Playground magazine

Only Katy Perry seems to be inclined to continue betting on harmless, silly pop. However anyone who has put up with one of her live performances knows that she has made croaking and singing out of tune into her reason for being: the title of diva is too much for her. But this hasn’t kept her “Teenage Dream” (Capitol, 2011) from equalling Michael Jackson’s record - getting five songs from a single album to the top of the Billboard Hot 100 (the litmus-test of winners and losers in this harsh battle for popularity). The fact that she is a former church choir singer with a sense of humour (something altogether unheard of in the transgenic pop spectrum) has been of great help to Perry in earning an exceptional position among the young and not-so-young who dream of a future cover financed by Hugh Hefner.

In the same match - but on the bench - we have people like Robyn, Annie or any female supported by Xenomania, Max Martin or Richard X (Sophie Ellis-Bextor will always have a place in our hearts). All of them, although they sound more contemporary and constantly give lessons in good taste, will have a harder time getting into the Champions League and knocking Madonna off her throne. It’s a similar case with Minogue, beyond her native Australia and the confines of Europe. Even Nicki Minaj is showing her teeth in this contest, although we suppose that in the future she will have to settle down and decide whether she wants to focus on making schizophrenic hip hop, or duke it out with Rihanna.

Anyway, while we wait for new candidates to do something to make this imaginary war to dominate pop more interesting, the battle is coming to a boil.  Madonna releasing an album like “MDNA”, full of discotheque songs with pumping drums and euphoric choruses is proof: it is an album on the defensive, made to answer a crisis situation, for a present that she no longer controls. Before, Madonna set the trends; now she has to follow them to defend her territory. How will this war for domination end? It’s hard to say. Successful singles always look good on your CV, but one can only claim to be an icon for all ages - with a legacy that speaks for itself - if you will go down in the history books as a point of reference for a generation. Whatever she does from here on in, Madonna will already have a whole volume for herself. With time, we will see who else holds the same fate: it won’t be easy to take her place.