CÉLINE DION & KUNTALICIOU$
THE X FACTOR UK
[1314 words]
Céline Dion and Kuntaliciou$ flew out to the United Kingdom after an intense New Year’s Eve in New York the previous day. After spending the day out in the towns, signing many autographs and exploring the land more, they arrived to the X Factor studio in order to prepare their performance of “Pu$$y Be Flamin’”, the lead single from Céline’s upcoming album ‘#TurntUp2: Le Unreal Slayáge’. While at soundcheck, Kuntaliciou$ tweeted: “Rehearsals looking extraordinary today. Got some new, really cool staging this time. Y’all better tune in!”. Even though an unknown, many Céline fans were excited for the performance- as it was hyped to be one of Céline’s best performances to date. With the single holding up at #1 on iTunes in the nation, it was proven that the UK was still very much here for Céline and admired her risk- and would love to see her performance. With ten million viewers in the UK alone, the performance had definitely shaped up to be one of the most-anticipated performances in X Factor [UK] history. Mr. O’Leary led out a great introduction: “She had the best-selling single of CAL4, and is back now with a brand-new single- here for the UK television premiere of that single- it’s Céline Dion, featuring ‘Liciou$.”. The introductory video then played, boasting Céline’s 200M+ records sold, five Grammys and the worldwide smash that was “Ratchette”. The clip also featured a portion of what was speculated to be part of the “Pu$$y Be Flamin’” music video, set to be released soon.
The [rumored] preview of the “Pu$$y Be Flamin’” showed a few seconds of Céline and Kuntaliciou$ riding motorcycles from a burning cross on a desert. From a tiny half-second, you can see a black robe attached to the burning cross. The clip continues to be shown in-and-out of different accomplishments listed on the video- where the two look very fierce riding in the night of the desert. Another scene casted- shown right before the video closed- where Céline and Kuntaliciou$ were chained to each other in the rain in a parking lot. The building belonging to the parking lot was not revealed yet. Overall from the very small teases, mixed with the preview shown at Dick Clark’s Rockin’ New Year’s, we can infer that the “Pu$$y Be Flamin’” video will definitely be entertaining, and unique. Then the two hit the stage to perform.
The setting was a dark black alley, with an office-like setup in the far back of the alley. Kuntaliciou$ sipped on a cup of tea, as classical music played in the background on a record player. She lifted the needle from the vinyl, as a telephone ringed down the alley. She walked up a few feet, to answer the phone call. “Hello? [..] No, I apologize, Miss Dion is not available at the moment. Would you like for me to leave her a memo? […] Yes, yes, yes. Okay, thank you for so much. […] Yes, Miss Dion does treat her clients with the utmost of quality music. Have a good night.” Kuntaliciou$ returned to her desk, wearing a very formal, 1900s-esque outfit. She looked almost identical to a flight attendant- having a dark pencil skirt, a white blouse tucked in, and a dark cardigan to conjoin colors with the pencil skirt. She had on a red bowtie as well, and glasses, with her hair in a bun with a pen holding it altogether. She sat down, and sipped her tea as the classical music faded and the instrumental to “Pu$$y Be Flamin’” kicked in. The walls then turned into white-black checkerboard style colors, as Kuntaliciou$ strut up to where Céline was standing.
Céline began to sing-rap her first verse, as her and Kuntaliciou$ did some choreography. Céline wore an outfit very similar to the one in her ‘Taking Chances’/“Ratchette” shoot, but it was all tighter, and a darker color. Her hair was kept a little wavy, and a little natural- although her makeup certainly looked on-point. Her vocals were on-point as well, being upped while an underlying electronic/autotune-d vocal played throughout the song, since the track contained heavy vocal effects (on purpose, though). She slayed her choreography in the first verse, although some of the moves looked a little awkward, she did just fine. Spotlights flashed colors of red and magenta as many dancers arose from the stage floor, with Kuntaliciou$ picking them up and doing some fierce choreography with them. Céline walked to a tall circular platform at the end of the alley, at the edge of the stage, and walked up to sing the chorus. She blared through it effortlessly, as spotlights and lasers invaded and diffused all over the studios. Simon and Cheryl looked fascinated during that portion, with Louis at his resting-smiling-face and Mel B just bopping her head slowly and low-key.
Céline was greeted by two men on the platform, just wearing tuxedo-jackets as tops with matching dress pants. The three did some nice choreography together, as one of them brought a champagne bottle. The music stopped while Céline screamed, “and I’m popping champagne with Madonna!” and popped the bottle herself. Kuntaliciou$ came running up to the platform with some glasses, as a waiter brought a little table out. “Well Céline, here’s to another great week,” Kuntaliciou$ greeted. “Did you get the next one in line?” Céline asked. Kuntaliciou$ nodded her head, and Céline pointed to the office desk where Kuntaliciou$ sprinted to. A man in all-black was waiting at her desk, back turned against the crowd / cameras. Kuntaliciou$ then got on the desk, and did her feature verse (amazingly, by the way). She threw money at the man, and she brought the payphone, extending the cord by lots, to the man, wrapping it around his neck and snapped, while the whole desk and him went ablaze.
Flames were projected on the inside walls of the alley, as Céline came down her platform and began to jump around everywhere in the alley, interacting with everyone on the stage (backup dancers, etc.) and getting much more loose in terms of choreography. Kuntaliciou$ also shouted “Where’s my tampon?!” with her, as they both sung the final chorus together. Sparks began to fly from the ceiling, as they all did a little piece of the routine to an extended outro of the song, looking amazing. Kuntaliciou$ undid her hair bob and took off her glasses through it, as everyone began to freestyle dance and just let go. Céline and Kuntaliciou$ shouted: “Get ready to turn up, again!” at the end of the performance, as they were just smiling and everyone bowed at the end of the performance. Everyone in the studio gave them a standing ovation, with the pair just standing by the backup dancers and actors.
“Geez, I hope your friend back there is alright, is he okay?” Dermot came in sweeping the floor with his presence. “Yeah!” they all laughed on the stage, as the actor who supposedly got burned alive walked down the alley. When Dermot asked about if Céline would do another Hyde Park concert again, she responded: “You’ll just have to wait and see…” and stressed the importance of the UK with her success in general: “Most of the things that occur in my era, occur right here in Britain actually. Whether it’s the fashion shows, the Hyde Park concerts, the touring, or just walking on the street- the UK has always been a very dominant force in my success and in my eras, so thanks for that guys.” And finally, when asked about the album, Céline stated: “It’s coming in February, which I’m very excited about and yeah… you’ll get some more singles, but “Flamin’” with ‘Liciou$ is the lead. After the performance, both versions of “Flamin’” were in the Top Ten on UK iTunes- an incredible feat for Céline. The single is available for purchase and streaming now.
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