I could never package 20-year-old Esmee Denters as a charity case -- if Justin Timberlake signs you as his record label's flagship artist and touts you left and right, you've got your foot in the door -- yet my initial reaction to Esmee's "Outta Here" was, Is she scared? Having watched the video several times (I have my rewind-worthy segments, but we'll get to that), I've felt instead a vulnerability and a guilelessness in Esmee that makes me totally root for her -- even if she doesn't need me to.

If you'd like a little back story before joining up with Team Esmee, well, she's from Oosterbeek (sorry that's just fun to say), The Netherlands, and she's one of them YouTube phenoms the kids like to talk about. Esmee became somewhat of a viral giant from her bedroom thanks to her effortless covers of Mariah Carey, Brandy and, in particular, Justin Timberlake. JT took notice, signed Esmee to Tennman Records and produced, along with Polow da Don, her debut track "Outta Here."

There's a lot to like about the "Outta Here" video, which you can watch below: First off, I know it's a staple, but I love the wind machine on the dance floor; really, all dance floors should have wind machines. Also, Esmee's crumbled poses and her pained, sleepy eyes actually enhance the song's effects -- it's not a break-up track; it's a downward spiral track -- but then it's cut with Polow's beats, which make it totally listen-able.

"Outta Here"'s pretty major in The Netherlands right now, but, as we all know, I'm rooting for Esmee -- and she needs to get her footing Stateside!

You know you're in the presence of top-notch marketing when an "ad" not only absorbs you into its highly-produced, trippy video love-in, but the spot also gets away with omitting its brand name. Watching the new Coca-Cola segment -- part of the company's 2009 "Open Happiness" campaign -- I see big-name performers, I see fantastic production, I see a wacky-ass drug trip (whoops!), but I don't see "Coca-Cola" anywhere. Ah, the powers of branding...

Like Coke's legendary "Hilltop" commercial (watch it from last week's "Open Happiness" preview, if you're unfamiliar), this up-with-people number goes far beyond "jingle"; in this case, with producers Polow Da Don and Butch Walker (who co-wrote the "Open Happiness" track with Cee-Lo Green).

Yeah, it's all fun and "happiness" until Travis McCoy gets smacked in the face with a jump rope, isn't it?

OK, that's only one element of this 'toon-time craziness, directed by Alan Ferguson, which you should definitely watch below. Be prepared to follow a zebra-printed Cee-Lo down a yellow brick(ish) road, encountering a Newsie-clad reporter in the form of Panic at the Disco's Brendon Urie, along with Fall Out Boy's Patrick Stump. And last up is crazy-hip schoolteacher Janelle Monae, who gets down with her similarly-coiffed students after her lesson.

Oh dip. Apparently it's that kinda party according to Usher, who seems pretty serious about getting into some exhibitionist s--- in his new video, "Love In This Club." (We've heard about those kinds of clubs!)Aside from okay-ness with very public s-e-x, Usher also proves it takes a village to make a club banger: check out the hip-hop who's who in Urrrsher's new joint: Young Jezzy, Diddy, even Kanye wasn't too busy with his artistic pursuits to make a cameo.

And Usher's love interest? That's the multihyphenate Keri Hilson, who co-wrote Britney's "Gimmie More" and "Break the Ice," Omarion's "Ice Box," Pussycat Dolls' "Wait a Minute," two Danity Kane tracks and co-wrote and stars in several Timbaland videos: "The Way I Are" and "Scream." Her own album's set to drop next month.

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