Little Mix is down to dance in their decades-spanning mash-up

By Lilian min

July 28, 2015

By Lilian min

July 28, 2015

X Factor-winning girl group Little Mix live under the long shadows of both the nature of their ascent to fame (via a talent-curating reality show) and one of their member’s boyfriends (ex-One Direction member Zayn Malik), but never let their singing skills be put into question. The foursome, comprised of Jade Thirlwall, Perrie Edwards, Leigh-Anne Pinnock, and Jesy Nelson, recently headed to the legendary BBC Radio 1’s Live Lounge to perform, and they knocked it out of the park with a three-song mash-up that has us dancing in our chairs.

Armed with an army of backup singers and some studio musicians, Little Mix performed a live mash-up between Jason Derulo’s summer hit “Want You To Want Me” and Whitney Houston’s iconic “I Wanna Dance With Somebody.” The cover is a feat of harmonies, which are so dense that you could crack a tooth on them. (Or something like that.) The two songs aren’t perfectly matched, but the vocal ping-ponging between Little Mix’s members and their backup chorus is both perfectly in tune and also fun, if your idea of fun involves listening to individual vocal lines to see how they meet and match together.

Though not everyone can hit the atmosphere-cracking range of the late Houston, Thirlwall valiantly tries; and when the key shifts, the mash-up becomes jubilant, not least because the group closes their mash-up with a brief cover of Natalie La Rose’s “Somebody,” which is a direct rip/riff on “I Wanna Dance With Somebody.” The overall effect is truly dance party-worthy — listen below and decide for yourself.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XcfFk9puQS0