Nina Zilli, real name Maria Fraschetta, has got my 2nd spot on my top 7, please remember the order of my top 7 is in order of which they placed in the Eurovision Song Contest. Nina Zilli performed for Italy, and managed to come 9th, which is a great position to get. She reminds me a lot of the late Amy Winehouse, she not only looks like her, but she sounds quite like her too. And this is definitely the sort of song I could see Amy singing. Nina Zilli is a great singer, she has already made a name for herself in Italy getting some pretty high charting positions, but can she do as well in the rest of Europe? There's no sign of her charting this Sunday on the UK chart, but that doesn't mean she won't. At the end of the day, I think she should have a crack of it, I'm sure the UK will bring her in, and I can see her doing pretty well elsewhere as well. I wish Nina Zilli the best of luck.
The song was originally written by Christian Rabb, Kristoffer Sjökvist, Frida Molander and Charlie Mason. They wrote the song in English, however Nina Zilli then translated it into Italian for her album. Then when she released it for the Eurovision, she decided to sing it in both English and Italian. I love it when you watch singers on the Eurovision who has sung a song in 2 or more different languages, they make it seem effortless, but then again, it probably is when you are fluent in those languages, it's only difficult when you aren't.
This music video isn't too bad, but it's not great either, it's another pure performance piece with artistic choreography, and an extremely catchy tune. It kind of reminds me of the old jazz/pop music videos where the singer didn't do much and the dancers had quite a lot of choreography. It also reminds me of the classic musicals where the main character is lifted and moved, with not much choreography. This links in well with the sort of song this is.
It was definitely more entertaining than the Eurovision performance, however the latter was more interesting as it portrayed the song, perfectly. This is lacking somewhat, I have watched this video 4 times already, hoping I'd come up with something more to write about , but there isn't a lot going on.
I like how they've made Nina Zilli stand out, one scene she has ginger hair, that makes her noticable and makes her that little bit more interesting, and then those dancers are in bright coloured shirts with a white overcoat, that emphasises Nina Zilli, they also make her quite sexy too.
Overall a great, upbeat song and a not bad music video to go with it. What would have made this video much better would be making Nina Zilli do some more complicated choreography, maybe include a narrative, maybe make it look on the old side to go with this song. Although, this music video works pretty well, I have to give this rating, I wish I could give more.
From my top 7 this is the highest placed Eurovision entry. Which is quite surprising; of course I liked a few others that did place higher, but I had to narrow them down didn't I? So Ott Lepland first found fame from the third series of "Eesti otsib superstaari", which translates in English as "Estonia is Searching for a Superstar". It is Estonia's version of Pop Idol. In which Ott Lepland won. He has an amazing voice, and although he sung a ballad, he made it sound recent and current. His voice just outstands me and I really hope he becomes that world-wide star he clearly deserves to be.
"Kuula" was sung in Estonian, therefore I haven't got a clue what he was singing. Kuula means Listen. However Ott Lepland has recorded versions in many different languages. The English version can be heard below, which is titled "Hands On". The English version is very good, but you just can't beat the Estonian version. The song was written by Ott Lepland and Aapo Ilves. The former is the singer, which makes me happy, as I like it when artists write their own songs, they're more meaningful, hence the reason why I like this song as it's full of emotion. The latter is a writer and poet who lives in Estonia, but has dipped into songwriting every now and again. Marvi Vallaste provides additional vocals to this track, and she was seen on stage with Ott Lepland at Baku, Azerbaijan. The UK gave 4 points to Estonia, which isn't too bad considering this is a ballad, so my vote helped somewhat.
This music video is another performance piece, however it's not as boring as the UK's entry, which was Engelbert Humperdinck's "Love Will Set You Free". It contained words, some I couldn't quite pronounce until he sung them, that wisped away like sand in the wind, it went nicely with the song, and kind of suggests "read me" if you won't "hear me". Which was a great technique to interest the viewers more.
Again, because it's a ballad, not much is going on, there's good use of the lights, and he is wearing a great suit, that I want to wear. This also helps to make this more entertaining. And then comes the voice in the second half of the song and you just can't stop listening to this over and over again. But not only that the song actually gets stuck in your head, which is rare for a ballad, and might be one of the many reasons he came sixth in Eurovision 2012.
Overall a great song that I'm still in love with, there's no sign of it charting on the UK chart this Sunday, but it might be in the top 200. I wish Ott Lepland the best of luck in the music industry, and I hope to see him crack the UK soon. He definitely has the chance with that amazing voice. The accompanying music video is different to what is about, and that is the main justification I have for giving him this rating. I hope others take a leap out of this music video and make people realise you can do a ballad music video and make it look good.
Engelbert Humperdinck was a big star in the 60's and 70's along with the legend that is Sir Tom Jones. But lately he hasn't been doing that well, and when we all heard that he was going to be our UK entry into the Eurovision, most of us, of the younger generation, went "who?" Last year, the UK tried to appeal Eurovision to the younger generation with Blue's "I Can" and it worked, but for some reason that people have no clue as to why, they picked this person. I had to research a lot about him before I really knew who he was. But before he had been selected I wouldn't have had a clue who it was. I give him ten out of ten for doing perfectly well at the Eurovision with this song, he has an amazing voice that you can't help but like, and with this catchy song, you could tell we might grab a few points, but unlucky for us, he had to sing first, so most people forgot this song since all the amazing acts had followed. We grabbed 12 points, and placed 25th, just ahead of Norway. I just hope that next year in 2013, we get to either have our say, or we get a upbeat song as for the last 5 years we've had ballads, that really aren't for the Eurovision, in my opinion.
"Love Will Set You Free" was written by Martin Terefe and Sacha Skarbek. I'm sure I've wrote Martin Terefe's name before. Sacha Skarbek has produced and wrote quite a few well known songs and albums, I can see him appearing on my blog a few more times in the future. This song kind of reminds me of the sort of song a boy band would sing, such as One Direction. It's the sort of song you could sway to, but also understand all the lyrics. I loved what Engelbert Humperdinck has done with it, and he makes it really catchy, but it is missing this spark, that was apparent in quite a few other entries.
The music video is a pure performance piece. There's not much going on, so I don't see me commenting much, although I loved the lighting and it was really clever how they recorded it. It's quite laid-back which works well with the song.
I like the fact that there is a guitarist that we can see and it allows the camera to focus on him as well. There was more going on in the performance on the stage. There were two dancers who was choreographed by Arlene Phillips. I would have liked to have seen them appear in this music video.
Overall, I think it's a pretty good song, it's something nice and relaxing, however the music video is lacking a lot, and I think the staging was in Baku, Azerbaijan. I have my fingers crossed that next year we shall do well, but I'm not holding my breath.
Lawson is all everyone is talking about, they are here, there and everywhere and people just can't get enough of them. They are having great feedback from YouTube comments, and have already charted high on the iTunes chart at number 8, and it's only been out for a day! They are being compared to 'The Script', which is extremely understandable, and I can see them going far and maybe a number one some time in the future... They are a four-piece pop/rock band consisting of Andy Brown, Adam Pitts, Joel Peat and Ryan Fletcher. Andy Brown has been in the music industry before in a band called 'Avenue' who also consisted of Max George, who is now in 'The Wanted'. They were formerly known as 'The Grove'.
"When She Was Mine" was written by Andy Brown. His inspiration for the song comes from Mollie King from The Saturdays. Mollie and Andy used to go out, but recently split and Andy Brown apparently wrote a few songs about the split, and this was one of them. Mollie King is in total support of the song, and she was urging people on Facebook to download the single. I love it when bands write their own songs as you can tell they really mean everything they are singing. And it's sometimes one of the main reasons why it is so good.
This music video has everything you need. There is both a narrative and a performance, which most music videos have started to do. They also tend to get my 5 stars, as you can rarely find better. I am sure I've seen the girl before, but not sure where from, she is played by Angelica Lynne (thank you anonymous commenter) and she has starred in quite a few music videos, but she has done theatre and modelling.
This music video is cleanly cut and interesting to watch. It's one of those videos that you can watch over and over again and see something new that you hadn't seen the previous time. I'd never get bored of it, and I love the storyline, and how at the end she doesn't answer his call. It's a nice representation of the song, and I don't think any other music video would have done this song justice.
Overall, a very catchy song that you can't help but love. The accompanying music video is great too, however there's a few parts where you are blinded by the sunlight, and some of the camera shots aren't that great either. Having said that though, it definitely will not affect the charting position this Sunday. And I'm super excited to see where this will chart. I can see this band going places!
This music video appeared on the music channels this morning, and it put me in such a uplifting mood, I was ready for this blissful sun, and this was the song that got me in such a great mood.
Ke$ha has yet to reach her peak, she is still starting up, and I hope she releases something outstanding soon. Her real name is Kesha Sebert. She has appeared in and out of the UK charts, yet she is much bigger in the USA.
"TiK ToK" was her first solo single. And she got number ones here there and everywhere, however for the UK she got to number 4, although there was a lot of airplay and music channel play. The song was written by Kesha Serbert, Lukasz Gottwald (Dr. Luke) and Benjamin Levin (Benny Blanco). Both the latter songwriters have appeared on my blog endlessly, they are the ones who create the biggest hits, and you just aren't surprised that a song is written by them, as they are that well known. I am glad to see Ke$ha's name in the writing credits, showing that it is her own song, and it explains why this song is the way it is. According to various sources across the internet, P. Diddy did in fact provide the two lined vocals on the track right at the start.
The music video is a total joy to watch, it contains everything you possibly need, it's narrative and performance at the same time, how can you not enjoy it? There is a lot to like about this music video, and I could talk for hours upon hours about this video, but I'm going to cut it down.
I love the start, using remnants of the night before with her waking up in a bath. I like how the video footage links in perfectly with the lyrics such as when she sings "Pedicure on my toes" there is footage of her pedicure on her toes. I also love the shocked faces of the family when she walks down the stairs near the start of the music video, clearly it's not her house. I like how it's an exact replica of the lyrics, this was probably an easy video to come up with, and easily represented, I bet it blew all the other ideas out of the water.
Again we see a boombox, which seems to be popular lately, so it's interesting to see if they come back into fashion in the future. I like the use of the boys which matches perfectly with the lyrics "And now the dudes are lining up cuz they hear we got swagger, but we kick them to the curb unless they look like Mick Jagger" hence, comes in "Barry" played by Simon Rex, who drives a "1978 Trans Am". The ending is just perfect, as she ends up in a bath once again, ready for the next amazing night.
Overall, this song surprisingly didn't get to number one in the UK, but it will always be one of my top songs, and perfect for this kind of weather (which is really hot, for the UK). The accompanying music video is perfect, and there is nothing bad I can say about it. It contains everything a music video should have, and is definitely worth this rating.
