It's time for my Thursday Revisit, and since Fergie has a brand new album out called "Double Dutchess", I thought I might as well revisit her debut solo music video; why not? I'm actually surprised I haven't reviewed this yet, so I am excited. Quite the surprising debut solo track, Fergie was riding the waves of The Black Eyed Peas, and the song is still iconic today! Watch Fergie in her debut solo music video where she struts around and dances provocatively whilst showcasing annoying paparazzi.
Fergie, full name Fergie Duhamel and previously Stacy Ferguson, has had an amazing career since her solo debut release. This song is still one of my jams and was extremely hot back in the day. It was released in 2006 and is probably another song, alongside "Glamorous" that my friend doesn't know - check out my review of "You Already Know" for the full story. I still love this song when my iTunes randomizer - which I have come to call it - chooses this song to play. So catchy, so much so it hit number one in Brazil, New Zealand, and the US. The song was written by Stacy Ferguson, Jamal Jones, Sean Garrett, and Mike Hartnett.
Directed by Marc Webb, the music video also features Fergie's bandmates from The Black Eyed Peas; yes, that's right, will.i.am, apl.de.ap, and Taboo all appear in the visual. It's quite the ode to London, although the visual does have many shots of Tower Bridge, which people constantly mistake for London Bridge - to be fair, Tower Bridge is much more appealing than London Bridge.
The opening scene sees a note from Fergie, inviting us to explore London with her. The note says: "2 days off from tour. Meet me in London. Fergie." It's great to see that her signature has followed through all these years and she still writes her name the same way.
There are various scenes that follow, including her being on a speedboat on The River Thames. She nails some killer choreography with her backing dancers and totally brings the sex appeal to the Queen's Guards, although she so would not be allowed to do that.
The spotlight is on her and she brings it. Even nowadays, she still knows how to bring it, so I'd love to see her live; the Double Dutchess World Tour would be something I wouldn't want to miss. She could so bring it on stage, and this song is still epic today.
She arrives at the Belgrade Gentleman's Club where she's flagged by paparazzi, totally giving a good impression of what they can be like, and what they have been like to stars in the past. There are plenty of representations of the paparazzi in music and their videos, this is just another one to add to the collection. It becomes an exact translation of the lyrics here, which we totally love.
The rest of the music video is just full of more scenes of Fergie bringing it. It's no wonder this song did well across the globe, not only is it incredibly catchy and still a jam today; but the visual is addicting completely. Fergie sure knows how to bring it! Although, if you're going to sing a song called "London Bridge", at least include the actual London Bridge in one scene, surely that's not too much to ask.
A few days ago, The Nightingale Club - which is my favourite club to go to in Birmingham - announced their event dedicated to Little Mix. They've recently started playing more Little Mix songs amongst their sets - old and new; so this didn't really come as a surprise. During one of my nights out, my friend and I came up with a salute dance move to this song - I'm sure we all have one - and we cannot wait to do it again whilst clubbing at this event, on 5th August. The song is one of my favourites, and has killer choreography throughout! Watch Little Mix "Salute" to this amazing song representing all the women in this empowering music video.
Little Mix are a British girl group consisting of Perrie Edwards, Jesy Nelson, Leigh-Anne Pinnock, and Jade Thirlwall. They are still the only group to ever win The X Factor; which they did back in 2011 on the eighth series. They continue to up their game with every single release and album release. Their most-recent album finally got the girls their first number one on the UK Albums Chart. This single was the last one released from their second studio album of the same name. They didn't release many from this album, compared to the others; even though they have killer tracks written by Nicola Roberts on their albums - why oh why did they not release these ones as single? This song managed to chart at number six on the UK singles chart. The song samples Xzibit's "Paparazzi". It was written by Thomas Barnes, Peter Kelleher, Ben Kohn, Maegan Cottone, Perrie Edwards, Jesy Nelson, Leigh-Anne Pinnock, and Jade Thirlwall.
Directed by Colin Tilley - another in-demand music video director - this visual is commanding, dark and completely fierce in every way.
As mentioned, the key part of this music video is the dance choreography. The girls bring it like no other girl group can, that I have seen. Fully nailing every step and seriously getting into it in every way.
There are some profile scenes on each of the girls; these really work to emphasise independence even when they are seen in a group. This allows the viewers to latch on to one of the girls, someone who they can identify with slightly and follow throughout the visual.
Overall, this music video should've had a slight narrative, and it looks like there could've been one in the making but it may have been stripped away. Regardless, this is fierce and on point. The girls give it their all and it really does pay off.
Out of all the options for my Thursday Revisit; of course, I was going to choose RuPaul's debut single which definitely inspired many people and charted in the US, the UK, and Canada. This song is totally iconic because so many of the phrases that we hear RuPaul say on his TV show "RuPaul's Drag Race" are ones he says in this song. The song was released in 1992 and had pretty good success. Personally, I always identify the 90's as a decade with influential drag queens. From what I remember, there was many of them on TV, making a name for themselves. Nowadays, it's not so easy to find drag queens on mainstream TV shows. They clearly left an impression on me, as I remember asking my Mom all about them. RuPaul has totally been an influential person for the LGBT+ community and this drag queen will go down in history. Watch RuPaul play a little black girl and become supermodel of the world, based on his own young life within the gay community and the culture he grew up with in this music video for "Supermodel (You Better Work)".
RuPaul, real name RuPaul Charles, has definitely come straight back into the limelight with his very popular American TV show RuPaul's Drag Race, which has seen him crown a number of drag queens as America's Next Drag Superstar. Yet, this is the song that really started RuPaul's music career - which has certainly been lengthy. It's inspiringly catchy and definitely was a surprising hit for the era that it was released. It managed to chart at number 39 on the UK Singles Chart and number 45 on the US Billboard Hot 100; as well as number two on the US Billboard Hot Dance Club Songs Chart, and number four on the Canadian RPM Dance/Urban Singles Chart. The song was written by RuPaul, Jimmy Harry, and Larry Tee.
The music video was directed by Randy Barbato, and it continues to prove how current RuPaul is. The visual has a performance piece based within a narrative and is completely flawless. This concept and the way they have managed to pull it off is certainly ahead of its time. Was this really filmed in 1993? Throughout the video, actress LaWanda Page talks; she has several lines in the song, but does not appear in the music video; although she does appear in RuPaul's following videos.
During the narrative, we watch a little black girl get spotted by an "Ebony Fashion Fair" talent scout who then grows up to become the supermodel of the world. This is all announced by LaWanda Page as RuPaul looks at old photos. The video continues to show RuPaul as the supermodel of the world, prancing down the road like it's a runway.
She continues to do model things, like photo shoots and signing magazines with her face on. She uses the song to teach others that they have to work. As the video progresses, we see that this life is getting too much for her - and we all know how that feels. Stressed and overworked, RuPaul cracks under pressure; but. at the end, she laughs it off as if it was all a bit of fun.
It's totally not surprising that MTV loved this video, we all love this video. Clearly, the music channels played a key part in creating a hit song; and, to be fair, they still play a major part in the charts, especially considering people like Shawn Mendes with "Stitches" launched up the UK chart with his song, after the music channels played it often (as well as radio, obviously). This is complete in every way; and, to be fair, if it were released in today, it'll get a similar rating, because it's strong, it's effective, and it's relatable to the song in every way.
Today, I have been catching up with Vocea României Junior (because Inna is a coach), and one contestant stood out completely; Voicu Dumitraș sang this song "Hurt" by Christina Aguilera and it took my breath away. Only a few people can sing and nail that song, and he's now one of them! The original is the best version, as per usual, but I think it's one of Christina Aguilera's more underrated songs, especially considering it's chart placement in some countries, like number 11 in the UK, like seriously? Watch Christina Aguilera's circus-themed music video to "Hurt" where she grieves over the death of her father, who she had seen just that day, yet fame took her away from talking to him.
Christina Aguilera is one of the biggest female singers in the world, but just like many others, she hasn't been hitting the chart numbers globally, like she used to. Although that doesn't mean she can't make a comeback, many others have done so and knocked it out for the park. This song is filled with such emotion and hits every note; it really is a hard song to cover, and I don't think anyone could do it any more justice than Christina Aguilera. Just a shame that it didn't chart so well globally, it only hit number 19 on the US Billboard Charts. The song was written by Christina Aguilera, Linda Perry, and Mark Ronson. It was inspired by Linda Perry's loss of her father.
Directed by Christina Aguilera and Floria Sigismondi. It is set in a circus, and is very different to Britney Spears' "Circus", so don't get them confused. This one is more of a period setting, with a black and white filter for the beginning to establish that. We also hear Linda Perry's voice at the start as the audience are introduced to the circus.
In colour, we see Christina Aguilera get given a telegram; on it, it says "We respect to inform you of the death of your father on the day of 02/09/1947", we then watch a flashback of the time she spent at the circus with her dad as a child, and we see where she got the inspiration to become a circus performer.
Throughout, we watch how her day went, where she saw her father in the audience and even touched his hand at the end of the show where she was being interviewed. We see a few memories, and we see her fall to the ground in front of the circus tent, fully grieving.
This is a passionate song and a brilliant coinciding music video. Christina Aguilera really shows that she's not just an amazing singer, but she's a great actress too. She fully proves herself in this, and she deserves a lot more credit for what she does. I hope that new music is on the way and I hope she releases a global hit that gets everyone talking about her again.
With Ed Sheeran totally dominating the UK Singles Chart, with three songs in the top ten at the moment, of which, "Shape of You", is still chilling at the top; ZAYN and Taylor Swift will be my Chart Mondays review today, instead. To me, this is an unlikely pairing, and yet the collaboration is total fire from start to finish. ZAYN and Taylor Swift's voices work totally well together and I sure hope this isn't the last song they collaborate on. This song was done for the Fifty Shades Darker soundtrack, although the music video isn't an obvious soundtrack video. Watch ZAYN and Taylor Swift perform this very sultry song in a hotel during this music video for "I Don't Wanna Live Forever".
ZAYN, full name Zayn Malik, is mostly known for being one-fifth of boy group One Direction before he left the band to focus on a solo career in music. He wanted to release music authentic to him, and he's definitely done that. His "PillowTalk" is still one of the most incredible debut singles that people are still talking about and covering today. As for Taylor Swift, she's brought country music to the world, and then made giant leaps into pop music, ones we totally forgive her for because they're amazing songs. She has a new album coming out sometime in the future, and I cannot wait for it to drop. This collaborative effort has had global success, as we expected. It was written by Taylor Swift, Sam Dew, and Jack Antonoff.
Directed by Grant Singer, the music video sees ZAYN step out of a car in the rain and enter a hotel, this is where he starts to sing and where the rest of the music video takes place.
The start of the video shows the problem stars face in their everyday lives. Paparazzi. These people have always been a problem for celebrities, and there are a lot of songs that cover this from Britney to Lady Gaga. Many stars have hit out at how annoyingly ruthless paparazzi are, and there have been several hundreds of music videos showing this. Now it's time for ZAYN to hit back at them.
Performing in their separate hotel rooms, Taylor Swift and ZAYN deliberate on their relationship, getting angry and smashing things up, while also having subtle lost moments. It really shows how powerful each of these stars are. They're meant to perform, they're meant to sing, and here they are doing just that. It's a great music video but it's just missing the wow factor.
If there's one song on the radio that keeps capturing my attention, it's this one. It's full of so much positive energy, enough to make me love the song, that I'm glad to hear something so loving and positive being played often. Robbie Williams has always been someone I haven't been keen on, and then being a student in Stoke-on-Trent - his hometown - had me disliking him more as they blasted out his songs in clubs. I just can't dance to any of his songs, no thank you! Anyhow, this one is a grower of a song, and I'm not the only one turning to liking the song. As for the video, it's another one that throws shade to paparazzi. Robbie Williams walks on the beach and on the road surrounded by girls with cameras shooting his every look, mood, and move, in this video for "Love My Life".
Robbie Williams is one of the biggest UK male artists in the country. He has several number ones under his belt and is constantly popping up on TV. He was originally a part of boy band Take That, before pursuing a solo career. He has made his name with so many songs, that it's a surprise he never made it big in the US. He is totally a household name, and his success is unbelievable, but considering how catchy most of his hits are, it isn't all that surprising. This is his new song, it was previously sung on The X Factor a few weeks ago, but it didn't chart so well. However, with extended radio play and the catchiness of the song, it has been climbing. The song was written by Robert Williams, Fiona Davies, and Johnny McDaid.
There isn't a lot going on in the music video, and there certainly isn't much to it. People have suggested that the budget was blown on his previous music video, "Party Like A Russian", and so it's not a surprise that this one has a low budget.
It was filmed at Leysdown Beach on the Isle of Sheppey. It's quite dreary and wet which exactly explains the British weather.
There's various girls surrounding him as he walks along the beach and the road. The camera switches from one girl to another. At times the footage is blocked by another girl, filming. At other times, Robbie Williams isn't singing whatsoever, which suggests they haven't got good footage of that particular lyric.
As a whole, it feels like a total low-budget music video, one that college students would make. I have actually seen better college student music videos. This is slow and boring, and Robbie Williams doesn't look like he is loving his own life, especially at that moment. He's slightly rigid performing this song, maybe he's freezing on Leysdown Beach; it does look cold. Either way, he should still look like he's having a great time.
As for the girls, they imply what his life is like. Everyone has a camera nowadays. He can't go anywhere without being snapped. It's been his life since he was young, yet he is loving it nonetheless. It may have tainted him in the past, but, now as a much older man, he has learned from his mistakes and he loves where he is now. Such a positive song that I'm glad it's getting the recognition it deserves. I just wish there was a much better music video.
