“Womanizer” is a song performed by American pop singer Britney Spears. The song was recorded for her sixth studio album, Circus, and was released as the first single on September 26, 2008. The track became a commercial success, topping charts in several countries. “Womanizer” was produced and co-written by Nikesha Briscoe and Rafael Akinyemi of Atlanta-based production team, The Outsyders. “Womanizer” is Spears’ first number one single on the Hot 100 since her debut “…Baby One More Time”, almost 10 years prior.

Single release and promotion

Announced as the lead single from the album, “Womanizer” was first released to radio stations worldwide on September 26, 2008. It was released commercially in the United States on October 7, 2008 through digital distribution. It will be released as a CD single on October 25, 2008 in Australia; November 14, 2008 in Germany; and on November 24, 2008 in the UK.

On October 15, 2008, the song made a record jump from ninety-six to number one on the Billboard Hot 100, breaking the record set by T.I.’s “Live Your Life”, which had jumped from number eighty to number one the week before. It also garnered first-week download sales of 286,000, the biggest opening-week tally by a female artist since Nielsen SoundScan began tracking digital downloads in 2003, topping Mariah Carey’s take for “Touch My Body” by just over 200 units. During a live interview with New York’s Z100, Spears talked about the song quoting: “It’s basically saying, ‘We know what you’re up to.’ It’s about guys cheating on girls… it’s a girl anthem. That’s why I like it.”

The stage premiere of “Womanizer” took place in Europe. Spears performed the song at the Bambi awards in Germany on November 27. She also received a Bambi for “Best Pop International Artist”. On November 28, “Womanizer” was performed live on French show Star Academy; and on November 29, Spears performed “Womanizer” live on UK talent show, The X Factor. Her performance on The X Factor was watched by 12.8 million UK citizens, becoming the most viewed episode in the show’s history.

A commercial to promote the character “Chuck Bass” from Gossip Girl that featured “Womanizer” was first shown on The CW‘s channel and was later available on Spears’s official website.

Reception

Ann Powers of The Los Angeles Times described the track as “retro-futurism” that “takes a roller coaster ride via the snappy staccato beats crafted by the young Atlanta-based production team the Outsyders.” “It’s clean and contemporary,” the website said, “but also invokes the quick-witted style of vocal groups like the Andrews Sisters — a style Brit’s rival, Christina Aguilera, has mined to great success before. The highly manipulated vocal complements Brit’s Mississippi Valley Girl diction; though she’s been turned into a robot again, she actually sounds engaged.”^[12] Popjustice also gave the song a glowing review, stating that whilst the leaked clip was enjoyable, the full track “throws the whole thing into a brand new realm of amazingness.” The review also compared the song to Spears’s 2004 song, “Toxic” and Blackout’s “Ooh Ooh Baby” and said the track, “lays a really strong foundation for the fully-realised comeback that didn’t quite happen last time and it’s hard not to think of it as a late contender for single of the year.” British newspaper The Observer gave the song the maximum five stars referring to it as a “comeback single” and as having a “genius hook”. It also said, “However, it’s also been called lazy, largely by misinformed people who also think that Kylie’s ‘la la la’s would have been better with proper words.”

Bill Lamb of About.com thought that Spears sounded confident, but he wrote a generally negative review of “Womanizer”. Lamb wrote that the song sounded “like a rather weak attempt to approach the attitude of Katy Perry in a classic Britney futuristic bubblegum pop context. Unfortunately, after a few listens it all becomes quite dull.” Lamb also wrote that the song was “no match for her classic material.”^[15] Daily News‘ music critic Jim Farber criticized the song, saying it is not the brilliant single Spears needs. Farber says, “From the sound of it, it should have been delayed indefinitely. Spears delivers the title word no fewer than nine times in a row, in a nagging tone meant to mimic the most irritating of schoolyard taunts.”

Chart performance

The track entered the Billboard Hot 100 Airplay chart at fifty-nine with three days of its radio release alone. It also debuted on the Billboard Bubbling Under Hot 100 at eleven on the week of October 11, 2008. The song then entered the Hot 100 chart at ninety-six on the following week due to rising airplay. On October 15, the song made a record-breaking ninety-five position jump to number one on the Billboard Hot 100, breaking not only the record for largest jump to #1, which had been set by T.I.’s Live Your Life only one week prior, but the record for largest jump by any song in the history of the chart, which was previously held by Beyoncé and Shakira’s “Beautiful Liar”. It also garnered first-week download sales of 286,000, the biggest opening-week tally by a female artist since Nielsen SoundScan began tracking digital downloads in 2003. It marked Spears’s first number one single on the Hot 100 since her debut …Baby One More Time. In Canada, the single started at ninety-seven went up to forty-three and has topped the Canadian Hot 100 for five consecutive weeks.

Moreover, in Europe, the song debuted at number one in Sweden and became her first number one hit since “Lucky” in 2000. In addition, “Womanizer” entered at number six in Denmark and in Norway at number four, before hitting number one on the following week. On the week of November 9, it entered the UK Singles Chart at number four selling 46,000 copies on download sales only. That same week, the song made its debut in Ireland at number two. After spending several weeks about the UK top ten, the track peaked at number three on December 7.

The track debuted at number sixteen on the Australian ARIA Singles Chart on October 13, 2008, and moved up to seven on the following week and stayed there on the next. On November 2, 2008 the track then jumped two places to number five as well as debuting at number one on the Australian ARIA Dance Chart. This marks Spears fourth consecutive number one hit on the Australian ARIA Dance Chart. On November 24, 2008 the track was certified gold for sales over 35,000. Also in Oceania, in New Zealand, “Womanizer” has so far peaked at number nine.

Music video

The music video was filmed on September 24 and September 25, 2008 at a Los Angeles nightclub and restaurant. It was directed by Joseph Kahn, who had previously directed Spears’ videos “Stronger” (2000) and “Toxic” (2004). There are some references to these prior videos, including an opening caption similar to the one in “Stronger” and an awkward-looking man in the office scene who is also seen in “Toxic.” In the MTV documentary Britney: For the Record, Spears comments on how she wanted the video to be a sequel of sorts to “Toxic”. Britney’s love interest in the music video is played by Brandon Stoughton. The video starts off with Britney making breakfast for her boyfriend while he gets ready for work. When he is at work, he sees a new secretary (which is Britney in disguise). She starts dancing with her dancers as she sings the chorus. Next, her boyfriend is at a restaurant with Britney being one of the waitresses (in another of her disguises). She then starts to seduce him as she sings the chorus with her backup dancers. Then her boyfriend is getting driven home by his chauffeur (which is Britney once again in her last disguise). She then starts to kiss him, with her feet steering the wheel until both get home. Once they get into the bedroom, Britney reveals that she was the three women he was “womanizing” all along. She then begins attacking her boyfriend. This is shown through Spears as her three alter egos, and then as the real version of herself. The video ends by Britney throwing a blanket over him and making the bed.

The video premiered on October 10 on ABC’s 20/20 at the end of their program. To promote the release of the music video, ABC launched an official five day countdown commercial for the week of October 6 – October 11. The director’s cut of the “Womanizer” video also appeared on an MTV blog that night.

Reception

OK! Magazine quoted “in addition to seeing Brit in three different sexy getups, the video…features an oiled-up Britney writhing around in nothing but a smile.” MSNBC wrote “When Spears isn’t shown naked and writhing in a steam room, she’s fired up”. “Think Fashion” (Canada) argued that “while Ms. Spears has had her fair share of failed attempts at making a comeback over the past year, we’re pretty sure this video will put her back on the map (not that she really ever left, let’s be honest).” Australia’s NEWS.com.au simply said “Britney Spears is back to her old sexy self and she’s not afraid to flaunt it.” TV Guide wrote; “The music video features some of the most strategically placed hands in music-video history” also quoting “Womanizer’s video is quite a return to form for the troubled pop star.”

The music video for “Womanizer” became a worldwide success right after it premiered on the internet. In the United Kingdom the video was viewed 7 million times in less than 48 hours breaking the record hold by Leona Lewis’ Bleeding Love that was viewed 5.4 million times in that same time. In the United States the video was viewed by three million people in less than 48 hours making it the third fastest viewed video just behind Spears’ “Piece of Me”, and Avril Lavigne’s “Girlfriend”. To date the music video has been viewed over 3 million times on MTV.com.

Single formats

Digital single

1. “Womanizer” (main version) — 3:43

CD single 1 (Australian CD A/European 2-Track/U.K. CD)

1. “Womanizer” (main version) — 3:43
2. “Womanizer” (Instrumental) — 3:42

CD single 2 (Australian CD B/European Maxi CD)

1. “Womanizer” (main version) — 3:43
2. “Womanizer” (Kaskade Mix) — 5:31
3. “Womanizer” (Junior’s Electro Tribal Mix) — 8:47
4. “Womanizer” (Instrumental) — 3:42
5. “Womanizer” (Music video – Director’s cut) — 4:05

Credits

• Produced by K. Briscoe/The Outsyders (Nikesha Briscoe & Rapheal Akinyemi)
• Published by Outsyder Entertainment Music Publishing (SESAC)/Gametyme Music Publishing Group (ASCAP)
• Vocals – Britney Spears
• Writers – The Outsyders (Nikesha Briscoe & Rapheal Akinyemi)
• Recorded by Brendan Dekora of Glenwood Place Studios, Burbank, CA & Bojan “Genius” Dugic at Legacy Studios, NYC
• Assisted by Derik Lee
• Mixed by Serban Ghenea at MixStar Studios, Virginia Beach, VA
• Additional Pro Tools Engineer – John Hanes
• Assisted by Tim Roberts
• Mastered by Tom Coyne at Sterling Sound, NYC
• A&R Executive – Teresa LaBarbera Whites
• Management – Larry Rudolph for ReignDeer Entertainment

Other Information

• Artist: Britney Spears
• Album: Circus
• Released: September 26, 2008
• Formats: CD single, digital download
• Recorded: 2008
• Genres: Electropop, synthpop
• Length: 3:43
• Label: Jive
• Writers: Nikesha Briscoe, Rafael Akinyemi
• Producers: K. Briscoe/The Outsyders
• Certification: Gold (ARIA), (Denmark)

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Tags: billboard hot 100, britney spears, Circus, pop star, United Kingdom, Womanizer