"Under Pressure (Ice Ice Baby)" is the debut single by Irish pop duo

Jedward John and Edward Grimes (born 16 October 1991), collectively known as Jedward (a portmanteau of their first names), are an Irish singing and television presenting duo. They are identical twins who first appeared as John & Edward in the sixth s ...

. The song is a medley of "

Under Pressure "Under Pressure" is a song by the British rock band Queen and singer David Bowie. Originally released as a single in October 1981, it was later included on Queen's 1982 album ''Hot Space''. The song reached number one on the UK Singles Chart, ...

", originally recorded in 1981 by

Queen Queen or QUEEN may refer to: Monarchy * Queen regnant, a female monarch of a Kingdom ** List of queens regnant * Queen consort, the wife of a reigning king * Queen dowager, the widow of a king * Queen mother, a queen dowager who is the mother ...

and

David Bowie David Robert Jones (8 January 194710 January 2016), known professionally as David Bowie ( ), was an English singer-songwriter and actor. A leading figure in the music industry, he is regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the ...

, and the 1990

Vanilla Ice Robert Matthew Van Winkle (born October 31, 1967), known professionally as Vanilla Ice, is an American rapper, actor, and television host. Born in South Dallas, and raised in Texas and South Florida, Ice released his debut album, ''Hooked'', ...

single "

Ice Ice Baby "Ice Ice Baby" is a hip hop song by American rapper Vanilla Ice, K. Kennedy and DJ Earthquake. It was based on the bassline of the song "Under Pressure" by British rock band Queen and British singer David Bowie, who did not receive songwriting ...

". "Ice Ice Baby" originally sampled the

bassline Bassline (also known as a bass line or bass part) is the term used in many styles of music, such as blues, jazz, funk, Dub music, dub and electronic music, electronic, traditional music, traditional, or classical music for the low-pitched Part ( ...

from "Under Pressure". Vanilla Ice also provides vocals for the track. The song was released as a digital download in the UK on 31 January 2010, followed by a physical release on 15 February 2010. The song was also simultaneously released in Ireland. This is the duo's only single to be released on the

Sony Music Sony Music Entertainment (SME), also known as simply Sony Music, is an American multinational music company. Being owned by the parent conglomerate Sony Group Corporation, it is part of the Sony Music Group, which is owned by Sony Entertainment ...

label. The physical release of the single included a double-sided poster and full lyrics. The single peaked at No. 1 on the

Irish Singles Chart The Irish Singles Chart is the Republic of Ireland's music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by the Irish Recorded Music Association (IRMA) and compiled on their behalf by the Official Charts Company. Chart rankings are bas ...

, followed by an entry at No. 2 in the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

Track listing

# "Under Pressure (Ice Ice Baby)" (Radio Edit) (featuring

) — 3:41 # "Under Pressure (Ice Ice Baby)" (Karaoke Version) (featuring

) — 3:41

Promotion

Jedward first performed the song on the sixth live show of the sixth series of ''

The X Factor ''The X Factor'' is a television music competition franchise created by British producer Simon Cowell and his company Syco Entertainment. It originated in the United Kingdom, where it was devised as a replacement for ''Pop Idol'' (2001–2003 ...

'', while they were still contestants on the show. The first official performance of the song occurred on 20 January 2010, where Vanilla Ice joined the duo at the

National Television Awards The National Television Awards (often shortened to NTAs) is a British television awards ceremony, broadcast by the ITV network and initiated in 1995. The National Television Awards are the most prominent ceremony for which the results are voted ...

in London. The song had its first radio airplay on 24 January with performances on ''

Friday Night with Jonathan Ross ''Friday Night with Jonathan Ross'' is a British chat show presented by Jonathan Ross and broadcast on BBC One between 2001 and 2010. The programme features Ross' take on current topics of conversation, guest interviews (usually three per show) ...

'', ''

The Chris Moyles Show ''The Chris Moyles Show'' is the title given to two differing versions of a radio programme hosted by Chris Moyles, originally broadcast as Radio 1 Breakfast from 5 January 2004 to 14 September 2012 before transferring three years later on 21 ...

'', ''

GMTV GMTV (an acronym for Good Morning Television), now legally known as ITV Breakfast Broadcasting Limited, was the name of the national Channel 3 breakfast television contractor/licensee, broadcasting in the United Kingdom from 1 January 1993 ...

'', '' This Morning'', ''

The Saturday Night Show ''The Saturday Night Show'' is a talk show hosted by Brendan O'Connor broadcast on RTÉ One between 2010 and 2015. The show features guest interviews, audience participation and live music. ''The Saturday Night Show'' is broadcast every Saturday ...

'' and '' RTE1'' following. Jedward were also scheduled to perform on the 5:19 show, however, pulled out due to contractual issues.

Background

praised the twins. He stated: "I think they're great — I didn't know much about them until a couple of weeks ago. I checked them out on YouTube and I went 'no way', and after I got over the laugh, they invited me to come out."

Louis Walsh Michael Louis Vincent Walsh (born 5 August 1952) is an Irish music manager and television personality. He has managed Johnny Logan, Boyzone, Jedward and Westlife, four of Ireland's most successful pop acts in the 1990s and 2000s. He later bec ...

said about the release: "Jedward really captured the public's imagination while on ''The X Factor''. Love them or hate them, you can't deny that they were the talking point of the series. As 'Under Pressure' was the track that really catapulted the boys to fame, it seemed only fitting to release the song as their first single."

Critical reception

Alex Fletcher of

Digital Spy Digital Spy (DS) is a British-based entertainment, television and film website and brand and is the largest digital property at Hearst UK. Since its launch in 1999, Digital Spy has focused on entertainment news related to television programmes, ...

reviewed the song negatively, giving it an average 2/5, saying "Quite where Jedward go next remains to be seen — can they squeeze out an entire album of corny pop-rap covers?" However the

BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board ex ...

chart blog's Fraser McAlpine praised the single giving it five stars out of five, saying: "bottom line, pop music is about fun, and this is fun. WAY fun."

Music video

The music video was released on 2 February 2010. It was shot in the Mill Lane Studios in London and the dance moves were choreographed by American choreographer

Brian Friedman Brian L. Friedman (born May 28, 1977) is an American dancer and choreographer. Friedman has created the choreography for many popular music artists – such as Britney Spears, Cher, Beyoncé Knowles, and Mariah Carey – as well as for m ...

, who worked with the twins when they were on ''The X Factor''. The video is directed by American music video director Dale "Rage" Resteghini. The video features Jedward performing in front of a gigantic screen, displaying "JEDWARD" and "UNDER PRESSURE" as well as various words from the song lyrics. Jedward later also join a large dance routine with

pyrotechnics Pyrotechnics is the science and craft of creating such things as fireworks, safety matches, oxygen candles, explosive bolts and other fasteners, parts of automotive airbags, as well as gas-pressure blasting in mining, quarrying, and demolition. ...

. Vanilla Ice joins the twins in a later scene, performing in front of a graffiti design prepared by Thomas Dolan. At the end of the video, Vanilla Ice sprays the word "ICE" on the camera screen in red

spray paint Aerosol paint (commonly spray paint) is paint that comes in a sealed, pressurized container and is released in an aerosol spray when a valve button is depressed. Aerosol painting is one form of spray painting; it leaves a smooth, even coat, unlike ...

, then covers the entire picture in paint as the song fades out.

Chart performance

On 5 February 2010, "Under Pressure" entered the

at number 1, following strong digital downloads. The following week, on 12 February, the single fell to number 2, following the release of the

Helping Haiti "Everybody Hurts" is a song by American rock band R.E.M. from their eighth studio album, ''Automatic for the People'' (1992), and released as a single in April 1993. It peaked at number 29 on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and reached the top 10 ...

Everybody Hurts "Everybody Hurts" is a song by American rock band R.E.M. from their eighth studio album, ''Automatic for the People'' (1992), and released as a single in April 1993. It peaked at number 29 on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and reached the top 10 ...

" single. However, on 19 February, the single climbed 1 place to resume its current peak of number 1. On 7 February, the song entered the

at number 2, just missing out on the top spot behind "

Fireflies The Lampyridae are a family (biology), family of Elateroidea, elateroid beetles with more than 2,000 described species, many of which are bioluminescence, light-emitting. They are soft-bodied beetles commonly called fireflies, lightning bugs, ...

" by

Owl City Owl City is an American electronic music project created in 2007 in Owatonna, Minnesota. It is one of several projects by singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Adam Young, who created the project while experimenting with music in his pa ...

. The following week, the single dropped 10 places to number 12. However, on 21 February, following the CD release, the single climbed 1 place to number 11.

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

References

{{Vanilla Ice 2010 debut singles Songs written by David Bowie Songs written by Freddie Mercury Songs written by Brian May Songs written by John Deacon Songs written by Roger Taylor (Queen drummer) Irish Singles Chart number-one singles Jedward songs Music medleys Songs written by Vanilla Ice 2010 songs 2010 singles Music videos directed by Dale Resteghini