As if Bruno Mars needed any help earning the unwavering affection of the entire female population, he broke out a Disney classic for BBC Live Lounge, singing a rendition of The Little Mermaid‘s “Part of Your World.”
Mars didn’t even bother to change the female centric lyrics, about breaking away from mundane life under the sea, gaining a pair of legs and walking among humans. The audience couldn’t stop laughing at Mars’ quirky commentary: “This is one song, this cover, that I could never get through because I choke up. It’s the best song ever written,” he said before singing it. “I want to look fear in the eyes right now and kick it in the ding ding.”
After his hilarious performance, Mars picked it up with another song from the movie, “Under the Sea.” It made us laugh, it made us cry, it made us fall even more in love with Mars.
Watch it here
We’ve heard tons of awesome One Direction covers lately but we’ve got room for another one if it’s Rita Ora. The stylish singer visited BBC Radio 1 “Live Lounge” and covered “What Makes You Beautiful.” The song is just as chirpy as the original but changes the instrumentation with some maracas and a tropical sounding guitar and drum solo in the middle.
Ora also performed an acoustic version of her single “How We Do (Party).” We only have a couple weeks to go until her debut album ORA drops, but these performances will satiate us in the meantime.
“What Makes You Beautiful”
“How We Do (Party)” Read more…
Well this is a pretty unexpected cover. Usher performed Foster the People’s “Pumped Up Kicks” on BBC Radio 1 as part of his “Live Lounge Special.”
I was expecting him to change the arrangement a bit — put some sort of soulful spin on it — but he sticks pretty well to the originally vibe. He even pulled out an electric guitar and denim vest to tap into his inner rock child. He’s getting a bit of flack for it but I love when artists cross genres. What do you think of it?
Watch it here:
Indie pop godess Marina and the Diamonds (aka Marina Lambrini Diamandis) slowed down JB’s “Boyfriend” and made it a little softer than the tender version we’re used to. She performed an acoustic set on Wednesday morning for BBC Radio 1′s “Live Lounge” series along with her new single “Primadonna.” And she KILLED it.
Her cover is a fresh take on the song, which has been playing hourly on the radio, plus she puts a lot of feeling into the vocals. She even went so far as to make a couple lyrical changes, but they work! Her album Electra Heart will be released on April 30th.
Listen to her “Boyfriend” cover:
The Ting Tings’ cover of Lana Del Rey’s “Born to Die” is good, but not as good as the original. The acoustic cover is less haunting and little more folksy than Lana Del Rey’s version and randomly includes a shout out to Skrillex.
We hear the soothing songbird voice and guitar and then — wait for it — someone screams “CALL 911 NOW!” Though it doesn’t fit the vibe of the song, they were just having fun with it. After the performance, lead singer Katie White laughed: “Can I just press that button again?” to replay Skrillex.
The duo covered the song for BBC Radio 1 Live Lounge. How do you like it compared to the original?
If I could turn every song into a good acoustic version, I would. “Acoustic that please,” can be my new catch phrase.
Today Jessie J acoustified Rihanna’s “We Found Love” for BBC Radio 1 Live Lounge. The live version really showcases her pipes and puts a new spin on the song. I won’t say I like it better than the original, but it’s a fresh take on a song I’ve heard a little too much of lately. The singer also performed an acoustic version of her song “Domino,” but if you have to catch one out of the two, I’d definitely give this one a go.
