Cool Hunting

In the world of celebutainment, timing is everything – and unfortunately someone forgot to drop that memo to Kelly Osbourne.

Kelly, famous at first for being the bratty middle child of Ozzy, now has a singing career of her own, which may not have happened if it weren’t for star-maker Linda Perry.

Perry, who helped the careers of Pink and Christina Aguilera, co-wrote and produced Kelly’s sophomore effort, Sleeping in the Nothing, which came out June 7. The album is far removed from Kelly’s sad attempt at reproducing her father’s rock career, with a ridiculous cover of Madonna’s “Papa Don’t Preach.”

Sleeping in the Nothing is a synth-heavy album drunk with ‘80s new wave and dance pop influences. And I hate to admit it, but it's pretty damn good. If this CD had come across my desk unlabeled and anonymous, I would’ve liked it a lot more at first. Because I knew it was from Kelly Osbourne I scoffed at it -- and then listened with scrutiny. I’m glad I gave it a chance because I was pleasantly surprised.

In fact, it seems like a lot of other people are too: the sexy first single "One Word" is currently No. 1 on Billboard’s Dance Radio chart. For you club heads, there’s a throbbing Chris Cox remix on iTunes.

And Kelly’s all dolled up in the CD liner, looking quite sophisticated, with dark hair, great makeup and striking eyes. Gone are the garbage-dump dresses, untied Chucks and tri-color hair.

But all that couldn’t keep Ozzy’s little girl out of the headlines for a different reason. Over the weekend, reports leaked that Kelly was once again back in rehab, this time for “personal issues.” Don’t you think her manager (read: mother) would’ve advised her to wait a couple of weeks to check in when the album needed a bump in sales?

Either way, I’m officially giving my stamp of approval on Kelly Osbourne, well at least on Sleeping in the Nothing. Jury’s still out on whether she’s grown up at all.

And before you all write in telling us to get a clue, take a chance, and listen to some songs.