Giorgi Shermadini

"Womanizer"
Song

"Womanizer" is a song performed by American pop singer Britney Spears. The song was recorded for her forthcoming sixth studio album, Circus. "Womanizer" was produced and co-written by Nikesha Briscoe and Rapheal Akinyemi of Atlanta-based production team, The Outsyders.

Announced as the lead single from the album, "Womanizer" was first released to radio stations worldwide on September 26, 2008. It was released commercially in the United States on October 7, 2008 through digital distribution. It will be released as a CD single on November 1, 2008 in Australia.

Release

The song was released to radio stations on September 26, 2008 in the United States. The lyrics to "Womanizer" were posted on Spears's official website on Jive records a day earlier. A week before the official premiere, on September 19, 2008 a low quality 40-second clip from "Womanizer" was leaked via Nashville's 107.5 The River. Jive later released a statement to MTV stating that the clip was from the "rough mix" of the track, not the finalized single. The DJ who played the clip was later suspended and fined $250,000 by Jive Records. Template:Sound sample box align right Template:Multi-listen start Template:Multi-listen item Template:Multi-listen end Template:Sample box end The song was released by digital distribution through the iTunes Store on October 7. However, on October 3, "Womanizer" was distributed in many European countries via iTunes. Jive Records will reportedly release "Womanizer" as a digital download on November 9, 2008 and as a CD single on November 24, 2008 in the United Kingdom.

"Womanizer" debuted on New York City's Z100 on September 26..

Song information

During a live interview with New York's Z100 Spears talked about the song quoting: "It's basically saying, 'We know what you're up to.' It's about guys cheating on girls ... It's a girl anthem. That's why I like it."

Reception

"Womanizer" received a mixed response from critics.

Ann Powers of The Los Angeles Times described the track as "retro-futurism" that "takes a roller coaster ride via the snappy staccato beats crafted by the young Atlanta-based production team the Outsyders." "It's clean and contemporary," the site said, "but also invokes the quick-witted style of vocal groups like the Andrews Sisters - a style Brit's rival, Christina Aguilera, has mined to great success before. The highly manipulated vocal complements Brit's Mississippi Valley Girl diction; though she's been turned into a robot again, she actually sounds engaged."

CosmoGirl editor Rachel Chang stated her belief that "Womanizer" is a future hit, writing that, "Brit knows her stuff, and as always, she doesn’t disappoint with her latest creation — a dance hit that’s bound to be a chart topper."

Popjustice also gave the song a glowing review, stating that whilst the leaked clip was enjoyable, the full track "throws the whole thing into a brand new realm of amazingness." The review also compared the song to Spears's 2004 song, "Toxic" and Blackout's "Ooh Ooh Baby" and said the track, "lays a really strong foundation for the fully-realised comeback that didn't quite happen last time and it's hard not to think of it as a late contender for single of the year."

Bill Lamb of About.com thought that Spears sounded confident, but he wrote a generally negative review of Womanizer. Lamb wrote that the song sounded "like a rather weak attempt to approach the attitude of Katy Perry in a classic Britney futuristic bubblegum pop context. Unfortunately, after a few listens it all becomes quite dull." Lamb also wrote that the song was "no match for her classic material."

Daily News' music critic Jim Farber criticized the song, saying it is not the brilliant single Spears needs. Farber says, "From the sound of it, it should have been delayed indefinitely. Spears delivers the title word no fewer than nine times in a row, in a nagging tone meant to mimic the most irritating of schoolyard taunts."

Wellheart Music Journal gave the single a scathing review, calling the track a 'tired production', and having 'weak lyrics' with 'an exaggerated vocal'. Matthew B. Zeidman of Hollywood Today wrote that the song "lacks any real structure and suffers from what can best be described as a musical monotone." Regarding the verses, Zeidman described them as "flat and unmemorable" and that the chorus "falls short of providing a memorable hook."

Jacqueline Rupp of Common Sense Media wrote that Spears "is still trying to play catch up with current pop styles, attempting to jump into today's sound after being out of the loop for so long." Regarding the chorus, Rupp wrote that it "kills all hope for a cool sound when Spears repeats (ad nauseam) 'womanizer, womanizer, woman, woman, womanizer' in a way that sounds like an annoying elementary school chant."

Music critic Billy Johnson of Yahoo music wrote , "I wouldn't say it's as solid as Mariah's "We Belong Together," The Emancipation Of Mimi comeback, but good enough. Good job Brit."

Chart performance

"Womanizer" debuted on the Mediabase airplay chart at sixty and has since climbed to number nineteen, where it currently sits. The track entered the Billboard Hot 100 Airplay chart at fifty-nine with three days of its radio release alone.. It also debuted on the Billboard Bubbling Under Hot 100 at eleven on the week of October 11, 2008. The song then entered the Hot 100 chart at ninety-six on the following week due to rising airplay.

The track debuted at number sixteen on the Australian Singles Chart on October 13, 2008. Remarkably, this was achieved with only three days of digital release. The single should climb the chart following the coming full week of sales. A CD Single will follow on November 1, which will see another surge in sales and chart positioning. Additionally, the single debuted at number twelve on the Australian Digital Track Chart.

In Canada, the single started at ninety-seven before moving up to forty-three on the week of October 18, 2008.

Music video

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Spears as one of her alter-egos in the video for Womanizer

The music video was filmed on September 24 and September 25, 2008 at a Los Angeles nightclub and restaurant. It was directed by Joseph Khan, who had previously directed Spears's videos "Stronger" (2000) and "Toxic" (2004).

The video begins with the name "Britney Spears" transforming into the title "Womanizer", it then shows Spears lying in a sauna completely nude. It switches to a not-so-innocent looking Britney wearing a gray satin robe with a black bra peeking out, she's cooking her beau (Brandon Stoughton) breakfast. He checks his schedule, and sees he has an important business meeting. He dresses and appears in his office. He sees another Britney dressed like a secretary with short black hair and glasses. She and many of the other workers dance around him while she calls him a 'womanizer'. They go into a copy room, and he takes pictures of her on his phone and flirts with her. She sits on the copy machine and copies her buttocks showing nothing but black underwear. She rips it in half and throws his face on the copy machine (in this scene there is a man behind britney, he is the same overweight man that britney pushes into the lavatory and french kisses' in the 'Toxic' video). He sits down and appears to be in a restaurant, where Britney is a waitress wearing a black vest with red tattoos on her arm, and dark auburn hair. She dances around him once again calling him a 'womanizer' as he tries to flirt with her. She pushes him down onto the kitchen counter top and jumps on top of him and she toys with him and eats a cherry. He gets into a car, and the driver is Britney dressed as a limo driver, with very dark sunglasses and her hair pulled back. She jumps in the back with him and continues to drive with her foot on the steering wheel. He tries to stop her, but she won't let him. He gets away and tries to steer the car. It then shows Britney in the sauna again, this time she is watching him shower in another room. The secretary, waitress, and limo driver all appear and form into the Britney in the robe. She throws him onto a bed. He tries to get up, but the other three Britneys hold him down. All four of them throw him around and tell him what kind of man he is. He tries to get away, but he can't. The robed Britney gets up and blows a kiss to him. She throws a blanket on top of him, and he disappears between the sheets, Britney then smiles at the camera, and the video ends, with the same "Womanizer" title as it started with.

The video premiered on October 10 on ABC's 20/20 at the end of their program. To promote the release of the music video, ABC launched an official five day countdown commercial for the week of October 6-October 11. The director's cut of the "Womanizer" video also appeared on an MTV blog that night.

Formats and track listings

Digital Download

1. "Womanizer" (Main Version) – 3:43

Promotional CD

1. "Womanizer" (Main Version) – 3:43
2. "Womanizer" (Instrumental) – 3:42

Release history

Region	Date	Label	Format
Worldwide	September 26, 2008	Jive Records	Radio
Europe	October 3, 2008	Jive Records	Digital Download
New Zealand	October 6, 2008	Zomba Recording	Digital Download
United States	October 7, 2008	Jive Records	Digital Download
Australia	October 8, 2008	Jive Records	Digital Download
	November 1, 2008	Jive Records	CD Single
United Kingdom	November 9, 2008	Jive Records	Digital Download
	November 24, 2008	Jive Records	CD Single
Germany	November 14, 2008	Jive Records	CD Single

Charts

Chart (2008)	Peak position
Australian ARIA Singles Chart	16
Australian ARIA Digital Chart	12
Canadian Hot 100	43
Italian Singles Chart	25
Japan Hot 100	61
Turkey Top 20 Chart	19
U.S. Billboard Hot 100	96
U.S. Billboard Pop 100	32

Credits

• Vocals – Britney Spears
• Producers & Writers – The Outsyders

References

External links

• Womanizer music video
• Britney Spears's official website
• Official UK website