Hot Video Alert: Countess Luann - Chic C'Est La Vie

Well, it looks like Real Housewife of New York's Countess Luann de Lesseps has released a second single, "Chic C'Est La Vie."  She certainly took her sweet time, didn't she? Previous single, the super catchy "Money Can't Buy You Class" was released all the way back in May of last year!  I mean I know The Countess is busy writing books, being philanthropic and canoodling with her French boyfriend, but come on Luann!  Your music fans have needs too!

Signed to indie dance label Ultra Records, Countess Luann brings us another spoken word dance treat.  "Chic C'Est La Vie" is fun...if you forget the fact that the woman can't sing, or act for that matter.  The most I could hope for here is a cool video. Unfortunately, The Countess does NOT deliver in this regard either.  Where as the video for "Money Can't Buy You Class" was poorly acted, at least it had a sleek, chic, modern look and actually resembled a music video.  The "Chic C'Est La Vie" video is a hot mess, essentially a weekend girls trip filmed at The Borgata in Atlantic City with New York Housewives pals Jill Zarin and Kelly Killoren Bensimon (the only two who would agree to appear in the clip).  Where as the "Money Can't Buy You Class" video was sleek and contemporary, the "Chic C'Est La Vie" video is pure camp and cheese.  While in the video, The Countess and her friends flaunt wealth and luxury, it's nothing but a cheap representation of both. Pity.

The single was digitally released June 28th and features two dance remixes and a "Moroccan" mix, clearly inspired by the housewives recent trip to Morocco on the show.  As far as the remixes go, they are very clearly a big step up from the original track which lacks pretty much everything, especially talent.  I'm officially putting a moratorium on Bravo reality stars releasing music...except for Melissa Gorga on New Jersey. That girl can actually sing. I'll give her a shot.  Download "Chic C'Est La Vie" on U.S. iTunes HERE and check out the riveting music video below.  I love watching all of the awkward extras pretending like they give a shit.

P.S. - Check out my review on the rest of the Housewives singing careers.

Checkout Countess LuAnn on the web:

Official Site//Facebook//Twitter//YouTube

The Real Housewives: Which Ones Can Sing?

BRAVO, Bravo TV. BRAVO. You've managed to create a Reality TV model that works, not only in terms of RATINGS but in terms of BRANDING as well. Sure - the majority of your programs take on the format of your former ratings Juggernaut Project Runway, but let's take a moment to look at your Real Housewives franchise - a separate brand in and of itself.

The Real Housewives of Orange County, New York, Atlanta and New Jersey DELIVER the ratings week/over/week, and with the soon-to-air Washington D.C. and Beverly Hills installments, your RICH BITCH reality TV domination doesn't show any signs of stopping. Of course, Bravo owes the majority of it's success with this popular franchise to the stars themselves (and of course editing), the 'housewives.' Each season has it's own drama and THAT'S what viewers come to expect, but what do the ladies get out of it? Have you looked at the New York Times Best Seller List or Amazon.com WHENEVER one of the housewives releases a book? These ladies are DEFINITELY working their new-found fame for their own betterment...AND for the betterment of others. Virtually all of the housewives are active with various charities, throwing benefits and attending balls. I'm just saying that, with all of that drama, the ladies DESERVE to get something out of it.

Who could have guessed at just HOW MANY of the housewives have harbored secret desires to sing professionally? More than I might have expected and likely more to come. Watch me break down each of the housewives' singles released to date. I'll be evaluating them based on four factors: MUSIC & LYRICS, VOCAL ABILITY, ALBUM ARTWORK and the overall FUN FACTOR of the song. We'll be covering Jo De La Rosa and Gretchen Rossi from the OC, LuAnn de Lesseps from New York City, Atlanta's Kim Zolciak and Kandi Burruss and New Jersey's own Danielle Staub. From OLDEST to NEWEST...here we go!

Jo De La Rosa appeared on the first two seasons of the ORIGINAL Real Housewives series, the Real Housewives of Orange County. De La Rosa released her debut album, Unscripted August 19th 2008 on Immergent Records. I was late jumping on board the Housewives bandwagon so I missed the first few seasons so I'm not sure if De La Rosa's singing career played any part early on but her first single "U Can't Control Me" was released 2 years AFTER De La Rosa had left the program to record her debut album. De La Rosa has cameoed in both season 3 and season 4, the latter asking current cast member Gretchen Rossi to make an appearance in her first music video. What about the song? Thankfully Jo has a whole album to redeem herself the song is a bit of a dud. While the chorus is FULL of attitude the song just falls flat. I don't know if it's the production or the songwriting that fails here but it just sounds like another sub-par angry-girl anthem. In listening to some of her album tracks, you can tell that De La Rosa can sing, although she doesn't exhibit much range. She definitely does better with the up-tempo pop/dance numbers. Check out the Jason Nevins remixes of her debut single if you haven't heard them yet. They are definitely a vast improvement upon the original. According to her MySpace, she parted ways with her label and is working on new material. I'd recommend something dancey and club-friendly.

Music & Lyrics

Vocal Ability

Album Artwork

Fun Factor

Read more »

Hot Video Alert: Countess LuAnn - Money Can't Buy You Class

"Well the cats out of the bag! Someone leaked my video!" Countess LuAnn de Lesseps said yesterday on her Facebook wall. Check out the NEW single artwork, above and compare it to the old artwork. She's certainly upped the budget since being signed with Ultra Records. The song is still...what it is but I'm glad there's a video now. Here's hoping we get some remixes! On an unrelated note...where is Kim Zolciak's video?  Check out the video below and let me know what you think!

Check out Countess LuAnn on the web:

Official Site// Facebook//Twitter

Real Housewives of NYC Star Signs to Ultra Records!

Well this was unexpected. Countess LuAnn de Lesseps, of Bravo's Real Housewives of New York City fame, has signed to indie dance music label Ultra Records! Ultra is home to dance artists such as Kaskade, Benny Benassi, Ferry Corsten, and Paul Oakenfold to name a few. According to E! Online, the Countess sealed the deal with Ultra on Wednesday. Her first single, "Money Can't Buy You Class" was released digitally on April 22nd. The Countess apparently sang a snippet from her second single, "Chic C'est La Vie" on Bravo's Watch What Happens Live last night after a new episode of her reality series.

I'm not sure how I feel about this. Vocally speaking, the Countess isn't really that impressive. Granted, I don't know if the song actually showcases de Lesseps' talent or not. In the episode where she's singing, the higher she goes, the more out of tune she becomes. At least she's doing what she loves. According to de Lesseps, "In life, we don't always hit the high note but I wanted to go out and do my best because I have always loved to sing." Good attitude.

With a label like Ultra behind her, I'm interested to see what she does with her singing career. Let's she if she pull off another Kim Zolciak! So far it's Countess 1, Kim Zolciak 0 because last I heard, Kim doesn't yet have a record deal. You go Countess!

Check out Countess LuAnn on the web:

Official Site// Facebook//Twitter