BTDMA - Best Video nominations
As mentioned earlier, I saw today that voiting has opened for the BT Digital Music Awards. Some of the categories that are open to public vote are easy enough to pick, but not so Best Video. Since I didn't know any of these videos, I thought I'd go look at them... oh dear oh dear.
Tinie Tempah - Pass Out
Right, first video... distinctly underwhelmed. This pap is even nominated for Best Video? Cheap as chips, strong spotlights in an otherwise dark space, a little bit of post-editing to add in effects and lettering. I suppose the editing follows the musical features quite nicely, and it's sort of stylish in a minimalist way. Except for that hideous check jacket, what's that all about?
Alexandra Burke - Bad Boys
Oh god the clichés! Sex and violence, the usual crap... Alexandra really can't dance at all, it's quite funny watching the pros trying hard not to giggle at her ridiculous moves. As for the wirework? Oh please. About the only thing I like about this are her boots... Let's hope at least she had fun making this, huh?
Cheryl Cole - Fight For This Love
I'm deeply perturbed by the fact that Cheryl wears blusher on her forehead. I mean, what?? Also she's clearly worried about her face appearing broad, going by the make-up style...
ANYWAY. The costumes are great, the dancing is passable, and someone's thought about different scenarios to accompany the song - see how they all illustrate the concept of "fighting"? Yeah. Still, this is a slick production, if hardly ground-breaking.
JLS - Everybody In Love
Bland bland bland. This is the same video boy bands have been putting out since at least the 80s: boys group-dance on a stage surrounded by fans, invididual boys cosy up with non-descript girls - you know, the ones their female fans can identify with (although maybe five years older, because 12-year-olds would look weird in this kind of video). Breakdown chorus, blah blah blah... SO DULL.
Roll Deep - Good Times
Bland bland bland Mk2. People party of a weekend, taxi rides in town, casual objectification of women... all these things have been staples of club music since the days of disco. Yawn. About the best thing I can say about it is that it features some fairly average-looking people...
N-Dubz - Say It's Over
Futuristic spaceship shiny... apparently, all the girls of the future will be wearing corsets, hooray! Like the Cheryl Cole video, this looks like someone's spent money, if not thought, on it. I quite like some of the effects they've used. That Dappy character though, isn't he one of the ugliest men in music today? HAHAH!
Bloody hell, how do you pick a winner out of this lot? I wouldn't cheer if any of these showed on tv, I expect I'll forget about them in a day, and literally none of them have done anything innovative with the genre at all. Very depressing. Having said that, I have no idea how they compare to other videos released this year, because I haven't seen any. I guess... uhh... probably the Tinie Tempah one is closest to my personal aesthetic.... followed by the N-Dubz one.
NB I'm carefully not commenting on the music here: as far as I'm concerned, it's all terrible, there's not one song I'd pay for among the lot. Just thought I'd clarify.
Tinie Tempah - Pass Out
Right, first video... distinctly underwhelmed. This pap is even nominated for Best Video? Cheap as chips, strong spotlights in an otherwise dark space, a little bit of post-editing to add in effects and lettering. I suppose the editing follows the musical features quite nicely, and it's sort of stylish in a minimalist way. Except for that hideous check jacket, what's that all about?
Alexandra Burke - Bad Boys
Oh god the clichés! Sex and violence, the usual crap... Alexandra really can't dance at all, it's quite funny watching the pros trying hard not to giggle at her ridiculous moves. As for the wirework? Oh please. About the only thing I like about this are her boots... Let's hope at least she had fun making this, huh?
Cheryl Cole - Fight For This Love
I'm deeply perturbed by the fact that Cheryl wears blusher on her forehead. I mean, what?? Also she's clearly worried about her face appearing broad, going by the make-up style...
ANYWAY. The costumes are great, the dancing is passable, and someone's thought about different scenarios to accompany the song - see how they all illustrate the concept of "fighting"? Yeah. Still, this is a slick production, if hardly ground-breaking.
JLS - Everybody In Love
Bland bland bland. This is the same video boy bands have been putting out since at least the 80s: boys group-dance on a stage surrounded by fans, invididual boys cosy up with non-descript girls - you know, the ones their female fans can identify with (although maybe five years older, because 12-year-olds would look weird in this kind of video). Breakdown chorus, blah blah blah... SO DULL.
Roll Deep - Good Times
Bland bland bland Mk2. People party of a weekend, taxi rides in town, casual objectification of women... all these things have been staples of club music since the days of disco. Yawn. About the best thing I can say about it is that it features some fairly average-looking people...
N-Dubz - Say It's Over
Futuristic spaceship shiny... apparently, all the girls of the future will be wearing corsets, hooray! Like the Cheryl Cole video, this looks like someone's spent money, if not thought, on it. I quite like some of the effects they've used. That Dappy character though, isn't he one of the ugliest men in music today? HAHAH!
Bloody hell, how do you pick a winner out of this lot? I wouldn't cheer if any of these showed on tv, I expect I'll forget about them in a day, and literally none of them have done anything innovative with the genre at all. Very depressing. Having said that, I have no idea how they compare to other videos released this year, because I haven't seen any. I guess... uhh... probably the Tinie Tempah one is closest to my personal aesthetic.... followed by the N-Dubz one.
NB I'm carefully not commenting on the music here: as far as I'm concerned, it's all terrible, there's not one song I'd pay for among the lot. Just thought I'd clarify.