New Release: Antonia Featuring Achi - Get Up And Dance



Totally cheating using this as my New Release this week since it was released on Tuesday, but still it counts and I am totally in love with this amazing song! I previously reviewed this for CelebMix. This is the first Antonia song I've liked a lot, but I haven't heard many of her others yet. Label mates to my favourite singers in the world, Inna and Alexandra Stan, Antonia is set for big things. Antonia dances through this music video with Achi, she wants everyone to "Get Up And Dance" in this catchy song.

Antonia, full name Antonia Iacobescu, is a Romanian singer, she previously lived in the US and has had a successful modelling career. This is clear in this video because she is looking gorgeous throughout. She made a name for herself on the Tom Boxer hit "Morena" and then later had a solo hit with "Marabou". She hasn't quite made it as big as her label mates, but she's always been there, people know who she is... She just needs a worldwide hit, and the path she's on now with a good solid song like this one could possibly turn her into the worldwide success she deserves. She looks like a star and her voice is magnificent! Here comes Antonia, keep your eyes on her! Featured on the track is Achi, real name Octavian Petre, has previously worked with Marius Moga and is definitely an up-and-coming Romanian singer. This song was written by Lucan Vlad Octavian, Petre Ioachim Octavian, Chiosea Marian Florian and Paul Maracine.

Directed by Spike, this music video is a performance piece with an editing twist that prevents it from being boring. Instead, it makes it much more entertaining and visually amazing.

Antonia is stunning in her three different costume changes, she could literally wear anything and pull it off like it's nothing. She shows her dancing ability and her on-stage presence, imagine seeing Antonia live, now that'll be one heck of a show! She's relaxed in this video; she clearly loves this song.

Achi fares well in the video too, performance vibes bounce off him like this song is his tune. He's also relaxed; also clearly loving this song.

The editing team did an amazing job on this. It's stylish, current and it's entertaining. This is flawless in a performance-piece styled video. This is how they should all turn out!

What more can I say or comment on? This is a great complete package, it's simple but amazing to watch. This song is a banger of a tune that will totally be played at any parties I hold. Although I don't approve of the Lipton advertising, totally out of place!
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Ariana Grande - Put Your Hearts Up



Can you believe it's been five years since Ariana Grande released her first ever song and music video? This means she can appear on my blog again this week for my Thursday Revisit. This is the song a video Ariana Grande hates, she calls it the worst moment of her life, and you can definitely see why. Ariana Grande asks you to "Put Your Hearts Up" in the air, whilst doing heart hands and turning the street into a musical. Totally over the top and way too cheesy.

Ariana Grande became well known for playing Cat Valentine on Victorious, which then lead to a spin-off show called Sam & Cat. This was her debut single, back in 2011, and many fans have said that this reminds them of Cat Valentine and that she was just acting in this entire music video. It is extremely cheesy. Ariana Grande has described it as 'bubblegum pop' and that that genre is not her. Personally, it's more 'cheesy pop' than anything else since 'bubblegum pop' has come a long way compared to what it was, just check out Alexandra Stan's "Cherry Pop". This 'cheesy pop' song has been taken off Ariana Grande's Vevo account as she hates it so much! This was supposed to be the lead single from her debut album, but "The Way" replaced it and this song is all but forgotten about now. This song samples 4 Non Blondes' "What's Up?". It was written by Linda Perry, Martin Johnson and Matt Squire.

Directed by Meiert Avis and Jeremy Alter, the music video feels like it's straight out of 'Hairspray'. It's over the top cheese, with extra on top, just to make sure. No wonder Ariana Grande hates this.

There's a full choreography part, that Ariana Grande pulls off like we totally expect her to, although the ending clips show that she did actually mess it up a little bit. Totally in sync with the dancers, who totally bat out this dance sequence like it was made for them.

It's quite cute as a complete package, but there's not a lot to comment on, and Ariana Grande does not suit this pink dress whatsoever. This is not great to watch compared to how far she's come and how polished her music videos are right now.
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Spain Entry: Ruth Lorenzo - Dancing In The Rain



One of my favourites from the Eurovision Song Contest 2014, but that is mainly because I've supported Ruth Lorenzo since she appeared on The X Factor in 2008. She scored 74 points for Spain in Eurovision 2014, where she placed 10th. I have and will continue to support Ruth Lorenzo, and I hope that new music will be on the way soon. In this video, Ruth Lorenzo gives a great performance piece as well as showing off her skills in "Dancing In The Rain" with Giuseppe Di Bella.

Ruth Lorenzo was a part of the fifth series of The X Factor, where she placed fifth overall. She competed in Mira quién va a Eurovisión, Spain's national selection process. She came joint first with Brequette who sung "Más (Run)", but Ruth Lorenzo won overall because of the public vote, which prevails over the jury vote if there is a tie. She went on to release her album Planeta Azul, which was then re-released as a special edition with additional tracks. She later took part in Tu Cara Me Suena (the Spanish version of Your Face Sounds Familiar) which she won. Hopefully, new music is being created and a new album will be out soon, well that's what I'm hoping for. This song was written by Ruth Lorenzo, Jim Irvin and Julian Emery.

Directed by Paloma Zapata, the video is a pure performance piece, showing how amazing Ruth Lorenzo is live; if only I got the chance to see her again on stage. I last saw her at The X Factor tour, but I was very far away from the stage.

This song shows off her powerful voice, yet the music video doesn't quite portray the amazingness of her vocal cords. On the other hand, it does show off her dancing ability.

Giuseppe Di Bella and Ruth Lorenzo shine in the dance scene. They pull off the choreography flawlessly, which definitely isn't easy when they are dancing in water with spray coming down on them. Ruth Lorenzo is clearly having a ball of a time, getting soaked with Giuseppe Di Bella.

As a complete package, this video is stunning in its own way. However, it lacks engagement from the viewers, with nothing to keep us interested, as such. It's not something we'd particularly repeatedly watch. Therefore it comes off average, yet the song is amazing and deserved better than 10th place, although the 2014 Eurovision Contest was extremely competitive.
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James Morrison Featuring Nelly Furtado - Broken Strings



First off, Justin Timberlake is the thumbnail for no reason whatsoever, this needs to be corrected, although I suppose it's giving this already popular song more hits than usual, but still it's misleading. THIS IS NOT A JUSTIN TIMBERLAKE MUSIC VIDEO! Just wanted to clarify that. This is a James Morrison and Nelly Furtado song and is still being played on the radio today. James Morrison sings in a room whilst Nelly Furtado watches through a one-way mirror before their amazing electric voices blow objects up in the room; breaking guitar strings and heart strings.

James Morrison, real name James Morrison Catchpole, was one of the biggest British male singers back in the mid-00's, having a hit with "You Give Me Something" before this one became his bestselling hit. He has a Brit award and he has sung with the likes of Jessie J and Jason Mraz. He's still releasing music, but he's fairing much better in the Netherlands than in the UK. Featured on this track is the stunningly beautiful Nelly Furtado, who was also at the height of her career in the mid-00's. This song was the Olly Murs & Demi Lovato's "Up" of the mid-00's... Nelly Furtado is also still releasing music to this day but has yet to have another global hit after the amazing "Maneater". Yet with those vocals and her gorgeous style, I bet she could easily make a comeback. This song hit number two in the UK, beaten to the top spot by Lady Gaga's "Just Dance". It was written by James Morrison, Fraser T Smith and Nina Woodford.

This music video was directed by Micah Meisner. Fully relatable to the song, the video is mainly a performance piece with a narrative built within. It reminds me of a cross between Nickelback's "How You Remind Me" and every video that has a wall to separate artists (there's been a lot of them so I won't type them all down).

James Morrison starts the song off in his room with his guitar. He's singing to himself in the mirror, as if he can imagine Nelly Furtado on the other side, maybe she is actually there or it's just his imagination.

Nelly Furtado jumps in with her amazing vocals, and their hands are touching on the one-way mirror. FUN COMPETITION: Nelly Furtado swaps hands for one short snapshot before switching to the original hand. Find it and either Tweet, Facebook, Instagram me or comment below the time or a photo.

This inconsistency is surprisingly annoying. Like seriously? How do you miss that? It's not okay, it really isn't.

Luckily we're distracted by the amazing song. Objects blow up in James Morrison's room as they are connecting hands on the one-way mirror. Towards the end, they fix themselves and the room is just normal again. Nelly Furtado is gone for good. It's the same as heart strings when they are broken, they learn to fix themselves and the heart heals; it becomes stronger.

This song is completely powerful, yet the video is just as powerful. Back then this was a strong music video, and it completely relates to the song. Usually, that inconsistency would knock a star off my rating, but I can't bring myself to do it because this video is amazing!
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Chart Mondays: Ariana Grande Featuring Nicki Minaj - Side To Side



I've been waiting for this one, seeing it rise on the UK Chart, and just hoping it would appear in the top ten. There were only two choices for me this week... James Arthur's "Say You Won't Let Go" was the other option. It was beaten to the top spot by The Chainsmokers & Halsey with their song "Closer", which doesn't have a music video. As much as I don't want to review a James Arthur video, I may have to in the next coming weeks if it stays in the top ten, or climbs up to number one. For now, I shall avoid it as much as possible as I am not a fan at all of James Arthur. Luckily, this is my Chart Mondays review. Ariana Grande and Nicki Minaj work "Side To Side" in the sauna of a gym, amongst hot static guys. Ariana Grande even works out in sync on some bikes in this sexed-up music video.

Ariana Grande is the person on everybody's lips, the singer everyone is watching because she's batting out hit after hit after hit. She first appeared as Cat Valentine in Victorious. She has fully left acting behind as she has quickly made her name in the pop world. Now there's no stopping her, the future is bright for Ariana Grande. This song features Nicki Minaj, another solid singer in the music industry. Her real name is Onika Maraj, and practically everyone knows who she is. She labels herself as the 'Queen of Rap' in this song and she pretty much is, let's be honest. These two singers have worked together before, with Jessie J on the song "Bang Bang". This song was written by Max Martin, Savan Kotecha, Alexander Kronlund, Ilya Salmanzadeh, Ariana Grande and Onika Maraj.

Directed by Hannah Lux Davies, it's no surprise that this is a high-quality music video. It's so thought out and extremely suggestive, especially since the song is about soreness after sex, according to Ariana Grande.

We start off with Ariana Grande and her dance troupe on bikes after a slight scene of her staring into the camera. The girls perform on the bikes, pulling off the dance routine in-sync; the choreography is well thought out and is performed to perfection. They have put a lot of effort in preparing to pull this off and it works perfectly.

The other big scene is the sauna room, where Nicki Minaj has her rap. Her and Ariana Grande are stylish and are clearly having fun and a bit of a mess around, these two clearly get along easily. The male dancers are extremely static, and although that pushes all the attention to the two singers, more movement would've been much more interesting.

There's not a lot else to say, the shower room scene is extremely steamy, and Nicki Minaj knows how to capture the attention, but that's nothing new. As a whole, it's solid and relatable and definitely full fire. The song is a massive catchy song, that will no doubt continue to rise on the charts globally.
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