Cher Lloyd? Yeah, Cher Lloyd.
You’ve probably heard her on the radio and didn’t even know it. Maybe at the roller skating rink? I bet your 11-year-old daughter knows Cher Lloyd and can mimic her “Do I sound like a helicopter?” with perfect Worcestershire accent.
Cher Lloyd is pure bubblegum pop with a dash of Cyndi Lauper, a pinch of the Spice Girls, and just the slightest hint of Nicki Minaj.
Maybe not Nicki Minaj.
But wasn’t that fun! The giggle-squeak vocals and the feisty, fed-up “UHHHH!” The goofy-tough attitude that doesn’t take herself too seriously. It’s okay to kinda, sorta like it. You can be-bop along to Cher Lloyd and still be a card-carrying member of the Nouveau Indie Hipster Folk Movement, i.e. Gotye won’t come to your house and demand that you wipe “Somebody That I Used To Know” from your iTunes account.
Cher Lloyd was a finalist in the UK’s X Factor in 2010, when she was only 16 years old. Lloyd is funky and funny and a little bit gawky in her audition, but seems like a genuinely sweet gal. Of course, anyone who brings their Nan (Lloyd’s grandmother) along to an audition has pretty much won me over already.
Here’s Cher Lloyd singing in front of the fours judges, including Simon Cowell. See if you can spot the exact moment the pound signs go up in Cowell’s eyes:
I’d say right around 2:13 Cowell is imagining the new yacht he’s going to buy to smash into his old yacht so he can buy an even BIGGER yacht. Thanks to Lloyd.
Last week, Cher followed up her summer of “Aren’t you glad it’s not Carly Rae Jepsen again?” with a visit to the Today Show. Looks like someone did up her hair and maybe fixed her overbite, but she’s still got enough unpracticed GEE WHIZ, CAN YOU BELIEVE I’M REALLY HERE? peeking through the shine to get you on her side rooting for her.
Lloyd herself says in interviews that she knows she’s “not Rhianna” when it comes to singing. But there’s something likable and familiar about her. Something MTV circa 1983, when music and music videos came with a wink and nudge and the okay to try too much eye makeup and an asymmetrical haircut.
Unfortunately, Lloyd hasn’t felt the love at times in her home country.
A target of Twitter trash talk and Facebook hate pages, the singer was forced to leave the stage at a recent music festival after some audience members pelted her with bottles filled with urine.
Alright, I get it—it’s a music festival for real music. But it’s not like The Ting Tings and Tulisa weren’t also there, MEANING GET OFF YOUR HIGH HORSE. Holy crap, it’s not as if other bands were performing music in mixolydian mode on handmade instruments carved from ancient virgin chestnut.
And even if they were, DON’T THROW PISS AT PEOPLE YOU DON’T LIKE. Not even if they are singing manufactured pop songs. Good grief!
Anyway, I’m standing by Cher Lloyd. At least for now. Maybe she has my vote of confidence just because it’s time for a change from this summer’s ear worms. Or maybe on this last official day of summer, I’m not ready to give up the good times.
I want a little more goofy fun before the long, cold winter ahead.
About Josette Plank
