Original songs are in short supply on the new "Sex and the City 2"soundtrack.
But with artists like Alicia Keys and Liza Minnelli belting out redos, this girl-power compilation gets the fresh touch it needs to fare well with modern audiences.
Singer Keys kicks off this playlist, putting her prodigious chops to work revamping Blondie's new wave classic, "Rapture."
Blondie? "Rapture?" What's all that about some younger "SATC2" fans may ask?
Let me fill you in.
The single was first belted out by knock-out Deborah Harry in January of 1981 -- the same year that Keys was born.
The song became one of the first billboard-topping tunes to incorporate rap music.
In tribute, the 29-year-old R&B queen raps a few bars on this funky rendition. Keys also slides in the unmistakable notes from "Sex and the City's" famous theme song.
That combo, and the chic, bar-club sound Keys delivers for the film's opening song, may make Blondie diehards cringe.
But younger "Sex" fans will likely toast Keys' efforts with another round of Cosmos.
Liza's back!
Liza Minnelli, the ultimate Big Apple babe, covers Beyoncé's "Single Ladies (Put A Ring On It)."
On April 26, 2010 Us Weekly reported that the Tony and Oscar-winning star would belt out the catchy tune when Carrie Bradshaw's gay BFF Stanford Blatch (Willie Garson) finally weds.
Minnelli's version has yet to be heard online. Ditto for her rendition of the 1944 Cole Porter standard, "Ev'ry Time We Say Goodbye."
It's anyone's guess how big and schmaltzy Liza with a "Z" will go.
All Minnelli has confirmed is this: Her "Single Ladies" wedding sequence was a blast to shoot.
"It's rock and roll," Minnelli told Us. "Everything is moving! And I just got a whole new knee, so I can promise you everything is moving!"
Even Sarah Jessica Parker, Kim Cattrall, Kristen Davis and Cynthia Nixon move in on the redo action.
The co-stars deliver a karaoke version of "I Am Woman," Helen Reddy's iconic ode to female empowerment.
Whether these girls can churn out musical dynamite from the heights of the Jimmy Choo shoes remains to be seen.
And who knows if this empowering, decade-leaping compilation will fly off the shelves once it hits stores on May 25?
Right now, all these songs plus original tunes like "Love Is Your Colour" make one thing clear to critics: even the sequel's new numbers are reminiscent of older, better classics.
On May 12th, 2010, Jim Farber from the NYDailyNews.com wrote that this original duet sung by Jennifer Hudson and Leona Lewis "sneakily recalls the Cyndi Lauper smash 'True Colors,' a cut recorded no fewer than 24 years ago."
Farber goes further, saying that Hudson has to sing rings around Lewis to lift this tune to life.
Is Farber right? Will this soundtrack feel like we've heard it all before?
Maybe the question critics should be asking is this: will fans starved for more "Sex and the City" really care?
