September is FINALLY back, and the UK have totally missed her. Her real name is Petra Marklund, and she first came to my attention when she signed with Hard2Beat (also known as "Dance Nation"), which is the same record label as fellow Swedish dance singer Basshunter. She released two singles under that record label "Cry For You" & "Can't Get Over", and then an album "Cry For You", she didn't last long and soon had to find another label to take her. Now she is signed to All Around The World records, who released her first UK single "Satellites" which only just managed the UK Top 100. So now she's back, and let's hope AATW records can promote her as well as they have done with Cascada, Inna and Alexandra Stan. September could be big, but without enough promotion, she could end up failing again. I am a fan, but she has stopped making the UK charts which kind of stops me from buying her singles and albums. This song could be a hit, but if she doesn't have constant play on the radios then she could be another dance artist to fail in the UK.
Mikrofonkåt is the original song. It is a Swedish song originally written by Thomas Rusiak and Petter. Petter also originally sung it in 1999. September revived the song and it reached number one in Sweden, which is her highest chart topper in her own country. She, and a number of writers, edited the original song to turn it into an English adaption. Although many people have said that they prefer Mikrofonkåt. The writers include September, Thomas Rusiak, Nicklas Bergwall, Petter Alexis and Daniel Alexander. I find it clever how people can change a whole song into an English adaption, just like Basshunter did with his first two singles. The song sounds perfect to perform live to fans, and I can definitely see her dancing on stage to this up-tempo song, let's just hope it cracks the UK top 40.
The music video must have been difficult to come up with, the lyrics don't really give much away and I think they have done a pretty good job. The clothing she wears is a little weird to be honest, when she's walking up those steps with her white suit, she has GREEN heels on, which I'm pretty sure no person would ever do. I like the choreography bit in the elevator, it's different and I don't think we've seen dancing in an elevator before, although it does remind me, a bit, of The Saturdays' "Notorious" and Aerosmith's "Love in and Elevator".
I like the fact that in the case was her microphone, and I do question how long that pink lead goes for. A lot of people have said that the guy who's in the elevator with September looks a bit like Keanu Reeves, I don't think so, but if others do, I might as well mention it. I'm not quite sure what to think of September's hair cut, in "Cry For You" and "Can't Get Over" she has long hair, and it does make her look a little older that what she actually is, so the short hair does make her look her age, if not younger, but it's just going to take a while to get used to.
Overall, I think this music video was difficult to come up with. It relates to the song, even though the song is very difficult to be made into a music video. Compared to September's other music videos, this is average, and there is little narrative storyline. I noticed within my review I took detail in the little bits rather than anything structural which suggests that there isn't a lot to talk about. So based on that I think I've given it the rating it deserves.
Believe it our not, in this music video JoJo is 12/13 but she's so confident in herself anyone can easily mistake her for 18. I do feel a little sorry for her, I don't think a 13 year old or younger should be pushed into the music industry, it's pressurizing and even 16 year old's find it difficult, examples include Britney Spears and Billie Piper. But JoJo, real name Joanna Levesque, is one young artist who hasn't been misled and she's so focused on music that no problems have occurred, leading to the fact that JoJo is a very strong individual and can do what she wants when she puts her mind to it. Recently she has been hidden away, no music released and she has to build her fan base back. She has disappeared due to record label problems and law suits, which has pushed back her comeback even more. But finally she is ready for a comeback, and she needs to do a hell of a lot of promoting as most people have forgotten her name. But I've been a fan since this song, and I don't care if I have to wait 20 years, I will always love her music and I can't wait for her to come back.
This song is about heartbreak and telling your partner to go and disappear because you don't want him/her no more. JoJo's voice is amazing and you really feel the emotions pass over to you, which quite surprises me since she is quite young. You would think that she wrote at least part of the song because she displays the song perfectly however it was actually written by Soulshock & Karlin, Alex Cantrell and Philip "Silky" White. Soulshock & Karlin are a duo who have written and produced many songs by artists such as "2Pac" and "Jamelia".
I like the music video very much, it's one I can watch again and again and never get bored with it, however it is the usual teenage, high-school music video. I like the use of the cameraman being the guy JoJo is singing about and telling him "it's the end of you and me", it's something that isn't used at all now and so it definitely picks this music video out from a crowd. Some of the scenes are a little cheap, such as the bathroom bit where she's looking through the mirrors, if you look closely enough, in between those mirrors, the wall behind JoJo is the exact same, which suggests that she's standing behind 3 squares with nothing in them, which are frames, however it's easily mistaken, and it's rare you don't notice.
The dance moves are very then, for that era of music. You definitely wouldn't see any artist of today doing the "shoulder shrug" (I just made up a name for it, but you know what I'm on about). JoJo pulls it off amazingly, but it is definitely the type of dance choreography that was in, in 2004. And I will definitely say it again, she really doesn't look 13, when she first came out, a lot of my friends fantasised about her.
Overall, I remember enjoying this music video when I was young, and I can't wait for her come back, because I can see it being one of the best American comebacks in this decade! I love this song and it'll never get boring or old, it's mainstream pop and it's still what people are into. The music video suits perfectly and although it is considered old now and you can see the problems with it compared to what is coming out now, it doesn't matter. I hope you all think my rating is fair and not at all biased.
Alexandra Stan is another Romanian dance singer who has hit global success. Romania is definitely sending out the big guns now. We've already had Inna and Edward Maya, Alexandra Stan tops it all, and I assure you, there are far more to come, as I have mentioned in various other posts. This song has become number one in so many countries and have been in the top ten in so many more. It hit the UK chart at number 3 and it rivaled for the top spot but never getting there unfortunately. Also in the Top 100 we saw a cover version making it too, "Mr. Saxobeat" will definitely go down in history as the most played song on the radio, and I can't help singing along to it every time. Alexandra Stan now has a new song out called "Get Back (ASAP)". The song is released soon, so expect a review in the next coming weeks. After watching her new music video, it suggests that they are going to follow one another like Basshunter's videos do. I love it when this happens because you have a storyline that can stretch to eternity. And when a mega mix is made they fit nicely together, and they have to be played in order.
The song was written by Andrei Nemirschi, Marcel Prodan. The song is about Alexandra Stan being in love with this guy and trying to attract him by explaining the way he makes her move. The song lyrics are short and "sweet" but people still get them a bit confused, especially the chorus which is actually "You make me this, bring me up, bring me down, playing sweet, make me move like a freak, Mr. Saxobeat. He make me this, race me up, race me down, dancing sweet, make me move like a freak, Mr. Saxobeat". A lot of people think she is saying "Taylor Swift, makes me move like a freak", which would definitely be funny, but it's not the lyrics, sorry guys, maybe someone should cover the song and change the lyrics a bit? Her voice is amazing and definitely shows what Romania have up their sleeves. The song has a saxophone playing through-out and some trance beats are used. The song is very now as dance music is definitely in, it won't be long until one of her singles make number one across the world, mark my words. This song can be played again and again and I'll never get bored of it.
The music video is one I could watch again and again and I bet I'm not the only guy to say this. A lot of people have commented saying that one of the police guards looks a lot like Pitbull and I have to agree that he actually does and it makes me laugh every time. I like the whole concept although I very much doubt any guy could escape from prison by being sexy, so it is a little sexist, but we can't really complain can we?
What I would like to know is why she is sent to prison in the first place (my idea is that it's because of her first video being a little over the top, however "Lollipop (Param Pam Pam)" hasn't been released to the UK yet, so maybe the reason will appear somewhere down the line at some point? Or will it be a mystery forever?). I like the simple dance moves that she does (that's if you can call them dance moves) her little flicks of her hands and a few subtle turns is all she needs to do to grab certain people's attention.
Overall I love this song, and I'm quickly becoming a big fan of Romanian music at the moment. I'm definitely going to buy all future releases of Alexandra Stan (unless she goes down a music route I no longer like). And this music video is the start of something BIG I can just tell, I just hope the next few music videos will continue with this gripping storyline, just like Basshunter did. The song links in with the music video, however there is better ideas that would have linked a lot better, however it is what it is, isn't it?
Matt Cardle is the most recent winner of The X Factor in the UK. That series has possibly thrown out the most acts who have then gone on to release singles and albums, or are about to, these people include: Matt Cardle (winner) Rebecca Ferguson (second), One Direction (third), Cher Lloyd (fourth), Mary Byrne (fifth), Katie Waissel (seventh), Belle Amie (eleventh), Storm Lee (fourteenth) and Nicolò Festa (sixteenth). I did buy Matt Cardle's first single "When We Collide" as I rooted for him through out the whole of the X Factor, but I don't think I like this song and I definitely feel that he is going to be another male X Factor winner that is going to be dropped from the Syco label. But we'll just have to wait and see.
This song is written by, now X Factor judge, Gary Barlow. And to be totally honest this song definitely sounds like a song you'll find sung by Gary Barlow's band Take That. But further more Take That wouldn't even release this song as a single, and I really do feel sorry for Matt, he's definitely not with the right group of people at the moment. The song is about telling his partner to run off and leave him behind because there's better people than him in the world and she deserves better. I think it is a good meaning and Matt Cardle's voice makes it that little bit more special, however I really don't like the song and that's not at all Matt's fault.
The music video is okay, it looks really cheap and nasty though and compared to the various other X Factor winner's second singles, this obviously isn't the best, some may say it's the worse so far. The budget (if there was one) was obviously spent on those projectors, which is pretty stupid since there are much better ideas to create, and it just lets this song down even more. Matt obviously had little to say in it, and the camera shots used aren't that very good. I think this projector idea looked better down on paper, and it must have been too late to change it once they started filming it.
I don't really know what else to say, I can't really comment on the girl in the video because the video has been edited so there isn't a lot to say about her, although some may say that she could do a lot better than Matt, and that's probably what they planned on trying to show. I like the fact that they show her running as it definitely links in with the song. This song is very difficult to put into a video, and although lots of people can think of various ideas, would it really link in with the song as well as this does?
Overall, I really like Matt and I wish him the best on his future music career, however with the Syco record label behind him, it's going to be difficult for him to show off his real talents since he is very much an indie singer and that's not the classic pop that Simon Cowell is used to. I won't be buying this single or his album, but I hope that others will and I hope we'll be seeing him a lot more. I don't like the song that much although I like the meaning behind it, and the music video... I have to admit I avoid it at all costs, however it does link in with the song and definitely goes with it to an extent. Here's my rating and I hope a few of you agree with it at least.
I wasn't sure what music video I was going to review today, since it's a Sunday I always choose an artist I have reviewed in the past week, and choose a music video that is more than 4 years old. Out of the last week, this music video was an obvious choice, and I could watch this one over and over and over again, and although the song could possibly get on my nerves within that short space of time, the video itself would never become boring and it will still shock me every time I see it. Evanescence has had a few line-up changes in the past few years, as this music video is their first ever single, the band contained all original members, these members are: Amy Lee, John LeCompt, Terry Balsamo, Will Boyd and Rocky Gray. I have always, always thought that the male vocals on this track was sung by John LeCompt, but how wrong was I? I just looked it up and they are actually sung by someone called Paul McCoy, who also appears in the video. I constantly thought that it was John LeCompt who tried to help her up and then let her go, that's just shocked me, I'm surprised that for nearly 10 years I've never knew they were guest vocals.... Anyway, focusing back on this review. Paul McCoy is the male-vocalist of the band 12 Stones (who I've never heard of. But apparently they're big in the US).
I like this song, Amy's voice is clear, and emotional and you can definitely hear every note of sentiment as she's singing and this could be the reason it got to number one. The song's about being with someone for a bit of fun and then when they go their separate ways they realise that they are in love, but they're lost without one another and waiting for the other to "bring" them back "to life".I love Paul McCoy's rapping/heavy-rock verse, and although it's difficult at times to understand what he's singing, it works well and it's what makes this song stand out. If it were to be re-released it would still make number one (I think).
This music video is a little flickery on YouTube, but I admit it's nothing like that on the music channels. It has only gained 1 million hits which is a little weird as you naturally would have expected a load more, but maybe YouTube wasn't around in 2003? I really like this music video, and although it's simple and you kind of can see how it's been made, it's still an amazing video, and kind of links in with the song's meaning.
I like how Amy is dreaming of falling, it's something really interesting and suggests that she has no life without this guy in her life. So she becomes a daredevil (since the stairs and the elevators are blocked, why she doesn't use them I have no idea, maybe she wasn't thinking straight, too messed up about losing this guy than actually thinking clearly), and starts scaling the building. She gets to the top and Paul McCoy sees her and helps to get her in the room, but in opening the window, it pushes Amy off the ledge, she's hanging onto the ledge and Paul tries to help her up. This connotes the fact that maybe if they did decide to get back together then maybe it wouldn't work and he'll end up letting go of her again. Which is exactly what Paul does, and it shocks me every time I see it. Anyhow, it turns out to be all a dream anyway, which definitely suggests that even though she has a hole in her heart and that life may not be worth living without him, nothing good can come out of it, so it's best to forget and move on.
I like how the music video enchants the song into something much more than what it was written for, both the vocals and the video puts together creates this amazing outlook on life that just takes over and leaves you wanting to press repeat for the rest of your life. I like the fact that a music video can be this strong to make me feel this way.
Overall I love this music video, it's simple, basic, a little bit of a low budget, but it's so powerful that it leaves you breathless (and no, that isn't because it's difficult to sing both Amy and Paul's parts). The song is emotionally great and definitely worthy of that number one Evanescence scored, but I highly doubt they'll do it again, music has changed since their hiatus and it's really difficult for rock bands to make the top 10-0 let alone the top spot, but if anyone can change it, it will definitely be this band.
