This was the whistling song in the Eurovision Song Contest 2014 and it's definitely upbeat, which definitely helped overall. Sebalter entered for Switzerland and managed to get them 64 points placing the country 13th, which is pretty good going. This cute number will definitely cheer you up, unless you're like me and can't whistle at all, and so can't whistle along with everyone else. Sebalter is the "Hunter of Stars" as he whistled his way through a hotel as a concierge and a hotel chef, as well as the Eurovision Song Contest, finally winning everyone over including his boss.
Sebalter, real name Sebastiano Paù-Lessi, was originally a part of a group called The Vad Vuc, who went on to release three albums before he left to pursue a solo career. He entered Die Große Entscheidungsshow, which is Switzerland's national selection process, in which he won in 2014. The song did well at Eurovision and even did well in charts around Europe after the contest. Sebalter went on to release an album and a follow-up single but has since not released anything new. The song was written by Sebastiano Paù-Lessi.
The video was directed by Nick Rusconi and was filmed at Hotel Royal Splendide in Lugano, Switzerland. Quite tongue-in-cheek and definitely upbeat to go with the song, Sebalter plays a comical character and really shows his acting abilities, and slight dance moves.
Working inside of a hotel, Sebalter releases singing energy in front of unexpected guests, and his very unhappy boss. Even worse, is when he is in the kitchen making spaghetti and it flies through the air and lands on his boss, which was obviously going to happen. But finally, after joyfully playing his song up and down the corridor on the luggage cart, he settles down, playing his song and wins his boss over.
A great happy performance piece with a very obvious yet comical narrative piece. Overall this video is great fun and hilarious. Yet the song has a hidden meaning behind the deceptive lyrics and it is quite emotional. Yet they've focused on the happy sound of the song and the cheerfulness of the song is why it did so well at Eurovision.
Rumoured to be about the Orlando Shooting, this music video really does hit home for many people. It's so theatrical with amazing dancing and choreography which we totally expect from Maddie Zieger now. This whole music video is shockingly great, and Sia's lyrics is definitely just as good. Inspiring the whole world not to give up, Sia's song is pretty catchy, but it's the video with Maddie Zieger that really makes this "The Greatest", especially when it's supposedly about the Orlando Shooting.
Sia, full name Sia Furler, has really come into her own in the last few years. Now she's one of the most talked-about female singers as well as one of the most popular. Her songs have always cut deep and has always been superb. Now she's back with this new song which will be the lead single from her eighth studio album, which will do amazingly worldwide. This song originally features a rap from Kendrick Lamar, however. the rap verse has been taken out for this music video. The song was written by Sia Furler and Greg Kurstin.
Directed by Sia and Daniel Askill, with the choreography done by Ryan Heffington. This video is full of emotion, and even though the dance sequences are crazy, as always whenever Maddie Zieger dances, it's so full of emotion just like the song.
I love the start and the end, how Maddie Zieger paints rainbows on her cheeks using her hands, and she's clearly upset. The song suggests to keep your head up, and so Maddie Zieger shows that in her performance.
All the kids perform amazingly, of course, Maddie Zieger stands out the most, and her wacky faces make this serious music video wacky and hilarious at the same time, yet as we journey through dance, we get to the powerful ending where they're dancing together as a group, as one, before falling to the ground and holes can be seen through the walls, suggesting bullet holes.
The last scene is Maddie Zieger crying, this is so powerful and so emotional and does hit home for a lot of people. This will always be raw for a lot of people in the LGBT+ community and it affected everyone around the whole world. This is what makes this music video special.
From what I have heard from Beyoncé's latest album, it's nothing that interests me, and yet it's flooded with emotion and is completely new and her own. No one can deny the influence Beyoncé has had in the music industry, regardless of the fact that I'm not a fan of her new music. Her new stuff just isn't for me, and maybe once upon a time I did enjoy Beyoncé's music, but she's practically developed her music into something that isn't for me over the past few years. "Hold Up" by Beyoncé is a hate loving exploration for wrecking things with a baseball bat. Progressive from drowning to being in control.
Beyoncé, full name Beyoncé Knowles-Carter, first came on the scene as the lead singer of Destiny's Child. But it wasn't until she went solo that she soon became this massive singer. Now she's poured her heart and soul into her latest album 'Lemonade', which has had mixed reviews from critics and the general public, which explains the not-so-great chart positions she's been pulling in. Regardless of which, her music videos for the album have all been FIRE! This song contains a sample of "Can't Get Used To Losing You" sung by Andy Williams, an interpolation of "Maps" by the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, and an interpolation of "Turn My Swag On" by Soulja Boy. This is why there is a tonne of songwriters... Which are: Thomas Pentz (Diplo), Ezra Koening, Beyoncé Knowles, Emile Haynie, Joshua Tillman, Uzoechi Emenike (MNEK), Sean "Melo-X" Rhoden, Doc Pomus, Mort Shuman, DeAndre Way (Soulja Boy), Antonio Randolph, Kelvin McConnell and Yeah Yeah Yeahs.
Directed by Jonas Åkerlund, the video is part of a one-hour film titled 'Lemonade' which aired on HBO. Seeing only this snippet of the film is questioningly difficult as we haven't seen all parts of the film. However, judgement can only be made on this music video rather than the film as a whole.
The start, the monologue of words which Beyoincé uses to introduce the music video, is suggestive of drowning. That she once succumbed to things and changed herself to become someone.
That is not who she is now, she won't be told what to do, she won't become something she's not. This is who she is, this is the musical direction she has gone down, and she doesn't care what anyone else thinks.
The steps scene is my favourite, she looks like a sea creature breaking the surface, becoming a land creature. As she walks the streets, she grabs a bat and starts taking her hatred out on cars, shop windows, cameras and a hydrant. Although all she feels is happiness.
Overall, this video isn't exactly complete, what with it being a part of the one-hour 'Lemonade' film. However, it does relate to the song well, and it's a great reflection on how Beyoncé is feeling at the moment. There's not a lot else to say, although baseball bats seem to be in right now after Suicide Squad's Harley Quinn.
Last week I had two options for Chart Mondays, or so I thought... And I chose Calum Scott's "Dancing On My Own", knowing full well that my other option would make it to the top of the UK Chart this week, and it sure did.
Little did I know that The Chainsmokers hasn't released a music video for "Closer" which features Halsey, This is the song that is currently sitting pretty on the top of the UK Chart.
Regardless, if I had known this last week, I wouldn't have seen it as a choice. My opinion may have been slightly different, that being said, we can't dip into the past and change things around to see what the outcome would be.
End of the day, this is the fifth time I've not had a video to review for Chart Mondays due to the fact that I have already reviewed all the music videos for the entire UK Top 10 Singles Chart, apart from the ones that haven't been released yet, obviously.
Time to reminisce over my past reviews as click the links to the UK's Top 10:
To finish off this blog post, here's a little question to think about...
Is streaming services wrecking the UK chart?
Just a quick glance at the UK iTunes Chart tells an extremely different story... They said streams won't affect songs near the top of the chart, but it clearly has. In America, they count YouTube plays and various other things towards the Billboard Chart. Things are going to have to change, mainly because the chart is supposed to show what music is most popular, and although that may be the case, slightly, I'm sure that top 10 isn't the current most popular music in the UK.
What do you think? Let me know below or on my social channels.
After a random tweet suggestion asking me to watch this music video; it's time for Bronnie to be a part of my blog. Inspiring musician, Bronnie is ready to bring back the pop/rock music we all fell in love with a decade or so ago. Unsigned and going after her dreams, Bronnie is fighting for what she wants, and totally inspiring a lot of people. With a massive fan base on Twitter, it's only a matter of time before Bronnie makes it big. Bronnie rocks on this "High School Sucks" track, showing scenes of her recording session at Edge Recording Studio as well as scenes from famous films to relate to the lyrics.
Bronnie, full name Bronnie Hughes, is an 18-year-old singer who is currently unsigned. She has currently over 300,000 views on her YouTube Channel. A total of two releases on iTunes, one of which is a Christmas song. She takes inspiration from 00's pop/rock music from Avril Lavigne to Busted to Bowling For Soup. She won the Ryan Seacrest Cover Song Contest, and has been in musical theatre since she was seven. This girl is focused and driven, and is definitely someone to keep your eye on. Requesting the help of Josh Bentley, Patrick Doyle, and Tom Atkinson of the band Liberty Calling, Bronnie recorded this song at Edge Recording Studio, where many famous acts before her have recorded songs and albums. She announced in a behind the scenes video clip, that she wrote the song in February 2015.
The video is less high school and more recording studio, although high school clips from famous films are shown throughout, which nicely links in with the lyrics.
Great visual editing throughout, it really shows Bronnie as this up-and-coming star. It introduces her as a singer-songwriter, showing what she's been up to with this song.
Various clips from American Pie are intercut with a perfect visual of Bronnie. Relating in perfect timing to the lyrics, especially the ode to Sum 41.
As for the performance scenes, Bronnie is on form, you can tell how much she loves this song, and what it means to her. Full of life, in the video, her bubbly charm can be seen throughout and even in the BTS videos. She's a positive person and so genuine, which she easily outputs in the video. If she replicates that on stage, which she no doubt does, then anyone who goes to see her live will be in for a treat.
This is Bronnie, and we all better watch out for her. This video shows her time at Edge Recording Studio, as well as her upbeat positive vibe and performance presence. This is who she is, prepared to bring back the pop/rock genre we all loved a decade ago. Making it current and making it new, Bronnie is ready, are you?
