The Vengaboys are my revisit this Thursday, purely because they are one of the Birmingham Pride 2016 acts that I'm most excited to see perform live, bringing back tonnes of childhood memories! This song was their second number one single after "Boom, Boom, Boom, Boom!!" and I much prefer it. Transformed into animated characters that were common at the time, the Vengaboys fly us away on holiday to Ibiza, showing us all the places we need to come back to and visit some other time.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! WE LIKE TO PARTY... and so do our latest reveal! It's none other than The vengaboys who...
Posted by Birmingham Pride on Thursday, 17 March 2016
The Vengaboys have reformed, and with enough promotion I can imagine them doing well in the UK. They are the epitome of any late 90's childhood, we were all singing their songs, playing their songs, dancing to their songs. At the time of this release, the Vengaboys consisted of Kim Sasabone, Denise Post-Van Rijswijk, Roy den Burger and Robin Pors. In the reformation, Roy den Burger has been replaced by Donny Latupeirissa. I will not be missing them at Birmingham Pride 2016, not for anything or anyone. I can't wait to hear this song live. It was written by Jeff Calvert and Max West. The song was based on Typically Tropical's "Barbados".
Many artists have transformed themselves into animated stars, Britney Spears with "Break The Ice" and "Kill The Lights" is the main star that comes to mind, although there are undoubtedly many others.
The Vengaboys start their in what looks like America, they fly past several landmarks such as the Eiffel Tower in Paris, the Colosseum in Rome, Saint Basil's Cathedral in Moscow, the city of Toronto, The White House in Washington DC where a piano is being played, amongst others. They are also travelling by bus, that definitely doesn't look safe, but it's definitely an ode to their previous single "We Like To Party (The Vengabus)".
The most surprising thing is when they visit Switzerland and it seems Denise Post-Van Rijswijk has fallen off the wooden decking, and instead of splashing into the water, she is dancing on water!
There is a massive performance side, because this is what the Vengaboys are all about. There's massive choreography that looks easy to pull off but we'll see if the Vengaboys at Birmingham Pride 2016 will perform just like their animated versions of themselves.
Scenic, beautiful and clever, this video is on point, especially for the era it was released. It relates perfectly to the song and links in with the lyrics. There's only one thing wrong with it, and that's when Denise Post-Van Rijswijk is dancing on water in Switzerland. Everything else comes together and works out perfectly. If an artist is going to turn themselves into an animated character, they have to pull it off like the Vengaboys have in this video.
Honestly, I wasn't that interested at this announcement for Birmingham Pride 2016, until I looked at some of her songs, and then I got excited that she was the vocalist on Tim Berg's "Seek Bromance". But I doubt I'd go out of my way to watch Amanda Wilson perform, especially since I only really know "Seek Bromance", although I'm pretty sure the remixes of this song and her other hit "Watchin'" is currently doing the rounds in the clubs at the moment. Amanda Wilson performs this song to the best she can, whilst the dancers out-do her in every scene.
YET ANOTHER CONFIRMED ARTIST!We're looking forward to seeing the fantastic Amanda Wilson perform on our Birmingham...
Posted by Birmingham Pride on Thursday, 17 March 2016
The Freemasons are a DJ duo consisting of Russell Small and James Wiltshire, they are also members of the group Phats & Small, which has had better chart placements, but aren't as successful. Featured on this track is Amanda Wilson who will be hitting the Birmingham Pride 2016 stage. She has released quite a few singles, although the ones with the Freemasons are her most successful, as well as "Seek Bromance" which she isn't credited for, so I'm presuming she won't be singing "Seek Bromance" at pride. The song samples Jackie Moore's "This Time Baby" and Tina Turner's "When The Heartache Is Over". It was written by Graham Stack, John Reid, Russell Small, James Wiltshire, Leroy Bell and Casey James.
The video is simple, a pure performance based video that doesn't have much going on in it.
The dancers out perform Amanda Wilson, they are the main feature of the video, they're all in-sync and are definitely professionals, pulling off the choreography amazingly. Amanda Wilson either can't dance or they didn't want to include her in the choreography, she pretty much does the same three moves over and over again, and it's totally sets her up because the dancers aren't even doing those dance steps. She looks awkward and on her own.
This video exposes Amanda Wilson as a good singer but not the best performer. I bet she is a lot better now, but this video really makes her stand out, but in a very bad way. The choreography relates to the dance track rather than the actual song, and the only good bits I can find is the verses because you can see Amanda Wilson for herself, and yet it's too simplistic and with next to no performance in it. Was her heart even in this video?
I am breaking the rules, once again, since this is not an official music video for this song, this is more of a promotional video, as Fleur East has confirmed there will be an official music video released soon, however it's been a couple of months now, and there's no sign of an official music video any time soon, it especially didn't help with this song not charting. I have broken the rules a few times before, examples includes Justin Bieber's entire promotional videos for his album, titled "Purpose: The Movement", as well as Revisit Thursday Nathan Sykes "Born To Dance". Fleur East brings the summer with this tune, and this video is some fun in the sun, which we definitely need in this cold UK weather. Everyday we love you more and more Fleur East
WHO WOULD LIKE A BIT OF SAX?We would! We love the fact that the amazing Fleur East will be one of our headliners on...
Posted by Birmingham Pride on Thursday, 17 March 2016
Fleur East has been confirmed for Birmingham Pride 2016, as one of the main headliners. After supporting her throughout The X Factor, I am so excited to see her perform and hear her sing "Sax" live, her dancing will be incredible, undoubtedly. She came second behind Ben Haenow, but it seems that Fleur East has won overall, because of her chart hits. This song was released with very little promotion, no official video and no release date announcement and no performances around that time. Whether they were relying on radio to pick it up, I don't know, but the radio didn't pick it up that well, and the song failed to chart. Maybe the release of the official video might push sales. The song was written by Fleur East, Edvard Førre Erfjord, Henrik Michelsen, James Abrahart and Camille Purcell.
Directed by Robin Fenlon, the video was released as a promotional video for the song. It shows Fleur East in Los Angeles, having a sun fun day, which we all love to do now and again don't we?
This could slightly work as an official video, since Fleur East is dancing and singing to the song, the performance side is subtle, but interesting, it's nice to see her relaxed and just having fun, maybe a bit of freestyle would have made this performance side a little more interesting, but I guess we all need to wind down after the full dance choreography of "Sax".
Fleur gives us fun fun fun, fun in the sun! She has fun on the beach, on the pier, in an arcade/amusements (Dance machine, oh yeah!), at a funfair, in a red convertible car, in a funky clothes shop and at a basketball court. She makes me want to go to LA on holiday, in this exact place.
Overall, as an official music video, it works slightly, but it's only a promotional video, and so it works well. The song is a grower, one that may eventually chart as it's getting more and more catchy, but it needs more and more promotion... Definitely needs a remix, which would definitely help it to chart better. Overall, fun, sun and confident.
Mike Posner is still at number one with "I Took A Pill In Ibiza", so I'm excited to choose a song in the top ten, and I'm so happy that this is in the top ten this week! Finally it has a video, although we're all completely disappointed Zara Larsson is not in it whatsoever, why tease it so much if it was apparently shot last minute? They could've included her one way or another, regardless of how busy she might've been. This totally ruined any chance of me enjoying this video, which totally makes it difficult to review. Full of grinding, twerking and confidence, this video relates to the song, but whereas the song is amazingly catchy, more thanks to Zara Larsson than Tinie Tempah, this video falls dead to the water.
Tinie Tempah, real name Patrick Okogwu, has made quite the name for himself, all of his solo songs have been hits, so it's undeniable that he will forever be in our charts. He has seven number ones under his belt, and I reckon he will be getting a lot more in the future. Featuring is new star Zara Larsson, who definitely won't be disappearing any time soon, although saying that... Not appearing in a music video with Tinie Tempah might not do her any favours. "Lush Life" is one of my favourite songs, and she has a killer voice on "Never Forget You". She shocks everyone with this, because it suits her perfectly, and yet... No sign of her in the video. The song is a hit, but maybe it would've performed better if the video had Zara Larsson in.
The video was shot in Cape Town, South Africa. Filmed whilst Tinie Tempah took a long stay over there. Clearly Zara Larsson didn't have time to fly over there and film it. It's saddening to think that she wasn't featured in the music video, especially since she makes this song, although Tinie Tempah's rapping is on point.
Tinie Tempah hosts a street party, and it's all fun and games. He performs well in this, although he doesn't do much, he looks relaxed, like he's at home in Cape Town.
The dancers can dance, that's undeniable, and yet they aren't given much choreography, just a few booty shakes, a bit of twerking and grinding. These dancers can do so much more, yet there there to look sexy.
Zara Larsson's verse is done quite cheap and nastily, although I love the idea behind the bathroom scene, as girls' chatter in bathrooms; the scene isn't shown as how I would imagine. It paints a bad picture both generally and culturally. And although they have someone who looks similar to Zara Larsson in the background, I feel that this not only erases her from the song and video entirely, but having other women lip-sync to her lyrics kills her off. This reminds me a lot of Ms. D in Wiley's "Heatwave", who never appeared in that video. Difference is Zara Larsson is a chart success with her own songs, you don't just not include her and expect people, to not only not notice, but also not want answers. Where is she?
Overall, Tinie Tempah does he's best to perform, but without Zara Larsson it was never going to work. The video relates well, although could've been so much more. With all the hype created about this video, it should've been a stunner, since the song is amazing. The song would get five stars from me, but since I'm purely basing the rating on the video, I have no choice but to give it this rating.
I totally screamed when this act was announced for Birmingham Pride 2016, if there's one act I will not miss, it will be the Vengaboys. They were a massive hit in the 90s, gaining two number one hits and seven top ten hits in the UK. They are the dance group of my childhood, we were all singing their songs and watching their music videos. The Vengaboys tell us they want us in their room in this boom of a track. Relatable, entertaining and surprisingly explicit, this video is well ahead of it's time with the technology idea, yet the costumes and style is stuck in the past.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! WE LIKE TO PARTY... and so do our latest reveal! It's none other than The vengaboys who...
Posted by Birmingham Pride on Thursday, 17 March 2016
The Vengaboys consisted of, at the time, Kim Sasabone, Denise Post-Van Rijswijk, Roy Den Burger and Robin Pors. The group are currently back together and have released a Christmas album and a couple of singles, with Donny Latupeirissa replacing Roy Den Burger in the line-up. With Birmingham Pride 2016 coming up, I am expecting them to announce a new single, with enough touring in the UK and enough promotion, I can see this group making one of the biggest comebacks we have ever seen, their new singles should've been hits, I admit, I do like "Hot, Hot, Hot". This song hit number one in the UK in 1999, and was written by Dennis van Den Driesschen, Benny Andersson, Wessel van Diepen and Björn Ulvaeus. The first verse interpolates Abba's "Lay All Your Love On Me".
This video is both sexual and explicit, unsurprising due to the song's meaning, how this was shown on music channels in the 90's when I was young, I do not know, but I guess age ratings wasn't given to videos back then, whereas nowadays this would've been banned until curfew time.
The choreography is on point, the Vengaboys sure know how to move and it excites me to think that I'll be seeing them perform live in the next few months at Birmingham Pride, and if they perform as in sync as they do in this video, they will be more than amazing.
This is mainly a performance piece, although there is a slight narrative, it seems the Vengaboys are performing in a strip club. There is quite a lot of girl on girl action in this video suggesting that the Vegaboys have been gay idols since the moment they started. The LGBT+ group have welcomed them from the beginning.
There's not much else to comment on. Perfect vocals, catchy songs and undeniably in-sync dancing that put other artists that released music during this era to shame. I can't wait to see them at Birmingham Pride 2016, and I hope that they manage to make a big comeback in the next few years.
