Fergie - Glamorous

LONGEVITY: 2.5/5

It seems as if dreamy midtempo songs in minor scales have dominated the charts lately--consider Nelly Furtado's "Say It Right" and Rihanna's "Umbrella". "Glamorous", the third hit single from Fergie's debut solo album, is no exception.

Everyone criticizes Ms. Ferguson's tendency to spell out words in her songs, but G-L-A-M-O-R-O-U-S is only done during two parts of the song, clearly not as rampant as was in "Fergalicious". Let's focus on the actual song instead of a bunch of letters...this is not Sesame Street!

I came across a copy of the instrumental version of the song, and after hearing it I was literally about to fall asleep. Not because the song is boring, but because it has a new-age sound with a large-hall reverb. The synth strings, combined with Fergie's sexy harmonies and interesting accent (particularly on the word "flossy") are major contributors to the song's catchiness.

Another key to the song is the bleep-filled hook playing behind Fergie's vocals in the bridge and chorus. Come to think of it, bleeps are very "in" too. Hillary Duff's "With Love" and The Pussycat Dolls' "Beep" also made the square lead (a technical term for a synthesized bleep) in vogue.

One detractor to "Glamorous" is the drumbeat, which is bland at best. It is handclap-heavy, and does not quite fit the music.

The song is definitely a hit right now and pleasant to the ear, but Fergie seems to be afraid to sing without heavy vocal processing. It's about time she show off her real vocal talent (most of us young folk don't remember her Kids Incorporated days) and prove to the world that there's more to her than a hot body. I guess you'll have to wait for my review of Fergie's "Big Girls Don't Cry" to find out my assessment of her true vocals.