"Sweet About Me" is the most played song of 2009
Posted at
9:40 PM,
21 December 2009
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 Gabriella Cilmi's "Sweet About Me" was the most played song in the UK this year, according to PRS for Music, the organisation that collects royalties for songwriters.
Girls Aloud's "The Promise" - named best British single at this year's Brit Awards - was number six, while "The Loving Kind" was number 84. See the full list here.
PRS for Music has launched its first ever annual chart of music makers, listing the 100 most played songs of 2009. The data is taken from number of plays and performances on-line, live, on TV and radio.
"Sweet About Me" was a number six hit in the UK last year, spending 37 consecutive weeks on the UK Singles Chart. The song was used in commercials for Sure and Dove Bodywash in Europe. It was produced by Brian Higgins/ Xenomania and written by Gabriella Cilmi, Miranda Cooper, Brian Higgins, Tim Larcombe and Xenomania.
Most-played songs in 2009 in the UK
1. Sweet About Me - Gabriella Cilmi
2. Viva La Vida - Coldplay
3. The Time is Now - Moloko
4. Mercy - Duffy
5. Shine - Take That
6. The Promise - Girls Aloud
7. No Air - Jordin Sparks
8. The Man who Can't be Moved - The Script
9. Greatest Day - Take That
10. Spotlight - Jennifer HudsonLabels: Gabriella Cilmi, Girls Aloud, lists, Sweet About Me
"Sweet About Me" is nominated for an Ivor Novello award
Posted at
11:59 AM,
15 May 2009
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 Gabriella Cilmi's "Sweet About Me" is in the running for an Ivor Novello award for Most Performed Work. The song is up against "Mercy" by Duffy and "Viva la Vida" by Coldplay.
The Ivor Novello Awards recognise the best British songwriting and composing. The ceremony will be held on Thursday 21st May 2009. See the full list of nominees.
In the past, Xenomania have been nominated for the Sugababes single "Hole In The Head". In 1999, Cher's "Believe" won three Ivor Novello awards for Best Song Musically and Lyrically, Best Selling British Single (decided by sales) and International hit of the year.
"Believe" was written by Brian Higgins, Stuart McLennan, Paul Barry, Steve Torch, Matt Gray and Tim Powell. At the time, people started noticing a big change in the way that pop compositions are credited. An Ivor Novello spokesperson said: «In the past, there would have been one writer for the music and one for the lyrics, but now often the whole band is credited, or there is a string of names.»
"Sweet About Me" was written by Gabriella Cilmi, Miranda Cooper, Brian Higgins, Tim Larcombe, Tim Powell and Nick Coler. The song has charted in 18 different charts. Its peak position was number 1, on the Norwegian Singles Chart and the Australian ARIA Singles Chart, making her the youngest ever solo artist to achieve the top spot in ARIA history.Labels: awards, Gabriella Cilmi, Sweet About Me
Brian Higgins: «Sweet About Me is the finest record I have made»
Posted at
11:39 AM,
17 August 2008
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 The Manchester Evening News recently published an article about the success of Gabriella Cilmi's "Sweet About Me". Brian Higgins is quoted as having described the hit as "the finest record I have made".
Gabriella Cilmi talks about working with the producer: "He came to Australia and said to me: 'We're going to make this record and I won't let you down'," she recalls. "I think he's one of those people who really means what he says and it rubbed off on me. At first, we clashed over our different musical tastes. He made pop records for the Sugababes and Girls Aloud; and I was jamming back home with my mates playing Led Zeppelin. Janis Joplin was my idol. So at first, we really disagreed."
Cilmi adds: "Luckily, Brian knew how to work with me. When I first started off, I refused to sing anything soft or write anything a bit sensitive. But Brian played me the Rain Song and said: 'Look, even Led Zeppelin had a sensitive side.' And that's when I started thinking differently about things and experimenting."
Gabriella Cilmi, the youngest ever solo artist to top the ARIA charts in Australia, is also one of the new Australian acts that are helping to fuel a music industry recovery, according to the latest ARIA wholesale figures. Now, Cilmi is expected to to take on America, having signed a major record deal in the US (on the Republic imprint, which launched artists such as Mika and Amy Winehouse in America).
Gabriella Cilmi's new single, "Save The Lies", is released through Island Records tomorrow.
Trivia and facts about "Sweet About Me":
-- It's on the soundtrack of the game The Sims 2: Apartment Life.
-- It has been used in a commercial for Sure in the UK, as well as a commercial for Dove Bodywash.
-- It made Gabriella Cilmi the youngest Australian to reach the top of the Australian charts.
-- In the UK charts it entered at number 68 and began to steadily climb the charts, reaching its peak at #6.
-- It has so far spent 23 weeks in the UK Singles Top 75.
-- The Independent calls it "the sound of Summer".
-- The sound of "Sweet About Me" was inspired by a trip to Paris, after scouring second-hand record shops for French soundtracks from the '50s and obscure psychedelic albums.
-- Liam Gallagher says it is his favourite song of 2008.
Labels: Brian Higgins, charts, Gabriella Cilmi, record labels, Sweet About Me
The sound of summer
Posted at
11:17 AM,
19 July 2008
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 Gabriella Cilmi is on the cover of today's The Independent Magazine. "Sweet About Me", which is still sitting in the UK top 10, is dubbed as "the sound of the summer". Brian Higgins says that she has signed a five-album deal with Island Records and that he expects every one to be a "smash hit".
Higgins is interviewed about meeting Gabriella and the process of transforming her into the artist she is now: "I came to meet her in Australia to see if we could get on creatively. At that stage, she had a very wild, untamed voice, and I loved it. But I wanted to see whether there was some songwriting talent to back it up. Fortunately, there was."
Over three years they would meet four times a year on songwriting and recording sessions in Los Angeles, New York and London. Gabriella's determination at first was to become a rock chic, while Higgins was trying to bring out her pop sensibility.
"Let's face it," he says, "a 14-year-old girl trying to sound like Led Zeppelin is always going to look ridiculous. That said, you should hear her version of 'Whole Lotta Love', which she plays live and which is amazing, but for me Gabby works best as a pop singer, and a very good one at that. Her voice is like nobody else's."
Higgins says that Gabriella is "remarkably self-analytical": "'Sweet About Me' took a long time until it became the hit single it deserves to be, and in that time I just watched her become increasingly self-analytical, determined to raise her game, to become a better live performer, to really dig in and give her very best. I've not seen that in many artists, especially such young ones, but Gabby has a champion mentality. And it's this that is going to turn her into a major star. We've signed her to a five-album deal at Island. I confidently expect every one to be a smash hit."
Links:
- article in The Independent
- more about Gabriella Cilmi
- more about "Sweet About Me"
- Gabriella performing Led Zeppelin's "Whole Lotta Love" liveLabels: Brian Higgins, charts, Gabriella Cilmi, live, Sweet About Me
Gabriella Cilmi chart watch
Posted at
10:47 AM,
10 June 2008
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 "Sweet About Me" has hit a new peak of #7 in this week's UK singles chart. This is Gabriella Cilmi's debut in the top 10, having moved 68-50-38-42-42-45-34-27-20-23-19-18-14-7 in the last 14 weeks. According to Music Week, the single sold 15.749 copies last week, lifiting its overall sales to 83.549.
This week's top 10:
1. (28) Mint Royale: 'Singin' In The Rain'
2. (1) Rihanna: 'Take A Bow'
3. (2) Ting Tings: 'That's Not My Name'
4. (3) Duffy: 'Warwick Avenue'
5. (7) Ne-Yo: 'Closer'
6. (15) Sara Bareilles: 'Love Song'
7. (14) Gabriella Cilmi: 'Sweet About Me'
8. (4) Madonna ft. Justin Timberlake: '4 Minutes'
9. (6) Sam Sparro: 'Black and Gold'
10. (5) Will.i.am ft. Cheryl Cole: 'Heartbreaker'
Popjustice predicts that at this rate Gabriella Cilmi could be "Number One by Christmas".
"Sweet About Me" is number one for the third straight week in Australia.Labels: charts, Gabriella Cilmi, Popjustice, Sweet About Me
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