Teen pop girl group I5's Distracted is an exceptionally contrived effort from writer/arranger/producers David Frank and Steve Kipner who provide a catalog of events in the life of a teenage girl during which she is distracted by thinking about "you," including "talking on my cell" and, in the most blatant bid for video attention, "watching TRL." Whether I5 succeeds in getting on MTV's Total Request Live has more to do with how the interracial, multi-hair color quintet comes off on the video and whether various gatekeepers decide that the time is right to mix
Britney Spears-style moans with another
Spice Girls than with the copycat style of this slight recording. The maxi-single includes six versions of the song, among them a couple of long instrumental dance mixes and an a cappella rendition that does the young singers no favors. ~ William Ruhlmann