Monday, December 04, 2006 Creating A "Sexy Pop Star": Easy?
Let's take a look at a video on You Tube shall we? It is a trailer for the movie "Before The Music Dies", a film which is no doubt about how evil pop music is and how it must be stopped "Before the music dies". In the movie, they want to demonstrate how easy it is to make a "sexy pop star". So much so that - on camera - they do exactly that. Grab some ex-model, throw her in a recording studio and create a "sexy pop star". According to them, this is just SO EASY. Let's take a look at this trailer then - and make sure you watch it to the end to hear the song they've gotten this girl to sing.
How very Interesting, yes?
What's even more interesting, perhaps, is that the song used in this clip is about as exciting as dishwater. It's not even generic pop, it's just a boring song. Autotune and all the computer programs in the world may be able to craft someone's mediocre voice into that of a singer, but creating a "sexy pop star" usually involves having some actual music that works in your favour. It also helps if your pop star is likeable: She can be sexy, but if no one likes you/thinks you're dull/have no personality - like the girl featured in this clip - you'll be a sexy pop star, maybe, but only one with absolutely no chart or radio play success.
Take a look at Rachel Stevens - former S Club 7'er. Her second solo album is easily one of the greatest pop records of the 21st Century: Sharp, crisp and brilliantly produced electro-pop. It's heaven on a disc. Rachel is a sexy pop star, however people in the UK felt she had no real personality and was a bit dull (which I thought was complete bullshit - to a point). Her album barely scrapped into the charts, before tumbling down the nether regions a week later (her calendars sell like hot cakes though). And this was with an album of material Kylie Minogue could have made go Number #1. Why would it work for Kylie and not Rachel? Because people LIKE Kylie. Kylie's not your stereotypical beauty, but she IS gorgeous, she DOES pull off being a pop star INCREDIBLY well AND she's loved by many. THAT is what I think you need to be a "sexy" pop star. I always associate the word "sexy" with class. Not massive tits and the face of a model. That may be nice to look at for some, but there's nothing sexy about it. That is, unless of course, you think someone looking cheap is sexy.
The package they've provided us with in this You Tube clip is hilarious. She's not an ugly girl, but I would not call that "sexy". Last time I checked, the whole "Whore of Babylon" look did not immediately make someone look sexy. It just made them look like - surprise surprise - a whore. The song is tuneless, terrible drivel that would not even survive 10 seconds at a Commercial Radio Network new music meeting. It's one thing to claim you can create a sexy pop star, but it's another to actually come up with brilliantly written and produced songs for someone who can actually pull off BEING a sexy pop star.
