After losing out to Rage Against the Machine in the Christmas chart battle last year (with good reason), X Factor 2009 winner Joe McElderry isn't giving up on doing covers, though this time 'round it's not a ballad sang by some teen Disney star. In fact, it's from a brilliant Norwegian band called Donkeyboy, who's already garnered massive success in Norway with the single entitled Ambitions, taking the #1 spot for twelve consecutive weeks contrary to the less than enthusiastic response the UK gave out.
This is a smart move for Joe, mainly because the song is amazing as it is, and apparently the folks at Syco know it too, as heard in Joe's note-for-note cover. The 80's-sounding track has been given a sparkly, poptastic makeover aimed to storm the charts. I personally prefer the original Donkeyboy tune which sounds more... organic, per se. What the Joe version offers, however, is a more upbeat take on Ambitions, and a little oomph here and there (though I might add that the emotion and genuineness are inadvertently absent).
It's also interesting that Donkeyboy didn't have a clue about all this Joe-coverage hoopla:
To summarize,
- Ambitions is a very good song.
- This 'Joe guy' will most probably get the #1 that Donkeyboy ought to have.
- This will be released on October 10.
- So download the original here instead.
