Rastamouse

Spare me the controversy surrounding reggae ridim king Rastamouse and his band, Da Easy Crew. The new hit CBeebies animation is currently enrapturing rugrats, not to mention big kids like Lily Allen and Dizzee Rascal too. Despite RM’s admirable mission to ‘make bad tings good’, publications such as The Guardian wonder ‘Is Rastamouse a righteous rodent or rank stereotype?’ Outraged of Tunbridge Wells rants about Jamaican patois corrupting the mother tongue. Please! One of the joys of English is its willingness to evolve by absorbing other cultures’ lingo, capisce? Others, such as Reggae Reggae Sauce's Levi Roots, reportedly,  condemn Rastafarians being portrayed as mice (as opposed to lions, presumably) as blatantly racist.  Get over yourselves! Rastamouse is a ranking role model, the cutest, cuddliest mega-star since that (Russian) meerkat. Reespek to his creator, author Michael de Souza, a proud Rastafarian.

The New Lady Gaga

However soulless I may find her manipulatively manufactured, over-produced yodelling, I get Gaga’s pop appeal, but those ‘envelope pushing’ get-ups? Fail! To a true style icon -  Anna Piaggi, Issy Blow or Elsa Schiaparelli who was working Gaga’s lobster look back in the 1930s - it comes naturally... and effortlessly. Ms Germanotta’s pose is clumsy, contrived and cynically sensationalist ; like La Ciccone, before her, a homely bridge and tunnel New Yorker desperate for a brand-building gimmick. Meat dress? Miss Steak!  Sparky British discovery Jessie J - next up on ‘the new Lady Gaga’ comparison conveyor belt, book-ended by Nicki Minaj (a Kylie Minaj tribute act?) Ke$ha and Natalia Kills  - reckons old Poker Face has set the bar so high, other female artists seem boring by comparison. A dressed-down Jess’s acoustic performance on Jools Holland was the real deal, her Gaga tribute vid for Do It Like A Dude? Now, that really is boring!