Stupid Girls
Encyclopedia
"Stupid Girls" is a song by American artist Pink
, released as the first single
from her 2006 album, I'm Not Dead
. The song was written by Billy Mann, Pink
, Niklas Olovson and Robin Mortensen Lynch and produced by Billy Mann and MachoPsycho.
chart in the week of February 25 at number twenty-four, the week's highest debut and the highest debut of Pink's career (later topped by her 2008 single, So What
). In the week of March 4, it climbed to number thirteen, becoming Pink's eighth top twenty single in the United States
and her highest peaking single since "Just like a Pill
" (2002). Its peak on the Top 40 Mainstream airplay chart, however, did not match that of most of her previous singles. "Stupid Girls" remained on the Hot 100 for sixteen weeks, and it reached the top twenty on the Pop 100
and appeared on the Adult Top 40. It received airplay in nightclub
s, peaking inside the top twenty on the Hot Dance Club Play
chart. "Stupid Girls" was certified Gold by RIAA on February 13, 2008.
The single was a bigger chart hit elsewhere—it reached number two on the Canadian Singles Chart
, and on the Australia
n ARIA Singles Chart, it entered at number four and is certified gold for sales of over 35,000. It was ranked number thirty-ninth on ARIA
's top 100 singles of 2006 list. It also peaked at number four on the UK
Singles Chart
, becoming Pink's highest charting single in the UK since "Feel Good Time
" (2003). It reached the top ten in most countries in Europe
.
"Stupid Girls" was nominated in the category of Best Female Pop Vocal Performance at the 2007 Grammy Awards.
The single was praised by Harry Potter
author J. K. Rowling
on her official website. She wrote, "'Stupid Girls', is the antidote-anthem for everything I had been thinking about women and thinness."
was directed by Dave Meyers
and premiered on MTV
's broadband channel Overdrive on January 26, 2006. Meyers and Pink shot the videos for "Stupid Girls" and "U + Ur Hand
", the album's third single, before the decision was made as to which would become the album's lead single. Pink described the video as "sick and twisted and insane" and said of Meyers, "He has an insane imagination. I don't think everyone else is going to laugh, but just know that we all did." Pink did her own stunts for the video. According to Barry Weiss
, president of Zomba Music Group
, executives at Pink's label were reluctant to release the song as the album's first single until the video "hit a chord" with them. They decided to release the video before issuing the song to radio, and 8.6 million people downloaded the video when it was made available on the internet. Zomba's senior vice president of marketing Janet Kleinbaum said that radio programmers "went online to download the audio from the video in order to get it on radio".
The video shows Pink as an angel and a demon who try to influence the future of a young girl. The angel shows her a series of images demonstrating the stupidity of current trends in female celebrity, and the images feature Pink in various roles, including a dancer in a 50 Cent
video, a girl attempting to attract the attention of an instructor at the gym, a girl who uses her emergency inflatable breasts at a bowling alley, a girl at a tanning salon, a girl with purging disorder
who considers calorie
s "so not sexy", an old woman in a pink tracksuit who looks as if she is trying too hard to look young, a girl getting plastic surgery
, a girl making a sex tape, a girl washing her car and rubbing a facecloth and soap all over herself, and a girl who goes into what looks like a pet shop, buys an "itsy bitsy doggy" with the promise that it "stays younger longer", and drives her car so carelessly while putting on makeup that she runs over two people. Pink also plays characters meant to represent the opposite of "stupid girls", such as a female president and a girl winning a game of football
. The video ends with the girl choosing a football (fitness), a computer (work), books (knowledge and adequate education), dance shoes (love), and a keyboard (leisure) over makeup (vanity) and a set of dolls (children) as she wants a normal life and the images are too overwhelming for her; the demon is defeated.
Some of the negatively portrayed characters in the video are parodies of young female celebrities such as Mary Kate Olsen, who provides the basis for the Boho-chic
dressing style of the girl who visits a Fred Segal
clothing store. The redheaded girl who accidentally hits pedestrians with her car is a parody of Lindsay Lohan
. The scene in which Pink washes a car in a bikini is a parody of similar scenes in the video for Jessica Simpson
's "These Boots Are Made for Walkin'" (2005) and a 2005 Carl's Jr.
television commercial featuring Paris Hilton
. The digital video
shots showing Pink in bed with a man parallel those in the Paris Hilton sex tape 1 Night in Paris
. The man portraying 50 Cent in the video is actually 50 Cent's own cousin. Towards the end in the video, a middle-aged woman with leathery skin appears next to a hot pink Honda S2000
, which is exactly the same car driven by Devon Aoki
in the film 2 Fast 2 Furious
.
The video debuted on the U.S. MTV Total Request Live
countdown on January 31 and peaked at number six; it remained on the countdown for fourteen days, until February 23. The video was retired on the Poland
version of MTV's Total Request Live, and it won the MTV Video Music Award for Best Pop Video
in August 2006 (see 2006 MTV Video Music Awards
). When she was receiving the award, Pink parodied Paris Hilton by talking in a higher pitched voice and acting overly excited. Nicole Richie
, Hilton's co-star on The Simple Life
, co-presented the award.
Pink (singer)
Alecia Beth Moore , better known by her stage name Pink , is an American singer-songwriter, musician and actress....
, released as the first single
Single (music)
In music, a single or record single is a type of release, typically a recording of fewer tracks than an LP or a CD. This can be released for sale to the public in a variety of different formats. In most cases, the single is a song that is released separately from an album, but it can still appear...
from her 2006 album, I'm Not Dead
I'm Not Dead
I'm Not Dead is the fourth studio album by American recording artist Pink. The album was released on April 4, 2006 in the United States....
. The song was written by Billy Mann, Pink
Pink (singer)
Alecia Beth Moore , better known by her stage name Pink , is an American singer-songwriter, musician and actress....
, Niklas Olovson and Robin Mortensen Lynch and produced by Billy Mann and MachoPsycho.
Reception
The single entered the U.S. Billboard Hot 100Billboard 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 in the week of February 25 at number twenty-four, the week's highest debut and the highest debut of Pink's career (later topped by her 2008 single, So What
So What (Pink song)
"So What" is a song written by American pop rock singer Pink, Max Martin and Shellback. It was released as the first single from Pink's fifth studio album, Funhouse. Pink performed "So What" at the 2008 MTV Video Music Awards, on September 7, 2008, and the song was used to promote the 2008 MTV...
). In the week of March 4, it climbed to number thirteen, becoming Pink's eighth top twenty single in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
and her highest peaking single since "Just like a Pill
Just like a Pill
"Just Like a Pill" is a pop rock song by American singer Pink. It was written and produced by Dallas Austin and Pink for her second studio album Missundaztood...
" (2002). Its peak on the Top 40 Mainstream airplay chart, however, did not match that of most of her previous singles. "Stupid Girls" remained on the Hot 100 for sixteen weeks, and it reached the top twenty on the Pop 100
Pop 100
The Pop 100 was a songs chart that debuted in February 2005 and was released weekly by Billboard magazine in the United States until its discontinuation in 2009...
and appeared on the Adult Top 40. It received airplay in nightclub
Nightclub
A nightclub is an entertainment venue which usually operates late into the night...
s, peaking inside the top twenty on the Hot Dance Club Play
Hot Dance Club Play
The Hot Dance Club Songs chart is a weekly national survey of the songs that are most popular in U.S. dance clubs...
chart. "Stupid Girls" was certified Gold by RIAA on February 13, 2008.
The single was a bigger chart hit elsewhere—it reached number two on the Canadian Singles Chart
Canadian Singles Chart
The Canadian Singles Chart is currently compiled by the U.S.-based music sales tracking company, Nielsen SoundScan . The chart is compiled every Wednesday, and is published by Jam! Canoe on Thursdays....
, and on the Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
n ARIA Singles Chart, it entered at number four and is certified gold for sales of over 35,000. It was ranked number thirty-ninth on ARIA
Australian Recording Industry Association
The Australian Recording Industry Association is a trade group representing the Australian recording industry which was established in 1983 by six major record companies, EMI, Festival, CBS, RCA, WEA and Universal replacing the Association of Australian Record Manufacturers which was formed in 1956...
's top 100 singles of 2006 list. It also peaked at number four on the UK
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
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 ...
, becoming Pink's highest charting single in the UK since "Feel Good Time
Feel Good Time
"Feel Good Time" is a song by Pink featuring William Orbit. It was on the soundtrack of the 2003 film Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle and was later included on the non-U.S. editions of Pink's third album, Try This. "Feel Good Time" samples "Fresh-Garbage" by the band Spirit, from their 1968 album...
" (2003). It reached the top ten in most countries in Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
.
"Stupid Girls" was nominated in the category of Best Female Pop Vocal Performance at the 2007 Grammy Awards.
The single was praised by Harry Potter
Harry Potter
Harry Potter is a series of seven fantasy novels written by the British author J. K. Rowling. The books chronicle the adventures of the adolescent wizard Harry Potter and his best friends Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger, all of whom are students at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry...
author J. K. Rowling
J. K. Rowling
Joanne "Jo" Rowling, OBE , better known as J. K. Rowling, is the British author of the Harry Potter fantasy series...
on her official website. She wrote, "'Stupid Girls', is the antidote-anthem for everything I had been thinking about women and thinness."
Music video
The single's videoMusic video
A music video or song video is a short film integrating a song and imagery, produced for promotional or artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a marketing device intended to promote the sale of music recordings...
was directed by Dave Meyers
Dave Meyers (director)
David "Dave" Meyers is an American music video director.-Career:Meyers has directed over 200 music videos including: P!nk's "There You Go", "Most Girls", "You Make Me Sick", "Get The Party Started", "Don't Let Me Get Me", "Feel Good Time", "Stupid Girls", "U + Ur Hand", "So What", "Please Don't...
and premiered on MTV
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....
's broadband channel Overdrive on January 26, 2006. Meyers and Pink shot the videos for "Stupid Girls" and "U + Ur Hand
U + Ur Hand
"U + Ur Hand" is a song by American singer and songwriter Pink. It was lined up as the third single from her fourth studio album I'm Not Dead . It was released in August, 2006 to ignite controversy due to its explicit lyrical content and strong language.The song was written by Pink, Max Martin and Dr...
", the album's third single, before the decision was made as to which would become the album's lead single. Pink described the video as "sick and twisted and insane" and said of Meyers, "He has an insane imagination. I don't think everyone else is going to laugh, but just know that we all did." Pink did her own stunts for the video. According to Barry Weiss
Barry Weiss
Barry Weiss is an American music executive. He is the current Chairman & CEO of Island Def Jam Motown Music Group and Universal Republic. He served as chairman and CEO of RCA/Jive Label Group from 2008 to 2011 and was also the CEO of its constituent Jive Records from 1991 to 2011...
, president of Zomba Music Group
Zomba Music Group
The Zomba Group of Companies was a music group and division which was owned by and operated under Sony Music Entertainment. The division was renamed to Jive Label Group in 2009 and was placed under the RCA/Jive Label Group umbrella. In 2011, the RCA/Jive Label Group was split in half...
, executives at Pink's label were reluctant to release the song as the album's first single until the video "hit a chord" with them. They decided to release the video before issuing the song to radio, and 8.6 million people downloaded the video when it was made available on the internet. Zomba's senior vice president of marketing Janet Kleinbaum said that radio programmers "went online to download the audio from the video in order to get it on radio".
The video shows Pink as an angel and a demon who try to influence the future of a young girl. The angel shows her a series of images demonstrating the stupidity of current trends in female celebrity, and the images feature Pink in various roles, including a dancer in a 50 Cent
50 Cent
Curtis James Jackson III , better known by his stage name 50 Cent, is an American rapper, entrepreneur, investor, record producer, and actor. He rose to fame with the release of his albums Get Rich or Die Tryin and The Massacre . Get Rich or Die Tryin has been certified eight times platinum by...
video, a girl attempting to attract the attention of an instructor at the gym, a girl who uses her emergency inflatable breasts at a bowling alley, a girl at a tanning salon, a girl with purging disorder
Purging disorder
Purging disorder is an eating disorder characterized by recurrent purging to control weight or shape in the absence of binge eating episodes that occurs in people with normal or near-normal weight...
who considers calorie
Calorie
The calorie is a pre-SI metric unit of energy. It was first defined by Nicolas Clément in 1824 as a unit of heat, entering French and English dictionaries between 1841 and 1867. In most fields its use is archaic, having been replaced by the SI unit of energy, the joule...
s "so not sexy", an old woman in a pink tracksuit who looks as if she is trying too hard to look young, a girl getting plastic surgery
Plastic surgery
Plastic surgery is a medical specialty concerned with the correction or restoration of form and function. Though cosmetic or aesthetic surgery is the best-known kind of plastic surgery, most plastic surgery is not cosmetic: plastic surgery includes many types of reconstructive surgery, hand...
, a girl making a sex tape, a girl washing her car and rubbing a facecloth and soap all over herself, and a girl who goes into what looks like a pet shop, buys an "itsy bitsy doggy" with the promise that it "stays younger longer", and drives her car so carelessly while putting on makeup that she runs over two people. Pink also plays characters meant to represent the opposite of "stupid girls", such as a female president and a girl winning a game of football
American football
American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...
. The video ends with the girl choosing a football (fitness), a computer (work), books (knowledge and adequate education), dance shoes (love), and a keyboard (leisure) over makeup (vanity) and a set of dolls (children) as she wants a normal life and the images are too overwhelming for her; the demon is defeated.
Boho-chic
Boho-chic is a style of female fashion drawing on various bohemian and hippie influences, which, at its height in 2004-5, was associated particularly with actress Sienna Miller and model Kate Moss in the United Kingdom and actresses Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen and Nicole Richie in the United States...
dressing style of the girl who visits a Fred Segal
Fred Segal
Fred Segal is an upscale Los Angeles, California based clothing retailer. There are currently two Fred Segal stores: one in Hollywood and the other in Santa Monica....
clothing store. The redheaded girl who accidentally hits pedestrians with her car is a parody of Lindsay Lohan
Lindsay Lohan
Lindsay Lohan is an American actress, pop singer and model. She began her career as a child fashion model before making her motion picture debut in Disney's 1998 remake of The Parent Trap at the age of 11...
. The scene in which Pink washes a car in a bikini is a parody of similar scenes in the video for Jessica Simpson
Jessica Simpson
Jessica Ann Simpson is an American recording artist, actress, television personality, and fashion designer whose rise to fame began in 1999. Since that time, Simpson has achieved many recording milestones, starred in several television shows, movies, and commercials, launched a line of hair and...
's "These Boots Are Made for Walkin'" (2005) and a 2005 Carl's Jr.
Carl's Jr.
Carl's Jr. is an American fast-food restaurant chain located mostly in the Western and Southwestern United States. The first store has opened in Canada in Kelowna, BC. They are in the process of expanding to Mexico, Malaysia, Denmark, Costa Rica, New Zealand, Australia, Singapore, Russia, Vietnam,...
television commercial featuring Paris Hilton
Paris Hilton
Paris Whitney Hilton is an American businesswoman, heiress, and socialite. She is a great-granddaughter of Conrad Hilton . Hilton is known for her controversial participation in a sex tape in 2003, and appearance on the television series The Simple Life alongside fellow socialite and childhood...
. The digital video
Digital video
Digital video is a type of digital recording system that works by using a digital rather than an analog video signal.The terms camera, video camera, and camcorder are used interchangeably in this article.- History :...
shots showing Pink in bed with a man parallel those in the Paris Hilton sex tape 1 Night in Paris
1 Night in Paris
1 Night in Paris is a 2004 pornographic video depicting Paris Hilton and her then-boyfriend Rick Salomon having sexual intercourse in 2001. Not originally intended for release, it was filmed primarily with a single, stationary, tripod-mounted camera using "night vision." However, a handful of...
. The man portraying 50 Cent in the video is actually 50 Cent's own cousin. Towards the end in the video, a middle-aged woman with leathery skin appears next to a hot pink Honda S2000
Honda S2000
The Honda S2000 is a roadster that was manufactured by the Japanese automaker Honda Motor Company. It was launched in April 1999 and was created to celebrate the company's 50th anniversary. The car was first shown as a concept at the Tokyo Motor Show in 1995, following which it was launched in...
, which is exactly the same car driven by Devon Aoki
Devon Aoki
Devon Edwenna Aoki is an American model and actress.-Early life:Aoki was born in New York City, New York, and grew up in California and London, attending high school at The American School in London...
in the film 2 Fast 2 Furious
2 Fast 2 Furious
2 Fast 2 Furious is a 2003 street racing action film directed by John Singleton. It is the second film in The Fast and the Furious film series following The Fast and the Furious . It stars Paul Walker, Tyrese Gibson, Eva Mendes, Devon Aoki, and Chris Bridges; and was directed by John Singleton. The...
.
The video debuted on the U.S. MTV Total Request Live
Total Request Live
Total Request Live is a television series on MTV that featured popular music videos. TRL was MTV's prime outlet for music videos as the network continues to concentrate on reality-based programming. In addition to music videos, TRL featured daily guests...
countdown on January 31 and peaked at number six; it remained on the countdown for fourteen days, until February 23. The video was retired on the Poland
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
version of MTV's Total Request Live, and it won the MTV Video Music Award for Best Pop Video
MTV Video Music Award for Best Pop Video
The MTV Video Music Award for Best Pop Video was first given out in , as MTV began to put several teen pop acts in heavy rotation. Nominations, however, were not just limited to pop acts, as dance, R&B, pop/rock, and, most recently, reggaeton artists have also received Best Pop Video nominations...
in August 2006 (see 2006 MTV Video Music Awards
2006 MTV Video Music Awards
The 2006 MTV Video Music Awards aired live on August 31, 2006, honoring the best music videos from the previous year. The show was hosted by Jack Black at Radio City Music Hall in New York City....
). When she was receiving the award, Pink parodied Paris Hilton by talking in a higher pitched voice and acting overly excited. Nicole Richie
Nicole Richie
Nicole Camille Richie is an American fashion designer, author, actress, singer and television personality. Her father was Peter Michael Escovedo, a musician who played for a brief time with Lionel Richie, and her mother Karen was the executive assistant for Sheila Escovedo...
, Hilton's co-star on The Simple Life
The Simple Life
The Simple Life was a reality television series that was broadcast from December 2, 2003 to August 5, 2007. The first three seasons aired on Fox, and the final two on E!...
, co-presented the award.
Track listings and formats
- Australia CD single/UK CD1
- "Stupid Girls" (album version) – 3:16
- "Heartbreaker" – 3:08
- UK CD2
- "Stupid Girls" (album version) – 3:16
- "Stupid Girls" (D-Bop's 3am at Crash Mix) – 6:51
- "Stupid Girls" (Junior Vasquez & Dynamix Club Remix) – 8:59
- "Stupid Girls" (Noize Trip Remix) – 3:13
- "Stupid Girls" (enhanced music video)
- UK 12"
- "Stupid Girls" (Junior Vasquez & Dynamix Club Remix) – 8:59
- "Stupid Girls" (Noize Trip Remix) – 3:13
- "Stupid Girls" (D-Bop's 3am at Crash Mix) – 6:51
- "Stupid Girls" (Kardinal Beatz Remix) – 3:23
- "Stupid Girls" (Eddie Baez Big Room Anthem Radio Mix) – 3:18
- Remixes
- "Stupid Girls" (D-Bop's 3am at Crash Radio Edit) – 4:11
- "Stupid Girls" (Eddie Baez Big Room Anthem Radio Edit) – 3:18
- "Stupid Girls" (Kardinal Beatz Remix) – 3:35
- "Stupid Girls" (Noize Trip Remix) – 3:13
- "Stupid Girls" (Hani Stupid Club Mix) – 8:26
- "Stupid Girls" (Hani Stupid Radio Edit) - 3:34
- "Stupid Girls" (D-Bop's 3am at Crash Club Mix) – 6:51
- "Stupid Girls" (Junior Vasquez & Dynamix Club Mix) – 9:00
- "Stupid Girls" (Eddie Baez Big Room Anthem Club Mix) – 7:37
- "Stupid Girls" (Soul Seekerz Club Mix) - 6:04
Charts
| Chart (2006) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Australian Singles Chart | 4 |
| Australian Airplay Chart | 1 |
| Austrian Singles Chart | 3 |
| Belgium Singles Chart | 1 |
| Canadian Singles Chart Canadian Singles Chart The Canadian Singles Chart is currently compiled by the U.S.-based music sales tracking company, Nielsen SoundScan . The chart is compiled every Wednesday, and is published by Jam! Canoe on Thursdays.... |
2 |
| Danish Singles Chart | 6 |
| Dutch Singles Chart | 9 |
| Finnish Singles Chart | 1 |
| French Singles Chart | 13 |
| Germany Singles Chart | 5 |
| Hungary Singles Chart | 3 |
| Ireland Singles Chart | 5 |
| Italy Singles Chart | 8 |
| New Zealand Singles Chart | 7 |
| Norwegian Singles Chart | 2 |
| Swedish Singles Chart | 16 |
| Swiss Singles Chart | 2 |
| 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 ... |
4 |
| U.S. 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... |
13 |
| U.S. Billboard Pop Songs | 17 |
| U.S. Billboard Hot Dance Club Songs | 19 |
| U.S. Billboard Adult Pop Songs | 25 |
Certifications
| Country | Certification | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Worldwide | 2x Platinum | 4,300,000 |
External links
- Chicago Sun-Times article
- The Guardian article
- The Independent article
- PopMatters article
- "Pop Singer Makes Slaving for Beauty Look Ugly" Women's eNewsWomen's eNewsWomen's eNews is a nonprofit online news service based in New York City. It publishes international news articles specializing in coverage of women's lives.- History :...
, May 2006 - The Oprah Winfrey Show episode summary
- MTV interview