New Release: Sharon Doorson - Golden Trophy


Golden Trophy - Sharon Doorson |

I was looking around for a New Release music video to review this week, and I'm so glad I stumbled across Sharon Doorson's "Golden Trophy", she's got some killer vocals and a heart-filled-passion in this song that I can't believe I've never reviewed any of her songs on my blog before. I'm totally captivated by this song and it's interesting music video, so much so that I've been watching it over and over again. Watch Sharon Doorson give an emphatic performance whilst sitting at the piano during the music video of "Golden Trophy" as athletic men circle around her looking back on their achievements.

Sharon Doorson is a dutch singer-songwriter. She made a name for herself when she competed in The Voice of Holland, where all four coaches turned during her audition. She was later eliminated during the semi-finals. Before The Voice of Holland, she was in a girl group with Eva Simons called Raffish. Now, she's been building her musical career, having collaborated with Mischa Daniels, as well as releasing many singles and a debut album. This single is her latest cut, and it's one of her strongest to date. It deserves to be a hit. It was written by Jalise Romy, Tevin Plaater (Spanker), and Simon Gitsels.

The music video was directed by Steven Kuijs. It's dark and mysterious but totally works as an influential visual. Not many people can captivate the audience by sitting down and playing the piano, but Sharon Doorson exudes fire. It's clear from the start that this song means a lot to her and she oozes performance in every scene. Plus, that stunning jumpsuit by Elisabetta Franchi, really makes this artist look incredibly gorgeous.

There is a slight narrative throughout, that sees various men come out of the shadows and up to the piano, they reminisce about their past achievements that gave them the golden trophy that she is singing about. The first guy gives us a bit of man-candy as he walks up shirtless, looking back at winning a belt probably from his wrestling career.

Later we see people circling the piano in formation. This makes it slightly eerie, especially cut between the wispy scenes of material. But it totally works, and Sharon Doorson is a talent that we cannot wait to become big; she just has to keep fighting for her dreams, use it as her oxygen just like she says in the song, and she'll get that golden trophy, at the end. I expect a worldwide hit in the near-future.
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Bruno Mars - Just The Way You Are


Just the Way You Are - Bruno Mars |

Wow, I'm really behind on my blog posts this week, so here I go trying to catch them all up... Bruno Mars takes up my Thursday Revisit this week due to there not being much choice. This was his debut single, and it impacted the charts globally. It's no wonder because it was so current at the time with his emotional vocals hitting all the right notes. This launched Bruno Mars, and he'll continue being successful. Watch Bruno Mars melt us in this extremely cute serenade of a music video for his debut single "Just The Way You Are".

Bruno Mars, real name Peter Hernandez, is one of the biggest male pop artists in the world. He is currently blurring the lines between pop music and old-school funk music; totally making the latter extremely current, and it's totally working, just check out "24k Magic" which is a song we still haven't had enough of yet. But, it didn't start that way, he launched himself in the pop world, focusing solely on great written tracks and songs that are super cute, just like this one. This charted well globally, including hitting number one in the UK, the US, Canada, and Australia. It was written by Bruno Mars, Philip Lawrence, Ari Levine, Khalil Walton, and Khari Cain.

Directed by Ethan Lander, the music video has a simple cute narrative to go with the sweet song. Although, credit to the editors of the music video, especially the animators, who totally rocked the animated tape scene. For those of you who recognise the love-interest, I sure did, she is played by actress Nathalie Kelley, who is known for various roles, namely Sybil in The Vampire Diaries, Dani Alvarez in Body of Proof, and Grace in Unreal.

The video sees Bruno Mars distracting his girl, played by Nathalie Kelley. She's sitting down listening to music on a tape player - do you remember those? We all totally had one of them! Anyhow, he takes the tape out of the player and starts messing with the tape inside, creating crazy drawings that are clearly created by the animators of the music video.

The ending sees him performing the song at a piano. It's very cute and very simple, yet totally magical at the same time. I love the quirky teasing going on between them as they each change the drawings to their likings. It's clever, it's witty, and extremely cuddly, just like the song. Maybe too simple and too sweet, though.
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Tori Kelly - Don't You Worry 'Bout A Thing


Don't You Worry 'Bout a Thing - Tori Kelly |

Today, I've still got Sabrina Carpenter's "Thumbs" stuck in my head; what an awesomely catchy tune that is. Regardless, I searched through my YouTube recommendations again and found Tori Kelly, and I thought: 'Why not?' So here is this fantastic minimalist soundtrack music video to the animation film Sing, which Tori Kelly also stars in. Watch Tori Kelly perform like no one's watching, whilst fully interacting with the geometric shapes that appear in the music video for the Sing soundtrack music video "Don't You Worry 'Bout A Thing".

Tori Kelly is an inspiration to us all, she once was eliminated from American Idol, but she never gave up, regardless of the not-so-good comments given by the judges of the show. She has proven that if you never give up your dream, you'll get there. She is now one of the hottest up-and-coming female singers in the world right now, and she's ready for international success, that's for sure. She released a killer debut album in 2015 titled "Unbreakable Smile". This song features on the animated film Sing and is a cover version of the Stevie Wonder song of the same name "Don't You Worry 'Bout A Thing". It was written by Stevie Wonder.

The music video is completely stripped back, relying on Tori Kelly's amazing performance ability and creative animation editors to make the video engaging; and that is exactly what happens.

As we expected, Tori Kelly nails the performance of this music video. She's full of life, clearly honoured to be singing an official cover of this song. The song itself is technically brilliant with her vocals way past the amazing scale. Her voice sounds incredible and if she ever were to duet with JoJo, we know that would be a match-made-in-heaven collaboration. If you're lucky enough to see her live, then you are in for quite the treat, and will definitely leave me jealous.

As for the animators, they do a good job of painting shapes onto the walls and columns within the music video. However, I was totally expecting more; like, the characters from the film to pop out of the walls and perform with Tori Kelly. It was disappointing that didn't happen, and as many commenters noticed, Tori Kelly seems to expect that to happen too.

Overall, it's a great visual representation of Tori Kelly, perfectly showing off her incredible voice and performance energy. However, there is so much more that could have been done to make this perfect, and yet it's too stripped back.
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Sabrina Carpenter - Thumbs


Thumbs - Sabrina Carpenter |

This has been popping up in my YouTube Recommendations for the past month, so I thought it was about time I reviewed it. After first listen, I'm in love with it, such a catchy number with very true lyrics, it deserves to be a hit, but it's a shame that it hasn't made it onto charts internationally. The lyrics are shockingly real, that it's surprising that she's singing this song, and yet it works perfectly because it's usually the young people who realise this is happening. Watch Sabrina Carpenter on a subway train dancing and singing her song "Thumbs" in this music video; with great person identification.

Sabrina Carpenter is mostly known for playing Maya Hart in the Disney TV show Girl Meets World, which concluded earlier this year. She can also be seen alongside Sofia Carson in the Disney Channel Original Film remake Adventures In Babysitting. She has been trying for a career in music since 2014 and has released two albums, both of which has charted on the US Billboard Hot 100. This song was originally a promotional single for her second studio album, but later became an official single, hence the music video. It was written by Steve Mac and Priscilla Renea.

The music video is set on the Girl Meets World subway. It looks like it was taken in one complete shot, making it intricately detailed.

We watch Sabrina Carpenter move about the subway train, adding extra dancing flicks and hanging from the pole. I did kind of expect her to do some pole dancing, but I guess she didn't want to give it a try.

The video displays various background characters who are just general people, who can dance. They're the sort of people you expect to see if you go on a subway train. During some parts of the video, they become the main characters, showing off their dancing abilities, or taking over Sabrina Carpenter's lyrics - lip syncing along to the song.

The final shot sees Sabrina Carpenter back in the place she was previously sitting at the start of the video, delivering the powerful last line of the song. Although, she is missing her jacket that she left behind at a station stop.

Overall, a great intricate music video that is engaging from start to finish. Sabrina Carpenter fully shows off her stage presence with this visual. She's completely energetic and is having a great time shooting the video. I also like how the background characters are your typical train travellers.
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Chart Mondays: Ed Sheeran - Castle On The Hill


Castle on the Hill - Ed Sheeran |

Literally had no choice but to review this music video for my Chart Mondays, purely because his "Shape Of You" is still at number one, and every other song in the top ten of the UK Singles Chart either has been reviewed already or doesn't have a music video. I have a feeling it will not go my way next week, and we'll have to skip Chart Mondays again, but let's hope that that doesn't happen. Ed Sheeran is currently dominating on an international scale, and can we blame him? Just listen to his recent songs, his album (which I reviewed for Outlet Magazine) titled "÷", pronounced "Divide", He's truly knocked it out of the park. Watch this awesome music video that has Ed Sheeran reflecting on his life, whilst we watch his childhood adventures over the "Castle On The Hill".

Ed Sheeran has literally made the biggest album masterpiece of his career. "÷" or "Divide" beats everyone's expectations, and every song is set to chart in the UK Singles Chart this Friday, which isn't a surprise at all. I reviewed it for Outlet Magazine, and I was honoured to be hearing this music because it really is a masterpiece. This song was released alongside "Shape Of You" as a duo single. It was written by Ed Sheeran and Benjamin Levin (Benny Blanco).

Directed by George Belfield, the music video was filmed in Suffolk, which is where Ed Sheeran grew up; making the scenes even more personable and relatable. The young Ed Sheeran is played by high school student - clearly turning actor - Hugo Fairbanks Weston, who also attends the high school that the artist once went to.

There's so much going on in this music video, so I'm going to try and keep it short. We see Hugo Fairbanks Weston hang out with his mates, doing various normal things that they get up to, all the while relating it to the lyrics of the song. Some parts are perfect translations of the lyrics, and it's clear they had a lot of fun on set.

There is also a brilliant performance visual from Ed Sheeran, who is clearly thinking about the past events mentioned in the song as he sings it. I hope he manages to express all the emotion into this song whenever he performs it live. This one is definitely close to his heart, and it's nice of him to share this with everyone else.

Overall, the music video is fully relatable to the song. It's fun, it's clever, it's interesting and a complete match. Although, Hugo Fairbanks Weston is going to be called Ed Sheeran for the rest of his life now, but that doesn't have to be a bad thing. The music video couldn't have possibly been any better.
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