It's Zayday Williams from Scream Queens! Yes, that's right Keke Palmer is in Scream Queens, but I never knew she could sing, Very different from the character she plays on the show, she exudes confidence; you're fire girl! She's been in many films and TV series and has been attempting a musical career for many years. Keke Palmer stuns as an Ancient Egyptian empress in this music video for "Hands Free", overly confident but with a killer dance scene, watch out for her!
Keke Palmer, real name Lauren Keyana Palmer, is an actress and singer. Trying to do both isn't easy at all, and very rarely people make it big in both industries, yet Keke Palmer is proving that she can. I came across this thanks to YouTube suggestions and being a massive fan of Scream Queens totally would've brought me here eventually. Keke Palmer is certainly a star, she is hardworking and it clearly pays off. She's like the young version of Jennifer Lopez and I literally cannot wait to see what the future brings for her. This song was written by Sean Garrett and Blair Andre Atkinson.
This Ancient Egyptian music video was directed by Rosero McCoy. Keke Palmer talks about believing in yourself during a black and white radio interview before launching into colour with an air of arrogance, that totally gets backed up when she proves her worthiness of singing and dancing. This girl can move, no wonder she's an empress in the video. Confidence overload but in a good way.
There are three scenes in this music video, the first one sees her sitting on a chair being carried around. She makes it seem like this is part of her normal life, totally proving her brilliant acting ability.
The dance scene is incredible. The choreography relates to the song and is effortlessly pulled off by Keke Palmer, who is still wearing her confidence like she's Beyoncé; yet, although it can come across as arrogance at first, she backs it up, proving that this is what she's meant to be doing. She may not have had a hit single yet, but she's not going to give up. She's in sync with her backing dancers throughout.
Her sexy shower bathing segment in the same scene is a little too over the top, it's like they tried to sex it up even more, but it just doesn't work. Luckily the video transforms into the main performance piece.
Keke Palmer belongs on stage, this totally proves it with her dancing on point as she performs to the crowd. She reminds me of P!nk, when she first launched onto the music scene. Keke Palmer has huge potential, and those of you lucky enough to see her live in concert are definitely going to be in for a treat. This video is definitely a try-hard visual yet Keke Palmer's star potential works the entire thing and prevents this from being a complete disaster.
Not the usual New Release, but feel free to look at the new releases for this week and direct me to an official music video, because as much as I want to review some of them, they just don't have videos annoyingly. And so, I turned to Twitter for help and I stumbled across this one. Indian dance pop music isn't really my thing, but my blog is a mix of everything. I'm not going to deny that this is quite catchy with it's pulsing beats and Esho's vocals. The music video for Esho's "Oye Hoye Jawaani" has a brilliant dance scene, sexy moves and a great performance piece.
Esho, also known as Divyansh Tripathi, is a singer and a producer. He composed this entire song all by himself, which is pretty impressive all by itself. This is his debut single, and infuses Indian music with EDM and dance with a pop twist. If anyone can bring Indian music to an international audience it's Esho. "Oye Hoye Jawaani" is going to be one of the unknown songs that you just want to hear again at some point. This song was written by Esho.
Directed by Rajesh Mandal, the music video has some serious pop vibes coming from it. It has a slight narrative with an all-right dance sequence that launches into an epic dance choreography performance piece.
There is only one female in this video, who is the central love interest. It's actually nice not to see girls clinging to a guy whilst his singing; this breath of fresh air totally brings some sassiness to this video. The love interest actress isn't known, but if you know her name feel free to comment below.
Throughout, Esho manages to perform with an air of confidence. He is made to be on stage. His dancing is relaxed, and the sequence in question is easy, yet flawlessly pulled off. Unfortunately he doesn't stay with the dancers, who continue on with a some brilliant choreography.
The music video doesn't have a narrative; it's slight if you count the interactions between Esho and his love interest, but nothing story-like forms. This is okay though because Esho makes up for this in his performance part of the whole video. It works well, but should be a bit more developed, and some camera shots aren't that great as well as the lighting, but as a debut music video, Esho has done well! I expect to hear more from him.
It's Thursday, and so it's revisit time. I chose this one purely because I remember it being on the music channels and being surprised that this was will.i.am's breakout single after The Black Eyed Peas went on a hiatus. Whilst Fergie was releasing awesome hits, will.i.am came out with this, which still did moderately well globally. In this music video for "I Got It From My Mama", will.i.am is surrounded by girls on a beach, totally playing up and checking them out nonstop.
will.i.am, real name William Adams, is known as one of four members of The Black Eyed Peas. He launched his solo career as the group went on their first hiatus. At the time, female singer from the group, Fergie, also launched her solo career. It's clear The Black Eyed Peas were and still are incredible because both these solo careers hit it off. Surprisingly, this song did well, but it isn't until years later that will.i.am became a chart-topping success. This song peaked at number 31 in the US, and number 39 in the UK, amongst other global charts. Eight years later PSY ended up sampling the song for "Daddy". This song was written by William Adams, Jean-Luc Drion, and Dominique Régiacorte. Uncredited female vocals come from Kat Graham (who is probably best known, now, as Bonnie Bennett in The Vampire Diaries).
Directed by Bryan Barber, the music video starts off with will.i.am flipping through a magazine. That magazine is later folded closed to reveal a beach with many girls playing on the beach, whilst will.i.am is relaxing on a sun lounger. It's quite the creepy scene, but this is a music video after all.
The song is catchy regardless, and will.i.am is the only male on the beach in Brazil. There's not an awful lot going on, apart from will.i.am totally distracted and completely checking every girl out.
This pure performance piece is styled fantastically with great editing tricks throughout. However it's not that engaging, and I actually can't believe this was shown during the daytime on UK music channels. It may be suggestive at times, but when I first saw this, it totally went over my head. It failed to interest me because I've always been gay. However it does relate to the song, so even though I'm here slating it, if it were all hot guys on the beach it would be a different story. So... Taking that into account, I can see the video for what it is. Also, will.i.am's personality really shines in this.
Finally, after this review, I've reviewed all my favourites from Eurovision 2014; next week I will be starting on Eurovision 2015, and then I'm completely caught up, maybe in time for the new year? Maybe; I doubt it. Conchita Wurst was the talk of the Eurovision Song Contest 2014, and so winning wasn't quite a massive surprise since she had a killer song, brilliant vocals, a stunning dress and performance, and a tonne of support from the LGBT+ community. She represented Austria and took the contest to her country after winning with 290 points. Tom Neuwirth dressed in drag as Conchita Wurst gives a solid sexy performance of "Rise Like A Phoenix" in this music video.
Tom Neuwirth has tried being a successful solo singer, he even managed to become the runner-up in Austrian TV show Starmania. He then became a part of boyband Jetzt Anders! but they disbanded the same year they were put together. Conchita Wurst came about a little bit later, where she entered Die Große Chance, Conchita Wurst came sixth in 2011; then came second on Eurovision Selection show Österreich rockt den Song Contest 2012; as for 2014, she was internally selected, and what a great choice that was. It pretty much launched Conchita Wurst as one of the world's most known drag queens, she just needs to keep her limelight. This song was written by Charlie Mason, Joey Patulka, Ali Zuckowski, and Julian Maas.
The music video is a full performance piece. Conchita Wurst is looking incredibly confident and sexy. This just wouldn't work if it were Tom Neuwirth. People can say what they like about drag queens, but there's something incredible about spending all that time on makeup and clothes and wigs, and in Conchita Wurst's case, her beard; and then working it like no other.
There are a few different scenes, but the main focus is on the bath and the rose petals. It's quite sultry, definitely sexy. Her performance is fire throughout, passion for every single word Conchita Wurst really identifies with this song. Considering no record label would record this, and then it won Eurovision, and charted well globally, just proves the impact of this song and the artist.
Yet the video is lacking. This could've had a beautiful narrative, yet we're given a performance piece that doesn't quite engage. Conchita Wurst looks good throughout, but she brought more to the table during the Eurovision 2014 Grand Final than in this music video. This song will always be a favourite of mine and resonates deeply within.
Totally not sure what to make of this one, couldn't decide what video to review, but since Matoma and Becky Hill are doing well on my blog with "False Alarm", I thought I might as well do this one. I love the concept of this video and yet it doesn't quite flow as well as we hope, plus it is extremely short, this is over before we know it. The Vamps take a trip around town, "All Night", whilst swapping the camera in an eerie Cloverfield-like music video, which also includes Matoma DJing.
The Vamps are a four-piece band consisting of Connor Ball, Tristan Evans, James McVey, and Brad Simpson. They are going from strength to strength, although it's been quite the rocky road, not quite getting a noticeable hit. All it will take is a number one, their debut single "Can We Dance" hit number two, as well as third single "Last Night"; but even with the help of Shawn Mendes, Demi Lovato, and Pixie Lott on tracks "Oh Cecilia (Breaking My Heart)", "Somebody To You", and "Wild Heart" hasn't got them to the top. As for Matoma, real name Tom Lagergren, he totally made his name with Becky Hill on track "False Alarm". He's probably going to be a name we'll end up hearing a lot from if he keeps collaborating and keeps releasing. The song was written by Justin Franks, John Mitchell, Daniel Majic, and The Vamps.
Directed by Craig Moore, this video definitely takes inspiration from the Cloverfield movie, and yet switches it up with this massive camera transferring from one person to another. However, this three and a half minutes are way too short to fully enjoy.
The start is a clear product proposal for got2be by Schwarzkopf. Hair products, makeup, and fragrances always do well for product proposals in music videos. If these stars are using them, why not us?
We watch The Vamps disappear out into the city, planning on spending all night out. They pass the camera through touch, but it's clear from the start that continuity errors will make this video completely fail. Plenty of times a camera man is filming, who we never get to see. Disregarding this as well as the fact that sometimes we are watching from the wrong camera because they touched hands with someone else; this video is incredible.
The crossover to Matoma is clever but kind of lets the video down. I wanted more from Matoma, maybe have The Vamps actually there on stage, or maybe even get the audience involved and pass the camera to them. The Vamps do it with the dancer, the drifting car driver, and the basketball player; so why not Matoma's audience too?
There are too many scenes to comment on in this video, and yet it's way too short. It's quick snapshots of a fantastic music video, that is, unfortunately, full of continuity errors and failed viewership. This was released, just under a month ago. This means they have worked hard on this, and kudos totally go out to the editing team, but more time and effort to make this a solid flowing video would've made this perfect. Love this concept, though!
It's a Monday, and Little Mix is still at number one with "Shout Out To My Ex", which is amazingly catchy. This opens the top ten to my Chart Monday review. I've chosen this one because it was at number one for many weeks without a music video, but finally it has one just as it's dropping out of the top ten. Sexual tension between The Chainsmokers' Andrew Taggart and Halsey at a party is completely visible, as flashbacks of a past night where they slept together is reminisced over.
The Chainsmokers are a duo consisting of Andrew Taggart and Alex Pall. They made their name known when they released "#SELFIE" but it wasn't until a few years later, through a reinvention of their music, that they once again hit fame, but this is clearly their best-selling single. I am hoping they will reinvent themselves once again, something we aren't expecting and it'll be even bigger than this was. Featured artist is Halsey, real name Ashley Frangipane, who has made quite the name for herself in the media, but has yet to have a hit song. Then again, this one is totally her best yet. This song was written by Andrew Taggart, Ashley Frangipane, Shaun Frank, Frederic Kennett, Isaac Slade, and Joe King. Highly compared to The Fray's "Over My Head (Cable Car)", the latter two songwriters were added for credit.
This music video was a long time coming, but it's here now, directed by Dano Cerny, it's a great concept. An elaborate performance piece situated in quite an awkward narrative.
Sexual tension is obvious between these two singers. As they lock eyes at a party, Andrew Taggart and Halsey remember what happened between them some other night in the past. This is where things get even more steamy.
They start making out in the middle of a different party, which is then taken back to a bedroom, where both artists are in a state of undress. They both look incredibly sexy. Full of sexual chemistry, with tantalising quirks that we all wish we were doing with another person in a bed instead of watching this video, which is totally making us jealous; or just me.
The ending sees Halsey walking out of the party, not being able to deal with her ex being at the same party as her; I know exactly how she feels. Yet, this is where our similarities end because Andrew Taggart follows her outside, and it's clear there's still an attraction between them. Some sort of unfinished business.
A fully fleshed narrative that everyone can relate to, with a sexy performance piece during a gorgeous bed scene. We've waited so long for this music video, yet it was so worth it especially since they have knocked it out of the park!
This dropped recently, and I just HAD to review it, especially after hearing it live at the Kiss Haunted House Party 2016. This full on party anthem was initially sung for the first time at the Kiss Haunted House Party 2016, where I captured the entire performance of the song. It was released the following day and then was performed on The X Factor, just last week. The song is her first solo effort since winning the contest, not counting the winner's single "Forever Young". Louisa Johnson goes out, it was only meant to be for an hour or two. A bar performance and a brawl all happen in this "So Good" music video.
Louisa Johnson won the twelfth series of The X Factor. She is known as the only winner never to hit the top two with her winning song; unfortunately, she got to number nine with "Forever Young". However, teaming up with Clean Bandit for song "Tears" was an amazing idea and once again pushed her into the limelight. This definitely helped to further her potential success. This song is completely catchy, it's party inspired but quite a slow ballad pop song that we can't get out of our heads! It was written by Steve Mac, Chelcee Grimes & Ed Drewett,
Directed by Emil Nava, a constant name we hear often in the directing of music videos. this was obviously going to be theatrical from the first few seconds.
Louisa Johnson performs in bed, clearly waking from a possible nap? Other scenes show her performing at an empty petrol station and a bar.
This bar is an important part of the music video. She steps onto the stage and sings the song. The bar is practically deserted apart from the drunken guys, one of who steps up to her and dances. This guy is shoved away by her crowd.
The girl group later go outside to beat up the men outside who are ranting at them. It would've been good if they had all cartwheeled forwards at the same time, but it's slightly out of sync. Louisa Johnson just stands in the middle and sings.
As a whole, it's an okay music video. It's clearly high-budgeted and has a similar feel to Alexandra Burke's "Bad Boys", yet it's trying to make Louisa Johnson way more classy. It incredibly theatrical, yet nothing to follow-up. The video does suit the song well, though.
Literally didn't know what to review today, so I let my iTunes pick by playing all my songs on random, this one came up and I was like, okay. I am slightly surprised I haven't reviewed this yet. It was released after the awesome collaboration with Miss Britney Spears on "Scream & Shout". It worked well. will.i.am becomes robotic whilst Justin Bieber is a hologram in a futuristic take during the music video of "#thatPOWER".
will.i.am is quickly becoming a household name, if he isn't already. Definitely one of the leaders in the music industry, his real name is William Adams. He has worked with some of the biggest stars, and his own band, the Black Eyed Peas, are embedded in history as one of the biggest groups. There is really no stopping will.i.am and I cannot wait to see where The Voice UK coach ends up. Collaborating on this track is Justin Bieber, another high-profile male artist, with various hits under his name just like will.i.am. Such a massive collaboration, it's no wonder this song did so well. It was written by William Adams, Damien Leroy, and Justin Bieber.
Directed by Ben Mor, and filmed in Japan, the video features will.i.am as a robotic dancer, Justin Bieber as a hologram and there are appearances from Japanese dance group World Order.
There is an alternative music video available to watch alongside this one through Shazam. This additional video has no audio; it is supposed to give you an alternative viewing experience by allowing you to view it alongside this one so you can notice the differences.
As a whole, it's an innovative idea, definitely futuristic, which makes it quite clever since the music video is futuristic.
The dancing is on point throughout, we expect nothing less from will.i.am. However, I find it very unfortunate that Justin Bieber wasn't there in person. The hologram makes him look dead or something, suggesting he never made it to the future. The dancing is occasionally out of sync, but it can be forgiven since they are subtle.
World Order are amazing in their scene. Defying dancing as we know it and managing to easily stun us throughout.
There's not a lot else to comment on. This is totally interesting from start to finish, and it feels like it's part of a bigger picture. There's just something missing, there should be a more expansive narrative. Nothing continues the video on, it's hard to understand what is going on.
Okay, so this was someone I didn't like on The X Factor, a joke act on the show, so to speak. Now he's this glorified drag queen, and I like him a little more. I kind of wish he had entered The X Factor as Sarah Lee, as I would've supported him all the way through The X Factor. However, is this just an attention-seeking alter-ego, especially when we have credible artists who are drag queens like RuPaul and Conchita Wurst. If he had released this song as Sarah Lee, and encouraged people to call him by that name when he's in drag, then fair enough, but personally, to me, this is an exposure ploy. Johnny Robinson, dressed as Sarah Lee, performs in this music video for "Deliver Me" whilst a guy plays the violin.
Johnny Robinson was a contestant during the eighth series of The X Factor. He came eighth overall. Various other artists from that year have gone on to have successful careers, whether that's in music, on the stage or in other ways. Regardless of what people said, the eighth series managed to create some artists that are highly talked about to this day. Johnny Robinson has previously released music, most notably a Christmas song in 2012. Now, as Sarah Lee but known as Johnny Robinson even when he's dressed in drag, he has released this single. It was written by Jon Marsh and Helena Marsh.
The music video is extremely basic, but I have to give kudos for Johnny Robinson; he looks stunning as Sarah Lee. It really shows what makeup and a wig can do! Sarah Lee looks fire!
It is mainly a performance piece, the thing is Sarah Lee isn't performing that well, Johny Robinson did much better on The X Factor stage, but in this music video, he seems more concerned about looking good for the camera rather than trying to give a good performance.
I don't quite understand the violin player, perhaps he's the love interest that Sarah Lee is singing to, but it just fails to flow.
At the end of the day, I think Johnny Robinson should continue to release music as Sarah Lee. I'm sure he would have a more successful career as a drag artist. However, they should release the music under Sarah Lee, rather than confusing the world by putting his actual name on the track.
This was obviously going to be a part of my Halloween Special. This music video is monumental, it's iconic, it's the one everyone still talks about today! My blog has been going for over five years, and it shocks even me that I have never reviewed this music video, actually I don't think I've ever watched it from start to finish before today. But now, it's time to redeem my blog by making sure this gets reviewed, and what better way than being a part of my Halloween Special? Michael Jackson turns into a werewolf and a zombie in this "Thriller" music video, but is it all just in her head?
Michael Jackson, what am I meant to say about THE Michael Jackson? He's a total legend, everyone knows who he is and he definitely shaped music as it is today. Surprisingly, this song didn't chart as well in the UK as it did everywhere else as well as his other singles. It got to number 10 in the UK and has yet to peak higher than that, regardless of the multiple entries in the UK chart. The song will forever appear on Halloween playlists and is always the first song people think of regarding Halloween. "Thriller" was written by Rod Temperton. It was originally called "Starlight", but through many transformations, it became the title it is now.
Michael Jackson had a vision for this music video, having seen 'An American Werewolf In London', he wanted the director of the movie to be the director of his music video. John Landis agreed. The love interest is played by actress Ola Ray.
We watch as a car runs out of fuel, Michael Jackson and Ola Ray start to walk home. He asks her to be his girl and gives her a ring to make it official. That's when he admits that he's not like other guys; he next transforms into a werewolf and chases after the girl.
The scene changes to modern-day with Michael Jackson and Ola Ray in the cinema, watching the previous scene. She leaves the cinema because she's not enjoying it. Michael Jackson follows her out and starts to sing the opening verse, whilst dancing around her.
They walk past a graveyard; this is when Vincent Price's vocal part kicks in and we watch skeletons rise from their graves, almost like zombies. They catch up with Michael Jackson and Ola Ray circling them.
This is where Michael Jackson turns into a zombie and the iconic dance scene begins. This is completely flawless from start to finish. The choreography really focuses on the storyline and makes it relatable. Everyone is in sync and it's more than perfect.
Ola Ray runs into a house and shuts the door but that doesn't stop the zombies from coming in and chasing her. Zombie Michael Jackson closes in. But the next moment, he's back to normal and there are no zombies. Ola Ray calms down and gets off the couch, allowing Michael Jackson to take her into his arms. What she doesn't see is Michael Jackson looking back at the camera and his eyes gleam yellow. He surely isn't like other guys.
The ending was recreated for Britney Spears' epic video for "I Wanna Go". The iconic dance scene has been covered plenty of times. This video as a whole has got it all, and it is definitely one of the best music videos ever made. It's got a great narrative, a brilliant performance piece, and an eerie ending that you can't help but love!
