No Air

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"No Air"
Song
B-side"Save Me"

"No Air" is the third single taken from Jordin Sparks self-titled debut album, featuring R&B singer Chris Brown. It was released in the United States on February 11 2008 and peaked at number 3 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. It is Sparks' best selling and highest peaking single in the US and is the most downloaded single from an American Idol contestant in history. It was also highly successful worldwide, peaking at number one in Australia and New Zealand and it was hugely successful in the UK, peaking at number 3 and certified silver for selling over 200,000 units. It is the most sold single from an American Idol contestant. "No Air" peaked at number 3 in the European Hot 100, the second highest peak for an American Idol contestant, second only to Kelly Clarkson's "Because Of You" which peaked at number 1 in 2006. The single is also Chris Brown's best selling single worldwide.

Reviews

Chuck Taylor of Billboard believed the song is beneficial to both singers saying "a sweeping midtempo jam that pushes boundaries, allowing Sparks to show a looser, soulful side, while Brown is cast as pop crooner more than ever before." He mentions that the song is seemingly organic while giving both singers crossover appeal. Taylor states "Clever enough, and a fine song that ultimately gives the "AI" alum a heap of befitting credibility."[1]

BBC Radio 1's ChartBlog, gave the song five stars, mentioning "this song's flaws and its assets are one and the same - it's ridiculous, it's OTT, and yet if they'd tried to tone it down even a little bit, it wouldn't work at all. Contrary to the popularly-held belief, sometimes more is more."[2]

Music video

File:JordinChris-NoAir.jpg
Jordin Sparks and Chris Brown in the music video.

The music video for "No Air" was filmed Wednesday January 23, 2008 in New York City, with photos from the shoot leaking to the internet the next day. A leak of the video was uploaded to YouTube on February 20, 2008, nearly a week before the video was officially released to Yahoo! Music on February 25, 2008. No Air currently has more than 45,000,000 views on YouTube, making it Sparks's highest viewed video. This also ranks it at #23 in the most viewed videos of all time on YouTube. Another video on Sparks's channel, showing the making of "No Air", raked in over 1.4 million views.

The video begins with Sparks playing the piano in her home. Suddenly, she stops playing and makes a call on her cell phone, which directs her to an answering machine. The camera cuts to the phone she is presumably calling, which has been left on a counter in a steamy room. Sparks leaves a message, asking someone (Chris Brown) to call her when he can. Her silhouetted profile is then seen on the left in a different scene, against a blank gray background, as the song begins. Sparks is then shown going to her window and looking out, drawing a heart in the fog on the cold glass as she sings the song. Brown is next shown, wiping off a foggy mirror in his bathroom as he begins singing his first verse. Brown's profile is also seen entering on the right in the the gray background scene, and the two's silhouetted profiles face each other. The video cuts to Brown, who is shown putting on his jacket and leaving his home as he walks through New York City.

Sparks is next seen at nighttime by the water with the Brooklyn Bridge in the background. She gets into her car and begins driving through the city. Meanwhile, we see Brown still in the daytime, arriving at Sparks' home. In a climactic sequence Brown confronts Sparks by her piano and the two passionately sing the final chorus to each other. Brown then leaves, and the video ends with their two silhouettes against the gray background, pulling away from each other. Whether or not they were ever really in the same place at the same time, or were simply imagining the other's presence, is left to the discretion of the viewer.

There are individual face shots of Brown and Sparks intercut throughout the video as well. Brown is also seen singing alone in a studio room with drums, guitars, and a piano, which he plays at the end, mirroring Sparks' first appearance on screen. One notable motif throughout the video is the wind that often blows against Brown and Sparks when they are shown outside or in the silhouetted scenes, driving home the message of the chorus: despite the presence of "air" all around, neither finds it possible to "breathe" without the other.

The music video was nominated: for two BET Awards for Viewers Choice and Chris Robinson was nominated for Best Video Director for his work on the "No Air" music video; for MTV Video Music Awards for Best Female Video and Best New Artist.

The music video peaked at #1 on iTunes. The video has been named the Ripe Clip of the Week on Channel [V] in Australia.

Tracklist

  • UK/German CD Single
  1. "No Air" (Duet With Chris Brown)
  2. "Save Me"
  • German CD Maxi
  1. "No Air" (Duet With Chris Brown)
  2. "Save Me"
  3. "No Air" (Benny Benassi "Pump-Kin" Remix)
  4. "No Air" (Jason Nevins Remix)
  5. "No Air" (Video)

Official versions

This list contains official remixes that will be featured in the single as remixes which will be released under Jive.[3]

  • "No Air" (UK Radio Edit) - Appears On Now! 70 - 3:09
  • "No Air" Official Remix (Featuring Chris Brown & Hood Fella)
  • "No Air" (Acoustic Version) - 4:18
  • "No Air" (Benny Benassi "Pump-kin" Remix) - 7:23
  • "No Air" (Benny Benassi "Pump-kin" Remix Radio Edit) - 3:29
  • "No Air" (Tiësto Remix) - 7:40
  • "No Air" (Tiësto Radio Edit) - 4:21
  • "No Air" (Jason Nevins Remix) - 7:28
  • "No Air" (Jason Nevins Radio Edit) - 5:13
  • "No Air" (Future Presidents Remix) - 4:58
  • "No Air" (TONAL "Deep End" Remix) - 6:04
  • "No Air" (TONAL "Deep End" Radio Edit) - 4:07
  • "No Air" (Doug Grayson "Cruel Intentions" Remix) - 6:58
  • "No Air" (Doug Grayson "Cruel Intentions" Radio Edit) - 4:33

Release history

Date Country Format
February 11 2008 United States Digital download
May 17 2008 Australia
May 30 2008[4] Germany Digital download, Maxi CD, CD single
July 7 2008 United Kingdom Digital download, CD Single

Awards

Year Awards Category Result
2008 BET Awards Viewers Choice Nomination
Best Video Director (Chris Robinson) Nomination
Love Song (pre-show) Won
Teen Choice Awards Hook-Up Single Won
Love Song Nomination
MTV Video Music Awards Best Female Video Nomination
Best New Artist (Jordin Sparks) Nomination

Chart performance

"No Air" peaked at number three on the Billboard Hot 100, becoming Sparks' highest charting song to date. The song is Sparks first song to appear on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart, where it has peaked at number four. The song reached number three on the Billboard Hot Digital Songs chart and number-three on the Canadian Hot 100, becoming Sparks' second top three hit there. The song's digital sales in the United States currently stand at 2,440,000 making it the second song by an American Idol contestant to pass the 2 million mark in digital sales, Carrie Underwood's "Before He Cheats" being the first.

"No Air" has also enjoyed international success in several countries, especially in Oceania. In New Zealand, the song spent seven consecutive weeks at number-one on the New Zealand RIANZ Singles Chart [5]. In Australia, "No Air" entered the Australian ARIA Singles Chart at number-sixteen and peaked at number-one for four consecutive weeks. The song has been certified platinum in New Zealand and double platinum in Australia [6]. She performed the song on "Australian Idol" where she was handed her certification of double platinum sales for "No Air".

The song has been very successful in Europe as well. The song debuted on the UK Top 75 singles chart in April 2008, after Sparks and Brown appeared on American Idol, which is shown in the UK on ITV2. It debuted at number 58, before falling out the following week but in June it shot back into the charts at number 74, rocketing to number 22 the following week and eventually peaked at number 3 and has spent 8 weeks in the top 10. This has become the highest charting song from any American Idol in the UK charts after Kelly Clarkson's "Since U Been Gone" charted at number-five in 2005. It also has reached number two on the Irish Singles Chart, a record there as well for a song by an American Idol contestant. The song peaked at number ten on the German Singles Chart and has also reached the top ten in Austria, Denmark, Finland, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, and Sweden.

In Asia, the song has charted at #14 so far in Japan, and reached number three in the Philippines.

The song peaked at number seven on the United World Chart, becoming Sparks' first worldwide top ten hit. In terms of sales, "No Air" is also Chris Brown's biggest hit, just ahead of his smash hits "Run It!" and "With You (Chris Brown song)".

Charts

Chart (2008)[7][8] Peak
Position
Australia ARIA Charts[9] 1
Austria Singles Chart[10] 8
Belgium Singles Chart[11] 24
Canadian Hot 100[12] 3
Danish Singles Chart 6
Dutch Top 40[13] 9
European Hot 100[14] 3
Finnish Singles Chart[15] 6
Germany Media Control Charts 10
Irish Singles Chart[16] 2
Israeli Singles Chart 1
Japan Hot 100[17] 14
New Zealand RIANZ Singles Chart[18] 1
Norwegian Singles Chart[19] 7
Polish National Top 50[20] 57
Portuguese Singles Chart[21] 8
Romanian Top 100[22] 33
Swedish Singles Chart[23] 4
Swiss Singles Chart[24] 8
UK Singles Chart 3
UK R&B Singles Chart 1
U.S. Billboard Hot 100[25] 3
U.S. Billboard Pop 100[26] 2
U.S. Billboard Top 40 Mainstream 1
U.S. Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs 4
U.S. Billboard Rhythmic Top 40 4
U.S. Billboard Hot Adult Top 40 Tracks 12
U.S. Billboard Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks 16

Certifications

Country Certification Sales
Singles Digital
Australia 2x Platinum 150,000
New Zealand Platinum
Sweden Gold 10,000
United States Platinum[27] 2,441,000
United Kingdom Silver 210,000

Chart procession and succession

Preceded by RIANZ New Zealand number-one single
March 17, 2008 - May 5, 2008 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Australian ARIA Singles Chart number-one single
June 16 2008 - July 14 2008 		Succeeded by
Preceded by UK R&B Singles number-one single
July 13 2008 - August 24 2008 		Succeeded by

Rissi Palmer version

"No Air"
Song

The country music version of "No Air" was released in late April 2008 by Rissi Palmer. When the song debuted at #58, it was Palmer's third charted single on the country charts.

Peak positions

Chart (2008) Peak
position
U.S. Billboard Hot Country Songs 47

References

  1. ^ Chuck Taylor.Single Reviews: No Air. Billboard. February 6 2008. Retrieved July 13 2008.
  2. ^ Jordin Sparks feat. Chris Brown - "No Air". BBC Radio 1. July 7 2008. Retrieved July 13 2008.
  3. ^ Remixes
  4. ^ Pop24 Shops
  5. ^ charts.org.nz - "no Air" on NZ charts
  6. ^ NZ & Aus charts
  7. ^ All Billboard Charts
  8. ^ Chart Run for "No Air"
  9. ^ ARIA Top 50 Singles Chart. Australian Recording Industry Association. Retrieved on June 15, 2008.
  10. ^ oe3.ORF.at / Woche 31 / 08
  11. ^ Belgium Singles Chart
  12. ^ Canadian Hot 100
  13. ^ Netherlands Hot 100
  14. ^ European Hot 100
  15. ^ Finland Hot 100
  16. ^ Ireland Hot 100
  17. ^ Japan Hot 100
  18. ^ New Zealand Hot 100
  19. ^ Norway Hot 100
  20. ^ Poland National Chart
  21. ^ Portugal Hot 100
  22. ^ Romanian Top 100
  23. ^ Sweden Hot 100
  24. ^ Swiss Singles
  25. ^ Billboard Hot 100
  26. ^ Billboard Pop 100
  27. ^ RIAA Search - Jordin Sparks


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