Nicole Scherzinger - Don't Hold Your Breath

September 08, 2012 Critic Jonni 0 Comments

Nicole Scherzinger recently became the new judge on The X Factor. She was previously a guest judge a couple of years back as a stand in for Cheryl Cole then on the first series of The X Factor (US), she replaced Cheryl Cole as a full judge after Cheryl was fired. She was first in a band called Eden's Crush who didn't get much success, and then she went on to become the lead singer of the Pussycat Dolls. However it always seemed to be Nicole Scherzinger and some backing singers which is such a shame as all the other girls were great singers too. After the band broke-up she went on to a solo career (she did this a few years back and she didn't hit it off that well), recently she returned and topped the charts. She's definitely made it all on her own now.

This song gained Nicole Scherzinger her first ever UK number one, and it's possible it might be her only number one. It was written by Josh Alexander, Toby Gad and Billy Steinbeck. And I'm sure one of these songwriters have appeared on this blog before. This song is so emotional and Nicole pulls it off perfectly, she clearly connected to the song and I was surprised she hadn't written a bit of it herself too. It got to number one in the UK, and managed to chart high in other charts too.

The video is emotionally great, it's both a performance piece with a main narrative behind, clearly we know something has been going on and we can presume someone wants her back, but she's telling him "don't hold your breath" meaning it probably isn't going to happen.

The song is showing that she's powerful and all-knowing, and that she's struggling a bit. I love the very start in the taxi cab (or London Hackney Carriage as it's also known), I bet the cab driver was definitely happy. I also like the rain (pathetic fallacy as it is known) because the weather is a direct reference to her feelings.

There isn't a lot going on, and that is the only downfall of this video, but it's stripped back and emotionally perfect that it links in with the song like you wouldn't expect. This is exactly why it works so great as Nicole Scherzinger has obviously connected to this song.

Overall, a great pop song which makes you understand how it got to the top of the UK chart. It's accompanying music video works great, and I feel emotional watching it, as I think many others do, so I think it's pretty obvious what rating I'm going to give it, and it is definitely well deserved!

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