Serani - No Games



I've been at a 21st house party today, and this song came on and I knew I was going to review the music video for it. This song is a jam whenever it comes on in a club; clearly, they didn't think it would blow up as big as it did because the budget was definitely low in this music video. Pushing that aside, it has a great storyline and the performance side isn't so bad. Serani tells his girl that he is playing "No Games" as he stands by her after she finds out she's pregnant.

Serani, real name Craig Marsh, has released a bunch of singles and albums, but this song is the one that has really blown up around the world. This song is the dancefloor filler in any club, with everyone singing along to the lyrics, even if they don't actually know them properly. Surprisingly, he hasn't hit the UK chart with this song, regardless of its popularity, and hasn't hit the Billboard chart in America either, instead settling on other charts in America, such as Billboard's Heatseekers chart, where he got to number 46. It's disappointing to see a very popular song not hit the big time on the charts, but all it takes is someone to cover it on a TV show to boost it up the chart, that's going to happen sometime. This song was written by Dave Antony Kelly and Craig Marsh.

The music video is definitely low budget, but it has a strong narrative with a pretty solid performance piece. If only it were more of a higher quality.

The narrative is completely relatable to the song, and although it is extremely basic, it's easy to get caught up in the storyline. I love how she panics when she finds out she's pregnant, and she runs away, but he doesn't mind. It doesn't bother him because he truly loves her. How he found out where she was staying, though, I have no idea.

The performance side is energetic. It's clear he means every word he is singing; the song is catchy and I can't help but sing-a-long; after all, it is the dancefloor filler we all know and love.

Overall, if this video was of a higher quality then this would look so much better. The narrative is simplistic but completely relatable to the song. Serani gives out great performance vibes that entertain the viewers. What more can we possibly ask for?
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New Release: Aston Merrygold Featuring LDN Noise - I Ain't Missing You



Another single off Aston Merrygold after many push-back dates from his album. This JLS singer isn't having the best solo career, but with this killer song he may have had the breakthrough he's been hoping for. This former JLS member shows us his dancing skills in his new music video for "I Ain't Missing You". Aston Merrygold is ready, are you?

Aston Merrygold, mostly known for his time in the boy band JLS from The X Factor, was the guy who always took the lead vocals in many of The X Factor performances, but it wasn't until the group started to release their own music that they really found their sound. JLS were the runner-up to Alexandra Burke in the fifth series of The X Factor. They went on to achieve five UK number one singles and their three studio albums were in the top three, their debut album hit number one. Ever since the split, Aston Merrygold's solo career has been hyped to the max, but soon dissipated as his singles didn't achieve the success that was anticipated. Now this song may out-do his previous attempts, especially with his album just around the corner, that's if it doesn't get pushed back again. The featured artist is LDN Noise, a producing and songwriting duo consisting of Greg Bonnick and Hayden Chapman, they are definitely making a name for themselves in the music industry and are definitely ones to watch.

This music video is a full performance piece with a slightly undeveloped narrative at the start, that sees Aston Merrygold step out of a car and strike a match before dropping it on a bag of things, presumedly things of the woman he's singing about. He's saying goodbye, because he ain't missing her.

The performance part then kicks in, and it is LIT! Seriously, I knew Aston Merrygold could move, but wow! He pulls off that choreography like it's nothing, along with his backing dancers. Fully in-sync and totally on-point, it's pretty magical.

The scene is filmed awkwardly as the camera pans in and out during the dance scene, making a less enjoyable viewing, however, it can be ignored as you see these amazing dancers perform.

Overall, it's good, but Aston Merrygold has always had a slight arrogance in the way he comes across, you can see this when he's dancing, ready to show the world what he's got and be slightly cocky with it. However, I can't blame him for that, because although the narrative is more suggestive than developed, and the performance is a bit on the cocky side; this dance sequence is perfection. I just need to learn the choreography now!
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Major Lazer - Pon De Floor



What have I just watched? Apparently, they're daggering, which is a Jamaican style of dance, but still, this is not what I expected when I clicked on this song. Chosen for my Thursday Revisit review, because I didn't have much choice, and I actually wanted to see what Major Lazer was like over five years ago. This is definitely far from their number one single "Cold Water". However, Beyoncé did sample this song, therefore making it famous, for her "Run The World (Girls)". The video is quite shocking. The dancers show a Jamaican dance form initiated in Jamaican dance halls which has recently been named daggering. "Pon De Floor" takes it to the extreme in this music video by Major Lazer.

Major Lazer were a duo back in 2009 consisting of American DJ Diplo and British DJ Switch. This single is the only song that charted when they were a duo, managing to get on the UK chart. Definitely different now as a trio, their more recent music is much more popular. This song features vocals from Vybz Kartel and producing credits from Afrojack. This song was written by Thomas Pentz, David Taylor and Nick van de Wall.

Directed by Eric Wareheim, this video is extremely surprising and I certainly wasn't expecting to see over-the-top daggering. People complain about seeing twerking, but once you have seen this, twerking will be a distant memory.

Performed in a cartoon suburbia, in amongst a cartoon house, it's quite cleverly done, but it's not something I would like to see again.

Even though this dance move isn't a Jamaican tradition, the concept came from Jamaica and the song has a daggering feel to it and therefore relating to the song somewhat.

However, this is totally over the top, it's too much at times, and can be considered tongue-in-cheek and yet it looks quite degrading.

All in all, the video has a narrative although it doesn't make sense at all... The dancing is relatable to the music video but it isn't that great to watch and not something I recommend watching on repeat.
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Finland Entry: Softengine - Something Better



Finland brought a bit of rock back to the Eurovision Song Contest again in 2014. Finland is renowned for their rock contributions to the Eurovision Song Contest, after all, Lordi did win with "Hard Rock Hallelujah" for Finland back in 2006. Softengine managed to get 72 points, placing Finland 11th in the Grand Final, just missing out on the top ten, but as I've said time and time again, 2014 was a competitive year. A pure performance based music video for "Something Better" from Softengine, showing the energy they have on stage.

Softengine were a five piece rock band at the time of this music video, consisting of Topi Latukka, Ossi Mäkelä, Henri Oskár, Tuomo Alarinta and Eero Keskinen. The band is currently a four-piece rock band, as Eero Keskinen left the group to follow his career as a lighting technician. As a four-piece, they have gone on to release an EP and some new singles; apparently, album number two is just around the corner. This song was well received at Eurovision 2014. It was written by Topi Latukka and Henri Oskár. The band competed in Uuden Musiikin Kilpailu 2014, the national selection for Finland's entrant into the Eurovision Song Contest 2014, and they easily won.

The music video is a pure performance piece. I don't usually have a problem with these sorts of videos, as long as they're good, but Softengine fails to excite the viewers. Considering they would perform on the Eurovision stage, a pure performance-based video isn't exactly great promotion for the song.

There's not an awful lot to say about this video. The band seem quite static as the camera spins around them. The low angles fail to capture the audience in, and doesn't make for a pleasant viewing.

There's nothing else I can comment on. This video doesn't draw the audience in and they performed so much better on the Grand Final and the Semi-Final than they did in this music video. It's just not engaging enough.
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Fifth Harmony - That's My Girl



Ever since this song was announced as their next single, we've been waiting for a music video, and it's been such a long wait. But the Olympics have finished and here's the video, and it was definitely worth that long wait! A total relief after waiting so long for Major Lazer's "Cold Water" and being disappointed; but Fifth Harmony has made us completely forget about "Cold Water" and totally smashed this video! Fifth Harmony appear in a post-apocalyptic world and attempts to save everyone, whilst performing this strong and empowering track. "That's My Girl" is a true sign of girl power!

Fifth Harmony is one of the biggest girl groups in the entire world at the moment. Formed on The X Factor (US), and much like One Direction, they came third in their season; they have become world renowned. They consist of Normani Kordei, Lauren Jauregui, Dinah Jane Hansen, Camila Cabello and Ally Brooke. They're currently on their 7/27 world tour, promoting their second album. This single is their third single overall, and may be their last from the said album. Girl power and totally empowering, this song is beyond strong. It was written by Tinashe Kachingwe, Alexander Kronlund and Lukas Loules.

Now this music video is FIRE! The director is Hannah Lux Davies; so, of course, it was going to be FIRE! This is one of the best Fifth Harmony music videos I have seen.

Interpreting the lyrics into a whole difference imagination, this music video goes a lot further than we initially thought it would. The song itself is about independence and being strong, encouraging their fans to be determined and do what they want because they can do it and they certainly don't need a man beside them.

So how this song turned into a post-apocalyptic video, about strength and caring, I do not know, but let's be honest this is completely amazing, especially with everything going on in Syria at the moment.

The girls wave white flags in the air in a brilliant dance sequence that they nail, before saving the survivors and rescuing them. They then dance with red flags in amazing choreography, they're totally in-sync throughout.

The girls are perfect throughout. Their performance vibes are totally off the radar, if you've ben lucky enough to see them live like I have, then you'll know how amazing they are, just like they are in this video.

Overall this video has it all, a relatable strong narrative all infused amongst various performance pieces that contain amazing choreography which is performed flawlessly. These girls are already one of the biggest girl groups in the whole world, but this song and video just enforces that even more!
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