Britney Spears and The Smurfs in a music video together... Am I seeing this right, or is it one of my dreams? Nope definitely not a dream, my life is now complete.
Britney Spears, well-known across the world, hasn't had a UK number one since 2004 with "Everytime", unless you count her collaboration with will.i.am on "Scream & Shout". As well as that she has never had a UK number one album, shocking I know, but she will get there one day, we all should keep faith. Her next album is on it's way, and how healthy she looks in this video, and after a year of being a judge on The X Factor US, it's bound to be a great album!
"Ooh La La" was written by Lukasz Gottwald, Joshua Coleman, Lola Blanc, Fransisca Hall, Bonnie McKee, Henry Walter and Jacob Kasher Hindlin. Some well known songwriters right there, so it explains why it is so catchy. It was supposed to be sung by Lola Blanc, but a deal was made to give it to Britney. I have listened to it way too often and I can't stop. It's simple lyrics, it's clubby motives and the beat is all so drawing. This should be a hit, yet it's slowly climbing up the charts, hopefully it will hit the Top 40 this Sunday, but at the moment it looks unlikely.
The song is on The Smurfs 2 soundtrack, and since I'm seeing The Smurfs 2 on Thursday, I definitely expect this song to be played. As expected The Smurfs are in the music video. However I'm a little disappointed that we haven't got any songs from The Smurfs on the soundtrack. The first movie had them singing a few songs, and I expect the Smurf theme to be sung, but no sign of it on the soundtrack. I thought this would be like an Alvin and the Chipmunks soundtrack, guess that may never happen, I was really looking forward to Smurfette's 'I Kissed A Smurf' cover of "I Kissed A Girl" by Katy Perry.
The music video is mainly performance piece, with interspersed clips of The Smurfs 2. I like everything it's so good and so cute, what with Britney Spears' children and niece being in the music video, they are called Sean Preston Federline, Jayden James Federline and Maddie Aldridge respectively. They go to the cinema to see The Smurfs 2, and Gargamel zaps Britney into the film.
The opening scene with the Cinema is a homage to Janet Jackson's music video for "Nasty". Here Britney goes again with her homages!
The scenes with the boys and Maddie in the background are great to watch, and they perform so well, it makes it believable, and they did a great job.
Britney looks healthy in the entire video, she's dancing and having Smufette (voiced by Katy Perry) on her hand. She's having a great time, and it's good to see her well again. It may be due to having her boys with her, but since the song is for them anyway you can't help but smile. The world has Britney back once and for all.
The Smurfs perform a dance to her song, I keep watching it, and I'm hoping to learn the dance moves. I'm also expecting a lot of DJ's remixing this song for clubs, it has that hook in the middle that will suit clubbing perfectly.
Overall, a great song which should be a global success, yet it hasn't managed to do that well, could the reason be digital downloads? Since when CD Singles were released children could go and buy the single and help it chart, but now it's all digital downloads, the song attracts many younger audiences who probably can't buy the single without bugging their parents to death. The accompanying music video is amazingly cute. I don't know how Britney gets out of the Smurf world (she may be stuck there forever!) This has excited me for her new album, and I can't wait to see what the future brings to Britney.
Miley Cyrus, real name Destiny Cyrus, has been featured on this blog many of times. She has a big fan base, and has recently gone sexy to improve her image and to prove that she is not this innocent young girl we all thought she was. The change is very reminiscent of Britney Spears' change with "I'm A Slave For You" and Christina Aguilera's "Dirrty". Controversy sparked with this album, but she's set in the right direction, and she is not an innocent girl. She also cut her hair off within the last year. It is now short and blonde. I still haven't made up my mind if I like it, but who cares? As long as she likes it, everything is good. She is currently getting ready to release a new album this year (hopefully).
"Who Owns My Heart" was her second single from her most recent album 'Can't Be Tamed'. It was written by Miley Cyrus, Antonina Armato, Tim James and Devrim Karaoglu. The song is about club vibes and whether or not you actually like the person you are dancing with. It is the sort of song that clubs would've picked up, however it failed to chart in the UK, this could be for many reasons, but I would put it down to next to no promotion, whereas her other singles got quite a bit.
This music video is sexy, it's the only word that comes to mind, and you can't really blame me, because that is what it is. She's waking from a bed wearing not much, then gets ready to go out clubbing and ends up back in the bed.
It shows a new completely different side to her, but it does in fact show who she really is. She's 20 years old, and you really think she's one of these people who sit alone in their room talking to friends? Nope, she's out on the town and hitting it hard just like me, and all the other 20 year olds (yes, me and Miley Cyrus are the same age).
Overall a catchy club song that should've done well in the UK. The accompanying music video fits perfectly and is a true representation of who she is, why should we ask anything less? I don't see much of a narrative and so I knocked off one star, but apart from that how can I rate it less than it deserves?
So where did this girl come from? Out of the blew I got a follow from a certain person called Mandia Nantsios on twitter. I took my time exploring and finding out more about her, as I'm used to getting bands and artists following me and then when I follow them back they soon unfollow me. But after a bit of time Mandia Nantsios is still following me, so I thought it was about time to reviewed her...
Mandia Nantsios is only 16 years old, I don't quite believe that from this video, but I guess she must be. She's another Canadian star (quite a few of those popping up now), but one who has set her sights high, and one who will definitely be achieving them pretty much soon. Everyone step aside, because the biggest new thing is staring us right in the face, and she's ready to capture the world.
"One Last Time" is written by James Fauntleroy, but it is totally been made for Mandia Nantsios. Her vocal range makes this video so emotionally great that you are captured in seconds, and her power is effortlessly expressive. This is her second single, her first being "Never Again". I thought this was going to be a typical sixteen-year-old, high school crush song, but hell, I was so wrong. The song reminds me a lot of JoJo's "Leave (Get Out)" and the music video isn't too different either.
We are so use to seeing the typical high school crush music video. It's usually a singer's first music video, and she seems to be following in the footsteps of greatness. Britney Spears did this type of music video for "...Baby One More Time", JoJo did it for "Leave (Get Out)", Paramore with "Misery Business" and Stacie Orrico with "Stuck". There are many more, some become big stars, others disappear. However Mandia Nantsios will definitely be on everyone's lips soon enough.
This videos quite different though, instead this manages to link in with the song perfectly, with a nice added twist, which is always great to have. Mandia and Paul (the male lead), have been together and they keep breaking up and saying goodbye, only to reunite not long after. But she has had enough and have decided to break it off for good and say goodbye one last time.
All the markings are the amount of times they have broke up and got back together, only surely there is way too many lines, surely they've split up and got back together every single day for a year, maybe even longer and more frequent with the amount of markings. Of which reminds me of another music video: New Found Glory's "Kiss Me".
The choreography, is amazing, the professional dancers are so detailed and concise that you can't help but marvel at their dancing. As for Mandia Nantsios' dancing with her 'friends', they seem to be bringing back the dancing children can easily copy, which is totally dated and would've fitted 10-15 years ago, however we kind of need this back in the videos, and I'm all for it. Not only that, but they seem to be bringing back Double Denim too.
Overall a song that caught me by surprise and of which I shall be downloading this week. And a music video that also caught me by surprise, and has a unique twist to it that I can't help but enjoy. I have no faults for this video and everything is exactly perfect. It looks like I've found my next "Artist of the Month" for March...
Britney Spears seems to be a constant on my blog, so the fact that she hasn't appeared since October ("Scream & Shout" doesn't count), just shows how focused I have been. But this song has been haunting me for the last month. It keeps coming up on my iTunes Up Next; then I heard it in Tesco's; next it was played on Signal 1, the radio station my alarm goes off to in the morning; not only that but my friend always plays the song when she comes over, which is quite often. People describe this song as Jonni's song, as people believe that it's about me, only I was born to make everyone happy, not just one person. I guess it's true, it's definitely a me song.
"Born To Make You Happy" was written by Andreas Carlsson and Kristian Lundin. This song is so powerful, and I can see why people think it's about me, sadly it isn't, although it could well have been. The song is about a woman who wants to fix her relationship. The video is not quite the portrayal it could have been.
Now this YouTube video is out of sync, the lyrics of the song doesn't match with Britney's lips. They're a few seconds out, which really annoyed me. I am not entirely sure if that is in the original video shown on the music channels or if it is this version on YouTube. Since I don't know, it does not affect my rating (however if I were certain it was like that in the original, it would create a low rating, since this is the worse matching up I have seen).
I have never seen this video, believe it or not. I was quite surprised that I hadn't so this is something new.
There's narrative and performance, once again. I love the use of it all being a dream. I struggled finding the name of Britney's love interest, but after much researching, I found him, his name is Christopher Snyder. There's not much to the bedroom scene apart from slow walking, pillow fights and sleeping, but she clearly makes him happy (or is it the other way round? Who knows?)
The performance side is filled with choreography. I especially like the blue and silver room that has different level tables, it's quite futuristic and engaging, I think there should've been more scenes cut from that part. The choreography shown through-out seems too quick for the song and it's not easy to follow, which shows how good of a dancer Britney is, but also makes me think she's dancing to a remixed version which is sped up.
Overall this song means a lot to me, and I agree with my friends, it is a Jonni Song, and if people were to write a song about me, it would be similar to this as I am always trying to make everyone happy. The music video is missing a lot, the choreography is too quick and the scenes flit by, you have to try and make sure you catch it all, as if you blink you might just miss something.
Will.I.Am, real name William Adams, is one quarter of American band The Black Eyed Peas. He is a coach on The Voice UK and is well-known for his name-dropping on the show. He knows exactly what he is talking about and is one of these people who will be a part of the music industry for the rest of his life. I am looking forward to his future singles, but can he top this collaboration? I very much doubt it. This song features the high-profiled Miss Britney Spears, who has appeared on this blog a number of times. I admit, I am a fan, one of the Britney Army. She has had a successful career, but has recently been failing to chart. Her last number one was back in 2004 with "Everytime", could this song be the one to push her back in the limelight? Definitely.
"Scream & Shout" was written by William Adams, Jef Martens and Jean Baptiste. The song is extremely catchy and I cannot stop listening to it, and I look like I'm not the only one. The song uses the iconic "It's Britney Bitch", first used in the song for "Gimme More". The single release date in the UK was pushed forward a few weeks after the demand in the UK was extremely high. The song has been climbing up the UK iTunes chart, this is definitely going to be a hit, but with stiff competition from The X Factor winner James Arthur with his single "Impossible", it is going to be a major chart battle.
The music video is definitely different to what we expect, but it links in great with the song and it's meaning. It has been described as a series of photographs, and that is exactly what it feels like. Like someone is trying to show you something through a series of actions.
As everyone has already announced, Britney Spears stands out amazingly. And although she is merely only featuring on the track, you can't help but feel eager to watch her again and again. I think she has this essence, this performance essence that lights up when in a music video. Will.I.Am tries his best to stand out too, and although he managed to do so, it's just not as engaging as Britney.
There's so much going on, and even though I have already seen it about 10 times, there's still parts of the video I haven't seen before, and this is what makes a video like this, great. You have to make them want to watch it again and again so that they don't miss anything.
Overall a great song that deserves to get to number one this Sunday. The music video is the best music video I have ever seen in this style. Any competition in this style has been blown away and I cannot even think of any similar. I like it's subtle links with the song and the editing is WOW. I have nothing else to say, except UK fans download now, this NEEDS to be number one!
Ke$ha, real name Kesha Sebert, has finally released a new single, with it's album to be released next week. I have been waiting for ages, and I'm not the only one. Was it worth the wait? Definitely, have you not even heard this amazing song yet? I'm so glad she's back and I can see this new album "Warrior" performing better than "Animal" ever did. This is definitely one artist who will be around for a long time.
"Die Young" was written by Kesha Sebert, Lukasz Gottwald (Dr. Luke), Benjamin Levin (Benny Blanco), Henry Walter (Cirkut) and Nate Ruess (Lead Singer of Fun.). This is definitely a heavenly song writing team, all of which have appeared on my blog numerous times, but I don't think they have altogether and no wonder this song is fantastic, I really expect nothing less from these song writers. The song is infinitely catchy, it's meaning is to not take life too seriously and live every single day and second like it's your last. This reminds me so much of Nickleback's "If Today Was Your Last Day". The song is definitely going to make the UK chart, and it's slowly climbing up and up, could this be Ke$ha's second number one? It's climbing too slowly, but I wouldn't rule it out, there could be a possibility it could get there.
The music video is one of those that don't quite make sense unless you've watched it over and over. Here's what I thought: 1st Play, I really thought the video was rubbish. 2nd Play, it was a little clearer, but still wasn't sure of what was going on. After watching behind the scenes video and then 3rd Play, it makes perfect sense now. Thankfully we have Behind The Scenes Videos.
There is a storyline to this, Ke$ha is the leader of a cult or tribe, and practically living her life like it's her last day. And clearly just having fun.
I really like the choreography, it shows a side of her that we have never seen in any of her music videos before, and it shows a performance we are likely to see at her tours, and I'm surprised at how great she can dance, reminds me of Britney.
I like the ending, it really works. But I'm not too sure I'm happy about the symbolic imagery to the Illuminati, however, it is one of those things I am never going to be very knowledgeable on, I'm just not that interested. On the other hand I want to congratulate Ke$ha for deciding to make a statement (as always) and if that's what she wants to do then I can't really judge her for it, and no one else should.
Overall an amazing song, that is definitely number one worthy, but it looks doubtful that'll it'll get there, however we'll have to wait and see. The music video is pretty good, it relates to the song amazingly, but I feel that it takes too long for people to actually get it, and this could be something that prevents people from watching it a second time, and therefore Ke$ha could lose a few sales here and there, which is mightily important when you get high in the UK Chart.
