“Hot N Cold” is a song by American singer Katy Perry. Dr. Luke, Max Martin, and Perry wrote it for her second album, One of the Boys.

The track was released as the album’s third single. It reached number three on the Billboard Hot 100, making it Perry’s second consecutive top three single, after her previous worldwide hit “I Kissed a Girl”. The single has also become Perry’s second top five single in dozens of countries around the world, including the U.K, Germany, Australia, Canada, Ireland and New Zealand.

Blender magazine calls the track a “spunky, climate-controlled kiss-off,” and Entertainment Weekly agrees, “It’s damn fun.” Wellheart Music Journal calls the song ‘a step up’ and having a ‘swift punch and dominant, biting’ lyrics. The song went for adds on the North-American radios on September 9 and remained the song with one of the biggest bullets of the entire mediabase for weeks. Perry made the live television premiere performance of “Hot N Cold” on NBC’s Today show outdoor concert series on August 29th. Katy revealed in an interview with Radio 1 that “Hot N Cold” would in fact be the follow up single to her number one hit “I Kissed a Girl” in the United Kingdom and Australia. There are currently three radio edits. One being where the word “bitch” is replaced with the word “chick”, being “You PMS, like a chick, I would know”. The second mostly used on radio program Open House Party, this version uses “girl” instead of “bitch” or “chick”. One version was once played on Ryan Seacrest’s American Top 40 radio show. In this version Perry sings “You PMS, I would know.” The final radio edit that is used on UK music channels cuts out the word altogether. Katy Perry performed the song live at the MTV EMA’s in Liverpool (which she hosted) on Thursday, November 6, 2008, therefore closing the show (her first single, I Kissed a Girl, opened the show). The track has also been released for play in the iPhone game Tap Tap Revenge. The song was also performed on the first ever 2008 YouTube Live on November 22nd, 2008 (this opened the show).

Music video

The video was shot in Los Angeles in early September. It premiered at MySpace on October 1, 2008. The video was added to iTunes on October 10, 2008.

The music video begins at a wedding, as the vows are said between Katy and her soon-to-be husband Alexander on the video. However, he backs out, and the song is performed as Katy chases him across town and mentally abuses him for having cold feet. The song ends with Katy standing over the groom with a zebra standing beside her, and revealing that the groom had been imagining the consequences of saying no. He accepts, and the video ends with the two running down the aisle to a cheering, crowded church. As of November 23, the song has received more than 5.4 million views on YouTube. The video has also peaked at #1 on iTunes Top Music Videos Virtual Store.

Chart performance

“Hot N Cold” debuted on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 on June 26, 2008, due to digital downloads after the album’s release. It debuted on the U.S. Hot 100 at number 88 and fell off the next week. It re-entered the U.S. Hot 100 on August 14, 2008, again at number 88. It has recently reached #1 on the U.S. iTunes chart and has peaked at number 3 on the U.S. Hot 100, making it her second top three hit. “Hot n Cold” has been certified platinum by the RIAA. In Canada the song debuted at #73 and reached #1 on the chart dated, November 20, 2008. In the U.K the single peaked at #5 on the UK Singles Chart and #3 on the U.K. iTunes chart. In Ireland the song has peaked at #3. In Australia the single debuted in the top 50, then quickly reached the top 10. It then slowly reached its peak at #4 on digital downloads alone, with no physical release planned. It has also peaked at #1 on the Australian Airplay Chart.
“Hot N Cold” entered the German Singles Chart at #2 due to high digial download sales.

This is the highest entry ever of a single based on downloads alone in Germany.In its second week it peaked at #1 in Germany.

Other Information

• Artist: Katy Perry
• Album: One of the Boys
• Released: November 24, 2008 (EU); November 25, 2008 (USA)
• Format: Digital download
• Recorded: 2007-2008
• Genres: Dance pop, electronic rock
• Length: 3:40
• Label: Capitol
• Writers: Katy Perry, Dr. Luke, Max Martin
• Producer: Dr. Luke
• Certifications: Platinum (RIAA), Gold (RIANZ)

Tags: American Singer, billboard hot 100, Capitol Music Group, Hot N Cold, I Kissed a Girl, Katy Perry, One of the Boys, Ryan Seacrest