"Favorite Girl" is a song by Canadian singer

Justin Bieber Justin Drew Bieber ( ; born March 1, 1994) is a Canadian singer. Bieber is recognized for his genre-melding musicianship and has played an influential role in modern-day popular music. He was discovered by American record executive Scooter ...

. The song was written and produced by

D'Mile Dernst "D'Mile" Emile II (born January 24, 1985) is an American record producer and songwriter from Brooklyn, New York City. He was sometimes referred to as D. Emile, Dernst Emile II, or Dee'Mile and is most commonly known and accredited as D'Mil ...

, and Antea Birchett, Anesha Birchett, and

Delisha Thomas Delisha Thomas is a Trinidadian singer-songwriter, best known for her work with producer Rodney "Darkchild" Jerkins. She has written for Beyoncé, Janet Jackson, and Justin Bieber, among others. Thomas is a member of the Canadian Academy of Vo ...

also receive writing credits. Bieber debuted the acoustic version of his song in his official

YouTube YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...

account after American country pop singer

Taylor Swift Taylor Alison Swift (born December 13, 1989) is an American singer-songwriter. Her discography spans multiple genres, and her vivid songwriting—often inspired by her personal life—has received critical praise and wide media coverage. Bor ...

used Bieber's single " One Time" as background music in one of her video tour diaries. The song was later released exclusively to iTunes as the second promotional single from his debut studio release, '' My World'' on November 4, 2009. The song is mid-tempo and merges

teen pop Teen pop is a subgenre of pop music that is created, marketed and oriented towards preteens and teenagers.Lamb, Bill"Teen Pop" About.com. Retrieved January 28, 2007. Teen pop incorporates different subgenres of pop music, as well as elements o ...

and R&B elements. It debuted at number 12 and 26 in Canada and the United States, respectively. It also charted at number 92 Australia, and at numbers 76 and 27 in the United Kingdom and the UK R&B chart, respectively. Bieber performed the song on several occasions, most of them being the acoustic version of the song, including as a supporting act on Swift's

Fearless Tour The Fearless Tour was the first headlining concert tour by American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift, launched in support of her second studio album, ''Fearless'' (2008). Big Machine Records announced the first 52-date North American leg in Januar ...

Background

In August 2009,

country pop Country pop (also known as pop country or urban cowboy) is a fusion genre of country music and pop music that was developed by members of the country genre out of a desire to reach a larger, mainstream audience. Country pop music blends genres ...

singer

used Bieber's " One Time" as background music and music that she and her friends were dancing to in a tour video diary that she posted on her official

account. In response to Swift using his song, Bieber posted an acoustic rendition of the then never-before heard "Favorite Girl" on his YouTube. When asked about his learning of Swift using his song, Bieber stated, "It was really funny because I heard about it from a fan. I watched it and it was hilarious!" Bieber and Swift then met in person at the

2009 MTV Video Music Awards The 2009 MTV Video Music Awards, honoring the best music videos from the previous year between June 2008 to June 2009, were presented on September 13, 2009, at the Radio City Music Hall in New York City, and televised by MTV. The ceremony was ho ...

, and she later invited him to be a special guest on her

when she returned to the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

. The song was written by Dernst "D'Mile" Emile II, Antea Birchett, Anesha Birchet, and Delisha Thomas. Emile also has production credits. The song was recorded by Blake Eisemen at Icon Studios in

Atlanta, Georgia Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...

, where Bieber's career is based. Mixing was done by Dave Pensado and Jaycen-Joshua Fowler, at Larrabee Studios in

North Hollywood, California North Hollywood is a neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, located in the San Fernando Valley. The neighborhood contains the NoHo Arts District, the El Portal Theatre, several art galleries, and the Academy of TV Arts and Sciences. The North H ...

. The song became a popular trending topic on

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on the day of its release. "Favorite Girl" be is a

teen-pop Teen pop is a subgenre of pop music that is created, marketed and oriented towards Preadolescence, preteens and teenagers.Lamb, Bill"Teen Pop" About.com. Retrieved January 28, 2007. Teen pop incorporates different subgenres of pop music, as well ...

song, which integrates characteristics of R&B music. According to the sheet music published at Musicnotes.com by Universal Music Publishing, Ltd., "Favorite Girl" is set in

common time The time signature (also known as meter signature, metre signature, or measure signature) is a notational convention used in Western musical notation to specify how many beats (pulses) are contained in each measure (bar), and which note value ...

, and has a moderate tempo of 88

beats per minute Beat, beats or beating may refer to: Common uses * Patrol, or beat, a group of personnel assigned to monitor a specific area ** Beat (police), the territory that a police officer patrols ** Gay beat, an area frequented by gay men * Battery ( ...

. It is composed in the key of

E minor E minor is a minor scale based on E, consisting of the pitches E, F, G, A, B, C, and D. Its key signature has one sharp. Its relative major is G major and its parallel major is E major. The E natural minor scale is: : Changes needed ...

with Bieber's vocals spanning from the low-note of G₃ to the high-note of B₄. The song follows in the

chord progression In a musical composition, a chord progression or harmonic progression (informally chord changes, used as a plural) is a succession of chords. Chord progressions are the foundation of harmony in Western musical tradition from the common practice ...

of C–Em–G

Chart performance

The song had hot shot debuts and limited stays on the U.S. ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and Canadian Hot 100 due to the single being released via

iTunes iTunes () is a software program that acts as a media player, media library, mobile device management utility, and the client app for the iTunes Store. Developed by Apple Inc., it is used to purchase, play, download, and organize digital mul ...

only. It debuted in the U.S. at number twenty-six on the week ending November 21, 2009, and remained on the chart for two weeks. The same week it debuted at number fifteen in Canada, remaining on the chart for two weeks. The song returned to the Canadian Hot 100 at number ninety-nine on the week ending January 9, 2010. In 2010, the chart also appeared on the UK Singles Chart at seventy-six, and on the UK R&B Chart.

Performances

Most Bieber performances of the song are of the acoustic rendition. Bieber originally performed the song for the first time, acoustically, when he appeared for a second time on ''

The Ellen DeGeneres Show ''The Ellen DeGeneres Show'' (often shortened to ''Ellen'' or ''The Ellen Show'') is an American daytime television variety comedy talk show that was created and hosted by its namesake Ellen DeGeneres. Debuting on September 8, 2003, it was prod ...

'' on November 3, 2009, the same day the song was released to iTunes. Regarding the performance,

MTV News MTV News is the news production division of MTV. The service is available in the US with localized versions on MTV's global network. In February 2016, MTV Networks confirmed it would refresh the MTV News brand in 2016, to compete with the likes ...

praised the song as a "funky, groovy, swaggerific jam". Bieber performed the song on the

, during Winter 2009 while performing at radio station-hosted Jingle Ball concerts, and during a live session with MTV, in which he was named MTV's Artist of the Week. During the live session with MTV, he performed the song while playing the

keyboard Keyboard may refer to: Text input * Keyboard, part of a typewriter * Computer keyboard ** Keyboard layout, the software control of computer keyboards and their mapping ** Keyboard technology, computer keyboard hardware and firmware Music * Musi ...

. In a review of his acoustic performance of the song at Z100's 2009 Jingle Ball, Jon Caramanica of ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' called it his best performance of the night.

Charts

References

{{Good article Justin Bieber songs 2009 songs Songs written by D'Mile