Rolling Stone partnered with Garnier Fructis to create a "Women Who Rock flip cover contest." This means that the back cover of the magazine — which is usually an ad — will still be an ad of sorts, promoting hair products, but it will look like a cover. The contest featured a fairly diverse bunch of artists — Rye Rye, Rita Ora, Dev. The bands Delta Rae and Sleeper Agent — which include men but are fronted by women — were also on the roster. But Karmin, a group that consists of 26-year-old Amy Heidemann and her fiancé Nick Noonan, are the winners. The fans have spoken, they're the ones who voted, and this duo represents the 2012 Women Who Rock.

The fact that Karmin is half man has not escaped the members of Karmin. As reported in the Daily News's Confidenti@l column:

"It's a female-led band," explains 26-year-old Nick Noonan, referring to singer Amy Heidemann. He joked that he toned his thighs and wore heels to help make it happen.

Yes! Heels make you a woman! A woman who rocks. But seriously, folks. Maybe landing the cover of Rolling Stone doesn't mean what it used to. Maybe this isn't something to get upset about. But Karmin do (does?) not rock. Faux rap does not rock. Their hit song, "Brokenhearted," was cobbled together by SEVEN writers. Is it catchy? Okay, yeah. Does it rock? No. It does not rock. Is it impressive that these two parlayed their YouTube cover song fame into real-life dollars and downloads? Sure. But imagine, for a moment, women who rock: Megatalented, outspoken, badass female artists, yes, artists, women creating art through lyrics and voice and vision. Is Karmin on your list? I think not. Amy Heideman, however, has really nice hair, and digs doing her hair in different styles (she actually has a video tutorial about how to get her so-called "suicide roll.") So if you were a mass market cosmetics brand, you might want her to win your contest. That's right. Cheerio.

Karmin Win Rolling Stone's Women Who Rock Contest [Rolling Stone]
Karmin, with Nick Noonan and Amy Heidemann, is a cover band that puts women first [Confidenti@l]