Welcome Buzzjack to the Jamelia singles rate results thread. 14 songs in the running & a BIG THANK YOU to the 18 members that have taken part & made this a huge success.

A reminder of what's to come:

I Do
Money [ft Beenie Man]
Call Me
Boy Next Door

Bout [ft Rah Digga]
Superstar
Thank You
See It in a Boy's Eyes
DJ
Stop

Something About You
Beware of the Dog
No More

Universal Prayer [ft Tiziano Ferro]


Thoughts? Predictions ? please feel free to share & everything will be revelled in due course....

Edited May 6, 20232 yr by Nina West

Expecting 'Beware' to walk it, and I don't think that'd necessarily be undeserved.

I'm thinking a top 2 of 'Beware Of The Dog' & 'Superstar' with possibly 'See It In The Boys Eyes' rounding out the top 3.

I know what should win in this boy’s eyes but Beware and Superstar worthy too

#14. Universal Prayer (ft Tiziano Ferro) | 3.875

Highest Scores: 7: (Simon, Nick F1), Lowest Scores: 1: (Jessie Where, JulianT)


Kicking things at the tail end of the results is Universal Prayer which scored a measly 3.875 average & comes as a surprise to no-one considering that this was never released in the UK & was only featured on the international re-release of her 2nd album Thank You. The song was recorded by Italian singer Tiziano Ferro who collaborated with Jamelia for this release as the soundtrack to the 2004 Summer Olympic games & was written Tizianno himself & Jamelia along with Tom Nichols, Mikkel Storleer Eriksen, and Tor Erik Hermansen, while production was helmed by Eriksen and Hermansen under their production moniker Stargate. Originally released as a standalone single in August 2004, the song became a success in several countries such as Greece, Italy and Spain where it topped the charts in those countries, as well as hitting top 40 in Switzerland & lower end peaks in Austria, Germany, Netherlands & Turkey.

This was the only song in this countdown to not get scores by everyone, 16/18 & that's not a surprise given that this is probably Jamelia's most forgotten single & the scores that it did get were 5 or under. There's not a lot to say about this as its a rather bland pop number that doesn't really go anywhere interesting & while the vocals do sound decent, Jamelia has sounded far better on some of her more well known tracks. Forgettable and inoffensive, this is something that you will instantly forget about after 1 listen.

Nothing special no but I did like that a fair bit more than a couple of her first era songs but since it wasn't a charting hit here it is also not a surprise being first out.

I only heard that for the first time to listen for this rate, and I honestly felt like I'd wasted 4 minutes of my life.

Expecting Superstar and Beware of the Dog to be the top 2.

#13. I Do | 4.444

Highest Scores: 8: (ready for it), Lowest Scores: 0: (JulianT)


At #13 is Jamelia's first charting single I Do, released in July 1999 as the first single from Jamelia's debut album Drama and became her first UK top 40 hit by peaking at #36. This was her second single overall following "So High" which failed to chart & therefore wasn't included on her debut album. The track was originally remixed with only UK rapper Dubwise rapping & although his rap was considered great, he was largely unknown. So it was suggested that an American rap group may help to further the success of the single. So Slum Village was chosen to rap on it. After they heard Dubwise's rap, they suggested that at least one of his verses should remain, in respect of his efforts.

Another rather forgotten Jamelia track due to its low chart peak & the fact that it came out before she made it big. The song is okay filler at best with some nice slick 90's R&B beats & confident vocals, but the song isn't memorable enough to stand out from the crowd as it kinda just fades into the background. There's a reason why some songs are forgotten about, but it's not terrible by any means, the track is a cute little bop, but nothing special.

Bummer i missed out on voting but am all for beware of the dog winning.

'I Do' deserved to be above two others for me. Was a fairly decent song I found.

#12. Boy Next Door | 4.5

Highest Scores: 8: (ready for it), Lowest Scores: 1: (lewistgreen, Roba)


At #12 is another early Jamelia single Boy Next Door, released in October 2000 as the 4th and final single from her debut album Drama. Due to limited promotion the track would only manage a #42 peak on the UK singles chart and spent just 2 weeks inside the top 75. The song is one of two of Jamelia's singles to miss the UK top 40. The version released as a single had a slight remix to the version that appears on the album and is also slightly shorter in length. This would be her final release for 3 years, due to her pregnancy and focusing on her family.

This is another okay number with slick R&B beats and nice chilled out rhythms as Jamelia's vocals glides through the slow-tempo track with ease. Although the music video does feel rather at odds with the songs message, but anyway the song is a fun little bop & quite catchy. Not one of her best by a long shot, but its a nice little forgotten gem from her early era.

Not a great song that for me oops.

No real surprises for me so far. I don’t think I’d heard these until the rate.

I think 'I Do' is the better of the two, but that's down to having slightly more interesting production. Both are nothing more than mediocre really.

 

'Boy Next Door' sounds like a sub version of what TLC were doing at the time.

I'm going to predict Bout next :thinking:

#11. Bout (ft Rah Digga) | 5.055

Highest Scores: 10: (lewistgreen), Lowest Scores: 1: (Jessie Where)


At #11 and correctly predicted by Simon is Bout, released in February 2003 as the lead single from Jamelia's 2nd studio album Thank You and features guest vocals by American rapper Rah Digga. The song samples composer Bill Conti's 'Gonna Fly Now' from 1976, best known as the 'Rocky' theme and was written by Jamelia and Colin Emmanuel, with production handled by the latter. Upon release the track peaked at #37 on the UK singles chart & was considered a disappointment considering it was her first release in 3 years, but everything would soon turn around after the release of the follow up single.

The reason why this comeback single failed is because its not very good and didn't really show what Jamelia was capable off as an artist, due to its heavy handed production and generic beats where her vocals feels totally lost in all the chaos surrounding it. This feels as if its trying way too hard and yet achieves so little, its as if they were trying re-create a UK version of Christina Aguilera's 'Dirrty', but lacked any charisma or flavour. Although thankfully Jamelia got another chance to prove herself as an artist after this mis-fire.

Edited April 28, 20232 yr by Nina West

Wasn’t ever really a fan of Bout and I was thinking if Dirty when listening to this. Great minds. :lol:

'Bout' was decent enough I thought but it's near enough right for it here.

Bout as lead single was a crazy decision especially knowing how many better songs there was ahead, luckily it all worked out in the end though.