Thursday 10 September 2009

73: Nelly Furtado - Maneater

Who is your celebrity crush? (Answers in the comments please) Mine is the Portuguese beauty of Canadian origin, with the jet black hair, the electric eyes, and a voice that could melt the icecaps.

Evidently, the Noughties record-buying public agree. Nelly Furtado's songs have been hugely successful all over the globe... 'Promiscuous Girl' was a #1 hit in the USA, 'I'm Like A Bird' was a chart-topper in her adopted nation of Canada, 'Turn Off The Light' went to #1 in New Zealand, 'All Good Things (Come To An End)' was a massive selling #1 in Germany, Switzerland and across Europe, 'Say It Right' was a #1 smash pretty much everywhere (double platinum in the US, triple platinum in Spain, gold in the UK and Belgium). When it comes to Ms. Furtado's output, it's very much a case of quality over quantity.

She's been hugely popular in the UK too. Half of the ten singles on which Ms. Nelly Furtado has appeared this decade (either her own songs, or as a guest vocalist) have hit the top 5 of the charts, with two of them going straight to the #1 spot. Timbaland's 'Give It To Me', which featured verses sung by both Furtado and Justin Timberlake, was her second chart-topper, back in the spring of 2007, but her first UK #1 song may just be her best work of all.



'Maneater' was co-written by Nelly & Timbaland early in the writing sessions for her 2006 album, 'Loose'. Their aim was to recreate the spooky 80s synth sounds of Eurythmics, Blondie, Talking Heads and The Police. The most striking thing about the song is how everything seems to revolve around that loud beat, whilst Nelly repeats the last word of each line for added impact.

She described it as her "dancing alone in front of a mirror" song, but it became a club classic across the globe, and cemented Ms. Furtado's place as one of the premiere pop stars this decade has produced.

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