After three decades in the game, Mexico's Los Temerarios and their synth-powered romantic ballads have outlasted the likes of Bronco, Los Bukis and Los Yonics – all legends in their own right.

Hailing from the Mexican state of Zacatecas, Los Temerarios were formed by brothers Gustavo (vocals and guitars) and Adolfo Ángel Alba (mullet, keyboards and arrangements) in the late '70s. Originally a covers band named Conjunto La Brisa, los bros. changed their name in 1983, and have since dressed in all black, pumping out hit after hit of melancholic power ballads. Although the two remain faithful to their winning formula, there's been a revolving door for other members of the group, with Gustavo and Adolfo remaining as the core.

Recipients of multiple Latin Grammy awards and platinum records, Los Temerarios have sold over 23 million albums – and they're poised to sell lots more. Si Tú Te Vas, a moody epic describing love and loss, has catapulted their album by the same name to the top of the Latin Billboard charts. Boasting a richer sound and higher production values, the album also heralds a new writing partnership with Latin Grammy award-winning producer and composer Rudy Pérez. Asked if their new-ish sound may put off some fans, Adolfo replies: "There will be people who say that is not the same sound, but we have to change, and it's a risk that [we] have always taken since we started."

Nearly 25 years after German rock band Scorpions rocked us like a hurricane, teen glam rockers Tokio Hotel are making America scream.

Founded in 2001 by then 11-year-old twin brothers Tom (guitars) and Bill Kauiltz (vocals) and rounded out by Gustav Schäfer (drums) and Georg Listing (bass), the band has been dubbed "the greatest German bubblegum-neo-glam-goth-emo boy band. Ever."

The group released two successful albums in Germany, Schrei (Scream) and Zimmer 483 (Room 483), before putting out the English-language debut Scream earlier this year. The collection of songs successfully translates some of their biggest hits – the 2005 hit single, Durch Den Monsun is now Monsoon – while filling in some gaps. As Bill's look has become more femme, his voice has gotten deeper, making their latest effort their most adult-sounding yet.

The rocking Ready, Set, Go! has made the band's popularity stateside explode, prompting the band to lament: "We're trying to live our dreams and not to give up, expressing ourselves no matter what people may say."

See: myspace.com/tokiohotel

Young and good looking, Chilean pop group Kudai is being hailed as the next RBD. But the eyeliner-loving quartet says it's not trying to ride anyone's coattails with its sweet pop tunes and matching outfits: "We're not plastic figures nor are we fakes."

Originally named Ciao, the group performed europop covers of Italian songs before becoming Kudai. Named after the Mapudungun word "kudau," which means "young worker," the foursome was founded by Pablo Ernesto Holman Concha, Tomás Andrés Cañas Manzi, Bárbara de Lourdes Sepúlveda Labra and Nicole Montserrat Natalino Torres.

In 2003, Kudai released its debut, Vuelo, featuring winsome tween pop hits like Sin Despertar and Escapar. Three years later, the group embraced rock on its second album, Sobrevive, and unveiled a new emo-ish look: angular haircuts, eyeliner and all-black threads. But in the middle of an international tour in support of Sobrevive, Nicole left Kudai, citing fatigue and later suing its management for compensation. She was quickly replaced by María Gabriela Villalba Jervis from the Ecuadorian pop group Kiruba.

Their latest, Nadha, is the first to be released widely in the U.S. Now shockingly cool-looking scenesters, Kudai maintain their edgier look is a sign of maturity. Newcomer Villalba explains: "If you do the same thing you did before, you'll get pigeonholed as the teen group that doesn't want to grow up."

Three albums deep, Texas rapper Big Geminii is showing off his softer side.

On his latest, History in the Making, the Texas native drops streetwise raps about grindin' like Time to Stack a Million and Hate or Love Me but he easily slips into ballads like My Shawty and Amazing. With a raspy, juicy voice and a flow that oozes Dallas, Big Geminii is finally fessing up to being a ladies man: "I used to sing on some of the background tracks for my songs but I would tell people it was my partner from Austin, Texas."

It's working. His saucy slow jam, Hypnotize, featuring a sticky-icky chorus by MC Magic, cracked the Billboard Pop 100 earlier this year and is slowly taking over urban radio.

See: myspace.com/therealgem

After a tough break-up, Katie White and Jules De Martino decided to stay together.

The U.K. natives were once two-thirds of the dance pop band Dear Eskiimo. But after being signed to a major label, the trio only lasted "about a year" before "it all went wrong," according to De Martino. After Dear Eskiimo, singer-guitarist White and drummer De Martino renamed themselves The Ting Tings, a name that comes from a Mandarin term for "band stand" and, well, whatever White wants it to, from "the sound of an open mind" to "the 'ting' you hear when you get an idea."

Regardless of what it means, we've all been hearing alot of it lately thanks to the iPod commercial which made their song Shut Up And Let Me Go an overnight sensation. The group first picked up momentum with two indie singles, That Is Not My Name and Great DJ and signed with Sony Records late last year. Their debut, We Started Nothing, is so chock full of catchy dance punk that Rolling Stone likens it to the best of Gwen Stefani or Kylie Minogue.

As their star rises, White and De Martino say they won't make the same mistake twice: "We had this thing in our last band where we constantly took advice from people... [s]o in this band we sort of made the unconscious decision to just not listen to any advice anybody gave us."

See: myspace.com/thetingtings

Singer songwriter Ferras says he's always felt like an outsider but it hasn't stopped him from working his way into the limelight.

Ferras Alqaisi grew up in the mostly white town of Gillespie, Illinois, where he says he "stood out like a sore thumb." But when his parents divorced, Ferras, then five years old, was kidnapped by his father and taken to Jordan, his dad's homeland. While in the Middle East, Ferras recalls he picked up a Casio keyboard and wrote a song about missing his mother. Though he soon returned to Gillespie, the experience left an indelible mark.

As a teenager, Ferras, who cites British pop legend Elton John as a major influence, figured small-town Illinois wasn't the best place to score a record deal, so he and his mom left their winter coats behind and moved to sunny Los Angeles. The move paid off last year when the TV juggernaut "American Idol" picked his track, Hollywood’s not America as the show's exit song. The piano ballad, which questions America’s fascination with celebrity, quickly spread to pop radio.

Ferras' debut, Aliens and Rainbows, has already earned him comparisons to his idol, Elton John. Now 26 years old, the self-described "alien" is glad he doesn't quite fit in: "[I]n my songs, there’s definitely a uniqueness to them in comparison to what’s happening on the radio right now."

See: myspace.com/ferrasmusic

Katy Perry got exactly what she wanted.

The daughter of two Christian pastors, the 23 year-old Perry was singing about the man upstairs before confessing about the girl in her bedroom. At 16 she released Katy Hudson, a Christian pop album featuring "My Own Monster," "Growing Pains" and "Piercing," all songs about a teen's struggle to keep her faith alive. Growing up in California, her parents wouldn't allow music in the house "because [it was] the devil’s work."

Soon after Perry broke away from her parents and transitioned to mainstream pop with a gig as an in-house vocalist for production team The Matrix (Avril Lavigne, Britney Spears). In 2004, she teamed with producer Glenn Ballard (Alanis Morissette, No Doubt) to work on her debut. Perry only released one single, the Alanis-influenced "Simple," before being dropped by her label.

But she resurfaced late last year with Ur So Gay, a three-and-a-half minute complaint about a metrosexual boyfriend. Perry, who borrows Kelly Clarkson's sound and Lily Allen's swagger, was accused by some of perpetuating gay stereotypes with lyrics like "I hope you hang yourself with your H&M scarf/while ****ing off listening to Mozart." She maintains she "wasn’t stereotyping anyone in particular," and was just "talking about an ex-boyfriend."

Perry would raise even more eyebrows with her current smash: I Kissed A Girl. A catchy pop-rock tune with distorted guitar stabs, buzzing synths and plenty of sex the song has catapulted her to fame on the web and on TV. Before you write her off as a one-hit-wonder, Perry – who says she's never kissed a girl – is sure she'll be back for seconds: “I’m completely outrageous and I’ll do anything for attention!”

Yolanda Pérez doesn't always play by the rules – and the winners are likely her fans.

In 2004, the Los Angeles-born Pérez debuted with Dejenme Llorar (Let Me Cry) and earned a hit single with Estoy Enamorada (I'm In Love), a daring and winning combo of hip hop and banda featuring radio personality Don Cheto. Light-hearted and bouncy, the Spanglish track features an American teenager butting heads with her conservative Mexican father about the usual suspects: boys.

A year later, Pérez followed with more banda con hip hop on Aqui Me Tienes (You've Got Me Here) and reunited with Don Cheto on "La Reina Del Mall," an unofficial sequel to "Estoy Enamorada". In "La Reina," Pérez plays an updated Valley Girl madly in love with shopping for name brands – to the chagrin of her thrifty father. Will Smith, the rapper, would be proud of his legacy.

In 2006, after flirting with reggaetón on Esto Es Amor, Pérez ditched hip hop and R&B with the release of Te Sigo Amando (I'm Still in Love With You). She may have dropped a hint as to why in an interview with Vibe magazine: “My fans are very jealous when it comes to culture...[s]witching to R&B is seen as me trying to 'Americanize' myself."

But musical borders aren't the only ones she's had the courage to cross. She recounts an exchange with a fan that made her realize her interracial relationship was also pushing boundaries: "He said that I was his favorite artist in the world and that I could have had a baby from a white guy, Asian guy, but why did it have to be a black man? How can a person be so closed-minded?"

Pérez's new album, Todo De Mi (All of Me), was released last week. It features a cover of the classic quinceañera track "Abusadora" with Jesús "El Flaco" Elizalde. Yet despite the album's reliance on traditional banda, Pérez maintains she's carved out a niche in the sometimes fickle world of Mexican regional music: "I think that's the best gift that we can give our parents, to be able to stand out in a country that's not really our country... That's why they came here to begin with."