Carly Rae Jespen To Sing The Little Mermaid. POP BITS.
POP BITS. We always viewed Carly Rae Jepsen as a Princess of Pop, but today we learned that she will also be moving into Disney Princess territory. The ‘Call Me Maybe’ singer will be covering ‘The Little Mermaid’ hit ‘Part of Your World’ for the movies re-release. The song was previously covered by Miley Cyrus who gave it a slightly more upbeat vibe.
Carly and Miley aren’t the only popstars to take on songs from the Disney classic: Jessica Simpson and Faith Hill also covered ‘Part Of Your World’, Ashley Tisdale tackled ‘Kiss The Girl’ and the Jonas Brothers have their own rendition of ‘Poor Unfortunate Souls’.
Last month Carly revealed that she had dyed her hair red and we are now starting to think that she was getting into character in order to perform such an iconic song. The music video for Carly’s version of ‘Part of Your World’ will be featured on ‘The Little Mermaid: Diamond Edition’ which will be in shops on the 2nd of September. POP BITS OUT.
Download or Ditch: Megan & Liz – ‘Release You’
Hello once again to Download or Ditch, where we give you the lowdown on the latest and hottest singles 
to be hitting your ears in the coming weeks.
Megan & Liz who? Exactly, dear readers – unless you’re a special sort of pop music fan, chances are you won’t have heard of this sweet American duo consisting of fraternal twins Megan and Liz Mace. Fortunately though, their brand spanking new single is getting a bit more global attention and rightfully so.
They’re a sweet little-known girlband from the other side of the pond but they’ve unveiled an absolute stonker of a tune for the summer – ‘Release You’. Penned and helmed by master-of-radio-hits Dr Luke, the song ‘Release You’ sounds like the lovechild between Taylor Swift, Carly Rae Jepsen and Karmin, all mixed together and providing a perfect upbeat summer ditty.
The song is all about letting a bad boyfriend go and it’s pretty damn happy and euphoric about the whole situation, so much so that the girls sound like dumping this loser is the most fun ever! A cracking chorus of “I re-leeeeease you!” is instantly addictive and will (trust us on this) stick in your head all week. Add some beautiful harmonies make this a song more refreshing than cold lemonade on a hot summer’s day.
Our verdict? Download all the way.
Listen to ‘Release You’ below:
Cody Simpson Vs. Carly Rae Jepsen: Who was the best Bieber support?
With all eyes on our Bieber during his Week from HellTM in London during his ‘Believe’ tour, his warm up acts, Carly Rae Jepsen and Cody Simpson, may feel left out… until now. Here at MP! Towers, we don’t let any awesome pop acts slip by un-noticed. The two budding superstars took to the stage during Justin’s ‘Believe’ Tour and even sang Carly Rae’s hit ‘Good Time’ together. But, who was better? We are going to analyse every inch of the Biebs’ support acts and see which one left us warmed up and which one had us reaching for our snuggie and a mug of hot chocolate. Let the Battle of the Bieb’s supports begin!
Age? 16
From?
Cody is from Australia which has brought us things like shrimps, barbies (the barbeque, not the doll), koala bears, Home and Away and Kylie.
The Big Break
Similar to Justin, Cody was spotted on Youtube and given a record deal after a producer heard his cover of Jason Mraz, Justin Timberlake and Jackson 5- basically Cody only sings songs by artists beginning with ‘J’.
Twitter Followers 4,424,637
Hair Rating 9/10. Cody has a bloody beautiful barnet, you can’t deny that.
Talents Apart from singing and dancing, Cody can play the guitar and is a talented swimmer, winning to gold medals at the Queensland Swimming Championships.
Controversy Cody is 16! You can’t possibly expect controversy from him yet. Give him a year or two and we’re sure he’ll leave a string of broken hearts and his inner bad boy will come out.
Love life
Good news, girls, Cody is single and ready to mingle.
Latest single ‘Wish U Were Here’
What’s it like? Despite sharing the name of 90s travel tv show, this sound is not about promoting tourism in other countries. It’s a love song about how much Cody misses someone and wishes they were with him and he tells her this over an toe-tappingly catchy rhythm and infectious ‘woah-oh-oh’s.
Does it have a rap in the middle?
Yes. Becky G of Cher Lloyd’s ‘Oath’ fame spits out lyrics in Cody’s single.
Who would win in a fight with a shark? Cody would put up a good fight and seems to be in quite good shape but our money is on the shark. Although, Cody could swim away.
Despite resembling a possible classmate from Bieber’s past, Carly Rae Jepsen is actually 27!
Carly hales from Canada. Some other great Canadian exports include maple syrup, peanut butter, Ryan Reynolds, Drake, Ryan Gosling and the Biebs himself. We are booking flights to Canada as we speak.
Carly Rae even competed in Canadian Idol in 2007, finishing in third place and being beaten by Brian Melo (Remember him? We can’t either).
5,457,460
6/10. Carly has nice hair… Rebecca Ferguson nice though, not Little Mix-nice.
Carly Rae just sings, but she does sing pretty good songs, we’ll give her that. We also learned from her ‘Call Me Maybe’ that washing cars is definitely not a skill of hers.
Carly Rae has been accused of stealing songs not once, but twice. She was sued in October for nicking bits of a song for her track with Owl City and a pop star from the Ukraine has said ‘Call Me Maybe’ was made up of snippets from her tune without her permission. Oooh! We guess it’s not always a ‘Good Time’ for Carly.
Carly is currently dating musician Matthew Koma, who could be mistaken for Carly, if he wore a wig and you squinted your eyes.
‘Tonight I’m Getting Over You’
This song is an uptempo post-breakup anthem and we’re sure Kelly Clarkson is kicking herself for not getting her paws on it first. This definitely nudges Carly Rae out of the ‘One Hit Wonder’ club.
No, but the techno pop beats more than make up for it.
We’re pretty sure Carly would be eaten by the shark, unless it’s on dry land.
Now that we have provided you with scientific facts, it’s up to you to make the decision. Do you wish Cody was here all year round? Or maybe you think there is just no getting over Carly?
Results are in and Cody killed it winning 48% of the vote. Carly got 36% and Jaden Smith (our little curve ball) still managed 15%. Hurrah!
Carly Rae Jepsen pulls out of a gig in support of gay rights. POP BITS.
POP BITS. If it wasn’t clear enough that Carly Rae Jepsen loved the homosexual community in her ‘Call Me Maybe’ video – remember she had crush on that hot guy who fancied her male guitarist? – it is now!Sarah Hackett interview and ‘You Got Me Open’ today’s Alarm Pop!
Sarah Hackett is a 16-year old Canadian teenager who, like pretty much every other aspiring popstar, put some of her music on YouTube. Unlike most hopefuls, though, Sarah was spotted by High School Musical and Hannah Montana genius Andrew Lane, and over 380,000 Twitter followers later she’s readying herself to release her debut single!
‘You Got Me Open’ is an adorably infectious electroballad with a charming beachside video that’s racked up over 1 MILLION YouTube views – and it’s our Alarm Pop song of the day!
Miss Hackett describes Demi Lovato as her “greatest inspiration” so it was pretty much a given that we were always going to get along. We had a chat with her the other day – here it is…
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Carly Rae Jepsen’s ‘Kiss’ – amazing album alert!
Hi, MP! So what’s this I hear about Carly Rae Jepsen having an album out?
That’s right reader, she of ‘Call Me Maybe’ fame does indeed have her latest and no doubt biggest album out next week.
What’s the album called?
It’s called ‘Kiss’. It’s a dark introspective record about the struggles of a girl discovering her crush is gay.
Um…
We’re kidding! ‘Kiss’ is a bright blast of pure, unabashed pop – the kind of pop that you sing in the shower or with a hairbush into the mirror or while you’re riding around in a car.
Are the songs any good?
Yep. ‘Call Me Maybe’ is still a definite album highlight and the most hummed/parodied song in human history, but don’t worry, the rest of the songs are different and equally good. Old-song-given-new-twist ‘Curiosity’ is a pretty solid indication.
What about if I’m at a party? Will ‘Kiss’ fit there?
Some of it will! New single ‘This Kiss’ is an electropop dancefloor anthem with a killer chorus that’ll have you dancing like you’re on Geordie Shore. Album tracks ‘Turn Me Up’ and ‘Tonight I’m Getting Over You’ are both equally dancefloor-orientated, so there’s plenty of choice there. ‘Hurt So Good’ is pretty much by-the-numbers brilliance too.
And if I’m at the beach with some friends?
Well if you’re crazy enough to go to a beach in September in the UK we have little sympathy for you, but ‘Good Time’, her Owl City collab is bouncy and catchy enough to let you pretend it’s July again. Maybe.
It’s not just silly pop though, is it?
Well, silly pop is often great pop, but there’s some variety on offer – ‘More Than A Memory’ and ‘Guitar String/Wedding Ring’ are Taylor Swift-lite tunes and there’s even a great ballad towards the back end called ‘Your Heart Is A Muscle’. Who says we don’t give variety?
What about the bonus tracks? Are they any good?
A mixed bag really – ‘Sweetie’ isn’t a memorable tune, but ‘Drive’ is breezy fun, ‘Wrong Feels So Right’ is a proper club smash in the making and ‘I Know You Have A Girlfriend’ is one of the most effervescently fun, empowering and catchy songs we’ve heard for a few years. Think ‘Call Your Girlfriend’ with a bit of sass and a rocket up its arse – that level of good.
Sounds good MP! but are there any bad songs?
None of them are exactly bad but there are some that don’t have the same quality as the rest – the Justin Bieber duet isn’t anything special and is schmaltzier than that ‘Grandma We Love You’ song if performed by toddlers. The opening song ‘Tiny Little Bows’ is anything special either to be honest.
How does it compare to proper superstars (e.g. Gaga, Rihanna, Britney Katy Perry) and their albums?
Surprisingly well reader! It’s the kind of consistent, cohesive music that doesn’t take itself too seriously that we wish Katy Perry had had a bit more of in her last album instead of singing about willies and heartbreak . Think Taylor Swift’s sweetness with dashes of Britney and Selena Gomez and you’re not far off.
Wow MP! So it’s worth looking at then?
Yep. ‘Kiss’ is a lot like Ashley Tisdale’s ‘Guilty Pleasure’ – it’s jam-packed full of the joyous-sounding, relentlessly fun pop brilliance that you’re told not to like but really, secretly do. We don’t judge you reader – just enjoy the music. Or play ‘Call Me Maybe’ for the nine hundredth time this year.
‘Kiss’ is out Monday 17th September. Listen to new single ‘This Kiss’ below:
'Kiss' the best pop album of the year? Or does it feel more like a kiss-off?
New Carly Rae Jepsen!
Justin Bieber’s protege Carly Rae Jepsen is ready to release her debut album Kiss, and we’ve got all the goss for you!
After ‘Call Me Maybe’ sold an astonishing 1 million copies in the UK alone and spent 8 weeks at number one in America, the follow up, ‘Good Time’ (with Owl City), has had over 6m views on VEVO!
Carly Rae has been collaborating with a team of her “dream producers” including Max Martin (Britney Spears, P!nk), Dallas Austin (Sugababes), Toby Gad (Beyoncé) and Redfoo from LMFAO. She says of Kiss, “these are lyric and song ideas that I have been collecting over the years. The record is pop. It’s inspired by Robyn, The Cars, Madonna, and believe it or not, James Taylor. I can’t wait to share it with everyone!”
Ms Jepsen will be supporting Bieber on tour in the US and Canada, and hopes to make her way over to the UK soon. We can’t wait to hear this album!
Alarm Pop: Owl City returns with ‘Good Time’… featuring Carly Rae Jepsen!
Remember Owl City? Less a kingdom inhabited by nocturnal birds, more a slightly dorky hitmaker called Adam Young? He did that song ‘Fireflies’ that was Number 1 two years ago? Well he’s back with a new tune – and he’s got Carly Rae Jepsen on board. Both of them sound right at home on ‘Good Time’, and we’re absolutely smitten with it. Like a hug and a fizzy lollipop all at once, it’s a sugar-coated, slightly euphoric pop anthem with a bright and breezy chorus that demands repeated listens. We love it – what do you think? Download or ditch?
You look like you could use an unlikely ‘Call Me Maybe’ mash-up
Comment
Carly Rae Jepsen’s ‘Call Me Maybe’ may have passed its peak in the UK, but it’s only just starting to grip US pop fanatics by the throat and, as a result of its global domination, covers have been popping up by everyone from Ben Howard to The Saturdays. But how about an unlikely mash-up? Vampire Weekend’s Rostam Batmanglij has welded it together with no other than Annie Lennox’s 1992 hit ‘Walking On Broken Glass’, and the results are a pitch-bending triumph. Take a listen below. Go on, it’s Friday.
Katy Perry, The Wanted, Kelly Clarkson & more: Who was good and who was bad at the BMAs?
Comments
Last night’s Billboard Music Awards dealt up a bum-numbing amount of performances from the biggest and best names in pop. So, to save you rifling through them all, allow us to break down which ones were good and which should be forgotten.
Katy Perry – ‘Wide Awake’
The 94th single from Katy’s Teenage Dream album was performed for the first time, and though the whole production of it was quite ambitious, it didn’t quite catch on the way we thought it would. Firstly, Katy probably learned the important lesson that mid-air acrobatics don’t make life easy when it comes to singing live, and secondly once you’ve seen them spin around once or twice, you’re kind of over it. Great song, not a great performance. Miss
