I still totally don't get "Scream & Shout" by will.i.am and Britney Spears. Is it an earworm, or perhaps a more serious parasitic infection?

I think the most jarring aspect is the failure of their voices to blend pleasingly on the chorus. That robotic singing style is really annoying. And I never want to hear another word about Madonna or anyone else being a lazy or juvenile lyricist if this song isn't pilloried for that. I mean, this could've been written by any middle-schooler daydreaming of being old enough to par-tay. It's a huge step down (or maybe just a painless cash-in) for Britney, who had some pretty memorable stuff on her most recent album, including "I Wanna Go" and "Till the World Ends".

On the plus side, the video is so stupid and simple is almost has to be a clever tribute to early-years MTV videos, when directors did anything just for the sake of doing it—a head unskillfully merged with a golden disco ball, that wax head reminding me of that Planet P Project album cover, etc. And Britney, who still seems as if she were being remote-controlled from some distance when it comes to her "dance" moves, does a little "Vogue" move at one point, which perked my interest. Her body looks good in the long shots but the ratted hair isn't the most flattering in closeups. And this was all on the plus side. OOF.