Hit, Miss

Today's Oprah rerun seen at the gym had groudbreaking women rock and pop musicians of the past few decades to talk about their careers and some of the obstacles they faced breaking into the male-dominated fields in which they perform.

Naturally, the ladies also sang, with some interesting duets and great performances. Avril Lavigne made a nice counterpoint to Pat Benatar (who can still belt big time), and Sheryl Crow complemented Stevie Nicks quite well. Sister Sledge fired up an energetic version of their staple "We Are Family" to close the show.

But there were also some clunkers -- Salt-n-Pepa just sound silly singing "Push It" in their mid-40s, bringing to mind the endless string of grown women who've had a wee bit too much to drink to realize that song on the karaoke machine is not their friend. And although the ageless and seemingly death-defying Joan Jett kicks just as much hiney as she ever has, pairing her with the aimless and depth-defying Miley Cyrus just emphasizes the latter's inadequacies as a singer and performer.

Either way, it was a much more diverting show than Ms. Winfrey usually mounts and helped me save about thirty minutes or so of battery time on Mr. iPod.