Terrible case… of mistaken popularity

Whilst I’m hardly one who would rush out to buy the latest single from Australia’s darling, Delta Goodrem, I can appreciate why she’s so popular.

For one, she produces some melodic, inoffensive tunes that surely tickle the heartstrings of the young-uns of today. For two, she’s gone through a well-publicised bout with cancer…well, at least cancer’s weaker, and somewhat less fatal, little brother, Hodgkin’s. For three, a prominent tennis ace dumped her for a little harlot whom a fair majority of the female population despises (and a fair majority of the male population has already seen naked). For four, she was the only decent looking chick on Neighbours, and now that she’s left the series, there’s no point in watching Neighbours anymore…

And that’s a good thing.

So, sure. She’s had it rough. Fair enough.

But riding this wave of popularity would have its pitfalls over time. Take, for instance, Delta’s latest single, Mistaken Identity. It is a trite little song, presumably autobiographical, seemingly about a girl who has changed, or is changing. I dunno, as I haven’t listened to it with any depth to my perception, mainly because this song is devoid of any charm, is poorly written, strains to be melodic and struggles to sound anything other than awkward. I’m sure the thesaurus-wielding 5 year olds who had a hand in writing this torture device are proud of the fact that it has hit the top 10, and are dancing gaily upon the deck of the ship powered by the winds of disease-fuelled popularity.

If anyone else performed this song, thousands upon thousands of punters would scorn them, and they would dissolve away to nothing like a vampire exposed to sunlight.

But anyway, the pitfall is that over time, people might eventually realise that the songs she releases are crap, and then Delta might be remembered as the “girl-who-was-popular-only-because-she-was-screwed-around-by-disease-and-by-horny-tennis-players”.

Which would be a shame. Because I’m sure she’s a charming girl (considering how she handled the harassment from the Triple J mob at the Aria’s), and she has released some… inoffensive… music in the past. But honestly, how long can she surf this wave of sympathy before people realise that her music bites?