Critic Jonni

I've been a fan of Taylor Swift's, since she started releasing here in the UK, however she isn't as big here as she is in America, and it's astonishing the chart hits she's getting over there, whereas here she's only scratching the surface every now and then, which is a little disappointing. I went to see her live with Edges on 22nd March 2011. Edges is a big fan of hers. She has collaborated with The Civil Wars, who consists of Joy Williams and John Paul White, on this track, they are pretty new, and have started releasing here in the UK, and a lot of people are warming to them, and I can see Country storming the charts in the next few years, with Taylor Swift at the focal point. We've had Sugarland, Lady Antebellum and now The Civil Wars, and the Footloose Soundtrack, I wonder who will be next.

This song was written by Taylor Swift, Joy Williams, John Paul White and T Bone Burnett. This collaboration is quite surprising as it's nothing like other Taylor Swift songs, but it's so peaceful and tranquil, that it's just amazing. I think it's more a representation of The Civil Wars, however Taylor Swift brings her perfect voice to the mix. The song was written for the soundtrack for The Hunger Games (film, which is out very soon), it was based on the book, which I found incredible, all the trailers look amazing, and this song fits in perfectly, cannot wait for the film.

There isn't a lot to this music video, but that is exactly what we wanted from this peaceful song. There's specific links with the film, however no film footage was used, which is quite clever for a soundtrack music video, and this is exactly what makes it stand out.

Taylor Swift is walking through a forest, wearing a white dress and she is bare footed, it does give this feel of a near end-of-the-world apocalypse, and she's very alone. The mockingjay pin (reference for the film) links in perfectly. The Civil Wars are performing in front of a fireplace in a house, which could be the place Taylor Swift walks into. It's like she is searching for someone, but she's isolated.

This music video makes you feel connected as if you're drifting away into the Hunger Games. It's the perfect song and video for a promotional single for the film, and I hope that when I go to the cinema and watch the film, this song pops up, as it is worthy to be in the film and not just during the credits.

XTM is a dance band consisting of brothers Xasqui and Toni Ten. This was their first single, which was a cover version of the Olsen Brothers' hit "Fly On The Wings Of Love", they won Eurovision 2000 with this song. Personally, I haven't heard the original, since I adored this song and it's accompanying music video when I was younger, I always presumed this was an original song, how wrong was I? It features DJ Chucky, who helped with the song, and Annia, real name Eva Martí, who provided the vocals. As of yet, neither of them has gone on to release bigger hits, however XTM's second song (also featuring DJ Chucky and Annia) got quite a good chart position in the UK. However no more new music from them has been released, unfortunately. Could we see a return from either of these artists? I doubt it, although Eva Martí seems to be doing something at this moment...

As previously stated, I used to love this song and it's music video, I'm not quite sure why, I think the song is really catchy and engaging. As for the music video... Well nowadays it looks not so good, however back then (in 2003), these graphics were used a lot but none in music videos, which I think is what interested me into the music video because it was different from anything else that was being released. I also think that the chart position (number 8 in the UK) must have been down to the music video and the clubs that were probably playing this song. It also managed to get to number 1 in Ireland.

I like the narrative storyline to this music video, where the guy is late for a party and has to get there super quick, he dreams that he was on a motorcycle, but in fact it's just a push-bike, according to his watch he is late. And I like the fact that the party starts without him and the people relaxing outside are enjoying the music, some of them dancing, the speakerphone men headbanging in a speakerphone way. It's just really clever, and I personally wouldn't have a clue where to start, if I were to make a replica of this music video.

As per usual with animated music videos, there isn't a lot to say about it, it's very likeable, and due to the time it was released, it stood out compared to everything else that was being released. Everyone was aware of the song, however now they'd have to watch it again to remind themselves, luckily some music channels are actually still showing it, after 9 years, so there's still hope for this dance collaboration to return, but whether it will or not is debatable.

We Are The In Crowd is a 5-piece rock group, that has 2 vocalists, making them really different to anything that's already out there. The band consists of Taylor Jardine, Jordan Eckes, Mike Ferri, Rob Chianelli and Cameron Hurley. This song is their eighth single overall, and haven't made the UK chart as of yet, but I'm pretty sure at the end of this year a lot of people will be listening to them and I know that it won't be long until they get a chart number, I can see it! DJD is a big fan of theirs, and they are gaining more and more fans by the minute, purely because they bring something new to the table. I shall be watching them, I can see them getting very far.

This song was written by the band, as are all of their songs. The music video is really good and clever, although it is reminiscent of "Both Sides of the Story" music video. I think it's a distinct video, but it's lacking something, although there is a narrative and performance aspect.

To be honest I'm not sure what it has to do with rumours or a "Rumour Mill", but it probably links in somewhere. I wouldn't want to be stuck in that lift, although Taylor seems to be fine with it, although it may be a bit of a nuisance. I liked the other bits which are funny in their own right, but haven't got a lot of substance to them.

The performance side of the video is great, as per usual, they are a great band and you can really feel their performance vibes coming off them in this video, which makes me want to see them live, although I don't really know many of their songs as of yet.

I haven't got a lot to say about this music video, it's average, compared to their other videos, it's not rubbish, but it's not their best either, and it seems to be lacking something, although what it is is beyond me, I have no idea what's missing... Its one of those videos I'd probably watch again if it came up on the music channels, but if there's something better on, I'd watch that instead.

Ed Sheeran is this big UK artist that has just came out of nowhere and hit us all by storm. This song is his second single after "The A Team", and got quite high in the charts. I have to admit, I think this is my favourite song by him, and I also like "Drunk", but I'm not a big fan.

"You Need Me, I Don't Need You", is such a great title, and personally, if all his songs were like this one, I'd have bought the album and the singles and fully supported him, however certain songs put me off, and I now decide to use YouTube for his songs. At the end of the day he does sing: "And I won't be a product of my genre". He wrote this song himself, and his voice is perfect for it, I really want him to do more rapping in the future, it's a very unique voice that he has and it surprises me, because in his other songs, you wouldn't expect this sort of voice. I also love the lyrics how can you not?

The music video is extremely different and totally stands out from the crowd. I can totally see why Dolly is obsessed with this music video she is passionate about the song and the music video: "He is a very talented musician, it's a song about how people see him and he sees himself. The lad doing sign language is extremely skilled". And I totally agree, you can tell he means every single word he is saying, and it's like he is showing the world that he's made it just like he hoped he would, when others were knocking him down.

This song is now stuck in my head... The sign-language actor is Matthew Morgan and I have to say I'm really impressed, whether he did it slowly and then they sped it up through editing, or whether he did it that quick there and then, it's just mind-blowing, and I could watch it again and again, and maybe learn a bit of sign language along the way.

I like the use of the dancers as well it prevents the video from getting boring, and gives us more to see. The black and white effect is a bit different, but it's used in a good way, and announcing not everything is black & white, which links in with the song amazingly as Ed Sheeran wanted a music career, and that's exactly what he has got. But it took him a long time and the personal battles that he went through shows how much he wanted it. For everyone, the sky's the limit, but people go further than the sky, and here's just one example.

The music video is different but in a fascinating way. The song is so inspirational and breath-taking, as he means everything he raps and it gives us this new voice from Ed Sheeran, that we want to hear more from, cannot wait for his future releases. As for this song, I'm disappointed it didn't get to number one but number four is still pretty good.

David Guetta is now a really big, well-known DJ, and this is one of his early works. A lot of people prefer him doing this sort of thing, however this song reminds me of "Getting Over You", I think it has a similar musical background, or I could be totally wrong. But what I'm saying is that David Guetta is getting better, but he's still in touch with his older music, which everyone still loves. The Egg on the other hand is a British electro/dance music band consisting of Ned Scott, Maff Scott, Ben Cullum and Matt White. This is their highest charting position, and since 2007 no new singles have been released...

"Love Don't Let Me Go (Walking Away)" is an amazing song, it has vocals by Chris Willis, and after much comparison with "Getting Over You" I have come to the conclusion that, yes they are extremely similar. I like looking at the writing credits (there is a lot of them) so here goes... David Guetta, Ned Scott, Benji Vaughan, Chris Willis, Jean-Charles Carré, Joachim Garraud, Maff Scott and Matt White. The song was also used for the Citroën C4 advert.

The music video is technically really good, and it's pretty much narrative, but in an interpretable dance kind of way, that really makes everything work out fine. I love the use of The Energy being passed from one person to another, although, there are a few flaws. The dancing used is breakdancing and Parkour (also known as PK).

I like how it all starts, with the connection of two people, The Energy then gets passed between people, and once it's passed the person who had it before stops dancing all together, however there's one flaw found near the end when they give The Energy back to the original starters, the topless person who had it before keeps dancing (as far as I'm aware of). Also at the start where the originals pass on The Energy to the person who had a basketball, what happened to The Energy in the original girl?

Anyway, analysing over... I think it's clever, and it sort of makes me jealous, I want to be able to do that stuff. Pass The Energy my way please. I also like the fact that the car in the Citroën advert also breakdances, I reckon they pulled ideas from this music video for their advert.

That's really is it to this music video, I could watch it again and again, but I reckon it would get tedious. I don't think it's fantastic and wouldn't go out of my way to watch it, but it's technically good, so that is why my rating is so high.