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This week, Lily Allen announced (and not for the first time) that her feud with Katy Perry was over and done. All across America, fans of smart, nasty pop made by smart, nasty girls breathed a sigh of relief that this beef had ended without a single drop of blood spilled or bit of mascara run.

Now, in the annals of rock 'n' roll feuds, Lily Allen vs. Katy Perry ranks somewhere above Pete Wentz vs. Brandon Flowers a few years back (Brandon thought emo was a danger to the youth of America!) and more than a few notches below Tupac vs. Biggie, which turned out to be less a feud than an actual war. But it's definitely the most entertaining of the pop-star faceoffs that have been popping up lately, which run from Etta James slagging off Beyoncé (it's just not a feud if the enemy doesn't return fire), to Hilary Duff and Faye Dunaway trading insults (sort of like a kitten taking on a cougar--wait, exactly like a kitten taking on a cougar!), to 50 Cent and Rick Ross goosing anticipation for their new albums with a series of dis tracks and videos.

50 Cent is the samurai master of the feud, an unbeatable force who strikes with surgical skill and precision. He built his career on insults (remember when he invented the word wanksta to kill Ja Rule's career, and it worked?), and he does them funnier and meaner than anyone else. (He owns this battle, too--he flew Ross's babymama up to New York to make a video in which she talked smack about Ross, and then he bought her a fur coat on camera. Game over.) Maybe that's just what makes his beef with Ross--however real it is or isn't--seem like a cross between a PR stunt and another edition of the WWE's Friday Night Smackdown.  

But what's been so interesting (and a little sad) about Lily Allen and Katy Perry going at it is that it seems so real. It all started when Perry described herself last year as a fatter version of Amy Winehouse and a skinnier version of Lily Allen. Katy quickly said it was a joke (duh!) and basically hasn't said a word since. Lily, meanwhile, has taken the opportunity to call Katy crass, suggest she was manufactured because America needs its own Lily Allen, and imitate Katy on camera at least once (she does a pretty good American accent, too). Striking back is a charter member of Team Katy, Perez Hilton, who got into a Twitter duel with Allen two weeks ago.

Kind of funny, but odd. If ever there were three people who ought to be enjoying a friendly, Bloody Mary-filled brunch at a restaurant stalked by the paparazzi, it's Lily, Katy, and Perez. They're all fame-obsessed, viciously funny, and in love with Elton John (who may yet have to be called in as a peace envoy). For now, this one is finished with. At least until Perez Hilton draws something on Lily's face that shouldn't be there.