USHER FIX

- MTV.com

MTV News’ Top 25 Songs of 2010 has reached an end. We’ve already counted down the rest, and now it’s time to get to the best: Usher’s “OMG,” the song that perfectly sums up the past 12 months of popular music — and makes you wanna move until you can’t move no more.

If 2010 proved anything, it’s that a DJ really can save your life … or at least get you to #1 on the Hot 100. After years of staring at each other from across the room, hip-hop, pop and R&B all decided to finally get in bed with dance music, and the results weren’t always pretty, but they were certainly successful. To date, only 17 songs have made it to the top spot of Billboard‘s singles chart in 2010, and nearly two-thirds of them — from Ke$ha’s “Tik Tok” to Far East Movement’s “Like a G6″ — were, in some way, dance songs.

In that regard, no song better sums up 2010 pop music quite like Usher’s “OMG,” the dance song to end all dance songs. Sure, it may not have matched the swagger of Kanye West’s “Power,” the snarl of Rick Ross’ “B.M.F. (Blowin’ Money Fast)”or the inbox-clogging spread of Cee Lo’s “F— You,” but it didn’t have to. None of those songs went to #1, after all. “OMG” did. Twice.

Even among songs that managed to snag that top spot — Eminem and Rihanna’s “Love the Way You Lie,”Katy Perry’s “California Gurls,” B.o.B and Bruno Mars’ “Nothin’ on You” — “OMG” stood out from the pack, mostly because of its pedigree. It’s not a stretch to say that any of those tracks could’ve (and probably would’ve) been #1 in any other year; “OMG” could only have done it in 2010, because it was crafted to do nothing else. No other song this year was as of the moment, as singular and shiny and downright undeniable. There’s a reason it was named on more ballots than any other song on our countdown and justly takes the title of MTV News’ #1 Song of 2010.

And while all that is important, it’s largely beside the point. “OMG” is the kind of song that truly defies deep inspection, because it’s not exactly headphone music. Rather, it was made for the clubs, designed to envelop you on the dance floor and not let go until the final “oh-ohh-oh-ooh-oh.” And in that regard, it succeeds in spades. It is a masterful melding of R&B, and Euro dance, all icy synths and handclaps, starbursts and stutters and sing-along chants. It ebbs and flows, stops and starts, pumps and preens. Simply put, you cannot listen to it without moving in some way. (MTV’s Dee Caligiuri, who voted on our countdown, probably put it best one night when she declared: “There are so many dances you can do to it!”) And if that’s not the definition of a success, well, then I don’t know what is.

A large portion of the credit for “OMG” has to go to will.i.am, who not only produced the track (I know!), but was smart enough to see this whole dance thing coming when he teamed up with producer David Guetta last year. Those songs — “Boom Boom Pow” and “I Gotta Feeling” — were, of course, massive, but neither of them are as good as this. Given full control, Will goes off the deep end, cramming the song with every dance trick in the book — and probably some new ones he just invented on the spot. And Usher, whose career, truth be told, was sort of in need of a shot in the arm, is the beneficiary. He floats and gloats above the mix, suave and cocksure, knowing that he is exactly the right man at the right time. That time, of course, had to be 2010.

Because in a year when so many big-name acts embraced the DJ, he flat-out did it better than any of them. “OMG” represents the peak of the dance-pop era in which we live, a song as undeniable as it is of the moment. We can only speculate as to what next year will bring, but there’s really no denying that, as 2010 comes to a close, Usher stands above all else, reinvigorated and ready for more. It’s enough to make you say “Oh My God,” really.

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Usher is to host 500 house parties across the UK to celebrate the re-release of his latest album.

The R&B superstar, who is releasing a deluxe edition of his Raymond V. Raymond album featuring eight new songs, will promote the LP by inviting fans to hold parties across the country.

Music Week reports that fans can be recruited as hosts via the website www.comeround.com/usher, where they will be sent a box of merchandise and products to help promote the release.

“These parties are a great way for fans to celebrate the music they love while providing us with a new platform on which to promote our artists,” RCA campaign manager Adam Griffin said.

The majority of the parties will held on Friday, September 17 in a bid to maximise sales upon the LP’s release on Monday.

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To see all US tour dates see Tour Info.

“I’m not calling myself a superhero,” Usher says. “But you can call me one.” Consider the evidence. Faster than a speeding bullet, the singer followed the platinum-plus Raymond V. Raymond album — which since its release in March has spawned such pop and R&B hits as There Goes My Baby, Lil’ Freak and OMG— with the nine-track Versus, which premiered last week at No. 4 on the Billboard album chart and has produced the No. 6 single DJ Got Us Fallin’ in Love.

Now Usher is poised for his next cross-country adventure. The OMG Tour kicks off Nov. 10 in Seattle, with dates scheduled through Dec. 18. Ticket sales begin Sept. 17; information is available at usherworld.com.

“If you think about it, artists are like superheroes,” says Usher, 31. “We work all seasons, with all the pressures that come with that.”

Usher plans to channel that energy and discipline into his concerts. “I want to show all the different sides of my personality and artistic inspiration, through light, sound and graphics. I’m not just a guy who walks onstage and takes off his shirt — though you’ll get that, too.”

The emphasis, of course, will be on music.

“I learned from the era where things didn’t feel rehearsed in performance, even if they were. You can have such an incredible bond with your band that you just look at them — like James Brown would, or Prince, or Michael (Jackson) — and they know exactly what to do.”

Rolling Stone deputy managing editor Nathan Brackett sees Usher as an heir to those icons. “He’s a classic entertainer in a long line of great R&B performers whose music makes people feel good. Some songs give you hints of a personal struggle, but it’s telling that his biggest hits have been up-tempo.”

Versus in particular is informed by Usher’s affection for club music, “which is about letting your issues go,” he says. “You turn on the TV and everything is negative. DJ Got Us Fallin’ in Love is about a weekend experience: I’ve worked hard all week, and now I’m getting back to what life is really about.”

On the road, the feel-good vibes will extend offstage, and beyond the romantic sphere. Usher is creating a section in his tour bus for his two sons by ex-wife Tameka Foster: Usher Raymond V, who turns 3 in November, and Naviyd, who’ll be 2 in December.

“I’m building them a full play area,” Usher says. “This way, when they get tired of watching me, they’ll have something else to do.”

Update: The Official Twitter Hashtag For The Tour is #UsherOMGtour!

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Click here to see previously posted video.

MTV and Yahoo’s new partnership, Behind the Lens, will be giving Usher fans a behind-the-scenes look at “OMG” to celebrate his recent VMA nomination. 

In celebration of the upcoming 2010 MTV Music Video Awards, MTV and Yahoo have paired up to launch Behind the Lens for a behind-the-scenes look at some this year’s nominees and previous VMA winners. Behind the Lens also gives music fans a backstage look a never-before-seen photos, “Making-Of” tidbits, and other fun trivia facts surrounding the music videos that have made the VMA’s such a memorable event.

Click here to experience Behind The Lens.

For a video as forward thinking as Usher’s “OMG” — with its laser beams and light flashes — director Anthony Mandler actually looked back for inspiration.

“The original idea was kind of Max Headroom,” Mandler told MTV News, citing the animated science-fiction character from ’80s British TV. “That’s where it came from — the TV flickering on and there’s this character. We just wanted to bring it up to date.”

“Max Headroom was always in his room,” he continued, “this unidentifiable room, ’80s shapes. I used that for inspiration.”

The formula worked: “OMG” is among the Best Male Video nominees for the 2010 MTV Video Music Awards. The clip is up against Drake’s “Find Your Love,” Jason Derulo’s “In My Head,” Eminem’s “Not Afraid” and B.o.B.’s “Airplanes.” Mandler is a multiple nominee, having also helmed Drake’s video.

“OMG” is the first time Usher and Mandler — who’s worked with Jay-Z, Mary J. Blige, and Rihanna — collaborated on a project.

Usher said he knew the video would be a challenge and wanted to make sure the director was up to the task.

“When I first shot the song to him, I was like, ‘Are you sure you’re gonna be able to catch this one?’ And he said, ‘I got it,’” Usher explained.

“We wanted to bring into my world,” he continued. “Obviously, the international sound and look and feel has already been set, but we wanted to do something theatrical, fun and energetic to show us working off of each other and playing off of each other as artists, but the cinematography would be artistic and incredible.”

Mandler described the visuals as “Hitchcock-ian.” Though the style of the shot was important to the director, he had a simpler goal in mind: to capture Usher in his element. He said the key to the clip was simply letting Usher’s talent take over.

“The concept was to create a world where we put Usher in a space where he does what I think he does better than anyone else in the world, which is perform at a level and magnitude of a superstar and take us, the viewer, whether audible or visually, on a journey, not a ride,” the director said. “And, in that, I wanted to create an unpredictability, so one set leads to another and another, and you never know what’s gonna happen. Along the way, Usher becomes our guide. We’re so focused on him, we don’t notice the change. The thing is unfolding little by little, and you can’t quite see far enough ahead to know what’s gonna come next.”

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Be sure to pick up one or both today! Let’s make Usher #1! 

Usher has bumped Alicia Keys out of the top spot on the R&B/Hip-Hop Singles chart with “There Goes My Baby,” the fourth single from his hit record Raymond v. Raymond. This is Usher’s 11th single to reach #1.

Keys was number one for ten straight weeks with her Element of Freedom single “Un-Thinkable (I’m Ready),” but has now fallen to number two. Drake rounds out the top three with “Find Your Love” from his debut album Thank Me Later.

Thus far all of the singles from Raymond v. Raymond have enjoyed nice runs on the Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart. The first single, “Hey Daddy (Daddy’s Home),” peaked at number two with “Lil Freak” following at number eight and “OMG” hitting number one on the Hot 100.

Raymond v. Raymond debuted at the number one spot on the Billboard 200 chart and has been certified platinum by the RIAA. The album sold 329,000 units in its first week.

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