So, Britney‘s getting “fired” from The X Factor. Allegedly. As one of her most unwaveringly loyal fans, I say: Thank God.
At some point early after the souped-up season premiere, it became painfully obvious that Britney slowly began running fresh out of fucks to give to the tedious, long-winded series.
She shined bright like a Diamond White at first during the audition rounds, providing an unscripted zinger or two and being playfully cast in editing as the unimpressed pop princess. But her personality quickly became muted as the live shows began, allowing the rest of the panel–including the always eager, constant spiller of truth tea (and best actual judge) Demi Lovato–to take the reigns, leaving Britney to look like a goofy face-making guest judge on a weekly basis.
If the Season 1 winner of US X Factor finally releases her debut single after almost a year and no one really knows about it, does it still make a sound?
Earlier today, Melanie Amaro premiered her long awaited debut over at US Weekly (?!?!)–the not-at-all ironically titled “Don’t Fail Me Now,” to more or less no fanfare–aside from a tweet or two from L.A. Reid and the official US X Factor account.
To her credit however, the song’s pretty solid: The Darkchild-produced uptempo, which was penned by “Now I’m That Bitch” chanteuse Livvi Franc, plays like a cross between Leona Lewis‘ dance floor smash “Collide,” Alexis Jordan‘s “Happiness” and a touch of Rihanna‘s “We Found Love.”
“I’ve walked the longest road, so don’t fail me now,” the songstress cries out above the piano-led introduction. It’s a little ‘of the moment’ with the crashing post-chorus EDM beats and all, but the stretched-out structure is intriguing (a la Leona’s “Collide”), and the electric guitar licks are a nice touch.
Plus, that diva-sized yelping toward the end is a total win. (That is why she won, after all!)
“Don’t Fail Me Now” is a near guaranteed club smash-to-be (it’s almost destined to become an instant Dance/Club #1 in the following weeks). With some visibility outside the dance floor, she might even get some traction on top of the Top 40. That is, if anyone’s there to actually help her promote the song.
X Factor: Don’t fail her now!
(Press the tiny “Play” button below.)
“Don’t Fail Me Now” was released on August 1.
We already know what the name Xenomania implies: Girls Aloud. Kylie Minogue. Mini Viva. Rachel Stevens.
Accordingly, it should come as no surprise that “You Bring Me Joy,” the Xenomania-produced debut single for X Factor UK Season 8 finalist Amelia Lily, is 110% incredible.
The best part of “You Bring Me Joy”–is, well, everything: The verses are amazing. The striding beat is amazing. The lyrics are amazing. Lily’s bold, rock-tinged voice–which sits somewhere between Katy Perry, Miley Cyrus and The Veronicas–is amazing. The pause before the chorus is amazing. And the actual chorus–a jaw-dropping bliss-fest of soaring synthesizers and stunning melodies–is on par with the Almighty Aloud’s “Call The Shots.” (Alex Gardner‘s “I’m Not Mad” also comes to mind.)
“You bring me joy/You bring me sadness/So you bring the love, so forget all the madness,” the 18-year-old songstress croons on repeat. Forget the fact that much of the song is one monotone note–”You Bring Me Joy” is pop perfection, an instant favorite of the year, and proof that Xenomania still have that magic pop touch. (“One Touch,” if you will. RIP MV.)
Between this and fellow finalist Misha B‘s “Home Run” (I’m still not here for Little Mix‘s “Wings,” sorry), it’s beginning to look like the graduating class of X Factor UK Season 8 might just be the most compelling since–well, Season 7.
EDIT: The full single version has leaked. And impossibly, it’s about 500x even more amazing than the radio rip. The song has been slightly slowed down (in a solid, less frantic way), the intro has been filled out with a chilly guitar strum, and the bridge added at the end–featuring some incredible soaring vocals (“Maybe we were built to last/And we’re strong enough to break the past!”)–takes the song to another level.
It’s truly one of my favorite songs of 2012.
“You Bring Me Joy” will be released on August 26.
Two years ago, I spent every Saturday and Sunday afternoon sitting in bed watching a choppy, illegal stream of X Factor UK, cheering on then-unknowns like Cher Lloyd, Aiden Grimshaw and a little boy band called One Direction.
By the time it came down to the fingernail-biting finale, I was pulling for the humble diva with a major voice: Rebecca Ferguson. (Especially after that “Show Me Love” performance–LAWD.)
She didn’t win, but it didn’t matter: Her debut record Heaven, which was released in early December last year, ended up charting at #3 in the UK and receiving nearly universal acclaim from the (rather notoriously harsh) British press.
Two years later, I found myself standing about ten feet away from her on stage at the Edison Ballroom in New York City on Tuesday night.
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