Specials

January 05, 2015 Critic Jonni 1 Comments

Look Back at 2014 Special
1st January 2015 - 18th January 2015
So I haven’t blogged in some time, and I have decided to start it up again, and I also plan to change the design of my entire blog.

Since I have been away for a whole year and a bit, I might as well start 2015 off with a look back at 2014, and what I have missed on reviewing.

I shall release my 10 favourite songs from last year, which are in no particular order, and doesn’t contain ALL my favourites as there have been a lot in the past year, so I won’t be surprised if I’ve missed quite a few facvourites.

Next I will release the top 7 of the year-end charts of the UK, and review their music videos, since they sold the most sales last year.

Here we go… My Top 10, followed by the UK’s top 7:
Ariana Grande Featuring Zedd - Break Free
Fifth Harmony - Sledgehammer
Morandi Featuring Inna - Summer In December
Kiesza - Hideaway
Cascada - Blink


Eurovision Song Contest 2013 Special
20th May 2013 - 25th May 2013, 2nd June 2013 - 9th June 2013
After the success of my first Eurovision special last year, how could I not review my favourites from one of the biggest music competitions in the world? This year it was held in Malmö, Sweden because Loreen won last year with "Euphoria" in Baku, Azerbaijan.

Unlike last year, I actually watched the Semi Finals, the reason being is that I thought there would have been good acts that failed to make it through, and surprisingly I was right. There were four acts I was rooting for that failed to make the final. These four have been included in my special this year around.

The final was an engaging contest, with one of the most competitive years, especially with the winner being within grasps of second and third, it was one of the most closest competitions I have watched (which isn't many to be honest). With so many great acts I have been unable to narrow down my favourites. Hence why this special is going to last two weeks.

In total 39 countries participated, and 26 of which took part in the final. Yet again, to prevent myself from being biased I will review the UK's entry first, then follow through with the acts who ended up with a low placing, all the way up to the winner. I have a total of 17 favourites and I shall reveal them once a day

So are you all ready? I hope you check back everyday for my favourites of this year. And here they are...

UK - Bonnie Tyler - Believe In Me
Latvia - PeR - Here We Go
Austria - Natália Kelly - Shine
Switzerland - Takasa - You And Me
Montenegro - Who See Featuring Nina Žižić - Igranka
Ireland - Ryan Dolan - Only Love Survives
Finland - Krista Siegfrids - Marry Me
--Went on holiday for a week, with no internet, SORRY--
Germany - Cascada - Glorious
Belarus - Alyona Lanskaya - Solayoh
Georgia - Nodi Tatishvili & Sophie Gelovani - Waterfall
Sweden - Robin Stjernberg - You
Greece - Koza Mostra Feat. Agathon Iakovidis - Alcohol Is Free
Russia - Dina Garipova - What If
Norway - Margaret Berger - I Feed You My Love
Ukraine - Zlata Ognevich - Gravity
Azerbaijan - Farid Mammadov - Hold Me / Bana Dönsen
Winning Entry - Denmark - Emmelie de Forest - Only Teardrops


Twitter Followers Special
18th March 2013 - 24th March 2013
Since my Twitter follower are going up and up, I have acquired quite a few artist followings. Only last week one artist became my Artist Of The Month, and that is Mandia Nantsios with the singles "Never Again" and "One Last Time". Other followers who have made my blog includes DixonBeats with "Afraid" which includes Dante. I am now a fan of them both, and I reckon a few of my artist followers are just as special. So it's about time I thank them for following me by reviewing them all on my blog.

Unfortunately not all of my artist followers have music videos, but as soon as you do you'll be featured on my blog too. I'm hoping this will interest people into new artists that they wouldn't normally come across, and I know it may not be as special as being one of my Artists Of The Month, but it's always possible that you'll get on there one day.

There is a specific order, the artist who has followed me the longest will be reviewed first.

Monday: Aalvin - Hope For Better
Tuesday: Sylosis - Empyreal
Wednesday: The Dead Famous - Hide Your Halo
Thursday: Bauer - Connected
Friday: Two Weeks Running - Stay Forever
Saturday: Mixtape - Dancing Star
Sunday: Times Red - Just No Good For Me

So that's the end of another special... I don't think I'll be doing another one until May time when Eurovision starts again.

The winner of this special is Times Red with "Just No Good For Me", however I gave out quite a few high ratings.

Since I started this special, I have had quite a few more followers, maybe some have music videos out, so I may just be doing a second Twitter Followers Special in the next 6 months, maybe.

Everything goes back to normal for the next few weeks. And it's Eurovision soon, so it won't be long until I do another special.  

Christmas Special 2012
17th December 2012 - 23rd December 2012
Christmas is once again around the corner, and once again another battle will start up on the chart, for who can claim the UK Christmas number one. This is always an interesting event and is usually made bigger because of The X Factor. For the last few years no Christmas songs have been released as no one wants to compete with The X Factor, but after a FaceBook page encouraged users to prevent The X Factor from topping the charts at Christmas time, more and more attempts have started every year.

With that in mind, Simon Cowell (who owns The X Factor) has started releasing the winner's single the week before enabling the winner to claim the top spot and have a crack at the Christmas top spot too. We shall see what happens.

Last year my Christmas Special failed, but this year I am determined to make it work. So every day of this week I shall be reviewing a Christmas music video along with a New Release that I am hoping will chart well. On Sunday I shall review two music videos, 1 normal Christmas music video, the other will be whoever makes it to the top spot on the 23rd December.

New Release: Kids In Glass Houses - Secret Santa
Monday: Shakin' Stevens - Merry Christmas Everyone
Tuesday: Cascada - Last Christmas 
Wednesday: Mariah Carey - All I Want For Christmas
Thursday: Slade - Merry Xmas Everybody
Friday: Justin Bieber - Mistletoe
Saturday: Wham! - Last Christmas
Sunday: The Justice Collective - He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother

So Christmas Special 2012 actually worked this year, makes a change from last year. I did mix it up including new songs, old songs and cover versions. The winner is between Wham! and Justin Bieber, however I'm awarding it to the latter as Justin Bieber's "Mistletoe" is an amazing music video and although Wham!'s "Last Christmas" got 5 stars too, I just didn't enjoy that video as much, probably because of how old it is. So Wham! becomes a very close second.

So what's next? I'm not sure, things go back to normal for the moment, but I bet another special will be appearing soon, so be on the look out. And for more reviews of Christmas songs... You'll just have to wait for next year.   

The X Factor (UK) Special   
27th August 2012 - 10th September 2012
The X Factor (UK) returned last week for their 9th series, we have had a lot of artists break out from this show over the years and it's about time I take tribute to the many artists, especially since they have been dominating the charts and doing well overseas too.

With an X Factor artist releasing this week, who has come from the 8th series of the X Factor, I couldn't help but do a special. Then an ex-judge is releasing a single, and then another 8th Series competitor is releasing the week after. I think one will be knocking the other off the top spot in the coming weeks, so it'll be interesting to see what happens.

So this is what I'm going to do. I am going to start off with today's new release, then for the next 7 music video reviews, I shall be going through each of the series of The X Factor, and reviewing the artist I cheered on from the start of the live finals. If my favourite artist never got a recording contract and ended up not releasing any music videos I shall be looking at the other artists who have recording contracts and choose my favourite from them. Then for the second week, I will be looking at the judges and their releases, as there have only been 6 artist judges, I will be looking at the guest judges, and choosing my favourite for my last judge review.

I hope you all enjoy this special. Over the past week I had thought of many different ways of doing this, but I chose this way as I felt it fitted more with it returning. But my other idea, that has come to mind, may be used near the end of the 9th Series of The X Factor.

New Release: Little Mix - Wings
Series 1: G4 - Bohemian Rhapsody
Series 2: Chico - It's Chico Time
Series 3: Leona Lewis - Collide
Series 4: Same Difference - Shine On Forever (Photo Frame)
Series 5: Ruth Lorenzo - Burn
Series 6: Rachel Adedeji - Follow The DJ
Series 7: Belle Amie - Girls Up
New Release: Cheryl - Under The Sun
Judge: Dannii Minogue - I Begin To Wonder
Judge: Cheryl Cole - Fight For This Love
Judge: Kelly Rowland - When Love Takes Over
Judge: Gary Barlow - Here Comes The Sun
Judge: Tulisa - Live It Up
Judge: Nicole Scherzinger - Don't Hold Your Breath
Guest Judge: Geri Halliwell - Look At Me
New Release: Amelia Lily - You Bring Me Joy

That's the end of The X Factor Special. It's been a long two weeks! Out of the contestants Belle Amie wins best video as I gave it 5*'s and "Girls Up" is really great, as for the judges the winner has to go to Geri Halliwell's "Look At Me" as it's both a narrative and a performance piece and just works well, Nicole Scherzinger comes a close second.

Who knows what's around the corner? I want to change a few things and I've got some good ideas for my next few specials. So be patient and you might be able to know more soon.

Collaboration Special
30th July 2012 - 5th August 2012
Since it is the holidays, I haven't been watching the music channels as there has been no reason to get up in the morning. So here is where my problem comes in, I am struggling to think of music videos I should review, so after looking at the New Releases for this week I realised there was quite a few collaborations. Which sparked off an idea.

Calvin Harris collabs with Example - We'll Be Coming Home
Example collabs with Laidback Luke - Natural Disaster
Laidback Luke collabs with Swedish House Mafia - Leave The World Behind
Swedish House Mafia collabs with Pharrell - One (Your Name)
Pharrell collabs with Pitbull - Blanco
Pitbull collabs with Shakira - Get It Started
Shakira collabs with Dizzee Rascal - Loca
Dizzee Rascal collabs with Calvin Harris - Dance Wiv Me

So my Collaboration Special is officially over, and it's back to normal for next week, but I am thinking about some for specials for the future, watch this space, there will be more to come! There are two videos that win my special as they both got 5 stars, but since we're not allowed a tie, I've decided to declare "Get It Started" the winner as it was a great music video and I was surprised to find out there was a narrative.

Eurovision 2012 Special

Estonia - Ott Lepland - Kuula
Italy - Nina Zilli - L'Amore è Femmina (Out Of Love)
Spain - Pastora Soler - Quédate Conmigo
Romania - Mandinga - Zaleilah
Cyprus - Ivi Adamou - La La Love
Ireland - Jedward - Waterline
Hungary - Compact Disco - Sound Of Our Hearts
Winning Entry - Sweden - Loreen - Euphoria

So that is the end of my Eurovision 2012 special, BUT it shall be returning next year, I wonder who will represent the UK, and will we do better than 25th? Let's hope Eurovision 2013, held in Sweden, will be just as good as this year.

Hungary's Entry: Compact Disco's "Sound Of Our Hearts", wins best Eurovision music video from my top 7, there might be better ones from Eurovision 2012, however I've focused on these only. Were these top 7 not your favourites? Would you like me, Critic Jonni, to review one of your favourite Eurovision entries? Then go ahead and suggest it on my facebook page or on my suggestions page or mention me in a tweet on twitter. As this is the only way you'll get to hear what I think of them.

I've enjoyed doing my Eurovision 2012 special, and I hope you all have enjoyed reading my reviews. But what is next? I'm not quite sure, I can't think of any sort of special I could do in the near future. However I'm sure I'll come up with something. Until my next special, everything goes back to normal.

Critic Jonni's Friends Exclusive
2nd April 2012 - 8th April 2012
I thought it was about time I started doing another special, but I didn't know what to do. April has no specific dates and so I was a little stuck. But then I got a suggestion from one of my friends, and it sparked an idea.

Monday - Hollagram Star - You Me At Six Featuring Oli Sykes - Bite My Tongue
Tuesday - Edges - Keith Urban - Long Hot Summer
Wednesday - SpeedATW - Stone Sour - Through Glass
Thursday - CamCam - Lil Wayne Featuring Bruno Mars - Mirror
Friday - Tink09 - Sean Paul - She Doesn't Mind
Saturday - Dolly - Nicki Minaj - Stupid Hoe
Sunday - DJD - Hot Chelle Rae - Honestly

So that's the end of "Critic Jonni's Friends Exclusives" week... I can see this coming back for a second week when I add more people to the list. Everything returns back to normal, and I already have plans for my next special, so I hope you all are watching and waiting.

Christmas 2011 Special
19th December 2011 - 21st December 2011

I will also be including New Release, since for the past few years no Christmas songs have been released because the X Factor has always got the top spot during Christmas. This year, however, quite a few Christmas songs are being released. There will be a change to Sunday's post, instead of doing a revisit, I'll be reviewing the music video to the Christmas Number One. So expect a late post on Sunday.

I'm really interested what, both old and new, Christmas music videos are like, as they tend to be different from what we are used to. I hope many of you will keep an eye on my blog during the week and see what has made my top 7 Christmas songs.

New Release - Joe McElderry - Last Christmas
Monday - The Pogues Featuring Kirsty MacColl - Fairytale Of New York
Tuesday - Wizzard - I Wish It Could Be Christmas Everyday

Sorry! I intended to do a full week of Christmas songs, and unfortunately I didn't. I took a little break from this blog, I was way too busy, but maybe I would have been able to find the time, and really I am truly sorry. This special didn't work that well, but I promise you loads more specials to come and not only that but Christmas Special 2012 next year, and that is a promise!
I feel like I let everyone down with this special, but I hope I can make it all up to you in 2012, with new pages and a new blog design, these are already in motion, so expect them soon! Promises made on the 1st January 2012

7th November 2011 - 13th November 2011