By SETO NU-WEN

What's the noise:

Who knew a coil of barbed wire could cause so much dissent?

R&B star Rihanna has unveiled the cover of her latest single Russian Roulette.

On it, the 21-year-old Barbados singer is wrapped in nothing but a long strip of barbed wire.

She completes her look with slicked back hair and an eye patch. The single will be out in Singapore next month but is already on rotation on local radio.

Russian Roulette is from Rihanna's upcoming fourth album Rated R, which will be out here on 23 Nov.

But while netizens are abuzz about Rihanna's new look, former US pro wrestler Paul Heyman is upset.

Heyman, 44, the former boss of wrestling promotion company Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW), has blasted Rihanna for copying the barbed wire look from ECW's1998 album.

The compilation album features wrestling theme tunes by artistes such as Megadeth, Anthrax and White Zombie.

Heyman has even put up both covers side by side on his website to show the similarities.

Heyman told The Sun: 'It's pretty obvious this was copied from, or at least 'extremely' inspired by the ECW album cover.

'From the barbed wire and the right arm up in the air to the blood dripping off the logo. Hey, I don't blame them. If you're going to copy someone,copy from the best.

'By the way, Rihanna... you're welcome!'

What we say:

Paul Heyman, no one cares if Rihanna copied you.

You did not invent barbed wire, much less teach the world how to wrap it around things.

Besides, Rihanna looks really hot with this new look and we hear the Umbrella songstress is set to wow us with the single's accompanying video.

We can't wait for the rest of the new album.

What people say:

'Hardly the same, plus she looks better!'
sj6007

'I like the way she dresses, and she's a beautiful-looking girl. She's very unique and very photogenic.'
jessica

This article was first published in The New Paper.