Let's be honest, I'm obsessed with Eurovision, I just can't help it. This song was played on my iTunes last night, and it's been stuck in my head ever since. I was interested in what the music video would be like for this, so I thought I might as well review it in the process. It's such a catchy neat little song that showcases Rykka perfectly. Let's make love like in the "Movies"; Rykka is sexy and sultry in a knowing attitude amongst the coldness of this music video.
Rykka, real name Christina Rieder, first came to my attention when she represented Switzerland in the Eurovision Song Contest 2016 with "The Last Of Our Kind". Unfortunately, she didn't make the Grand Finals, but her voice resonated with me and I ended up buying the rest of her songs from iTunes. This song is highly catchy and was her previous release before entering the contest. It was written by Christina Maria Rieder, Jeff Dawson, Mike James, Dane Devile, and Warne Livesey.
Directed by Brianne Nord-Stewart, this music video is mainly a performance visual with a slight narrative behind. Rykka and her love interest are shown amongst the coldness, in the lead up to making love like in the movies.
Her performance is on point throughout. Rykka knows how to capture the camera and really shines throughout this music video.
The visual representation is sexy. She has a knowing cheeky smile; it's clear where her thoughts are headed and it easily relates to the song.
Her love interest isn't developed enough and he doesn't take an active role. It's clear she's the decision maker in this relationship.
As a whole, this video is one big tease; much like the song. It's totally relatable and the ending was quite the taunt. Totally inclusive of the audience and utterly theatrical. This would have been a much better choice than "The Last Of Our Kind" at Eurovision 2016. I can't wait to see what the future will bring for Rykka!
Last night I was just heading for bed when I heard The Saturdays' song "My Heart Takes Over". Since I have already written about that music video I thought I'd dip into one of the girls' solo careers. Una Healy has a new album out in February, but no music videos, only live sessions; Mollie King only has "Back To You" so far; Rochelle Humes and Frankie Bridge are focusing on other careers; so that left Vanessa White. I have previously reviewed "Don't Want To Be Your Lover", and so how can I not write about another one of her music videos? Vanessa White is sexy, sultry, and provocative in this black and white video for her extremely soulful track "Relationship Goals".
Vanessa White is one-fifth of girl group The Saturdays, who are currently on hiatus. Each of the members of the group are currently succeeding in their solo careers and so the chances of them getting back together anytime soon is definitely not likely. This song was part of Vanessa White's debut EP; she plans on releasing an album sometime in the future, hopefully. This song originally features Chloe Martini. It was written by Vanessa White, Chloe Martini, and Dantae Johnson.
This music video was created by Vanessa White and Aaron Renfree. The latter name has been a friend of The Saturdays for ages and used to be in S Club Juniors / S Club 8 with Rochelle Humes and Frankie Bridge. It's so nice to see how long friendships from back then, have continued.
The visual is extremely simple with not much going on. Vanessa White is sultry and sexy as she poses and dances in front of the camera.
It came about because so many of her fans wanted a music video for this song, but it doesn't add anything to the song, and fails to keep me entertained, although I bet many straight guys and some girls would love this visual. The black and white filter doesn't add anything more to the video either. I feel this was made just for the sake of having a video visual for this song. Nevertheless, Vanessa White is a brilliant performer.
She's BACK! Kiesza stormed the UK charts three years ago with "Hideaway", and now she has this incredibly funky new tune that easily gets stuck in my head. Since her debut song, she hasn't charted quite so well, regardless of the amazing songs she has been releasing. This is set to be just another song that should've been an international success. Kiesza honours her friend who passed away, by rocking out on her friend's guitar that was passed on to her in this fun and loving music video titled "Dearly Beloved".
Kiesza, real name Kiesa Ellestad, launched onto the music scene in 2014 with her amazing debut single "Hideaway". The song made me a fan of her music, and I have been following her career ever since. She has released some bangers, but not many have heard of them. However, this Canadian star is a fighter and she won't go down without giving it her all, "Dearly Beloved" is just another to add to her collection of awesome hits and I can't wait to see where this new direction takes her! The song was written by Kiesa Ellestad.
Directed by Supple Nam, this music video is a pure performance visual, where Kiesza rocks out to the song whilst wearing a holographic changing colour costume and white Dr Martens in a never ending white space.
The song itself is in honour of her friend Alice, who sadly passed away. Kiesza received the white guitar in the video from Alice and vowed to play the hell out of it. And, boy, does she do just that.
The song definitely links in well with the visual clip, it feels futuristic with an inspiration for disco-themed songs. It's something new and fresh that captivates me easily. As per usual, Kiesza goes all in for the music video.
What can be considered a totally simple, low-budgeted music video, is transformed with completely energetic vibes from Kiesza. She knows how to perform and let loose and it really shows. Unfortunately, there isn't a narrative and there isn't an awful lot to captivate the audience. Nonetheless, Kiesza does the best she can and is totally entertaining throughout.
After reviewing "Impossible" earlier this week, I just had to review "T-Shirt" today for my Thursday Revisit. This was her debut single and totally launched Shontelle as an artist. The song reminds me a lot of Jessica Simpson's "With You", mainly because of the whole t-shirt theme. I'm glad I chose this as my Thursday Revisit, as I'm more than likely never going to feature Shontelle on my blog again. Watch Shontelle parade around her on-screen boyfriend's flat in nothing but his "T-Shirt" on. She ignores her best friends, who are waiting for her and instead relaxes in the apartment.
Shontelle, full name Shontelle Layne, has had two hit singles, this debut song and "Impossible", which was later covered by James Arthur; he's "Impossible" charted much better globally. She's been away from the music industry for a while, apparently working on a third album. She has released a few singles recently but with next to no promotion. She may never make a full comeback; but, then again, all it takes is another hit song. This one was written by Andrew Frampton, Wayne Wilkins, and Savan Kotecha.
Mike Ruiz directed this music video, which is mainly a performance piece throughout. As if she'd prefer a night in around her boyfriend's apartment than a night out with her friends. She could've at least cancelled or let her friends know that she wasn't going. Seemed very rude to me.
All throughout the flat, she doesn't seem all that into this song. She clearly hasn't fully connected with it, and that is very obvious amongst the visuals. She doesn't have any passion behind they lyrics, and even at times, she is beyond happy to have the spotlight on her. Her face beams when she's in the elevator, losing any emotional pretence towards the song.
The video ends with her on-screen boyfriend returning home. She's taken care of the fish by feeding them, as well as changing into one of his white t-shirts. She's looking over his plans on his desk, or she's redesigning them as he walks in. She unleashes a cheeky smile, yet who knows what she's been up to.
This could've been so much better, but as a debut music video, Shontelle was clearly not prepared to be where she was and at times her excitement flooded over any acting possibility she had. It fails to engage the audience or tell a full story. The performance piece is totally lacking throughout.
Okay, so I may have finished my Eurovision Wednesdays, but I feel like I should've covered Måns Zelmerlöw, especially since he won the Eurovision Song Contest 2015; however he's winning song "Heroes" doesn't have an official music video. So, instead, I chose his latest release, which is ever so catchy. Watch Måns Zelmerlöw climb up and down desert hills and mountains, whilst stumbling through a haunting forest, in this "Glorious" music video.
Måns Zelmerlöw came to my attention when he took part in the Eurovision Song Contest 2015; he was a worthy winner with his amazing song "Heroes", which totally made me buy the rest of his music from iTunes. He has really settled himself as a top Swedish male artist, so it's no wonder he won Eurovision 2015. However, it's a shame he hasn't pushed into international success, his follow-up singles to "Heroes" just didn't chart as well globally, which is the same old story we hear time and again of past Eurovision winners. These people deserve global recognition. This song was a promotional international single for his new album but served as an official single in Sweden. It was written by Måns Zelmerlöw, Jez Ashurst, Emma Rohan, Paddy Dalton, and Phil Cook.
It was directed by Mikeadelica, and shows visuals of Måns Zelmerlöw being in different scenes, from a forest to a desert to a mountain. It's beautiful throughout and very relatable.
The forest is my favourite part, although I would like him to remove some of his clothes, wouldn't we all? The lighting is purely spectacular as the light technicians make it eerie and beautiful at the same time.
In other potential narrative scenes, we see Måns Zelmerlöw running up a mountain and desert hills as well as through a forest, before climbing back down.
Although this song isn't a cover version of Cascada's Eurovision 2013 song "Glorious", Måns Zelmerlöw has totally put all the emotion possibly needed and proved he is meant to be an international star. He deserves global success.
After stumbling across them for my New Release this week, as they released "Compass", I had to explore their other music videos; especially since they are going to become a Disney boy band this year! This one is so catchy, much like "Compass", I seriously think they've won me over, and I shall be buying their songs as soon as I can afford to do so. In this comedic music video for "Enough About Me", Forever In Your Mind goes up against three girls in a series of dares at high school. Will there be a sequel? We sure hope so.
Forever In Your Mind are a three-piece boy band, that first made their name known when The X Factor (US) put them together. After a line-up change, the group currently consists of Emery Kelly, Ricky Garcia, and Liam Attridge. Recently they have announced that they will have their own TV show on the Disney Channel, called "Forever Boys". This is bound to bring them more success, they could literally be the next Jonas Brothers, and that is saying something because look where they are now! The song was written by Liam Attridge, Ricky Garcia, Bill Grainer, Emery Kelly, and Doug Rockwell.
The music video is a fun battle between the Forever In Your Mind guys and three girls, as they each pick a random dare from a jar. These dares are then later played out, some of which emphasises the boys' performance side of the music video.
There are a total of 10 dares. These are, in order: eating a hot chilli pepper; dancing on the tables in the library; disco dancing in 80's suits; jumping into a swimming pool, fully clothed; feet tickling; take silly selfies; moonwalk along a crossing; Ricky Garcia gets his hair platted; do the ice-bucket challenge, or it's just pouring water over their heads; walk around in pyjamas.
The boys end up doing the most dares, so I would say they won this battle. However, focus was on them the whole time, for the purpose of this music video, and so they had to be seen the most; especially considering the girls aren't a part of Forever In Your Mind.
As for the performance side of things, Forever In My Mind pulls off a school corridor amazingly. They have so much energy and are ready to try all sort of new things in front of the camera. They aren't afraid at all, and it's amazing to see. Imagine what they'd be like live. If they put all this much effort for a music video; on a stage, they'd be lightning! And considering they totally held back in the "Compass" music video means these guys are already made stars!
For a sixth time overall, there is not a song in the top 10 UK singles chart which I can write a music video review for.
This is the first time this has happened in 2017, however, the chart was announced on Friday, so it still counts as a 2016 chart. Could we possibly do Chart Mondays properly each week from now on? With the Spotify plays changing to affect the longevity of songs staying high up on the chart, it could be that we have a new Chart Monday!
Whilst I was in A&E today, totally suffering and slightly worried an asthma attack would come on, this song was constantly flooding my head. I have no clue why maybe I heard it on the radio before being dropped off at the hospital; who knows? Anyhow, this song first came to my attention when Fifth Harmony sang it on The X Factor (US) at Judges Houses, then James Arthur released it as his winner's single from The X Factor (UK). But I chose the original version because you can't really beat it, even if the covers are fantastic. The "Impossible" music video shows Shontelle's relationship unfold as the guy, Steph Jones, doesn't love her as much as she thought he did.
Shontelle, full name Shontelle Layne, has had a couple of hits in her career, namely this one and her debut single "T-Shirt". She was expected to release her third studio album in 2013, but time is definitely getting on now, and no word about a new album has come forth. Is this a star that slowly disappeared from the limelight? It isn't much of a surprise, especially when James Arthur covered this song and charted much better globally than she did. Will she make a return, it's more than likely, eventually; but, whether it'll be a successful comeback, is something we can't be certain of. This song was written by Arnthor Birgisson and Ina Wroldsen. No wonder it was a hit song, especially with the latter songwriter.
Directed by Taj Stansberry, this music video incorporates a performance and a narrative, with the main focus on the narrative throughout. Her love interest is played by singer/songwriter and actor and model Steph Jones.
The storyline shows Shontelle walking away from her relationship with her on-screen love interest Steph Jones. She looks back over all the good and bad times during their music making days. These past clips aren't easily known as her past and can be considered confusing to start off with.
There are many performance scenes, but she doesn't really connect with the song throughout. She obviously cares for the song but doesn't put enough passion behind her performance of it. Which is probably why people claim that James Arthur's version of "Impossible" is better, or even the Fifth Harmony cover during The X Factor (US).
The rest of the music video isn't all that interesting, many scenes are shown that we have seen plenty of times in other music videos. It's intricate but not as engaging as we all hoped it would be.
This is later than anticipated, and I'm sorry about that. Yesterday, I was in A&E at the hospital, getting checked over. I believed I was close to having an asthma attack; instead, I was told that I have a chest infection. I am now on tablets for the next week or so. I have changed the date of this blog post to New Year's Day, even though, technically, it's the 2 January today. But, shush, I won't tell anyone if you don't.
Guess what? Last year, I decided that my New Year's Resolution would be to blog every single day of 2016. I DID JUST THAT! And when I was ill or away from home, I did some catch-up blogs so that I was back on track. I actually can't believe I managed to review a music video once a day for the whole year. This is the first time I've ever accomplished that!
Now, it's time to reveal some of my plans for this year.
Obviously, the main thing is to write a music video review a day, much like I did during 2016. However, there are plenty of other plans I have in store.
1) Start up Artist Of The Month once again. This is an important part of my blog, I just wish it was as easy as it sounds.
2) Easier navigation to your favourite artists. This will allow you to see all the blog posts about your favourite artists' music videos. At the moment, I haven't got much navigation apart from New Releases and Chart Mondays, but I am planning to change that.
3) Exciting new pages will entice you to explore my website a bit more; as well as, links to the other websites that I post articles on, as I don't advertise them enough on here.
I hope you all had a good Christmas and New Year. If there's a music video you want me to review, feel free to suggest it to me on my Suggestions Page (I had no suggestions this year); or, alternatively, get in touch on Twitter or Facebook; I love to chat with you guys.
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.
