Pink is a pop dream. With her model looks, feisty attitude and a voice that is scornful and syrupy by turns, this platinum blonde wins both the lads' vote and the ladies' respect. Stomping around the stage, her razor-cut bob swinging as she waggles a finger at the crowd, she rips into the crunchy R&B of There You Go, the epitome of sassy indignation. But her tiny white vest bears the legend Don't Bite Me, and she is having to wrestle with low-slung jeans that seem determined to slide down her hips. She is vulnerable and adorable, bolshie and arrogant.
The success of her debut album Can't Take Me Home proved to Britney and Christina just how much credibility they lacked, but after raising the stakes Pink has decided she doesn't want to play the pop-princess game. Turning her back on R&B, though still employing the skills of producer Antonio "LA" Reid, she has taken on Alanis Morissette in the confessional-rock stakes with her new album Missundaztood.
Gone are the hip-hop moves and naughty words. Now it's angst-ridden expressions and suppressed hysteria. Family Portrait details the breakdown of her parents' marriage, a look of heartbreak replacing her nervous smile. It is a powerful song reflecting a harrowing time, but as she places her hand on the mic and hangs her head, as if summoning up tears, the drama overpowers the genuine feeling. My Vietnam is another session in the psychiatrist's chair: her father's experience of war is used as a context for her troubled relationship with her mother in an emotional outburst that would have been better confined to a West End stage.
When she is not attempting to be Elaine Page, Pink yearns to be Steven Tyler. Don't Let Me Get Me is all self-loathing and snarling guitars. Missundaztood sees her sinking to her knees and prowling towards her female bass-player, the jewels in her hair sparkling as she lies between the woman's legs.
Though her refusal to be categorised is commendable, her habit of switching between personae is distressing, because the talented, charismatic Pink is at her best when she is having fun. The frivolous pop of Get the Party Started is great, her voice rich and playful, the atmosphere electric.
