I'm flying to the States next week to be there for the elections. As anyone who has had anything to do with me over the last six months will confirm, I have become mildly obsessed with the whole thing.

In common with the vast majority of the rest of the world (but, worryingly, only about half of Americans) I am desperate for an Obama win.

You can never count your chickens with a thing like this, particularly when all manner of shady things went on last time it was this close, but I'm confident of enjoying the party of the year in Boston (which is Democrat central) that night and well into the morning.

I say party of the year but there's going to be an event to rival it in London on the same night. The marvelous Pink is going to be performing live at her album launch party, which is to be held in a secret London location.

I can't go but would you like to? Then make sure you enter this competition to win tickets.

A 1:28 clip purporting to be part of Lily Allen's new video has appeared online, although there is some speculation that only three seconds of it are taken from the real thing.

The footage of drug taking, celebrities and politicians rubbing their noses suspiciously, and hysterical tabloid headlines certainly fits the subject matter of Everyone's At It but I reckon it's too risky for a major label to have sanctioned officially; particularly one in such bad financial shape as EMI.

More likely is that is was made with the tacit permission of Lily and her people and put on the internet to generate interest - which, of course, is exactly what's happened.

More interesting than the 'video' is the song itself. Lily has gone from the saviour of British pop to a much-derided tabloid fixture in little more than two years, which is unfair.

Yes, Amy Winehouse's success, particularly in America, took some of the wind out of Lily's sails, and yes she might have behaved like a spoiled brat at times, and hey she might even be a bit of a mockney poser but the fact remains that Alright, Still is one of the great pop debuts.

If Everyone's At It is anything to go by, its follow-up (due in February next year) should be up to scratch. Musically it's more electro than the reggae stylings of Alright, Still, while her lyrical scope has broadened beyond that of her own personal experience.

OK, so the point she makes in Everyone's At It, namely that drug abuse isn't restricted to young people or indeed illegal substances but exists throughout 'respectable' society, often in the form of prescription drugs, is far from new.

It's why that notorious drug abuser Elvis Presley felt able to ring President Richard Nixon and say of The Beatles, "Sir, I think they smoke pot". Elvis couldn't see the irony, partly because he wasn't the brightest bloke who ever lived but mostly because he got his kicks prescribed for him by a succession of dodgy doctors on his payroll.

Anyway, like I say, not exactly an original observation but one that's made pithily within the context of a good pop song. It's easy to bash Lily but she's one of the best we've got.

I saw Oasis close the BBC Electric Proms last night at the Roundhouse backed by the Crouch End Festival Chorus. As with every Oasis gig this millennium, it worked best as an exercise in nostalgia.

Scanning the rapturous looks on faces during old favourites like Champagne Supernova and Wonderwall was evidence both that Noel's best songs were written more than a decade ago and that they still have the power to induce huge amounts of collective joy.

But it would appear they also have the power to deceive because nobody seemed to want to acknowledge the elephant in the room - Liam's voice is completely shot.

It's something I've suspected since I witnessed him bark his way through their distinctly lacklustre set at Glastonbury back in 2004.

I had allowed for the possibility of that having just been a bad night but his similarly gravel-voiced performance at the Brits a couple of years ago suggested that the years of drinking, smoking, and belting it out at full throttle had taken their toll. Last night confirmed it.

It's easy to forget just how good he used to be. Compare this clip of Champagne Supernova from last night to this one from 1995. Or how about this performance of the relatively little known Fade Away from 1994. He was different class back then. It's a shame.

As I mentioned in an earlier blog post, September was a rather odd month. However, I've got to say October is shaping up to be pretty bloody strange too.

Yesterday I spent half an hour talking to none other than Tom Jones. He was, as indeed he was the previous time I met him two years ago, great company, and happy to talk about anything. Well, I say that. I was warned by his PA before the interview that any mention of knickers was off limits, which is fair enough I suppose.

Anyway, who wants to talk about women's underwear when you can talk about being best mates with Elvis or how it feels to find out you were on Charles Manson's hit list? To have Tom Jones say to you "they were going to burn me or skin me, I forget which now" is just plain bizarre - no two ways about it.

What else? Oh yes, last week I went to the launch party for Enya's new album. Yeah, I know, not exactly rock and roll but I was intrigued to see what it would be like. And what it was like was a cross between a shareholders' AGM and an extremely posh wedding.

This was the day the stockmarket went tits up but nobody there seemed especially concerned. Enya, we were told in the after-dinner speech, has shifted 70 million units worldwide and plenty more were expected from this new album.

As I remarked to the horror of some people on my table, there are a lot of elevators in the world and they all need music.

I got to work this morning to find an email from Britney Spears in my inbox. OK, that's stretching the truth slightly. It was an email from her record label informing me that she's going to be in the country in a few weeks time and asking if I would like to interview her.

Well, what would you have said? Is a bear Catholic? Does the Pope defecate in the woods?

Anyway, that's a way off yet. More imminent is her comeback single Womanizer. (I hate that American spelling but it's a song title so I don't really feel able to correct it. But I digress, as Ronnie Corbett might say.)

The video itself is under lock and key somewhere in the States but here is an exclusive still from it.