Fight for This Love

"Fight for This Love" is the debut solo single by English singer and Girls Aloud member Cheryl Cole, recorded for her debut studio album, ''3 Words'' (2009). It was released in the United Kingdom and Ireland as the lead single on 2009 by Fascination Records (Polydor Records) and in 2010 in some European countries as the album's second single through Universal Music. It was written and produced by Wayne Wilkins and Steve Kipner with an additional writing from Andre Merrit. The up-tempo pop, dance-pop and R&B song revolves around a lyrical content of not giving up on the partner.

"Fight for This Love" divided music critics; some praised Cheryl's vocals and the powerful production, noting that it had the potential to be a hit with the clubs while other critics criticised the sluggish verses and weak vocals. The accompanying music video was directed by Ray Kay. It was generally well received by media and critics who drew comparisons to the works of Janet Jackson and the video for "Put the Needle On It" (2002) by Dannii Minogue.

Following her first performance of the song on ''The X Factor'' it topped charts in Ireland and the United Kingdom. In May 2010 it was certified platinum by the British Phonographic Industry for shipments topping 600,000 units. In December 2012 "Fight for This Love" became the 125th single to reach the million mark in UK Chart history, and the third to reach the feat in 2012, along with Carly Rae Jepsen's " Call Me Maybe" and Gotye's "Somebody That I Used to Know". "Fight for This Love" also achieved success in Europe by topping charts in Norway, Hungary and Denmark. "Fight for This Love" received a BRIT Award nomination in the Best British Single category.

Background and composition

"Fight for This Love" is Cole's first solo single outside of girl band Girls Aloud following 20 top-ten singles with the group.

The song is an uptempo pop, dance-pop and R&B song with a synthy production, written in the key of G major with a time signature in common time and a tempo of 123 beats per minute. The vocal range spans from E₃ to D₅. The basic chord progression of the song is Am, G, D, G, Bm, and Em. In the middle eight it features a breakdown where the song's usual instruments are replaced with hand claps whilst some of the media reported that Cole's voice had a Whitney Houston-like tone to it. ''NME'' magazine reported that some people noticed similarities between the song and the 2007 song " Lil Star" by American singer Kelis, though Cole's representatives denied any similarities. "Fight for This Love" was later covered by British boyband The Wanted, who released it as the B-side to their number-one single, "All Time Low".

Critical reception

Critical reception towards "Fight for This Love" has been mixed. Ruth Harrison from 'Female First' was impressed by the song after initially being worried that Cole would not be able to cope going solo. She said "Whilst it does sound just a little bit Girls Aloud-y, we still love it, and can see it being a huge hit on the club circuit up and down the country ... we think this is going to send her well on her way to global superstardom." Popjustice also liked the song saying "'Fight for This Love' is very definitely not just a Girls Aloud single with one person singing it... its one of those songs you can have on repeat for an hour and a half without getting bored. One thing that hits you is – well, is this really what Cheryl sounds like? Vocally it's a big surprise... As it turns out, she sounds really great – strong, confident, direct. Like a proper pop singer. It's a sleek, powerful production..." Matthew Chisling of ''Allmusic'' picked the song as one of the best from the album, praising it for being "a terrific midtempo number with a heck of a chorus."

Meanwhile, David Balls of '' Digital Spy'' was only moderately impressed and argued that "Cole's vocals aren't terribly strong" but that she had "understated charm and lots of 'X Factor' exposure". Of the song itself he said "Cole has taken the subtle approach on her first solo single. 'Fight for This Love' is a midtempo pop-R&B track with subdued, synthy production and an infectious hook that gnaws into the consciousness – albeit after a few listens." Whilst Fraser McAlpine partially agreed "In Cheryl's favour, she's obviously made an effort to record something that sounds different from the stuff she'd be making with Girls Aloud, and as a result this solo effort is an interesting pop/dance/R&B hybrid, which actually suits her rather well, style-wise." However he too had issues with the voice "It's just a shame it's not stronger," pointing out some weaknesses, "the best thing about the song is the bridge, which is sassy but vulnerable at the same time, and underpinned by a sweet melody, but the rest of the song can't match up: the verses are sluggish...".

Chart performance

In the United Kingdom, "Fight for This Love" debuted at number one on the UK Singles Chart. It sold 134,000 copies in one day beating the previous record held by Cole's ''X Factor'' protégé Alexandra Burke with the song " Bad Boys" which sold 187,100 over a seven-day span. The final first week sales totalled 292,000 copies beating the 213,000 that Girls Aloud's debut single, " Sound of the Underground" sold back in 2002. The single remained at number one for two weeks and consequently went on to become the best selling single of the year up to that point. By the end of 2009 it was declared the fourth best-selling single of the year, and 29th best selling of the decade (2000s). On 14 May 2010, just over six months after release, the single was certified platinum by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI) and earned Cole a nomination for Best British Single at the 2010 BRIT Awards, which she had previously won at the 2009 BRIT Awards with Girls Aloud for their single, " The Promise". However, she lost out to "Beat Again" by former ''X Factor'' runners-up JLS in what was deemed a "controversial win," as the announcer claimed Cole was the front-runner.

"Fight for This Love" entered the Irish Singles Chart at number thirteen and the following week on the chart dated 22 October 2009 the song rose to number one, giving Cole her first chart topper in Ireland since "Sound of the Underground" with Girls Aloud. In Denmark the song peaked at number one on 12 March 2010 as well as topping the charts in Hungary and Norway. The International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI) certified the single platinum in Denmark ''In the archive box under UGE 13 – 2010'' and gold in Switzerland. As of December 2012, "Fight for This Love" has sold over 1 million copies in the United Kingdom, making it the best selling single of Cheryl's career both solo and with Girls Aloud.

Music video

The music video was directed by Ray Kay and was filmed in early September 2009. Kay commented on the filming of the clip saying "The recordings went very well, and Cheryl was fantastic to work with. I drove her very hard at the shoot, and it was very difficult on her part. My job was relaxing in comparison. We made the video in London, with a lot of focus on fashion and dance, with very tough choreography, before putting it all together in Los Angeles afterwards. I have a strong feeling that this will be a #1 for Cheryl in England!"

Synopsis

The video starts off with Cole in a simple white vest, and biker gloves, accompanied with an entourage of female dancers dressed in black. Various scenes throughout the video include Cole in silk leopard print bottoms, an all black outfit with silver sparks coming out from both sides of her top, standing in what would appear to be her maths workbook, in which she has been doodling and writing poems rather than doing her maths while wearing what appears to be a corset with two miniature beds of nails strapped to the side and atera soldier themed outfit with the famous red Balmain jacket in which she salutes a full eight times during the video.

Reception

Jennifer Adeeko of the MOBOs praised the video saying "the songstress slooking sensational ... make-up done to perfection ... giving her that edge. Her performance comes across as effortless. ... The HD quality video comes across as pure artwork." '' Grazia'' considered Cole's military outfit "second rate Janet Jackson."

Anna Pickard of ''The Guardian'' took a different opinion choosing to focus on how Cole appeared to be "making up for the lack of having Girls Aloud around her by pretending to be all of them at once" and anguish of her own marriage issues. She noted that Cole's various outfits appear to distract people from the lyrics of the song which "seem to be, a thinly veiled reflection on her own marriage compounded by the sad mooning face she keeps pulling. t is not surprising when one issinging a solo song about one's troubled (though reconciled and apparently happy) marriage. Although sometimes she looks cross instead. And quite a lot of the time, she looks like she's her own evil sexy twin."

Promotion

UK and Ireland

The single premiered on Chris Moyles's breakfast show on 7 September on BBC Radio 1. On Sunday 18 October 2009 the song was released for digital download in the UK. Cole took to the stage of ''The X Factor Live Results Show'' later that evening to perform the song for the first time. She adorned a military-themed outfit by Welsh fashion designer Julien MacDonald. It consisted of a sheer bodysuit, a red military jacket with black epaulettes as well as other details, black harem trousers and Alexander Wang boots. The outfit itself was subject to media attention, with some reporting that online debates had drawn comparisons to the outfit worn by 1992 video game antagonist M. Bison from the ''Street Fighter'' series. Media also considered Cole's outfit and performance inspired by Janet Jackson. Cole denied miming, though she admitted to having some pre-recorded vocals to help the live performance. The show, which also featured the first UK performance by Whitney Houston in six years, drew a record audience of 14.8 million, making it the most watched episode in the show's history at that time.

She also taped a performance for UK teen channel T4, which aired 15 November 2009. Rufus Hound would later go on to perform a parody of Cole's ''X Factor Stint'' on BBC
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