Isn't Lindsay Lohan's "Rumors" song and video exactly what you expected when you heard that the then teenage actress was planning to release a pop record? It was full of paparazzi angst, hip hop choreography and drum machine effects. It made you think Britney as did Paris Hilton's "Stars Are Blind."
These tabloid darlings clearly didn't give the impression that they intended for anyone to take them seriously. Mission accomplished.
Equally as beautiful, though an acclaimed actress, Scarlett Johansson shows them how it's supposed to be done with her May 20 singing debut, Anywhere I Lay My Head, for which she sings 10 Tom Waits covers and one original song.
Ironically, the Y! Music video premiere for the first single "Falling Down" can be compared to Lohan's "Rumors." While in "Rumors" Lohan complains about the annoyances of celebreality, Johansson offers another perspective. The day-in-the-life themed video follows Johansson being chauffeured to work, seemingly in deep thought as she looks at passerby. She arrives to the set to get her hair and makeup done and dressed by stylists. Her handlers brief her on the day's tasks.
Her expression is welcoming and pleasant, but she isn't completely engaged. Maybe she's tired or would simply rather be doing something else, an emotion probably not all too different than the one underneath Lohan's "Rumors." But it's also the underling story of "Falling Down," that things aren't always what they seem, you often have to do exactly what you don't want to do, and sometimes as things fall apart there's nothing you can do but watch.
When Johansson is finished working, she strips off the make up and heads back home. She is greeted by fans, and appears to return to the deep thought. There's definitely a lot on her mind.
Clearly, there's a lot more depth to her music effort than what you expect from a hot, young actress turned singer who happened to portray a salacious video vixen to Justin Timberlake last year in his 9-minute, Cameron Diaz breakup prequel "What Goes Around...Comes Around."
Johansson's music video is as artistic as her Golden Globe nominated work, Lost In Translation, Girl With A Pearl Earring, A Love Song For Bobby Long and Match Point.
The fact that she both acts and sings is the beginning and end of her comparisons to Lohan. Johansson won't be dismissed as a joke.