February 2012
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Top of the Poptastic! →
My top 20 singles of February.
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Song of the Day: DJ Project ft. Giulia - I'm...
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Most of the dance songs that are popular in Europe these days don’t bother with any kind of melody or song structure, so this Romanian track was a really refreshing discovery. It’s nothing remarkably original but a really nice light, summery dance-pop song that would appeal to fans of late 90s/early 2000s artists like Tina Cousins and Fragma.
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Song of the Day: Shaka Ponk - My Name Is Stain
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Looking through the international charts on Shazam’s website I happened upon this rather unusual song which is popular in France at the moment. I don’t really know what to make of it but I think I quite like it! Confusingly I’ve looked on their Wikipedia and none of them are called Stain. Can anyone explain?
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The Next Big Thing? →
Will Chris Rene, IM5 or Chord Overstreet be big in 2012?
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This Must Be Pop brings you Future Pop! (Issue... →
This week’s Future Pop features Madeon, AlunaGeorge and fun.
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Sunday night quiz: Guess the album cover! →
Can you recognise these album covers?
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Song of the Day: Charlotte Perrelli - The Girl
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If there has been a more gleefully POP moment on TV anywhere in the world this year than this, I’d be very surprised. And definitely want to see it! Charlotte was one of the entrants to last night’s Melodifestivalen (Swedish Eurovision qualifiers) and shocked viewers by failing to make it through to the final or even the second chance round. It’s not...
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Carly Smithson/Hennessy in The Guardian
Just found this interesting section about Carly Hennessy in a 2006 Guardian article. Carly reappeared with the surname Smithson in American Idol in 2007 and is now in a band with Ben Moody from Evanescence.
“Only about one-fifth of artists end up making money for the label, and a few make so much that they subsidise everyone else, but you can’t tell in advance which ones will do well....
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Song of the Day: Danny Saucedo - Amazing
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This is Swedish himbo popstar Danny’s entry for Melodifestivalen, the country’s Eurovision qualifiers, and will be performed in tonight’s semi-final. Like his entry from last year the lyrics are totally pointless and could have been written by a child, but musically he’s definitely stepped up and I think he stands a good chance of being chosen to...
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Popping The Question: How Much Control Should An... →
My latest pop debate is all about an artist’s right to decide their own destiny. Who should make those career-defining decisions?
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Thank You For The Music: Alexander Bard →
For the latest in my series of interviews with great pop songwriters and producers, I got the chance to ask a few questions to one of my all time favourites.
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This Must Be Pop Live: The line-up is complete! →
It’s time to announce the final act set to perform at next month’s This Must Be Pop Live alongside A*M*E and Queen of Hearts…
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Song of the Day: Selena Gomez - Summer's Not Hot
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Some may say that Naturally was the first sign of Selena’s pop potential, but I always thought it was just OK. Instead it was this euphorically fun and silly track (a collaboration between RedOne and Rock Mafia) from her second album A Year Without Rain which first opened my mind to Selena being a great pop star in waiting. And it all came together on her amazing...
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Future Pop: Time for a catch-up! →
So how are things going for my Future Pop predictions so far?
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This Must Be Pop brings you Future Pop! (Issue... →
This week’s Future Pop features Becky G, Carly Rae Jepsen and Yuna.
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"A hankering for something less cynically... →
This new Guardian article about Ed Sheeran suggests Alexis Petridis was asleep throughout 2003.
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Sunday Night Quiz: Guess the talent show! →
How well do you know your TV talent shows?
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Song of the Day: Rita Ora - R.I.P. (featuring...
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Rita reveals in her new SBTV interview that R.I.P. is going to be her first proper single (not Party and Bullshit as previously thought) and you can listen to a snippet of the chorus at the link above. It’s much more similar to Hot Right Now so makes more sense as the next release, but since Party and Bullshit is far more poptastic I hope it will still be released...
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Song of the Day: Rachel Adedeji - Club Lights
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It’s generic dance-pop but actually quite catchy and well-produced, and I like the video. Not a bad effort considering she’s done it totally independently.
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Taylor Swift: It's a love story →
If you’ve ever wondered why I’m so fascinated with Taylor Swift, this recent feature from American TV show 60 Minutes should give you some insight.
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Song of the Day: Christina Milian - Us Against The...
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I still don’t understand how this wasn’t a hit. Amazing R&B power ballad.
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This Must Be Pop Live: The Next Act Announced! →
And the second performer announced for March’s This Must Be Pop Live is…
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Song of the Day: Nicki Minaj - Starships
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Lots more money for RedOne.
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Tennis: Better than football →
Last night I went to see one of my favourite new (or new to me, at least) bands live, an American indie-pop group called Tennis.
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This Must Be Pop brings you Future Pop! (Issue... →
This week’s Future Pop features Phlo Finister, Electric Guest and Clement Marfo & The Frontline.
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Future Pop →
Last chance to sign up for the Future Pop mailer before today’s arrives at 2pm!
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The Gossip →
Here’s some of the gossip I’ve picked up on my recent travels around Planet Pop!
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Song of the Day: School Gyrls - I'm Not Just a...
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When they introduced LA Reid on The X Factor, they forgot to mention the teen musical film he was executive producer of, School Gyrls… maybe because it has an incredible 1.5/10 rating on IMDB, the lowest I’ve ever seen! I watched it anyway and it wasn’t that bad (well, at least a 2!) and there were even some quite good songs in it, including this one which...
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Song of the Day: The Wonder Villains - Zola
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Fans of 90s Scottish indie-pop group Bis will absolutely love The Wonder Villains, their 2010s Irish teen equivalent. Their single Zola is this week’s BBC Introducing track of the week, which means it’s playlisted on Radio 1, and it’s a brilliant piece of DIY electro-pop. I wasn’t so impressed with the live performance of the song which is also on...
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Song of the Day: Darin - Nobody Knows
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I was disappointed with Darin’s new single at first as I felt it was a bit too much of a Guetta bandwagon-jumper, but after a few listens it has grown on me massively. Another triumph for Swedish pop’s head boy!
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This Must Be Pop Live returns on March 20th! →
The first act for March is announced - click above to find out who it is!!
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Song of the Day: Christopher - Nothing In Common
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Christopher is a new Danish pop boy who I think has great potential. I like the sound of his music, very Idol winner-ish, even though he actually wasn’t on any TV talent shows as far as I know. His two singles Against All Odds and Nothing In Common have both been strong boy-pop tracks - he just needs to step it up 10% more to take his place among the Olas and Darins of...
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Song of the Day: Gotye - Learnalilgivinanlovin
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I feel stupid for not really getting the love for Gotye’s current hit Somebody I Used To Know. It’s got a good chorus but the quietness of the verses just makes me want to shout HURRY UP AND GET TO THE GOOD BIT! So here’s a Gotye song that does just that - well, it doesn’t have any bad bits. Apart from the drum solo, but we can ignore that as...
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This Must Be Pop brings you Future Pop! (Issue... →
This week’s Future Pop features Ed Drewett, Lilygreen & Maguire and Friends.
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Sunday night quiz: Guess the no.1! →
Can you recognise which videos for UK no.1 hits these screengrabs were taken from?
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Song of the Day: Pietro Lombardi - Call My Name
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Pietro (a German Idol winner) is terrible at singing in English and the lyrics for this song sound like he may have actually made them up himself, but there’s still something very enjoyable about it. It’s sweet, smiley, uninhibited pop, just what I want from my Europop.
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This Must Be Pop: Hire Me As Your Pop Consultant! →
If you’ve got some spare pennies and need some advice on pop-related matters, this may interest you.
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Popping The Question: Is Bad Pop Better Than No... →
The depressing new midweek no.1 by Alyssa Reid has inspired my latest pop debate.
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Song of the Day: Amanda Mair - Sense
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The latest Swedish pop girl to be declared acceptable by the indie bloggers has a new single. It’s not as strong as Doubt or House in my opinion, but it’s quite pleasant and the video is great.
