Bang bang bang, y'all! I'm Sam Lansky, reporting from the frontlines of the world of pop. This week, I'm bringing an extra-special bonus dose of "Pop Think," to celebrate teen queen Selena Gomez (as my fellow Buzzworthy contributor Bradley Stern calls her, "Selegendary Gomesmerizing," or "Selegend" for short) and her sensational video for her latest single, "Hit the Lights."
So why has Selena succeeded when other tween popstrels have floundered on the road from Disney princess to adult artist? It's all about the dance, dahling, and Miss Selena is ascending to the throne as that genre's almighty ruler. All hail Queen Selegend!
Credit: Getty Images
Selena Gomez is surely one of the biggest pop success stories of the last few years, as she's transitioned from Disney teen queen to grown-up dancefloor diva with more grace and poise than many of her contemporaries. Selena's been uniformly on the right track, with no deviations from the clear path of teen idol acceptability, but she proves that pop stars don't need explosive breakdowns or public shame to be exciting. The songs and videos she makes with her band Selena Gomez & the Scene are sprightly and joyful, a kawaii goofiness maintaining a feeling of spontaneity.
Her last album, When the Sun Goes Down, is a pristine (and pretty darn well-reviewed!) dance-pop record, fun and diverse while remaining cohesive. The futuristic wobble-synths of "Love You Like a Love Song," organic drums and a wistful chorus on "We Own the Night" (a track initially intended for Kelly Clarkson), giddy electropop on "Whiplash" (a Britney Spears co-write) and "That's More Like It" (penned in part by Katy Perry), even some sly aping of Ladytron's "Destroy Everything You Touch" on "Middle of Nowhere" -- these are big names, and Selena deserves to be in such fine company. The cherubic popstrel is emerging as one of the most consistently strong voices making mainstream dance music, as evidenced by her particular prowess on the dance charts.
+ Read more about Selena Gomez's dancefloor domination after the jump.
That trend started with "Naturally," an unexpectedly euphoric house confection that surprised absolutely no one when it went straight to No. 1 on the US Hot Dance Club Songs chart. Since then, even when her singles haven't commanded as tight a grip on the Hot 100 as some of her contemporaries (her best-charting single, "Who Says," a likable slice of "It Gets Better"-pop that was inspirational without ever toppling over into the saccharine, peaked at No. 21), they've always done well on the club circuit. On the dance charts, "Love You Like a Love Song" climbed to No. 5, "Round & Round" reached No. 2, and "A Year Without Rain" and "Who Says" hit No. 1. Three No. 1 hits? Not too shabby for a 19-year-old.
I wouldn't be surprised if "Hit the Lights" was equally successful, especially after watching the video, which gives me the same kind of what's-this-lump-in-my-throat-oh-God-my-whole-youth-is-squandered-but-it's-okay-because-we-can-dance-about-it feeling that Katy Perry's "Teenage Dream" video does, for example. The song itself is a nifty pop nugget, starting off like a weepy piano ballad with nostalgic lyrics ("It's the boy you never told, 'I like you,'/It's the girl you let get away/It's the one you saw that day on the train/But you freaked out and walked away") about little regrets and missed loves. But by the time the chorus hits, the song has swelled into a sunny, euphoric dance anthem, one of those gorgeously happy/sad messages about living in the moment that never gets old, no matter how many times I hear it.
And there's no reason why Selena can't have it all -- the Disney fans who love her for her squeaky-clean image, the club fans who love her for her dancefloor domination, and Justin Bieber who loves her because she's, well, ridiculously adorable. Who says she ain't perfect? Certainly not me.
Sam Lansky is a writer and editor from New York City. He goes hard for Swedish pop music, "Real Housewives" GIFs and juice. Follow him on Twitter or Tumblr.