I didn't want to like Katy Perry. But I couldn't help it after I saw her live and she actually could sing. It disappointed me because at all the awards shows I'd seen televised, her live vocals weren't great. Then she had to go and actually be good.
Her songs are catchy, I love her complete self-awareness of kitsch, cutesy bullshit, and the fact that she just has fun with ehr career. Those whipped-cream-boobs were so ridiculously trashy that I can't hate them, I can only shake my head and go, "ahh, Katy..." Plus, if you look up some of her early stuff on youtube, and SXSW acoustic performances and stuff, well that's another thing that hooked me in.
Regarding Russel Brand - look up some of his standup if you haven't seen it. He' really intelligent, very switched on, he has a very sharp wit that isn't all to do with come-ons. He's crafted this persona really well so people don't expect it when he comes out with something really sharp.