Sugababes version 4.0 appeared on London-based breakfast show GMTV this morning to promote their new British single “About A Girl.” There’s much debate going on among the YouTube commentator set about whether or not the ‘babes actually sang live or lip synched over a live-sounding vocal track.
Either way, the interesting bit isn’t in the vocals—it’s in watching newest member Jade Ewen acclimate herself so ably into the group’s hip-swaying bump ‘n grind routines. MORE »
Never one to let a good joke just settle, Weezer is packaging the deluxe editions of its new album Raditude with a Snuggie, the As Seen On TV “blanket with sleeves” that’s both functional (it really is pretty warm) and hilarity-inducing (ah, recession-era cable ads, the last bastion of UHF-style production values). Surely the amount of press that Weezer has received for this move will result in other artists borrowing from the ever-expanding world of cheap commercials. After the jump, we envision a few pairings. MORE »
Warner Music Group is putting the kibosh on those OG Sugababe-reunion rumors that floated out of the UK this morning. (The gossip site that “broke” the story fingered WMG as the eventual home for Mutya, Keisha, and Siobhán, both collectively and as solo artists.) But I still believe!! Even though, yeah, Siobhán isn’t exactly a fan of Keisha’s… [Guardian / Earlier / Dailymotion] MORE »
A UK gossip site is reporting that the three original members of the girl group Sugababes—Keisha Buchanan, Mutya Buena, and the completely brilliant Siobhán Donaghy, all of whom have left the band since it was formed way back at the turn of the millennium—are in negotiations to reform, and put out an album. This bit of rumormongering comes in the wake of the announcement that the forthcoming album by the current incarnation of the band, the American-audience-tilted Sweet 7, has been pushed back to next February amidst internal strife of the legal and medical sorts. And of course it raises the question of what the new/old version of the group would even call itself at this point. (Sugababes UK? The London Sugababes?) But the best aspect of this rumor is this little nugget… MORE »
Yesterday, a six-track sampler of the original take on the Sugababes’ made-for-American-audiences Sweet 7 leaked—the difference between this record and the soon-to-be-released album is the presence of Keisha Buchanan, who last month was unceremoniously booted from the girl group and replaced with Eurovision-tested singer Jade Ewen. The sampler contains the already-released (and underwhelming) “Get Sexy” and “About A Girl,” as well as one track that made me chuckle mirthlessly over just how badly the group’s handlers wanted to try and break the girls in the States. MORE »
Behind the Sugababes’ latest lineup machinations, which make one wonder if the group is shape-shifting into a sort of female British Menudo, is a trend piece about enough slant histrionics to make Ken Russell films wilt. There’s even something telling in the yearlong break rival girl group Girls Aloud announced in July, following on the heels of some of their strongest offerings yet. If the crown jewels in Britain’s pop tiara are wont to defect so quickly—and leave us with The Saturdays—shouldn’t it be time to reassess the girl group as a business model? Perhaps, with pop going the way of our economy, we probably shouldn’t be turning to something as volatile as singer-stuffed girl groups for a bailout.
Boybands and even male-fronted rock bands seem to enjoy some sense of longevity. But why do their female counterparts seem to have all the reliability of AIG? After the jump, a categorical look at five iconic girlb(r)ands for whom dissolution was all but foretold. MORE »
Another case of metadata speaking the truth: “the female pop group (consisting of Keisha, Mutya and Heidi),” says the first entry on Google when you search for the troubled UK pop trio. Oh, Google. I know, I know. (Sorry Amelle.) [Google via No Rock & Roll Fun] MORE »
Amelle Berrabah, currently the second-most-senior member of the British pop trio Sugababes, is taking an “unexpected short break away from the pressures of work, following some professional medical advice earlier this week,” according to a statement posted on the girl-group-in-tumult’s site this morning. She’ll be staying in a private health clinic for the next three weeks and taking a break from the group, which has been forced to cancel even more upcoming live appearances as a result of all this. (Remaining members Heidi Range and Jade Ewen will, however, travel to an Irish gig that the ladies were supposed to perform at in order to press some fan flesh.) Apparently there’s going to be a Sugababes tour once Berrabah gets out of the hospital, but honestly, maybe we should just have the new group play one gig—or even one song—before making any claims like that, no? [Sugababes via Guardian] MORE »
The video for “About A Girl,” the Sugababes’ first single since founding member Keisha Buchanan was shown the Suga-door two and a half weeks ago, has debuted, and hey—it’s not just shots of the girls dancing around in the American desert! Instead, it has a very threadbare, curiously subtitled, girls-overcoming-their-femininity plot that allows new member Jade Ewen to show off her acting ability, and possibly her dexterity as far as performing stunts (the fast-whipping hair extensions made me wonder if a double was being used; repeat viewings proved inconclusive). Clip after the jump. MORE »
