Justin Bieber Protege, Carly Rae Jepsen Lands UK #1 with Second Fastest Selling Single of 2012

As if the sudden rush of notoriety here in America wasn't enough for Canadian singer/songwriter Carly Rae Jepsen, now she's become an overnight success in the UK as well. Pretty effing fantastic.  Jepsen's smash single, the uber-catchy "Call Me Maybe" not only crashed into the top ten on Billboard's Hot 100 chart but following it's release last week in the UK, the former Canadian Idol contestant has the pleasure of having the SECOND fastest selling single of 2012 to date, with nearly 107,000 sold in the first week and an impressive out of nowhere #1 debut on the UK Singles Chart.  Pretty impressive.  Jepsen comes in only second to the DJ Fresh & Rita Ora jam "Hot Right Now" which sold an impressive 128,000 in it's first week of release back in February.  Whichever way you slice it, this is no small feat and Carly Rae Jepsen has a lot to be happy about.

Back in 2007, Carly Rae Jepsen came to Canada's attention after placing third in the fifth season of Canadian Idol.  Jepsen released her debut album, Tug of War back in 2008 via Fontana/MapleMusic, which included lead single, "Sunshine on My Shoulders," a John Denver cover.  On September 20, 2011, Jepsen released "Call Me Maybe" through 604 Records, a Canadian production company distributed by Universal Music Canada and run by Nickelback's Chad Kroeger and attorney Jonathan Simkin.  The single was the first to be lifted off Jepsen's Canadian EP, Curiosity.  Jepsen's international profile received an instantaneous and incredible boost after Justin Bieber and Selena Gomez both tweeted about the song, launching Carly Rae Jepsen's career into the stratosphere.  Following Jepsen's sudden U.S. fame, she was signed to Schoolboy Records, a label established by Justin Bieber's manager Scooter Braun and distributed in the states by Interscope Records.  Talk about a whirlwind rise to the top!

Written and produced by John Ramsay (of the band Marianas Trench), "Call Me Maybe" is absolutely infectious from beginning to end. The song's infectiousness is mostly do to the up-tempo beat and easy-to-sing-along-to chorus and hook.  While not quite dance-pop, "Call Me Maybe" isn't traditional pop/rock either - it's kind of a melding of the two, in fact Rolling Stone's Melody Lau calls it "Taylor Swift meets Robyn."   The chorus is backed by some fantastically catchy synthesized string chords and inanely catchy lyrics: "Hey, I just met you, And this is crazy, But here's my number, So call me maybe." GENIUS.  This really feels like a song that I shouldn't love...perhaps it's that Justin Bieber endorsement? I don't know - "Call Me Maybe" is a total GUILTY PLEASURE, yet still manages to draw me in. I guess that's the true essence of a guilty pleasure.

The song is officially a bonafide success, going #1 in five countries (Australia, Canada, Ireland, New Zealand, UK) and top ten in the Netherlands, Norway and America.  For me, it wasn't until I watched the Ben Knechtel-directed music video with the surprise ending, that I absolutely fell in love with both Carly Rae Jepsen and "Call Me Maybe" - check it out BELOW.  Jepsen just exudes innocence in the easy breezy video, all the while lusting over a sexy model boy working in his backyard.  It's all a bit cliche, but every time I watch it I just get so into the song that I just don't care.  Also worth a watch - this viral video featuring Bieber, Selena Gomez, Ashley Tisdale and more.  Also check out Jepsen making her U.S. television debut on The Ellen DeGeneres Show HERE.

Download "Call Me Maybe" on U.S. iTunes HERE and UK iTunes HERE and look out for her new single, a cover of Joni Mitchell's "Both Sides Now," due out May 1st.

Check out Carly Rae Jepsen on the Web:

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