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When I Grow Up (The Pussycat Dolls song)

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"When I Grow Up"
Song

"When I Grow Up" is a dance-pop song written by American songwriters Rodney Jerkins, Theron Thomas and Timothy Thomas, and produced by Rodney "Darkchild" Jerkins for the Pussycat Dolls' sophomore studio album Doll Domination. Released as the album's lead single on May 27, 2008, the song has peaked at number nine on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, giving the group their fifth top ten single on the chart. The music video won the award for "Best Dancing in a Video" at the 2008 MTV Video Music Awards, and was nominated for an additional five awards, including "Video of the Year".

Background and production

"When I Grow Up" samples the main riff from The Yardbirds song "He's Always There" off their 1966 studio album Roger the Engineer, and as a result, British songwriters Jim McCarty and Paul Samwell-Smith have received writing credits for the song. The song was digitally released on May 27 on Amazon,[1] and iTunes. The Pussycat Dolls debuted the song on the Jimmy Kimmel Live on May 20, [2] and have also performed it at the 2008 MTV Movie Awards on June 1, on the American dance show So You Think You Can Dance on June 12, 2008,The MTV Asia Awards on August 2, 2008, The Today Show on August 28, 2008, at Fashion Rocks 5 on September 5, 2008, on the German game-show Schlag den Raab on September 13, 2008, in the UK For One Night Only on September 14, 2008 , GMTV on September 16, 2008, at the Vodafone Live Music Awards on September 18, 2008, on The Ellen DeGeneres Show on September 23, 2008, and on "Wal-Mart Soundcheck" at the Wal-Mart website.

The song is the first single since the 2008 departure of Carmit Bachar, who had served the longest time with the Dolls since their inception as a burlesque dance crew in 1995. The song is notable for being their first single to feature a more dance-pop and synthpop sounds as opposed to their earlier singles with greater rhythmic and urban influences. As with previous singles, Scherzinger sings the lead as well as backing vocals, with fellow Pussycat doll Melody Thornton contributing additional background vocals. However the video and radio edit features re-recorded vocals by all members.

On June 14, a remix was made and released to the U.S. Mainstream for radio airplay. "When I Grow Up (I Wanna Be)" was released the day after the original "When I Grow Up" song made its video premiere on June 13 on FNMTV. The song was said to be released on September 2.[3]

On July 24, a remix of the song leaked onto the internet. It is the official remix featuring Fatman Scoop, Diddy, Lil Wayne and Rodney "Darkchild" Jerkins. The song starts off sampling Michael Jacksons song "Thriller". On the same day another remix leaked, it features Eve.

Lyrical content

Many critics were initially confused by the chorus line "I wanna have groupies" - mistaking this for "I wanna have boobies"[4][5] BBC Radio 1 set up a phone-in to ask viewers to identify what word they thought was being sung, after the particular line of the song had been played to them.[citation needed] Comedian Ellen DeGeneres also pointed this out when they performed the song on her talk show on September 23, 2008.

On September 16 2008, while singing on popular British breakfast show GMTV, Nicole changed the 'be on TV' lyric to 'on GMTV' but during the performance, she sang 'MGTV' in error.

Music video

File:Pussycat dolls WhenIGrowUp.jpg
The Pussycat Dolls sitting in the car in traffic.

In an interview, the Pussycat Dolls stated that they would be shooting the music video for "When I Grow Up" after the MTV Movie Awards. The video was directed by Joseph Kahn. The shoot took place on June 3 and 4th, with exterior shots being filmed on Wilcox Avenue in Hollywood. Behind the scenes clips and an official preview became available on the Internet June 11. Britney Spears was set to make a cameo appearance in the video,[6] but according to MTV, her cameo was axed from the final version of the video.[7] The music video uses an alternate version of the song which features vocals from all the Dolls and has a dance break in the middle.

The music video premiered in the US on the new MTV video show FNMTV, which was hosted by Fall Out Boy bassist Pete Wentz, on June 13. The video premiered in other countries quite a long time after this, such as in the UK where it premiered on July 30 on Channel 4.

In the video the Dolls sit in a car in traffic, where Nicole flashes a ring that says 'famous'. They sing the introduction in the car before jumping out. When the chorus kicks in the girls leave the car and stand on the roofs of the other cars and start dancing a routine. The Dolls then walk down a street with bubbles floating all around them and they stop to sing on a bench. James Rhine was featured here, standing at a restaurant, shirtless, checking out the girls as they walk by. When the next chorus starts, the Dolls climb scaffolding and begin to dance. During Scherzinger's solo, she stands in a small area with the Pussycat Dolls logo to the left and a mirror to the right, with lights flashing. The Dolls then dance in the breakdown section with the logo behind them, and the camera zooms out to reveal filming equipment and playback screens.

The music video premiered on UK music channels on July 30, 2008, and has reached number one on the UK iTunes Top Music Videos Chart. Since its premiere, the shot featuring Nicole lowering her pants with her hand on her forehead during her solo has been cut.

The video won for Best Dancing in a Video and was nominated for Best Video of the Year, Best Choreography in a Video, Best Art Direction in a Video, Best Direction in a Video, and Best Cinematography in a Video at the 2008 MTV Video Music Awards.[8]

In Visual Media

  • The song is heard on the movie The House Bunny
  • The song is heard on the first scene of an episode of the tv-show 90210 (1x08)
  • The song is heard in an episode from Season Four of The Hills.

Tracklisting

Awards

Year Ceremony Award Result
2008 2008 MTV Video Music Awards Best Dancing in a Video Won
2008 2008 MTV Video Music Awards Video of the Year Nominated
2008 2008 MTV Video Music Awards Best Direction in a Video Nominated
2008 2008 MTV Video Music Awards Best Choreography in a Video Nominated
2008 2008 MTV Video Music Awards Best Art Direction in a Video Nominated
2008 2008 MTV Video Music Awards Best Cinematography in a Video Nominated

Release history

Region Date Format
United States May 27, 2008 Digital download
July 15, 2008[11] CD single
Australia June 10, 2008 Digital download
July 12, 2008[12] CD single
Brazil, Italy July 9, 2008 Radio
India June 29, 2008 Radio
Germany August 29, 2008 CD single
The Netherlands September 5, 2008[13] CD single
United Kingdom September 1, 2008 Digital download
September 8, 2008 CD single
France September 29, 2008 CD single
Japan December 23, 2008 CD single

Chart performance

"When I Grow Up" made its debut in the lower regions of the Mediabase Pop Chart, and has since reached a peak of number fourteen, as of July 20, 2008. After being released to iTunes on May 27, it reached a peak of number two on the Top 100 songs chart and number two on the Top 100 Pop songs chart in the U.S., as of June 17. "When I Grow Up" debuted at number seventy-six on the Billboard Hot 100, rising to number thirty-one in its second week, and then to number eighteen in its third. On its fourth week, the song reached the top ten at number nine, and became the highest charting single by the Pussycat Dolls since "Buttons" peaked at number three in 2006.

"When I Grow Up" debuted at number-fifteen on the Canadian Hot 100, and after falling down the chart for several weeks, it has so far reached a peak of number three.

"When I Grow Up" has also charted strongly across Oceania. In Australia, "When I Grow Up" debuted on the Australian ARIA Singles Chart at number forty-five, based on digital downloads, on June 15, 2008, and the following week ascended to number twenty-six. "When I Grow Up" was named a bullet performer in its third week, having reached number eight. In the following week, "When I Grow Up" ascended to number three becoming the Dolls' fifth top five hit there. "When I Grow Up" was again named one of the bullet performers for that week. Two weeks later "When I Grow Up" ascended to a new peak at number two, becoming the Dolls' highest charting single there since "Buttons" reached number two for two weeks in 2006. The song has been certified Platinum by ARIA for sales in excess of 70,000.

In New Zealand "When I Grow Up" debuted at number thirty-three on the New Zealand RIANZ Singles Chart and in its fourth reached a peak of number five, becoming the group's biggest hit since "Buttons" which topped the chart in 2006. The song was certified Gold after thirteen weeks with sales of 7,500+.

It's also a success in Europe.It debuted at number one-hundred and eighty-seven and climbed to number five in several weeks. On Billboard European Hot 100 it climbed to number three.

In the UK, as of August 20, 2008, "When I Grow Up" has reached Radio 1's A list. It entered at number one on the UK iTunes chart, after only 2 days in the Music Store, knocking off Katy Perry's "I Kissed A Girl". "When I Grow Up" entered the UK Singles Chart at number three, on download sales alone. It fell one place to number four the week after but rose to number three again on 21 September.

In France "When I Grow Up" debuted and peaked at number-two for three consecutive weeks, becoming the group's highest charting single to date, ahead of "Don't Cha" which reached number-six on the chart in 2005.

Charts

Chart (2008) Peak
position
Australian ARIA Singles Chart[14] 2
Australian ARIA Urban Chart[15] 1
Austrian Singles Chart[16] 7
Belgium Singles Chart[17] 3
Canadian Hot 100 [18] 3
Chile Top 100[19] 7
Denmark Singles Chart[20] 3
Dutch Singles Chart[21] 11
European Singles Chart[22] 3
Finland Singles Chart[23] 4
French SNEP Singles Chart[24] 2
German Singles Chart[23] 3
Global Dance Tracks[25] 3
Irish Singles Chart[23] 1
Japan Hot 100 26
Mexico Top 100[26] 9
New Zealand RIANZ Singles Chart[27] 5
Norwegian Singles Chart[23] 5
Russian Airplay Chart[28] 11
Spanish Los 40 Principales[29] 26
Sweden Singles Chart[23] 9
Swiss Singles Chart[23] 3
Turkey Top 20 Chart[30] 2
Ukrainian Singles Chart[31] 9
UK Singles Chart [23] 2
U.S. Billboard Hot 100[32] 9
U.S. Billboard Pop 100[33] 9
U.S. Billboard Hot Dance Club Play[34] 1

Certifications

Country Certification Sales
United States Platinum 2,000,000+
Australia Platinum[35] 70,000+
New Zealand Gold[36] 7,500+
Preceded by U.S. Billboard Hot Dance Club Play number-one single
August 2, 2008 - August 9, 2008 		Succeeded by

References

  1. ^ Amazon.com: When I Grow Up: MP3 Downloads: The Pussycat Dolls
  2. ^ "When I Grow Up" Live at jimmy kimmel
  3. ^ [1]
  4. ^ http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/music/cd_reviews/article4775168.ece
  5. ^ http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/chartblog/2008/09/
  6. ^ Britney Spears makes cameo in Pussycat Dolls video | News | NME.COM
  7. ^ Britney Spears Cameo Axed From Pussycat Dolls Video - News Story | Music, Celebrity, Artist News | MTV News
  8. ^ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2008_MTV_Video_Music_Awards#Nominees
  9. ^ Sanity.com.au Australian CD Single
  10. ^ [2]
  11. ^ Amazon.com USA CD Single. Retrieved on July 7, 2008
  12. ^ Herald Sun HiT Retrieved on June 20, 2008
  13. ^ : Universal Music :
  14. ^ australian-charts.com - The Pussycat Dolls - When I Grow Up
  15. ^ [3]
  16. ^ The Pussycat Dolls - When I Grow Up - austriancharts.at
  17. ^ [4]
  18. ^ [5]
  19. ^ [6]
  20. ^ http://acharts.us/song/36020
  21. ^ [7]
  22. ^ [8]
  23. ^ a b c d e f g [9]
  24. ^ Musiqueinfo.com
  25. ^ [10]
  26. ^ http://www.americatop100.com/mexico/index.htm
  27. ^ charts.org.nz - The Pussycat Dolls - When I Grow Up
  28. ^ [11]
  29. ^ [12]
  30. ^ Turkey Top 20 Chart Retrieved September 2, 2008
  31. ^ [13]
  32. ^ Billboard Hot 100 Music Charts -Most Trusted Music Charts in the Industry
  33. ^ Billboard- Updated Album Charts from the most Trusted Music Magazine
  34. ^ [14]
  35. ^ http://www.ariacharts.com.au/pages/charts_display_urban.asp?chart=1Q40RB&chart2=1R40RB
  36. ^ http://www.rianz.org.nz/rianz/chart.asp

http://music.yahoo.com/ar-4623677-bio--The-Pussycat-Dolls billboard

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