Samantha Jade laughs when recalling the round of bad reviews she copped for a recent red carpet outing.
As family, friends and team Sammi J rallied with support after the fashion police caned her daring, cleavage-baring "Logie Awards" outfit in may, Jade revealed she felt fabulous in the sheer gold, lace and sequins gown.
The entertainer hadn’t even seen the comments. Since her mother Jacqui passed away from brain cancer a year ago, Jade doesn’t sweat the small stuff:
“I felt great and that’s all i care about”, she says, “I used to really care about that stuff — people hating my hair or my dress — but i hadn’t even read the bad reviews. I think it has a lot to do with my mum and seeing what she went through. When she was in hospital and didn’t have much hair left, she would ask me to put it up in a top knot. It made her feel great, she didn’t care how it looked. And we would dye her gowns a different colour each week. One week it would be a pink party, the next purple, it was something she would look forward to each week. I think the lesson i learnt was to not care what people think. If you feel great, that’s all that matters.”
The sweet singer and actor may have been taking a leaf out of another positively-vibed pop megastar who called out the haters and commentators on her smash hit "Shake It Off".
Taylor Swift’s song had dominated the global airwaves and charts for months when Jade headed to Los Angeles for writing sessions in January.
She was in the studio with Carmen Reece, a british singer and songwriter in the stable of legendary american hitmaker Babyface, who insisted on playing her a track they had called "Shake That":
“We were writing together when she said she had to play me this song. I am not precious about writing my singles, if i love it, if i connect with it, then i want to do it”, Jade says, “As soon as the chorus came on, i told her i had to record it now. Your chances of getting a track are harder unless you are on it, singing it. I didn’t want anyone else to have it.”
Jade won the track and also the backing of Babyface, with his team producing "Shake That". The same crew were behind Jessica Mauboy’s top 5 hit "Can I Get A Moment?".
The song, which features the world’s most ubiquitous guest rapper Pitbull, is upbeat dance pop, as to be expected from the winner of "The X Factor Australia" in 2012. But Jade said there is a message in that melody goodness.
She braces herself before explaining, knowing some self-appointed feminist police, as opposed to their fashion colleagues, will be sharpening their social media barbs in response:
“I am a girly girl. And like a lot of other girly girls, I like to dress up, wear high heels and get my hair done”, she says, “What the "Shake That" lyrics say is that doesn’t mean it is an invitation to a man, that they can have what they want. It’s about calling them out for thinking "I can have that". I am pretty discerning — I haven’t had a date for a while.”
Getting Pitbull to guest on a song with a girl power message is questionable but his presence can make the difference between a pop hit or miss.
Jade says she expects it may be harder to make a case for "Shake That" as a female empowerment anthem to some women when the video when is released later this month.
Shot by filmmaker and actress Gracie Otto in a luxury home on Sydney’s leafy north shore, the video features Jade striking her poses in stunning frocks.
“I know some people’s reaction would be "You want to talk about female empowerment and you are frolicking on a lounge in the video", she says, “But it’s me doing it. I make that choice, what i wear, whether i show cleavage or not, how i act, i have control over that and over the editing. “Women hating on other women, i just don’t get it.”
The “hate” reached a ridiculous and occasionally disturbing volume when Jade opened for british boy band One Direction on their australian stadium tour in february.
For every sweet young thing who praised One Direction’s support of local artists by selecting her to share their stage was a teenage troll slamming her on social media.
Some called her a slut or a bitch. Some suggested her clothes were influential in the band’s choice of her as support act:
“I would get back to the hotel and see all these direct tweets about me. One was "I had my iPod on while you were on stage". That was so mean”, she says, rolling her eyes.
"Shake That" is delivered to radio stations today, ahead of its release on july 17th 2015, kicking off her campaign to launch her long-awaited second album.
It has been more than two-and-a-half years since her post "The X Factor Australia" album of covers she performed to win the 2012 series was released.
Her breakthrough role as Kylie Minogue in the "INXS: Never Tear Us Apart" miniseries interrupted progress on her first record of original tunes.
Caring for her mother during her battle with brain cancer and then mourning her death last year meant music was put on the backburner until she felt ready to get back into the studio.
With the support of her father Kevin and brothers Alex and Thomas, she has finally finished the record and hopeful, it will be released by october:
“Yes, we are finished. This is really my first record — it’s originals and the other was mostly covers — and it has been a very long time coming”, she says, “I am really proud of where it is now.”
Credit: [X]
No comments:
Post a Comment