Week of February 20, 2012
Two songs enter, but only one
will be crowned this week's most awesome new track, as voted by you. The
champion's spoils? Gobs of Popdust love, a sparkly championship belt
(metaphorical only) and the right to go on and face a fierce new
challenger - next week.
ONE DIRECTION
GIRLS' GENERATION
THEY ARE: X Factor finalists Niall Horan,
Zayn Malik, Liam Payne, Harry Styles and Louis Tomlinson, who graced
Simon Cowell's stage in 2010. Originally solo performers, the fivesome
came together at the urging of Nicole Scherzinger, which helped catapult
them to a third-place finish and a burgeoning career as a teen
heartthrob collective.
WHERE THEY'RE FROM: England and Ireland, where grooming young lads for global domination is as prevalent as enrolling in a local football league.
WHAT THEY'RE LIKE: Cute and talented performers with a not-so-secret appreciation for R&B, they're the boys you want to invite over for tea with your mum.
THEIR HOBBIES: Groomed on live television, the band has shown no opposition to continuing their career in front of the camera. After being met with success by their home audience, they'll further their Westward expansion with an appearance on Miranda Cosgrove's Nickelodeon series iCarly this spring.
THE HITS: While "What Makes You Beautiful" has already reached No. 1 in the UK, second single "One Thing" has received the video treatment stateside, giving American fans more insight into lives of those across the pond while they wait for debut album Up All Night's March release.
THE SONG: "What Makes You Beautiful" is a peppy vote of confidence that features not one but five handsome gents urging their subject to realize their true beauty a la Drake's "Best I Ever Had." Unabashedly fun, the inclusion of "na na na na" and a clapping breakdown help make this the ultimate singalong track.
WHERE THEY'RE FROM: England and Ireland, where grooming young lads for global domination is as prevalent as enrolling in a local football league.
WHAT THEY'RE LIKE: Cute and talented performers with a not-so-secret appreciation for R&B, they're the boys you want to invite over for tea with your mum.
THEIR HOBBIES: Groomed on live television, the band has shown no opposition to continuing their career in front of the camera. After being met with success by their home audience, they'll further their Westward expansion with an appearance on Miranda Cosgrove's Nickelodeon series iCarly this spring.
THE HITS: While "What Makes You Beautiful" has already reached No. 1 in the UK, second single "One Thing" has received the video treatment stateside, giving American fans more insight into lives of those across the pond while they wait for debut album Up All Night's March release.
THE SONG: "What Makes You Beautiful" is a peppy vote of confidence that features not one but five handsome gents urging their subject to realize their true beauty a la Drake's "Best I Ever Had." Unabashedly fun, the inclusion of "na na na na" and a clapping breakdown help make this the ultimate singalong track.
THEY ARE: The nine-strong South Korean girl group,
growing in popularity in their home country since their 2007 debut, and
currently setting their sights on the international market, even working
with renowned US producer Teddy Riley (Michael Jackson, Blackstreet) on
their latest album, also entitled "The Boys."
WHERE THEY'RE FROM: Seoul, South Korea, where they've topped the charts with each of their first six albums.
WHAT THEY'RE LIKE: Picture a Korean Pussycat Dolls, multiply them by two (in number, if not necessarily in intensity), and you'll be on the right track. Unlike PCD, however, Girls' Generation has stayed consistent in membership over its five-year existence. And, uh, no burlesque connections.
THEIR HOBBIES: Well, they certainly love commercials, endorsing everything in their home country from the Nintendo DSi to Lipton's Iced Tea. Several group members have also done modeling work for Christian Dior, and the group raised a bit of controversy for their purported model-like diet recently, with a report emerging that the group were allowed a daily diet of "seasonal vegetables, five pieces of broccoli, 100 g of grilled chicken breast, and 150 g of brown rice."
THE HITS: "The Boys" marked Girls' Generation's sixth straight #1 single in their home country, following such hits as "Gee," "Oh!" and "Hoot." The group's US breakthrough is still slow-coming, with "The Boys" yet to break the Hot 100, though it did scrape the national iTunes charts upon release a few months ago.
THE SONG: "The Boys" is a cocky, strutting boast of how the Girls—specifically those of this Generation—have the ability to bring the boys out. With a hard-hitting beat and some impressive layered chorus harmonies—there are nine of them, after all—"Boys" seems like a single designed for world domination.
Tip: Analyn Nguyen
WHERE THEY'RE FROM: Seoul, South Korea, where they've topped the charts with each of their first six albums.
WHAT THEY'RE LIKE: Picture a Korean Pussycat Dolls, multiply them by two (in number, if not necessarily in intensity), and you'll be on the right track. Unlike PCD, however, Girls' Generation has stayed consistent in membership over its five-year existence. And, uh, no burlesque connections.
THEIR HOBBIES: Well, they certainly love commercials, endorsing everything in their home country from the Nintendo DSi to Lipton's Iced Tea. Several group members have also done modeling work for Christian Dior, and the group raised a bit of controversy for their purported model-like diet recently, with a report emerging that the group were allowed a daily diet of "seasonal vegetables, five pieces of broccoli, 100 g of grilled chicken breast, and 150 g of brown rice."
THE HITS: "The Boys" marked Girls' Generation's sixth straight #1 single in their home country, following such hits as "Gee," "Oh!" and "Hoot." The group's US breakthrough is still slow-coming, with "The Boys" yet to break the Hot 100, though it did scrape the national iTunes charts upon release a few months ago.
THE SONG: "The Boys" is a cocky, strutting boast of how the Girls—specifically those of this Generation—have the ability to bring the boys out. With a hard-hitting beat and some impressive layered chorus harmonies—there are nine of them, after all—"Boys" seems like a single designed for world domination.
Tip: Analyn Nguyen
