Umbrella
Marie Digby
Lyrics

Anticipation One of you loyal readers sent me this article about the manufactured-ness of pop, to which I say who cares. Pop is all about being fun to listen to, no matter how you find out about it or how good the artist is. It should be fun, catchy, and memorable. With that said, I decided to take on the artist, Marie Digby, who is a blatant liar about her climb to fame. But she does something that perhaps even she did not intend: Digby answers the Rihanna question.

The song has kind of had a life of its own, getting radio play and, where I heard it first, on an episode of The Hills, which really boosted its popularity. The artist also has history: she attended UC Berkeley for a year and even had a story in the Daily Cal for her singing ability at the time.
Vocals More sincere than Rihanna, the singing actually makes this song sound like it's about friendship and not electronic rain or something. But, c'mon, it's not like Digby's that much more talented than robotic Rihanna.
Music It's acoustic guitar. That's it.
Verses I like the verses understatedness, but the chorus is a much stronger performance.
Chorus Well sung, but boring with only acoustic guitar behind.
Hook BECAUSE...when the sun shines
Breakdown Wait, where's Jay-Z on this version?
Lyrics Whoa! It's a song!
Hit Potential It has a life of its own, although it's living off the original. Popular, but not a hit.
Final Note
LOVE

Body Language
Heidi Montag feat. Spencer Pratt
Lyrics


Anticipation
We weren't hoping for much here since Heidi is best known for being the bad best friend on The Hills. We had no idea she was trying to become a recording artist either. The one thing this does, though, is boost our interest in Jo from The Real Housewives of Orange County's recording career.

Disclaimer: Heidi's track carries as much baggage as the three seasons of Laguna Beach and two seasons of The Hills that launched her to fame. While I'd normally ignore the drama, it is a big part of this track's success and timing.

Vocals
It's really the vocals that break the song. If nothing else, it's clearly the inexperience that spoils what could have been a hot track. The vocals are weak; every line sounds like it should be sung much harder, especially in a dance single. Heidi's voice is barely audible above the sampling. Moreover, when we get to the rap, one can hear Pratt's gasps for air--a hallmark of poor MC-ing.

The song is really trying, though. With no high notes to miss, Heidi catches a break.

Music
The song smartly relies on a sample of Yazoo's "Situation" to distract from the vocals and recall feelings of good times. And relies it does as the music goes nowhere. And it is the music that makes the song grow on you before you're finally over all of it.

Verses
Boring and empty. Filling time until the chorus with the sample.

Chorus
The bridge is where we really hear Heidi:

let me follow your lead
baby come on control me
come over take on me
take me

When you finally get to the chorus it's more bland, and sounds like someone else's vocals masked as Heidi.

Hook
"Read my body language", as a command, fails.

Breakdown
In this case, it's Pratt's rap. Not particularly fast, but it does a good job of breaking up the song, although the subsequent climax isn't as high as I'd expect.

Lyrics
They seem to follow the audience's view of Heidi's on screen personality--focusing on being controlled and inviting male attention--and play on these control issues as though being sexually dominated.

boy whatcha waiting for
come and take control over me me
show authority

Nothing aside from the lyrics, such as Heidi's tone of voice, convey an understanding or interpretation of this satire.

Hit Potential
We might see it break onto the charts, but a lesson for Heidi: drama doesn't sustain a radio hit.

Final Note
HATE