shakira - "underneath your clothes"
am i the only person to wonder why shakira-as-pop-phenomenon is so strangely uninspiring? she is columbian! she has weird lyrics! she uses panpipes! she apparently can do several genres competently! she spazzes out when she performs! she has a few "cultural commentators" trying to re-contextualize her as more than just a pop star (this one is very important!) - but none of it has added up to much. so far she's put out one half-decent conquer-world-markets global pop anthem (the weakest attempt at this for ages, and i think only mega-successful because of the current lack of competition) and now this vintage-alanis ballad, where she distinguishes herself by singing like she's choking on something.

it could be a lot worse, but why am i so bored of seeing her on tv already? it wasn't like this with ricky and he only ever had to release one really good single! it wasn't like this with britney or christina. i think i'm even more interested in what enrique might release next! i'm putting it down to annoying marketing: the spin has been all about seeing shakira as a genuinely charismatic antidote to the pop puppets (where is this charisma on her bleedin' records or in her videos?), but this comes off as an uninteresting narrative to accompany media saturation - britney has confrontational videos and an endlessly contradictory public persona! christina has the same plus really horrible clothes! ricky has special padding on his arse for it to look extra-buff! shakira has "charisma"!

this is not good enough.