EVERYTHING OLD (IS NEW AGAIN)

We were sitting around half watching Rage this morning and half consuming some very nice Greek easter bread (name of tsoureki, viewers) and we found ourselves transfixed, by all the blatant COPYING that seems to be going on in music videos "these days". Why, not only is the new Destiny's Child affair an out-and-out homage to Sex and the City (it really is a fairly excellent piece, that clip. Beyonce! In SJP's dresses! Being hilariously demonstrative! GREAT), but there are other, less satisfactorily footnoted "borrowings" going on. And, neatly, they are all from artists who don't seem to be able to get together in the same room for the recording of new material anymore, let alone mounting some hilarious format of legal challenge. For example:

Gwen Stefani (and her good girlfriend Eve)'s video for "Rich Girl" nicks several of the best bits from Aqua's jolly video for "My Oh My" - one of their best ever songs. It has a horse clopping as a beat! ("I see." - Patrick Wolf). Just LOOK, at this!



See?

And also, kindly do NOT try to tell us that the video of Mariah Crazy's current single "It's Like That" is anything more than a reheat of the Steps masterpiece "It's The Way You Make Me Feel":



We can't seem to find video screenshots, but it's safe to just BELIEVE us on this. Mariah's copying Steps, and Gwen is copying Aqua. Even more interesting, though, is something we have discovered after previewing the various finalist and semifinalist songs for this year's Eurovision: almost everyone appears to have banged out a song with an Arab-pop "aspect" (which is the fashion). Everyone, that is, except one of the nations who could have legitmately gone the Arab-pop route and cited "tradition": Lebanon. On account of some middle Eastern politics, Lebanon are no longer in Eurovision this year as of a few weeks ago, which is extremely sad, because the song they were going to send to Kiev ("It's Over" by Aline Lahoud) was truly amazing - and instead of an Arabian, trumpety work that Holly Valance would once have had her eye on, the Lebanese went for three minutes of the purest of pure Topham/Twigg-style pop. It is extremely good, but it's now completely wasted - and it sounds like H&Claire on crack (and without H). Go and get it from the electronic lattice at ONCE!

Here is poor Aline Lahoud:



There are some other good songs as far as we can tell - at this stage we're really enjoying Iceland, France and Bosnia and Herzegovina - but none of them hold a candle to the thrilling heights of the Aline Lahoud song. WASTE!