I’d say 7 rings left in the right place actually.

 

It does suit the song very well but we’re getting to a stage now were the rest are all like blockbusters.

06 breathin

sweetener

 

Total Score: 78.5 - Average Score: 8.72

 

Into You it: Jade, jlj (10)

thank u, next: Michael (7)

 

 

Narrowly missing out on a spot in the top 5 and only a 0.05 average above '7 rings' is the stunning 'breathin' video. Our first video from the 'sweetener' era video is out, which is understandable seeing the quality of the other two, but we still got a stunner. Reception of the video was only escalated by the fact that at one point we were all worried it wasn't going to happen at all and we would be stuck with the Piggy Smallz footage (Despite how adorable as he is.).

 

The Hannah Lux Davies directed video came to fruition on 7th November 2018, interestingly AFTER the release of the lead single from her next project 'thank u, next'.

 

Ariana is seen at a bar as well as standing in a room full of smoke/fog, she sits at the bar relatively still with people rushing around her (Those pre-covid Ts). The next scene takes her to a train station where she sits on a pile of vintage Harry Potter-esque luggage with a single spot light shining down on her (Have to say at this point, I love the red lippy on her.). Yet again Ari moves at a normal pace with crowds of people rushing past her in fast motion, for sure a metaphor for what a rush life can seem.

Probably the thing that got the most people talking about this video is the scene where Ari stands in front of the station departures board, it was here that we got the first teaser of the track names from 'thank u, next': 'imagine', 'needy' and cut track 'reMeMber' (A personal track about Mac Miller, hence why the M's were capitals.)

Towards the end of the video Ari lays on the station floor with people still rushing around her, she can also be seen on a swing, swinging through the clouds as the final chorus hits, until the track ends.

 

Our highest scorers here were fellow mod 'Jade' and 'jlj' who both scored 10, Michael scored the lowest which was a not too stingy 7, with the rest of us scoring somewhere between 8 and 10.

 

Thrilled that 'breathin' has done so well :wub: I feel that the video gets a bit overlooked, due to the rushed nature of its release and the two blockbusters that came before it. It's more subtle than those for sure but such a compelling visual representation of Ariana's anxiety. 3 spectacular singles and videos in a row from one era <3

The 7 Rings video is cool but not one of my absolute faves. It's a shame that she doesn't seem to be friends with at least 2 of the recipients anymore.

 

Breathin is one of my favourite songs of hers and while the video isn't flashy it does suit the song so perfectly. The hints for the TUN tracks was very cool too.

Breathin is incredible and so is the video! It was done very quick too wasn’t it? Filmed and released within like 1-3 days?

05 Side To Side (feat. Nicki Minaj)

Dangerous Woman

 

Total Score: 80.5 - Average Score: 8.94

 

Into You it: JulianNial, Tafty, Michael (10)

thank u, next: Bré (7.5)

 

 

Ariana’s most viewed video on YouTube is Side To Side but we’ve decided it’s only her fifth best overall. With a staggering 1.8 billion views, it has 600 million more views than any other video on her channel and 300 more than another Nicki Minaj collaborative effort, Bang Bang which appears on Jessie J’s account.

 

The iconic gym-theme of the video shows Ari and her dancers doing more dancing than exercise in the changing room, in the showers and in the videos most memorable scenes on exercise bikes at the worlds sexiest spin class. The bikes were brought back to great effect to be witnessed live on the Dangerous Woman tour. Exercise equipment seems to be a recurring theme for Ari with the appearance of a treadmill during the ‘Legally Blonde’ section of the TUN video. My favourite outfit is the one she wears in what looks like an abandoned warehouse where she looks ready to fight in a long, hooded boxing gown with a unique twist and some precariously tall high-heeled shoes. To perform her crowd-pleasing verse, Nicki appears chilling with Ari in a sauna surrounded by some extremely scantily-dressed men in a cheeky role-reversal on what we’d usually expect to see in the videos for a male rapper. Nicki is as bold and confident as you’d expect, justifying the end of her verse: “I’m the queen of rap, young Ariana run pop”.

 

The whole video is very grand and provocative but there’s still room for some subtle humour, the end of the video where Ari is clicking in the face of the frozen and unresponsive model is great. The look she gives to the camera is golden and is my favourite part of the video.

 

It couldn’t quite get an 11 but Side To Side does get a very healthy three 10’s from Julian, Tafty & Michael. Even it’s lowest score was a 7.5 coming from Bré. The video also gained a couple of 8s and a few 9s and was only an extra .5 from someone from getting an average of above 9.

 

I'm not a massive fan of 'Side To Side' as a song but the video is absolutely perfect for it - easy to see why it was so huge! Her star power was really coming to life now.

04 thank u, next

thank u, next

 

Total Score: 86 - Average Score: 9.56

 

Into You it: LewisGT (11)

thank u, next: Bré (7)

 

 

Well, it looks like random.org assigned me all three of the 'thank u, next' videos to talk about, so it's been a real trip down memory lane for that era recently! It ends now though, as 'thank u, next' is victorious in being the highest placed video from the album of the same name. It was our first taste of visuals from the era as this title track was chosen as the lead single. The video release was preceded by a lot of social media hype thanks to Ariana sharing various teaser images from it. At the time of release, 'thank u, next' broke multiple vevo records - including the most views for a video in 24 hours, surpassing Taylor Swift's 'Look What You Made Me Do'. Despite the initial hype, the views didn't rocket up as much as follow-up single '7 rings' in the long term, which could be attributed to the various spoken dialogue parts being a turn-off for background music at parties - so the audio only version has a lot of views in its own right as an alternative. To date the 'thank u, next' music video has amassed over 576 million views - her 10th most viewed. The song was a smash hit, spending several weeks at #1 both here and in the U.S. It was a grand introduction to Ariana's imperial phase.

 

So, why did the 'thank u, next' video receive so much hype in the lead up to its release? Well, aside from the song being huge, it was because the teasers shared by Ariana were pointing towards the video including film references. These hints were specifically alluding to several 2000s teen movies. These turned out to be Mean Girls, Bring It On, Legally Blonde and 13 Going on 30. The world was ready for Ariana's take on them. Personally I've only seen Mean Girls but it is my favourite film of all-time so that counts for a lot! The video opens with a mysterious instrumental - this later turned out to be that of second single '7 rings'. That audio is placed over dialogue inspired by 'Mean Girls'. Several celebrities including Troye Sivan, YouTuber Colleen Ballinger and original actors from the film itself are parodying the scene where fellow students are talking about Queen Bee of the school - Regina George. This leads up to the reveal that Ariana is playing the role of Regina. The music changes from '7 rings' to 'thank u, next' and is accompanied by a 'thank u, next' title in the Mean Girls font. Ari walks down the hallway alongside former Victorious co-star Liz Gillies and other close friends Alexa Luria and Courtney Chipolone, who are playing all four of the 'Plastics' clique from the film. They are later seen reprising the 'Jingle Bell Rock' scene where the characters dance in Santa outfits in front of the whole school. Kris Jenner plays the role of Regina's 'cool mum' in the audience - a much talked about moment on social media, especially her "thank u, next bitches" line at the end. Away from the plastics group shots, Ariana as Regina also writes in her thank u, next 'burn book' - an iconic prop from the movie, where the character expresses her true feelings about people from school. She can be seen writing about her exes that are mentioned in 'thank u, next', minus Mac Miller out of respect for his recent death. The Bring It On references come from the cheerleading parts, where her singer-songwriter friends Victoria Monét and Tayla Parx can also be spotted, plus the bathroom scene. Here her love interest is played by former Victorious co-star Matt Bennett, the same choice as in the 'One Last Time' video. This was definitely a mini Victorious reunion of sorts with the earlier appearance from Liz too! The 13 Going on 30 reference comes in the form of Ariana helping out with a wedding. She is playing the character Jenna and can be seen with a dollhouse, which mirrors a scene from the movie. Soon '7 rings' is teased again on the number plate of the convertible that she's driving. She gets out of the car, now in character as Elle Woods from Legally Blonde - sporting a pink jacket and all, alongside her partner in crime aka Toulouse Grande the dog. The swimming pool scenes also reference this movie. Jennifer Coolidge from the original film can be seen having a conversation with Ariana in the beauty salon, in character as her role of manicurist Paulette. Of course, the iconic "Bend and Snap" moves from Legally Blonde make the cut too. Elsewhere, Ari can also be seen running on a treadmill and kissing the pregnant stomach of Colleen Ballinger, before Kris Jenner closes the whole experience with her aforementioned quotable line. It's a dream come true for 2000s teen movie buffs and is filled to the brim with cameos - but they're all there for a purpose rather than celebrity status for the sake of it.

 

The averages have shot up now as 'thank u, next' received a generous 9.56 and didn't even make the top 3, wow! Another of my co-mods loses their 11 as LewisGT was the sole provider of a top score for 'thank u, next'. Mine is still in the race. Bré gave the video its lowest score with 7, still respectable enough.

03 Rain On Me

Chromatica

 

Total Score: 87.5 - Average Score: 9.72

 

Into You it: Michael (11)

thank u, next: Bré (8)

 

 

Straight into our top 3, the bronze goes to this phenomenal collaboration alongside fellow icon 'Lady Gaga'.

 

I remember when the video was released I was so floored and it amped up my love for the song from 99 to 110 (Yes I may have learnt most of the choreo, it was lockdown after all) and oh wow did it come at a time the world needed it. We were fortunate enough to get it when we did and as polished as it looks, since it was filmed mere hours before California went into lockdown (okay days, I was being dramatic).

 

Gaga lays on a wet ground with rain pouring onto her, a knife is seen sticking out of her leg as she lips the words dressed in a futuristic, spikey, pink and purple latex outfit, designed by Vex Clothing. There are shots of a stormy sky with knives raining down onto Gaga, she then gets up for some choreo (dagger still in leg) in front of a large stadium and cityscape backdrop, before pulling the knife from her leg which magically transforms into water... At this point I just want to point out the nails. (That's all.). Gaga and her back up dancers jump up and down for the refrain "Rain. On. Me" the camera then flips, knives are still falling as a beautiful butterfly Ariana appears sporting black latex, metallic butterfly wings and a new take on her signature pony. Finally a rare gem of a moment, we got Ariana performing some real music video choreography and it has to be said, to most of our surprise, she pretty much nailed it and did a good job keeping up with Gaga's energy. The camera continues turning between the two performers until they can be seen together. For the second refrain they are seen in a new look. It appears if they were (maybe intentionally) styled as one another Ari wearing lavender with her hair down and a strong white eyeliner, Gaga in pink, with a pony, lots of eyeshadow and platform boots. Before the bridge there is an adorable shot of them looking at each other, holding hands whilst their CGI extended hair blows in the wind. As the final chorus hits they joyfully hold hands and dance in circles with their backing dancers following suit. Mixed in throughout the video are dramatic shots of Gaga singing whilst getting soaked in water and others wearing a look made of flowing pipes.

 

Upon release it garnered rave reviews from critics and fans alike, often being referred to as "Iconic", "Nostalgic", "Fun", "Lavish", "Sparkly" and "A triumph".

 

My only constructive criticism when it was released is that I would have liked to have seen Ariana in a more colourful look for the first half of the video and that's all I can think of.

 

I very nearly gave this my 11, which would have joined Michael's top score. Bré was again the lowest scorer but this time with an even more generous 8. In general most of us gave it a 10+ with only Bré and Lewis scoring it lower. The video leaves with an impressive average score of 9.72.

 

That just leaves two sweetener videos in the race, it's 'no tears' vs 'God is a woman'. Who will get the Crown?

I definitely would've expected 'thank u, next' in the top 3 over 'Rain On Me' if I didn't already know the results, wow, that has done so well! I'll never forget the excitement waiting for it to premiere in the evening - I had the day off work so was able to fully appreciate every element of the release day. Then it dropped and made me smile so much from the word go. Ari and Gaga's friendship just exudes joy, which is perfect for the song. I love the colour palette of the video too.

 

That average being so high with still two more on the way :cheeseblock:

TUN really is her best video for me. The movie references are all great and it really felt like an event waiting for it to be released.

 

Rain On Me is great and Ari kills the choreography but I wish TUN could have sneaked into the top 3 ahead of it.

02 no tears left to cry

sweetener

 

Total Score: 89 - Average Score: 9.89

 

Into You it: Tafty, Jade (11)

thank u, next: ...ready for it, Bré, LewisGT (9)

 

 

It’s used to winning any Ariana rate on this forum but we’ve found one race where ‘no tears’ has to take silver. The top 2 are both directed by Dave Meyers and while we’ve ranked it 2nd, it was NTLTC that was actually named ‘video of the year’ by PAPER magazine in 2018. Meyers explained the theme of the video as “the disorientation that you go through in life and the quest we all go through to kind of find the ground again”.

 

This was Ariana’s first release since the events of Manchester during the Dangerous Woman Tour and no one knew completely what to expect. The video ended up subtly referencing the past few years of her life with a disconcerting concept that constantly portrays the world as turning upside down and surreal scenes that show her swapping between different masks of her own face, hinting at the metaphorical masks she had to wear to stay strong during the most difficult time of her life. And of course, the most direct refence appears at the end where a bee flies towards the camera. This is such a beautiful video that respectfully touches upon the tragedy of the past without dwelling on the sadness of it and instead offering hope and encouragement for the future.

 

With the highly anticipated, day-on-date release, the visuals are so intertwined with the song for me that it’s hard to hear it without picturing the video in my head. Every time it comes on I can see Ariana atop of the building surrounded by dancers performing some impressive umbrella choreography or walking across the ceiling of a renaissance-era-looking hallway. After three and a half minutes of chaos and uncertainty the video concludes with a calm and defiant Ari throwing a toy for Toulouse to chase, symbolising that she is adjusting to the craziness of her new life and is learning to move on and return to some sense of normality. This is the second of six times, Toulouse has appeared across her videography and he always steals the show with his cuteness.

 

Just like in the video for ‘Breathin’, eagle-eyed viewers were rewarded with a chance to learn about the then yet unreleased Sweetener with a track-list briefly appearing on the floor where we got introduced to some of the tracks that would later appear on the album, including ‘R.E.M.’, ‘God is a woman’, ‘successful’ and ‘sweetener’ itself.

 

With an insane 9.89 average, this gained two 11’s; from Tafty and co-mod Jade. It’s lowest score was a 9 of which it received three, even our winner couldn’t manage such a high lowest ranking. Everyone else gave the video a 10 which perfectly sums up how much we love this song. It was always going to take something special to beat ‘no tears left to cry’; but can our winner do the unthinkable and end up with a 10+ average?

 

A spectacular video for a career-defining song, I really can’t fault it whatsoever :wub: love that she re-created the umbrella choreography on tour.

Another one I almost gave my 11 to, I really struggled to pick tbh, they're all just so stunning! :wub:

01 God is a woman

sweetener

 

Total Score: 92 - Average Score: 10.22

 

Into You it: ...ready for it, Cameron, jlj + Bré (11)

thank u, next: LewisGT (8)

 

 

Wow, here we are, 'God is a woman' has been crowned as the WINNER of our first ever Ariana Grande music video rate! The 'sweetener' album may provoke mixed reactions but the forum certainly loves the music videos with an all-'sweetener' top 2 here. The somewhat controversially titled 'God is a woman' was released as the second single from Ariana's fourth studio album. It reached the top 10 both here and in the U.S. - with a #4 peak in the U.K. and #8 for the Billboard Hot 100. The music video soon followed and has racked up over 300+ million views to date. This puts it at a surprisingly low 14th on her most viewed videos list. Not even inside that top 10? Well, perhaps the spoken-word parts make it a turn-off at parties, much like 'thank u, next'. Lead single 'no tears left to cry' received widespread praise for both the song and video, so 'God is a woman' had a high bar to follow. The song is appreciated, although not as much as its predecessor, however - the video clearly won the hearts of fans in an even bigger way if this rate is anything to go by! This was another Ariana visual that was directed by Dave Meyers.

 

The 'God is a woman' video takes the empowering, sex positive lyrics and brings them to life in a strong and tasteful way with the accompanying imagery. The opening shot shows Ariana at the centre of the universe as a transcendent, godly figure who is surrounded by a ring of the galaxy. This then morphs into her bathing in a sea of purple, pink and blue paint - with some of the paint escaping on to Ari's hair and covering her modesty. Just twenty seconds in and she's already given us two extremely striking looks. They both scream importance and that's what the video is all about - the significance of women and female sexuality. Ari has always been outspoken about the taboos and contradictions in the industry and here she is proving that she can do whatever she wants to, rather than being limited by society. This is a theme that she would tackle once more for the 'positions' video, albeit with a presidential theme instead. Here, she's astronomical and a piece of artwork. The video continues to explore the world of art - such as the all-female recreation of religious painting 'The Creation of Adam' by Michelangelo. It even mixes religion and film together with none other than the Queen of pop herself Madonna (!) reciting a verse that was made famous by Pulp Fiction, except replacing 'brothers' with 'sisters'. Right after mouthing said monologue, Ari smashes the ceiling (while wearing gloves that say 'power' on them!) as a metaphor for all the "fellow goddesses" out there who work each day to break the glass ceiling. Other scenes include her walking across a tightrope with several planets in her hands and Ari also appearing as more of a silhouette figure in a flame. There is also some more obvious imagery that plays into the societal themes of the video - such as men hurling abuse like "bitch", "fake" and "annoying" at her - but these words bounce right off Ari. She's tired of this and instead turns this negative energy into a celebration of women all around the world. Ariana powerfully intertwining the worlds of both religion and female empowerment is pretty much all you could want for a song called 'God is a woman'. She's both a Mother Earth-type lady and a woman with her finger cheekily placed into the Universe. On top of this, the creativity and aesthetics are impressive and bold, so it's easy to see why the visuals are so revered. Ariana would take the religious theme one step further with an all-female 'last supper' themed performance for the VMAs, which was similarly championed. It's all tight, minus the scene where the gophers come out of nowhere to scream. Now that part results in confusion and mixed opinions for sure! But it's equally memorable.

 

'God is a woman' finished with an eye-watering 10.22 average! It received 11s from: ...ready for it, Cameron, jlj and Bré. In fact, almost everyone gave it a 10+ score. My co-mod LewisGT was the only exception with a score of 'only' 8. BuzzJack has spoken and it adores the 'God is a woman' video!

FULL RESULTS:

 

1 10.22 God is a woman

2 9.89 no tears left to cry

3 9.72 Rain On Me (Lady Gaga & Ariana Grande)

4 9.56 thank u, next

5 8.94 Side To Side (feat. Nicki Minaj)

6 8.72 breathin

7 8.67 7 rings

8 8.39 Focus

9 8.17 Bang Bang (Jessie J, Ariana Grande & Nicki Minaj)

10 8 Don't Call Me Angel (Ariana Grande, Miley Cyrus & Lana Del Rey)

 

11 7.83 Break Free (feat. Zedd)

12 7.83 Love Me Harder (Ariana Grande & The Weeknd)

13 7.78 Into You

14 7.67 Santa Tell Me

15 7.44 Problem (feat. Iggy Azalea)

16 7.39 break up with your girlfriend, i'm bored

17 6.89 Beauty And The Beat (Ariana Grande & John Legend)

18 6.72 boyfriend (Ariana Grande & Social House)

19 6.72 One Last Time

20 6.67 the light is coming (feat. Nicki Minaj)

 

21 6.39 Dangerous Woman

22 6.33 Right There (feat. Big Sean)

23 6.28 Let Me Love You (feat. Lil Wayne)

24 6.11 MONOPOLY (Ariana Grande & Victoria Monét)

25 6.11 The Way

26 5.94 Baby I

27 5.11 Everyday (feat. Future)

28 5.11 Put Your Hearts Up

29 5.06 Stuck With U (Ariana Grande & Justin Bieber)

30 3.11 Almost Is Never Enough (feat. Nathan Sykes)

 

This has been great fun to co-host :cheer: thanks to everyone who contributed in some way! Here's to more 'positions' era visuals after a strong start with the lead single ^_^

Lol at me being the lowest score for nearly all of the top 10, even some of the ones that I gave fairly high scores xx

 

The correct winner easily here, the visuals in 'God is a woman' are glorious.

 

(also I forgot about the Piggy Smallz video for 'breathin' <3 would have been my 11 tbh xx though the actual video for that was great too ofc x)

just caught up on the final results!

 

So happy with how it panned out. God is a woman a deserved winner and no tears a perfect runner up!

 

 

@1328814182536536066

 

Their winner is the same as ours so far!