MUSIC: Leona Lewis' "Better in Time" vs. Kylie Minogue's "All I see"

I'm a huge fan of Leona Lewis', but after listening to her debut album Spirit, I wasn't really interested in downloading the entire thing. There were only two songs--besides her debut single "Bleeding Love" (which was co-written by Jesse McCartney...weird, huh?)--that I enjoyed: "Better in Time" and "Forgive Me" (produced by Akon). She released the former in the UK as her second single and is releasing the latter as her second single in the US. I always appreciate when singers release my favorite tracks. "Forgive Me" is a more upbeat Leona that would be great for ladies' night in clubs everywhere. Whenever I hear it, I feel like a back up singer for Diana Ross, swaying along old school style.

Being that it's the 20th anniversary of Kylie Minogue's career--her first album, Kylie, was released in 1988--and that Perez is crazy about the cancer-surviving, UK pop gay icon, I thought I'd give her new album, X, a listen. The first single off the album is "All I see" featuring rapper Mims, which happened to be one of the two songs I loved off the album the first time around. However, after a second listen, I realized it sounded too much like a Janet throwaway. The track I wished she had released was "Heart Beat Rock." Now I realize it kind of sounds like Gwen Stefani mixed with the Spice Girls, but the beat is hot enough for me not to care. Listen for yourself: