EW’s Music Mix is searching for the Greatest Guilty Pleasure Musical Act of All Time. With 16 seeded contestants remaining (see all the matchups), this tournament is continuing to change hearts, minds, and lives, as well as make some people remarkably agitated! Read/listen to the following, and then cast your vote in the poll after the jump; reader comments will be used from here on out, so we encourage you to also post a comment explaining why you chose the way you did. Note: In case of a tie, please select the artist you feel more ashamed to adore. Also note: Yes, the bracket was rearranged to be in proper bracketing order. Thank you.
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Britney took down the Pussycat Dolls in Round One, and it was no contest: Brit-Brit scored 80% of the vote, and at least one marriage proposal.
“Of course it’s got to be Britney. She may have started out as a guilty pleasure but it’s the fact that she survived a period in her life that would have destroyed anyone else that makes her the Cher of our times. Nothing can bring her down, and her power hooks will leave you breathless on the dance floor.” — Mozz
“…a world without Britney Spears is not a world that I want to live in. My world would turn to black if she stopped singing and entertaining. Britney you have my heart and soul and I wish you nothing but the best in your life forever. I LOVE YOU and I wish one day we could meet and fall in love because you deserve a good man which I am and I would take such good care of you that you would never want me to leave.” — Anthony
“PCD, The Spice Girls, The Go Go Girls. Just like the television Star Trek franchise, you can give it many different titles in hopes to appeal to the audience. But in the end it’s the same old thing. Now, on the other hand we have Britney, whom for some ungodly reason no matter how controversial, i find myself like the proverbial fat guy at the local Golden Corral All You Can Eat Buffet: i just can’t seem to get enough. Say what you will about her but at the very least she can proudly tell her children she never slept with Dennis Rodman.” — movienut
Just when you think the tweens are taking over the world, they let one of their heroes falter: Lady Gaga had no problem with Miley Cyrus/Hannah Montana, and several of our more highbrow readers were frankly offended by the comparison.
“This is ridiculous. Obviously it’s Lady Gaga. Look at the percentage. Miley Cyrus/Hannah Montana SUCKS! Do you think we’re 5 year olds here?” — jason
“Totally GaGa. Her flamboyance makes you ashamed to say you like her, but those songs are catchier than the swine flu, and she can really sing her weird-hair-bow off. GaGa by a mile.” — PDT
“Lady Gaga may be a guilty pleasure, but she sure as hell is a talented performer. And her songs are more than mindless pop, they’re holding a mirror up to our culture. As much as I secretly love Miley (which is a lot), Gaga is pop culture, and she’s not going anywhere.” — Chris
Want to vote in a previous matchup? Click here to visit Guilty Pleasure Bracket Central!
BRITNEY!! There’s no way “Lady” Gaga can top her… except Gaga DOES have a penis so maybe she could
ahahahaa i turfully like lady gaga alot better cause, well i just think she sings better than brittany!!
i think lady gaga is more talented than britney spears.Compare their song such bad romance vs womanizer.Bad romance is nice to listen than womanizer.I know britney is talented and pretty singer but lady gaga is more than britney
So does brittney… it’s just always in her mouth
No contest. Britney is my guilty pleasure. She may not have the best vocal. But her songs are so catchy. And she has come through some very hard times and made it. I always look forward to what kind of music she has next for the public. Lady Gaga is a fad that will pass. Britney has survived over 10 years in this business. She is very much of a guilty pleasure.
I dont know… there’s something about Lady Gaga that doesnt bode well with me. I think it’s cause she’s just a hybrid of Gwen Stefani and Christina Aguilera and thats just too soon for a hybrid of them. Britney is just a Debbie Gibson / Madonna clone and I guess I’m more ok with that. Also, I doubt Lady Gaga can ever make a song as catchy as Toxic or as seductive as Slave 4 U…
Um, how can this be the match up? On my bracket Brit was supposed to be against the winner of ABBA vs Hootie and Lady Gaga was supposed to be against the winner of Air Supply vs Styx. You can’t change the match ups, EW!! It effs up the brackets!!!!
Angie: I’d set up the bracket incorrectly the first time out. A new bracket was released yesterday. Sorry for the confusion.
Lady Gaga is a fad. Britney is the more credible entertainer.
Agree. Lady Gaga has been “main stream” for less than a year(?). Who knows where she’ll be by next summer? Britney has proven she is here to stay.
naaaa lady gaga is wayyy betterrr~!!~
I still can’t figure out how the Carpenters didn’t make it into this playoff. Talk about pure sugary guilty pleasure. And Karen’s voice!
OMG THE CARPENTERS ARE MY NUMBER ONE GUILTY PLEASURE!!! They def should be on here
Let’s compare this to high school. Gaga is like the first day freshmen whereas Britney is the senior, back for the her 3rd try at graduating. . . no contest.
A) Why again are we comparing this to high school? and B) so, does the day-one freshman win, or does the twice-’round-the-block senior win? and C) Why again are we comparing this confusingly to high school? and D) actually, it IS a contest.
People are infinitely more embarrassed to admit they’re listening to and/or enjoying a Britney song than they are a GaGa song. Britney for the win.
You are 100% correct. We all know “3″ and “If U Seek Amy” is better than “Poker Face” or “Just Dance”.
Gaga’s songs are too repetitive get SO annoying after 3-4 listens. Britney’s are instant classics. Did I mention Britney’s voice sounds so much better?
Hands Down Lady Gaga! while she might have been around as long as brit. You have to admit that that girl can sing. Britney needs sound effect and lot of backround music to sound good. Gaga can play her own music, she writes her own music, and has a style all her own! LOVE HER!
Britney has written a lot of her music too: “Everytime”, “I’ve Just Begun”, “Mannequin,” “Toy Soldier”,etc. Search on wikipedia. Plus Britney dances waaaay better. And Gaga creeps me out.
Britney is a product; GaGa is a talent.
Britney is an amazing stage entertainer, lady gaga is a wannabe and a bore
britney wheezes/lip-synchs and walks lazily around a stage while her back up dancers actually dance around her. lady gaga actually performs and is an artist.
Britney is definitely not doing her thing on stage like she used to. Her choreography sucks now.
But GaGa is HORRIBLE dancer live. Britneys movements are sooo much better than GaGa’s, even when Brit tones it down.
GaGa sounds good live though, but I must go with Britney. Her songs are so catchy.
LOVE them both though
I agree with this. Lady gaga isnt an entertainer like Britney is, she actually has talent. I WOULD LOVE to see Britney sing LIVE while dancing. Unless she can’t. Gaga has always sung live, even when shes dancing. When britney spears stops lip syncing, maybe I’ll believe that she has talent.
To be a guilty pleasure you have to have consistency of guilty product. She’s only put out one album. Please, that’s not guilty pleasure, that’s more like masturbation, yeah it gets the job done, but it feels better with someone else’s hand. Britney has consistently been that other hand. Musically I mean.
Lol. Too funny. And exactly right.
Lady gaga’s been on the scene for what? One year? I honestly can’t see her staying around for too long. Britney’s been satisfying our guilty pleasure appetites for over a decade, and I don’t see an end in sight.
Its crazy that to this day Britney is still not given the respect that she deserves. She has been putting out hit records since 1998, and yet Lady Gaga puts out a cd with a few hit singles and she is considered a superstar.
People complain saying Britney is a product, doesn’t sing live and so on and so on, an yet through it all she is still selling out show after show all across the world…obviously she is doing something right!
Yeah, listening to all her advisors and following their instructions to the T…such an artist
i really admire britney spears and her ability to continue in this profession. but the reality is, lady gaga is INSANELY talented, and she’s such an oddity… i feel guiltier for enjoying her than i do for someone like britney, whose cult-ish following feels no shame for loving her, and rightly so.
Britney’s the Queen of Pop, she has longevity, and awesome pop songs that still play in the radio. She worked her but off to where she is. lady GaGa will be finished in about a year.