Single Selection: Hugh Sheridan (Speak Love) & Ola Svensson (Overdrive)

I have to say that I am really enjoying doing these video breakdowns a la Adam Tyler's brillo Friction on Monday... and it seems that is all I will be doing this week, what with the Maroon 5 video airing tomorrow and something amazing being released (finally) on Friday :) So once again the review of The Like/The Pipettes gets pushed until it's probably so irrelevant that i'll be reviewing their respective third albums. Oh well, lets have a looky at what is going on at ye olde youtube today...

Hugh Sheridan ~ Speak Love:


Sigh. Shouldn't Hugh be a lot bigger in Australia by now? Are people (other than Aaron) not really seeing what I am seeing? He's a jolly good looking lad, decent voice, catchy tunes with a pleasing throwback to the classic motown sound... Perhaps releasing the title track from his album (a lovely romantic dreamy ballad, slightly reswizzled for the masses) in conjunction with a third series of his hit show Packed To The Rafters will give him an additional boost. I hope so. It's one tv-popstar I wouldn't like to see fall by the wayside (even if his video is bloody disabled from embedding, grrr)...

• It's Hugh! He's all hazy at first, but soon comes into focus and I must say he is looking rather lovely. Oh look, at about 10seconds, he actually notices that we are here waiting for him to sing. He does. Lovely obliging fellow...
• He's got incredibly white teeth, and then as evidenced at the twenty second mark, quite nice eyes too. Very blue. Whenever I talk about eyes, i'm reminded of Cordelia in Buffy saying "my eyes are blue, Helen Keller". Classic
• Now lots of people have eyes! Who knew?! I suppose eyes are the windows to the soul... one woman (the third to be shown at about 33 seconds) could do with some help in how to make her eye liner blend more subtley...
• The whole video starts to become very Love, Actually The Musical. There are people holding hands and writing messages of love on glass. Which is very romantic, but like scattering rose petals across a bedroom, a bit of a nightmare to clean up! I am romantic but practical :) Oh and Love actually does remain one of my very favourite movies!
• From about one minute onwards, there are more messages and Hugh singing in a very impassioned way. I really do like his duffle jacket/coat. It's quite amazing isn't it?
• It's a really simple but effective video for a simple yet endearing song. More and more people walk past Hugh until he has quite the congregation behind him. The song remains the focal point but the visuals are pleasingly thought out. At around 2m45s everyone starts to write on the glass as the song kicks into it's final stages.
• Give you hope. Keep smiling. May you find peace and happiness. World vision. Hope you are ok. It's all platitudes and a little bit cheesy, but the lyrics of the song make the visuals work and that's what a good video should do...
• The video finishes with Hugh writing "speak love" on the glass, walking off and continuing to look sickeningly attractive. Git :)

Ola Svensson ~ Overdrive:

As previously discussed, Ola has had a rather brilliant and underrated (at least globally) run of singles in his native Sweden. He's back with a new track that in my opinion is rather overshadowed by the excellent All Over The World on his Overdrive EP. But hey, at least there is a nice video to go with it and it's definitely rating quite high on the charm-o-metre...

• Good god. Scabby BB11 fever is taking over the world. Ola clearly lives in a squat. He is in a mattress on the floor and the place is a right tip. Still, according to ace film Worried About The Boy, that's how Boy George got his start so perhaps it is a popstar right of passage?
• He's obviously not a morning person as he looks well moody and tired. Still, this is balanced out with some gratuitous shots of his naked flesh and you can almost hear people booing (not me, I hasten to add) when he puts his sparklingly clean vest on!
• Dear God! although it's not entirely obvious, at 22s he has obviously gone for a piss! Now we all know these things take place first thing in the morning, but does the video have to make it so implicit? I like to think that toxins are just osmosed out of pop stars pores as rose petals. I do not need reality shattering. bad, ola, bad.
• A PISS! He actually went for a piss! I am still not over this!
• His kitchen, though in dire need of a dousing in Ajax, is quite ok. Well I like the colour of the kitchen cabinets anyway, and the empty pizza box made me very peckish indeed...
• At 45-50s we learn that Ola has a very itchy left arm and an amazingly magical disappearing coffee cup. How frustrating would that be - your lughole is just ready for some deep bean tastes and then the bloody thing isn't in your hand anymore. This clearly explains why Ola is in a bit of a paddy!
• I am shocked that Ola lives in a towerblock. That isn't me being snobby - usually popstars live in swanky apartments or mansions (at least in the world of pop video). bravo Ola for appealing to the masses (though a lick of paint inside wouldn't hurt - the place looks like the lifts stink of widdle)!
• Gosh, what is going on? Ola is running for his little life through a nice field. Look at him go! He is possibly being chased by a werewolf or a rabbit or something equally as terrifying. And! In a very tenuous link alert - he is wearing a hooded outerwear jacket just like Hugh! Incredible!
• Heavens! From 1m20 til 1m40 he is still running as fast as his legs will carry him - he sort of falls over a car parked under a bridge in the car. The man in the car comes out and gets a bit fisty (ie, shakes his fist not the other type of fisty - although to be fair, parked in a field, under a bridge. Total suspish!). In a subtle as the weeing in the bathroom moment, Ola most probably gives him the finger. Charming :P
• Finally, Ola has a sit down on a bench. He is probably all tuckered out. And who wouldn't be?! Serendipitously, there is a fella next to him playing guitar and he is playing Overdrive! How incredible is that?!
• At around the 2m mark, Ola goes into what I assume is a quaint local antique shop, picks something up and then leaves without paying! This video is full of Ola being ever so naughty! No wonder a few seconds later he is run run running as fast as he can!
• Oh really, this is making me exhausted. The guy is fit as (in exercise terms, in other fit terms, well yes, i'm becoming marginally attracted to him)... At 2m45s he is bent over (oo nice) gasping for air. I was practically heaving just watching him run!!
• There is even more running. I think this is for two reasons - one; to distract from Ola's hair. It's ok, he pulls it off, but it's not the best style he could have and two; it is a deep metaphorical analogy that he is in "overdrive" and therefore must proceed at a million miles per hour. The visual representation of his inner turmoil is an increasingly valid form of art expression in today's society. or some such twaddle!!
• No, that is completely wrong. Actually he is building up speed so that at 3m50s he can break through the wall with his "overdrive". Essentially he is the hulk, but blonde and skinny. The song is still quite good though...

And there you have it. Tomorrow - a full breakdown of THIS!!