If you want it baby,push the button when you crave me

Look who's back with a new song...



And what a cool song it is too.Alarm is the first single from the yet-to-be-released (?) album Electric Touch,the name of which suggests to me at least that we're in for an album full of songs like this one.Which is no bad thing :)

Oh and look who else has got a new song...



I'm not so excited about this one.Or Dima's new lion hair come to that,but it's pleasant enough.The chorus is better than the verses,that's for sure,but the whole thing just seems to be a bit too chilled out for a single.Bit too chilled out for the Lady Gaga style video too.But we're not complaining,anything from Dima is always a welcome treat :)

Top 50- 3: Why does everything have to be so complicated?

Sergey Lazarev- Girlfriend

Oh look,it's that man again.Girlfriend was easily one of the most played songs at Europop Mansions Surrey Branch last year.And for good reason- it's fabulous.We played it a good few times on Sounds of Europe too,and actually I think it was played on 2 other shows at GU2 as well.Good times!

Top 50- 9: With every step,I'm closer to the dream

Sergey Lazarev (and Timati)- Lazerboy

And why is there a picture of everyone's favourite GU2 ident maker Sergey sitting naked on a table holding a saw,you ask.Well,it's art :) I wouldn't think sitting on newspaper with no pants on is a very good idea though,personally,but each to their own.I've mentioned Lazerboy loads of times on here,and for good reason- it's fecking fabulous.I need say no more.

Top 50- 45: Got one desire,and that is to go straight to your heart

Sergey Lazarev- Flyer

Better than Believe,better than Believe,better than Believe...I think that's all there is to say about this song really.Poor Sergey though,if there was ever a Russian pop star perfect for Britain,it's him.And he tried.But performing at kids' discos isn't really the stuff pop dreams are made of.OK,so he did a few club nights too,but it all amounted to nothing really.The album was never released here and...well,let's not mention Girlfriend.Although it has been played at least 4 times on British radio,so that's something :)

Vlad vs Sergey- who's the Perfect Lazerboy?

So,the recent weeks have seen both ex-Smash boys release new singles.But which is better?There's only one way to find out...no,not a fight,I'm going to write about them both.

Oh,by the way,talking of Smash,it'll soon be time to drag out this little gem again.Love it :)

I've never given Vlad a chance really.What with all the stuff I'd read about him regarding the breakup of Smash etc,and the one song of his I'd heard (The Dream I think it was),I decided I didn't like him much.But the other day,Keira told me the video to his new song Perfect Criminal was out and I thought I'd have a watch.I've been listening to it an insane amount ever since- it's so so catchy.I've been really getting into electropop lately (I blame BiS).It's a bit Brother oh Brother lyrically,but infinitely more funky.The most important thing you need to know about it is that it contains clappy bits,which is always a good thing.Oh,and my favourite bit probably is at 4.10,where you think it's ending,but in fact carries on for another half a minute,being all groovy and wonderful :) The video is erm,a bit weird to say the least.Vlad is a bad boy and tries to escape from prison,and ends up getting quite a harsh punishment...However,it also features some rather cool dancing- although Vlad will never be the discotastic dancing genius that Sergey is :)




As for Sergey...Well I've never really been a big fan of his,until Girlfriend.I wanted him to win the Russian national final- I've said it (more than) once,so I can say it again: Flyer was sooooo much better than Believe! Anyway,yeah,but despite my supporting him there,there weren't too many of his songs that I really liked.I'm very into him these days though.I've posted Lazerboy on here before I think,but now the official video is out,at last.If you like leather,it's one for you.Like the video to Perfect Criminal,it's a bit weird,but not in the same way...Also like Perfect Criminal,it's the chorus that really gets to you.It's such a simple chorus but oh so catchy.It's in Russian and I have no idea what it's all about,but because the beat and the rhythm etc are so strong,I forget it's in Russian a lot of the time.Loving the laser noises at the end too :)



So which is best? Well let's be honest,they're not that much different are they? But for now at least,I think Vlad has the edge.Must be the claps that do it...

Actually...

There's not much point in doing the WYM Top 10 this week,because I can honestly say I've listened to nothing but Teitur for the last week.Well,apart from one song anyway.Discotastic Dancing Genius Sergey Lazarev has been working with rather famous Russian rapper Timati (surprisingly enough,from FZ4),and they've come up with this piece of brilliance- Lazerboy



"I'm a Lazerboy for life" is possibly the worst line since "they call me Dima Bilan,Dima Bilan,D-D-Dima Bilan",but still.It's a funky song.

Theme Thursday: I'll treat you like a bad girl

(Or is it fat girl...?)

Readers,welcome to the first Theme Thursday!* This week we'll see the...

Top 5 "Sergey Lazarev is a discotastic dancing genius" Songs of the Week

He's so cool that he shouldn't be legal (he oughta be banned)...

5: Shattered Dreams

In this performance from Song of the Year 2007,Sergey's going for the "Páll Óskar-at-the-Scala-Eurovision-Party" look.But there's no sequins,so it doesn't work as well...But the dancing makes up for it :) Oh,and look,there's Alla Pugacheva- why did she ever split up with Kirkorov?They were made for eachother...
Highlight- The "strut and grab" in the choruses




4: Do Me Right

Erm,how tight are those trousers,Sergey? If you ever need a new employee to spray them on for you,just leave a comment on this post and I'll be over to Moscow as soon as.Nightlife in Kiel is probably not half as fabulous as over there anyway :)
Highlight: I'm loving the little jump sequences at 1.09 and 1.16.That face at about 1.29 is a classic too!




3: Fake

Ah yes,the most dodgy lyrics of all time...This video is the Gay Club Mix apparantly.Now was a gay remix really necessary?Fake is as camp as a row of pink tents as it is.Because all of his others are 100% macho anthems of course.
Highlight: His whole "Yeah,I know I'm cool" attitude,despite wearing white trousers and a black and white stripey shirt




2: GU2 Radio

Oh sorry,did I say GU2 Radio? I meant TV or Radio.Just getting flashbacks to the great man himself doing the idents for our show...Anyway,this is a trippy video where Sergey's dressed like a bank manager but still being achingly cool dancing with some interesting creatures.Also check out the Typical Russian Audience.
Highlight: The robotic bits



1: Do It For Me

From the show Being Sergey Lazarev according to the top corner of the video.Wasn't there a Being Dima Bilan as well?I bet he didn't do cool things like this in it though.
Highlight: The bizarre arm movements,the thrusting,that weird thing at 2.25,everything!



*Which may or may not be a regular thing,I haven't quite decided...

What promotion!

My family come from a tiny tiny island (actually,it's not that small- as big as the Isle of Wight apparantly) in the Tyrrenhian Sea called Ischia.Wikitravel says "Ischia is the largest island in the bay of Naples and is considered by many to be the most beautiful." Ha,in your face Capri! Anyway,not much goes on there,there's a lot of German tourists but that's about it.Until now,now Mr Shut-Up-Baby-Don't-Be-Fake went on holiday there that is.Here he is loving the Castello Aragonese so much that he can't even bear to look at it.And here he is also doing the Italian thing of wearing dodgy clothes and posing on a moped*.Now these pictures have made it into OK Magazine,hopefully a trend will be set amongst other Russian pop stars and Dima,Dima and Chelsi and the BiS boys will want of a bit of l'isola verde action.Must get involved with the family business pronto!

*In the background of the moped picture there's a typical Ischitanian taxi.They're certainly an experience everyone should try!

Got one desire and that is to go straight to your heart

Just a quick post (sooooooo much to do today) to say you can hear a bit more (about a minute) of Sergey's Eurovision attempt here There's a little player about halfway down the page- much better quality than the video from yesterday.It's seriously fabulous :) Enjoy!

Aaaaaahhhh!

So it's all going wrong for Dima (or should that be Viktor?) Bilan/Belan at the minute,but Sergey Lazarev's gonna be in the Russian national final on Sunday- woohoo! From what I've read,he seems quite excited about it and thinks he has a good chance of winning.Here's a little tiny video of him rehearsing the song- Flyer (under fire).Catchy! (Thanks Keira by the way)

Seems pretty good from the little bit you can hear I think.I hope he wins the national final,it'll give us someone definite to support :)

I don't want nobody but you

By the way,if you listened to Sounds of Europe last night,you'll have heard me exalting the wonderful Sergey Lazarev and his latest (?) song Girlfriend.And if you didn't listen to Sounds of Europe,well I'll say it again :) Girlfriend was written by Ben Adams of a1,my favourite ever British boyband.Ben's written songs for Sergey before,to varying degrees of success...but this is clearly the best one.It's so so catchy and the chorus has been going round my head for about 4 days now,which is quite annoying,but anyway,if you haven't heard it yet,then you must listen,it's everything a pop song should be :)
There is a real video to it,but it only seems to be available on a Russian equivalent of youtube that I don't like very much.And anyway,it's not the greatest music video ever,so I'm posting this 'live' version from the New Wave festival in Latvia instead.

Watch out for low flying Russians

Sergey Lazarev is seemingly a man of many talents.He also happens to be l'Europop Artist du jour here at Europop Mansions,so what better excuse to post this wonderful video of him on the Russian version of Dancing on Ice :)

Fabulous musical year Part 2

April- I think we’d been watching bits of Fabrika Zvëzd on youtube for a while, but in April, we discovered lovely Dima’s version of Neseryozna. I’ve heard the original, thought it was alright, but prefer Dima’s, obviously. Also had a bit of BWO going on this month, I wasn’t too fussed about them in last year’s Melodifestivalen, seeing as I was dead set on Andreas Johnson winning, but actually BWO ain’t that bad. My particular favourite is the potential-glowstick-waving ballad- We Could Be Heroes.

Also worth mentioning is Mihai Traistariu. He’s another favourite of ours, Tornero is without doubt the best ESC song ever, but this month we discovered Dimmi Si O No, which is pretty funky.

May- Aah, my favourite month of the year : ). Right up until the day before the final, I didn’t like The Ark. I was severely disappointed that Måns didn’t win Melodifestivalen, therefore I couldn’t be bothered to like The Ark. But they are fabulous, Ola is not only divine, but he’s also a great lyricist, not so much with The Worrying Kind, but I do like the darker stuff like Tell Me This Night Is Over. I also bought the new album when I was in Norway, and it’s pretty good. Apart from The Ark though, this was also the month I discovered Chelsi (my faaaaavourite band of the moment. I still love Samaya Lyubimaya, I think it’s rather lovely), and the delights of Atomik Harmonik : ). Also, although it’s now nearly a year old, I bought Aleksander Denstad With’s album, and was introduced to How About- the most stonking piece of pop I’ve ever heard, I LOVE it! : )



June- Mmm, Sergey Lazarev. Not as hot as Dima Koldun and not as pop-tastic as Dima Bilan, but probably twice as fabulous as both of them put together. Fake is a super song, the lyrics are awful and it’s quite possibly the campest thing I’ve ever heard, but I love it immensely. I also love I’m Gone, which is neither camp nor has awful lyrics, Just Because You Walk Away, and Do It For Me. I think he should also win something for having the best album cover for Don’t Be Fake. It’s a bit odd. Also loving some more Chelsi songs (ie- Stan Moey and Popolam), and also All I Want Is You off of The Ark’s aforementioned fabulous album Prayer For The Weekend.