Cher Lloyd - Swagger Jagger

Like quite a lot of people, I feel in love with Cher Lloyd on the X Factor - she was something completely new for the competition, bringing a real gutsy influence to a show that was teetering on the brink of become tired out. With her love of  hip-hop, she was a breath of fresh air from the endless line of Mariah-wannabes.

And then, also like a lot of people, as the show finished, it began to dawn on us whether Cher could actually become a proper popstar. Multiple trips to America and a variety of colourful outfits and haircuts aside, all we had to judge her at this point was her Twitter feed - something that probably did more to undermine her than build her up. Full of angry outbursts at journalists, 'haterz', and seemingly everyone, it was quite the turn off for anyone who liked Cher because of the fantastic performances she had pulled out on the X Factor.

Can she win us back round with her debut single though? The jury's still out. I think, for me, the main problem is still the title. I visibly cringed when I first heard Cher's single was going to be called 'swagger jagger'. It felt like the single was trading off the gimmick of Cher's 'swagger'. And what made this all the worse is that she did actually have swagger. That force of personality and bluster - that's why we liked her. But naming your song after it, nah...

And now, finally, we get to hear the track. And on first listen, I wasn't wholeheartedly impressed. It's like some kind of bizarre Black Eyed Peas/Miley Cyrus mash-up. Now, we all know Cher is a big Will.i.am fan so perhaps that isn't the biggest surprise, but the worst moments of the track are precisely those that sound like a third-rate Black Eyed Peas pastiche; all cut and paste vocals and buzz-saw synths. It's a tired sound and comes across as incredibly forced. It also has massive annoyability-factor - you know, those frustratingly catchy songs you'll hear once on the radio and then have stuck in your head forever.

But that's not to say Swagger Jagger is all bad though. No, listening to it a few more times, there's definitely moments in there I warmed too. When Cher is in full-on Miley-mode, and the track errs more towards its pop side, it feels fun and far more attuned to the sense of fun we want Cher Lloyd to be about. It feels uplifting, energetic, and for a few short moments, the kind of track we always wanted her to deliver. But only for a few short moments.

You see, where Cher Lloyd, 'the popstar' is concerned, someone pretty much got in there first, and her name is Jessie J.