Bob O’Leary

The Oscars are this weekend, honoring the best movies of 2007. Since I don’t go to movies much, I thought I would show my favorite video of the past year – Feist’s “1 2 3 4.”

For those who never venture over to YouTube or have been in a cave every time the IPod commercial played, now you know why Feist is emerging out of the Canadian indie music scene to become an international star. You can see why Apple chose the video for the launch of its IPod video.

Like Madonna and Shakira, Feist makes very good songs with a limited vocal range and even better videos with her looks and screen presence. She is not the dancer that either Madonna or Shakira is, but few singers are. Feist shows great moves in “My Moon My Man” and “One Evening.” She also has great fashion sense. Check out the jacket in “My Moon My Man” and the stockings in “One Evening.”

But even a good singer with a great song can make a terrible video. That’s definitely not the case here. Everything comes together in “1 2 3 4,” Feist, her sequin blue outfit, the dancers, and the lighting. Patrick Daughters directs this video, made in a warehouse somewhere around Montreal. He has worked with Feist on others, including “My Moon My Man.”

I’ve watched the video countless times. In spite of different angles and dancers appearing and disappearing, I could not pick out any cuts whatsoever. After watching the making of the video, I found out there was none. It was all shot in one take with a camera on a remote control arm.

Obviously, it’s one of the more popular videos on YouTube, and it shows the site’s influence. Feist would get little airplay on most radio stations. Were it not for YouTube and the IPod commercial, I would have not heard of her. Now she’s one of the most played artists on my IPod.

I can only echo the comments left on YouTube – “simple yet beautiful,” “AWESOME!” “cool!”