Byline: SARAH BODEN

AVRIL LAVIGNE

Zenith, Paris

'THIS SONG is for all the girls,' hollers Avril Lavigne. 'Stand up for yourselves. Be strong and be able to say no to horny boys.'

In a pop culture that is saturated with images of schoolgirl jailbait, Lavigne's blunt declaration that it is OK not to put out is admirable. With her fondness for throwing devil signs, dressing down and strapping on a guitar, she has assiduously cultivated herself as the anti-Britney and firmly planted herself in camp rock. But given the increasingly hysterical antics of Mrs Federline, she is going to have to work hard to out-punk the Louisiana pop princess.

At the same time as the press was peppered with references to Britney's 'faux' wedding to dancer Kevin Federline, Lavigne was apparently set to get engaged to Sum 41 frontman Deryck Whibley; the story was quickly quashed. But given that they are both famous and probably quite lonely, perhaps Spears and Lavigne are not that different after all.

Lavigne's persona as a kick-ass teen punk has turned her into a global phenomenon - her debut album Let Go shifted more than 14 million copies. Then again, like Spears, she has no shortage of detractors, whose beef...