So where did this girl come from? Out of the blew I got a follow from a certain person called Mandia Nantsios on twitter. I took my time exploring and finding out more about her, as I'm used to getting bands and artists following me and then when I follow them back they soon unfollow me. But after a bit of time Mandia Nantsios is still following me, so I thought it was about time to reviewed her...
Mandia Nantsios is only 16 years old, I don't quite believe that from this video, but I guess she must be. She's another Canadian star (quite a few of those popping up now), but one who has set her sights high, and one who will definitely be achieving them pretty much soon. Everyone step aside, because the biggest new thing is staring us right in the face, and she's ready to capture the world.
"One Last Time" is written by James Fauntleroy, but it is totally been made for Mandia Nantsios. Her vocal range makes this video so emotionally great that you are captured in seconds, and her power is effortlessly expressive. This is her second single, her first being "Never Again". I thought this was going to be a typical sixteen-year-old, high school crush song, but hell, I was so wrong. The song reminds me a lot of JoJo's "Leave (Get Out)" and the music video isn't too different either.
We are so use to seeing the typical high school crush music video. It's usually a singer's first music video, and she seems to be following in the footsteps of greatness. Britney Spears did this type of music video for "...Baby One More Time", JoJo did it for "Leave (Get Out)", Paramore with "Misery Business" and Stacie Orrico with "Stuck". There are many more, some become big stars, others disappear. However Mandia Nantsios will definitely be on everyone's lips soon enough.
This videos quite different though, instead this manages to link in with the song perfectly, with a nice added twist, which is always great to have. Mandia and Paul (the male lead), have been together and they keep breaking up and saying goodbye, only to reunite not long after. But she has had enough and have decided to break it off for good and say goodbye one last time.
All the markings are the amount of times they have broke up and got back together, only surely there is way too many lines, surely they've split up and got back together every single day for a year, maybe even longer and more frequent with the amount of markings. Of which reminds me of another music video: New Found Glory's "Kiss Me".
The choreography, is amazing, the professional dancers are so detailed and concise that you can't help but marvel at their dancing. As for Mandia Nantsios' dancing with her 'friends', they seem to be bringing back the dancing children can easily copy, which is totally dated and would've fitted 10-15 years ago, however we kind of need this back in the videos, and I'm all for it. Not only that, but they seem to be bringing back Double Denim too.
Overall a song that caught me by surprise and of which I shall be downloading this week. And a music video that also caught me by surprise, and has a unique twist to it that I can't help but enjoy. I have no faults for this video and everything is exactly perfect. It looks like I've found my next "Artist of the Month" for March...
Rudenko, real name Leonid Rudenko, is a Russian DJ. He hit the UK charts in 2008 with this song and it's flirtatious music video, managing to score number 24, and yes I do remember buying the single. Since then he has released more singles and there's a possible album around the corner, however everyone just remembers this song, and none of his other singles have charted in the UK at all. If I had to guess why that is then I would be pointing at the video, it was shown a lot on the music channels, and I guess people loved the video just as much as the song and bought it.
"Everybody" was written by Leonid Rudenko, Kelly Barnes and Alexander Pearls. Kelly Barnes provided the vocals for the song, but after searching on the Internet, I am still not sure who she is, and whether she has sung on any other songs. She is also not the person lip-syncing in the video. Which is also what happened in Wiley Featuring Ms. D's "Heatwave". So who is she? The song is obviously isn't implicit in the meaning, and so I shall not go there since if you don't get it, I'm sure the video will help you with that.
Right, so the video links in well with the song, of course it does. Except it may be a lot more typical than you may think. As From Above, with their song "Not The Same Girl" is pretty similar but with more narrative and Little Mix also did it with "DNA", not only that but Danny & Freja's "If Only You" takes this to a new high. I'm sure there is more examples, but it suggests that we are totally fine with showing girls kidnapping guys and possibly torturing them (take that in any sense you wish). Yet some videos are banned such as Britney Spears' "Criminal" due to the showing of guns... Sometimes I can't quite get my head around the UK's decisions on some music videos.
The main dancer, who also lip-syncs to the music, is Charleene Rena. She is now known as 11ven, and trying out a singing career. She's a good dancer, and extremely sexy too, however I can see why she would want to move away from that line of work, especially since the reaction from this music video alone, and I guess there's worse about.
The choreography is expressive and all in sync, the commonality of a guy strapped to a chair is shown obsessively through-out various music videos, on the other hand this music video goes all out and makes it much more flirtatious and almost S&M if you want to take it there. And surely the ending suggests such a thing.
Overall a song that is quite daring but worked and should've pushed this guy into fame, instead he's only known for this song and it's music video, and sometimes people haven't got a clue who sung the song but remembers this video. The music video is equally daring, and links with the song perfectly. The only thing I don't like is that the person who's lip-syncing is not the person who provided the vocals.
This song has been stuck in my head all day, and so why shouldn't I review this music video? The disappointment with this song is that it has yet to be released in the UK, and by the looks of things it never will. However in 2012, it was released as a promotional single for her album, but it soon disappeared from the iTunes store.
Inna, real name Elena Apostoleanu, is a Romanian singer, who I have followed since her first UK single release of "Hot". Since she has had a number of hits in the UK, but recently her songs have failed to enter the UK chart, along with her second album. This begs to question whether she will ever make a comeback to the UK, or will she dwindle in Romania, leaving UK fans, and other worldwide fans upset that they may never be able to download her new album or any of her new singles.
"Wow" was written by Sebastian Barac, Marcel Botezan and Radu Bolfea. And it is definitely one of those songs that could've done well in the UK. If 3beat records were to carry on releasing her singles, this one would be next in line. But as we all know, 3beat records jumbled up the first nine singles, so I should stop predicting which one will be next. As I mentioned above, this was released as a promotional single to her second album by Roton Romania. It was released along side promotional singles of: "Alright", "OK" and "Caliente" (the latter being both a radio single and an remix EP). I'm so glad I downloaded them all in time, as they soon disappeared with the release of 'I Am The Club Rocker' album. The song is one of my favourites from the album as it's extremely catchy, hence why it's been stuck in my head all day.
I was worried when I started watching this music video. It looks like I'm watching a children's music video such as Cartoon's version of "Witch Doctor". This looks very low budget. But as the music video progresses, we realise the budget was thrown at the extras. And it may have been intentional as it looks like we're watching a pantomime...
The music video shows three iconic children's stories. These stories are forever shown in pantomimes, they include, 'Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs', 'Alice In Wonderland' and 'The Wizard of Oz'. Although they missed one pantomime that's just as crucial, and that's 'Cinderella', how did they miss that one out?
Inna changes the characters of Snow White, Alice and Dorothy, into quite sultry, sexy and sleek personalities. Not only that but a great singer and dancer empowering everyone including The Hatter from Alice In Wonderland (who reminds me a lot of Johnny Depp's portrayal of the character in the 2010 film).
Many music video's have done these storylines in their music videos such as Avril Lavigne's "Alice" is 'Alice In Wonderland' along with Daisy Dares You's "Number One Enemy", which features Chipmunk, and Rizzle Kick's "Dreamers". Ivi Adamou's "La La Love" takes inspiration from 'Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs'. I'm sure there's portrayals of 'The Wizard of Oz' however I have not yet come across them. All these videos unfortunately makes Inna's portrayal look amateurish and maybe a little on the childish side due to the background. On the other hand, they really can't compete with Inna's sex appeal.
Overall a song that should hit the UK charts hard if they ever release it. But a music video that fails to meet expectations as it has no link with the song. The portrayal of the characters is very interesting, turning them away from their dainty side as we all know them to be. As the video progresses we get used to the video's scenery and start to enjoy it for what it is, and so I feel this rating is more than generous.
Bridgit Mendler is new to the UK, she has had a few hits in America, but she is most known for her television acting roles in Good Luck Charlie, playing Teddy Duncan. And her role in Wizards of Waverly Place as Juliet van Heusen. She is also known in films such as Labour Pains, Alice Upside Down, and most notably Lemonade Pains. Now she's embarking on a singing career with her solid fan-base from Lemonade Mouth, she has become quite popular in the states and over here, even managing to get her US second single to chart here in the UK as "Deteminate" Featuring Adam Hicks got to number 198. However her first two singles, which includes "Somebody" was released as part of Lemonade Mouth. Now she's embarking on her own, and you could go as far as saying that this is her first single.
"Ready Or Not" was written by Bridgit Mendler, Emanuel "Eman" Kiriakou and Evan "Kidd" Bogart. The song samples the Fugees song "Ready Or Not". The song is about no longer waiting for the world to come after you, and going after the world yourself. There's a romantic twist to it too, as she goes out to find the guy she's been waiting for. I first heard this song on The X Factor (US) when Bridgit Mendler performed during the Live Shows, I remember liking it and being disappointed at the thought it might never be released in the UK, guess I was wrong. The song reminds me of something Ashlee Simpson would release and it looks like it's going to chart next week (as that's when it's released in the UK), as it's very popular over here so I am definitely buying this.
The music video isn't what you expect, and although it links slightly, you kind of want to know what they win at the end after all they've just done, as well as finding the romantic side, which there was none of.
This whole scavenger thing looks fun, I want to do it too. The only similar thing I've done is a zombie experience day in the city centre of Birmingham called "2.8 Hours Later". On the other hand there's a few things I didn't like...
The scavenger hunt looks like it's filmed good, however after closer inspection, we don't always stick to Bridgit Mendler and her team, not only that but the other team that is filmed has a total different set of instructions. As well as that they don't all complete their required tasks, or they did but they edited them out.
The use of the Polaroid camera is fun, and I always like seeing them being used in music videos.
Overall a great song that will definitely chart next week. It's accompanying music video is missing the romantic side, and they do all these tasks and get nothing out of it, by the looks of things. Not only that but we never get the satisfaction of seeing all the tasks completed. On the other hand, it's fun, but maybe a bit on the forgettable side, I have now watched it four times, and I still can't remember everything that went on.
Paramore hasn't released an album since 2010, three years away from music has shown how they have developed, we had the big song "Monster" and then that was followed by The Singles Club EP in 2011. Since then they have been working on their fourth album which is self-titled. Paramore are a three piece band consisting of Hayley Williams, Taylor York and Jeremy Davis. This is their first single from their new album. "Now" is a different sound to what we expect from Paramore, but just as addicting.
This music video is not at all what I was expecting, but then again I'm getting used to this. Paramore is such a big name now, that they have a high budget on their videos, with the amount of extras in this and the hard work that has clearly gone into this, you can tell the typical videos from the start of their career should be gone and lost, as they set towards an amazing new future.
This war themed video expresses the lyrics of the song, taking the original meaning and flipping it to an equally disturbing, but very real, literal meaning.
War can be seen as scary, but life is like a war, with conflicting issues between people, however it also shows that people split into teams, siding with certain people, such as Jeremy and Taylor helping Hayley get closer and closer to the soldier who's hoping to kill her.
I have to admit, I am very fond of some parts, such as showing that she gets knocked down twice, but does she give up? Hell no, she gets back up and is ready to achieve what she came there to do.
The ending is definitely my favourite part, it shows that a bit of love is all that everyone needs from time to time, and that hug she gives to the soldier stops the war.
Overall, a song that is not what we're used to hearing from this band, but something that's influential and undeniably catchy. The music video completes the song exactly the way it should, and it's hard to imagine these two apart, as they coincide perfectly. I have nothing bad to say about this music video, and therefore there's only one rating this video is worthy of.
