Cheryl was the second artist judge to appear on The X Factor and so it's only right I use her for my X Factor Special. She has also already released a song this week called "Under The Sun" and so has given me the chance to spread this special over two weeks, and luckily for Cheryl she gets to appear twice. She wants to now be known as Cheryl, however when this song was released she was known as Cheryl Cole and so for the title for this post I decided to stick to her name to which this song was released. She appeared as a judge for 3 years and then left to appear on The X Factor US, but was soon fired not long after. She is one-fifth of girl band Girls Aloud, the other members being Nicola Roberts, Nadine Coyle, Sarah Harding and Kimberley Walsh.
"Fight For This Love" was written by Wayne Wilkins, Steve Kipner and Andre Merritt. This was Cheryl's first single and it soon became an international hit gaining high chart numbers across the globe, however it was never released in the US, although I reckon it would've charted high there too. Cheryl has recently expressed her interest in cracking the US, and plans on doing so soon, with the help of Will.I.Am. I hope she manages to do just that.
This music video is low budget, and it looks like they spent a lot of the money they had on backing dancers and the editing team, but that is fine and perfect because this music video is stripped back, and just great. Although there are little bad things, it works out good and you see Cheryl right there exactly the way she is.
There is a lot of choreography used and she's such a great dancer that they sort of needed to include it. I like the use of the words and suggesting that she's fighting for something, although there is one annoying thing, and that is when she salutes, she uses the American salute instead of the British salute. I understand that it is a common misconception, but it should start to be corrected about now right?
Overall a catchy song that charted well, it's accompanying music video is stripped back and you see the real Cheryl, however if they had used a bit more money they could have made this music video out-standing, but guess they didn't expect Cheryl to do as well as she did.
Dannii Minogue has finally made it onto my blog! She became a judge of The X Factor in 2007, and she was the first judge to also be an artist, she also became a judge on Australia's Got Talent. Since 2007 no more singles have been released so far, although there have been numerous rumours of new recorded songs, including Dannii mentioning it in her own show called "Dannii Minogue: Style Queen" in which she met up with one of her X Factor acts and recorded a song with Ruth Lorenzo. However no sign of any new release as of yet, but we're all still hoping! For those of you who don't know, she has a famous sister called Kylie Minogue.
"I Begin To Wonder" was written by Jean-Claude Ades, Dacia Bridges, Dannii Minogue and Olaf Kramolowsky. I was worried about reviewing this judge as I didn't think I would recognise any of her songs, but I was so very wrong, as I remember this song, and others very clearly. It got to number 2 in the UK, just missing out on the top spot. However it would've been difficult to knock Christina Agulera's song "Beautiful" off that all important number one. However Dannii managed to get to number one on the UK Upfront Club Chart, making it her 6th number one on this chart. I have my fingers crossed that Dannii decides to return to music, as she has become extremely popular over the years thanks to The X Factor and I'm sure she'll finally get that all important number one!
This music video is a big performance piece and it is the typical music video you expected at that time. I like the start where she is walking down the street and when she is dancing and the title of the song in many different languages swirl around her. But I have to comment on her hair, at times it looks greasy and horrible, and I bet that when she sees this video now she cringes, especially since she's big into style at the moment.
The other scenes are quite interesting, especially the bit when she is in the ventilation shaft. But what I really don't get is why she is cutting her hair, I'm not sure it works with the song, however I can understand how it's possible since she wants to recreate herself, according to the song.
Overall a catchy song that is even catchy today, however it feels like it is trying to build up to something, only that something never appears. The video on the other hand is okay and sort of what we expected during that year, however it is missing a narrative that would definitely make this video amazing.
Cheryl! She became an X Factor judge in 2008, she also had a stint on the X Factor US as a judge but was soon fired. This is her new release, which is unlikely to chart in the top 10 and it's pretty understandable since it isn't as catchy as her other songs. We now have to call her Cheryl since she has divorced her now ex-husband Ashley Cole. So is she Cheryl Cole or Cheryl Tweedy? Who knows? And who cares? We all have to adjust to calling her Cheryl and that's perfectly fine with me. She rose to fame in 2002 on a show called Popstars: The Rivals, in which both a girl band and a boy band were created, the girl band managed to chart ahead of the boys, and the boy group soon disbanded. However the girl group is still going strong, and after a 3 year hiatus, Girls Aloud are apparently reforming. They consist of Cheryl, Nadine Coyle, Nicola Roberts, Sarah Harding and Kimberley Walsh.
This song was written by Alex da Kid, Mike Del Rio, Jayson DeZuzio, Steven Battey, Carlos Battey and Cheryl Cole. Personally I don't think it's a great song, it's one of those ones that you hear a lot on the radio but you wouldn't actually listen to it yourself. I just feel it's missing something and it's not the sort of thing you expect Cheryl to release especially after "Call My Name".
The music video takes you back to the 50's and it doesn't appeal to me, I never go out of my way to watch it, so in theory, today was the first time I'd seen it all the way through, and I wasn't impressed. It's got a narrative but doesn't really fit in with the song as it is more of a performance piece.
There's choreography that Cheryl pulls off perfectly, as per usual. But I don't see how this sultry sexy side of Cheryl works, it kind of makes you question if this is actually her or not. I see her as a great dancer, and she usually releases videos that connects to the audience who will normally buy her singles which is teenagers to 30 year olds, this 50's style just doesn't appeal to me and not to many others either.
Overall a song that the radio is playing quite often, which is exactly the reason why it's climbing up the chart, however, the music video is very unappealing to Cheryl's audience, she should stick to what she knows and what everyone is used to from her. So weighing up everything I think this is the rating it deserves.
Belle Amie was one of my favourites of the seventh series on The X Factor, after Katie Waissell who has not released any music videos thus far; Treyc Cohen who too haven't released any music videos, and Cher Lloyd, who has released music videos and all of which currently appears on my blog. So Belle Amie were my next favourite. They were a four-piece band during The X Factor, but Geneva Lane left to pursue a solo career in 2011, and most recently Rebecca Creighton (the red-head) has recently left to pursue an R&B solo career, she has also expressed her frustration at the little amount of support that was about for Belle Amie at the time. Since Rebecca has left, it leaves Belle Amie in an undetermined future, will Sophie Wardman and Esther Campbell continue as a duo? Will they recruit a new member? Or will they too leave Belle Amie? Who knows? But there is one thing for sure, girl bands are currently storming the charts and if Belle Amie were to continue, I reckon they will have a lot more support than what they think. The seventh series gave us a lot of great acts, these are: Matt Cardle (winner), Rebecca Ferguson (second), One Direction (third), Cher Lloyd (fourth), Mary Byrne (fifth), Paije Richardson (eighth), Aiden Grimshaw (ninth), Belle Amie (eleventh), Storm Lee (fourteenth) and Nicolò Festa (sixteenth).
"Girls Up" was written by Michaela Shiloh and Chad Dexter. The song is about girls thinking they have to be someone they are not to impress someone, such as slimming and changing ones appearance. It's good that this is their debut song, it means they can spread a message out to people, and hopefully help change the world. The girls look great together and I got excited that we could possibly have a new girl band on the block. But the song charted at number 25 on the UK Independent Chart, not even managing to hit the UK top 200, and then with Rebecca leaving I don't think we'll be seeing any more of Belle Amie, I just hope I am wrong, and they come back stronger than ever.
This music video was released on 17th June 2011, not long after I started this blog. I so wanted to review it back then, but something clearly stopped me, obviously this special clearly was going to happen whether I liked it or not, and I'm glad I waited so long. This video has everything it could possibly need and it relates to the song perfectly.
I like how they are dolls at the beginning, with Rebecca trying to eat some cake, proving that indulging isn't a sin. I like how the message of the music video comes across and you know that it's okay to be yourself. The second part of the video is them at a photo shoot and they are surprised at the editing software as they are clearly being changed to suit the people doing the photo shoot, this shows to people that what you might see in magazines might not be exactly real.
The scenes are full of choreography that works really well with the song and the whole meaning, it may not be easy to copy, which isn't exactly the plan, and it also shows the girls as a united force (which happens to be a little misguiding).
Overall a great song that becomes irresistibly catchy, and an accompanying music video that finally relates to the song. I haven't got a bad thing to say about this video, nothing, zilch, nada. So clearly I have to give it this rating.
Rachel Adedeji came ninth in the sixth series of The X Factor, she wasn't my favourite, in fact Stacey Solomon was my favourite, who although has a record deal, has yet to release a music video, unless you count the Iceland adverts... So my second favourite was Rachel, one of the main reasons was the announcer: Peter Dickson, said her name amazingly, and I'd always copy how he says it. She is still currently unsigned, however she has released two music videos (all her own doing, with director Drew Cox), and released a EP which features this song on iTunes under R.A.M. Recordings. It apparently charted, although I cannot find any sources to back that up. The sixth series gave us a few artists, who are: Joe McElderry (winner), Olly Murs (second), Stacey Solomon (third), Lloyd Daniels (fifth), Jedward (sixth), Jamie Archer (seventh) and Rachel Adedeji (ninth).
"Follow The DJ" was Rachel's first music video, it was released on a 4-track EP called "Club Lights" following her second music video of the lead track and title of the EP. The song was written by Starley Hope, Maria Marcus, Rachel Adedeji and Versatile. It's extremely catchy along with her second music video. Personally, if this song was promoted more, then she would have definitely charted quite high. I hope she gets picked up as she clearly deserves it!
The music video is again low budget, it's something we have to expect from X Factor Finalists. However a low budgeted music video can be amazing too. This one is well edited and once again is a pure performance piece, however what is different is that it contains a few scenes that could be considered narrative. Not only that but there is even choreography included, this is clearly the full package, and tests the boundaries of low budgeted music videos.
Rachel Adedeji performs the choreography perfectly, I like the use of slow-motion, which could easily suggest the end of a club night in which you may have drunk that little bit too much, and everything starts to slow down a bit. The paint throwing definitely reminds me of Amy Studt's "Chasing The Light". There is a few questions such as why is she wearing that weird gold head-wear thing, I don't even know what to call it!
Overall, a very catchy song that needs to be listened to a lot more, and a music video that tests how far a low budgeted music video can go, this truly is amazing at what they've managed to pull off, however not everything fits as there are some weird costumes she dresses up with, that unfortunately I can't ignore so I'm dropping one star off, but that is all.
