The way you dance makes me want your autograph

Russian singer and Eurovision 2006's second place finisher Dima Bilan must be the most overexposed singer on the Internet. Seriously, there are more photos of him floating around than anyone could ever want to see, the vast majority of them featuring him in various states of undress. Though my interest in him doesn't quite slide that way, I really love some of his songs and so will probably always have interest in him as a popstar. I was unsure about upcoming Timbaland-produced single "Number One Fan" when I first heard it--it wasn't so much the change in styles that I was against (though that shocked me), but more that I felt he was bandwagon jumping with a poor example of the trend. The thing now, though, is that I'm enjoying it; I don't know that it's going to make most people's year end lists, but it is genuinely a good song, and Dima's voice on it as opposed to other conceivable alternatives certainly helps, too. The fact that other leaked tracks are less of that style and more a less surprising evolution of his own work helps as well; though I'm not technically sure when "Kosmos" is from, I think it's relatively recent. Love it anyway, though.

Number One Fan--for all I know, "Kosmos" could be Timbaland produced as well, but this song is the one that I know is, and it definitely sounds like it. Though it's good and I do enjoy it, I also have reservations--I don't want Dima turning into a Russian Justin Timberlake knockoff. Still, this song, even if it sometimes feel sort of generic (I enjoy the song, but I don't necessarily think "quality" when I hear it, something which isn't true of most of his other English language songs), is good. Incidentally, the video for it was just shot a few days ago. Oh, and I'm pretty sure the version of this that has been doing the rounds in most places is just a high quality radio rip (it's missing the intro and has a tiny bit of talking/tagging right around :07-:08); this is, I'm pretty sure, the actual studio version (no talking and with intro included, so it's at least a better quality and more complete version).

Kosmos--as I said, seeing Dima pursue this path surprises me less, but it's still a change; more dance-influenced. That's a good thing, though; if you pulled that dance beat from underneath this song and slowed it down, it wouldn't stand up to much, but I love it as it is--by now, in fact, I listen to it more than "Number One Fan," so hopefully it's on the album. If you're at all disappointed with "Number One Fan" (which, as I've said, I like now and find myself liking more as time passes), try this song.

I'm so clueless about Russian music--where to legally purchase it, what's been released, what songs are from. I don't know anywhere you can preorder Dima Bilan's new album (I read one rumor that it would have a duet with Nelly Furtado on it, but I have no idea if that's true or not) from and I'm sure there must be better places to buy his most recent album Vremya Reka from than Amazon (or eBay), but I don't know them.

Next up: I'm not sure--maybe another Russian singer or an American group.