Back in late 2008, a new musician came on the scene and everyone raved about her. I kept seeing her name pop up in newspapers and websites, and saw her in outrageous outfits. I remember seeing pictures of her in cold, breezy London wearing barely anything but leotards and thinking the woman was an idiot. I don't often listen to Radio, nor was I often flicking through the music channels and so I had never even heard her music. Oh, and nor did I plan to.
Roll on to March 2009 when I was on my way to a Theme Park with a group of friends. My friend Sara played some of this woman's songs though at the time, I had no idea it was her. I had to admit the songs were catchy - if a little daft - but then I recognised one song. P-p-p-poker Face, P-p-poker Face. I only recognised it because I knew she had a single out and the title was "Poker Face".
I knew then that I was listening to Lady GaGa. Did I know that it was also her singing "LoveGame" and "Boys, Boys, Boys"? No, for some reason it didn't click, but I instantly fell in love with Poker Face and the obsession slowly began to start right in that car.
I can't exactly remember what happened after that. I knew her first single was "Just Dance" and everyone loved that song, so I think I either YouTubed it or saw it on a Music Channel. I then saw passed all the crazy outfits, I saw a performer. I saw an artist. I knew I was hooked when I saw the video for Poker Face, where she sings "And after he's been hooked I'll play the one that's on his heart" and she's strutting towards the camera near the pool.
She was confident, she knew how to create attention. It was like she'd been in the music industry for years. She knows what she wants.
I love the beginning of Poker Face; the single beats at first, then the synths, the "m-m-m-muh" and then the main tune. It creates a build up and the way GaGa comes up from the pool, slides down, and then slinks towards the camera before throwing her mask away is just...well, brilliant. I can't really explain it. The way she's all slow while the music is funky. I love how the camera works as well, where GaGa gets all twitchy. It sort of reminds me of Rihanna's "Disturbia" video, because it's like the topic they're about to sing about is twisted, abnormal. Different.
Then she began to dance to the chorus in some sort of Animé superhero inspired outfit. Dancing is totally my thing, so I was even more impressed when I learned she was a dancer too, and a pretty decent one. The girl's got talent, that I couldn't deny.
Though to be honest, I couldn't really quite work out what the song was about, especially the "bluffin' with my muffin'"
I was pretty surprised to learn that it was about thinking of a different gender or person when making love to your partner. See, a lot of songs nowadays are about love or break ups or heartbreak, and GaGa's songs are in the same topic but she writes from a different perspective. She doesn't go all JLS on us ("Let's just get back together, we should have never broke up. You're telling me how my heart won't beat again. We should have stayed together, but when you left me it stopped. You're telling me how my heart won't beat again.")
Lady GaGa: Well I do have a really big donkey dick.
Look at how they all laugh and have faces showing shock. GaGa didn't say it to be controversial (at least, this is the impression I get) but she was just showing how lame those rumours were and was joking with it. I honestly, truly believe that GaGa is an intelligent lady. Everything she does is for a reason.
I read PerezHilton.com everyday and I came across a clip of Lady GaGa singing an acoustic version of Poker Face in Japan. Y'all know the one I'm talking about, she has a massive elephant on her head (not literally.) I had done no research on GaGa and was even MORE impressed that she played piano (which she's been playing since she was four, I'll have you know) and she completely changed the song. It's not my favourite performance of Poker Face but I certainly viewed GaGa in a different way. When I first heard of her I thought she'd be another popstar people would obsess over for a year and then disappear. This video proved to me how versatile she was and how she really was here to stay.
Yet I was reluctant to buy the album. I loved all her singles (except Paparazzi) and months flew by.
And then Bad Romance came out. Again people raved about it so I had to YouTube it. It was definitely the strangest video yet but I absolutely adored it. The monsters hatching from the eggs and doing weird claw like movements, GaGa in a black underwear set with crystal orbs floating around her, the white set where she does the chorus dance, the strange glittery green outfit, and the red latex outfit at the end.
It's all quite weird, it doesn't necessarily make sense but it's one hell of a video. GaGa's performance is just top notch. She's so confident in what she does, she really is truly an artist and I greatly admire her. I don't care what anyone says. And the "Rah, rah, ah-ah-ah, roma, roma ma, GaGa, ooh lala, want your Bad Romance" is probably one of best catch lines I've ever heard.
Ever since this video I searched her a lot more, YouTubed interviews to see what she was like as a person. I was pleasantly surprised to discover that she is a genuinely nice young woman (even offering sweets to the kids on the Paul O'Grady show) and really interesting. I really enjoyed this interview she had with Alex Chung. She talks about Bad Romance and her take on the video, what Bad Romance means plus a lot more.
This is also a really special interview she did with Ellen DeGeneres, as she talks about the fashion she wears, what her past was like and why she wrote "Speechless".
The same with Speechless: everyone was talking about it and I knew I had to listen to it. The first time I heard it was actually on the Royal Variety Performance TV show. My family aren't really a fan of GaGa but I loved how it was her at the piano and just singing. You could really concentrate on how beautiful her voice was and just listen to the lyrics. I won't post the Royal Variety performance video because I think this video is better than that one.
She looks so emotional which just makes her and the song just a whole lot more human.
As soon as I heard that song on the Royal Variety I YouTubed all the songs from "The Fame Monster" and found myself listening to them on repeat and practically everyday.
I don't really know why I resisted buying her album for so long, but I did. Now I have "The Fame" and "The Fame Monster" and I absolutely adore both albums.
Her first album is a lot more poppy with a mix of dance and r'n'b (Just Dance, Poker Face, Nothing Else I can Say, Starstruck, Fame) but her second is a lot darker lyrically and more electronic. I highly recommend both.
Oh, and GaGa is a good person, too. The money that would be made from merchandise and ticket sales would go towards Haiti. In this performance of "Speechless" (which was posted on PerezHilton.com) GaGa announces that "her little monsters" made over half a million dollars for the Haiti Charity. How amazing is that? I also recommend watching the video because of how the audience interacts with the song. (song starts at about 3:00)
Officially proud to say that I have become a GaGa Monster.
Showing posts with label YouTube. Show all posts
Showing posts with label YouTube. Show all posts
Thursday, 28 January 2010
Monday, 4 January 2010
Koda Kumi - Can We Go Back
As some of you are aware I have been a fan of Koda Kumi since she sang the theme song for the popular game Final Fantasy X. Through YouTube and Wikipedia updates I have been able to listen to her songs and continue following her.
For those unfamiliar with Miss. Kumi, she has released 7 studio albums with an 8th on the way, 4 Compliation albums with a 5th also coming soon and 7 number 1 singles.
Koda Kumi has been writing/co-writing her own songs for a good few years now and it's fair to say she's a very busy lady. Back in late 2005/early 2006 she did a project where she released one single every week for 12 weeks and she done extremely well, and has been doing well since. With her growing popularity, she has managed to win awards such as "best video", "best album", "best artist", and has even won awards for "best style" and won the title of "Nail Queen". Freakin' Nail Queen guys. (Truth be told, her nails are art, though her real nails must be dying underneath...!)
She has covered a range of music styles such as Pop, Hip-Hop, R'n'B, Dance and even Rock. Love her or hate her, you can't say she's boring. Some say she's the Lady GaGa of Japan and I can see where they're coming from - although her outfits and stage shows aren't as (excuse my choice of wording) weird as Miss. GaGa's, Koda Kumi isn't afraid to play with her sexuality, clothes, hair, music and indeed...nails.
And last but not least, Koda Kumi and Lady GaGa together!
Koda Kumi's latest single from her latest album "Universe" is called "Can We Go Back" and is one of her rock attempts. I think it's one of her best vocals and check out the video below - there's a dance routine about halfway through that's rather Michael Jackson in fashion and choreography. The song and the dance break don't entirely go in my opinion - I'm not sure if the dance break is part of the song or something implimented into the video, but heyho.
Anyway, here is the video for all you J-Pop geeks, and the two videos below are her other attempts at the Rock genre. Unfortunately for some reason everytime I post a video that works on YouTube it says the video can't be played due to terms of violation when I post this blog, so I'll have to give you the links instead, I'm afraid!
Koda Kumi - Can We Go Back (2010)
Koda Kumi - Selfish (2005)
Koda Kumi - Ningyo Hime (2007)
For those unfamiliar with Miss. Kumi, she has released 7 studio albums with an 8th on the way, 4 Compliation albums with a 5th also coming soon and 7 number 1 singles.
Koda Kumi has been writing/co-writing her own songs for a good few years now and it's fair to say she's a very busy lady. Back in late 2005/early 2006 she did a project where she released one single every week for 12 weeks and she done extremely well, and has been doing well since. With her growing popularity, she has managed to win awards such as "best video", "best album", "best artist", and has even won awards for "best style" and won the title of "Nail Queen". Freakin' Nail Queen guys. (Truth be told, her nails are art, though her real nails must be dying underneath...!)
She has covered a range of music styles such as Pop, Hip-Hop, R'n'B, Dance and even Rock. Love her or hate her, you can't say she's boring. Some say she's the Lady GaGa of Japan and I can see where they're coming from - although her outfits and stage shows aren't as (excuse my choice of wording) weird as Miss. GaGa's, Koda Kumi isn't afraid to play with her sexuality, clothes, hair, music and indeed...nails.
And last but not least, Koda Kumi and Lady GaGa together!
Koda Kumi's latest single from her latest album "Universe" is called "Can We Go Back" and is one of her rock attempts. I think it's one of her best vocals and check out the video below - there's a dance routine about halfway through that's rather Michael Jackson in fashion and choreography. The song and the dance break don't entirely go in my opinion - I'm not sure if the dance break is part of the song or something implimented into the video, but heyho.
Anyway, here is the video for all you J-Pop geeks, and the two videos below are her other attempts at the Rock genre. Unfortunately for some reason everytime I post a video that works on YouTube it says the video can't be played due to terms of violation when I post this blog, so I'll have to give you the links instead, I'm afraid!
Koda Kumi - Can We Go Back (2010)
Koda Kumi - Selfish (2005)
Koda Kumi - Ningyo Hime (2007)
Monday, 16 November 2009
I Am A Japanophile
I have to thank my sister's boyfriend for lending me his Final Fantasy X game. I was already into Animé, but it was this game that introduced me to Japanese music because it came with a "making of" DVD (and I love seeing how things are made). The first ever Japanese song I heard was a very beautiful, soothing song called "Suteki da ne" ("Isn't it wonderful?") and it was the theme song for FFX.
I've always been quite open musically, and I fell in love with the song instantly. I googled the lyrics and printed them off, and began to learn. I mean, how cool is it to sing in a different language? Not everyone can and it's a skill I'm proud to say I possess.
This is the song.
It didn't matter to me that I had no idea what she was singing. I loved the classical melody and it was all about the emotion, and it really made me realise. It's not just words that make a story, it's the way you say it, it's the passion you feel within.
I was eager to learn more, and discovered the song "Melodies of Life" from Final Fantasy 9, which is also sung in Japanese and English also.
The good thing about these songs is that they are quite slow, so for me it was a good starting point to learn the pronunciation and really get to grips with the language.
I learned these two songs in Japanese fluently and then Final Fantasy X-2 came out. There were two theme songs to this one - Real Emotion and 1000 Words - and both songs were sung by a very popular Japanese artist named Koda Kumi.
Real Emotion was the first fast-paced Japanese song I learned. A lot of people may well call me weird, but when I got home from school I just wanted to learn Japanese songs, rather than go hang out with schoolmates behind shops while they smoked (I was in a bit of a bizarre crowd, truth be told).
This was when I discovered YouTube, back in 2005. My friend Matthew is also a fan of "everything Japanese" and he introduced me to Japanese all girl pop group Morning Musume.
Thank goodness for YouTube because it's helped me stay in touch with my favourite Japanese artists, and I hated it when they were taking videos down due to copyright issues. I completely understand that of course, but at the same time these videos were allowing others to discover different things about different countries, and I was learning. Plus, it's exposure! Isn't that what every famous person wants, really? To be known? To be discovered? It's not like people were making money from uploading videos, let's face it. Or maybe I'm ignorant? As far as I'm aware, I couldn't see the harm.
The good thing about Japanese songs is that you get to learn some bits of the language from it, from where certain words pop up from time and time again.
I thank the site www.helloproject.com for their Japanese, Romaji and English translations for Morning Musume songs. And Cherryblossom-garden.com, too.
I soon became a Japanophile. (Please don't take that too literally, I just mean I became a bit addicted). I got so bored with the English music scene and Japanese music was a good distraction from it (until Mika came along, that is, but that's a different story).
I want to share some of my favourite Japanese music with you, and show you how different some of it is. I guess Koda Kumi is quite Americanised, but she writes a lot of her own songs, she's amazing live, has her own style...I do adore her quite a lot.
There are some Morning Musume songs that I like, and others not so much. It's difficult to describe this group, because the members keep changing. Members who want to leave graduate, and then they hold auditions for a new person, and everytime a new person (or persons) join, it becomes a new generation. The 4th generation was the "Golden Era".
Morning Musume are under this huge umbrella called "Hello! Project", and there are numerous groups next to MoMusu, like "Mini Moni" for example. They're a quartet aimed at the younger generation but I find them far too cute.
Gackt is mainly a rock guy, but he can sing pop too. I consider him the Japanese Mika in a way, especially in the live version of "Vanilla", because he's a guy who plays on his sexuality, and no-one actually even knows how old he really is. Not much is known about his personal life, as far as I'm aware.
Ayumi Hamasaki is another artist, but not one to get all her kit off. She's quite modest actually and has quite a strong voice. I don't like all of her songs, truth be told, but I adore her song "Voyage" and the video for it.
Anyway, I will stop waffling now and give you some videos to watch, if you are actually interested.
Here are some of my favourite live performances from Koda Kumi, because she's awesome. I want to see her live.
BUTTERFLY
ECSTASY (I love this song)
TABOO
These next videos contain some of Morning Musume's songs. You'll see the change in music, style, and member line-up.
LOVE MACHINE (3rd generation)
THE PEACE (4th generation)
SHABONDAMA (sixth generation)
ONNA NI SACHI ARE (8th generation)
This is the first song that includes two Chinese girls. Tsunku, the producer behind MoMusu, wanted to expand their popularity and so got "exchange students", if you like. This is currently the line up as of right now, but Kusumu Koharu is going to graduate soon. (The girl who is the first to sing in the above video)
And how about this: Koda Kumi auditioned to be in Morning Musume when she was 16, but she got rejected!
AYUMI HAMASAKI - Blue Bird
I would have shown you Voyage but there aren't any videos of it on YouTube, OR Imeem. It sucks, because it's really pretty. Anywho, moving on.
GACKT - Vanilla.
Now, I tore myself up over this song. Do I show you the official video where he looks like Cloud from a Final Fantasy game, or do I show you live footage of Gackt and his band performing very gay? I give you this video.
GACKT - Lu:Na...just to prove that he can be masculine. (Sort of).
The good thing about Japanese music is that you also learn about other foreign artists...like this male group DBSK who are Korean. They sang with Koda Kumi ("Last Angel") but I absolutely ADORE their song "Rising Sun" because it has various musical elements, plus I want to learn the dance.
DBSK are a very talented band, because they can sing pop, R'n'B, rock, and acapella. They're huge in Korea and rightly so.
RISING SUN
I would just like to boast that when I was watching the latest Final Destination film, I was sandwiched between two guys and the song "Rising Sun" was in the background in one of the scenes. I got mega excited but don't think my two friends were that interested and probably thought I was weird. "ExcitedOverForeignMusicAndGushedAboutItToColleagues Failed Attempt Number 2"
BALLOONS (you probably won't recognise them, they look completely different. I barely recognised them myself when I first saw this video! I love how geeky they are. If I did a music video, THIS WOULD BE IT.)
Okay, so that's my love for Asian music over and done with. Sorry it was long and possibly boring, but if you've become a fan of one of these artists simply because of this blog, then yay.
Until next time...
Sayonara!
I've always been quite open musically, and I fell in love with the song instantly. I googled the lyrics and printed them off, and began to learn. I mean, how cool is it to sing in a different language? Not everyone can and it's a skill I'm proud to say I possess.
This is the song.
It didn't matter to me that I had no idea what she was singing. I loved the classical melody and it was all about the emotion, and it really made me realise. It's not just words that make a story, it's the way you say it, it's the passion you feel within.
I was eager to learn more, and discovered the song "Melodies of Life" from Final Fantasy 9, which is also sung in Japanese and English also.
The good thing about these songs is that they are quite slow, so for me it was a good starting point to learn the pronunciation and really get to grips with the language.
I learned these two songs in Japanese fluently and then Final Fantasy X-2 came out. There were two theme songs to this one - Real Emotion and 1000 Words - and both songs were sung by a very popular Japanese artist named Koda Kumi.
Real Emotion was the first fast-paced Japanese song I learned. A lot of people may well call me weird, but when I got home from school I just wanted to learn Japanese songs, rather than go hang out with schoolmates behind shops while they smoked (I was in a bit of a bizarre crowd, truth be told).
This was when I discovered YouTube, back in 2005. My friend Matthew is also a fan of "everything Japanese" and he introduced me to Japanese all girl pop group Morning Musume.
Thank goodness for YouTube because it's helped me stay in touch with my favourite Japanese artists, and I hated it when they were taking videos down due to copyright issues. I completely understand that of course, but at the same time these videos were allowing others to discover different things about different countries, and I was learning. Plus, it's exposure! Isn't that what every famous person wants, really? To be known? To be discovered? It's not like people were making money from uploading videos, let's face it. Or maybe I'm ignorant? As far as I'm aware, I couldn't see the harm.
The good thing about Japanese songs is that you get to learn some bits of the language from it, from where certain words pop up from time and time again.
I thank the site www.helloproject.com for their Japanese, Romaji and English translations for Morning Musume songs. And Cherryblossom-garden.com, too.
I soon became a Japanophile. (Please don't take that too literally, I just mean I became a bit addicted). I got so bored with the English music scene and Japanese music was a good distraction from it (until Mika came along, that is, but that's a different story).
I want to share some of my favourite Japanese music with you, and show you how different some of it is. I guess Koda Kumi is quite Americanised, but she writes a lot of her own songs, she's amazing live, has her own style...I do adore her quite a lot.
There are some Morning Musume songs that I like, and others not so much. It's difficult to describe this group, because the members keep changing. Members who want to leave graduate, and then they hold auditions for a new person, and everytime a new person (or persons) join, it becomes a new generation. The 4th generation was the "Golden Era".
Morning Musume are under this huge umbrella called "Hello! Project", and there are numerous groups next to MoMusu, like "Mini Moni" for example. They're a quartet aimed at the younger generation but I find them far too cute.
Gackt is mainly a rock guy, but he can sing pop too. I consider him the Japanese Mika in a way, especially in the live version of "Vanilla", because he's a guy who plays on his sexuality, and no-one actually even knows how old he really is. Not much is known about his personal life, as far as I'm aware.
Ayumi Hamasaki is another artist, but not one to get all her kit off. She's quite modest actually and has quite a strong voice. I don't like all of her songs, truth be told, but I adore her song "Voyage" and the video for it.
Anyway, I will stop waffling now and give you some videos to watch, if you are actually interested.
Here are some of my favourite live performances from Koda Kumi, because she's awesome. I want to see her live.
BUTTERFLY
ECSTASY (I love this song)
TABOO
These next videos contain some of Morning Musume's songs. You'll see the change in music, style, and member line-up.
LOVE MACHINE (3rd generation)
THE PEACE (4th generation)
SHABONDAMA (sixth generation)
ONNA NI SACHI ARE (8th generation)
This is the first song that includes two Chinese girls. Tsunku, the producer behind MoMusu, wanted to expand their popularity and so got "exchange students", if you like. This is currently the line up as of right now, but Kusumu Koharu is going to graduate soon. (The girl who is the first to sing in the above video)
And how about this: Koda Kumi auditioned to be in Morning Musume when she was 16, but she got rejected!
AYUMI HAMASAKI - Blue Bird
I would have shown you Voyage but there aren't any videos of it on YouTube, OR Imeem. It sucks, because it's really pretty. Anywho, moving on.
GACKT - Vanilla.
Now, I tore myself up over this song. Do I show you the official video where he looks like Cloud from a Final Fantasy game, or do I show you live footage of Gackt and his band performing very gay? I give you this video.
GACKT - Lu:Na...just to prove that he can be masculine. (Sort of).
The good thing about Japanese music is that you also learn about other foreign artists...like this male group DBSK who are Korean. They sang with Koda Kumi ("Last Angel") but I absolutely ADORE their song "Rising Sun" because it has various musical elements, plus I want to learn the dance.
DBSK are a very talented band, because they can sing pop, R'n'B, rock, and acapella. They're huge in Korea and rightly so.
RISING SUN
I would just like to boast that when I was watching the latest Final Destination film, I was sandwiched between two guys and the song "Rising Sun" was in the background in one of the scenes. I got mega excited but don't think my two friends were that interested and probably thought I was weird. "ExcitedOverForeignMusicAndGushedAboutItToColleagues Failed Attempt Number 2"
BALLOONS (you probably won't recognise them, they look completely different. I barely recognised them myself when I first saw this video! I love how geeky they are. If I did a music video, THIS WOULD BE IT.)
Okay, so that's my love for Asian music over and done with. Sorry it was long and possibly boring, but if you've become a fan of one of these artists simply because of this blog, then yay.
Until next time...
Sayonara!
Thursday, 12 November 2009
We Are Not What You Think We Are
"We Are Golden! We Are Golden!"
At least, that's what Mika says we are. (Or is that "We are Gawlden! We are Gawlden!" ...? You decide.)
The song came out in September and I absolutely adore it. I love the lyrics. I love how inspiring and uplifting it is.
At school I wasn't the most liked person, the prettiest person, the person with the best figure or the best hairstyle, or the most popular girl. In fact, I'm still not, but at school I did feel like a misfit because there were all these girls glamourising themselves and growing up too quickly, snogging boys (or possibly/probably more), getting drunk and just generally getting up to no good.
I was the complete opposite. I never wore make-up. I had no sense of style, my hair style didn't suit me, I was big, and I was bullied. If this song came out when I was at school, I may have stepped out of my shell more, but no, I had to wait until 2007 when I was in my last year studying A-Levels to hear of this man called MIKA.
And boy did my life change for the better!
Being a fan of Mika gave me the confidence to do weird and crazy things. I did this video for his MySpace competition in May 2007 (Oh, I won it, by the way) and no way would I have done this in school.
It was definitely a turning point. I decided that if there were things I wanted to do, I was going to do it, and the best way to do these things is to just dive in without giving it a second thought. If I second guessed doing this video I probably wouldn't have done it.
Since then I've done several things for Mika and gone to a lot of Mika events. I've travelled on my own a lot more and in London too, and for someone who grew up quite sheltered it was a pretty big step for me. There's a world outside these four walls that make a house, you know? It's there to be seen and I intend to do a lot of sight seeing and memory making.
Anyway I digress slightly. Year 2009 gave me a lot of good memories and all these Mika events helped give me a bit more independence. Mika threw yet another video competition, this time to his song "We Are Golden" and the (original) rules were that you had to dance around in your room in your underwear, like he does in his video. Having lost a lot of weight and feeling more confident about my appearence in general, plus being a performer (though you wouldn't have thought it in that Lollipop video), I thought "Why not?"
The song means a lot to me. It picks me up when I'm feeling down, it gives me that feeling of power. I've decided it's the song that will be played at my funeral, and I apologise if that's a bit morbid for people. I got it all planned out: NO-ONE wearing black, and a video of my best/happiest moments throughout all my years to the song. Looks brilliant in my head - I don't want my funeral to be depressing, I want people to celebrate my life and the things I have done. That's why I take so many pictures and videos, so it can be passed on. I also want to be Golden in my after-life and want to inspire others to live life to their fullest.
That's what the song's about really anyway; about living for yourself and not giving a toss about other people's opinions "Who gives a damn about the family you come from? No giving up when you're young and you want some" "I live for glitter, not you".
I love all the chanting that goes with it. It's so incredible, beautiful, astounding and amazing live. It's like we're all in a cult or something, hearing everyone shout "WE ARE NOT WHAT YOU THINK WE ARE, WE ARE GOLDEN! WE ARE GOLDEN!" It's so powerful.
So I put parts of this Mika gig I went to in my song. Even if I don't win the competition, I put my Mika friends in there and Mika himself because it's these people that helped me become who I am today. It's true, people do influence you and I'm glad I'm not the same person I was more than 4 years ago. This video kind of celebrates my "golden-ness", if you will, and the person I have to thank the most is Mika himself.
I made several versions and this is the final video. It took me about 21 hours editing alone.
Enjoy :-)
At least, that's what Mika says we are. (Or is that "We are Gawlden! We are Gawlden!" ...? You decide.)
The song came out in September and I absolutely adore it. I love the lyrics. I love how inspiring and uplifting it is.
At school I wasn't the most liked person, the prettiest person, the person with the best figure or the best hairstyle, or the most popular girl. In fact, I'm still not, but at school I did feel like a misfit because there were all these girls glamourising themselves and growing up too quickly, snogging boys (or possibly/probably more), getting drunk and just generally getting up to no good.
I was the complete opposite. I never wore make-up. I had no sense of style, my hair style didn't suit me, I was big, and I was bullied. If this song came out when I was at school, I may have stepped out of my shell more, but no, I had to wait until 2007 when I was in my last year studying A-Levels to hear of this man called MIKA.
And boy did my life change for the better!
Being a fan of Mika gave me the confidence to do weird and crazy things. I did this video for his MySpace competition in May 2007 (Oh, I won it, by the way) and no way would I have done this in school.
It was definitely a turning point. I decided that if there were things I wanted to do, I was going to do it, and the best way to do these things is to just dive in without giving it a second thought. If I second guessed doing this video I probably wouldn't have done it.
Since then I've done several things for Mika and gone to a lot of Mika events. I've travelled on my own a lot more and in London too, and for someone who grew up quite sheltered it was a pretty big step for me. There's a world outside these four walls that make a house, you know? It's there to be seen and I intend to do a lot of sight seeing and memory making.
Anyway I digress slightly. Year 2009 gave me a lot of good memories and all these Mika events helped give me a bit more independence. Mika threw yet another video competition, this time to his song "We Are Golden" and the (original) rules were that you had to dance around in your room in your underwear, like he does in his video. Having lost a lot of weight and feeling more confident about my appearence in general, plus being a performer (though you wouldn't have thought it in that Lollipop video), I thought "Why not?"
The song means a lot to me. It picks me up when I'm feeling down, it gives me that feeling of power. I've decided it's the song that will be played at my funeral, and I apologise if that's a bit morbid for people. I got it all planned out: NO-ONE wearing black, and a video of my best/happiest moments throughout all my years to the song. Looks brilliant in my head - I don't want my funeral to be depressing, I want people to celebrate my life and the things I have done. That's why I take so many pictures and videos, so it can be passed on. I also want to be Golden in my after-life and want to inspire others to live life to their fullest.
That's what the song's about really anyway; about living for yourself and not giving a toss about other people's opinions "Who gives a damn about the family you come from? No giving up when you're young and you want some" "I live for glitter, not you".
I love all the chanting that goes with it. It's so incredible, beautiful, astounding and amazing live. It's like we're all in a cult or something, hearing everyone shout "WE ARE NOT WHAT YOU THINK WE ARE, WE ARE GOLDEN! WE ARE GOLDEN!" It's so powerful.
So I put parts of this Mika gig I went to in my song. Even if I don't win the competition, I put my Mika friends in there and Mika himself because it's these people that helped me become who I am today. It's true, people do influence you and I'm glad I'm not the same person I was more than 4 years ago. This video kind of celebrates my "golden-ness", if you will, and the person I have to thank the most is Mika himself.
I made several versions and this is the final video. It took me about 21 hours editing alone.
Enjoy :-)
Tuesday, 10 November 2009
Falling into Sara Bareilles' Gravity
MIKA may be my inspiration, but Sara Bareilles is my soul. MIKA is the artist who has the energy and drive that I want, but Sara Bareilles writes songs that remind me who I am inside. MIKA has the emotion I want. Sara reminds me of the emotion I have.
It's a bit annoying really.
This time last year I was going through a particularly hard time and experiencing a really bad heartbreak, and it felt like my brain had been tied into knots. Thankfully I'm over it now, but it was one of the most terrible experiences of my life and the person I turned to was Sara.
It seemed that Sara had been through something similar to me, and she gave me words when I had none. Her song "Gravity" is just genius, simply because it's so human. It wasn't fabricated and just created to make words rhyme. The lyrics are so human and touching, it really does feel like she's just expressing her feelings in a raw, emotional way, and it helped give me more understanding about my emotions, because that song described exactly how I felt.
So I tried to find the official video on YouTube but unfortunately all the videos have disabled the embedding option, God damn them all because it's an amazing video. It's got this whole space theme to it made out of everyday objects like balloons, bikes, umbrella's etc. It's really inventive and creative, not to mention it's all done in one shot so it must have required tons of rehearsing. It's really pretty.
So for now you'll have to do with this video. It's just Sara by the piano, but you can see just how "In The Zone" she really is.
Whilst being on Twitter I was going through Sara's tweets, when I saw that she tweeted about the song "Gravity" being on the US show "So You Think You Can Dance?"
Having seen a couple of episodes on TV, I was pretty excited and YouTubed it straight away.
I watched the dance and was stunned. The topic was about addiction, and I think it's really clever how the song can be interpretated in different ways: Love or Drugs. Either can be an addiction, and both can be bad for you. (Drugs certainly are...)
I love how strong and menacing Kupono is and I love how Kayla portrays her weakness and despair. Kupono is so controlling over her and I love how they constantly fight: the ways he throws her around and treats her like a puppet. The entire dance is strong, but there are moments that really jump out at you.
For example, the bit where Kupono holds Kayla's leg up in the air and she's doing a backbend. It's like she's so weak she's letting him devour her, the way he rubs his face all the way up her leg, and then afterwards when he's placing his hands all over her and she's throwing them away, trying to get away from him.
The song then goes into it's climax and it's the part of the song where they really fight against each other - they way he picks her up and she's kicking her legs like she's in deep water and struggling to swim.
And the most powerful bit of all where Kupono grabs her arm. He's in such a strong stance, with an evil glare on his face and Kayla looking like she's close to tears, trying to free herself from his grasp.
It's just such a powerful dance that makes a powerful statement. And it's not just a dance. It has a story to it, it has emotion. The man at the end says that he felt like he didn't just watch a dance, but he felt like he had an experience.
I couldn't have put it better.
It's a bit annoying really.
This time last year I was going through a particularly hard time and experiencing a really bad heartbreak, and it felt like my brain had been tied into knots. Thankfully I'm over it now, but it was one of the most terrible experiences of my life and the person I turned to was Sara.
It seemed that Sara had been through something similar to me, and she gave me words when I had none. Her song "Gravity" is just genius, simply because it's so human. It wasn't fabricated and just created to make words rhyme. The lyrics are so human and touching, it really does feel like she's just expressing her feelings in a raw, emotional way, and it helped give me more understanding about my emotions, because that song described exactly how I felt.
So I tried to find the official video on YouTube but unfortunately all the videos have disabled the embedding option, God damn them all because it's an amazing video. It's got this whole space theme to it made out of everyday objects like balloons, bikes, umbrella's etc. It's really inventive and creative, not to mention it's all done in one shot so it must have required tons of rehearsing. It's really pretty.
So for now you'll have to do with this video. It's just Sara by the piano, but you can see just how "In The Zone" she really is.
Whilst being on Twitter I was going through Sara's tweets, when I saw that she tweeted about the song "Gravity" being on the US show "So You Think You Can Dance?"
Having seen a couple of episodes on TV, I was pretty excited and YouTubed it straight away.
I watched the dance and was stunned. The topic was about addiction, and I think it's really clever how the song can be interpretated in different ways: Love or Drugs. Either can be an addiction, and both can be bad for you. (Drugs certainly are...)
I love how strong and menacing Kupono is and I love how Kayla portrays her weakness and despair. Kupono is so controlling over her and I love how they constantly fight: the ways he throws her around and treats her like a puppet. The entire dance is strong, but there are moments that really jump out at you.
For example, the bit where Kupono holds Kayla's leg up in the air and she's doing a backbend. It's like she's so weak she's letting him devour her, the way he rubs his face all the way up her leg, and then afterwards when he's placing his hands all over her and she's throwing them away, trying to get away from him.
The song then goes into it's climax and it's the part of the song where they really fight against each other - they way he picks her up and she's kicking her legs like she's in deep water and struggling to swim.
And the most powerful bit of all where Kupono grabs her arm. He's in such a strong stance, with an evil glare on his face and Kayla looking like she's close to tears, trying to free herself from his grasp.
It's just such a powerful dance that makes a powerful statement. And it's not just a dance. It has a story to it, it has emotion. The man at the end says that he felt like he didn't just watch a dance, but he felt like he had an experience.
I couldn't have put it better.
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