"She's like a Star" is a song written, produced and performed by British singer and songwriter
Radio 1's Big Weekend
2011.
Background and composition
"She's Like a Star" was written and produced by
double meaning
behind it:
It's about my girlfriend but it's also about how you would feel if you had a child and how strongly you would feel if you had a daughter and how overwhelming the love would be and they would kind of be like a star, you know like she’s my everything, she’s an angel.
musicologist was able to prove that he did not sample Rae's voice.[7]
Release and reception
"She's like a Star" is the fifth single from Departure,
uptempo than the original version.[9] A remix that features vocals from English girl groupSugababes and American rapper Busta Rhymes was also released.[10] According to the Daily Mirror, the collaboration came about when they ran into each other at the Hot 97 studios in New York City.[11] A version of the remix without Busta Rhymes appears as a bonus track on the Sugababes' sixth studio album Catfights and Spotlights (2008).[12]
Critical response
Alex Fletcher of Digital Spy rated the song three out of five stars and stated that it is "undoubtedly" one of the album's low points.[3] Additionally, he criticised the song's lack of "bravado and pizazz" in comparison to Cruz's previous singles "I Can Be" and "Come On Girl".[3] Andy Welch of the Halesowen News described it as "a fine example of a Brit doing R&B as well as the Americans", but was unimpressed with the child's voice sample.[13] Hazel Robinson from the BBC Chart Blog gave the song a full five-star rating, and wrote that its composition and musical arrangement produced a song that sounds natural and "pretty extraordinary".[5] The reviewer admitted that while "She's like a Star" was not the best track from Departure, it sounds "infinitely cooler" than the album's previous single "I Can Be".[5]Daily Record's Rick Fulton praised "She's like a Star" as "one of the best R&B sounds to come out of the UK".[14] "She's like a Star" earned Cruz a MOBO Award nomination for Best UK Male.[15]
Chart performance
The song debuted at number 44 on the
UK Singles Chart in the issue dated 16 August 2008.[16] It peaked at number 20 three weeks later, and spent a total of 15 weeks on the chart.[16] "She's like a Star" became Cruz's fifth consecutive top-thirty hit in the United Kingdom, and outpeaked the album's first two singles "I Just Wanna Know" and "Moving On".[16]
Promotion
Taio Cruz performed "She's like a Star" with the Sugababes at the 2008 MOBO Awards ceremony.
Music video
The music video for "She's like a Star" was filmed in Spain.[17] It features an appearance from the actress Roxanne McKee, known for her role as Louise in the British televisionsoap operaHollyoaks, in which she plays Cruz's love interest.[2][17] Cruz, who is friends with McKee, explained how the collaboration came about, saying:
Why Roxanne? She's fit and I wanted her in my video! I'm only joking. I've known Roxanne for some time, although I don't watch Hollyoaks so I don't know about the character she plays. We needed an actress who wouldn't feel awkward doing the mock love scenes so I just rang her and she agreed to do it. It was a case of canoodling for a few hours in sunny Spain.[17]
Most scenes of the video take place in a large house.[18] Throughout the video, the pair are touching and kissing with each other, and McKee is shown in the bathtub.[18] In the concluding scenes, she leaves the house and is depicted as a bright star that travels towards the sky, while Cruz stands in front of the house by the pool.[18]
from the original on 19 April 2013. Retrieved 19 April 2013.
^"Singles". Birmingham Mail. Trinity Mirror. 30 August 2008. Archived from the original on 20 December 2016. Retrieved 19 April 2013. (subscription required)
