Sing should easily be number 1 then, even if it tails off, I can't see it being enough. Such a borefest :( Quite a lot of the new releases underperforming, I expected Nelly, DJ Fresh & Aiden to be a lot higher, Usher's doing a bit better than I thought though

Delighted to see Sing at #1, it really is a stunning song and deserves all the sales it's getting. Especially after watching the documentary about it, Gary put so much effort in it. He is such an amazing guy.

'Sing' will be the first Gary Barlow related #1 single since 'Greatest Day' then - the Take That singles run since then has gone -14-9-123-2-28-52-15-88, 'Shame' also peaked at #2, 'Run For Your Life' only got #6, 'To Love Again' #15, 'Teardrop' #24, 'Lighthouse' #32 - am I forgetting anything else?

Blimey, I didn't know that. I don't like her current material but she's one of the few of the XF crop I have time for. It would be a real shame if she got dropped or stopped recording. We haven't seen her full potential IMHO.

I entirely agree with this, Overcome is one of my all time favourite albums, and it showed potential for her to be up there with the Beyonces and Christinas of the world, but this new album throws all of that away. It's not awful, but there are no potential singles and it's all pretty much the same - generic dance-pop (there's one ballad and one mid-tempo R&B-ish track). Overcome was hardly revolutionary, but it just had that special something, as shown by the sales figures and hit singles. God knows where all the fans went, and why radio snub her when they readily play Pixie Lott, Rihanna etc. who are very similar, but this era has just gone down so fast from the potential she had around Overcome.

To be honest, when I was watching Alexandra on X Factor, I never imagined she'd release a song like Elephant (or anything as dull as Broken Heels). I was expecting songs like The Silence from her. I could understand Bad Boys, because she had to differentiate herself from Leona who was very popular at the time and also from X Factor, but now all her singles apart from one of them have been similar to Bad Boys.

To be honest, when I was watching Alexandra on X Factor, I never imagined she'd release a song like Elephant (or anything as dull as Broken Heels). I was expecting songs like The Silence from her. I could understand Bad Boys, because she had to differentiate herself from Leona who was very popular at the time and also from X Factor, but now all her singles apart from one of them have been similar to Bad Boys.

 

This is exactly where I'm coming from. Alex's first album wasn't what I wanted from her but the songs were catchy enough and so were still hits and obviously it sold extremely well. When I think of her singing with Beyonce and then think of her releasing stuff like Elephant it makes me want to cry to be honest. Why do they get it so wrong?

This is exactly where I'm coming from. Alex's first album wasn't what I wanted from her but the songs were catchy enough and so were still hits and obviously it sold extremely well. When I think of her singing with Beyonce and then think of her releasing stuff like Elephant it makes me want to cry to be honest. Why do they get it so wrong?

Probably because they all think electro pop is the only way to get a hit. It just becomes faceless generic music though, unless its personal and heartfelt like Gaga, Rihanna etc.

 

I've never listened to an Alexandra album, but she has only 2 songs that I really like (Let it Go and All Night Long)

This is exactly where I'm coming from. Alex's first album wasn't what I wanted from her but the songs were catchy enough and so were still hits and obviously it sold extremely well. When I think of her singing with Beyonce and then think of her releasing stuff like Elephant it makes me want to cry to be honest. Why do they get it so wrong?

 

She got famous during a bleak time for pop music tbh. I feel the same about a plethora of other artists too tbh. Like Usher doing Dirty Dancer, or Nicki doing Starships, or Snoop Dogg doing Sweat. It's just so sad. I never thought I'd see those artists do songs like those...

 

I remember watching an interview of Marina and the Diamonds a couple of years ago, where she was saying how she feels like a failure and hasn't accomplished anything, and how she can't get a hit because the industry is obsessed with autotune electro music all of a sudden (Low, Boom Boom Pow, etc.).

 

Beyonce was the best during it all really. Her only "desperate" songs were Radio and Telephone really.

Edited June 4, 201213 yr by Eric_Blob

Probably because they all think electro pop is the only way to get a hit. It just becomes faceless generic music though, unless its personal and heartfelt like Gaga, Rihanna etc.

 

I've never listened to an Alexandra album, but she has only 2 songs that I really like (Let it Go and All Night Long)

 

Exactly its all so samey. You can have a hit whether you can sing or not and the reason why you voted for these people is lost. Her voice is fantastic and shes singing stuff anyone could sing. I guess the bottom line is you need to sell records to survive so they have gone the dance route as its popular right now. It's the wrong decsion for her and her long term career tho. I think it's a shame when someone has the ability to blow you away vocally like she can and she's reduced to this.

She got famous during a bleak time for pop music tbh. I feel the same about a plethora of other artists too tbh. Like Usher doing Dirty Dancer, or Nicki doing Starships, or Snoop Dogg doing Sweat. It's just so sad. I never thought I'd see those artists do songs like those...

 

I remember watching an interview of Marina and the Diamonds a couple of years ago, where she was saying how she feels like a failure and hasn't accomplished anything, and how she can't get a hit because the industry is obsessed with autotune electro music all of a sudden (Low, Boom Boom Pow, etc.).

 

Beyonce was the best during it all really. Her only "desperate" songs were Radio and Telephone really.

I don't see how Telephone was desperate. Two of the biggest females in the industry celebrating femininity, with one of the most epically constructed music videos. I still hear it most nights I'm out, so I also don't think it was just a cash in of the time. Obviously I'm biased though :P

 

Marina is full of contradictions, she bad mouthed Dr Luke or something then came out with a Dr Luke produced track. I still absolutely love her though :lol: :wub:

 

 

I remember watching an interview of Marina and the Diamonds a couple of years ago, where she was saying how she feels like a failure and hasn't accomplished anything, and how she can't get a hit because the industry is obsessed with autotune electro music all of a sudden (Low, Boom Boom Pow, etc.).

 

Beyonce was the best during it all really. Her only "desperate" songs were Radio and Telephone really.

ANd look at her now.... :P I love her but I find it weird how she was slating the 'generic crap' one minute and then brings out Primadonna :lol: She does it well though I have to say.

 

Oh I totally agree, but I don't even think Telephone is that generic (and Beyonce has a couple more generic tracks) though - Lady Gaga is one of those artists who sticks to the dance-pop/electro-pop trend but isn't horribly faceless and generic, songs like Born This Way, Judas (I know it's nothing revolutionary though) and Bad Romance (possibly the best pop track of all time) can only be Gaga really. I wanted Alexandra to be like Beyonce, current enough to sell and to be different to Leona but not so current that she's swallowed up by generic dance-pop. And she did for the first album, she had 'club bangers' like All Night Long, Dumb and Broken Heels but also R&B-ish tracks like Good Night Good Morning and big ballads like Before The Rain and The Silence.

I think when Alex first debuted, generic dance-pop wasn't as prominent as it became in 2010-early 2012. Songs like Elephant & Let It Go have since been done better by various other artists and (probably as a result of this) the genre is actually starting to fade out a bit, I'm not really surprised she hasn't done very well with them both

Edited June 4, 201213 yr by C.W

I think when Alex first debuted, generic dance-pop wasn't as prominent as it became in 2010-early 2012. Songs like Elephant & Let It Go have since been done better by various other artists and (probably as a result of this) the genre is actually starting to fade out a bit, I'm not really surprised she hasn't done very well with them both

 

I'd say it was more prominent in 2008 than in 2010, since it had all those songs like I Kissed a Girl, Forever, Love in This Club, 4 Minutes, Disturbia, Womanizer, Hot N Cold, Don't Stop the Music, Now You're Gone, Low, Piece of Me, etc.

 

Whilst 2010 was quite urban, dominated with songs like Just the Way You Are, Love the Way You Lie, Forget You, Rude Boy, Imma Be, Empire State of Mind, What's My Name?, etc. Most of the classics from that year aren't electropop.

 

And the even biggest dance-pop song of the year, OMG by Usher (based on UK and US success combined), was RnB influenced, even going into an RnB beat at the end of the song, and with the chanting in the background, and of course those hand claps. :lol:

 

For example, there was a top 10 in 2010 one week that was:

 

1. Dizzee Rascal

2. B.o.B

3. Iyaz

4. Jason Derulo

5. Eminem

6. N-Dubz

7. Edward Maya

8. Aggro Santos

9. Roll Deep

10. Sean Kingston

 

Edward Maya's song was obviously dance-pop, as were Dizzee Rascal's and Roll Deep's.

Edited June 4, 201213 yr by Eric_Blob

I used to like Alexandra but I really didn't get the appeal of 'Elephant'.

hindsight is a wonderful thing but she probably would have been better of releasing the LP straight after Elephant, while there was an interest in this new sound

 

Dot Rotten could have a top 20 at this rate

Edited June 4, 201213 yr by jay727

Will sing have 2 chart entries on sunday now or will both be combined?

Will sing have 2 chart entries on sunday now or will both be combined?

 

Well they were combined last week so why would they not be this week?

Edited June 4, 201213 yr by Bré

I get the feeling that the people working with Alexandra were so keen to make her sound distinct from Leona's that they have pushed her away from doing ballads, even though she does them really well. Her vocal style is so different to Leona, and her approach to a ballad is different, so it shouldn't have mattered - except perhaps it made doing A&R easier to keep them poles apart. Alex can do the dance and upbeat pop stuff much better than Leona, but it's no accident that Hallelujah is by far the biggest selling X Factor single.

 

I'm going to confess to really liking the Gary/Commonwealth song, Sing. I wasn't keen on the original Military Wives single, and the Gary Barlow on his own version of "Sing" is a bit dreary, but the whole thing with the layers of sound from so many different people, cultures and musical styles works amazingly well. It underlines Gary's strengths and weaknesses. His own music for himself as a solo artist, or even for other solo artists has never had the same impact as the work he's done for Take That. He appears to be best putting songs together for layered vocals.

 

However, I did think turning what is an excellent track for the Jubilee and trying to turn it into a mini album was an indulgence. We didn't need to hear his solo version, and the inclusion of his version of "Here Comes the Sun" is peculiar. They should have kept the EP to four tracks, or whatever is required to make it eligible for the singles chart. That would have provided the added bonus of letting Paloma get to number one in the album chart! :D

However, I did think turning what is an excellent track for the Jubilee and trying to turn it into a mini album was an indulgence. We didn't need to hear his solo version, and the inclusion of his version of "Here Comes the Sun" is peculiar. They should have kept the EP to four tracks, or whatever is required to make it eligible for the singles chart. That would have provided the added bonus of letting Paloma get to number one in the album chart! :D

 

And Scissor Sisters getting into the top 3 :(

Rihanna performing on Graham Norton show in 11 days (15th June). Hopefully it can give it that increase into the top 3. Cheryl is releasing that week right?

 

No, Cheryl is out this Sunday (10th)