1-888-2-CONFESS: I’m kinda sorta possibly maybe starting to like Katy Perry. A LITTLE.

I don’t know exactly when or how it started–around the time of the Interview Magazine cover story with Kristen Wiig and the release of “Part of Me”–but I keep finding cracks in my well-documented hostility toward the doe-eyed pop princess.

Now, here she is in an interview with Teen Vogue merrily tossing out compliments left and right at Madonna and Kelly Clarkson. Excuse me? Giving praise to the people I love? Just who the fuck does she think she is?

Wait. What’s…what’s all this? I’m lactating–whipped cream?! Oh God. Oh no! It’s beginning! Someone call a priest! I rebuke thee, Perry! I REBUKE THEE!!!

Three key snippets below, and the full interview over at Teen Vogue.

TEEN VOGUE: Were you inspired by other pop documentaries, like Justin Bieber’s Never Say Never or Madonna’s Truth or Dare?

KATY PERRY: A little. Madonna is everything to me, and that movie is amazing because it caught her at a time when she was a bit more vulnerable. I wanted to do that too, to capture a snapshot of who I am now so that I can remind myself what I’ve lost if I ever do become totally jaded. [Laughs]

TEEN VOGUE: You occasionally permit other artists to record songs that you co-wrote. Was it hard to watch Kelly Clarkson have a hit with “I Do Not Hook Up”?

KATY PERRY: No. Kelly is a fantastic person to interpret anyone’s work, and honestly, I consider myself a songwriter first and foremost. If I stay true to myself, I’m not going to run out of songs!

TEEN VOGUE: Your looks—and your life—have been the subject of so much scrutiny. Do you ever see yourself getting tired of being famous?

KATY PERRY: I’m tired of being famous already! But I’m not tired of creating. Fame is, I think, just a disgusting by-product of what I do. It’s quite a delicate creature— it’s a wild animal of sorts. It can love you, and then it can attack you. I still want to be as approachable and relatable as possible—when I meet fans and they’re crying, I’ll say, “Calm down, there’s nothing to cry about. I’m not going to bite you or attack you or grant you three wishes. Let’s just hang out and have a good time.” But really, I stopped focusing on what other people think a while ago. If you try to be everything to everyone, you’ll only end up completely confused.

Teenage Dream: The Complete Confection was released on March 26. (iTunes)

In 2010, Katy Perry released her sugary-sweet sophomore record, Teenage Dream.

The album spawned Objectively Amazing Pop Singles “Teenage Dream” and “E.T.”, the Ke$ha-biting “California Gurls” and “Last Friday Night (T.G.I.F.)”, penis appreciation anthem “Peacock,” ‘It Gets Better’ bandwagon jumper “Firework,” and the Alanis-lite “Circle The Drain” (which I may or may not angrily lip-sync for my life alone in my bedroom at night.)

This week, the pop star has unleashed Teenage Dream: The Complete Confection, a repackaged version of her 2010 record with three previously unreleased tracks, remixes and a brand new album megamix by Tommie Sunshine.

Despite my wariness about Ms. Perry as a pop star, Teenage Dream is a truly solid pop record. Plus, it’s well documented that I quite love her new single, “Part Of Me.” (The other new track on the Complete Confection–”Wide Awake”–is pretty great too.) Therefore…

MuuMuse is giving away 3 COPIES of Teenage Dream: The Complete Confection.

In order to win, send me an email with the subject line “KATY CONFECTION” telling me your favorite song off of Teenage Dream and why.

Three winners will be selected and notified on Tuesday, April 3. US entrants only.

Check out the full album tracklisting is under the cut. Good luck!

Teenage Dream: The Complete Confection was released on March 26. (iTunes)

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Time for a first glimpse of Katy Perry‘s music video for her reductively amazing new single, “Part Of Me,” due out on March 21.

From the looks of things, it seems Ms. Perry’s gone ahead and jacked her best friend RiRi‘s Battleship swagger by starring in a mega-budget army production. This means war, bitches!

Now, Perry’s already done whipped cream and fireworks, so I’m very curious to see what she’ll be shooting from her breasts in this video. My guess is she swipes from Britney this time: Machine gun boobies!

Watch the teaser trailer below.

“Part of Me” was released on February 13. (iTunes)

Last night was the 54th Annual Grammy Awards! Or was it the 2012 CMT Music Awards? I literally couldn’t tell, what with all the banjos, geetars and all that.

No, it was The Grammys! A time when the industry comes together to honor REAL music! A time to dress tastefully and bring a bishop as a date! A time when Jennifer Hudson sings half of a Whitney Houston song while Chris Brown gets two whole performances and a Grammy! Yes! Music finally wins!

Mercifully, Adele rightfully won in all six of her major categories: Pop Vocal Album, Best Pop Solo Vocal Performance, Short Form Music Video, Record Of The Year, and Song Of The Year, and Album Of The Year. (Okay, the music video win was a bit “Really though?”, but…you know, whatever.)

All in all, that shit was as cray as usual. Here are nine moments worth your time. There were more, but, like…I’m tired. You know?

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Katy Perry has a new (old) song out. It’s called “Part of Me” and it’s, well…amazing.

My displeasure with Katy Perry is a storied affair, but I’ve always maintained that for any pop star, it’s “all about the music” in the end. (Except, of course, in the case of Chris Brown, in which it’s “all about the GET THE FUCK OUT.”)

As my good friend Sam Lansky breathlessly explained to MTV Buzzworthy last week, “Part of Me” was
divined by pop wizard Bonnie McKee, maker of “Teenage Dream,” “Hold It Against Me” and basically all amazing pop songs ever. It’s science: The woman is incapable of crafting a bad hook.

Katy’s new single sounds like “Teenage Dream” mixed with “The One That Got Away” mixed with “Hot And Cold” mixed with, well, every other Katy Perry song, because every Katy Perry song sounds like the same Dr. Luke production over and over again. (It’s a partnership which will soon come to an end. 2012: The end of Katy Perry?)

As a result, it’s a pretty solid (if not entirely derivative) smash.

Of all the different incarnations of Katy Perry–whether it’s bullying her effeminate boyfriend, sensationalizing same-sex kissing or churning out reductive renditions of Ke$ha hits–my favorite flavor is ‘pissed off Katy’, because I can usually suspend my distaste for her eye-rolling ‘I’m only doing pop for the money’ state of being and genuinely get into that growling anger, as evidenced on the really, really fucking good Alanis-lite “Circle The Drain” off of Teenage Dream.

“Part of Me” continues in that general direction, as the scorned songstress triumphantly declares: “This is the part of me that you’re never ever going to take away from me!” Nice.

Although I find it a little advantageous to release a two year old breakup empowerment anthem NOW after the ink on her divorce papers hasn’t even dried yet, I’m not surprised: After all, she is the Queen of Shameless Marketing, including major discount iTunes pricing and last minute remixes for yet another assent to #1 on the Billboard Hot 100. (Yay, integrity!)

Still, “Part of Me” is several layers of amazing, a nearly instant #1 in the making, and a song I’ll quickly grow to hate within 1 to 5 weeks after it’s played to oblivion on every radio station across the country.

In closing, my emotions regarding this song are best represented in this scene from Bridesmaids, in which I am Kristen Wiig and the pink lemonade is Katy Perry’s “Part of Me.”

Goddammit, that’s good.

“Part of Me” was released on February 13. (iTunes)

Disclaimer: I really can’t with Katy Perry, so prepare to sip on some serious haterade.

Earlier today, Professional Plastic Bag Kitty Purry unveiled the teaser trailer for “The One That Got Away,” her eleventy millionth single off of 2010′s Teenage Dream.

As you can see/hear, there’s a lot of dramatic narration. Something vague about losing someone, or love, or the past being like a handful of dust or some shit. But Katy looks so happy with her man! Yes! They’re dancing around, all merry and whatnot! But then, uh oh! Things seem to be going awry! She looks sad now. Like, rill sad, y’all. Fuck, they’re fighting! OOF. Something tells me all’s not well with this relationship.

But wait, doesn’t something feel astonishingly, err…familiar about this?

OH, RIGHT: BECAUSE IT’S LITERALLY
THE SAME VIDEO AS RIHANNA‘S “WE FOUND LOVE.”

Narratively speaking, cinematographically speaking…it’s just a shameful “We Found Love” regurgitation, except rather than starring an objectively bad-ass bitch Illuminati Princess, it features the blow-up doll that brought us such stereotype-affirming classics as “Ur So Gay” and “I Kissed A Girl.” (Nothing says we’re all fireworks inside like telling your effeminite boyfriend to hang himself with his H&M scarf, right Katy?)

All I can say is: God help this wretched woman if drugs shoot out of her breasts in this video.

As a reminder, Perry’s gone to #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 with all five of her Teenage Dream singles, thus tying the KING OF POP Michael Jackson‘s record for most #1′s from a single album. If “The One That Got Away” goes to #1, she will have broken Jackson’s record.

So before visiting iTunes, think about your life. Think about your choices, and think about the pop culture history you’d like to bestow upon future generations.

Thank you for your time.

Dave Audé is a name synonymous with all things dance.

From Coldplay to Britney Spears, Madonna to U2, Rihanna to George Michael–Audé has written, remixed and produced with the best of ‘em over the past 20 years, resulting in a formidable discography of literally hundreds of remixes and original releases.

His work can be found included in nearly every pop remix package of the day (recent releases include re-rubs of Beyoncé‘s “Run The World (Girls),” Lady Gaga‘s “Judas” and Jennifer Lopez‘s “I’m Into You), firmly cementing his role as one of the industry’s most consistently in demand producers.

A few weeks ago, I got the opportunity to speak with Audé as he prepared to head into the studio with singer Sisely Treasure, formerly of both Cooler Kids and Shiny Toy Guns (who I also spoke to briefly!)

We talked at length about the state of dance music today–including current trends like dubstep–as well as many of Audé’s successes over the past 20 years, including the highs (Sting, t.A.T.u.) and the sorta-kinda highs (Madonna was “a weird moment.”) There was also ample talk about Selena Gomez.

There is even–in what was undoubtedly my greatest, MuuMuse-iest journalistic moment to date–a point at which I interrupted the prolific producer mid-sentence as he began to discuss John Lennon‘s musical impact to ask about his work with Nicole Scherzinger.

You’re welcome.

Read on…

OH MY GOD IT’S THE SECOND COMING OF ALY & AJ*.

Just kidding. Nobody will ever be able to compete with Aly & AJ.

But if someone was going to try, it might as well be Destinee & Paris, a fresh teen pop duo who recently seceded from their parent group, the legendary Clique Girlz. This stellar pedigree should be enough, but it doesn’t hurt to note that Destinee & Paris are also effortlessly hot (in the way that gorgeous blond sisters so frequently are — see Nervo for more). One has beachy waves; one has blunt cut bangs. (I can’t tell them apart yet; this has not inhibited me from enjoying their music.)

More importantly, their first single, “True Love,” is actually a delicious pop nugget. Produced by Rami, Carl Falk, and Swedish House Mafia’s Steve Angello, “True Love” blends ambient-synth instrumentation with a crunchy, explosive singalong chorus — sounding, variously, like the best parts of Nicole Scherzyquittelephoninmehehehehehinger’s “Don’t Hold Your Breath,” Katy Perry’s “Teenage Dream,” and One Direction’s incomparable “What Makes You Beautiful” wrapped up in one perfect little confection.

The video is more or less incomprehensible — the narrative is quite muddled, but I think it’s vaguely nautical, and there’s umbrellas and bright colors and hot boys in tank tops and cute choreography, and overall I’m not mad about it.

Also, Destinee & Paris hang out with JoJo, Literal Queen of Everything.

AND THAT IS ACTUALLY ALL YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT DESTINEE & PARIS.

*78violet

Sam Lansky is a contributor to MuuMuse.