Jennifer Kurosawa Japanese Idol

More than many, more-fêted stars, Jennifer Lopez seems emblematic of 00s pop: slick, blinged-up, powerful and ambitious enough to overcome such peasantish problems as a lack of innate aptitude for the form. And, for a while, her attitude worked to superb effect: she's the quintessential "more great songs than you initially assume" artist, with Love Don't Cost a Thing, Whatever You Wanna Do, If You Had My Love and – best of all – the Murder remixes of Ain't It Funny and I'm Real all high-water marks. But even her most passionate defenders couldn't have expected her to be relevant in 2011, with her most recent material seeming to indicate a decline of interest on both the public's part and her own…

Much as Donny Osmond stormed the charts in 1989 with the George Michael sound-alike "Soldier of Love," Jennifer Paige and her producer have re-created the same scenario via this collection's first offering, "Crush," a song very reminiscent of early Mariah Carey. It is only hoped that Carey will use this as a reminder of what made her voice so engaging upon her entrance into the pop diva arena. Jennifer unleashes a voice with great development potential that holds its own with a solid pop effort, and splendidly provides her own background vocals on most tracks as well. Definitely one of the brighter pop talents to emerge in quite a while. Standout tracks on this fine debut release include the first single "Crush," "Get to Me," "Somewhere, Someday," and the stellar "Let It Rain".