Womanizer (song)
| "Womanizer" | |
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| Song |
"Womanizer" is a song performed by American pop singer Britney Spears. The song was recorded for her forthcoming sixth studio album, Circus. "Womanizer" was produced and co-written by Nikesha Briscoe and Rapheal Akinyemi of Atlanta-based production team, The Outsyders.[1][2]
Announced as the lead single from the album, "Womanizer" was first released to radio stations worldwide on September 26, 2008. It was released commercially in the United States on October 7, 2008 through digital distribution. It will be released as a CD single on November 1, 2008 in Australia.
On October 13, the single was removed from iTunes from several countries, due to an unknown technical glitch , however Jive Records is working on resolving this issue as fast as possible.[3]
Song information
During a live interview with New York's Z100 Spears talked about the song quoting: "It's basically saying, 'We know what you're up to.' It's about guys cheating on girls ... It's a girl anthem. That's why I like it."[4]
Reception
"Womanizer" received a generally positive response from critics.[5]
Ann Powers of The Los Angeles Times described the track as "retro-futurism" that "takes a roller coaster ride via the snappy staccato beats crafted by the young Atlanta-based production team the Outsyders."[6] "It's clean and contemporary," the site said, "but also invokes the quick-witted style of vocal groups like the Andrews Sisters - a style Brit's rival, Christina Aguilera, has mined to great success before. The highly manipulated vocal complements Brit's Mississippi Valley Girl diction; though she's been turned into a robot again, she actually sounds engaged."[6]
CosmoGirl editor Rachel Chang stated her belief that "Womanizer" is a future hit, writing that, "Brit knows her stuff, and as always, she doesn’t disappoint with her latest creation — a dance hit that’s bound to be a chart topper."[citation needed]
Popjustice also gave the song a glowing review, stating that whilst the leaked clip was enjoyable, the full track "throws the whole thing into a brand new realm of amazingness." The review also compared the song to Spears's 2004 song, "Toxic" and Blackout's "Ooh Ooh Baby" and said the track, "lays a really strong foundation for the fully-realised comeback that didn't quite happen last time and it's hard not to think of it as a late contender for single of the year."[7]
Bill Lamb of About.com thought that Spears sounded confident, but he wrote a generally negative review of Womanizer. Lamb wrote that the song sounded "like a rather weak attempt to approach the attitude of Katy Perry in a classic Britney futuristic bubblegum pop context. Unfortunately, after a few listens it all becomes quite dull." Lamb also wrote that the song was "no match for her classic material."[8]
Daily News' music critic Jim Farber criticized the song, saying it is not the brilliant single Spears needs. Farber says, "From the sound of it, it should have been delayed indefinitely. Spears delivers the title word no fewer than nine times in a row, in a nagging tone meant to mimic the most irritating of schoolyard taunts."[9]
Wellheart Music Journal gave the single a scathing review, calling the track a 'tired production', and having 'weak lyrics' with 'an exaggerated vocal'.[10] Matthew B. Zeidman of Hollywood Today wrote that the song "lacks any real structure and suffers from what can best be described as a musical monotone." Regarding the verses, Zeidman described them as "flat and unmemorable" and that the chorus "falls short of providing a memorable hook."[11]
Jacqueline Rupp of Common Sense Media wrote that Spears "is still trying to play catch up with current pop styles, attempting to jump into today's sound after being out of the loop for so long." Regarding the chorus, Rupp wrote that it "kills all hope for a cool sound when Spears repeats (ad nauseam) 'womanizer, womanizer, woman, woman, womanizer' in a way that sounds like an annoying elementary school chant."[12]
Music critic Billy Johnson of Yahoo music wrote , "I wouldn't say it's as solid as Mariah's "We Belong Together," The Emancipation Of Mimi comeback, but good enough. Good job Brit."[13]
Chart performance
"Womanizer" debuted on the Mediabase airplay chart at sixty and has since climbed to number nineteen, where it currently sits.[14] The track entered the Billboard Hot 100 Airplay chart at fifty-nine with three days of its radio release alone.[15]. It also debuted on the Billboard Bubbling Under Hot 100 at eleven on the week of October 11, 2008.[16] The song then entered the Hot 100 chart at ninety-six on the following week due to rising airplay.[17]
The track debuted at number sixteen on the Australian Singles Chart on October 13, 2008.[18] Remarkably, this was achieved with only three days of digital release. The single should climb the chart following the coming full week of sales. A CD Single will follow on November 1, which will see another surge in sales and chart positioning. Additionally, the single debuted at number twelve on the Australian Digital Track Chart.
In New Zealand, "Womanizer" debuted at an impressive number thirteen on October 13, 2008 from iTunes sales only.[19] It was the highest new entry out of five that week. "Womanizer" is Spears's highest debut in New Zealand since Me Against The Music which also debuted at number thirteen back in November 2003.
In Canada, the single started at ninety-seven before moving up to forty-three on the week of October 18, 2008.[20]
In the United Kingdom, the single is being a huge success on airplay, debuting at #36 on its dèbut three days after it's radio premiere. Then, it rised to #12, and it's currently at #2 on the UK Airplay Chart and on October 14 the video was released to UK music channels.
Music video
The music video was filmed on September 24 and September 25, 2008 at a Los Angeles nightclub and restaurant.[21] It was directed by Joseph Khan, who had previously directed Spears's videos "Stronger" (2000) and "Toxic" (2004).[21]
The video premiered on October 10 on ABC's 20/20 at the end of their program. To promote the release of the music video, ABC launched an official five day countdown commercial for the week of October 6 - October 11. The director's cut of the "Womanizer" video also appeared on an MTV blog that night.[22] According to Britney.com, the music video will be added in iTunes before the end of this week.[23]
Plot
The video begins with Spears lying in a sauna completely nude. On the "Director's Cut" edition of the video it shows Spears lying nude, while in the TV Version it's edited and steam appears covering Spears's body. This scene is shown throughout the video. It switches to a not-so-innocent looking Spears cooking her beau (Brandon Stoughton) breakfast. He checks his schedule, and sees he has an important business meeting in his office, where he sees another Spears dressed like a secretary. She and many of the other workers dance around him while she calls him a 'womanizer'. Then everybody go into a copy room. In this scene there is the same overweight man that Spears pushes into the lavatory in the 'Toxic' video. Spears is then shown as a waitress in a restaurant where she flirts with her beau in the kitchen. After being a limo driver, Spears throws him onto a bed and the other three Spearses hold him down to tell him the kind of man he is, then he disappears between the sheets.
Reviews
The music video for "Womanizer" has been received with mainly positive reviews from the media.[24]
The Washington Post wrote: "Spears' music video for "Womanizer" is a sexy, classy erotic video, that does not compared to her past first single's music video, "Gimme More"."[25] OK! Magazine quoted "it's edgy, sexy and, we can finally see Brit in three different sexy getups."[26] MSNBC wrote "When Spears isn’t shown naked and writhing in a steam room, she’s fired up"[27] E! Online gave Spears a glowing review quoting "The toxic Britney is back, with her sexy new music video Womanizer, it is possible that she might get her third nomination for Video of the Year at the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards."[28] "Think Fashion" (Canada) argued that "Spears can't be compared to Beyonce, Mariah Carey or Madonna, she's unique and her "Womanizer" video is a new classic, something that the other artist haven't accomplished".[29]
Formats and track listings
Digital Download
- "Womanizer" (Main Version) – 3:43
Promotional CD
- "Womanizer" (Main Version) – 3:43
- "Womanizer" (Instrumental) – 3:42
Release history
| Region | Date | Label | Format |
|---|---|---|---|
| Worldwide | September 26, 2008 | Jive Records/SonyBMG | Radio |
| Europe | October 3, 2008 | SonyBMG | Digital Download |
| New Zealand | October 6, 2008[30] | SonyBMG | Digital Download |
| United States | October 7, 2008 | Jive Records | Digital Download |
| Australia | October 7, 2008 | SonyBMG | Digital Download |
| November 1, 2008 | SonyBMG | CD Single | |
| United Kingdom | November 9, 2008[31] | SonyBMG | Digital Download |
| November 24, 2008[32] | SonyBMG | CD Single | |
| Germany | November 14, 2008 | SonyBMG | CD Single |
