry is doing the same things musically, at least with her public persona. While Britney Spears, Beyonce and Christina Aguilera may use their sexuality as a way to draw attention to themselves as hot ladies, and Lady GaGa may use it to shock people and make a point about society at large, Katy Perry often uses it in a self-deprecating way to mock her sexpot image as well as play it up. Having said that, I donlt know if she has enough vocal chops to break out of this image and really mature as a musical artist.

Well there are alot of different things to address here. First the SS controversy is only a controversy because of todays society and how quickly meaningless things get around. How many people still knew SS was still even on? And also there have been many worse that have gone on that show with more "controversial" things than a song "I kissed a Girl", im sure if we look back at SS guests we will find alot more people that would make Katy Perry look like a nun.

Now Katy as an artist is a different thing, i think she does have some chops, and does write but again like u said has benefited from great hooks, but lets be real now, Whitney Houston made a career on singing other peoples leftover songs. So the beneficial thing has been going on for ages and will continue to go on, i mean Sinatra never wrote a thing, but will anyone question his ability to get a song across? Now with Katy she is in a tough spot because though she is past that "one hit catch phrase song" she also is nothing more than a comedy act, like alot of what "slim shady" was, which is why i never took eminem serious the first 10 years, Katy is a parody, but she also is good at it because she doesnt have an issue with NOT being taken seriously, she doesnt complain that people think she is a joke, because thats how she is putting herself out there, maybe in 5 years she will rebel against that but i doubt it, she doesnt seem like the type. So i dont have a real issue with Katy, never have, thing she is the package of a pop star, she has a great body she has fun with it, and she has catchy songs and really doesnt take things seriously, so she is aparody pop star you could say. Like a cross between Jenny Mccarthy and Julie Brown (not downtown JB)

She has great tits but a butterface.

And she can't sing for shit.

lastdecember said:

Well there are alot of different things to address here. First the SS controversy is only a controversy because of todays society and how quickly meaningless things get around. How many people still knew SS was still even on? And also there have been many worse that have gone on that show with more "controversial" things than a song "I kissed a Girl", im sure if we look back at SS guests we will find alot more people that would make Katy Perry look like a nun.

Now Katy as an artist is a different thing, i think she does have some chops, and does write but again like u said has benefited from great hooks, but lets be real now, Whitney Houston made a career on singing other peoples leftover songs. So the beneficial thing has been going on for ages and will continue to go on, i mean Sinatra never wrote a thing, but will anyone question his ability to get a song across? Now with Katy she is in a tough spot because though she is past that "one hit catch phrase song" she also is nothing more than a comedy act, like alot of what "slim shady" was, which is why i never took eminem serious the first 10 years, Katy is a parody, but she also is good at it because she doesnt have an issue with NOT being taken seriously, she doesnt complain that people think she is a joke, because thats how she is putting herself out there, maybe in 5 years she will rebel against that but i doubt it, she doesnt seem like the type. So i dont have a real issue with Katy, never have, thing she is the package of a pop star, she has a great body she has fun with it, and she has catchy songs and really doesnt take things seriously, so she is aparody pop star you could say. Like a cross between Jenny Mccarthy and Julie Brown (not downtown JB)

pretty much agree with all of that.

she's just FUN. nothing more, nothing less. and i have no problem with that. i do however, hope she drops the Betty Page / Betty Boop image soon. she doesn't take it so seriously and that's refreshing as well. i think she'll be around a lot longer than people think. not sure how long, but i don't think she's going anywhere anytime soon.

I've been thinking about her a lot lately. Mostly I'm feeling sorry for her in advance, because I predict she's gonna crash hard in the next year, with her music and marrying that loser.

The hook of her latest single Teenage Dream sounds just like You Get What You Give by the New Radicals.

I think she is refreshing simply because as others

have pointed out, she doesn't take herself to seriously.

Then on the other end of the spectrum there are people

like Lady GaGme who need to get a reality check.

dreamfactory313 said:

The hook of her latest single Teenage Dream sounds just like You Get What You Give by the New Radicals.

ok. i thought it was just me.

Her performance on snl was sometimes off key (cringes). This furthers my belief that she is a Fad and probably wont last past 5 years. Not unless she does the Madonna route and keep getting good songs.

dreamfactory313 said:

The hook of her latest single Teenage Dream sounds just like You Get What You Give by the New Radicals.

Love Teenage Dream but couldn't figure out why it sounded so familiar.

Katy Perry is scrate awful.

Moonbeam said:

Katy Perry is scrate awful.

Not sure what scrate means, but I think I agree. She's bloody awful. She's nothing but a novelty act.

I still can't get into her after "I Kissed a Girl", one of the most annoying songs to come out, plus the concept was already done before her (Jill Sobule anyone?). I kinda heard "California Girls" but I didn't like it either. Thought it sounded too much like "Tik Tok" (which I also hate) but of course I think you guys know those songs are similar.

Timmy84 said:

I still can't get into her after "I Kissed a Girl", one of the most annoying songs to come out, plus the concept was already done before her (Jill Sobule anyone?). I kinda heard "California Girls" but I didn't like it either. Thought it sounded too much like "Tik Tok" (which I also hate) but of course I think you guys know those songs are similar.

At least Jill Sobule's song seemed to express a genuine curiosity about the whole thing rather than coming off as a big put-on just to tease her boyfriend as Katy Perry does.

Timmy84 said:

I still can't get into her after "I Kissed a Girl", one of the most annoying songs to come out, plus the concept was already done before her (Jill Sobule anyone?). I kinda heard "California Girls" but I didn't like it either. Thought it sounded too much like "Tik Tok" (which I also hate) but of course I think you guys know those songs are similar.

I boycotted her so long because of that record she got on my nerves. But I do have her new album teenage dream is one of my songs out now and she has some other catchy stuff , I like her more than her music though.

Love her breses!

babybugz said:

Timmy84 said:

I still can't get into her after "I Kissed a Girl", one of the most annoying songs to come out, plus the concept was already done before her (Jill Sobule anyone?). I kinda heard "California Girls" but I didn't like it either. Thought it sounded too much like "Tik Tok" (which I also hate) but of course I think you guys know those songs are similar.

I boycotted her so long because of that record she got on my nerves. But I do have her new album teenage dream is one of my songs out now and she has some other catchy stuff , I like her more than her music though.

I'm still avoiding that one. Not believing the hype like Public Enemy told me to as a baby.

Timmy84 said:

babybugz said:

I boycotted her so long because of that record she got on my nerves. But I do have her new album teenage dream is one of my songs out now and she has some other catchy stuff , I like her more than her music though.

I'm still avoiding that one. Not believing the hype like Public Enemy told me to as a baby.

It is what it is

[img:$uid]http://i.imgur.com/uU1to.gif[/img:$uid]

[img:$uid]http://cdn.wwtdd.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/katy_perry_snl_gif.gif[/img:$uid]

babybugz said:

Timmy84 said:

I'm still avoiding that one. Not believing the hype like Public Enemy told me to as a baby.

It is what it is

LOL she sounded so shitty on SNL.

LittleBLUECorvette said:

[img:$uid]http://i.imgur.com/uU1to.gif[/img:$uid]

[img:$uid]http://cdn.wwtdd.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/katy_perry_snl_gif.gif[/img:$uid]

that's hott

babybugz said:

LOL she sounded so shitty on SNL.

I've never heard a good performance from her! Vocally she's like a bad Alanis impressionwith some kind of weird accent. But damn she's got a nice set of tits!!