MUSIC: Katy Perry vs. Kelly Clarkson

I don't really understand what musicians have to gain by leaking a track of themselves singing someone else's upcoming or recently released single. I don't mind when it's the no-name writer of the song who records it and posts how it would've been sung by them. For example, BC Jean wrote Beyonce's hit "If I Were Boy" and Perez posted her rocker version. But I find it odd that an established singer would want to compete with the person they gave the song to. Is it seller's remorse? Is it purely curiosity as to how many people prefer their singing? Or is it jealousy?

I was just as flabbergasted as everyone else was when it was revealed that Jesse McCartney wrote "Bleeding Love"for Leona Lewis, and even though I like his singing, there's no way in hell his version tops hers. So, to me, that just seemed like seller's remorse. Last summer when Miley Cyrus' album dropped, Perez leaked a recording of Katy Perry singing one of the tracks, "Breakout," which she recorded a few years before. Maybe that was all P's doing, but what if we do prefer Katy's version? We can't buy it, so it's sort of a waste of time. He posted it in an effort to determine who sung it better, but again, even if she had, we still can't buy it.

Now he's done the same with a track that's rumored to be on Kelly Clarkson's upcoming comeback album, called "I Do Not Hook Up." Apparently, Katy wrote this song three years ago and recorded a demo, but never released it. Having heard hers first and decided that it's so Katy, it's going to be mighty hard for me to imagine Kelly doing it any better. She doesn't ooze sexuality the same way Katy does--her specialty is ire--so her execution might be a little bit off. I say if you feel you HAVE to leak an alternate version of a song, at least let me hear the official one first. It's like alternate movie endings--they're hardly as substantial as the real ones, but it's nice to know there's another option.

Click here for Katy's version of "I Do Not Hook Up."