ext_83617 ([identity profile] alexmacpherson.livejournal.com) wrote in [community profile] poptimists2008-12-23 11:42 pm
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When he pull up, wanna pop my hood up

Xmas presents for the world of pop, courtesy of Beyoncé! Not one but TWO new videos. 'Diva' - maybe the track I'm most addicted to on the album - features ridiculous sunglasses, a mermaid outfit and a more ghetto, more crunk (= better) version of the 'Single Ladies' dance routine. 'Halo' features a lot of soft-focus lighting.

BTW, one of the many awesome things about 'Diva': remember that line from 'Survivor', "you thought I wouldn't sell without you - sold nine million"? She's UPDATED THE SALES FIGURES Y'ALL: "Fifty million round the world and they said that I couldn't get it." Always at her best when focused on the cold, hard economics of a situation, that girl.



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[identity profile] weasel-seeker.livejournal.com 2008-12-24 04:33 am (UTC)(link)
Saw these this afternoon before heading out to an annual epic festive Chinese food dinner.

Diva is the more impressive video, still all black-and-white, funky, strange and befitting a pop star. The song remains somewhat impenetrable to me, but so did Single Ladies when it was released and now it's one of my favourite singles of the year. Halo was an early favourite on I Am... and while the video is kind of...eh, the song is properly overwhelming and diva-worthy in a similar way that Brandy's Long Distance is.

[identity profile] alexmacpherson.livejournal.com 2008-12-24 10:00 am (UTC)(link)
'Halo' is clearly the result of Beyoncé hearing 'Bleeding Love' and 'Umbrella' and shrieking "GET ME ONE OF THOSE" at her staff. Or, both of those in one song. Christina Milian's 'Us Against The World' (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YEroN6hFJIs) and Cassie's 'Soldier 4 Your Love' (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DYBfqTfsq8I) belong in this mini-genre which I am terming "cosmic declarative ryde-or-die epics" (though Cassie drags it back to her own introverted territory, inevitably).

'Diva' was the first song on Sasha Fierce that I couldn't stop jamming - really think B should do a version of every big hip-hop hit going, she clearly wants to. As with her 'In Da Club', it's amazing how much gravitational pull her voice has even when she's not doing much with it ("every radio in the world know me cuz that's where I be!"). Think my favourite moment in the video is between the dollar-bill fan and the...hypnotising movement of the fins on the mermaid outfit.

[identity profile] weasel-seeker.livejournal.com 2008-12-24 04:55 am (UTC)(link)
Also, finally listened all the way through the Sasha Fierce disc. WHAT THE FUCK IS UP WITH THIS EGO THING. So insane. Tinkly pianos and snaps and horns striking off beat and Beyonce singing about how she has a huge metaphorical penis. This is amazing.

[identity profile] alexmacpherson.livejournal.com 2008-12-24 10:01 am (UTC)(link)
Haha yes. You first think "...is she talking about Jay-Z's cock?!" and then "...is she talking about HER cock?!"

My favourite on the Sasha Fierce disc right now is 'Scared Of Lonely' and its ridiculous rococo arrangement.
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[personal profile] koganbot 2008-12-25 08:00 am (UTC)(link)
I keep putting off getting the album. She scares me.

[identity profile] katstevens.livejournal.com 2008-12-28 12:16 pm (UTC)(link)
In the 'Halo' vid she looks so... NORMAL! Like she's a human person? It's very unsettling. Love the little dog though, awww.

'Diva' is mental enough that I have blogged it separately :)

[identity profile] alexmacpherson.livejournal.com 2008-12-28 12:26 pm (UTC)(link)
wrt 'Diva', do you think her posing with a posse of Oscars is a SLIGHT HINT to the Academy Awards Committee?
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