I know what you're thinking, you are wondering why I'm reviewing this music video for, but to be honest, Samanda is in our Big Brother history, and will do until someone overrides them, because Samanda is the only ex-housemate to release more than one single, and although no album has been released, and their third single has been waiting for it's release for 3 years now, they have managed to get two charted hits, so they are officially the closest ex-housemate to become an artist.
Samanda came second in Big Brother series 8, they were the bookies favourite to win, and mine too. The entered at Day 1 and manage to last all the way, they were picked at the post by Brian Belo, who wasn't in the Big Brother house for long, so in theory Samanda were the winners, and in celebrity status they are definitely above Brian, in my opinion. Their most memorable task was the twin task, where they were separated and they both had to draw a 3 pictures and they actually drew the same pictures.
The song is a cover of Aqua's sensational hit "Barbie Girl". Aqua has recently reformed although they've done not-so-well here in the UK, and totally suspect they won't be around much longer. There is some good bits to the song, but the bit I really hate is ken's robotic voice, seriously did they run out of money or something? Their voices are changed slightly, but they have sung this song live a few times and as we know from the Big Brother house, they can actually sing, which could be the reason they managed to chart so high with this song, managing to get to number 26, which is a Big Brother record for ex-housemates. I also think the music video was one of the main influences in getting this single so high up on the chart. Will Samanda come back to music or TV? They've been missing for almost 3 years now, only popping up for special Big Brother advertisements. I am hoping they do come back and finally release "Whistle For A Hottie" at least. Let's all keep our fingers crossed, as Samanda could be our first ever recording artist from Big Brother.
The music video is low budget, everyone can see that, and it's nothing like Aqua's narrative music video, which could be both good and bad, but this clearly is a notch above the other ex-housemates' music videos. I think it's a little bland and boring, with no connection to the song, but sometimes that's okay.
I like the dance routine they've got going on, they did that exact choreography in the house, so maybe this music video is supposed to show them as who they are, or how they were in the house (if there's a difference). And I like it when they laugh, it's not because they are faking it but they actually do something and laugh, which kind of lightens up this music video. I like all the bright lights and all the different scenes, but it just feels like there is something missing, which could be the narrative story line.
Overall it's quite a good cover (minus the robotic Ken), but I don't think the music video is as good as it could have been, and I know it was low budget, and it could possibly be one of the best ex-housemate music videos we'll ever get to see, but I just feel that it isn't worthy of a high rating, because compared to other high rating music videos, this is bland, boring and not that great. I cannot believe I'm giving it the same rating as Chanelle Hayes but it kind of deserves it. I bet children will find this music video a lot more appealing.
Okay, so I'm bending the rules a little bit, because she released this song before going into the Big Brother house, however I'm including it because I think it'll probably be one of the better videos I review, and I don't want this whole week to have low ratings.
Louise Cliffe is currently in Big Brother at the moment, she hasn't done anything memorable and although I think she'll be one of these ex-housemates who stay in the limelight, I reckon people won't remember her being in the house.
The song is about social networks, which kind of goes alongside with the artist she collaborated with and the music video. She isn't the best of singers, but she certainly isn't terrible, as we all know from her rarely singing in the Big Brother House. You can tell they've edited her voice with this song. It didn't make the UK chart, but that was down to no promoting whatsoever, and I didn't see this video at all on the music channels, so maybe that was the reason it didn't go anywhere. Will she win this year's Big Brother? I doubt it, and I reckon she'll get 4th or maybe 3rd if she's lucky. This is why I decided to review this music video today.
Now, this music video could possibly be the cream of the crop, this week, but that doesn't mean that this video is any good. I wouldn't say it's dreadful, but they could have done a lot more. Obviously it was a low budget music video, and it does look very cheap, I have to admit I've seen better low budget music videos. To be honest I can definitely understand why this didn't appear on any music channels while I was watching them.
You can sort of tell that they only filmed so much of Louise Cliffe, and that at times she was re-used again and again, this annoyed me a bit because obviously not a lot was going on so you just had to watch repeat after repeat, and I definitely won't be watching this again. She reminds me of Aylar Lie, although they are very different, I think they are similar because of their career paths.
I have to laugh when she is "playing" the guitar, if you can even call it that, she's not even strumming it, and I doubt it made much of a noise when that bit was filmed. I have to admit I liked the things that appeared behind her, like the links and the chat messages, it made it look more like a website rather than the usual. But it also annoyed me that when all 5 different characters were at the bottom of the screen, they kept bumping into one another, but instead of bumping, they went through one another, this totally brought the video down even more for me. Maybe this video isn't cream of the crop as I first thought it might have been.
Overall I totally advise Louise Cliffe to stay away from music when she comes out, because as we have witnessed before ex-housemates who embark on a singing career always fail. I do see her being in our faces for quite a while though, so it'll be interesting to see what happens to these finalists in the future.
Chanelle Hayes was a housemate in Big Brother series 8. People remember her as being the wannabe Victoria Beckham, and she'd walk the streets until someone thought she was Victoria. If Victoria Beckham changed her hair, Chanelle did too. Chanelle had quite a few arguments in the house but she was probably one of the most loved. She had arguments with Ziggy Lichman (who was an ex Northern Line boy band member before entering the house), and Charley Uchea. Chanelle walked gaining making her 13th in the competition, on the results show, I specifically remember Davina McCall having to re-call Chanelle's name because the audience thought she missed her out. Personally, I thought she had a really big chance of winning that series of Big Brother, and if she didn't, I had expected Samanda to win. But I was shocked that Brian Belo won. Chanelle was singing quite a few times in the house, and she was an amazing singer, but yet again another ex-housemate has failed to make a music career. I think she deserves a second chance, she wasn't happy with the music video, but she wanted a shot at being an artist, she had it but people didn't promote her well, adding to the number big brother music failures. Recently she has had a baby, and still appears in Lad Mags, is this the thing she'll be doing for the rest of her life? Or is a musical comeback still on the cards? I have my fingers-crossed.
I have to congratulate the song based on the fact that it wasn't a cover, this kind of brings the standards up a little bit, but then the video lets it down totally. The song was written by Ben Ofoedu and Jack Lucien, both are aspiring singers, with a chart hit here and there, but it looks like they won't make it and probably follow the footsteps of Chanelle, without a very sexualised video. I have to admit I did buy this single and I still have it (I just checked). The song is very catchy, and catchy songs tend to do well no matter what the song is about. However, Radio 1 refused to add the song to their playlists, even though they interviewed her, which probably was the reason behind it only charting at number 63. Her voice is good on this track, but you can tell they've edited it, if you watch her singing from the house, you will realise she has a much better voice. DJ's enjoyed mixing this track and it featured in a lot of their sets. I want Chanelle to return to music, with a much better record label behind her, but until then she is one of a few ex-Big Brother housemates who've made the chart.
This music video is terrible, it's the only word I can use for it and it's not at all Chanelle's fault, she did express her concern about it's sexualised theme. I do remember watching it on the music channels, and I must have been missing something back then as I don't remember it being this erotic. I don't really know how this video was allowed to be shown, but it was... I bet the director and the producer and whoever else was involved, including camera men and the like, totally enjoyed making this video, and I'm not saying their immoral or anything, I'm just saying they'd be nothing like photographers, who are generally nice and usually don't exploit you. Sometimes this video makes me think that Chanelle was pressured into making this video and sometimes in life that sort of happens.
Ignoring all the obvious stuff that certain people will totally mention on, I'm kind of wondering (no jealousy here, honestly) why she has 3 men with her, in different scenes there are 3 different guys. First you have the guy who's in her bedroom with her, he has hair and looks a bit like Jason Flemying, but I don't think it is. Then there's this guy in a lap dancing club (which I'd understand if that was Chanelle's character's job). And lastly, we're back in her bedroom with a whole new guy, which totally confuses me. Are they portraying Chanelle as some Godess or something? Anyway, this video didn't do her any favours.
Overall, it is quite a good song, and to be honest I think it would still make the chart today, with the help of some radios deciding to pick it up. However it's music video didn't help one bit, and although a lot of people (mainly guys, but girls too) who enjoyed it, they didn't help it's performance on the chart, and there were far more people who disliked it. I hope she makes a musical return at some point, as she has the voice for it, but I don't have my hopes up, this music video has ended any music career she wished to have.
Shabnam.... Do people remember her? She was in the Big Brother house in series 8, with Charley, Chanelle and Samanda. She was the first to be evicted, spending only one week in the house, and I think she is the only "loser" of Big Brother to keep the limelight for the longest time. However Shabnam wasn't the first to go, instead someone called Emily Parr was asked to leave Big Brother because she used an offensive word. I remember Shabnam as being this really energetic person, who always sung every now and again, and I feel sorry for her that this was her single, as it made her crash and burn before she was ready. This series gave us a few singers, it is also memorable as it was an all-girls house for a few days.
I thought we would have gained the first ever Big Brother artist, and although four ex-housemates from this year tried, they all failed disappointingly. This song, which is a cover of Lulu's hit single, which has been covered a number of times, didn't get enough promotion at all to help make it chart. Shabnam was a really good singer in the house and I feel really sorry for her that the production behind her didn't help whatsoever. Will she ever make fame? Or was this the end of the road for her?
The music video shows Shabnam having a lot of fun, she was definitely energetic, and I think this video makes her more of an exhibitionist, which is a shame because although she wants to grab the limelight, she wants it for all the right reasons.
I always have to laugh at the bar man, when Shabnam is messing about, it is so funny and he can't help but laugh, I do kind of wonder how many takes this took because the bar man is laughing and laughing. I've seen this music video on a music channel a few years ago (possibly when it came out and possibly on the same channel as the YouTube video is on), I was a little younger then and I think the video quality was a lot better than this video I've found.
A lot of people have picked up that the miming isn't in sync with the song, this is not at all Shabnam's fault and has everything to do with the editors of the music video, this could be a main factor as why the song didn't chart, along with the fact that the song is very iconic and it's difficult to do a better job. Will Shabnam return to music? I'm not sure, I very much doubt it, once you've dappled in it and failed, it's extremely difficult to make any sort of come back, but I know that if she did make a come back it will be a hell of a lot better than this and I bet her vocals would be better.
Overall I like the song, although there isn't much of a vocal performance behind it. The music video is dodgy and annoying and dire. I do feel extremely sorry for her and I really don't think she deserves the rating I have given her, but sometimes it's not the artist's fault. I hope she gets what she wants out of life, but I am kind of expecting never to hear from her again.
Personally, and I think a lot of people think this too, but every time I see Hilary Duff I can't help thinking she's type-casted as Lizzie McGuire, I used to watch that show when I was younger, and all of the re-runs too, and she hasn't changed, she's always been this character and it's going to be hard for her to get out of that, and even though she's tried lots of different things it hasn't worked.
I was trying to think what artist to do for today, as all the artists this week have either been new ones, or ones I only know one song from, so it had to be Hilary Duff. This is my favourite song by her, I don't know exactly why but it's one of those songs that gets stuck in your head. It was written by Dead Executives and Hilary Duff (NOTE: if the artist appears at the end of the writing credits, it suggests they had a minimum input into the song lyrics, sometimes this means they have added a single word or line, or they did the chorus or a certain verse). The song is all about going out and having fun, which is exactly what happens in the music video, making it such an easy music video to come up with.
I like the start of the music video, it suggests getting ready to go out and have fun, this is always the most important part of when you decide to go out, because you have to look good, no one in their right mind goes out in what they usually wear, without doing anything.
I like the fact that Hilary knows most of the people she passes in the clubs and it suggests she's a "party girl". I also like the "London" sign and the "Paris" sign, that must have been difficult to edit that just right, but it worked.
There's not a lot happening in this music video, I have to admit I don't think the short black hair style suited Hilary at all, but I did like the long straighten look. There really isn't much to comment on and this is the music video's flaw, because if there isn't much to comment on then there really isn't a lot going on.
Overall, the music video links in with the song, the song is really catchy and it's something that would've been played in the clubs. But there's not a lot going on, it's pretty predictable, and it's not at all out of the ordinary. I would definitely not remember this music video if I watched the music channels for about an hour. It doesn't stand out from the crowd, and it was unsurprising this video was created for this song. Even though the song is my favourite from her, I just don't think the music video is up to scratch, and it is a little disappointing to be honest.
