Mika And Ariana Know About Popular

It is a very rare and strange thing to see something as shady as removing a featured artist from album version to single version. It is in an entire other spectrum entirely to not only remove them in the new incarnation, but replace them as well. Although no statement has been made, the original singer for Mika's new single "Popular Song" Priscilla Renea has been taken out of it's newly revamped state and replaced with Victorious's Ariana Grande. Also there's this video.



Isn't this video super cute?

But we'll get to that in a second. While the action of replacing the little known featured artists with a currently huge mega TV star is pretty shady, I have to say that this song is much more appealing now. When I reviewed the album, this song didn't stand out in any way, making the simple mention of it being a single startle me. For it's own good, it has been redone, made more upbeat, and had all those awkward curse words taken out (I mean who wants to hear someone as adorable as Mika say bitch?).

The video itself is just the icing on top of the cake. The majority of the video has Mika and Ariana hatching out a plan to destroy the kids that tortured them in school. Basic enough right? Both of them have great costumes and makeup, to make their ever-so-appealing faces even cuter. The bits with the two staring blankly into the screen while mixing their potions has to be my favorite part of the entire bit.

The only down side is that the video seems a bit too dark in it's direction. I don't mean dark as in content, but instead art style. It looks like the director was trying to go for a Tim Burton theme, but didn't quite get to it's mark. The song is fun and upbeat, but the video is devoid of color, which makes it feel a little awkward on the first viewing.

So when it comes down to it, they did what they had to do to make the song better. Could they have gotten the same results by still including Priscilla? Probably. Would the video be well on it's way to a million views in just three days without Ariana? Probably not.

"Victorious" Star Ariana Grande Goes Solo

Victorious was a rare breed of show. Sure, it had the cheesy jokes and bad situational humor that is trademark of all Nickelodeon shows, but it had something the others didn't -- it had great music. Backed by Dr. Luke producing tracks left and right, the show was bound to be a hit, and with a new single every three weeks or so, it was a money machine. But what about the supporting characters? Well one of them has decided it's her time to shine. (Re)Meet Ariana Grande.

I am beyond excited that Ariana is now able to take center stage. Victorious's music was very much dominated by Victoria Justice, who is a great singer, but clearly not the best talent wise from the show's ensemble. Ariana was only featured prominently in a few songs throughout the show's run, making this the first time the audience has a real chance to hear what she's got.

And she is serving us straight up 90's RnB Pop. Think TLC, but updated for 2013. This song may not be a club banger, but it is a very addicting track. Ariana shows her vocal range quite well, and makes off with a very solid debut single. Sad to say, as with most tacked on rap bits, the most annoying part of this track is Mac Miller's intro. His mid-song rap improves a bit, showing more talent, but I still much prefer the bulk of the song to his tidbit.

The video is a bit of a different story. Instead of exploring the deeper levels of love, which the song deals with, it is mostly just a montage of the two flirting in front of a plain white background. I don't know if she had a big budget for this, but seeing as she is backed by Nickelodeon (complete with her own spin-off show coming later this year), Id say she probably has the cash flow. The video just feels lazy with poor art direction.

Verdict: Great song, lacking video.

Grab the track on iTunes.