Alesha exposes 'Every Little Part of Me' ft Jay Sean - watch the premiere now!

Are you paying too much for YOUR car insurance?

It's no secret we have a little love affair with former Mis-Teeq member/failed solo artist/Strictly Come Dancing champion/successful solo artist Alesha Dixon.  It was super exciting when she finally capitalized on her Dancing win with a Platinum album and mega hits 'The Boy Does Nothing' and 'Breathe Slow,' but since then things have.....not gone terribly well.

Her third album (her second as an ACTUALLY POPULAR PERSON) 'The Entertainer' came out earlier this year, slid off the bruised and broken back off its disastrous lead single 'Drummer Boy,' and collapsed into a heap of sequins and broken dreams with a dainty thud.

At number 84.

At that point any other artist would probably get told off by their record company, spend their liquid assets on drugs, and have their agent start shilling a reality show to one of MTV's satellite stations.  But not our girl Alesha.  No, Miss Dixon stared down "the haters" and hauled out the heavy artillery for a big-ass relaunch in the form of 'Every Little Part of Me.'

The song features no less than Jay Sean, who had some hits once, and it (thankfully) is pretty listenable in a poor-man's-Rihanna kind of way.  All in all, it's probably the song that should have served as the lead single, but that's all in the past and there's no changing it now even though some poor recently-unemployed record exec is probably drinking himself to sleep right now wishing that he could.

For its part, the video is alternatively BRILLIANT and INCOMPREHENSIBLY BAD, and quite often is both all at the same time.  It's not that it's terrible quality or anything, it's just that it commits one of the cardinal sins of music videos by raising far more questions than it answers.  For instance:

1.  Why is Alesha dancing in a parking garage in a ball gown?  Is this some sort of creepy audition for an "independent film" where the director just wants to "see you dance"?  Because we've been on those auditions and let us tell you - those movies NEVER end up getting the financing to actually get started.

2.  Why are Alesha and Jay wearing scarves over their faces in order to, presumably, commit some crime without exposing their identities?  In case they haven't read the news lately, the authorities can see your ovaries through your clothes if they want to.  And it's not like they are wearing full face masks anyway - their eyes are completely exposed.  And if prime time television has taught us ANYTHING it's that any dumbass with a computer can pull CCTV footage and say the word "enhance" over and over until a crystal clear image shows up and gets run through a database that inexplicably contains the headshots of everyone who has ever lived.  Maybe, you posit, it is chilly where they are?  Yes, this could be it, but none of the principal players' other clothing suggests this, so we're left with our original preposition that Alesha and Jay's characters are well-dressed-but-not-very-good criminals of some sort, stealing something, for some reason that we are supposed to care about but don't.  In scarves.

3.  Why is it 'To Be Continued?'  They were arrested.  Is the next installment going to detail their trip through the penal system?  Or will they somehow escape from TWO DOZEN HEAVILY ARMED POLICEMEN?  It seems highly unlikely, don't you think?  Also, we don't care.  Just end the damn thing. You're not Lady Gaga.

Perhaps the biggest question this whole thing raises, though, is whether this rather obvious attack on our senses will resurrect Alesha's career.  It certainly has the stench of "last chance"-ness about it, so here's hoping it at least improves on her last single's #46 placing.  Otherwise Alesha won't be able to get arrested anymore. :-(

Alesha Dixon channels Robyn in new single 'Radio' - listen to the premiere now!

There is no denying that we here at ScopiSat have a bit of an Alesha 'thing.'  'The Boy Does Nothing' is still on 5 out of 6 of our iPod playlists, and 'Breathe Slow' is still what the kids call a PROPER TUNE.  'Drummer Boy,' while not up to the standard of her previous hits, was decent enough, though it met with a resounding "we think this deserves to peak at number 15" from the public, and it left us more than willing to give A-Dix (we're really hoping that catches on) a chance to turn things around and wow us again.

Unfortunately, 'Radio,' the "second chance to have a lead single," is probably not going to save the LP launch.  It's a bit of a Robyn knockoff, but not in a take-the-best-parts-and-add-some-new-bits Frankenstein-y way.  In more of a 'Dancing On My Own'-but-a-bit-more-crap kind of way.  Which isn't to say it's bad, and it might actually do pretty well, all things considered.  But after the album was pushed back following the failure of 'Drummer Boy,' one can't help feel quite a bit is riding on this rather lackluster track. It's just a little disheartening that a collection of BRILLIANT BUSINESS MINDS got together, sorted through all the options and said "yes.  Yes, THIS is the track that is going to save Alesha's career."




"Mediocre"


A-Dix's (seriously, let's make this happen) LP 'The Entertainer' is out November 22 EVEN IF 'RADIO' TANKS.  For real this time.

Alesha goes glam in 'Drummer Boy' video - watch the premiere now!

Here's the thing about the new Alesha single. It is loud, tuneless and a little annoying at the best of times. That puts it about on par with the vast majority of chart-toppers (We are looking firmly in the direction of you, Rihanna), but 'Drummer Boy' has something going for it that many other tracks don't: despite all the foregoing, it also is very very good.

The video is perhaps Alesha's best so far as well. Gone is the girl-next-door simplicity and in its place is high concept styling and a Snooki hair bump to end them all. Long story short, Alesha has really upped her game this go-round. It's a little reminiscent of the Jamelia 'Beware of the Dog' makeover, and we all know that is a very, very good thing.

Sabrina Washington says 'OMG' and it is quite above average - listen now (full track)

Once a part of trio Mis-teeq, along with Alesha Dixon, Sabrina Washington is finally ready to strike out on her own.  The group broke up back in 05, and since then there have been various rumblings about Ms. Washington's solo career. 

Like now-successful-solo-artist-bandmate Alesha, Sabrina was on a reality show - 'I'm A Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here' - and her label decided it was time to unleash 'OMG' on the world.   It's a pretty unoffensive R&B tune, and sounds more like what Mis-teeq would be doing today than anything Alesha has done. 



Out March 22nd in the UK on Cash Money Records