Scissor Sisters have been described as a band who play "camp pop." The camp bit is arguably a redundant designation since it derives from the French "camper," which means to pose in an exaggerated fashion. All pop music is a pose -- a good deal of it an exaggerated one. A narrower definition of camp holds that it is performance-based. In her famous 1964 essay on the subject, Susan Sontag called it a "sensibility" whose hallmark is a "spirit of extravagance." In pop music, this translates as gestures that call attention to themselves. Camp in its most recognizable form sprang from gay entertainment forms like drag shows. Considered a touchstone of postmodern pop culture, the truth is that camp hasn't really changed that much over the years.

Carmen Miranda: The "Brazilian bombshell" 's early camp icon status is usually attributed to her platform shoes and towering stacked-fruit hats, but it was her Latin accent that drove Americans wild.

Liberace: The first glitter performer, Wladziu "Lee" Liberace was a classical pianist who found that his pop-music encores got a better response. His extravagant taste in clothing, jewelry and stage props were just as famous as his playing style -- while dashing off a concerto, he'd wink at the audience. Though he was a closeted gay man, his popularity was rooted in Middle America, and his style influenced everyone from Elton John to Bowie to the Vegas incarnation of Elvis.