Music Video Spotlight: "Release Me" by Agnes

Ever since my introduction to Agnes last Sunday, her debut single worldwide "Release Me" has BLOWN UP. She has entered the UK charts at #3 (prior to the CD release) and my chart, The Lewis Top 30 at #1 (and will probably hold that for another week).

To celebrate her success (come to America, Agnes!), I am featuring her video for her smash hit. It's a typical club video, filmed in Stockholm (who knew that a serious scene like that?). She looks great in the video (Leona comparisons run rampant here) and the video itself is very fun.

Check it out below:

By The Way, The Winner of Eurovision 2009 is…. Norway’s “Fairytale”

In my last post, I essentially trashed the UK’s entry for the 2009 Eurovision Song Contest “It’s My Time”. Well, I released it was rude of me to ignore the winner of the annual contest. Norway took home the prize with their entry “Fairytale”, sung by Alexander Rybak. The song garnered the most points in Eurovision history, with 387 points.

I have been going back and forth with this song, thinking its either utter garbage or kind of charming. I’ll let you guys decide. Below is Alexander Rybak’s performance of “Fairytale” at the Eurovision Final:

The song is currently out in the UK, and charted at #10 this past week (17 spots ahead of the UK’s own entry by Jade Ewen, ouch).

Good News, Kara! A Pop Song Exists That’s Worse Than “No Boundaries”, and It’s Called “It’s My Time” by Jade Ewen

           

Jade Ewen (right) has released “It’s My Time”, the UK’s entry for Eurovision 2009 and the British version of “No Boundaries”, the American Idol season eight song co-written by Kara DioGuardi (left)

American Idol winners’ singles have never been known for their Grammy worthiness, but it reached a whole new low with “No Boundaries”,co-written by fourth judge Kara DioGuardi. The song will go down in AI history for having the most clichéd lyrics and for being so lacking a melody that it made both Adam Lambert and Kris Allen sound bad live.

Just as I thought that I found one of the worst TV-related singles ever (as much as it sucks, it can’t be the worst song ever), I was corrected when I stumbled upon “It’s My Time” by Jade Ewen.

The song was the United Kingdom’s entry in the annual Eurovision Song Contest, written by Broadway legend Andrew Lloyd Webber and songwriting queen Diane Warren. The song came in fifth place, but it was the country’s best showing since 2002, so it was still a success.

Well, not really.

“It’s My Time” is a terrible song. I mean terrible, and this is coming from someone who loves an overblown pop ballad. Lyrically, it could pass an American Idol coronation song, with its lyrics about climbing past adversity to reach the spotlight. While the concept has been wrung to death, never before has it sounded so boring. First off, the title is repeated about a hundred times, as if we’re going to forget that it is “her time”, even though we want to. Although to its credit, without the repetition, we wouldn’t know where the chorus was, since the song’s structure is so scattered and unfocused. Another problem is it’s production. While Andrew Lloyd Webber has produced some of the most beloved music in theater, pop is a genre he should definitely steer clear from. It’s over-the-top, melismatic arrangement may sound rich, but its ultimately exhausting and annoying.

Jade Ewen is a good singer, but it’s not really hard to imagine someone else singing this song even better. Still, she happens to be the best part of this dramatic snoozefest. She’s very convincing as she sings this drivel, as if she really believes that this is her moment in the sun.

If only that were true. “It’s My Time”, after its physical release, peaking at flop-worthy #27, well below Eurovision’s winner, Norway’s Alexander Rybak at #10.

It seems like the British people came to their senses about this track, but how on Earth did this place fifth in Eurovision? Similarly, how did the Idol allow “No Boundaries” to be recorded?

Finally, when it comes to contests such as those, why on Earth is the worst of pop music presented?

Introducing… Swedish Singer Agnes

Call it continental differences, but Americans tend to miss out on a lot of international music. Even our “special relationship” with the UK hasn’t helped us on the global music front, and we’ve in fact rejected some huge British talent (i.e. Kylie, Robbie, Sugababes, Mika).

America’s musical divide from the rest of the world means that this next singer will probably never see any airplay here. Luckily for us, there is the Internet.

I stumbled upon Agnes Carlsson by accident while perusing Digital Spy. Aussie pop duo The Veronicas were doing a review of current UK single releases, and at the mention of Agnes and her debut single “Release Me”, they compared her to Leona Lewis, but “edgy”.

As a Leona fan, I took the challenge and went to imeem to find “Release Me”.

Agnes and Leona do have a bit in common, admittedly. Both are former reality TV contestants (Leona on X Factor and Agnes on Swedish Idol). Both have a similar look (at least on their album covers). Both are great singers (I won’t go further in risk of bias).

The song seems to cease their similarities, though. “Release Me” is as Europop as it gets, while Leona sits on the American side of the pop spectrum. It’s a very glossy dance number, sidestepping sharp, heavy electro beats of current chart toppers for some classically slick disco production. Even though the song doesn’t do much to showcase her winning voice, its quite easy to tell that she has a talent.

While not the most earth-shattering debut in European history, it’s definitely competent in its ability to establish the Scando beauty in the rest of the continent, if not further.

Here is her debut single, released in the UK on May 25th.

Release Me - Agnes Carlsson