John Legend has premiered his music video for “You & I (Nobody in the World)” – it celebrates women’s natural beauty, scars and all – promoting a positive body image.
Directed by Mishka Kornai, the video captures close-ups of different women from every age, race, shape and size.
There are a few stand out moments – a woman showing her baldness from chemotherapy – a young girl with Down Syndrome – an older woman who crus as she reveals the results of a mastectomy. Yep – you might be reaching for the tissues.
“We live in a world where egregious injustices occur regularly against girls and women. We have a responsibility to take action and disrupt the conditions that allow for such tragedies to occur,” Legend said. “Through #OperationGirl we hope to amplify the voices and impact of the many organizations doing great work on behalf of girls and women.”
You will notice quite a few famous faces in the video, including Orange Is the New Black star Laverne Cox, Tatyana Ali and John’s wife Chrissy Teigen.
Legend’s current hit ‘All Of Me’ is currently in its 25th week on the UK singles chart at number 11 and has over 155 million view on YouTube.
Summer hits are blasting on the radio and what we’ve dreamt of all year has finally arrived. To get you in that beach-loving summer mood (if you aren’t in it already), we’ve compiled a playlist of music videos filmed on the beach. If you haven’t yet booked your summer beach destination flights yet, these videos might inspire you to book away!
Nicole Scherzinger shows off her incredible figure in her new music video ‘Your Love’. Filmed on the beach in Malibu, California, Scherzinger playfully dances around in a pair of denim hot pants, strikes graceful and sexy yoga poses in the sand in a black cut-out swimsuit, wears a multi-coloured outfit as she dances around fire-throwers, and poses in a white bikini in the middle of a circle of flames. The video gives off a hot, tanned, and carnival-esque kind of feel. Boys – the former Pussycat Doll won’t let you down!
Lana Del Rey’s dark black-and-white clip offers hazy shots of the Californian coast, with crashing waves and burning palm trees. The clip perhaps narrates the story of a romance now gone forever, as the footage jumps scenes between a blonde bad-boy-type embracing the singer on the beach, to the singer riding in a convertible next to a mysterious older man, as she takes long drags from her cigarette.
Demi Lovato joins the Vamps as they hit the beach in Malibu, California, in their ‘Somebody To You’ music video, directed by Emil Nava. The video features Laura Marano (actress), playing a fan watching the British boy-band perform on the beach.
Directed by Hype Williams, the music video was shot in black-and-white on Golden Beach, Florida. Critics praised the video’s sexual nature and simplicity, featuring husband and wife, Mr. & Mrs. Carter, singing together and looking madly in love. Beyoncé said the shoot was the most organic video she had ever done. Adding: “the shoot was extremely effortless and spontaneous and we completely captured the energy of the song… I wanted to carry this idea of being in the moment and making mistakes”.
The video features Italian model Raffaella Modugno dancing with Pitbull on a beach in Exuma Islands in the Bahamas. Most of the video was filmed on Big Major Cay, also known as Pig Island or Pig Beach, due to it being populated by swimming feral pigs. There are several legends as to why the pigs are there… could they have survived a shipwreck? Were they put on the island as part of a business scheme to attract tourists? As well as pigs the video also features The Bloody Jug Band performing as the bar’s house band. Kesha and Pitbull filmed the video at different times, with Kesha filming her scenes one week before Pitbull filmed his. “Timber” peaked at number 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 for 3 consecutive weeks.
Directed by Mark Klasfeld and filmed in Acapulco, Mexico, the music video shows Flo Rida surrounded by several babes in bikinis on a beach. The video’s paradise setting shows a picturesque teaser of what a luxury holiday in Mexico would be like. Are you tempted?
Jennifer Lopez looks stunning in her ‘I’m Into You’ video, filmed in Chichen-Itza, Mexico. While one of the scenes captures JLo standing on the steps of an ancient Mayan pyramid, another shows her dancing with a group of girls. The superstar also shares a steamy and sensual moment on Tulum’s Turtle Beach with Telenovela star/Calvin Klein model, William Levy, where she reveals her famous curves and beauty, wearing a diamond dress.
Directed by John Urbano, the video was shot on a beach in Malibu, California, with intercutting scenes of the British boy-band driving an orange camper van along the coast. The final chorus shows the band sitting around a fire with girls, lighting sparklers and taking photos. The video won two MTV Video Music Awards for Best Pop Video and Most Share-Worthy Video.
Directed by Paul Hunter on the beach in Malibu, the video features the band performing the song and burning palm trees. The video alludes to Baywatch, with beautiful women in sexy red swimsuits looking out for Courtney Love, as she walks into the sea in a skin-coloured bikini under a see-through gown.
The music video for David Guetta’s third single features model Kelly Thiebaud, who plays a young girl who goes to the beach and dreams about meeting a handsome surfer. The video was filmed in Los Angeles, California.
Rihanna looks so innocent in her early days, wearing a short white skirt and a cropped tee, in the music video directed by Marcus Rayboy on a beach on the coast of Malibu, California. Speaking about the development of the shoot, Ri-Ri said: “The water was so cold… but oh my gosh, we had so much fun… We were bumping each other off the jet skis and just had a ball”. The good-girl-gone-bad continued by saying “this video is about having fun, giving off the vibe from the Caribbean… we did some mermaid looking stuff down on the sand… and I’m just performing to the camera as if it were my boyfriend”. So sweet!
The 17th year of The World Bodypainting Festival (WBF), Austria’s unique annual event, saw up to 30,000 artists, performers, and visitors descend on Pörtschach to celebrate a weekend full of art, music, creativity, and a weird and wonderful explosion of colour.
Artists from over 40 countries attended the famous festival, founder of the modern bodypainting art movement, to compete for World Champion titles in Bodypainting and to build amazing installations, sculptures and eye-catching performances into the landscape of the city.
Working up to the main event, the WBF week’s tradition is to begin with the ‘WB Academy’, where some of the most talented teachers in the bodypainting field hold workshops and seminars to share their knowledge and experience. Artists, photographers and models, no matter their level, can take part in a wide array of classes that include bodypainting, airbrush, facepainting, special effects, beauty and fashion make-up, photography, digital art, modelling, and more.
Festival week attracts more than just the artsy type. Lake Wörthersee is a little hotspot for the crowd that likes to party. Live international bands, street musicians, and DJ’s, performing on different stages and areas of action, attract a huge number of international visitors, many of which put extreme effort into blending in (or standing out) with the city streets, wearing fantasy costumes, incredible make up and masks.
However, the most amazing part of the festival is the main event, which took place between Friday 4 and Sunday 6 of July, this year. “Bodypainting City” transformed itself into an extraordinary and vibrant Open Air art park, with artist focusing their work on this year’s two themes: “Pop Art” and “Artificial Intelligence”. Partially clothed, or sometimes fully nude, bodies of models are used as canvases, for painters to create and exhibit their new and vivid works of art and to share their imaginations and creativity with the world. Visitors are left stunned by the bold array of colour, texture and design applied onto the models’ bodies.
The festival includes many awards, such as: the World Bodypainting Championships, the World Facepainting Award, the World UV Bodypainting Award, and many more.
Some of the greatest events of the festival are:
The World UV Bodypainting Award Models glow in fluorescent colours as they perform under UV black light, as 15 selected artists communicate their stories via the use of colour, sound and dance. Scott Fray and Madelyn Greco received first place this year, making history again, winning in four categories for four years consecutively.
The Installation Art Award The top dogs in the world of bodypainting exhibit their installations in different locations around the city. Artists combine colour and surrounding to nude, or partially nude bodies, applying skilful technique to their living canvases, and covering them with thin layers of colour and design. It’s absolutely stunning and fascinating for visitors to watch as they wander around the city.
The Body Circus Held in a castle known as Schloss Mossburg (built in 1541), The Body Circus is known for being the “most bizarre and unforgettable club effect imaginable”. The location, music and extravagant fashions create an unparalleled artistic atmosphere there. It’s wonderful, artistic and intense.
The Colour Splash/The Original Paint Party On the final day, the WBF traditionally holds a colourful aftershow party, known as “The Colour Splah” or “The Original Paint Party”. Those who attend the event splash paint fireworks onto each other’s flesh, turning the whole event into a rainbow colour rave, filled with smiles and delight.
People were left mesmerised by the incredible art displayed at the WBF 2014. Check out the picture gallery below to get a glimpse of the colourful action.
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Glastonbury wouldn’t be Glastonbury if it weren’t for the horrendous weather conditions. The mother of UK festivals saw just under 180,000 dedicated music fans camp out on Worthy Farm in Somerset to watch over 2,200 music, theatre, cabaret, poetry, and art performers spread their magic over 100 stages, despite heavy rain, lightning bolts and mud, mud, mud! Festival organisers were off to a bad start as they were forced to bring the festival to a halt, cutting power to stages and bringing Rudimental’s dance set short, due to lightening striking the Pyramid Stage before 6pm on the opening day. Musically, though, there was no such thing as the calm after the storm.
Some of the weekend highlights included: An outstanding performance by Dolly Parton, singing some all-time classics (‘Jolene’, ‘9 to 5’, ‘Islands In The Stream’, and ‘I Will Always Love You) to what was the biggest crowd of the weekend. The 68-year-old country singer was so darn good, she was accused of miming… an accusation she rebuked by telling the sun: “My boobs are fake, my hair’s fake, but what’s real is my voice and my heart”. Isn’t she just great?? Parton was presented with a surprise award for having sold over 100 million albums worldwide.
After having been thrashed by critics before even taking the stage on Saturday, Metallica, the first heavy metal band to ever headline Glastonbury, showed the crowd what they were made of. After lead singer James Hetfield howled: “Do you want heavy? Metallica gives you heavy, baby!” the metal giants delivered a thunderous and dynamic two-hour set.
The weekend saw other great performances by Arcade Fire, who brought the party back to life by creating an electric atmosphere hours after the power cut; George Ezra, with his divine and powerful voice; Ed Sheeran, who saw a 195% increase in streams 24 hours after his solo acoustic set; Mexican guitar duo Rodrigo y Gabriela, with their insane finger acrobatics and lively performance, and much, much, more.
Celebrities such as Rita Ora, Bradley Cooper, Nikki Hilton, Stella McCartney and Florence Welsh, amongst others, were spotted taking in the eclectic mix of music, arts and fun over the dirty, muddy weekend.
Here’s our list of top 10 performances at Glastonbury (in no particular order):
