Waking Up in Vegas
Encyclopedia
"Waking Up in Vegas" is a song by American recording artist Katy Perry
Katy Perry
Katy Perry is an American singer, songwriter and actress. Born in Santa Barbara, California, and raised by Christian pastor parents, Perry grew up listening to only gospel music and sang in her local church as a child. After earning a GED during her first year of high school, she began to pursue a...

, taken as the fourth and final single off her second studio album, One of the Boys
One of the Boys (Katy Perry album)
One of the Boys is the second studio album by American recording artist Katy Perry and her major-label debut. Her change in record label and adoption of a pseudonymous surname accompanies a notable shift from the Christian gospel rock of her self-titled debut album. The album was released on June...

. It was written by Katy Perry, Desmond Child
Desmond Child
Desmond Child is an American musician, songwriter, and producer. He is a member of the Songwriters Hall of Fame.-Career:...

 and Andreas Carlsson
Andreas Carlsson
Andreas Carlsson is a Swedish music producer, composer, and pop songwriter.-Biography:Carlsson was part of the Cheiron Studios team until the studio was closed down in 2001....

. It is produced by Greg Wells
Greg Wells
Greg Wells is a multiple Grammy nominated musician, record producer and songwriter based in Los Angeles. Wells has produced and written hits with Adele, Weezer, Pink, Theophilus London, Deftones, Katy Perry, Rufus Wainwright, The All American Rejects, OneRepublic, Mika, Aerosmith, Burt Bacharach,...

 and co-produced by Perry. Wells is credited with playing all the instruments on the song. It was officially released to US radio stations on .

The song received generally positive reviews from music critics, many saying that it is a catchy tune. The song had peaked at number nine on the Billboard Hot 100, becoming Perry's third top ten single on the charts. The song also had top ten success, peaking at number one in Australia, The Netherlands and some U.S. sub charts, while scoring the top ten in Canada, New Zealand, Italy and other countries.
The music video
Music 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 release for the single, which features Perry and actor Joel David Moore where it features the couple in Vegas partying and gambling. The video was a success worldwide, scoring around 37 million views, but 17 pre-vevo. There is also an alternative reviews, which features bonus footage of Perry in a large martini glass, with multi-colored candy, and using the Manhattan Clique Remix instead.

Background and composition

According to A&R, Chris Anokute
Chris Anokute
Chris Anokute is an A&R executive. While at Capitol Records he oversaw artists including Katy Perry, Joss Stone and Varsity Fanclub. He is currently Senior Vice-President of A&R at Universal Motown.-Career:...

, the song played a significant role in initiating Perry's pivotal move to Capitol Records. Having been recorded while still under contract with 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...

 for an album that was then shelved, Anokute later heard the song on a three-song demo and, convinced it was a number 1 single and its singer a star talent, set about trying to convince his employers at Capitol to sign Perry. Before Waking Up in Vegas was released, "If You Can Afford Me" and "Fingerprints" were considered for release, but Perry chose Vegas instead. Perry, Carlsson and Child all worked on the song together. In an interview with HitQuarters
HitQuarters
HitQuarters is an international music industry publication and contact database founded in 1999. It is noted for in-depth interviews with industry figures, with past subjects including Simon Cowell, Martin Kierszenbaum, Jason Flom, Diane Warren, Peter Edge, Ron Fair and RedOne, as well as its A&R...

, Carlsson said that two of the first aspects of the song to be composed were the main guitar riff - which he already had pre-prepared - and the phrase “put your money where your mouth is”, which they were very keen to use and which for a time was almost used as the song's title.

Writing and inspiration

Perry explained "Waking Up in Vegas" to The Sun September 26, 2008:

"Vegas gives me that 'what the heck is this place' feeling. It's really close to LA so one night you could be having a beer with your friends and, when you wake up, you're in Vegas."

Perry said that the song has some real-life inspiration, in a chat with PopEater.com, Perry revealed that she and her then-boyfriend "decided to get fake married".

"I was 21. We took all the pictures with the minister, with the fake cake, in the fake chapel and got a fake marriage certificate. We went and bought a wedding dress and a suit at a thrift store, and scanned the pictures and the certificate to my family members, my manager at the time [and] totally freaked the crap out of them. It was the most hilarious, stupid prank I've ever pulled, I still have the wedding dress and the certificate."

Perry added that the song is not about apologizing: "[It's] basically a song about getting into trouble with your best friend or your boyfriend or your girlfriend - or whoever you're with - and not having any 'I'm sorry for what I did'."

Chart performance

The song debuted on the 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 ...

 at number 107 following her performance on Ant & Dec's Saturday Night Takeaway
Saturday Night Takeaway
Ant & Dec's Saturday Night Takeaway, is a variety show created by LWT and shown in the UK on Saturday evenings on ITV, presented and executively produced by Ant & Dec. It is broadcast live from The London Studios on the South Bank...

, and peaked at number 19 on the 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 ...

. In the US, it debuted at number 65 on the 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...

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...

. Following her performance on American Idol, the song jumped to number 13 and remained in the top 15 for the following three months, peaking at number nine. "Waking Up in Vegas" also went on to become Perry's second number one hit on Mainstream Top 40
Mainstream Top 40 (Pop Songs)
The Mainstream Top 40 is an airplay chart from Billboard magazine, and is also known as Pop Songs on billboard.com. It was often mistaken for and confused with the now discontinued Pop 100 Airplay chart...

, matching the airplay success of "I Kissed a Girl" and "Hot n Cold". In Canada, the song was driven all the way to number five and then number two thanks in part to her performance on Idol, but also due to increasing sales and airplay. On the 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...

 it peaked at number eight. Ultimately, the song's success was considered a rebound for Perry after "Thinking of You" failed to ignite the charts. The single also helped One of the Boys return to the top 50 of the Billboard 200
Billboard 200
The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists...

 albums chart. "Waking Up In Vegas" was the 33rd most purchased song on iTunes in the US during 2009. As of September 2011, the song has sold 2,053,000 copies in the U.S. The song also peaked at number nine in New Zealand, being certificated Gold.

Critical reception

Billboard gave the song a positive review: "most radio-friendly song yet." Digital Spy gave "Waking Up in Vegas" 3/5 stars, calling the song "a giddy pop-rock romp featuring an ace sing-along chorus." Bill Lamb from About.com
About.com
About.com is an online source for original information and advice. It is written in English, and is aimed primarily at North Americans. It is owned by The New York Times Company....

 said that the production by Greg Wells made the song "unforgettably catchy." Pop Rock/Hardcore band "A Seamless Getaway" created a hardcore cover of the song and has found massive success for doing so.

Live performances

Katy Perry
Katy Perry
Katy Perry is an American singer, songwriter and actress. Born in Santa Barbara, California, and raised by Christian pastor parents, Perry grew up listening to only gospel music and sang in her local church as a child. After earning a GED during her first year of high school, she began to pursue a...

 performed "Waking Up in Vegas" on Later... with Jools Holland in March 2008. She was also a guest on Ant and Dec's Saturday Night Takeaway
Saturday Night Takeaway
Ant & Dec's Saturday Night Takeaway, is a variety show created by LWT and shown in the UK on Saturday evenings on ITV, presented and executively produced by Ant & Dec. It is broadcast live from The London Studios on the South Bank...

in March 2009 where she performed "Waking Up in Vegas" instead of her then-current single, "Thinking of You
Thinking of You (Katy Perry song)
"Thinking of You" is a song by American singer and songwriter Katy Perry from her 2008 album One of the Boys and the fourth single from the album. It is one of three tracks from the album written solely by Perry and the first single since "Ur So Gay" to be produced by another producer other than...

". which had been released that month. She performed on a Las Vegas-themed stage with her backing band dressed as Elvis Presley
Elvis Presley
Elvis Aaron Presley was one of the most popular American singers of the 20th century. A cultural icon, he is widely known by the single name Elvis. He is often referred to as the "King of Rock and Roll" or simply "the King"....

. The single was released to Australian radio on March 23, where it became the fourth most added song in its release week. Perry performed the song on American Idol
American Idol
American Idol, titled American Idol: The Search for a Superstar for the first season, is a reality television singing competition created by Simon Fuller and produced by FremantleMedia North America and 19 Entertainment...

on May 13, 2009. During the performance, she was dressed in an Elvis-themed outfit and a cape emblazoned with Adam Lambert's name on it. The video stars Grandma's Boy actor, Joel David Moore. Perry performed the song on July 24, 2009 on NBC's Today show in New York's Rockefeller Plaza.
The song was a part of the former's set list on Warped Tour 2008
Warped Tour 2008
Warped Tour 2008 was the 2008 installment of the annual Summer Warped Tour music festival. Vans Shoes was again the tour's primary sponsor.-Main stage:*The Academy Is...*Against Me! *All That Remains...

, Hello Katy Tour
Hello Katy Tour
The Hello Katy Tour is the first worldwide concert tour by American pop singer-songwriter Katy Perry that supported her debut studio album, One of the Boys...

, Summer Tour 2009
Summer Tour 2009 (No Doubt)
The Summer Tour 2009 is the fifth concert tour by American rock group, No Doubt.-Background:On December 3, 2008, the band announced on their official website plans of a tour and a new album . They stated, "As most of you saw from our little iChat , we have decided to go on tour next year while...

and California Dreams Tour
California Dreams Tour
California Dreams Tour is the second concert tour by American pop singer Katy Perry, in support of her third studio album Teenage Dream. Beginning February 2011, the tour will visit Europe, Australasia, Asia and the Americas...

.

Music video

The music video was directed by Joseph Kahn
Joseph Kahn
Joseph Kahn is an American music video, advertising, and feature film director.-Early life:Kahn was born in Jersey Village, Texas, a suburb of Houston. He is of Korean ancestry. He spent part of his childhood growing up in Livorno, Italy until his family moved to Texas...

, and was shot in Las Vegas
Las Vegas, Nevada
Las Vegas is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and is also the county seat of Clark County, Nevada. Las Vegas is an internationally renowned major resort city for gambling, shopping, and fine dining. The city bills itself as The Entertainment Capital of the World, and is famous...

 on March 26, 2009. It made its premiere when released on April 28, 2009 on the Australian, UK, and U.S. iTunes store.

It begins with Perry holding hands with her love interest played by Joel David Moore. They are in a laundromat, standing in front of a slot machine. It is the morning after the night before, setting the theme of the song's lyric "That's what you get for waking up in Vegas". Moore drops one coin into the slot machine and pulls the handle. Three “blazing 7” symbols land on the payline, and the machine delivers a jackpot in quarters. Moore and Perry look at each other in astonishment. The next scene shows them winning at roulette the night before. They then head to the hotel room where they kick out Penn and Teller
Penn & Teller
Penn & Teller are Las Vegas headliners whose act is an amalgam of illusion and comedy. Penn Jillette is a raconteur; Teller generally uses mime while performing, although his voice can occasionally be heard during their performance...

. Subsequent scenes show the couple playing various casino games and parlaying their winnings into millions, defeating poker legend Daniel Negreanu
Daniel Negreanu
Daniel Negreanu is a Canadian professional poker player. He has won four World Series of Poker bracelets and two World Poker Tour Championship titles. He is currently ranked second in the all-time career earnings list and is the star of poker game show Million Dollar Challenge. He plays a big...

, being welcomed into to the Palms Hotel, by the owners Gavin and George J. Maloof, Jr.
George J. Maloof, Jr.
George J. Maloof, Jr. , also credited as George Maloof Jr. of the Maloof Family, is the son of Colleen and George J. Maloof, Sr...

. As the winning streak continues Perry and Moore enjoy a lavish lifestyle, racing through the streets of Las Vegas in his-and-hers Lamborghini Murciélago
Lamborghini Murciélago
The Lamborghini Murciélago is a two-door, two-seat sports car produced by Italian automaker Lamborghini between 2001 and 2010. Successor to the Diablo and flagship of the automaker's lineup, the Murciélago was introduced as a coupé in 2001. The automaker's first new design in eleven years, the car...

s. At the height of the streak they are dressed in show costumes riding in chariots down Fremont Street, accompanied by a fire breather and an elephant. Then they are feasting at a Roman-style banquet, in a manner reminiscent of the Last Supper
Last Supper
The Last Supper is the final meal that, according to Christian belief, Jesus shared with his Twelve Apostles in Jerusalem before his crucifixion. The Last Supper provides the scriptural basis for the Eucharist, also known as "communion" or "the Lord's Supper".The First Epistle to the Corinthians is...

.

Perry and Moore kiss in a money booth
Money booth
A money booth, also known as cash booth, money machine, and cash cube, is an arcade game and merchandiser in the form of a phone booth in which paper money are blown through the air...

. After the kiss, the couple’s luck changes. They begin to argue. They lose all their winnings save a single coin and are ejected from their hotel suite, which Penn and Teller reclaim (even performing a card trick before slamming the door on the couple). Perry steals food from a room service tray. The video ends in the laundromat where it began. The couple is broke. Moore places a single coin in the slot machine and pulls the handle. Three “blazing 7” symbols land on the payline, and the machine delivers a jackpot in quarters. Moore and Perry look at each other in astonishment as the screen goes to black. The song has received over 40,57 million views on YouTube(17 million pre-vevo
Vevo
Vevo is a music video website. It is a joint venture among Sony Music Entertainment, Universal Music Group, and Abu Dhabi Media with EMI licensing its content to the group without taking an ownership stake. The service was launched officially on December 8, 2009...

).

Alternate version
An alternate version to the Manhattan Clique
Manhattan Clique
The Manhattan Clique are producers, remixers and writers Philip Larsen and Chris Smith. Regular visitors to the higher reaches of the Music Week Club and Pop charts in the UK, plus the Billboard dance chart in the US, Manhattan Clique are equally at home with their more underground MHC guise as...

 remix of the song has been produced and released to the public. Much of the content has been taken from the original version, although it has been re-cut with additional effects and new scenes. The first displays Perry inside a casino within a giant martini glass with multi-colored candy in her hands. The other additional footage showcases the scenery of Las Vegas Boulevard.

Track listing

  • UK CD Single
  1. "Waking Up in Vegas" - 3:19
  2. "Waking Up in Vegas" (Calvin Harris Radio Edit) - 3:48

  • American CD Single
  1. "Waking Up in Vegas" - 3:19
  2. "Waking Up in Vegas" (Jason Nevins Electrotec Edit) - 3:23
  3. "Waking Up in Vegas" (Manhattan Clique Edit) - 3:49
  4. "Waking Up in Vegas" (Calvin Harris Radio Edit) - 3:48
  5. "Waking Up in Vegas" (Calvin Harris Extended Remix) - 5:41
  6. "Waking Up in Vegas" (Jason Nevins Electrotec Club Mix) - 6:43
  7. "Waking Up in Vegas" (Jason Nevins Electrotec Dub) - 6:04
  8. "Waking Up in Vegas" (Manhattan Clique Bellagio Remix) - 6:22
  9. "Waking Up in Vegas" (Manhattan Clique Luxor Dub) - 6:08

  • Europe
  1. "Waking Up in Vegas" - 3:19
  2. "Waking Up in Vegas" (Instrumental) - 3:26

  • Digital Download
  1. "Waking Up in Vegas" - 3:19
  2. "Waking Up in Vegas" (Manhattan Clique Remix Edit) - 3:52
  3. "Waking Up in Vegas" (Calvin Harris Radio Edit) - 3:48


Charts

> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > >
Charts (2009) Peak
position

Certifications

Country Certifications
Music recording sales certification
Music recording sales certification is a system of certifying that a music recording has shipped or sold a certain number of copies, where the threshold quantity varies by type and by nation or territory .Almost all countries follow variations of the RIAA certification categories,...


(sales thresholds)
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...

Gold
Brazil
Brazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...

Platinum
Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

Platinum
New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...

Gold
United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

2× Platinum

Year-end charts

Chart (2009) Peak
position
Australian Singles Chart
ARIA Charts
The ARIA charts are the main Australian music sales charts, issued weekly by the Australian Recording Industry Association. The charts are a record of the highest selling singles and albums in various genres in Australia. ARIA commenced compiling its own charts in-house from the week ending 26 June...

67
Canadian Hot 100
Canadian Hot 100
The Canadian Hot 100 is a music singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine which ranks songs in Canada. The chart debuted in the Billboard issue dated June 16, 2007 and was made available for the first time via their online services on June 7, 2007...

28
Hungarian Singles Chart 30
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 ...

138
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...

36
US Hot Dance Club Songs (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...

)
2


Chart procession and succession


Release history

Region Date Format
Australia March 23, 2009 Airplay
Airplay
* Airplay is the amount of time a song is played on the radio.It may also refer to:* AirPlay, an audio & video streaming technology from Apple Inc.* Airplay , Foster & Graydon music project from 1980* Citroën C1, Citroën C1 Airplay...

May 4, 2009 Digital 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...

United States April 21, 2009 Airplay
Brazil May 11, 2009
Europe June 4, 2009 CD single
Digital download
United Kingdom May 4, 2009 Digital download
June 8, 2009 CD single
Digital EP
Digital EP
Digital EP was a promotional EP by Be Your Own Pet for their studio album Get Awkward, which was being released about a week after this EP was released...

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
x
OK