Countdown (Beyoncé Knowles song)
Encyclopedia
"Countdown" is a song by American R&B
singer Beyoncé Knowles
from her fourth studio album, 4
(2011). It was written by Terius Nash
, Shea Taylor, Knowles, Ester Dean
, Cainon Lamb, Julie Frost
, Michael Bivins
, Nathan Morris
and Wanya Morris
. The song's development was motivated when Knowles wanted to create something different by mixing musical styles of the 1990s with the 1970s. "Countdown" was released to US radios on October 4, 2011 as the third single from the album.
Critics classified "Countdown" as a multi-genre song and praised the sampling
of the countdown from "Uhh Ahh
" by Boyz II Men
. They compared it to singles from Dangerously in Love
(2003) and B'Day
(2006), noticing elements of funk
music, and dancehall
influences in the tradition of "Get Me Bodied
" (2007). "Countdown" features a marching rhythm and contains an Afrobeat
heavy brass riff
. In the song, Knowles delivers a message of loyalty to her love interest and boasts of the ways he should feel lucky to have her. Critics stated that "Countdown" may be the highlight of Knowles' career and the most experimental song that she has ever done.
Following the leak of "4" in early June 2011, "Countdown" received minor rotation on radio that attributed to its debut at number 75 on the US Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs
chart, where it has so far peaked at number 46. It also charted at number 46 on the South Korea Gaon International Singles Chart
.
Adria Petty directed the accompanying music video, which shows Knowles at different stages of her pregnancy and shows her as she makes references to art, fashion, and dance styles of the past. Reviewers wrote positively when they found that Knowles could dance even though she was pregnant. They also commended how Knowles channeled the classier highlights of pop, fashion, and film's past. However, the video faced controversy after viewers found that Knowles' choreography resembles the work of Belgian choreographer Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker
. The song was part of Knowles' set list
in 4 Intimate Nights with Beyoncé
.
"Countdown" was written by Terius Nash
, Shea Taylor, Knowles
, Ester Dean
, Cainon Lamb, Julie Frost
, Michael Bivins
, Nathan Morris
, and Wanya Morris
. Production was handled by Knowles, Taylor and Lamb. Michael Bivins, Nathan Morris and Wanya Morris are credited in "Countdown" because the latter features a sample from Boyz II Men
's 1991 single, "Uhh Ahh
". A private listening party for Knowles' fourth studio album was held on May 12, 2011 at the Sony offices in New York City. Knowles offered a select group of fans a preview of five songs from her fourth studio album as well as the official video for the lead single "Run the World (Girls)
". On that occasion, "Countdown" was the fourth of the five songs previewed. While playing the song, Knowles commented: "[Jay-Z] liked it. I do not think he was dissecting it, just thinking of what he could do to it as a rapper."
On June 7, 2011, both "Party
" and "Countdown" leaked
online, followed by the whole album, three weeks prior to its official release date, scheduled for June 28, 2011. This was followed by cease-and-desist notices from Knowles' legal team, who forced multiple media sites to remove download links to the songs. Beginning on June 16 to June 27, 2011, the songs from 4 were available to listen to in full each day on Knowles' official website, paired with its accompanying photo spread from the album packaging and an insightful quote. On June 24, 2011, "Countdown" was the ninth song to be chosen. The quote found Knowles elaborating on the song's inspiration: "I really liked mixing the 90s with the 70s. I put those two together and it was so much fun putting bridges back into songs, all the things in music that I love that I feel I just want to hear again." She also referred to "Countdown" as "really experimental". Concerning the development "Countdown" and the reason for using the sample, Knowles stated:
In an interview with Leslie Moore
on Tumblr
, Cainon Lamb recalled how he started working on the Boyz II Men's sample and how his work reached Knowles. He said that he began working on "Countdown" during the night preceding the 2010 BET Awards
. He was in the studio, listening to Boyz II Men's song, "Uhh Ahh". He commented: "[It] starts with a countdown of '10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1'. So I thought, 'Wow, that could be something. Just the countdown itself.'" Once the countdown was in the computer, he slightly increased the pace at which it was played, added some snare drum taps
to it, and started a beat
. After that, he sent the song to his publisher, EMI Music
. The latter was impressed with the instrumental and went on saying: "I had a meeting this morning with Beyoncé and I played a couple other songs I had and she wasn't really feeling them. When I played the beat that you sent me, you should have seen how she went crazy! She started dancing and bouncing up and down and just doing all kind of stuff. She loved that beat!" On the request of his publisher, Lamb made "a female version of the countdown part". Terius Nash wrote the verses
and two days later, Knowles went in the studio and recorded it.
In an interview with Jocelyn Vena of MTV News
, the members of Boyz II Men revealed that they were surprised that Knowles decided to use their song on "Countdown" even though they have known her for long. Wanya Morris believed that it was a "clever" move and added that "[he] guess [Boyz II Men] can say [they] finally got [their] duet with Beyoncé." Nathan Morris further elaborated, getting philosophical about the career of the Destiny's Child:
On September 22, 2011, Columbia Records
posted the cover art of "Countdown" on the official website of KZII-FM
, most commonly known as "102.5 Kiss FM
". It was the same photograph spread for "Countdown" in the album notes for 4
and it was taken by German photographer Ellen von Unwerth
. Released as the third single off 4, "Countdown" impacted both
CHR/Top 40
and Rhythmic radios on October 4, 2011 in the United States.
" performed by American group Boyz II Men
, was considered to be "everywhere on the genre map" by Consequence of Sound
's Chris Coplan. "Countdown" is basically is an upbeat song, displaying elements of funk
music, hip hop music
, Latin pop
music, world music
, reggae
as well as dancehall
influences. It makes heavy use of staccato
horns
, and rides a "disjointed military rhythm
", containing an "agitated" Afrobeat
heavy brass riff
which, according to Alexis Petridis of The Guardian
, bears resemblance to that of "Run the World (Girls)
" (2011). Jody Rosen of Rolling Stone
attributed the "bristling brass arrangements" in "Countdown" to the fact that Knowles collaborated with the band from Fela!
for a couple of days to gain inspiration from the play's subject, Nigerian multi-instrumentalist musician and composer, Fela Kuti
. Additional instrumentation on the song includes a "squelchy keyboard", synthesizer
s, a "plucky" guitar
, and 180 BPM
steel drums
. Built on a stepping beat, "Countdown" also features "video-game bleeps
" reminiscent of Knowles' previous alter ego
, Sasha Fierce, as stated by Jocelyn Vena of MTV News
.
Ryan Dombal of Pitchfork Media
viewed "Countdown" as a sequel to Knowles' own 2003 single, "Crazy in Love". Matthew Horton of BBC
compared the musical style of "Countdown" to that of M.I.A.
's work. John Mitchell of MTV Newsroom
wrote that "'[Countdown]' has a flair that reminds us of songs from past Beyonce albums, specifically the best tracks from B'Day
." Similarly, Matthew Perpetua of Rolling Stone wrote that "Countdown" revisits the "sassy spirit" of B'Days "Get Me Bodied
" (2007). Jocelyn Vena added that while "Countdown" is very different form the other songs on the album, it has a "Check on It
" vibe. Joey Guerra of The Houston Chronicle commented that "Countdown" shares the same "frenetic club swagger" as previous Destiny's Child
's singles such as "Bug a Boo
" (1999) and "Jumpin', Jumpin'" (2000). She also added that Knowles references the Houston Rockets
in the song.
Throughout the song, Knowles sings with "a sassy attitude", setting a "futuristic tone
", as stated by Jocelyn Vena. According to Dombal, "Countdown" finds Knowles as the female protagonist delivering her "message of ten years of loyalty seeming just as thrilling as the first time" to her love interest. Jody Rosen of Rolling Stone
, who described "Countdown" as a "monogamous romance" like several other songs on 4, added that it is a love song that is "no less sexy for being unblinkingly true to life." Kicking off with horns and drums, Knowles starts to chant introductory lines
, which also serves as the pre-chorus lines: "Oh, killing me softly and I'm still falling / Still the one I need, I will always be with you / Oh, you got me all gone, don't ever let me go / Say it real loud if you fly / If you leave me you're out of your mind", followed by the chorus lines
, which Thomas Conner of Chicago Sun-Times
described as a literal count backwards "as if it were the 10 days of clubland": "My baby is a ten / We dressing to the nine / He pick me up at eight / Make me feel so lucky seven / He kiss me in his six / We be making love in five / Still the one I do this four / I’m trying to make a three / From that two / He still the one." When combined together, the introductory lines
and the chorus lines serve as the hook lines
of "Countdown".
According to Maura Johnston of The Village Voice
, the verses of "Countdown" contain lyrics about "twinned boasts of self-worth and proclamations of fidelity into a tight knot of romantic ideals."
In the first verse of the song, Jody Rosen Knowles' chants lines "dedicated to the one [she] loves": "There's ups and downs in this love / Got a lot to learn in this love / Through the good and the bad, still got love". The verse continues with Knowles offering her partner copious praise, in a "half-rap cadence": "Still love the way he talks / Still love the way I sing / Still love the way he rock them black diamonds in that chain." As stated by Adam Markovitz of Entertainment Weekly
, the first verse of "Countdown" also contains "joy-inducing non-lyrics" such as "Me and my boof, and my boof boof riding". Additionally, Knowles sings to her love interest that he should feel lucky "to have her grind up on him." In the other two verses, Knowles continues to boast of all the ways her man is lucky to have her, and celebrates their "mature relationship", as stated by Spence D. of IGN
.
(2003), B'Day
(2006) among others, however, with a higher level of maturity from Knowles. Adam Markovitz of Entertainment Weekly
wrote that "[...] unsurprisingly, Beyoncé is at her best when she sounds like no one but herself." She also commended Knowles for "tak[ing] her trusty freakum dress
out of mothballs" for "Countdown" which according to him, includes "joy-inducing non-lyrics". Given the track placement of the song on 4, Thomas Conner of The Chicago Sun-Times
complimented "Countdown" for "picking things up which make 4 start moving near the end" with "Countdown". Conner additionally described the song as "careening into an ethnic club". John Mitchell of MTV's Newsroom called "Countdown" the best track from 4, stating that the song is "impossible to resist [to]". Similarly, Jocelyn Vena of MTV News
named "Countdown" the most surprising song on the album, comparing it to Knowles own 2005 single, "Check on It
". Conrad Tao of Sputnikmusic
found that "Countdown" was one of the "irresistible" uptempo cuts form 4 and that it makes "particularly successful use of its namesake" as well as its dancehall influences. Digital Spy
s Lewis Corner gave the song four stars out of five and wrote that "combining pop-stardom and domesticity is just one of her [Knowles] many, many talents" in the song. Ricky Schweitzer of One Thirty BPM
also showed high favorism for "Countdown", writing:
Matthew Perpetua of Rolling Stone
gave "Countdown" a positive review, describing the song as one of 4s "much-needed mid-album stretch of upbeat tunes" and as a "playful, inventive jam", in tradition of "Get Me Bodied
". Jody Rosen also writing for the same magazine, commented that "Beyoncé has been a star for more than a decade, but now she's a 29-year-old married woman, and she sounds like one [on 'Countdown]'." Eric Henderson of Slant Magazine described the song as a "hyperventilating number" which sounds like a "parody of Beyoncé's more militant hits from the tail-end of the Destiny's Child era". Henderson also favored the song's sample of Boyz II Men
's "Uhh Ahh
". Ben Cardew of Music Week
appreciated "Countdown"'s composition and praised Knowles for experimenting with it; he thought "Countdown" "[t]he oddest thing on the album and almost certainly in Beyoncé's whole career". He also coined it as "a new page in [Knowles'] book" and added that "quite frankly, [it is] good to hear." Similarly, Rich Juzwiak of The Village Voice
wrote that the sample of "Uhh Ahh" provides "one in the tangled collection of hooks that is the whirlwind career highlight [of Knowles] on 'Countdown'." Gavin Martin of The Daily Mirror considered "Countdown" a "contender for album standout", describing the song as "frisky, funny and full of ideas." Erika Ramirez of Billboard magazine commented that "Countdown" has the potential "to manifest trillions of YouTube dance crazes. Put your heels on for this!" Chris Coplan of Consequence of Sound
commented that "[...] as far as demonstrating the power of a stripped-down Beyoncé and how devastating that can be, the winner is 'Countdown'." He praised the chorus which he described as being "of staggering simplicity and effectiveness" before concluding "you do that math, it's a winner." Comparing the song to "Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)
", Luke Larsen of Paste
magazine wrote that Countdown” is another example of Knowles' "uncanny ability to craft songs that are irresistibly catchy but definitely not your average mainstream pop single either."
Alexis Petridis of The Guardian
also gave the song a positive review, stating that "there's nothing like ['Countdown'] in the charts" and that the brass arrangement "stab the one moment you hear anything resembling the influences mooted in the advance publicity." Neil McCormick of UK's The Daily Telegraph
complimented Knowles for "laying down the law like a ball-busting disco diva" on the song. Joey Guerra of The Houston Chronicle
favored "Countdown" for boasting "a frenetic club beat", further adding that the song is "practically begging for an extended version". Ryan Dombal of Pitchfork Media
wrote that "all of the album's best elements, thematically and sonically, burst ahead on Jay-Z
ode 'Countdown', a honking, stutter-step sequel of sorts to "Crazy in Love". James Reed of The Boston Globe
viewed "Countdown" as a radio-friendly song, having the potential of being one of the "blockbuster hits" from 4. Echoing, Reed's sentiments, Joanne Dorken of MTV UK wrote that "Countdown" is "faced-past, original and bound to be a massive tune in clubs across the globe." Dorke also noted it to be "a refreshing break from the slower part of the [4]." Embling of Tiny Mix Tapes
stated that Knowles has not produced anything as "ferocious (or obnoxious)" as "Ring the Alarm
" on 4, but "Countdown" comes close. He described the latter as having "[a] regal fanfare, a stealthy sample, and the most exuberant vocal performance of the album into a deliciously overstuffed three and a half minutes". He concluded that "Countdown" sounds like the work of an artist who is trying hard to produce a classic like My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy (2010). Michael Cragg of The Observer
priased the fact that 4 end up "peaking with the incredible 'Countdown' [featuring] Beyoncé near rapping over ecstatic horn blasts." Steve Jones of USA Today
showed also appreciation for "Countdown", calling it one of the "purely fun elements" on the album.
for the week ending July 2, 2011. Without being released as a single in the United States, "Countdown" debuted at number 75 on the US Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs
chart issue dated July 2, 2011. The following week, "Countdown" moved to number 66 on the chart, where it has peaked so far. As of the week ending October 11, 2011, "Countdown" has been charting for 17 consecutive weeks on that chart. "Countdown" also charted on the US Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles
chart at number 12 for the week ending July 16, 2011. For the week ending October 29, 2011, "Countdown" was the Hot Shot Debut on the US Hot Dance Club Songs chart. It also debuted at number 85 on the US Billboard Hot 100
chart. The following week, it moved to number 77. For the week ending November 19, 2011, "Countdown" debuted at number 38 on the US Pop Songs chart.
" (2009). Knowles was also a director for the music video along with Petty. A 38-second preview of the video was posted on MTV.com on October 3, 2011. Jocelyn Vena of MTV News wrote that the preview showed a close-ups of Knowles wearing vibrant eye makeup and a black-and-white color-block outfit. Knowles is shown "...hamming it up for the camera before panning out to reveal a look that pays homage to both Michael Jackson
and Audrey Hepburn
thanks to her short bangs, cropped pants, black turtleneck and exposed socks. Beyoncé stands in front of a black-and-white striped wall as she moves her arms like a clock." Vena continues: "As the tease closes, Knowles shows off her pregnant profile and then appears in three different bodysuits accessorized with a black-and-white hat." A writer of The Sun compared Knowles' hair style with those of The Beatles
. The full video premiered on October 6, 2011 at 7:56 p.m. ET on MTV and Knowles official website.
Concering the collaboration with Knowles, Petty stated: "I think whenever you work with Beyoncé it's a collaboration. She has a lot of input. And then you have the time constraints that come with working with her that push you into different directions. [...] There are countless homages to pop culture of the past in this video. I think we were playing with Mod, and '60's and '80's iconic stuff that [Beyoncé] responded to and related to." She further revealed that during the filming Knowles put a lot of energy and made many decisions for the finished product. It shot over a few months in various New York City
warehouses. According to John Mitchell of MTV News: "[The clip is] a perfect mix of classic and modern, which seems to be what Beyoncé is aiming for in this era of her career. It is a feeling reflected in the smooth, '[19]90s vibe and reliance on live instruments that sets her album 4 apart from her previous work as well as other artists on the charts right now." Talking about the development and the filming of the video, Petty revealed:
An alternative video for "Countdown" premiered on November 28, 2011 and it excluded the dance moves from Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker's video.
, these accessories, alongside Knowles' "...syncopated dancing in vibrant monochrome, wink back to that iconic Audrey Hepburn sequence in Funny Face". Knowles' make-up was by Francesca Tolot, who explained: "The inspiration behind Beyoncé'[s] brightly-lined lids came from the beatnik movement of the late '[19]50s, early '[19]60s. From previous experiences with Dreamgirls
, I knew Beyoncé looked amazing with that type of makeup so the almond eye seemed to be the perfect fit." For the countdown part of the video, Knowles wears "...black and white from head-to-toe. Her ensemble is brightened up with a pop of neon orange on her stiletto nails". The first time Knowles shows her baby bump in the video, she wears a black and white dress, designed by Thierry Mugler
.
Next, Knowles wears a primary color leotard
Capezio
collection with a black and white striped Karen Keith for Patricia Field
sun hat. During the second chorus, Knowles wears a sheer American Apparel
over-sized button up with high Stiletto heels. She later wears more colorways of the sheer American Apparel button-up with a tied headkerchief, changing the shoes for loafers, and a pastel palette
. In a scene reminiscent of the film Flashdance
, Knowles wears an off-the-shoulder Forever 21
t-shirt, showing a lilac bra strap and blunt bangs. For the Dreamgirls flashback, she wears a jeweled Chan Luu mini dress, subtle makeup with sculpted brows and a shiny, flipped bob. For the final scene, Knowles wears another black and white striped American Apparel outfit with a sleek tank, shorts, suspenders and white socks with pumps.
The video opens with a close shot of Knowles face who's wearing a similar make-up to English model Twiggy
. The video then shows shots of Knowles moving her arms like a clock and wearing a black T-shirt and black trousers. Scenes similar to 1957 film Funny Face follow with Knowles looking like Audrey Hepburn. Those shots are cut by a variety of brightly colored bathing suits and a black-and-white hat, set against a constantly changing background of colors which is similar to Vogue
photo shoots. Knowles' baby bump is less visible in the bathing suit scenes but is featured prominently earlier in the video. The clip cuts quickly from the bathing suit sequence to shots of Knowles in an audition space similar to the 1980 film Fame. The sequence features choreographed moves from Knowles and her back-up dancers who snap with their fingers which is a reference to 1961 musical West Side Story
.
Knowles lovingly rubs her baby bump in a scene that features 10 different incarnations of herself in a loft space. According to MTV Newsroom, this is the "key scene" where Knowles puts into perspective all those aforementioned sides. Knowles references Bridget Bardot when the video cuts to and from shots of Knowles in a men's dress shirt with her hair styled up with a scarf. She also briefly references her film, Dreamgirls, more specifically the latter's inspiration, being Diana Ross
, during a few brief scenes in which Knowles wears a short, sparkly dress and bob hairstyle. The clip then sequences from Fame to Flashdance with Knowles and her dancers in another open warehouse-like space sporting the iconic off-the-shoulder look from the 1983 drama starring Jennifer Beals
. The video ends with Knowles in a chair, dancing and then flashing a smile.
called the video "...characteristically kinetic." Chris Coplan of Consequence of Sound wrote: "...the concept may be simple, but the intricate dance numbers (take that, Fred Astaire
!) and split screen action make for an energetic cinematic affair with loads of modern swag and '60s-inspired sass." Entertainment Weekly
s Grady Smith compared Knowles with Nicki Minaj
and called the video a "...typical Beyoncé dance-fest featuring frenetic movement, flashing colors, and a whole lot of sexy outfits." Carrie Battan of Pitchfork Media
called it a "...clean and classic, filled with blocked colors, Audrey Hepburn stylings and the occasional flashing of the baby bump." Contessa Gayles of The Boombox also compared Knowles look and make-up in the video with Minajs style. Luke Jennings of The Guardian
called the video a "slick, very new-retro piece of film-making, and borrowed imagery is absolutely the point of it."
Colleen Nika of Rolling Stone
said that: "Already one of the year's most acclaimed pop singles, it will also go down as one of the year's most stylish clips, though it didn't pull any slick maneuvers to earn that distinction", and described it as "...brilliant and bright." Nika also said that the video contrasted with Lady Gaga
's style and that it was another "...pop art effect" for Knowles. Matthew Perpetua of the same publication wrote that the video had a "...variety of dazzling looks that could definitely be emulated by fans on the cheap." He stated: "...the clip is nearly as joyful and super-charged as the song itself, with its barrage of world-class hooks complemented by a rapid succession of memorable, charming and sexy images." Erika Ramiirez of Billboard
write that: "...even with a bun in the oven, Beyoncé can still bring it." Becky Bain of Idolator
wrote that the video was filmed at different intervals because "...some shots show her pregnancy bump loud and proud, while in others, a still very dancey-Beyonce appears to have her typically flat tummy." He called it a "...Crayola
crayon box come to life." Ray Rahman of New York magazine
wrote that Knowles, "...packs the short video with all her classic signatures: being amazing at dancing, recruiting teams of others to be amazing at dancing, and proving how even her fingers are amazing at dancing. But also, and possibly most importantly: Babyoncé!".
Stereogum
said that the video "has [a] potential to be the most electric Beyoncé video since the immortal classic 'Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)
'." AOL Music
s Marina Galperina called the video "...mod-tastic" and the editing "...funky" and "...collaged." Kathleen Perricone of Daily News wrote: "Beyoncé's baby isn't even born yet – and already it's a star" referring to Knowles abdomen in the video. Lisa Potter of Marie Claire
compared Knowles with Andy Warhol
. CNN
said that "...the imagery is a hodge-podge of modern and retro styling created in an ultra-bright palette, and staccato camera work effortlessly matches 'Countdown's' beat." Matt Donnelly of Los Angeles Times
called the video "...so fantastic it borders on annoying" and added that it could be "...a miniature version of 'Single Ladies.'" Leah Collins of Dose magazine
wrote that the director "...has taken everything to concoct a technicolour rainbow of retro throw-back set-pieces." According to MTV News, the video was well-received by fans, who praised its simplicity and Knowles "...bumpin' belly." For the week ending October 29, 2011, the music video for "Countdown" debuted at number one on Yahoo!
Video chart.
, accused Knowles of stealing concepts from two of her pieces, being the 1994 Achterland and the 1997 Rosas danst Rosas. De Keersmaeker accused Knowles of blatantly stealing her choreography, costumes, and sets in the video and released a statement regarding the claim stating, "It's a bit rude, [...] What’s rude about it its that they don’t even bother about hiding it", further adding that "this is pure plagiarism". Rosas spokeswoman Johanne De Bie added about the clip: "We noticed more than a few resemblances... We have passed the details to our lawyer to see about our rights." In response to De Keersmaeker's comments, Knowles issued the following statement: "Clearly, the ballet Rosas danst Rosas was one of many references for my video 'Countdown'. It was one of the inspirations used to bring the feel and look of the song to life. I was also paying tribute to the film, Funny Face with the legendary Audrey Hepburn [...] My biggest inspirations were the [19]60s, the [19]70s, Brigitte Bardot, Andy Warhol, Twiggy and Diana Ross. I've always been fascinated by the way contemporary art uses different elements and references to produce something unique." Following Knowles' statement, De Keersmaeker wrote in a statement to The Performance Club, in which she pondered the reason that her experimental choreography took thirty years to be recognized by pop-culture and noted one personal coincidence between her original work and Knowles' re-imagining:
The director of the music video, Adria Petty, in an interview with MTV, stated that along with Knowles, they viewed some German modern dance clips as they were exploring cultural reference points, although she never mentioned De Keersmaeker specifically. Later, during an interview with magazine GQ, Petty stated that De Keersmaekers work inspired several scenes in the music video. During the time of filming, she researched everything about De Keersmaekers work and at the beginning she wanted to credit De Keersmaeker. Petty revealed, "Of course, ultimately I'm disappointed that she wasn't credited on the video because I know it was everyone's intention from the get-go. But I'm assuming that's because they were still finishing it the day that it launched and stuff, it was basically an oversight, you know?" At the end she said that "very little of Keersmaeker's actual choreography inspired the finished result."
, New York, where kids from the local Boys and Girls Club danced onstage to "Countdown." In the middle of their performance, Knowles took the stage and gave them a big group hug before letting them continue their routine. Knowles told the crowd, "I'd like to thank the Boys and Girls Club for coming out. I hope y'all had fun learning the choreography to 'Countdown' today." Knowles sang the song live for first time on August 14, 2011 during her 4 Intimate Nights with Beyoncé
in Roseland Ballroom
, New York City. Wearing a gold dress, she performed the song in front of 3,500 people and she was backed by her all-female band, which includes, among others, two saxophonists, a sinuous guitar player, a seven-piece string section, a peppy pianist, a superfluous conductor, and her backing singers, called the Mamas. Erika Ramirez of Billboard
magazine commented that "fans took the liberty to create individual dances in every pocket of the stadium" when Knowles was singing "Countdown".
Referring to "Countdown" as an "experimental [and] framing an expression of artistic freedom", Jody Rosen of Rolling Stone
wrote that the song "made [Knowles'] case." Jozen Cummings of The Wall Street Journal
commented that "when [Knowles] went up-tempo on songs like 'Countdown', her virtuosic ability to engage in crisp choreography without cracking her huge voice took center stage." Echoing Cummings' sentiments, Mike Wass of Idolator
added that "as great as those two tracks sounded live, 'Countdown' and 'End Of Time' garnered the most applause. Both were accompanied by brilliant dance routines and boast sing-a-long choruses." Joycelyn Vena of MTV News
concluded that "it was [Knowles'] ability to throw a party during faster jams like 'Party', 'Countdown', 'End of Time' and 'Run the World (Girls)' that put on full display her range as a performer, dancing and singing live the entire night."
A performance of Knowles singing "Countdown" live on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon
was taped in July 2011. The performance aired on November 11, 2011. Backed by The Roots
, Knowles gave her performance, wearing a black dress.
on June 16, 2011 to promote the exclusive-to-Target
deluxe edition of 4, and gave fans a sneak preview of its television commercial. The 30-second commercial, which features "1+1
" and "Countdown" playing in the background, began airing in the United States on June 24, 2011. In August 2011, "Countdown" was used in a commercial for the CBS
fall television series previews.
.
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singer Beyoncé Knowles
Beyoncé Knowles
Beyoncé Giselle Knowles , often known simply as Beyoncé, is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, and actress. Born and raised in Houston, Texas, she enrolled in various performing arts schools and was first exposed to singing and dancing competitions as a child...
from her fourth studio album, 4
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, Michael Bivins
Michael Bivins
Michael Lamont Bivins, a.k.a. Biv , is the founder and member of the R&B group New Edition and the hip hop group Bell Biv DeVoe...
, Nathan Morris
Nathan Morris
Nathan Bartholomew Morris is an American singer and a founding member of Boyz II Men. Morris sings baritone and soprano.Morris released a single entitled "Wishes" for the Touchstone Pictures film Kazaam starring NBA Star Shaquille O'Neal. Morris most recently discovered Def Jam recording artist...
and Wanya Morris
Wanya Morris
Wanyá Jermaine Morris is an American R&B singer, best known as a member of the R&B group Boyz II Men.Aside from Boyz II Men, Wanyá has his own record label, "The Company Entertainment"....
. The song's development was motivated when Knowles wanted to create something different by mixing musical styles of the 1990s with the 1970s. "Countdown" was released to US radios on October 4, 2011 as the third single from the album.
Critics classified "Countdown" as a multi-genre song and praised the sampling
Sampling (music)
In music, sampling is the act of taking a portion, or sample, of one sound recording and reusing it as an instrument or a different sound recording of a song or piece. Sampling was originally developed by experimental musicians working with musique concrète and electroacoustic music, who physically...
of the countdown from "Uhh Ahh
Uhh Ahh
"Uhh Ahh" is the title of a number-one R&B single by group Boyz II Men. The song was written by Michael Bivins, Nathan Morris and Wanya Morris....
" by Boyz II Men
Boyz II Men
Boyz II Men is an American R&B vocal group best known for emotional ballads and a cappella harmonies. They are the most successful R&B group of all time, having sold more than albums worldwide. In the 1990s, Boyz II Men found fame on Motown Records as a quartet, but original member Michael McCary...
. They compared it to singles from Dangerously in Love
Dangerously in Love
Dangerously in Love is the debut solo album of American R&B singer Beyoncé Knowles, released on June 22, 2003, by Columbia Records. Recording sessions for the album took place in 2002 to 2003 at several studios, during the hiatus of her then-group Destiny's Child...
(2003) and B'Day
B'Day
B'Day is the second studio album by American R&B recording artist Beyoncé Knowles, released on September 4, 2006 by Columbia Records in collaboration with Music World Music and Sony Urban Music. It was released to coincide with Knowles' twenty-fifth birthday. The album was originally planned for a...
(2006), noticing elements of funk
Funk
Funk is a music genre that originated in the mid-late 1960s when African American musicians blended soul music, jazz and R&B into a rhythmic, danceable new form of music. Funk de-emphasizes melody and harmony and brings a strong rhythmic groove of electric bass and drums to the foreground...
music, and dancehall
Dancehall
Dancehall is a genre of Jamaican popular music that originated in the late 1970s. Initially dancehall was a more sparse version of reggae than the roots style, which had dominated much of the 1970s. In the mid-1980s, digital instrumentation became more prevalent, changing the sound considerably,...
influences in the tradition of "Get Me Bodied
Get Me Bodied
"Get Me Bodied" is a song recorded by American R&B singer Beyoncé Knowles. The song was written by Beyoncé Knowles, Sean Garrett, Solange Knowles, Angela Beyince, Makeba Riddick, and Kasseem "Swizz Beatz" Dean, and produced by Swizz Beatz, Beyoncé and Sean Garrett, for Knowles' second solo studio...
" (2007). "Countdown" features a marching rhythm and contains an Afrobeat
Afrobeat
Afrobeat is a combination of traditional Yoruba music, jazz, highlife, funk and chanted vocals, fused with percussion and vocal styles, popularised in Africa in the 1970s. Its main creator was the Nigerian multi-instrumentalist and bandleader Fela Kuti, who gave it its name, who used it to...
heavy brass riff
Brass instrument
A brass instrument is a musical instrument whose sound is produced by sympathetic vibration of air in a tubular resonator in sympathy with the vibration of the player's lips...
. In the song, Knowles delivers a message of loyalty to her love interest and boasts of the ways he should feel lucky to have her. Critics stated that "Countdown" may be the highlight of Knowles' career and the most experimental song that she has ever done.
Following the leak of "4" in early June 2011, "Countdown" received minor rotation on radio that attributed to its debut at number 75 on the US Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs
Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs
Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, is a chart released weekly by Billboard in the United States.The chart, initiated in 1942, is used to track the success of popular music songs in urban, or primarily African American, venues. Dominated over the years at various times by jazz, rhythm and blues, doo-wop, soul,...
chart, where it has so far peaked at number 46. It also charted at number 46 on the South Korea Gaon International Singles Chart
Gaon Chart
The Gaon Chart is a national record chart of South Korea. It is complied by the Korea Music Content Industry Association and sponsored by South Korea's Ministry of Culture, Sports, and Tourism; with an aim to create a national chart for Korea similar to the Billboard charts and Oricon charts...
.
Adria Petty directed the accompanying music video, which shows Knowles at different stages of her pregnancy and shows her as she makes references to art, fashion, and dance styles of the past. Reviewers wrote positively when they found that Knowles could dance even though she was pregnant. They also commended how Knowles channeled the classier highlights of pop, fashion, and film's past. However, the video faced controversy after viewers found that Knowles' choreography resembles the work of Belgian choreographer Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker
Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker
Anne Teresa, Baroness De Keersmaeker is one of the most prominent choreographers in contemporary dance...
. The song was part of Knowles' set list
Set list
A set list, or setlist, is a document that lists the songs that a band or musical artist intends to play, or has played, during a specific concert performance...
in 4 Intimate Nights with Beyoncé
4 Intimate Nights with Beyoncé
4 Intimate Nights with Beyoncé was a revue by American recording artist Beyoncé Knowles. Held in four non-consecutive nights in August 2011, the concerts were part of Knowles' campaign in support of her fourth studio album 4 . Knowles performed to a standing room-only audience at the Roseland...
.
Background and development
The-Dream
Terius Youngdell Nash , better known by his stage name The-Dream, is an American singer-songwriter and record producer. He is known for co-writing "Umbrella" for Rihanna and "Single Ladies " for Beyoncé, as well as for his three solo albums, Love Hate, Love vs...
, Shea Taylor, Knowles
Beyoncé Knowles
Beyoncé Giselle Knowles , often known simply as Beyoncé, is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, and actress. Born and raised in Houston, Texas, she enrolled in various performing arts schools and was first exposed to singing and dancing competitions as a child...
, Ester Dean
Ester Dean
Ester Renay Dean is an American singer and songwriter, and record producer signed to Zone 4 Records/Interscope Records. She is most notable for her dual appearance on Rio: Music From The Motion Picture and her 2009 US hit single "Drop It Low", which featured singer Chris Brown...
, Cainon Lamb, Julie Frost
Julie Frost
Julie Frost is an internationally known award winning American songwriter, singer, guitar player and music producer. She is the first American songwriter to win the Eurovision Song Contest, as co-writer of the song "Satellite", which won the contest in 2010 for Germany...
, Michael Bivins
Michael Bivins
Michael Lamont Bivins, a.k.a. Biv , is the founder and member of the R&B group New Edition and the hip hop group Bell Biv DeVoe...
, Nathan Morris
Nathan Morris
Nathan Bartholomew Morris is an American singer and a founding member of Boyz II Men. Morris sings baritone and soprano.Morris released a single entitled "Wishes" for the Touchstone Pictures film Kazaam starring NBA Star Shaquille O'Neal. Morris most recently discovered Def Jam recording artist...
, and Wanya Morris
Wanya Morris
Wanyá Jermaine Morris is an American R&B singer, best known as a member of the R&B group Boyz II Men.Aside from Boyz II Men, Wanyá has his own record label, "The Company Entertainment"....
. Production was handled by Knowles, Taylor and Lamb. Michael Bivins, Nathan Morris and Wanya Morris are credited in "Countdown" because the latter features a sample from Boyz II Men
Boyz II Men
Boyz II Men is an American R&B vocal group best known for emotional ballads and a cappella harmonies. They are the most successful R&B group of all time, having sold more than albums worldwide. In the 1990s, Boyz II Men found fame on Motown Records as a quartet, but original member Michael McCary...
's 1991 single, "Uhh Ahh
Uhh Ahh
"Uhh Ahh" is the title of a number-one R&B single by group Boyz II Men. The song was written by Michael Bivins, Nathan Morris and Wanya Morris....
". A private listening party for Knowles' fourth studio album was held on May 12, 2011 at the Sony offices in New York City. Knowles offered a select group of fans a preview of five songs from her fourth studio album as well as the official video for the lead single "Run the World (Girls)
Run the World (Girls)
"Run the World " is a song performed by American recording artist Beyoncé Knowles. It was written by Terius "The-Dream" Nash, Knowles, Nick "Afrojack" van de Wall, Wesley "Diplo" Pentz, David "Switch" Taylor, and Adidja Palmer and produced by Switch, The-Dream, Knowles and Shea Taylor...
". On that occasion, "Countdown" was the fourth of the five songs previewed. While playing the song, Knowles commented: "[Jay-Z] liked it. I do not think he was dissecting it, just thinking of what he could do to it as a rapper."
On June 7, 2011, both "Party
Party (song)
"Party" is a song by American recording artist Beyoncé Knowles featuring American rapper André 3000, taken up form the former's fourth studio album, 4 . The song was composed by Kanye West, Jeff Bhasker, Beyoncé Knowles, André Lauren Benjamin, Dexter Mills, Douglas Davis and Ricky Walters. The...
" and "Countdown" leaked
Internet leak
An Internet leak occurs when a party's confidential information is released to the public on the Internet. Various types of information and data can be, and have been, "leaked" to the Internet, the most common being personal information, computer software and source code, and artistic works such...
online, followed by the whole album, three weeks prior to its official release date, scheduled for June 28, 2011. This was followed by cease-and-desist notices from Knowles' legal team, who forced multiple media sites to remove download links to the songs. Beginning on June 16 to June 27, 2011, the songs from 4 were available to listen to in full each day on Knowles' official website, paired with its accompanying photo spread from the album packaging and an insightful quote. On June 24, 2011, "Countdown" was the ninth song to be chosen. The quote found Knowles elaborating on the song's inspiration: "I really liked mixing the 90s with the 70s. I put those two together and it was so much fun putting bridges back into songs, all the things in music that I love that I feel I just want to hear again." She also referred to "Countdown" as "really experimental". Concerning the development "Countdown" and the reason for using the sample, Knowles stated:
I wanted to do something refreshing and different, so I mixed genres and drew inspiration from touring, traveling, watching rock bands, and attending festivals… I was like a mad scientist, putting lots of different songs together. Boyz II Men were the first ones to put Destiny's ChildDestiny's ChildDestiny's Child was an American R&B girl group whose final line-up comprised lead singer Beyoncé Knowles alongside Kelly Rowland and Michelle Williams. Formed in 1997 in Houston, Texas, Destiny's Child members began their musical endeavors in their pre-teens under the name Girl's Tyme...
on tour. They showed us how to treat an opening act and I will never forget that. That was 15 years ago! Wow, 15 years! I'm old.
In an interview with Leslie Moore
Leslie King (footballer)
Leslie Catherine King is a former association football player who represented the New Zealand women's national football team....
on Tumblr
Tumblr
Tumblr is a website and microblogging platform that allows users to post text, images, videos, links, quotes and audio to their tumblelog, a short-form blog. Users can follow other users, or choose to make their tumblelog private. The service emphasizes ease of use. The site ranks as the 10th...
, Cainon Lamb recalled how he started working on the Boyz II Men's sample and how his work reached Knowles. He said that he began working on "Countdown" during the night preceding the 2010 BET Awards
BET Awards
The BET Awards were established in 2001 by the Black Entertainment Television network to celebrate African Americans and other minorities in music, acting, sports, and other fields of entertainment over the past year. The awards are presented annually and broadcast live on BET...
. He was in the studio, listening to Boyz II Men's song, "Uhh Ahh". He commented: "[It] starts with a countdown of '10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1'. So I thought, 'Wow, that could be something. Just the countdown itself.'" Once the countdown was in the computer, he slightly increased the pace at which it was played, added some snare drum taps
Snare drum
The snare drum or side drum is a melodic percussion instrument with strands of snares made of curled metal wire, metal cable, plastic cable, or gut cords stretched across the drumhead, typically the bottom. Pipe and tabor and some military snare drums often have a second set of snares on the bottom...
to it, and started a beat
Beat (music)
The beat is the basic unit of time in music, the pulse of the mensural level . In popular use, the beat can refer to a variety of related concepts including: tempo, meter, rhythm and groove...
. After that, he sent the song to his publisher, EMI Music
EMI
The EMI Group, also known as EMI Music or simply EMI, is a multinational music company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the fourth-largest business group and family of record labels in the recording industry and one of the "big four" record companies. EMI Group also has a major...
. The latter was impressed with the instrumental and went on saying: "I had a meeting this morning with Beyoncé and I played a couple other songs I had and she wasn't really feeling them. When I played the beat that you sent me, you should have seen how she went crazy! She started dancing and bouncing up and down and just doing all kind of stuff. She loved that beat!" On the request of his publisher, Lamb made "a female version of the countdown part". Terius Nash wrote the verses
Song structure (popular music)
The structures or musical forms of songs in popular music are typically sectional, repeating forms, such as strophic form. Other common forms include thirty-two-bar form, verse-chorus form, and the twelve bar blues...
and two days later, Knowles went in the studio and recorded it.
In an interview with Jocelyn Vena of MTV News
MTV News
MTV News is the news division of MTV, one of the first and most popular music television network in the U.S., as well as some of MTV's related channels around the world. MTV News began in the late 1980s with the program The Week In Rock, hosted by Kurt Loder, the first official MTV News correspondent...
, the members of Boyz II Men revealed that they were surprised that Knowles decided to use their song on "Countdown" even though they have known her for long. Wanya Morris believed that it was a "clever" move and added that "[he] guess [Boyz II Men] can say [they] finally got [their] duet with Beyoncé." Nathan Morris further elaborated, getting philosophical about the career of the Destiny's Child:
It wasn't something we expected, but we do have a bit of a relationship. A lot of people don't really know that when they had Destiny's Child, the first time they went on tour they opened up for us for quite a long time. And we tried our best to look after them and make sure everything was good. And back then they were incredible. Even that long ago they knew Beyoncé stood out from the pack. We all saw that she would wind up doing her thing. There is a connection, and at the end of the day we didn't know she would use that record. Game respects game, I guess you would call it.
On September 22, 2011, Columbia Records
Columbia Records
Columbia Records is an American record label, owned by Japan's Sony Music Entertainment, operating under the Columbia Music Group with Aware Records. It was founded in 1888, evolving from an earlier enterprise, the American Graphophone Company — successor to the Volta Graphophone Company...
posted the cover art of "Countdown" on the official website of KZII-FM
KZII-FM
KZII-FM , known as "102.5 Kiss FM" is a Top 40 formatted radio station serving Lubbock, Texas. The station is owned by Townsquare Media.-History:...
, most commonly known as "102.5 Kiss FM
FM broadcasting
FM broadcasting is a broadcasting technology pioneered by Edwin Howard Armstrong which uses frequency modulation to provide high-fidelity sound over broadcast radio. The term "FM band" describes the "frequency band in which FM is used for broadcasting"...
". It was the same photograph spread for "Countdown" in the album notes for 4
4 (Beyoncé Knowles album)
4 is the fourth studio album by American recording artist Beyoncé Knowles, released through Columbia Records on June 24, 2011. Three weeks before its scheduled release, 4 leaked in full. The twelve-song set marks the first release by Knowles since separating professionally with father and manager,...
and it was taken by German photographer Ellen von Unwerth
Ellen von Unwerth
Ellen von Unwerth is a photographer and director, specializing in erotic femininity. She worked as a fashion model for ten years herself before moving behind the camera, and now makes fashion, editorial, and advertising photographs.Ellen von Unwerth found fame when she first photographed Claudia...
. Released as the third single off 4, "Countdown" impacted both
CHR/Top 40
Contemporary hit radio
Contemporary hit radio is a radio format that is common in the United States, United Kingdom, Canada and Australia that focuses on playing current and recurrent popular music as determined by the Top 40 music charts...
and Rhythmic radios on October 4, 2011 in the United States.
Composition
"Countdown", which samples "Uhh AhhUhh Ahh
"Uhh Ahh" is the title of a number-one R&B single by group Boyz II Men. The song was written by Michael Bivins, Nathan Morris and Wanya Morris....
" performed by American group Boyz II Men
Boyz II Men
Boyz II Men is an American R&B vocal group best known for emotional ballads and a cappella harmonies. They are the most successful R&B group of all time, having sold more than albums worldwide. In the 1990s, Boyz II Men found fame on Motown Records as a quartet, but original member Michael McCary...
, was considered to be "everywhere on the genre map" by Consequence of Sound
Consequence of Sound
Consequence of Sound, also known often as CoS, is a Chicago-based music website featuring news, album and concert reviews, and editorials. In addition, the website also features the Festival Outlook micro-site, which serves as an on-line database for music festival news and rumors...
's Chris Coplan. "Countdown" is basically is an upbeat song, displaying elements of funk
Funk
Funk is a music genre that originated in the mid-late 1960s when African American musicians blended soul music, jazz and R&B into a rhythmic, danceable new form of music. Funk de-emphasizes melody and harmony and brings a strong rhythmic groove of electric bass and drums to the foreground...
music, hip hop music
Hip hop music
Hip hop music, also called hip-hop, rap music or hip-hop music, is a musical genre consisting of a stylized rhythmic music that commonly accompanies rapping, a rhythmic and rhyming speech that is chanted...
, Latin pop
Latin pop
Latin pop generally refers to pop music that has what may be perceived a Latin American influence...
music, world music
World music
World music is a term with widely varying definitions, often encompassing music which is primarily identified as another genre. This is evidenced by world music definitions such as "all of the music in the world" or "somebody else's local music"...
, reggae
Reggae
Reggae is a music genre first developed in Jamaica in the late 1960s. While sometimes used in a broader sense to refer to most types of Jamaican music, the term reggae more properly denotes a particular music style that originated following on the development of ska and rocksteady.Reggae is based...
as well as dancehall
Dancehall
Dancehall is a genre of Jamaican popular music that originated in the late 1970s. Initially dancehall was a more sparse version of reggae than the roots style, which had dominated much of the 1970s. In the mid-1980s, digital instrumentation became more prevalent, changing the sound considerably,...
influences. It makes heavy use of staccato
Staccato
Staccato is a form of musical articulation. In modern notation it signifies a note of shortened duration and separated from the note that may follow by silence...
horns
Horn (instrument)
The horn is a brass instrument consisting of about of tubing wrapped into a coil with a flared bell. A musician who plays the horn is called a horn player ....
, and rides a "disjointed military rhythm
Rhythm
Rhythm may be generally defined as a "movement marked by the regulated succession of strong and weak elements, or of opposite or different conditions." This general meaning of regular recurrence or pattern in time may be applied to a wide variety of cyclical natural phenomena having a periodicity or...
", containing an "agitated" Afrobeat
Afrobeat
Afrobeat is a combination of traditional Yoruba music, jazz, highlife, funk and chanted vocals, fused with percussion and vocal styles, popularised in Africa in the 1970s. Its main creator was the Nigerian multi-instrumentalist and bandleader Fela Kuti, who gave it its name, who used it to...
heavy brass riff
Brass instrument
A brass instrument is a musical instrument whose sound is produced by sympathetic vibration of air in a tubular resonator in sympathy with the vibration of the player's lips...
which, according to Alexis Petridis of The Guardian
The Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
, bears resemblance to that of "Run the World (Girls)
Run the World (Girls)
"Run the World " is a song performed by American recording artist Beyoncé Knowles. It was written by Terius "The-Dream" Nash, Knowles, Nick "Afrojack" van de Wall, Wesley "Diplo" Pentz, David "Switch" Taylor, and Adidja Palmer and produced by Switch, The-Dream, Knowles and Shea Taylor...
" (2011). Jody Rosen of Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...
attributed the "bristling brass arrangements" in "Countdown" to the fact that Knowles collaborated with the band from Fela!
Fela!
Fela! is a musical with a book by Bill T. Jones and Jim Lewis, based on music and lyrics by the late Nigerian singer Fela Kuti, with additional music by Aaron Johnson and Jordan Mclean and additional lyrics by Jim Lewis. It is based on events in the life of groundbreaking Nigerian composer and...
for a couple of days to gain inspiration from the play's subject, Nigerian multi-instrumentalist musician and composer, Fela Kuti
Fela Kuti
Fela Anikulapo Kuti , or simply Fela , was a Nigerian multi-instrumentalist musician and composer, pioneer of Afrobeat music, human rights activist, and political maverick.-Biography:...
. Additional instrumentation on the song includes a "squelchy keyboard", synthesizer
Synthesizer
A synthesizer is an electronic instrument capable of producing sounds by generating electrical signals of different frequencies. These electrical signals are played through a loudspeaker or set of headphones...
s, a "plucky" guitar
Guitar
The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
, and 180 BPM
Tempo
In musical terminology, tempo is the speed or pace of a given piece. Tempo is a crucial element of any musical composition, as it can affect the mood and difficulty of a piece.-Measuring tempo:...
steel drums
Steelpan
Steelpans is a musical instrument originating from The Republic of Trinidad and Tobago...
. Built on a stepping beat, "Countdown" also features "video-game bleeps
Beep (sound)
A beep is a single tone onomatopoeia, generally made by a computer or a machine.-Use in computers:In some computer terminals, the ASCII character code 7, bell character, outputs an audible beep. The beep is also sometimes used to notify the user when the BIOS is not working or there is some other...
" reminiscent of Knowles' previous alter ego
Alter ego
An alter ego is a second self, which is believe to be distinct from a person's normal or original personality. The term was coined in the early nineteenth century when dissociative identity disorder was first described by psychologists...
, Sasha Fierce, as stated by Jocelyn Vena of MTV News
MTV News
MTV News is the news division of MTV, one of the first and most popular music television network in the U.S., as well as some of MTV's related channels around the world. MTV News began in the late 1980s with the program The Week In Rock, hosted by Kurt Loder, the first official MTV News correspondent...
.
Ryan Dombal of Pitchfork Media
Pitchfork Media
Pitchfork Media, usually known simply as Pitchfork or P4k, is a Chicago-based daily Internet publication established in 1995 that is devoted to music criticism and commentary, music news, and artist interviews. Its focus is on underground and independent music, especially indie rock...
viewed "Countdown" as a sequel to Knowles' own 2003 single, "Crazy in Love". Matthew Horton of BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
compared the musical style of "Countdown" to that of M.I.A.
M.I.A. (artist)
Mathangi "Maya" Arulpragasam , better known by her stage name M.I.A. , is an English singer-songwriter, rapper, record producer, painter and director of Sri Lankan Tamil descent. Her compositions combine elements of hip hop, electronica, dance, alternative and world music. M.I.A...
's work. John Mitchell of MTV Newsroom
MTV
MTV, formerly an initialism of Music Television, is an American network based in New York City that launched on August 1, 1981. The original purpose of the channel was to play music videos guided by on-air hosts known as VJs....
wrote that "'[Countdown]' has a flair that reminds us of songs from past Beyonce albums, specifically the best tracks from B'Day
B'Day
B'Day is the second studio album by American R&B recording artist Beyoncé Knowles, released on September 4, 2006 by Columbia Records in collaboration with Music World Music and Sony Urban Music. It was released to coincide with Knowles' twenty-fifth birthday. The album was originally planned for a...
." Similarly, Matthew Perpetua of Rolling Stone wrote that "Countdown" revisits the "sassy spirit" of B'Days "Get Me Bodied
Get Me Bodied
"Get Me Bodied" is a song recorded by American R&B singer Beyoncé Knowles. The song was written by Beyoncé Knowles, Sean Garrett, Solange Knowles, Angela Beyince, Makeba Riddick, and Kasseem "Swizz Beatz" Dean, and produced by Swizz Beatz, Beyoncé and Sean Garrett, for Knowles' second solo studio...
" (2007). Jocelyn Vena added that while "Countdown" is very different form the other songs on the album, it has a "Check on It
Check on It
"Check on It" is a song performed by American R&B singer Beyoncé Knowles, featuring American rapper Slim Thug. It was composed by Knowles, Kasseem "Swizz Beatz" Dean, Sean Garrett, Angela Beyincé and Stayve Thomas. The song was supposed to be featured on the soundtrack album for 2006 film The Pink...
" vibe. Joey Guerra of The Houston Chronicle commented that "Countdown" shares the same "frenetic club swagger" as previous Destiny's Child
Destiny's Child
Destiny's Child was an American R&B girl group whose final line-up comprised lead singer Beyoncé Knowles alongside Kelly Rowland and Michelle Williams. Formed in 1997 in Houston, Texas, Destiny's Child members began their musical endeavors in their pre-teens under the name Girl's Tyme...
's singles such as "Bug a Boo
Bug a Boo
"Bug a Boo" is a song by Destiny's Child, which appears on their second album The Writing's on the Wall. It peaked at number thirty-three on the Billboard Hot 100 chart...
" (1999) and "Jumpin', Jumpin'" (2000). She also added that Knowles references the Houston Rockets
Houston Rockets
The Houston Rockets are an American professional basketball team based in Houston, Texas. The team plays in the Southwest Division of the Western Conference in the National Basketball Association . The team was established in 1967, and played in San Diego, California for four years, before being...
in the song.
Throughout the song, Knowles sings with "a sassy attitude", setting a "futuristic tone
Tonality
Tonality is a system of music in which specific hierarchical pitch relationships are based on a key "center", or tonic. The term tonalité originated with Alexandre-Étienne Choron and was borrowed by François-Joseph Fétis in 1840...
", as stated by Jocelyn Vena. According to Dombal, "Countdown" finds Knowles as the female protagonist delivering her "message of ten years of loyalty seeming just as thrilling as the first time" to her love interest. Jody Rosen of Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...
, who described "Countdown" as a "monogamous romance" like several other songs on 4, added that it is a love song that is "no less sexy for being unblinkingly true to life." Kicking off with horns and drums, Knowles starts to chant introductory lines
Introduction (music)
In music, the introduction is a passage or section which opens a movement or a separate piece. In popular music this is often abbreviated as intro...
, which also serves as the pre-chorus lines: "Oh, killing me softly and I'm still falling / Still the one I need, I will always be with you / Oh, you got me all gone, don't ever let me go / Say it real loud if you fly / If you leave me you're out of your mind", followed by the chorus lines
Refrain
A refrain is the line or lines that are repeated in music or in verse; the "chorus" of a song...
, which Thomas Conner of Chicago Sun-Times
Chicago Sun-Times
The Chicago Sun-Times is an American daily newspaper published in Chicago, Illinois. It is the flagship paper of the Sun-Times Media Group.-History:The Chicago Sun-Times is the oldest continuously published daily newspaper in the city...
described as a literal count backwards "as if it were the 10 days of clubland": "My baby is a ten / We dressing to the nine / He pick me up at eight / Make me feel so lucky seven / He kiss me in his six / We be making love in five / Still the one I do this four / I’m trying to make a three / From that two / He still the one." When combined together, the introductory lines
Introduction (music)
In music, the introduction is a passage or section which opens a movement or a separate piece. In popular music this is often abbreviated as intro...
and the chorus lines serve as the hook lines
Hook (music)
A hook is a musical idea, often a short riff, passage, or phrase, that is used in popular music to make a song appealing and to "catch the ear of the listener". The term generally applies to popular music, especially rock music, hip hop, dance music, and pop. In these genres, the hook is often...
of "Countdown".
According to Maura Johnston of The Village Voice
The Village Voice
The Village Voice is a free weekly newspaper and news and features website in New York City that features investigative articles, analysis of current affairs and culture, arts and music coverage, and events listings for New York City...
, the verses of "Countdown" contain lyrics about "twinned boasts of self-worth and proclamations of fidelity into a tight knot of romantic ideals."
In the first verse of the song, Jody Rosen Knowles' chants lines "dedicated to the one [she] loves": "There's ups and downs in this love / Got a lot to learn in this love / Through the good and the bad, still got love". The verse continues with Knowles offering her partner copious praise, in a "half-rap cadence": "Still love the way he talks / Still love the way I sing / Still love the way he rock them black diamonds in that chain." As stated by Adam Markovitz of Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly is an American magazine, published by the Time division of Time Warner, that covers film, television, music, broadway theatre, books and popular culture...
, the first verse of "Countdown" also contains "joy-inducing non-lyrics" such as "Me and my boof, and my boof boof riding". Additionally, Knowles sings to her love interest that he should feel lucky "to have her grind up on him." In the other two verses, Knowles continues to boast of all the ways her man is lucky to have her, and celebrates their "mature relationship", as stated by Spence D. of IGN
IGN
IGN is an entertainment website that focuses on video games, films, music and other media. IGN's main website comprises several specialty sites or "channels", each occupying a subdomain and covering a specific area of entertainment...
.
Critical reception
"Countdown" received generally positive reviews from critics, most of whom found it reminiscent of Knowles' previous releases from Dangerously in LoveDangerously in Love
Dangerously in Love is the debut solo album of American R&B singer Beyoncé Knowles, released on June 22, 2003, by Columbia Records. Recording sessions for the album took place in 2002 to 2003 at several studios, during the hiatus of her then-group Destiny's Child...
(2003), B'Day
B'Day
B'Day is the second studio album by American R&B recording artist Beyoncé Knowles, released on September 4, 2006 by Columbia Records in collaboration with Music World Music and Sony Urban Music. It was released to coincide with Knowles' twenty-fifth birthday. The album was originally planned for a...
(2006) among others, however, with a higher level of maturity from Knowles. Adam Markovitz of Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly is an American magazine, published by the Time division of Time Warner, that covers film, television, music, broadway theatre, books and popular culture...
wrote that "[...] unsurprisingly, Beyoncé is at her best when she sounds like no one but herself." She also commended Knowles for "tak[ing] her trusty freakum dress
Freakum Dress
"Freakum Dress" is a song recorded by American R&B singer Beyoncé Knowles for her second studio album, B'Day . It was composed by Knowles, Rich Harrison, and Makeba Riddick. "Freakum Dress" is similar to songs that Destiny's Child used to record in the 1990s. The song draws from the genres from...
out of mothballs" for "Countdown" which according to him, includes "joy-inducing non-lyrics". Given the track placement of the song on 4, Thomas Conner of The Chicago Sun-Times
Chicago Sun-Times
The Chicago Sun-Times is an American daily newspaper published in Chicago, Illinois. It is the flagship paper of the Sun-Times Media Group.-History:The Chicago Sun-Times is the oldest continuously published daily newspaper in the city...
complimented "Countdown" for "picking things up which make 4 start moving near the end" with "Countdown". Conner additionally described the song as "careening into an ethnic club". John Mitchell of MTV's Newsroom called "Countdown" the best track from 4, stating that the song is "impossible to resist [to]". Similarly, Jocelyn Vena of MTV News
MTV News
MTV News is the news division of MTV, one of the first and most popular music television network in the U.S., as well as some of MTV's related channels around the world. MTV News began in the late 1980s with the program The Week In Rock, hosted by Kurt Loder, the first official MTV News correspondent...
named "Countdown" the most surprising song on the album, comparing it to Knowles own 2005 single, "Check on It
Check on It
"Check on It" is a song performed by American R&B singer Beyoncé Knowles, featuring American rapper Slim Thug. It was composed by Knowles, Kasseem "Swizz Beatz" Dean, Sean Garrett, Angela Beyincé and Stayve Thomas. The song was supposed to be featured on the soundtrack album for 2006 film The Pink...
". Conrad Tao of Sputnikmusic
Sputnikmusic
Sputnikmusic, or simply Sputnik, is a music website offering music criticism and music news alongside features commonly associated with wiki-style websites...
found that "Countdown" was one of the "irresistible" uptempo cuts form 4 and that it makes "particularly successful use of its namesake" as well as its dancehall influences. Digital Spy
Digital Spy
Digital Spy is a British entertainment and media news website. According to Alexa Internet traffic statistics, as of February 2011, Digital Spy is the 93rd most popular website in the United Kingdom, with an overall Alexa ranking of 2,088....
s Lewis Corner gave the song four stars out of five and wrote that "combining pop-stardom and domesticity is just one of her [Knowles] many, many talents" in the song. Ricky Schweitzer of One Thirty BPM
One Thirty BPM
One Thirty BPM is a New York-based online publication providing reviews, news, media, interviews, features, and more from both the independent and mainstream spheres of the music world...
also showed high favorism for "Countdown", writing:
"So much talk of tempo and expectation must not overshadow the greatest triumph that 4 has to offer: progression. After 4 threatens to become syrupy, 'Love on TopLove on Top"Love on Top" is a song by American recording artist Beyoncé Knowles from her fourth studio album 4 . It was written by Knowles, Terius Nash and Shea Taylor; and production was handled by Knowles and Taylor. Knowles took inspiration from her state of mind while playing Etta James...
', comes along to pep the mood up before bursting into 'Countdown', arguably the most experimental song that Beyoncé has ever been a part of. The lead-off to the verse features a tonal progression that cannot be followed lazily and the vocals laid on top of such an audacious piece of composition are skillful and assured. The minimalistic synth that appears next may sound a bit familiar, but even if only for a few measures, Beyoncé is touching new ground here."
Matthew Perpetua of Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...
gave "Countdown" a positive review, describing the song as one of 4s "much-needed mid-album stretch of upbeat tunes" and as a "playful, inventive jam", in tradition of "Get Me Bodied
Get Me Bodied
"Get Me Bodied" is a song recorded by American R&B singer Beyoncé Knowles. The song was written by Beyoncé Knowles, Sean Garrett, Solange Knowles, Angela Beyince, Makeba Riddick, and Kasseem "Swizz Beatz" Dean, and produced by Swizz Beatz, Beyoncé and Sean Garrett, for Knowles' second solo studio...
". Jody Rosen also writing for the same magazine, commented that "Beyoncé has been a star for more than a decade, but now she's a 29-year-old married woman, and she sounds like one [on 'Countdown]'." Eric Henderson of Slant Magazine described the song as a "hyperventilating number" which sounds like a "parody of Beyoncé's more militant hits from the tail-end of the Destiny's Child era". Henderson also favored the song's sample of Boyz II Men
Boyz II Men
Boyz II Men is an American R&B vocal group best known for emotional ballads and a cappella harmonies. They are the most successful R&B group of all time, having sold more than albums worldwide. In the 1990s, Boyz II Men found fame on Motown Records as a quartet, but original member Michael McCary...
's "Uhh Ahh
Uhh Ahh
"Uhh Ahh" is the title of a number-one R&B single by group Boyz II Men. The song was written by Michael Bivins, Nathan Morris and Wanya Morris....
". Ben Cardew of Music Week
Music Week
Music Week is a trade paper for the UK record industry.Founded in 1959 as Record Retailer, it was relaunched on 18 March 1972 as Music Week . On 17 January 1981 the title was again changed, owing to the increasing importance of sell-through videos, to Music & Video Week...
appreciated "Countdown"'s composition and praised Knowles for experimenting with it; he thought "Countdown" "[t]he oddest thing on the album and almost certainly in Beyoncé's whole career". He also coined it as "a new page in [Knowles'] book" and added that "quite frankly, [it is] good to hear." Similarly, Rich Juzwiak of The Village Voice
The Village Voice
The Village Voice is a free weekly newspaper and news and features website in New York City that features investigative articles, analysis of current affairs and culture, arts and music coverage, and events listings for New York City...
wrote that the sample of "Uhh Ahh" provides "one in the tangled collection of hooks that is the whirlwind career highlight [of Knowles] on 'Countdown'." Gavin Martin of The Daily Mirror considered "Countdown" a "contender for album standout", describing the song as "frisky, funny and full of ideas." Erika Ramirez of Billboard magazine commented that "Countdown" has the potential "to manifest trillions of YouTube dance crazes. Put your heels on for this!" Chris Coplan of Consequence of Sound
Consequence of Sound
Consequence of Sound, also known often as CoS, is a Chicago-based music website featuring news, album and concert reviews, and editorials. In addition, the website also features the Festival Outlook micro-site, which serves as an on-line database for music festival news and rumors...
commented that "[...] as far as demonstrating the power of a stripped-down Beyoncé and how devastating that can be, the winner is 'Countdown'." He praised the chorus which he described as being "of staggering simplicity and effectiveness" before concluding "you do that math, it's a winner." Comparing the song to "Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)
Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)
"Single Ladies " is a song by American recording artist Beyoncé Knowles from her third studio album, I Am... Sasha Fierce. It was released by Columbia Records on October 12, 2008 as the album's lead single, and appeared with "If I Were a Boy" as a double A-side single, demonstrating the...
", Luke Larsen of Paste
Paste (magazine)
Paste is a monthly music and entertainment digital magazine published in the United States by Wolfgang's Vault. Its tagline is "Signs of Life in Music, Film and Culture."-History:...
magazine wrote that Countdown” is another example of Knowles' "uncanny ability to craft songs that are irresistibly catchy but definitely not your average mainstream pop single either."
Alexis Petridis of The Guardian
The Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
also gave the song a positive review, stating that "there's nothing like ['Countdown'] in the charts" and that the brass arrangement "stab the one moment you hear anything resembling the influences mooted in the advance publicity." Neil McCormick of UK's The Daily Telegraph
The Daily Telegraph
The Daily Telegraph is a daily morning broadsheet newspaper distributed throughout the United Kingdom and internationally. The newspaper was founded by Arthur B...
complimented Knowles for "laying down the law like a ball-busting disco diva" on the song. Joey Guerra of The Houston Chronicle
Houston Chronicle
The Houston Chronicle is the largest daily newspaper in Texas, USA, headquartered in the Houston Chronicle Building in Downtown Houston. , it is the ninth-largest newspaper by circulation in the United States...
favored "Countdown" for boasting "a frenetic club beat", further adding that the song is "practically begging for an extended version". Ryan Dombal of Pitchfork Media
Pitchfork Media
Pitchfork Media, usually known simply as Pitchfork or P4k, is a Chicago-based daily Internet publication established in 1995 that is devoted to music criticism and commentary, music news, and artist interviews. Its focus is on underground and independent music, especially indie rock...
wrote that "all of the album's best elements, thematically and sonically, burst ahead on Jay-Z
Jay-Z
Shawn Corey Carter , better known by his stage name Jay-Z, is an American rapper, record producer, entrepreneur, and occasional actor. He is one of the most financially successful hip hop artists and entrepreneurs in America, having a net worth of over $450 million as of 2010...
ode 'Countdown', a honking, stutter-step sequel of sorts to "Crazy in Love". James Reed of The Boston Globe
The Boston Globe
The Boston Globe is an American daily newspaper based in Boston, Massachusetts. The Boston Globe has been owned by The New York Times Company since 1993...
viewed "Countdown" as a radio-friendly song, having the potential of being one of the "blockbuster hits" from 4. Echoing, Reed's sentiments, Joanne Dorken of MTV UK wrote that "Countdown" is "faced-past, original and bound to be a massive tune in clubs across the globe." Dorke also noted it to be "a refreshing break from the slower part of the [4]." Embling of Tiny Mix Tapes
Tiny Mix Tapes
Tiny Mix Tapes is an online music and film webzine that focuses primarily on new music and related news. In addition to its reviews, it is noted for its subversive, political, and sometimes surreal news, as well as its mix tapes generator.-History:Originally called Tiny Mixtapes Gone to Heaven and...
stated that Knowles has not produced anything as "ferocious (or obnoxious)" as "Ring the Alarm
Ring the Alarm
"Ring the Alarm" is a song recorded by American R&B singer Beyoncé Knowles for her second studio album, B'Day . It was composed by Knowles, Kasseem "Swizz Beatz" Dean, and Sean Garrett...
" on 4, but "Countdown" comes close. He described the latter as having "[a] regal fanfare, a stealthy sample, and the most exuberant vocal performance of the album into a deliciously overstuffed three and a half minutes". He concluded that "Countdown" sounds like the work of an artist who is trying hard to produce a classic like My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy (2010). Michael Cragg of The Observer
The Observer
The Observer is a British newspaper, published on Sundays. In the same place on the political spectrum as its daily sister paper The Guardian, which acquired it in 1993, it takes a liberal or social democratic line on most issues. It is the world's oldest Sunday newspaper.-Origins:The first issue,...
priased the fact that 4 end up "peaking with the incredible 'Countdown' [featuring] Beyoncé near rapping over ecstatic horn blasts." Steve Jones of USA Today
USA Today
USA Today is a national American daily newspaper published by the Gannett Company. It was founded by Al Neuharth. The newspaper vies with The Wall Street Journal for the position of having the widest circulation of any newspaper in the United States, something it previously held since 2003...
showed also appreciation for "Countdown", calling it one of the "purely fun elements" on the album.
Chart performance
Selling 14,897 digital downloads, "Countdown" opened at number 40 on the South Korea Gaon International Singles ChartGaon Chart
The Gaon Chart is a national record chart of South Korea. It is complied by the Korea Music Content Industry Association and sponsored by South Korea's Ministry of Culture, Sports, and Tourism; with an aim to create a national chart for Korea similar to the Billboard charts and Oricon charts...
for the week ending July 2, 2011. Without being released as a single in the United States, "Countdown" debuted at number 75 on the US Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs
Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs
Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, is a chart released weekly by Billboard in the United States.The chart, initiated in 1942, is used to track the success of popular music songs in urban, or primarily African American, venues. Dominated over the years at various times by jazz, rhythm and blues, doo-wop, soul,...
chart issue dated July 2, 2011. The following week, "Countdown" moved to number 66 on the chart, where it has peaked so far. As of the week ending October 11, 2011, "Countdown" has been charting for 17 consecutive weeks on that chart. "Countdown" also charted on the US Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles
Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles
The Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles is a chart published weekly by Billboard magazine in the United States. It lists the top 25 singles below number 100 that have not yet charted on the Billboard Hot 100. Sometimes, however, singles halt their progress on this chart, and never appear on the Hot 100...
chart at number 12 for the week ending July 16, 2011. For the week ending October 29, 2011, "Countdown" was the Hot Shot Debut on the US Hot Dance Club Songs chart. It also debuted at number 85 on the US Billboard Hot 100
Billboard Hot 100
The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...
chart. The following week, it moved to number 77. For the week ending November 19, 2011, "Countdown" debuted at number 38 on the US Pop Songs chart.
Background and development
On August 2, 2011, Complex magazine reported that the music video for "Countdown" was currently being filmed and that it was being directed by Adria Petty, who previously directed the music video for "Sweet DreamsSweet Dreams (Beyoncé Knowles song)
"Sweet Dreams" is a song by American R&B singer Beyoncé Knowles from her third studio album, I Am... Sasha Fierce . Originally titled "Beautiful Nightmare", the song leaked in March 2008, eight months prior to the album's release. Written and produced by Knowles, James Scheffer, Wayne Wilkins, and...
" (2009). Knowles was also a director for the music video along with Petty. A 38-second preview of the video was posted on MTV.com on October 3, 2011. Jocelyn Vena of MTV News wrote that the preview showed a close-ups of Knowles wearing vibrant eye makeup and a black-and-white color-block outfit. Knowles is shown "...hamming it up for the camera before panning out to reveal a look that pays homage to both Michael Jackson
Michael Jackson
Michael Joseph Jackson was an American recording artist, entertainer, and businessman. Referred to as the King of Pop, or by his initials MJ, Jackson is recognized as the most successful entertainer of all time by Guinness World Records...
and Audrey Hepburn
Audrey Hepburn
Audrey Hepburn was a British actress and humanitarian. Although modest about her acting ability, Hepburn remains one of the world's most famous actresses of all time, remembered as a film and fashion icon of the twentieth century...
thanks to her short bangs, cropped pants, black turtleneck and exposed socks. Beyoncé stands in front of a black-and-white striped wall as she moves her arms like a clock." Vena continues: "As the tease closes, Knowles shows off her pregnant profile and then appears in three different bodysuits accessorized with a black-and-white hat." A writer of The Sun compared Knowles' hair style with those of The Beatles
The Beatles
The Beatles were an English rock band, active throughout the 1960s and one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. Formed in Liverpool, by 1962 the group consisted of John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr...
. The full video premiered on October 6, 2011 at 7:56 p.m. ET on MTV and Knowles official website.
Concering the collaboration with Knowles, Petty stated: "I think whenever you work with Beyoncé it's a collaboration. She has a lot of input. And then you have the time constraints that come with working with her that push you into different directions. [...] There are countless homages to pop culture of the past in this video. I think we were playing with Mod, and '60's and '80's iconic stuff that [Beyoncé] responded to and related to." She further revealed that during the filming Knowles put a lot of energy and made many decisions for the finished product. It shot over a few months in various New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
warehouses. According to John Mitchell of MTV News: "[The clip is] a perfect mix of classic and modern, which seems to be what Beyoncé is aiming for in this era of her career. It is a feeling reflected in the smooth, '[19]90s vibe and reliance on live instruments that sets her album 4 apart from her previous work as well as other artists on the charts right now." Talking about the development and the filming of the video, Petty revealed:
I brought Beyoncé a number of references and we picked some out together. Most were German modern-dance references, believe it or not. But it really evolved. The references were then dispersed to her creative team (hair, makeup, wardrobe), and they interpreted them on the set in their own special way. Of course, one of the strongest wardrobe references was Audrey Hepburn in Funny FaceFunny FaceFunny Face is an American musical film released in 1957 in VistaVision Technicolor, with assorted songs by George and Ira Gershwin. The film was written by Leonard Gershe and directed by Stanley Donen. It stars Audrey Hepburn, Fred Astaire, and Kay Thompson...
when she does the beatnik dance scene. I think a lot grew from there. [...] The shoot was great. We had a number of brilliant dancers and musicians and a top-notch crew. Beyoncé brings in a number of her own people who are so hardworking. Our video was the fourth they had shot in five days. I love the creative team that works with Beyoncé because they can roll with anything and keep smiling. Everyone was really upbeat and excited because we all love the track and the opportunity to work with Beyoncé so much.
An alternative video for "Countdown" premiered on November 28, 2011 and it excluded the dance moves from Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker's video.
Fashion
"Countdown"s music video is heavily influenced by 1960s pop art; it is drenched in vintage-hued colors and retro clothes. Knowles' fashion in the clip includes retro side-swept mini bangs, large lined eyes and almond-shaped pumpkin-colored nails. As stated by MTV StyleMTC
MTC may stand for:*Magnetic Torquer Coil, an interface used in satellite to control its finer movements*Management and Training Corporation, a contractor known for its private prisons*Mandarin Training Center at National Taiwan Normal University...
, these accessories, alongside Knowles' "...syncopated dancing in vibrant monochrome, wink back to that iconic Audrey Hepburn sequence in Funny Face". Knowles' make-up was by Francesca Tolot, who explained: "The inspiration behind Beyoncé'[s] brightly-lined lids came from the beatnik movement of the late '[19]50s, early '[19]60s. From previous experiences with Dreamgirls
Dreamgirls (film)
Dreamgirls is a 2006 musical drama film, directed by Bill Condon and jointly produced and released by DreamWorks and Paramount Pictures. The film debuted in three special road show engagements beginning December 15, 2006 before its nationwide release on December 25, 2006...
, I knew Beyoncé looked amazing with that type of makeup so the almond eye seemed to be the perfect fit." For the countdown part of the video, Knowles wears "...black and white from head-to-toe. Her ensemble is brightened up with a pop of neon orange on her stiletto nails". The first time Knowles shows her baby bump in the video, she wears a black and white dress, designed by Thierry Mugler
Thierry Mugler
Thierry Mugler is a French fashion designer and creator of several perfumes.-Childhood:Mugler was born in Strasbourg, France on 21 December 1948. His passion led him to focus more on drawing than on school and at the age of 9, he began to study classical dance...
.
Next, Knowles wears a primary color leotard
Leotard
A leotard is a skin-tight one-piece garment that covers the torso but leaves the legs free. It was made famous by the French acrobatic performer Jules Léotard ....
Capezio
Capezio
Capezio is the trading name of Capezio Ballet Makers Inc, a specialist manufacturer of dance shoes, apparel and accessories.-History:Ballet Makers, Inc., of Totowa, New Jersey, was founded in 1887 by Salvatore Capezio....
collection with a black and white striped Karen Keith for Patricia Field
Patricia Field
Patricia Field is an American costume designer, stylist and fashion designer.-Life and career:Field was born in 1941 in New York City to Greek and Armenian parents, who emigrated from Lesvos, Greece. She was raised in Astoria, Queens and has claimed credit for inventing the modern legging for...
sun hat. During the second chorus, Knowles wears a sheer American Apparel
American Apparel
American Apparel is a clothing manufacturer in the United States. It is a vertically integrated clothing manufacturer, wholesaler, and retailer that also performs its own design, advertising, and marketing...
over-sized button up with high Stiletto heels. She later wears more colorways of the sheer American Apparel button-up with a tied headkerchief, changing the shoes for loafers, and a pastel palette
Color theory
In the visual arts, color theory is a body of practical guidance to color mixing and the visual impacts of specific color combinations. Although color theory principles first appeared in the writings of Leone Battista Alberti and the notebooks of Leonardo da Vinci , a tradition of "colory theory"...
. In a scene reminiscent of the film Flashdance
Flashdance The Musical
Flashdance The Musical is a stage adaptation of the 1983 musical film Flashdance. The show had its world premiere in July 2008 at the Theatre Royal Plymouth, followed by a tour of the United Kingdom. The show finished its UK Tour in May 2009 and will opened at the Shaftesbury Theatre, in London's...
, Knowles wears an off-the-shoulder Forever 21
Forever 21
Forever 21 is an American chain of clothing retailers with branches in major cities in The United States, Puerto Rico, Canada, Europe, Asia, and the Middle East that offers fashion and accessories for young women and men....
t-shirt, showing a lilac bra strap and blunt bangs. For the Dreamgirls flashback, she wears a jeweled Chan Luu mini dress, subtle makeup with sculpted brows and a shiny, flipped bob. For the final scene, Knowles wears another black and white striped American Apparel outfit with a sleek tank, shorts, suspenders and white socks with pumps.
Synopsis and analysis
John Mitchell of MTV News wrote that, throughout the clip, Knowles is "...all smiles, perhaps reflecting her joy at beginning a new phase in her life". The visibility of Knowles' pregnancy varies throughout the video, indicating she may have filmed some of the footage for "Countdown" earlier in her pregnancy and later re-shot or re-conceptualized the clip to reflect her growing belly. The clip has several references and looks, dating from the 1960s to the 1980s. Knowles reenacts a series of iconic pop images in the video.The video opens with a close shot of Knowles face who's wearing a similar make-up to English model Twiggy
Twiggy
Lesley Lawson née Hornby known as Twiggy is an English model, actress, and singer. In the early-1960s she became a prominent British teenage model of swinging sixties London with others such as Penelope Tree....
. The video then shows shots of Knowles moving her arms like a clock and wearing a black T-shirt and black trousers. Scenes similar to 1957 film Funny Face follow with Knowles looking like Audrey Hepburn. Those shots are cut by a variety of brightly colored bathing suits and a black-and-white hat, set against a constantly changing background of colors which is similar to Vogue
Vogue (magazine)
Vogue is a fashion and lifestyle magazine that is published monthly in 18 national and one regional edition by Condé Nast.-History:In 1892 Arthur Turnure founded Vogue as a weekly publication in the United States. When he died in 1909, Condé Montrose Nast picked up the magazine and slowly began...
photo shoots. Knowles' baby bump is less visible in the bathing suit scenes but is featured prominently earlier in the video. The clip cuts quickly from the bathing suit sequence to shots of Knowles in an audition space similar to the 1980 film Fame. The sequence features choreographed moves from Knowles and her back-up dancers who snap with their fingers which is a reference to 1961 musical West Side Story
West Side Story (film)
West Side Story is a 1961 musical film directed by Robert Wise and Jerome Robbins. The film is an adaptation of the 1957 Broadway musical of the same name, which in turn was adapted from William Shakespeare's play Romeo and Juliet. It stars Natalie Wood, Richard Beymer, Russ Tamblyn, Rita Moreno,...
.
Knowles lovingly rubs her baby bump in a scene that features 10 different incarnations of herself in a loft space. According to MTV Newsroom, this is the "key scene" where Knowles puts into perspective all those aforementioned sides. Knowles references Bridget Bardot when the video cuts to and from shots of Knowles in a men's dress shirt with her hair styled up with a scarf. She also briefly references her film, Dreamgirls, more specifically the latter's inspiration, being Diana Ross
Diana Ross
Diana Ernestine Earle Ross is an American singer, record producer, and actress. Ross was lead singer of the Motown group The Supremes during the 1960s. After leaving the group in 1970, Ross began a solo career that included successful ventures into film and Broadway...
, during a few brief scenes in which Knowles wears a short, sparkly dress and bob hairstyle. The clip then sequences from Fame to Flashdance with Knowles and her dancers in another open warehouse-like space sporting the iconic off-the-shoulder look from the 1983 drama starring Jennifer Beals
Jennifer Beals
Jennifer Beals is an American actress and a former teen model. She is known for her roles as Alexandra "Alex" Owens in the 1983 film Flashdance, and as Bette Porter on the Showtime drama series The L Word. She earned an NAACP Image Award and a Golden Globe Award nomination for the former...
. The video ends with Knowles in a chair, dancing and then flashing a smile.
Reception
John Mitchell of MTV News praised Knowles' dance skills and sexiness in the video despite being pregnant, and called it "...a feast for the eyes" and "...a perfect mix of classic and modern, which seems to be what Beyoncé is aiming for in this era of her career." Another writer of The Huffington PostThe Huffington Post
The Huffington Post is an American news website and content-aggregating blog founded by Arianna Huffington, Kenneth Lerer, and Jonah Peretti, featuring liberal minded columnists and various news sources. The site offers coverage of politics, theology, media, business, entertainment, living, style,...
called the video "...characteristically kinetic." Chris Coplan of Consequence of Sound wrote: "...the concept may be simple, but the intricate dance numbers (take that, Fred Astaire
Fred Astaire
Fred Astaire was an American film and Broadway stage dancer, choreographer, singer and actor. His stage and subsequent film career spanned a total of 76 years, during which he made 31 musical films. He was named the fifth Greatest Male Star of All Time by the American Film Institute...
!) and split screen action make for an energetic cinematic affair with loads of modern swag and '60s-inspired sass." Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly is an American magazine, published by the Time division of Time Warner, that covers film, television, music, broadway theatre, books and popular culture...
s Grady Smith compared Knowles with Nicki Minaj
Nicki Minaj
Onika Tanya Maraj , better known by her stage name Nicki Minaj; ), is a Trinidadian-born American recording artist...
and called the video a "...typical Beyoncé dance-fest featuring frenetic movement, flashing colors, and a whole lot of sexy outfits." Carrie Battan of Pitchfork Media
Pitchfork Media
Pitchfork Media, usually known simply as Pitchfork or P4k, is a Chicago-based daily Internet publication established in 1995 that is devoted to music criticism and commentary, music news, and artist interviews. Its focus is on underground and independent music, especially indie rock...
called it a "...clean and classic, filled with blocked colors, Audrey Hepburn stylings and the occasional flashing of the baby bump." Contessa Gayles of The Boombox also compared Knowles look and make-up in the video with Minajs style. Luke Jennings of The Guardian
The Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
called the video a "slick, very new-retro piece of film-making, and borrowed imagery is absolutely the point of it."
Colleen Nika of Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...
said that: "Already one of the year's most acclaimed pop singles, it will also go down as one of the year's most stylish clips, though it didn't pull any slick maneuvers to earn that distinction", and described it as "...brilliant and bright." Nika also said that the video contrasted with Lady Gaga
Lady GaGa
Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta , better known by her stage name Lady Gaga, is an American singer and songwriter. Born and raised in New York City, she primarily studied at the Convent of the Sacred Heart and briefly attended New York University's Tisch School of the Arts before withdrawing to...
's style and that it was another "...pop art effect" for Knowles. Matthew Perpetua of the same publication wrote that the video had a "...variety of dazzling looks that could definitely be emulated by fans on the cheap." He stated: "...the clip is nearly as joyful and super-charged as the song itself, with its barrage of world-class hooks complemented by a rapid succession of memorable, charming and sexy images." Erika Ramiirez of Billboard
Billboard (magazine)
Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...
write that: "...even with a bun in the oven, Beyoncé can still bring it." Becky Bain of Idolator
Idolator (website)
Idolator is a music blog. Created by the blog network Gawker Media in August 2006, Idolator was later sold to rival blog network Buzz Media, which also owns music blog Stereogum. From the 2007 departure of original head writer Brian Raftery until November 2009, the blog's head writer was Maura...
wrote that the video was filmed at different intervals because "...some shots show her pregnancy bump loud and proud, while in others, a still very dancey-Beyonce appears to have her typically flat tummy." He called it a "...Crayola
Crayola
Crayola is a brand of artists' supplies manufactured by Crayola LLC, which was founded in 1885 as Binney & Smith. It is best known for its crayons...
crayon box come to life." Ray Rahman of New York magazine
New York (magazine)
New York is a weekly magazine principally concerned with the life, culture, politics, and style of New York City. Founded by Milton Glaser and Clay Felker in 1968 as a competitor to The New Yorker, it was brasher and less polite than that magazine, and established itself as a cradle of New...
wrote that Knowles, "...packs the short video with all her classic signatures: being amazing at dancing, recruiting teams of others to be amazing at dancing, and proving how even her fingers are amazing at dancing. But also, and possibly most importantly: Babyoncé!".
Stereogum
Stereogum
Stereogum was one of the first MP3 blogs. It was created by Scott Lapatine in January 2002 with a focus on independent and alternative music news, downloads, videos, and gossip. Stereogum has received several awards and citations, including the 2008 Plug Award for best music blog, Blender's...
said that the video "has [a] potential to be the most electric Beyoncé video since the immortal classic 'Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)
Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)
"Single Ladies " is a song by American recording artist Beyoncé Knowles from her third studio album, I Am... Sasha Fierce. It was released by Columbia Records on October 12, 2008 as the album's lead single, and appeared with "If I Were a Boy" as a double A-side single, demonstrating the...
'." AOL Music
AOL
AOL Inc. is an American global Internet services and media company. AOL is headquartered at 770 Broadway in New York. Founded in 1983 as Control Video Corporation, it has franchised its services to companies in several nations around the world or set up international versions of its services...
s Marina Galperina called the video "...mod-tastic" and the editing "...funky" and "...collaged." Kathleen Perricone of Daily News wrote: "Beyoncé's baby isn't even born yet – and already it's a star" referring to Knowles abdomen in the video. Lisa Potter of Marie Claire
Marie Claire
Marie Claire is a monthly women's magazine first published in France but also distributed in other countries with editions specific to them and in their languages. While each country shares its own special voice with its audience, the United States edition focuses on women around the world and...
compared Knowles with Andy Warhol
Andy Warhol
Andrew Warhola , known as Andy Warhol, was an American painter, printmaker, and filmmaker who was a leading figure in the visual art movement known as pop art...
. CNN
CNN
Cable News Network is a U.S. cable news channel founded in 1980 by Ted Turner. Upon its launch, CNN was the first channel to provide 24-hour television news coverage, and the first all-news television channel in the United States...
said that "...the imagery is a hodge-podge of modern and retro styling created in an ultra-bright palette, and staccato camera work effortlessly matches 'Countdown's' beat." Matt Donnelly of Los Angeles Times
Los Angeles Times
The Los Angeles Times is a daily newspaper published in Los Angeles, California, since 1881. It was the second-largest metropolitan newspaper in circulation in the United States in 2008 and the fourth most widely distributed newspaper in the country....
called the video "...so fantastic it borders on annoying" and added that it could be "...a miniature version of 'Single Ladies.'" Leah Collins of Dose magazine
Dose (magazine)
Dose is a daily Canadian news website and former daily print magazine.Dose was a mixture of standalone features and coverage of daily news, sometimes from an irreverent perspective...
wrote that the director "...has taken everything to concoct a technicolour rainbow of retro throw-back set-pieces." According to MTV News, the video was well-received by fans, who praised its simplicity and Knowles "...bumpin' belly." For the week ending October 29, 2011, the music video for "Countdown" debuted at number one on Yahoo!
Yahoo!
Yahoo! Inc. is an American multinational internet corporation headquartered in Sunnyvale, California, United States. The company is perhaps best known for its web portal, search engine , Yahoo! Directory, Yahoo! Mail, Yahoo! News, Yahoo! Groups, Yahoo! Answers, advertising, online mapping ,...
Video chart.
Controversy
Following the release of the video, allegations arose regarding the video's concept. In an interview with Studio Brussel, Belgian choreographer, Anne Teresa De KeersmaekerAnne Teresa De Keersmaeker
Anne Teresa, Baroness De Keersmaeker is one of the most prominent choreographers in contemporary dance...
, accused Knowles of stealing concepts from two of her pieces, being the 1994 Achterland and the 1997 Rosas danst Rosas. De Keersmaeker accused Knowles of blatantly stealing her choreography, costumes, and sets in the video and released a statement regarding the claim stating, "It's a bit rude, [...] What’s rude about it its that they don’t even bother about hiding it", further adding that "this is pure plagiarism". Rosas spokeswoman Johanne De Bie added about the clip: "We noticed more than a few resemblances... We have passed the details to our lawyer to see about our rights." In response to De Keersmaeker's comments, Knowles issued the following statement: "Clearly, the ballet Rosas danst Rosas was one of many references for my video 'Countdown'. It was one of the inspirations used to bring the feel and look of the song to life. I was also paying tribute to the film, Funny Face with the legendary Audrey Hepburn [...] My biggest inspirations were the [19]60s, the [19]70s, Brigitte Bardot, Andy Warhol, Twiggy and Diana Ross. I've always been fascinated by the way contemporary art uses different elements and references to produce something unique." Following Knowles' statement, De Keersmaeker wrote in a statement to The Performance Club, in which she pondered the reason that her experimental choreography took thirty years to be recognized by pop-culture and noted one personal coincidence between her original work and Knowles' re-imagining:
People asked me if I'm angry or honored. Neither, on the one hand, I am glad that Rosas danst Rosas can perhaps reach a mass audience which such a dance performance could never achieve, despite its popularity in the dance world since 1980s. [...] To conclude, this event didn’t make me angry, on the contrary, it made me think a few things. Like, why does it take popular culture thirty years to recognize an experimental work of dance? [...] with global pop culture it is different, does this mean that thirty years is the time that it takes to recycle non-mainstream experimental performance? And, what does it say about the work of Rosas danst Rosas? In the 1980s, this was seen as a statement of girl power, based on assuming a feminine stance on sexual expression. I was often asked then if it was feminist. Now that I see Beyoncé dancing it, I find it pleasant but I don’t see any edge to it. It’s seductive in an entertaining consumerist way. Beyond resemblance there is also one funny coincidence. Everyone told me, she is dancing and she is four months pregnant. In 1996, when De Mey's film was made, I was also pregnant with my second child. So, today, I can only wish her the same joy that my daughter brought me.
The director of the music video, Adria Petty, in an interview with MTV, stated that along with Knowles, they viewed some German modern dance clips as they were exploring cultural reference points, although she never mentioned De Keersmaeker specifically. Later, during an interview with magazine GQ, Petty stated that De Keersmaekers work inspired several scenes in the music video. During the time of filming, she researched everything about De Keersmaekers work and at the beginning she wanted to credit De Keersmaeker. Petty revealed, "Of course, ultimately I'm disappointed that she wasn't credited on the video because I know it was everyone's intention from the get-go. But I'm assuming that's because they were still finishing it the day that it launched and stuff, it was basically an oversight, you know?" At the end she said that "very little of Keersmaeker's actual choreography inspired the finished result."
Live performances
On June 30, 2011, Knowles made a surprise appearance at the Target store in HarlemHarlem
Harlem is a neighborhood in the New York City borough of Manhattan, which since the 1920s has been a major African-American residential, cultural and business center. Originally a Dutch village, formally organized in 1658, it is named after the city of Haarlem in the Netherlands...
, New York, where kids from the local Boys and Girls Club danced onstage to "Countdown." In the middle of their performance, Knowles took the stage and gave them a big group hug before letting them continue their routine. Knowles told the crowd, "I'd like to thank the Boys and Girls Club for coming out. I hope y'all had fun learning the choreography to 'Countdown' today." Knowles sang the song live for first time on August 14, 2011 during her 4 Intimate Nights with Beyoncé
4 Intimate Nights with Beyoncé
4 Intimate Nights with Beyoncé was a revue by American recording artist Beyoncé Knowles. Held in four non-consecutive nights in August 2011, the concerts were part of Knowles' campaign in support of her fourth studio album 4 . Knowles performed to a standing room-only audience at the Roseland...
in Roseland Ballroom
Roseland Ballroom
The Roseland Ballroom is a multi-purpose hall, in a converted ice skating rink, with a colorful ballroom dancing pedigree, in New York City's theatre district, on West 52nd Street....
, New York City. Wearing a gold dress, she performed the song in front of 3,500 people and she was backed by her all-female band, which includes, among others, two saxophonists, a sinuous guitar player, a seven-piece string section, a peppy pianist, a superfluous conductor, and her backing singers, called the Mamas. Erika Ramirez of Billboard
Billboard (magazine)
Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...
magazine commented that "fans took the liberty to create individual dances in every pocket of the stadium" when Knowles was singing "Countdown".
Referring to "Countdown" as an "experimental [and] framing an expression of artistic freedom", Jody Rosen of Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...
wrote that the song "made [Knowles'] case." Jozen Cummings of The Wall Street Journal
The Wall Street Journal
The Wall Street Journal is an American English-language international daily newspaper. It is published in New York City by Dow Jones & Company, a division of News Corporation, along with the Asian and European editions of the Journal....
commented that "when [Knowles] went up-tempo on songs like 'Countdown', her virtuosic ability to engage in crisp choreography without cracking her huge voice took center stage." Echoing Cummings' sentiments, Mike Wass of Idolator
Idolator (website)
Idolator is a music blog. Created by the blog network Gawker Media in August 2006, Idolator was later sold to rival blog network Buzz Media, which also owns music blog Stereogum. From the 2007 departure of original head writer Brian Raftery until November 2009, the blog's head writer was Maura...
added that "as great as those two tracks sounded live, 'Countdown' and 'End Of Time' garnered the most applause. Both were accompanied by brilliant dance routines and boast sing-a-long choruses." Joycelyn Vena of MTV News
MTV News
MTV News is the news division of MTV, one of the first and most popular music television network in the U.S., as well as some of MTV's related channels around the world. MTV News began in the late 1980s with the program The Week In Rock, hosted by Kurt Loder, the first official MTV News correspondent...
concluded that "it was [Knowles'] ability to throw a party during faster jams like 'Party', 'Countdown', 'End of Time' and 'Run the World (Girls)' that put on full display her range as a performer, dancing and singing live the entire night."
A performance of Knowles singing "Countdown" live on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon
Late Night with Jimmy Fallon
Late Night with Jimmy Fallon is an American late-night talk show hosted by Jimmy Fallon on NBC. The show premiered on March 2, 2009, as the third incarnation of the Late Night franchise originated by David Letterman....
was taped in July 2011. The performance aired on November 11, 2011. Backed by The Roots
The Roots
The Roots is an American hip hop/neo soul band formed in 1987 by Tariq "Black Thought" Trotter and Ahmir "Questlove" Thompson in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. They are famed for beginning with a jazzy, eclectic approach to hip hop which still includes live instrumentals...
, Knowles gave her performance, wearing a black dress.
Usage in media
Knowles appeared on Entertainment TonightEntertainment Tonight
Entertainment Tonight is a daily tabloid television entertainment television news show that is syndicated by CBS Television Distribution throughout the United States, Canada and in many countries around the world. Linda Bell Blue is currently the program's executive producer...
on June 16, 2011 to promote the exclusive-to-Target
Target Corporation
Target Corporation, doing business as Target, is an American retailing company headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota. It is the second-largest discount retailer in the United States, behind Walmart. The company is ranked at number 33 on the Fortune 500 and is a component of the Standard & Poor's...
deluxe edition of 4, and gave fans a sneak preview of its television commercial. The 30-second commercial, which features "1+1
1+1 (song)
"1+1" is a song recorded by American recording artist Beyoncé Knowles for her fourth studio album, 4 . Knowles debuted the song on May 25, 2011, on American Idol, and digitally released it as a promotional single in the United States through Columbia Records...
" and "Countdown" playing in the background, began airing in the United States on June 24, 2011. In August 2011, "Countdown" was used in a commercial for the CBS
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
fall television series previews.
Track listing
- Germany digital download
- "Countdown" — 3:32
- "Countdown" (RedTop Radio Edit – Clean) — 3:57
-
- Digital Remixes EP
- "Countdown" – 3:31
- "Countdown" (Reggae Rewind Remix) – 4:04
- "Countdown" (Olli Collins & Fred Portelli Remix) – 6:10
- "Countdown" (Jack Beats Remix) – 4:03
- "Countdown" (Single Version Music Video) – 3:32
Credits and personnel
Credits are taken from 4 liner notesLiner notes
Liner notes are the writings found in booklets which come inserted into the compact disc jewel case or the equivalent packaging for vinyl records and cassettes.-Origin:...
.
- Beyoncé Knowles – vocals, producer, songwriter
- Alex Asher – tromboneTromboneThe trombone is a musical instrument in the brass family. Like all brass instruments, sound is produced when the player’s vibrating lips cause the air column inside the instrument to vibrate...
- Michael BivinsMichael BivinsMichael Lamont Bivins, a.k.a. Biv , is the founder and member of the R&B group New Edition and the hip hop group Bell Biv DeVoe...
– songwriter - Ester DeanEster DeanEster Renay Dean is an American singer and songwriter, and record producer signed to Zone 4 Records/Interscope Records. She is most notable for her dual appearance on Rio: Music From The Motion Picture and her 2009 US hit single "Drop It Low", which featured singer Chris Brown...
– songwriter - Julie FrostJulie FrostJulie Frost is an internationally known award winning American songwriter, singer, guitar player and music producer. She is the first American songwriter to win the Eurovision Song Contest, as co-writer of the song "Satellite", which won the contest in 2010 for Germany...
– songwriter - Cole-Kamen Green – trumpet
- Serban GheneaSerban GheneaSerban Ghenea is a four-time Grammy Award and three-time Latin Grammy Award-winning mixer. He has mixed songs for such artists as Michael Jackson, Justin Timberlake, Usher, Faith Hill, Carrie Underwood, Jewel, Santana, Ozomatli, Shakira, Jill Scott, R. Kelly, Rod Stewart, and Dave Matthews Band...
– mixer - John Hanes – engineer mixerMix engineerA mix engineer, also referred to as "mixing engineer", is a person who, once all instruments, voices, and sounds, etc., have been recorded, creates what is called the final version of a song, hence the term "mix engineer"...
- Ryan Kelly – engineer assistant
- Lamb – co-production, songwriter
- Nathan MorrisNathan MorrisNathan Bartholomew Morris is an American singer and a founding member of Boyz II Men. Morris sings baritone and soprano.Morris released a single entitled "Wishes" for the Touchstone Pictures film Kazaam starring NBA Star Shaquille O'Neal. Morris most recently discovered Def Jam recording artist...
– songwriter
- Wanya MorrisWanya MorrisWanyá Jermaine Morris is an American R&B singer, best known as a member of the R&B group Boyz II Men.Aside from Boyz II Men, Wanyá has his own record label, "The Company Entertainment"....
– songwriter - Terius "The-Dream" NashThe-DreamTerius Youngdell Nash , better known by his stage name The-Dream, is an American singer-songwriter and record producer. He is known for co-writing "Umbrella" for Rihanna and "Single Ladies " for Beyoncé, as well as for his three solo albums, Love Hate, Love vs...
– songwriter - Phil Seaford – engineer mix assistant
- Drew Sayers – saxophones
- Shea Taylor – production
- Nick Videen – tenor saxophone
- Pete Wolford – engineer assistant
- Josiah Woodson – trumpet
- Jordan "DJ Swivel" Young – recorder
Charts
| Chart (2011) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Deutsche Black Charts Deutsche Black Charts Deutsche Black Charts DBC, also known by various names including Deutsche Urban Charts and Deutsche Hip Hop/R&B/Dancehall Singles is a chart released weekly by Deutsche Trend Charts in Germany.... |
1 |
| Japan Hot 100 Japan Hot 100 The Japan Hot 100 is a music singles chart in Japan. It is compiled by Billboard and Hanshin Contents Link ever since February 2008. The chart is updated every Wednesday at billboard-japan.com and every Thursday at billboard.com .... |
87 |
| Irish Singles Chart Irish Singles Chart The Irish Singles Chart is Ireland's music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by the Irish Recorded Music Association and compiled on behalf of the IRMA by Chart-Track. Chart rankings are based on sales, which are compiled through over-the-counter retail data captured... |
45 |
| South Korea Gaon International Chart Gaon Chart The Gaon Chart is a national record chart of South Korea. It is complied by the Korea Music Content Industry Association and sponsored by South Korea's Ministry of Culture, Sports, and Tourism; with an aim to create a national chart for Korea similar to the Billboard charts and Oricon charts... |
40 |
| UK R&B Chart UK R&B Chart The Official UK R&B Chart is a forty-position R&B/Hip-Hop chart compiled by The Official UK Charts Company. Although the chart does not receive any airplay, its compilation is viewed on BBC Radio 1's website and publications such as ChartsPlus and Music Week... |
9 |
| UK Singles Chart UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ... |
35 |
| US Billboard Hot 100 Billboard Hot 100 The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday... |
71 |
| US Hot Dance Club Songs | 2 |
| US R&B/Hip-Hop Songs | 34 |
| US Pop Songs | 38 |
Release history
| Country | Date | Format |
|---|---|---|
| United States | October 4, 2011 | Mainstream Contemporary hit radio Contemporary hit radio is a radio format that is common in the United States, United Kingdom, Canada and Australia that focuses on playing current and recurrent popular music as determined by the Top 40 music charts... and rhythmic radio |
| Belgium | October 21, 2011 | Music Download Music download A music download is the transferral of music from an Internet-facing computer or website to a user's local computer. This term encompasses both legal downloads and downloads of copyright material without permission or payment... |
| Germany | November 25, 2011 | |
| Switzerland | ||
| Austria | ||
| United Kingdom | December 6, 2011 | CD Single CD single A CD single is a music single in the form of a standard size Compact Disc, not to be confused with the 3-inch CD single, which uses a smaller form factor. The format was introduced in the mid-1980s, but did not gain its place in the market until the early 1990s... |