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It’s Friday, Friday, gotta get down on Friday BY JESSE RICHMOND They say there’s no such thing as bad publicity. If this is true, 14year-old Rebecca Black should have nothing to worry about. She has received nationwide recognition for her song “Friday,” which debuted on YouTube on February 10. However, the song, which has garnered over 100 million views, has also been called “The Worst Song Ever” by numerous critics. The song’s popularity, it has been claimed, is because of its sheer awfulness. As someone on the website dearblankpleaseblank said: “Dear Rebecca Black, We don’t hate you because you’re famous; you’re famous because we hate you. Sincerely, everyone.” As of May 2, the official video of Friday has been viewed 128,133,904 times (based on a Forbes.com estimate, this amount of views will have earned Black approximately $80,000). Using YouTube’s rating system, the song has been “liked” 352,399 times. That seems like a lot, until the number is compared to the 2,551,952 dislikes the video has received as of the aforementioned date. According to The Daily Beast, Black was involved in music and other performing arts long before Friday even came to be. Black was the lead in her school’s production of Oklahoma!, and she participated in a group called Celebration USA, which put on patriotic performances. Then, one day at school, a classmate told Black of ARK Music Factory, an independent record label
Photo provided by youtube.com
Singer Rebecca Black, center in the backseat, has caught a lot of attention around the country, both positive and negative, with her youtube video “Friday”.
located in Anaheim (which, according to the BBC’s website, seeks to discover future #1 artists and produce them). Black submitted an audition, and qualified for recording. For $2000, she was given the opportunity to record a song and an accompanying music video to be posted on YouTube. Black was presented with two songs to choose from for recording. The first dealt with “adult love,” something Black said she hasn’t felt. She found the lyrics of the second song, “Friday,” to be more relatable, and so chose to record it. After the video was posted, views and negative feedback began to pour in (including, as reported by the ABC news website, two death threats and numerous violent comments on the video). Black was given the chance to take her video off ff of the web, but chose not to in
order to avoid giving her critics any feeling of triumph. “I decided not to give the haters the satisfaction that they got me so bad,” said Black in the Daily Beast interview. So, if Black didn’t write the lyrics to Friday, who did? In a seemingly unrelated question, who is the rapper in the truck who makes an appearance about two-thirds of the way through the song? The answer: Patrice Wilson, founder of ARK Music Factory. According to Yahoo Music News, Wilson takes full responsibility for the song. He claims that the simple (some would say mindless) lyrics were meant to convey basic ideas, and that they’re no worse than other contemporary pop songs. Now, Friday is not ARK Music’s first venture. In total, there are 13 songs currently on the label’s You-
NS students perform at state Solo and Ensemble
Tube channel, most of them predating Friday. It is interesting to note that another song (Butterflies by Alana Lee Hamilton) is both very similar and yet also very differ ff ent from Friday. Butterflies is currently ARK Music’s second most popular song, despite a significantly fewer number of views, namely 7,791,135. The song also has a greater like-dislike ratio than Friday. Regardless of whether or not Friday can stand up to other songs, NS Family and Consumer Science teacher Auralee Brooks does not like it, specifically Black’s pronunciation of the tititular word. “Just how she annunciates it makes me nutty,” said Brooks. Brooks said that her students have watched the video many times in her classes, but not because they like it. Rather, she said that they
“Thor” provides audiences with action and excitement BY KAYTIE NIELSON
Photo byy Hunter Erickson
Galen Brady plays the song “Yellow After the Rain” at state solo and ensemble.
BY HUNTER ERICKSON On April 30, some students from NS were able to travel to Lone Peak High School to be judged on their musical performances at state Solo and Ensemble. Over 20 students from NS participated in this event. In order to do this, they first had to make it through region Solo and Ensemble with perfect scores. The performances are scored on a scale of 1 to 5, 1 being the highest possible score. In between numbers, the scores can also have a plus or minus. A lot of time was needed to prepare for state Solo and Ensemble. “I worked on the piece everyday,” said Taylor Purcell, aff ter his performance. “I feel like I played well enough to deserve a one, but the judges decide.” Purcell performed a piano solo, called “The Third Movement of the Apassionata Sonata” and received a 1 at state. Stephen Lewis also performed a piano solo. He played “Hungarian Rhapsody no. 5 in d-flat major” and received a 2 minus. Along with the soloists, the
high school percussion ensemble also worked hard to prepare. “We rehearsed and everybody had to learn their individual parts,” said Galen Brady, a member of the percussion ensemble. At first, the percussion ensemble had some difficulties with the piece. “People could play their parts on their own, but mashing them together was hard,” said Jesse Richmond, the percussion leader. The percussion ensemble played a piece called Diablo, and also received a perfect score of 1 at state. Galen Brady also performed a percussion solo on the marimba called “Yellow After the Rain” and was given a score of 2. “I could have done better,” said Brady, “But I felt confident about how I played, and I felt I got the score I deserved.” Some of the other performances from NS included vocal solos, vocal groups, a tuba solo and percussion solo. There were two vocal groups that performed. One was a Women’s trio, the other a Men’s quartet. The trio consisted of Alyssa Shewell, Sarah Allan, and Lyn-
sie Clark. They sang the song “The New Day” and received a 1 minus. “We did better than I thought we would,” said Clark. Allan also performed a vocal solo called “American Lulluby” and received a 1 minus. The quartet performed the song “Danny Boy” and received a 2 plus. This group consisted of Nathan Beck, Taylor Purcell, Christian Carr, and Hunter Erickson. Another vocal soloist was Nathan Glad, who sang “Lasciatemi Morire” and received a 2. Andrew Fryer played a tuba solo and was accompanied by Matthew Lindow. Fryer was given a 2 plus for his performance. Although not all of the performers received perfect scores, Carisa Hilton, the choir teacher at NS, thinks that this shouldn’t be the focus. “Despite the scoring, all have worked hard in preparation for state,” said Hilton, “Spending time learning the music and working with the others if they are in an ensemble, as well as having opportunities to perform for the class, is where the true success lies.”
kept watching it because it was annoying and they wanted to laugh at it. Brooks said that Friday doesn’t make sense to her, but that such feelings were not necessarily singular to that particular song. “A lot of music doesn’t make sense to me…,” said Brooks. Additionally, Brooks said that music that is difficult to understand is not a new trend. “There’s always music that leaves the adults (and sometimes even kids) scratching their heads and asking ‘What does this mean?’,” said Brooks. Senior Trevor Carter, on the other hand, said he likes the song. “[I like the song] because in my opinion, it doesn’t sound any differ ff ent from Justin Bieber,” said Carter. Carter said that “Friday” and Bieber’s song “Baby” are very similar, especially since they both frequently repeat a single word. Carter said that he feels similarly about “Friday” as Bieber’s fans feel about his music. “This [‘Friday’] is my Justin Bieber,” said Carter. Senior Cody Case also has a favorable opinion of the song. “I just feel like it’s a relatable song,” said Case. “…In all seriousness, it’s what we think about.” While Case said that he does believe “Friday” could be improved, he also argued that the same could go for any song. Lastly, while Carter said that there was no part of the song that annoyed him, Case said that he doesn’t like the lines about deciding which seat to sit in during a car ride, since he can’t relate to them.
Thor is a legend. Chiseled with muscles and a body that every girl dreams of, Chris Hemsworth, as Thor, adds a very eff fective touch to this action-packed movie. The story began with two enemies, Odin, king of Asgard, and Laufey, king of Jotunheim, home of the Frost Giants. The forces of good and evil clashed together. With the defeat of Laufey, Odin took away what power he could from him and locked it up, safely in the security of his home, so that no one could get to it. All seemed well at the time, and although all of Asgard knew that someday they would have to fight again, there was peace. Later, two brothers were born, although not to the same parents (they later discover), they were raised together and fought by each other’s sides, depending on each other. Thor is a valiant, brave, yet cocky, warrior, who believes nothing can be solved except by war. Loki, on the other hand, is somewhat quiet and stays in the background, appearing to be a peacekeeper. He is always watching out for Thor and tries to keep him from his foolish, impulsive actions. When both of the boys were young they were taught by their father that one of them would be king. They were reminded of this many times in their lives until the time came when one of them must take the crown. When it is found out that Thor will be king, there is a huge ceremony held proclaiming that he will be their next leader. During this celebration the Frost Giants break into the kingdom and try to steal back their casket. This casket would give back their power so they could have the strength to over-throw the Asgardians. Luckily, they are stopped before they can take it back to their leader. In Thor’s perspective, the people of Jotunheim needed to be punished and taught a lesson. His father didn’t agree with him though. Thor and his brother Loki, along with some other Asgard warriors, go through
the Bifrost, which is a portal to other realms. They go to Jotunheim so Thor can supposedly regain respect and show the Frost Giants where their place is. Although Thor and his fellow warriors are strong and overtake quite a few of their enemies, there are just too many to fight off. ff At his moment of despair, when it looks like it’s all going to come to and end and there’s no hope left, his father shows up and helps Thor get out of the situation. Even though Odin tries to talk to them and explain that it was a foolish accident, Laufey still decided that there should be a war to finish everything that they had started. Thor is banished by his father, he takes away all of his powers and Mjolnir, (Thor’s hammer) and sends him to earth until he can prove that he can use is power for good and is responsible enough to become king. The rest of this movie is about how Thor learns to love and care for others besides himself. Thor is a great movie for the whole family or just for someone looking for a movie that has just about everything in it: action, romance, thrill, and more. All in all this is a great, well-rounded movie.
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