2001 Christina Aguilera, Pink, Lil' Kim, Mya: Lady Marmalade

A mere three years after All Saints had taken it to number one, 'Lady Marmalade' gets another outing from another four latter day pop divas. And like that All Saints take, comparisons with the original find Pink et al running a deficit, mainly because this time the quartet aren't all necessarily pulling in the same direction. It's fair to say that none of the players here would be shy about tackling the song's whore house origins head on, yet for all the overt stockings and suspenders soft porn imagery of the promotional video, this 'Lady Marmalade' is a surprisingly cold and frigid affair that tries too hard to allow each star a comfort zone to strut their 'day job' stuff. Thus, Christina and Pink thrive on the guitar pop crunches while Lil' Kim and Mya get their own R&B stylings to rap over and all jockey for pole position on the sexy scale. Predictably, the result of so many cooks is spoiled broth in the form of a disjointed take that buries its one time sexy groove in a welter of hard nosed fussiness that models expensive lingerie on a plastic tailor's dummy. And the result is just about as erotic.