Criminal (song)

Criminal
Britney Spears
publication	September 30, 2011
length	3:45 (album version) 3:45 (radio mix)
Genre (s)	Pop , soft rock
Author (s)	Max Martin , Karl Schuster, Tiffany Amber
album	Femme Fatale

Criminal (. English for: criminal) is a song by American pop - singer Britney Spears from their seventh studio album Femme Fatale . The song was written by Max Martin , Karl Schuster and Tiffany Amber and produced by Martin and Shellback. On August 28, 2011, Spears announced that Criminal would be released as the fourth single from Femme Fatale . The US radio premiere took place on October 4, 2011.

background

Spears recorded Criminal at Maratone Studios in Stockholm , with Chau Phan providing the backing vocals. The song is about a girl who tells her mother that she is in love with a criminal.

On March 2, 2011, before the release of her album Femme Fatale , Spears posted a link on Twitter that contained a 17-second audio sample of Criminal and named the song one of her favorites. Spears announced during a post- MTV Video Music Awards 2011 interview on August 28, 2011 that Criminal would be released as the fourth single from Femme Fatale in September 2011. Criminal received mostly positive reviews from the reviews of all album tracks by various music magazines . In some countries, u. a. Mexico , France , Belgium and Switzerland were able to download the official radio mix of the song from September 30, 2011 on iTunes . Even before the official radio premiere on October 11, 2011, the song reached an audience of over 8,000 on mainstream radio in the USA. With this performance, Criminal achieved a placement in the Billboard Pop Songs before it was released .

Music video

development

Portions of the video were shot in the Stoke Newington Town Hall.

At the 2011 MTV Video Music Awards, Spears told the music broadcaster that they already had a "really cool concept for the video". It was again directed by Chris "Mars" Piliero, who previously worked with Spears on I Wanna Go . Spears told him the basic story she had planned and described it as "fairytale". Spears also wanted her boyfriend Jason Trawick to star in the video. Piliero was hesitant at first, feeling that a professional actor would do a better job. On September 6, 2011, Spears announced through her Twitter account that she had decided to move the video shoot "in the streets of merry old England". In an interview with AOL, she stated, “I've never shot a video outside of America. So, it should be very interesting. It was partly my idea… ”.

The music video for Criminal was finally filmed in Stoke Newington, a borough of London, on the weekend of September 17th, 2011. That day, MTV UK also reported that the video was reminiscent of Bonnie and Clyde. On September 18, pictures of Spears and Trawick surfaced and were posted online. They escaped from a supermarket and carried guns. The fact that Spears allegedly propagated the use of weapons in the video sparked outrage and criticism from British politicians. On British TV show This Morning , Spears stated the video was about a girl in upper society and the way she lives. On October 9, 2011, Marrs Piliero wrote about the video on his Twitter account: "I can't say much about the @britneyspears criminal vid, except that I love this video and can't wait for it to appear", he added: "Oh, and that she looks gorgeous in it ... I'm pretty sure that it's okay if I say that ..."

content

The video opens with a glamorous event that also includes Spears and her companion (Freddy Bradshaw). While he is talking to two people next to her, Spears seems to be looking for someone in the crowd. Bradshaw feels embarrassed, insults her and gets violent. Spears flees to the toilet and wipes a tear from his face in front of the mirror. She then returns to the ballroom and sees Bradshaw flirting with another woman. She joins the two of them and says to the young woman: As I can see, you don't work on the street corner today! Bradshaw, furious, grabs Spears by the arm and pulls her outside. He confronts her and slaps her on the face. A temporary waiter (Jason Trawick), who is currently disposing of the garbage, recognizes the situation and hits Spears' companion several times, causing him to go down. The waiter asks Spears if she's okay, and after kicking Bradshaw one more step, she says, I'm okay now! . Then Spears and Trawick get on his motorcycle and drive through town to Trawick's little house. After Spears discovers a weapon in one of the lockers, which are numerous in the apartment, it turns out that Trawick is a criminal. Still, Spears is impressed and they begin to kiss. After a romantic night of love, Trawick Spears brings breakfast to bed the next morning.

You go into a shop where Spears is stealing vanilla candles. Then she points the gun at the cashier, Trawick takes money from the cash register and they both flee in a stolen Citroën DS3 . The robbery was recorded by the surveillance cameras and pictures of the couple are being broadcast on the local television network. The manhunt is successful and several police officers surround Trawick's house. Trawick recognizes the danger on the screens of the surveillance cameras he has installed and the couple moves closer together. The police open fire and ransack the criminal's home. As if protected by their love for one another, Spears and Trawick stand kissing in the hail of bullets. The police storm the house, but the couple has long since fled unmolested. The chief of operations confirms that the suspects have left the building. The video ends with Spears and Trawick escaping through the narrow streets of London on their motorbike.

During the credits the sentence appears: No vanilla candles were damaged during the making of this music video .

Charts

On September 24, 2011, Criminal achieved its first official chart placement in France. Due to the high download sales, the song entered the official single charts at number 83 and reached its highest ranking on October 29, 2011 at number 13.

In the US, Criminal made its debut on September 29, 2011, even before its official release in Billboard Pop Songs, at number 40, making it Spears' 27th place. On November 19, 2011, the song reached its highest ranking with number 19. On October 20, 2011, Criminal debuted on the Billboard Hot 100 at number 92. On November 19, 2011, the song climbed to number 55 and thus reached its highest position in these charts. After three top 10 releases from "Femme Fatale", Criminal's chart positions were a bitter disappointment. In the Canadian Hot 100 on October 13, 2011 , Criminal immediately entered 83rd place due to high radio broadcasts and climbed to 16th place thanks to increasing download sales.

In Switzerland , the song rose to 67th place on October 16, 2011 and reached 33rd place on November 20, 2011 as the highest position.

After Femme Fatale was released , Criminal entered the international singles charts at position 51 in South Korea and, at the same time, reached number 37 in the international download charts. After the release of the radio mix, Criminal returned to both hit lists, but could not beat the previous top positions.

Chart placements

Charts (2011)	Top position
Switzerland	33
United States	55

Release history

country	date	format	Label
Belgium	September 30, 2011	Download	RCA Records
Canada
Italy
Netherlands
Norway
Switzerland
United States
United States	4th October 2011	Mainstream radio
	October 25, 2011	Pop radio
United Kingdom	November 19, 2011	Download

Web links

• Official music video on YouTube

Individual evidence

1. ↑ James Montgomery: Britney Spears Responds To 'Criminal' Video Controversy . MTV. MTV Networks. September 26, 2011. Retrieved August 17, 2015.
2. ↑ Radio Industry News, Music Industry Updates, Arbitron Ratings, Music News and more! . FMQB. October 4, 2011. Retrieved August 17, 2015.
3. ↑ Jocelyn Vena: Britney Spears Teases Femme Fatale Slow Jam 'Criminal' . MTV. March 2, 2011. Retrieved August 17, 2015.
4. ↑ Jocelyn Vena, James Montgomery: Britney Spears Reveals Next Single At VMAs . MTV. MTV Networks . August 28, 2011. Retrieved August 17, 2015.
5. ↑ Jocelyn Vena, Vanessa White Wolf: Britney Spears Boyfriend's 'Criminal' Role 'A Challenge' . MTV. MTV Networks. October 19, 2011. Retrieved August 17, 2015.
6. ↑ Ann Oldenburg: Spears, 'Criminal' boyfriend craft a 'sensual' fairy tale . In: USA Today , October 25, 2011. Retrieved August 17, 2015. 
7. ↑ Capital FM Staff: Britney Spears Teases New Music Video . The Capital FM Network . Global radio . September 6, 2011. Retrieved August 17, 2015.
8. ^ Robert Copsey: Britney Spears angers MPs over 'Criminal' video shoot . Digital spy. Hachette Filipacchi (UK) Ltd. October 31, 2011. Retrieved August 17, 2015.
9. ↑ [1]
10. ↑ billboard.com
11. ^ ITunes - Music - Criminal - Single by Britney Spears ( English ) iTunes Store. Apple Inc. September 30, 2011. Retrieved October 3, 2011.
12. ^ ITunes - Music - Criminal - Single by Britney Spears ( English ) iTunes Store. Apple Inc. September 30, 2011. Retrieved October 3, 2011.
13. ^ ITunes - Musica - Criminal - Single di Britney Spears ( Italian ) iTunes Store . Apple Inc . September 30, 2011. Retrieved September 30, 2011.
14. ^ ITunes - Muziek - Criminal - Single Van Britney Spears ( Dutch ) iTunes Store. Apple Inc. September 30, 2011. Retrieved October 3, 2011.
15. ^ ITunes - Music - Criminal - Single by Britney Spears ( English ) iTunes Store. Apple Inc. September 30, 2011. Retrieved October 3, 2011.
16. ^ ITunes music criminal single from Britney Spears . iTunes Store. Apple Inc. September 30, 2011. Retrieved October 3, 2011.
17. ^ Robert Copsey: Singles Release Diary . Digital spy. Hachette Filipacchi (UK) Ltd. Retrieved October 6, 2011.