Third-biggest selling album of last year in the UK. Given his previous track record, it won't result in any records that are worth giving a shit about, but it might well result in a bunch of things like this one clogging up the higher reaches of the charts and the radio and the so forth, tossing up their signifiers as everything slowly goes to shit. Now he gets to duet with Nelly Furtado, albeit that she's not co-promoting the single with him. Probably the most interesting thing that happened to this feller last year was when, for no immediately obvious reason, Akon covered one of his songs during an appearance on the Live Lounge. The secret being, of course, that everyone else has to try - with yr Timberlakes and Madonnas and Ushers and so on, there's always the feeling that they have something to prove, they need to convince people that they're relevant, they're in touch Beyonce just turns up and is Beyonce, and that's plenty.Ĥ JAMES MORRISON/NELLY FURTADO - Broken Strings Her album has still not charted above number eight in the UK, but it doesn't matter - as her duet with Alexandra on the X Factor final amply demonstrated, the world is in awe of her to an extent that pretty much no other pop star at present can match. One could argue that her two US hit singles (an unprecedented level of success for a UK TV pop artist) mean she's already done that, but I ain't so sure. Alexandra's victory, however, means she's got a bit more of a challenge this year: trying to forge an identity that doesn't have so much to do with the programme. Can she break out of said mould? Does she want to? The failure of Leon Jackson meant she effectively got an additional year as X Factor winner, the public emblem of the programme's success. Amidst my happiness at Laughin Len getting in the top 40, I did wonder if he would honestly give a shit.Īnd where now for Leona? Nicely arranged ballads are what people like hearing her sing, they have decided. It is not a new or challenging reading that suggests the main theme here is Simon Cowell Can Buy You, but it's still the main vibe I'm picking up. Pretty certain she's got some great records in her, not sure this is one of them.
She's a good old voice on her, and her personality seems to have a bit more bite than Leona's.
The question of whether the top 40 still matters is a question that's been asked for goodness knows how long now, but at the start of this year it feels especially pertinent. A chart system where new entries are becoming increasingly rarer, in a country where the economy is officially hitting the skids.
0 kommentar(er)
