There are a handful of Katy Perry songs that I actually like – even if they have absolutely no deeper meaning whatsoever. But the only thing I love more than those Katy Perry songs are when Katy Perry doesn’t sing them.

When I first heard Bruno Mars was doing a live rendition of Perry’s “California Girls”,  I wondered what other groups are out there on the web and, at least in my opinion, able to upstage the song’s originator.

To my luck, I found a plethora of great artists that are little known to those outside the YouTube realm. Some of them are simple remakes of the originals, others are a little outside the box.

The first one I found was an average Joe, made-in-an-afternoon-style song that had me freaking out and a little lovestruck after hearing it. As much as I love the Death Cab for Cutie song “Follow You Into the Dark”, the version by Kurt Schneider made my heart melt, times 20.

Along the same lines of simply doing a cover was Matt Weddle of the band “Obadiah Parker” doing his own slow-paced version of the chart-topping “Hey Ya”. It’s not really what you would expect from a man with a grisly beard, but nonetheless, I’m in awe and have it on repeat.

The next group I’ll admit I saw not only on CollegeHumor but also on the show “The Sing-Off,” and their version of Lady Gaga’s “Bad Romance” was not only sexy but awesomely a capella.

The one artist I found most interesting was Mike Tompkins, who not only sings a capella but makes all the instrumental sounds merely through his mouth and almost nothing else. All right, in his version of “Fireflies” he did use a couple glass cups, but other than that, it’s all him.

It’s great to hear other artists’ interpretations of songs. And hey, if there’s a few less Katy Perrys of the world singing them, then so be it!