Now, this was an unexpected surprise from Latvia for the Eurovision Song Contest 2017. Unfortunately, Triana Park only got 21 points, placing them 18th in the first Semi-Final, with their song "Line"; they got one point from the jury vote (thanks to Azerbaijan), and they got 20 points in the televote (the UK giving the most points). This was one of my favourites, the song is incredibly catchy for electro-rock, and extremely current. It's such a shame it didn't do well, but I hope Triana Park keeps fighting and makes it big because they deserve a global hit, if this song is anything to go by. Watch Triana Park perform their Eurovision Song Contest 2017 song "Line" in this music video for the song, that sees Agnese Rakovska in interesting costumes, giving emotion through her voice.
Triana Park are an electronic-rock four-piece band consisting of Agnese Rakovska, Artūrs Strautiņš, Edgars Viļums, and Kristaps Ērglis. They have been going for many years and have tried to represent Latvia at Eurovision five times. They made it to the national final in 2010 but had to pull out due to Agnese Rakovska falling ill. Yet, after a five-year break from trying to represent Latvia, they finally did it, winning Supernova, in 2017 and went off to Kyiv for the Eurovision Song Contest. It's such a shame they didn't do well enough in the Semi-Final to get to the Grand Final. This song deserves much more recognition. It was written by Agnese Rakovska, Kristaps Ērglis, and Kristians Rakovskis.
This music video is a pure performance piece, which is quite common for the Eurovision Song Contest music videos, although there doesn't seem to be much point to them as you can watch them perform the song on stage. In this case, it's slightly intricate and different, with clever imagery and colourful filters. As for the Semi-Final performance, the staging was full of neon colours with the whole band bringing it.
We watch various costumes from Agnese Rakovska, as she takes the main spotlight during this visual. My favourite is certainly the braids as we watch coloured filters re-engage the audience once again.
A lot of expert editing went into this, I love the series of motion imagery and layers, it's very clever and is in a line which goes with the song, I also loved the arrow shots, although during this point Agnese Rakovska's lip-syncing doesn't match the song, but only at the start of the arrow scene, it's later corrected.
Overall, it's better than no music video at all. It brings a slightly different outlook on the performance side of this song from Triana Park. I do love their Semi-Final stage performance, although I can see why they may not have got through since Agnese Rakovska is not great at expressing emotion through her body, instead it comes out of her voice beautifully. Plus the concept is completely different to that of the winning country this year. This will forever remain one of the entries that should've done better. I hope the future for Triana Park is bright!
I'm kickstarting my Eurovision Song Contest 2017 Special today! This has proved popular every single year on my blog and I'm happy to bring it back once again. As per usual, I will start with my home country, the United Kingdom, who was represented by Lucie Jones with her song "Never Give Up On You". She totally nailed it on the night, just a shame the public didn't give her more points, so I'd like to thank the juries (didn't think I'd ever be saying that), for giving us much-needed points. The UK scored 111 points, placing Lucie Jones 15th; most of which came from the jury who gave 99 points, whereas the voting public only gave 12 points. Once again, Lucie Jones stuns in this performance-based music video for the UK's entry into the Eurovision Song Contest 2017 with "Never Give Up On You".
Lucie Jones first came onto the scene when she competed in the sixth series of The X Factor, where she came eighth overall, after losing the sing-off against Jedward - who went on the represent Ireland twice, in Eurovision 2011 and Eurovision 2012. Afterwards, she took on some films and TV roles, and then, later, went into stage productions and performed in the West End. She, finally, returned to music and became the UK's entrant to the Eurovision Song Contest 2017. The song will most-likely chart in the UK come Friday. The song was written by Emmelie de Forest (Eurovision 2013 winner), Daniel Salcedo, and Lawrie Martin.
The music video is completely performance-based, which isn't needed for a Eurovision music video since we get a performance visual on the stage. Regardless this isn't too dissimilar to the staging of her song this year, including the certain stage scene and making it the main focus point on stage.
There are a few scenes throughout. One sees Lucie Jones classy and beautiful with her hair in waves, styled in a red dress. Another sees her with messy hair but still looking pretty, yet it's just a headshot. Then there's the silver dress, her looking very classy again with her hair properly curled.
No one can deny she gave it her all on the night, and she does the exact same in this music video. But I can see why some people find the song 'boring', but she does perform it amazingly. This should've got more points, and it's disappointing that it didn't. Regardless, the UK is behind you Lucie Jones, and you will chart this Friday. There's not a lot to this music video, and I'd rather watch the Grand Final performance than this music video if I'm honest, which can be found at the bottom of this post.
She's back, hitting it big with this brand new track! Taking another new musical direction, Miley Cyrus proves that she is versatile and that she can be whoever she wants to be, allowing her to be herself in the moment. People don't like change, but that's their problem; Miley Cyrus makes the music that she wants to, right now, and that is all that we should care about. Plus, they're still incredible hits. I cannot wait for the album, this track has got me excited for new Miley Cyrus music! Watch Miley Cyrus strip it back, acting relaxed, joyous, and calm in this chilled out music video for her new single "Malibu".
Miley Cyrus, real name Destiny Cyrus, has had a phenomenal career to date, and she is now ready to go down a different route and find out who she is, once again. Her new music, will apparently, bring her back towards country music, back to her roots and her home since her father is Billy Rae Cyrus. The song has been a success, launching itself on the iTunes charts of many countries around the world. This is definitely going to be a hit. The song was written by Miley Cyrus and Oren Yoel.
Directed by Miley Cyrus and Diane Martel, the music video is a pure performance visual. She looks so happy within the visual, it's clear she has a lot of love for this song; which is about her love for Liam Hemsworth, who she got re-engaged to last year; although, the song does reference Malibu, California.
There are various scenes throughout, there's the waterfall scene which looks serene, only I'm not so keen on Miley Cyrus' clothing, actually I don't like the way she looks. Not so keen on her hair with the long brown roots and the blonde ends - which does look great when she has it all bunched up, but I'm not so keen on the other looks. Tulisa rocked this style on The X Factor years ago, it's not trendy anymore. But kudos for deciding to go back to her natural hair colour.
The other scenes see her acting sexily, being on a beach with a stick that has a tonne of balloons on the end - I want to run on the beach with loads of balloons, it looks like so much fun. There's the cliff scene which looks quite precarious.
Overall, it's great to see Miley Cyrus so happy. She loves the way her life is, she loved being a tease in this music video and just generally having fun. I hope her other future music videos have her smiling this broadly.
It was obvious that Cascada was going to take my Thursday Revisit today; how have I never reviewed this music video on my blog before today? This is an epic classic from Cascada with Natalie Horler looking stunning throughout - does she ever not look pretty? The video is a typical 00's video, with the visuals not looking as stunning as they could've been, but disregarding that, it definitely works. Watch Natalie Horler from Cascada surrounded by four female dancers in this middle Eastern-themed music video for their song "A Never Ending Dream".
Cascada is a dance music trio consisting of Natalie Horler, Manian, and Yanou. I have been a fan since they first stormed the charts with "Miracle". I am so happy that they are still going strong today and recently dropped new single "Playground". We do need another album from them, but while we wait for that, I'm happy to revisit their classic songs and their more recent ones, including their Eurovision 2013 song. They are known as one of the most successful acts to come from Germany, and I truly believe they can make a full-on comeback with the right promotion. They're currently touring throughout Europe in small clubs and venues; I'm forever keeping an eye on where they are so I can catch them when they're close to me, but I'm not having that much luck yet. Cascada, come to Birmingham, please! This song was a cover of X-Perience's 1996 song "A Neverending Dream". It was their first single in the UK not to make the Top 40, totally underperforming and charting at number 46. It was written by Matthias Uhle and Alex Kaiser.
Directed by Stephen Gragg, this music video is completely Middle Eastern culture themed music video, as you watch Natalie Horler surrounded by four female dancers, who are referred to as a harem.
It's mainly a pure performance visual, with Natalie Horler completely bringing her typical sexy stage vibes. She has always meant to be performing and that is definitely what she does.
There isn't a lot going on in the video, and it's disappointing slightly - not much as a surprise since the single charted disappointingly too. Regardless, this song will forever remain a treasured Cascada song, although the music video is just average, which is to be expected from most of the music videos I review for my Thursday Revisits. I just wish there was more substance to this music video.
I am ecstatic that Cascada has another new song out! "Playground" serves as the official song to the 2017 IIHF Ice Hockey Championships, and it's nice to see Natalie Horler looking as beautiful as ever. We need this trio to come back with an absolute smash of a song. For now, this one is just as good, and really shows the great direction that Cascada is going in. Watch Natalie Horler from Cascada perform the new song "Playground" whilst ice hockey players skate around her, in this new music video of the official song for the 2017 IIHF Ice Hockey Championships.
Cascada are a trio dance group consisting of Natalie Horler, Manian, and Yanou. The latter two are DJs who stay behind the scenes, producing the music, whilst Natalie Horler is the face of the act. They have achieved so much in the years they've been together, including storming charts worldwide, entering Eurovision, and winning awards. There's not a lot this trio hasn't done, so it's impressive that they continue to release music and tour all around the world. This is something new for the trio, releasing an official anthem of the world's Ice Hockey Championships, so it's nice to see that they are continuing to establish themselves, even if their recent singles haven't charted - that doesn't mean they aren't epic, we always add them to our party playlists.
The music video has both a sweet narrative and a performance piece. Natalie Horler shines throughout as she sings the song on the ice. Her energetic performance vibes unleash upon the viewing audience proving that she deserves to be on stage! Or in this case, on the ice.
I love that the ice hockey player can be seen skating past her in the clips. It adds an extra interesting part into the performance piece. She looks stunning, as she always does.
The narrative shows two children who are clearly into one another, and the counterparts to these two are Natalie Horler and the ice hockey player she is obviously going out with. I like how they pair up the visuals and tell a subtle, yet similar, story during the visual.
Overall, the music video is highly relatable, it also links in well with the Ice Hockey World Championships - it was no surprise to see an Ice Hockey game in the visual. I love the narrative, and Natalie Horler impresses, as always, in the performance piece. I hope more new music is on its way, we need Cascada back on the charts and the radio!
Here's another stunning video from Kontor.TV, only this time with an epic track that is a real gem, behind the visual; it's such a shame this song isn't popular, it deserves to be a worldwide hit. The song is a banger of a tune, and as soon as I heard it, I had to include it on my blog. It's also helpful that the actor and actress in the music video are both stunning. Watch Icarus lose his wings and fall from the sky, he wishes to fly again, but turns away a new set of wings when he meets a girl and falls in love in this music video for RUMORS' song "Look Out Below".
RUMORS are a new DJ duo on the scene. They wear masks and this song is their debut single. The song is about life and how there are plenty of times you may fail, that you may fall down; but it's how you deal with that, how you come back up fighting and determined. They wrote the song upon the difficulties of getting into the music industry. The song is a brilliantly crafted song that I currently have on repeat. It's completely encouraging and definitely an inspiration to me to keep going after what I want because we all get there in the end as long as we don't give up. They also co-wrote and produced the Lindsay Sterling song "Something Wild" which features Andrew McMahon In The Wilderness, which has been included in the new Disney film Pete's Dragon.
The music video centres around the greek myth of Icarus, who can fly in the sky with his wings. This classic tale has a heartbreaking ending when he flies too close to the sun and the wings fall apart as the sun's rays melt the wax that created the wings. In the video the wings burn instead, creating a much more dramatic storyline.
The video continues where the story left off. In greek mythology, Icarus is lost to the sea, and we all presume he dies; in this video, he falls into garbage bags and starts to learn what it's like to be a human in the 21st century,
He learns about money, about clothes, about love (I wish it was that easy to fall for someone, why can't a nice guy just come up to me, or fall out of the sky?), and he's loving his life. Then a new set of wings materialise, but he doesn't want them; he's prepared to ride the wave of this downfall.
This music video is completely amazing. We all fall down sometimes, at times it's our own inner demons that are attacking us, and we get to the point where we think we're going down the wrong path, or our dream isn't easily achievable. But life is not easy, that's what makes life, life. This music video, much like the song, is to keep going, to keep letting the universe take you the way you are destined to go. Our choices are what define us if Icarus hadn't have gone that close to the sun and fallen down, he may never had met that gorgeous girl and found the love he was missing. Things happen for a reason, so don't be down about what happens because there's bound to be something good that'll come out of it.
Overall, this music video is beyond perfect. It's relatable, interesting, and a total must-watch. There are some parts that could've been more realistic; there seems to be no reason as to why the wings materialised at the end - they could've come up with a much better scene for this. Otherwise, I wish this song was a global hit, just so everyone could see the music video - oh, and because the song is actually really good!
Well, there's a whole reason why I've not seen this music video before now, and just watching this music video proves that it's not something I'm interested in watching. It's Chart Mondays today, and with DJ Khaled at the top of the chart with "I'm The One" which features Justin Bieber, Quavo, Chance The Rapper, and Lil Wayne; it opened the Top 10 to my music video review - this left me with two options, the other one is quoted as being the next song to rise to number one this Friday, so Jason Derulo's "Swalla" was really my only choice. Watch Jason Derulo surrounded by hot girls, along with Ty Dolla $ign, whilst Nicki Minaj acts sexily as usual, in this music video for "Swalla".
Jason Derulo, real name Jason Desrouleaux, is one of the top male artists in the world, and many of his hit songs have made their way up the chart, including grabbing some all-important number ones. Those hits were worth those chart positions, but this one just feels like it shouldn't be charting so well; yet, there's always songs out there like this that are just undeniably catchy and charts well globally, plus it's Jason Derulo, he can make hits no matter what he sings, but I don't like his new hair style. Collaborating with Ty Dolla $ign, real name Tyrone Griffin Jr., who literally only just started charting in the UK, thanks to Fifth Harmony's song "Work From Home", so it's nice to see him doing so well for himself. Then there's Nicki Minaj, real name Onika Maraj, who's just beyond amazing music wise, she's fully got to the top. She recently was paying fans' tuition fees, so kudos to her for her geniality and love of her fans. This was a killer collaboration, just a shame the song is "Swalla" - but people like it so it's okay. It was written by Jason Desrouleaux, Onika Maraj, Tyrone Griffin Jr,, Eric Frederic, Gamal Lewis, Jacob Kasher Hindlin, Russell Jones, and Robert Diggs.
Directed by Gil Green, the music video is a typical sexed up video, which isn't a surprise since the song is about sex. Jason Derulo is surrounded by four girls wearing very little clothes, in one scene a woman is naked with paint all over her body - definitely art-worthy yet it looks more like an excuse to have it in the music video than anything else.
Each artist has their own segment in the music video, although Jason Derulo features the most since it is his song after all. He's visual is more focused on the dancing side, with the four girls he is with. He does impress with his dancing, and at one point he's the only one dancing. No one can deny his dance-ability and he nails it throughout, pulling off the choreography as if it was nothing.
As for Ty Dolla $ign, he doesn't add much to the track, let alone the music video. He's easily forgettable, as the focus is more on Jason Derulo during the segment. Whereas Nicki Minaj does what she does best. She shows off, grabbing the spotlight, and it fully works. If anything she's the one that stands our the most in this music video, looking sexy, stylish, and on form throughout. She brings it completely - enough to the point where both Jason Derulo and Ty Dolla $ign could be completely forgotten about. She slayed in this!
Overall, yes the video is relatable, and they switch it up by focusing heavily on the dancing aspect of the music video; but, it still feels like it's been done before. This is just another typical music video filled with girls. It's unimpressive, but at least Nicki Minaj helps this visual become better than it would've been if it was without her.
She's the superstar I have been supporting since the first series of The Voice UK, I am now happy to see that Becky Hill is finally getting all the credit she deserves and more. The video is amazing and turns her into the superstar we've always known her to be. She's fully bringing it recently, and I cannot wait to see what other surprises Becky Hill has in store for us. Watch Becky Hill in her superstar music video that is full of brilliant profile performance visuals for her song "Rude Love".
Becky Hill has fully left her stamp on music around the world, with many featured hits amongst her discography, and we're sure there will be more where they came from. Her voice perfectly suits house tracks, hence why she has teamed up with Oliver Heldens, MK, and Matoma, amongst others, on tracks "Gecko (Overdrive)", "Piece Of Me", and "False Alarm" respectively. She has also released many singles herself, and they are, certainly, treasured songs by many of her fans. Now she's promoting this song, which just had a whole new remix drop by MNEK. Talk about fully bringing it!
Directed by Andrew Morgan, the music video really puts the spotlight on Becky Hill, turning her into a fully-fledged superstar, and it's so nice to see a great performance piece from her.
We see Becky Hill singing her song with all her performance energy we've seen from her to date, and then some. She is fully tuned in within the lyrics of this song and clearly wants to get the message across, which she certainly does.
I have previously written up about the single release and the music video for CelebMix, as well as additional single and video articles for Outlet Magazine, so I feel like I haven't got all that much left to say about this music video. It really does make a change to see Becky Hill centre of the music video with the spotlight on her. She is definitely future star material if she isn't already there yet.
This is such a beautiful song with a perfect music video behind it. So much so I had to include it on my blog. I may not understand Romanian, but you don't have to, to understand what the song is all about, especially with this very loving music video. This is the third collaboration between Inna and Carla's Dreams after "P.O.H.U.I." and "Fie ce-o fi". Watch this lovely music video that sees a love story grow from two children into fully fledged adults in this Lidl promoted music video for Carla's Dreams and Inna's collaboration song "Tu si eu".
Carla's Dreams is a music project from Moldova. Made up of an anonymous vocalist the project has been making enormous waves in Romania and is currently on the Global Records label, hence why he has worked with Inna, Antonia, and Delia, amongst others. The vocalist is currently a judge on the Romanian version of The X Factor. He won the last series with Olga Verbiţchi. Now he's teamed up with Lidl Romania and Inna for this awesome song and music video. Inna, real name Elena Apostoleanu, has released many many hits and is my favourite artist in the world, as you know if you keep up to date on my blog. She has previously released a song titled "Tu si eu", so I recommend not mixing that one up with this one. She was recently a coach on Vocea României Junior. Her team went on to release a song under the name The Kids, titled "Kids In Town", under Global Records. This probably won't be the last time we see Carla's Dreams and Inna team up on a song, and this has already gained a lot of attention. The song was written by Carla's Dreams and Alexandru Cotoi.
Directed by Roman Burca, this music video holds such a special story in its narrative, that that would have been enough, but they knock it out of the park because they also include performance visuals of the artists to break up the narrative. Making this music video astronomically amazing.
The performance piece isn't much, but it's great to see it added in. It shows Carla's Dreams' vocalist and Inna in some sort of lounge, sitting around and singing their song. It's clear they had a lot of fun there and that they get along well.
But the most important thing is the sense of family found in the narrative and how two kids grow up to fall in love and to then have a falling out. He goes to find her and they make it up. It's so adorably cute and the ending scene sees them bring their children over to the woman's parents.
I've already reviewed this for CelebMix so I won't talk much about it. Regardless, it links in well with the family branding of Lidl Romania, and it's so nice to give out another full rating because this music video is one of the best I've seen in a while and more than deserves it.
Paramore are back, and they have a new album on its way, titled "After Laughter". They have released this song and "Hard Times" so far, and are getting comments in their change of direction, but it's still distinctly Paramore and it just shows that a band doesn't have to stick to one genre. They've got a much more mature sound now, To me, this new album will be one of their best, and I cannot wait to hear it in full. Watch the three-piece band Paramore drive in a car and display some serious finger pointing in this music video for their new song "Told You So".
Paramore are currently a three-piece line-up consisting of Hayley Williams, Zac Farro, and Taylor York. They have had a number of line-up changes over the years. Their music has progressed and if you compare what they're releasing now to what they released at the start of their career as a band, it just shows how far they've come and they distinctly put the Paramore stamp on every track they release. This one is their second single after "Hard Times" and it is a new direction for them, yet it's one I completely love and just shows that they can change along with their fan base. The song was written by Hayley Williams and Taylor York.
Directed by Zac Farro and Aaron Joseph, the music video centres around a moment that Hayley Williams and Zac Farro had as friends in a car, where he noticed her being much more relaxed in the car after doing studio sessions. This contrast is shown throughout the music video.
We see Hayley Williams in a dark, suspense house. She acts like there's someone watching her, something she should be scared of. This part of the music video was filmed in Taylor York's house, he'll probably never look at those walls the same again, we wouldn't - although we're glad no ghosts jump out at us, just a lot of darkness.
Then there's the awesome car scene, that sees the band playing instruments whilst dressed in red clothes as well as red berets. They look like classy French people on a mission, determined to arrive at their destination, yet cruising along and having a jam in the car - as we all do.
What's not to like about this music video? It's relatable to a degree and it's fun and dark, two contrasting things in one. It's a visual we can't stop thinking about and one we keep watching over and over again - there's always something new that we didn't see before.
