Robyn Gallagher

New Bieber! It’s the video for “Boyfriend”. Check out the false start. What a tease. What an epic tease. It starts off all serious and sci-fi, then - oh - actually, Justin’s still a teen, hanging out with his pals. Musically it reminds me of the sort of stuff Justin Timberlake did on his “Justified” album, but with an edgier sound - this is 2012, not 2002, after all. Go, Justin.

The Chantoozies were an eight-piece Australian pop band. There were four guys who played the instruments and four girls who sang. It was kind of like a girl band whose backing band got equal billing. “Kiss and Tell” was one of their hits from 1988, and it illustrates the key difference between Australian and New Zealand pop. This video is saucy. The four girls enter a pub and start bothering the middle-aged locals with their hot-chickness. This carry-on would never happen in a New Zealand music video. When The Cat’s Away wouldn’t get up to this sort of thing.

I just watched an interview with Nik Kershaw where he dissed the stylist who dressed him for this Top of the Pops performance. He thought the snood and the fingerless gloves were ridiculous but wore them because at the time he had trusted the judgement of the stylist. But yet it was 1985 and he looked like a cool dude pop star and - most importantly - the outfit did not distract from his brilliant song.

As much fun as it is to look at the insane songs in this year’s Eurovision, there are also some really good songs in the competition. This is one of my faves, “Time” by Israeli group Izabo. It’s a kind of an alterno pop tune, with verses in English and the chorus in Hebrew, including a voiceless velar fricative. It has a slightly Strokes-like guitar pop sound, but with hints of more traditional Israeli music. It’s unlikely to win Eurovision because, well, Israel is complicated, but also it’s a bit too non-mainstream to totally win over Eurovision voters. But I love it, and I’m going to investigate Izabo’s discography.

The Sneaker Pimps were all over 1997, but then they ditched the chick singer and became a chilled gothy/dancy two-piece. Their 1999 album Splinter is oozing with that pre-millennium tension that threatened to consume modern life in the 2000s. “Low Five” was the first single.

This is Norway’s entry for Eurovision 2012. It is fairly brilliant, with the killer combo of Western Europe and Eastern Europe music styles. Plus, it also helps that the Iranian-Norwegian singer Tooji is as smokin’ hot as the song. 

A crazy pop tune from 1962, written by crazy television man Chuck Barris. Freddy “Boom Boom” Cannon was only 23 but he looks about 40. Screeeam!

Bloody hell. I’m extremely sad to hear that Whitney Houston has died. I didn’t always appreciate her ballads, but she could always throw down some quality dance pop.

In two weeks Ireland decides who it will send to Eurovision this year, and again pop twins Jedward are in the running. They’ve just released their song, “Waterline”, a piece of power pop that is seriously impressing people who like pop and but previously hadn’t given the Jeds much thought. It’s upbeat, joyful and with a hint of big surf drums and vocal harmonies, evocative of golden 1960s surf pop.

Four years old, but it will do. Metro Station’s one hit wonder is still pretty golden.