A Rising Pop Star

Oh Katy Perry. You, sexy girl, you. I recently became obsessed with your two hit songs. I listen to them a lot. Then I watched your videos and your VMA 2008 performance and you won me over. Why, might you ask?

You are just what the U.S. pop scene needs. You are the anti-Britney. But not in the angry I'm-jealous-of-Britney-because-she-is-more-popular-than-me Christina and Pink way. You are not jealous of Britney. You are not a reaction to Britney. You are a feisty brunette whose personality clearly shines through in videos. You are your own person and even though you serve the same market, somehow you managed to dodge the comparison bullet.

True, your "I Kissed a Girl" is equivalent to two drunk girls making out at a frat party to garner attention. I do not really believe that you kissed a girl and liked it. But who cares? The song is great. The devilish way in which you reveal that "it felt so wrong, it felts so right" merits the attention of U.S. youth. And mine, also. I also cannot sit still when I hear it. I cannot sit still even less when I hear your "Hot 'N Cold." It is a fast-paced spunky update on Avril's "Complicated." But more fun and just plain better.

You have stage presence. You have star quality. You have a personality. All of these clearly come across in your videos and live performances, where you just radiate energy (you are also not half-bad at singing live):



Even though your VMA 2008 (for the love of God...I cannot find it on YouTube!) performance was suspiciously similar to Tatu's VMA 2003 performance, I forgive you:



You are still careful and do not go over the top. The VMA 2008 performance was tame and you held yourself back. No pythons on shoulders. Good call.

You have so much potential. I cannot wait to see what you will do with it.

I like.

Scaring You Tonight

I am a big fan of Rihanna's latest hit "Disturbia." I think it is a perfect creepy-glamorous type of song and definitely a great song to dance to in a club. However, the music video falls short of both my expectations and the song's potential:



The strength of this song lies in the following lines:

Put on your green lights
We're in the city of wonder
Ain't gonna play nice
Watch out, you might just go under
Better think twice

It is the high-pitched and more fast-paced part of the song. It is also the part where Rihanna's backup singers come in. The whole package creates the feeling of restlessness, impending danger and the need to do something crazy right at that moment. This is why it is perfect for dancing and going out.

The music video had so much potential, especially taking after "Thriller's" theme, but falls extremely short. Rihanna never did it for me in either her videos or live performances. For some reason, her personality does not come across at all. And a true star's personality shines through. Especially in this video, she does not open her mouth wide enough to really breathe life into her disturbia. She is opening it enough to barely pass off as singing.

Instant Coolness Factor

How can an ordinary car commercial keep its audience glued to the TV? Use a Daft Punk song!



Lincoln enlisted the help of the popular French band and its latest hit "Technologic" to increase the coolness factor of its 30-second spot for the new 2009 Lincoln MKS. By about 100 times. And I do not even know what the car's features are. Nor do I care much.

The commercial itself is unassuming, but that only works in its favor. The focus is on the song, which is an attempt to make the viewers project their feelings about the song onto the car. Or just make the name of the car stick in the their heads...just like the song does. Forever. All day long. Just like last week, when I first saw it. And yesterday. And this morning. And right now.

Two Can Keep a Secret

I was watching Gossip Girl episodes from Season 1 recently and stumbled across a clip where two beautiful ladies were singing a song. Their sound immediately struck me, so I followed up with some serious Wikipedia and YouTube research. Both led me to discover this live performance of "Secret" by The Pierces:

Absolutely wonderful. Glamorous, fabulous, delicious and everything else at once (I still have to come up with my own definitions of glamorous, fabulous and the difference between the two). What struck me in this performance:

1. The visual contrast between the two singers (who are sisters, by the way). The blond plus brunette is the oldest trick in the book, but there is a good reason for it. It is just so visually pleasing to see the juxtaposition that you cannot keep your eyes off them. It also does not hurt that they both have gorgeous figures.

2. The blonde's voice and facial expressions. The voice is absolutely gorgeous. It is crisp, melodious and pretty strong. Perfect for this song. Her eyes and lips are also very expressive throughout the performance. She is not afraid to get her hands (face?) dirty and make grimaces that would better convey the message. Of creepiness and impending murder. See next point.

3. The creepy lyrics and way of singing. Creepy AND sensual. I feel like this could be a lost scene from Chicago and either one of them is about to kill the other...or me. Creepy and erotic. As per the discussion of terror being glamorous on DeepGlamour, the terror here arises from the threat of murder because of a broken word to keep a secret. Terror/glamour/eroticism image is completed by the monotonous dance.

This is the original Gossip Girl clip:

Never Meant to Break Your Heart

Somehow I missed will.i.am's little gem "Heartbreaker" last spring, but when I heard it in a restaurant a couple of weeks ago, I immediately ran home to watch the official video and all the live performances I could find on YouTube.

The official video did not impress me much, but I thought that this live performance was nothing short of glamorous:



Why, might you ask? It might not seem glamorous at first and it lacks the overwhelming special effects and naked dancing girls in the background of most popular music live performances of today. Well, here are a few reasons that this performance is glamorous and deserves more attention:

1. will.i.am's dancing. It is not rehearsed or staged. He has no backup dancers. He does not want to appear larger than life. He can just feel the music and the beat and he moves to them. Which makes him ever so slightly glamorous.

2. Cheryl Cole's performance and dancing. She looks like she might have some serious star potential. However, this girl is far from the trashy performers that pervade our pop scene. She actually has class. She is elegantly contained in her dancing. She does not unnecessarily shake her booty and as a result is incredibly sexy without the excessive movements. She wears a fairly tame outfit and her high-waisted mini skirt is far from appearing trashy due to its high waist. The mini skirt in this case is not a trashy item that is calling out for attention, but a fashion statement (that is because she is British). Especially paired with the T shirt and the black boots. For more info, see Rumi or Betty.

3. Singing live. That is always hot. Makes you appreciate the singers a little bit more. I mean, otherwise I could put on a mini skirt and dance around on a stage, lipsyncing into a microphone.

I like.

Start of the Blog Address

After a year of reading various fashion and glamour blogs, I have finally mustered the courage to start my own. In this blog, I plan on reporting the following things that I already do daily:
1. Analyze music videos and report on what makes them glamorous or not.
2. Report on fashion trends that I love.
3. If I get brave enough, post pictures of my own outfits in hopes of imitating Rumi, Betty and other sources for my inspiration.
4. Other miscellaneous attempts to understand glamour, style and pop.