Rem Koolhaas Project on the city What good did the EU do for their country? I don't know. What kind of projects was proposed in the city? firstly the 720-page Mutations, How successful was the 720-page and what greatness came after? firstly the 720-page Mutations, followed by The Harvard Design School Guide to Shopping (2002) and The Great Leap Forward (2002).
What was the 720 about?
What was the 720-page Mutations about?
Koolhaas's next landmark publications were a product of his position as professor at Harvard University, in the Design school's "Project on the City"; firstly the 720-page Mutations, followed by The Harvard Design School Guide to Shopping (2002) and The Great Leap Forward (2002). All three books involved Koolhaas's students analysing what others would regard as "non-cities", sprawling conglomerates such as Lagos in Nigeria, west Africa, which the authors argue are highly functional despite a lack of infrastructure. The authors also examine the influence of shopping habits and the recent rapid growth of cities in China. Critics of the books have criticised Koolhaas for being cynical - as if Western capitalism and globalization demolish all cultural identity - highlighted in the notion expounded in the books that "In the end, there will be little else for us to do but shop". However, such cynicism can alternatively be read as a "realism" about the transformation of cultural life, where airports and even museums (due to finance problems) rely just as much on operating gift shops.  When it comes to transforming these observations into practice, Koolhaas mobilizes what he regards as the omnipotent forces of urbanism into unique design forms and connections organised along the lines of present-day society. Koolhaas continuously incorporates his observations of the contemporary city within his design activities: calling such a condition the 'culture of congestion'. Again, shopping is examined for "intellectual comfort", whilst the unregulated taste and densification of Chinese cities is analysed according to "performance", a criterion involving variables with debatable credibility: density, newness, shape, size, money etc. For example, in his design for the new CCTV headquarters in Beijing (2009), Koolhaas did not opt for the stereotypical skyscraper, often used to symbolise and landmark such government enterprises, but instead designed a series of volumes which not only tie together the numerous departments onto the nebulous site, but also introduced routes (again, the concept of cross-programming) for the general public through the site, allowing them some degree of access to the production procedure. Through his ruthlessly raw approach, Koolhaas hopes to extract the architect from the anxiety of a dead profession and resurrect a contemporary interpretation of the sublime, however fleeting it may be.  In 2003, Content, a 544-page magazine-style book designed by &&& Creative and published by Koolhaas, gives an overview of the last decade of OMA projects including his designs for the Prada shops, the Seattle Public Library, a plan to save Cambridge from Harvard by rechanneling the Charles River, Lagos' future as Earth's third-biggest city, as well as interviews with Martha Stewart and Robert Venturi and Denise Scott Brown. CANNOTANSWER
720-page
Remment Lucas Koolhaas (; born 17 November 1944) is a Dutch architect, architectural theorist, urbanist and Professor in Practice of Architecture and Urban Design at the Graduate School of Design at Harvard University. He is often cited as a representative of Deconstructivism and is the author of Delirious New York: A Retroactive Manifesto for Manhattan.

He is seen by some as one of the truly significant architectural thinkers and urbanists of his generation, by others as a self-important iconoclast. In 2000, Rem Koolhaas won the Pritzker Prize. In 2008, Time put him in their top 100 of The World's Most Influential People. He was elected to the American Philosophical Society in 2014.

Early life and career
Remment Koolhaas, usually abbreviated to Rem Koolhaas, was born on 17 November 1944 in Rotterdam, Netherlands, to Anton Koolhaas (1912–1992) and Selinde Pietertje Roosenburg (born 1920). His father was a novelist, critic, and screenwriter. Two documentary films by Bert Haanstra for which his father wrote the scenarios were nominated for an Academy Award for Documentary Feature, one won a Golden Bear for Short Film. His maternal grandfather, Dirk Roosenburg (1887–1962), was a modernist architect who worked for Hendrik Petrus Berlage, before opening his own practice. Rem Koolhaas has a brother, Thomas, and a sister, Annabel. His paternal cousin was the architect and urban planner Teun Koolhaas (1940–2007). The family lived consecutively in Rotterdam (until 1946), Amsterdam (1946–1952), Jakarta (1952–1955), and Amsterdam (from 1955).

His father strongly supported the Indonesian cause for autonomy from the colonial Dutch in his writing. When the war of independence was won, he was invited over to run a cultural programme for three years and the family moved to Jakarta in 1952. "It was a very important age for me," Koolhaas recalls "and I really lived as an Asian."

In 1969, Koolhaas co-wrote The White Slave, a Dutch film noir, and later wrote an unproduced script for American soft-porn king Russ Meyer.

He was a journalist in 1963 at age 19 for the Haagse Post  before starting studies in architecture in 1968 at the Architectural Association School of Architecture in London, followed, in 1972, by further studies with Oswald Mathias Ungers at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York, followed by studies at the Institute for Architecture and Urban Studies in New York City.

Koolhaas first came to public and critical attention with OMA (The Office for Metropolitan Architecture), the office he founded in 1975 together with architects Elia Zenghelis, Zoe Zenghelis and (Koolhaas's wife) Madelon Vriesendorp in London. They were later joined by one of Koolhaas's students, Zaha Hadid – who would soon go on to achieve success in her own right. An early work which would mark their difference from the then dominant postmodern classicism of the late 1970s, was their contribution to the Venice Biennale of 1980, curated by Italian architect Paolo Portoghesi, titled "Presence of the Past". Each architect had to design a stage-like "frontage" to a Potemkin-type internal street; the façades by , Frank Gehry and OMA were the only ones that did not employ Post-Modern architecture motifs or historical references.

Other early critically received (yet unbuilt) projects included the Parc de la Villette, Paris (1982) and the residence for the Prime Minister of Ireland (1979), as well as the Kunsthal in Rotterdam (1992). These schemes would attempt to put into practice many of the findings Koolhaas made in his book Delirious New York (1978), which was written while he was a visiting scholar at the Institute for Architecture and Urban Studies in New York, directed by Peter Eisenman.

Architectural theory

Delirious New York
Koolhaas's book Delirious New York set the pace for his career. Koolhaas analyzes the "chance-like" nature of city life: "The City is an addictive machine from which there is no escape" "Rem Koolhaas...defined the city as a collection of 'red hot spots'." (Anna Klingmann).  As Koolhaas himself has acknowledged, this approach had already been evident in the Japanese Metabolist Movement in the 1960s and early 1970s.

A key aspect of architecture that Koolhaas interrogates is the "Program": with the rise of modernism in the 20th century the "Program" became the key theme of architectural design. The notion of the Program involves "an act to edit function and human activities" as the pretext of architectural design: epitomised in the maxim form follows function, first popularised by architect Louis Sullivan at the beginning of the 20th century. The notion was first questioned in Delirious New York, in his analysis of high-rise architecture in Manhattan. An early design method derived from such thinking was "cross-programming", introducing unexpected functions in room programmes, such as running tracks in skyscrapers. More recently, Koolhaas unsuccessfully proposed the inclusion of hospital units for the homeless into the Seattle Public Library project (2003).

Project on the city
Koolhaas' next publications were a by-product of his position as professor at Harvard University, in the Design school's "Project on the City"; firstly the 720-page Mutations, followed by The Harvard Design School Guide to Shopping (2002) and The Great Leap Forward (2002).

All three books published student work analysing what others would regard as "non-cities", sprawling conglomerates such as Lagos in Nigeria, west Africa, which the authors argue are highly functional despite a lack of infrastructure. The authors also examine the influence of shopping habits and the recent rapid growth of cities in China. Critics of the books have criticised Koolhaas for being cynical, – as if Western capitalism and globalization demolish all cultural identity – highlighted in the notion expounded in the books that "In the end, there will be little else for us to do but shop". Perhaps such caustic cynicism can be read as a "realism" about the transformation of cultural life, where airports and even museums (due to finance problems) rely just as much on operating gift shops. It does, however, demonstrate one of the architect's characteristic devices for deflecting criticism: attack the client or subject of study after completing the work.

When it comes to transforming these observations into practice, Koolhaas mobilizes what he regards as the omnipotent forces of urbanism into unique design forms and connections organised along the lines of present-day society. Koolhaas continuously incorporates his observations of the contemporary city within his design activities: calling such a condition the ‘culture of congestion’. Again, shopping is examined for "intellectual comfort", whilst the unregulated taste and densification of Chinese cities is analysed according to "performance", a criterion involving variables with debatable credibility: density, newness, shape, size, money etc.

In 2003, Content, a 544-page magazine-style book designed by &&& Creative and published by Koolhaas, gives an overview of the last decade of OMA projects including his designs for the Prada shops, the Seattle Public Library, a plan to save Cambridge from Harvard by rechanneling the Charles River, Lagos' future as Earth's third-biggest city, as well as interviews with Martha Stewart and Robert Venturi and Denise Scott Brown.

Volume Magazine
In 2005, Rem Koolhaas co-founded Volume Magazine together with Mark Wigley and Ole Bouman. Volume Magazine – the collaborative project by Archis (Amsterdam), AMO and C-lab (Columbia University NY) – is a dynamic experimental think tank devoted to the process of spatial and cultural reflexivity. It goes beyond architecture's definition of ‘making buildings’ and reaches out for global views on architecture and design, broader attitudes to social structures, and creating environments to live in. The magazine stands for a journalism which detects and anticipates, is proactive and even pre-emptive – a journalism which uncovers potentialities, rather than covering done deals.

Buildings and projects
In the late nineties he worked on the design for the new headquarters for Universal.

Indeed, online marketing and propaganda has been a hallmark of OMA's rise in the current century. It has also led to pointed criticism, such as the critique by New York Magazine critic Justin Davidson, who found the 2020 Guggenheim exhibition Countryside, the Future "mildly amusing if it weren’t such terrible waste — of attention, of gallery square footage, of resources, talent, and expertise. Bored with being an architect and building things, Koolhaas lets his fingertips graze important topics, genuine insights, and actual lives. He treats them all as ironic bric-a-brac, meaningless souvenirs of his meanderings through a fragile world. How frustrating that the Guggenheim couldn’t force a little more intellectual rigor on this romp."

Architecture, fashion, and theatre
With his Prada projects, Koolhaas ventured into providing architecture for the fleeting world of fashion and with celebrity-studded cachet: not unlike Garnier's Opera, the central space of Koolhaas' Beverly Hills Prada store is occupied by a massive central staircase, ostensibly displaying select wares, but mainly the shoppers themselves. The notion of selling a brand rather than marketing clothes was further emphasised in the Prada store on Broadway in Manhattan, New York, which had previously been owned by the Guggenheim: the museum signs were not removed during the outfitting of the new store, as if emphasizing the premises as a cultural institution. The Broadway Prada store opened in December 2001, cost €32 million to build, and has 2,300 square meters of retail space.

21st Century Projects

Probably the most costly and celebrated OMA projects of the new century were the massive Central China Television Headquarters Building in Beijing, China, and the new building for the Shenzhen Stock Exchange, the equivalent of the NASDAQ in China.

In his design for the new CCTV Headquarters in Beijing (2009), Koolhaas did not opt for the stereotypical skyscraper, often used to symbolise and landmark such government enterprises; he patented a "horizontal skyscraper" in the U.S. The building, popularly called "The Big Pants" by Beijing residents, was designed as a series of volumes which attempt to tie together the numerous departments onto the nebulous site, but also introduce routes (again, the concept of cross-programming) for the general public through the site, allowing them some degree of access to the production procedure. An unfortunate incident that highlighted the folly of the circulation scheme (no effective fire egress for people on the upper floors), was the construction fire that nearly destroyed the building and a nearby hotel in 2009.

Personal life
Koolhaas was previously married to Madelon Vriesendorp, an artist who is the mother of his two children, Charlie, a photographer, and Tomas, a filmmaker. Koolhaas divorced Vriesendorp in 2012. He has known his current partner Petra Blaisse, an interior and landscape designer since 1986.

Selected projects
Villa dall’Ava, (Saint-Cloud, 1991)
Nexus World Housing (Fukuoka, 1991)
Kunsthal (Rotterdam, 1992)
Euralille (Lille, 1994)
Educatorium (Utrecht, 1995)
Maison à Bordeaux (Bordeaux, 1998)
Embassy of the Netherlands (Berlin, 2003)
McCormick Tribune Campus Center (Chicago, 2003)
Seoul National University Museum of Art (Seoul, 2005) 
Seattle Central Library (Seattle, 2005)
Casa da Música (Porto, 2005)
Dee and Charles Wyly Theater (Dallas, 2009)
CCTV Headquarters, (Beijing, 2012)
De Rotterdam (Rotterdam, 2013)
Garage Museum of Contemporary Art (Moscow, 2014)
Qatar National Library (Doha, 2017)
Taipei Performing Arts Center (Taipei, 2022)

Bibliography
Project Japan. Metabolism Talks... (2011) (with Hans Ulrich Obrist) 
Delirious New York: A Retroactive Manifesto for Manhattan (1978) 
S,M,L,XL (1995) 
Serpentine Gallery: 24 Hour Interview Marathon (2007) Living Vivre Leben (1998)Content (2004) 
 Serpentine Gallery Pavilion 2006''; Verlag der Buchhandlung Walther König, Köln, Germany 2008

Gallery

See also
Contemporary architecture
World Architecture Survey
List of architects
Koolhaas Houselife

References

External links

 Office for Metropolitan Architecture
 OMA official Facebook page (updated daily)
 OMA official Vimeo channel
 OMA portfolio on Archello.com
 Rem Koolhaas at Harvard University
 
 Urgency 2007: Rem Koolhaas and Peter Eisenman lectures, Canadian Centre for Architecture, June 8, 2007
 Rem Koolhaas in conversation with Mirko Zardini and Giovanna Borasi, Rotterdam, August 26, 2015, for the exhibition The Other Architect, Canadian Centre for Architecture 
 On Starchitecture
 Koolhaas at Harvard's Ecological Urbanism
 Rem Koolhaas: A Kind of Architect (2008 Feature Documentary)
 Rem Koolhaas lecture "Russia for Beginners" at Garage Museum of Contemporary Art: September 15th, 2014
 Rem Koolhaas on Empty Canon

 
1944 births
20th-century Dutch architects
21st-century Dutch architects
Architectural theoreticians
Urban theorists
Deconstructivism
Postmodern architecture
Dutch non-fiction writers
Living people
Cornell University College of Architecture, Art, and Planning alumni
Harvard Graduate School of Design faculty
Dutch urban planners
Architects from Rotterdam
Pritzker Architecture Prize winners
Recipients of the Royal Gold Medal
Chevaliers of the Légion d'honneur
Recipients of the Praemium Imperiale
Alumni of the Architectural Association School of Architecture
Honorary Fellows of the American Institute of Architects
"What About Us" is a single released by British-Irish girl group the Saturdays. Their first international single, it is the lead single from their first American-only release EP, Chasing the Saturdays (2013). It also acts as the second single from their fourth studio album Living for the Weekend (2013). The single was first released in the United States and Canada on 18 December 2012 via digital download, before being released in the United Kingdom on 16 March 2013 via CD single and digital download. The single was written by Camille Purcell, Ollie Jacobs, Philip Jacobs. There are two different versions of the track which have been recorded and released: a solo version, which was released exclusively in the US and Canada, and a version featuring Jamaican rapper Sean Paul, which was released internationally. Music critics gave the song positive feedback, but questioned the heavily auto-tuned chorus and the move away from the group's traditional sound.

A music video was released for the song was published and released via the Saturdays' Vevo account on 11 January 2013. The video was filmed in Los Angeles, where the band were filming their US reality series, Chasing the Saturdays, which is broadcast through E!. An acoustic version of "Somebody Else's Life", which can be heard on the opening titles of the show, was released as a B-side. The Saturdays went on to a promotional tour in order to get the song "out there" in the United States, and appeared on a number of different chat shows including The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, The Jeff Probst Show, Fashion Police, Chelsea Lately and The Today Show in New York City. They later went on to a promotional tour in the UK, visiting radio stations around the country.

"What About Us" gained commercial success, debuted at number one on the UK Singles Chart to become the Saturdays' twelfth UK top 10 single and first ever number-one. In Ireland, the song debuted at number six on the Irish Singles Chart, gaining the group their fifth top 10 single there. With first-week sales of 114,000 copies and 40,000 copies more sold than their closest competitor to number one, "What About Us" was the fastest-selling single of 2013 in the UK until it was overtaken by Naughty Boy's "La La La" two months later. In December 2013, it was announced as the eleventh fastest-selling single of the year overall. As of August 2014, the song has sold over 400,000 copies in the UK. On 23 December 2013, Mollie King posted a photo on Instagram of her holding a 500,000 sales plaque from their record label, with the message that "What About Us" had sold over 500,000 copies in UK and USA, with 120,000 copies in the US alone even without charting on the Billboard Hot 100.

Background 

In 2012, it was announced that the Saturdays had received an offer to star in their own reality television programme, Chasing the Saturdays, broadcast through E! Network. While filming their show, the band began visiting the recording studio, where they began work with Rodney "Darkchild" Jerkins.

The Saturdays felt comfortable with their US labels, and thanked them for not only giving them a chance in North America, but for making them feel at ease and welcome which took a lot of "weight of our shoulders". The band said they have always respected the labels due to the massive success they've had with artists. The band had been working with Demi Lovato in the recording studio.

Composition

"What About Us" was written and produced by Ollie Jacobs and acts as the Saturdays first single to be released in North America where it could appear on the Billboard Hot 100 and Canadian Hot 100. In America its release coincided with their TV show, Chasing the Saturdays. The track is the band's fourteenth single to be released in the United Kingdom and Ireland and the track is a dance-pop song. Before the release of the song, Mollie King said that the band were excited to share the track as they had the song "for months" She said: "I can't wait for everyone to hear it and to get to perform it. I'm just so excited about this one, I think it's going down really well." The band said they didn't want to change their type of music just for the American public and would stick to their roots and the genre they enjoyed to perform. King spoke: "We've always made a point that we don't want to change to go to America. We wanted to go over as we are and if they like us, they like us and if they don't, they don't!" King said that the track is reggae pop music, a little different from what band usually record, but the track is still really "dancey" and "upbeat", as well a good song to dance to on either stage or at a club. When Una Healy was asked what the song was about she said that she "did not know" what the song was exactly about. "To be honest I was trying to figure out the other day what exactly it's about. I could bullshit away telling you, but I really don't know. But I think it's all about someone driving you crazy." She said she "thinks" that 'What About Us' part means "me and you getting together". She did point out that she did know that the song was about "making you happy" and that the track was good for the summer and will get you on the dancefloor. The band teased saying that "What About Us" is a pop track, and that is a good indication of what the expect from the album, and that they've paired up with Diane Warren to record a few ballads and not just pop tracks. "What About Us" is the only collaboration on the album.

Release
"What About Us" was confirmed as the Saturdays' first single to be released in North America, and would be released on 18 December 2012 to coincide with their American reality show, Chasing the Saturdays. It was also revealed that the track would be released as the lead single from the band's North America released only Extended play, Chasing the Saturdays, which was named after the show. Some critics said that releasing "What About Us" from an EP for the US market was a "wise decision". One critic said: For, throwing out a traditional release on the back of a show that isn't (yet) a hit would ultimately be setting them up for failure. What's more, the EP allows their "storyline" for the next season of the show (should there be one) to revolve around recording an album. In the United Kingdom, it was revealed that "What About Us" would be the follow-up single from "30 Days" in the UK and Ireland, and therefore would not be the lead single from the band's fourth studio album. The band announced that before the release of the album, there would be another single release from the album. The follow-up single was revealed to be titled "Gentleman".

Just like all the band's previous singles, the record was accepted by all A-Lists at radio stations. The UK and Ireland version of the track features a guest rap from Sean Paul. Whereas the North American version does not feature vocals from Sean Paul and only vocals from the band. The original version of the track last 3 minutes and 24 seconds, whereas the version which features Sean Paul lasts 3 minutes and 40 seconds. The single was released with B-side, an Acoustic version of a brand new track, "Somebody Else's Life", which is the opening theme to Chasing the Saturdays. "What About Us" was released as a digital download EP, and this featured the single version which features Sean Paul, the solo version and the B-side track. Upon the release in North America, there was a digital remixes EP which featured remixes of "What About Us" by a number of DJs including: Seamus Haji, Guy Scheiman, the Buzz Junkies and 2nd Adventure and this was also made available to purchase on 18 December 2012. While in the UK, the CD single was made available to be from stores from 18 March 2013. On the CD single featured "What About Us", the B-side "Somebody Else's Life".

The band decided to release "What About Us" differently between the United Kingdom and the United States, "What About Us" was released onto the charts without any airplay and without a music video accompanying the release, something the band experienced in the UK, with "Notorious". Whereas in the UK, "What About Us" was released with airplay and the music video being released before the release of the single. During this time, Frankie Sandford became ambassadors for mental health after Sandford battled depression. The band said they choose "What About Us" to be the lead single in the US and follow-up single from "30 Days" because they all loved it once they demoed it and it gave them a "really good feeling" They also said it is a fresh start for a new album, with a "reggae vibe", but still a pop record. The Saturdays said that Sean Paul was "perfect" for the UK version of the song. They said that he was "just so nice" and that he would be present during some of the promotional performances when the single was released.

Critical reception
Robert Copsey of Digital Spy said that Rochelle Humes asks in a "curious Jamaican-flecked timbre" during the intro of "What About Us". During the lyrics "Oh why are we are waiting so long I'm suffocating", and he went on to say that it is in reference to "man-related drama" and also pointing out that there is plenty of that on their reality series, Chasing the Saturdays. Copsey later went on to tip the band for their first number-one single as he said: "but we suspect it could also be a sly wink at their enduring quest for a number one single". He said that track was "radio-friendly" due to the "trace beats" and "demanding their contrary lover to give up the hard-to-get schtick sharpish". Although he didn't think that the song was "original" enough for the band, but is "strangely addictive" and he would be happy to see the song at the top of the charts.

4Music described the song as a "electro-pop affair with a bucket-load of synths thrown in for good measure. It's quite good, but we wonder if they should reconsider this single choice if they truly want to launch an invasion on America's charts." Idolator wrote a mixed review criticizing the track for lacking the group's signature style; "While the beat is pounding enough to nab the girls a chart hit, it doesn’t feel true to the spirit of The Sats. Then again, maybe it isn’t supposed to." Jessica Sager from PopCrush also touched on the departure from their original sound; "It’s a pretty big departure from their usual sugary oeuvre, but not necessarily in a bad way." She went on to praise Sean Paul's feature; "His presence on the track gives it an air of authenticity and fun, but pretty much only during his own verses and interjections." However, she criticised the mediocre attempt at dialect the groups sing in throughout the track; "When the Saturdays try to emulate island tones, it sounds a little awkward and they start out like that right off the bat, but go in and out of the undistinguished dialect throughout the song." She also felt that the heavily Auto-Tuned chorus was not need; "The Auto-Tune seems extraneous, because the Saturdays can actually sing well without it." She end the review by labeling their latest effort as "generic" and "not the best the Saturdays have to offer", also rating it two and a half stars out of five.

Commercial reception
"What About Us" debuted at number 44 on the US Billboard Hot Dance Club Songs chart for the week dated 8 December 2012. This marks their first ever chart entry in the United States and it has since peaked at number twenty-seven. The song debuted at number 79 on the Canadian Hot 100, becoming the highest Canadian debut for a new artist in 2013.

The Saturdays admitted that they did not want to get their hopes up on debuting at number one on the UK Singles Charts due to being beaten to number-one three times before with "Forever Is Over", "Just Can't Get Enough" and "Missing You", after being number one on the Official Chart Update. During the latter two occasions, it was rapper Flo Rida who had pushed them back to numbers two and three respectively. It was revealed that the Saturdays had knocked Justin Timberlake's "Mirrors" off the number-one spot on the UK Singles Chart. This became the band's first ever number-one single in the United Kingdom, it also became Sean Paul's second number one in the United Kingdom after being featured on "Breathe" in 2003. For every one copy that Timberlake's "Mirrors" sold, the Saturdays sold two more copies of "What About Us". "What About Us" sold 114,000 copies in the first week of release, making it, at the time, the fastest selling single of 2013. The track sold 40,000 copies more than Timberlake, who was pushed back to number-two on the UK Singles Charts. The band said they were thrilled to be the UK's number-one with "What About Us". They went on to thanking their fans for supporting the single and supporting them for the past five years.

"What About Us" debuted at number six on the Irish Singles Chart, marking the band's fifth top ten single in that country. "What About Us" made its debut at number thirty-six on the New Zealand Singles Chart.

Music video
The music video for "What About Us" was filmed during the summer of 2012 in Los Angeles, while the Saturdays were filming their reality television series. The North American version of the video was released via the Saturdays' official Vevo account on YouTube on 11 January 2013. A variant of the video, featuring vocals and additional scenes of the women with Sean Paul, was later released on 5 February 2013.

Live performances and promotion
The Saturdays appeared in a number of nightclubs throughout 2012 in the United States performing "What About Us" along other hits. On 14 January 2013, the group made their first televised performance of the single on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. It was their first performance done on American television. On 16 January, the girls performed "What About Us" on The Today Show in New York City. Along with the performances, they appeared on chat shows such as Chelsea Lately, Daybreak, Fashion Police, Lorraine, The Jeff Probst Show, Loose Women, Alan Carr: Chatty Man, Sunday Brunch and What's Cooking? to promote the single.

Track listings
US digital download
"What About Us" - 3:24

CD Single - UK Version Only
"What About Us" (featuring Sean Paul) - 3:40
"What About Us" - 3:24
"Somebody Else's Life" (Acoustic) - 3:18

US Digital remixes EP
"What About Us" (Seamus Haji Radio Edit) - 3:06
"What About Us" (Seamus Haji Club Mix) - 6:35
"What About Us" (Seamus Haji Dub) - 6:49
"What About Us" (Guy Scheiman Radio Edit) - 3:59
"What About Us" (Guy Scheiman Club Mix) - 7:35
"What About Us" (Guy Scheiman Dub) - 7:20
"What About Us" (The Buzz Junkies Radio Edit) - 3:23
"What About Us" (The Buzz Junkies Club Mix) - 4:32
"What About Us" (featuring Sean Paul) - 4:32
"What About Us" (2nd Adventure Radio Edit) - 4:24
"What About Us" (2nd Adventure Club Mix) - 6:36

Europe and Oceania EP - digital download
"What About Us" (featuring Sean Paul) - 3:40
"What About Us" (featuring Sean Paul) [The Buzz Junkies Radio Edit] - 3:23
"What About Us" (featuring Sean Paul) [Seamus Haji Radio Edit] - 3:37
"What About Us" (Guy Scheiman Radio Edit) - 3:58
"What About Us" (Extended Mix) - 3:49 (only available through pre-order)

UK Digital Remixes EP
"What About Us" (Guy Scheiman Club Mix) - 7:35
"What About Us" (2nd Adventure Club Mix) - 6:36
"What About Us" (Seamus Haji Club Mix) - 6:35
"What About Us" (The Buzz Junkies Club Mix) - 4:32
"What About Us" (2nd Adventure Radio Edit) - 4:24

Revamped Version
"What About Us" - 3:24
"Somebody Else's Life" (Acoustic) - 3:18
"What About Us" (Extended Mix) - 3:49
"What About Us" (2nd Adventure Radio Edit) - 4:24
"What About Us" (Guy Scheiman Radio Edit) - 3:58
"What About Us" (featuring Sean Paul) - 4:32
"What About Us" (featuring Sean Paul) [The Buzz Junkies Radio Edit] - 3:23
"What About Us" (featuring Sean Paul) [Seamus Haji Radio Edit] - 3:37
"What About Us" (2nd Adventure Club Mix) - 6:36
"What About Us" (Guy Scheiman Club Mix) - 7:35
"What About Us" (The Buzz Junkies Club Mix) - 4:32
"What About Us" (Seamus Haji Club Mix) - 6:35

Credits and personnel
"What About Us" was recorded at Rollover Studios in London.

Ollie Jacobs a.k.a. Art Bastian  ~ Songwriter, Producer, Vocal Producer, Mix Engineer

Phillip Jacobs ~ co-writer
Camille Purcell ~  co-writer
The Saturdays  ~  vocals
Sean Paul ~  guest vocalist

Charts and certifications

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

Release and radio history

See also

List of UK Singles Chart number ones of the 2010s

References

External links

 feat. Sean Paul

The Saturdays songs
Sean Paul songs
2012 singles
Dance-pop songs
Number-one singles in Scotland
UK Singles Chart number-one singles
Songs written by Camille Purcell
2012 songs
Fascination Records singles
Songs written by Ollie Jacobs "What I Go to School For" is the debut single of English pop punk band Busted. It was written by James Bourne, Charlie Simpson, Matt Willis, Steve Robson, and John McLaughlin and produced by Steve Robson. The song was inspired by a teacher that Matt Willis had a crush on at school.

The song was released on 16 September 2002 and reached number three on the UK Singles Chart. A young Jade Ewen (who would later join girl group Sugababes) appears in the music video.

Background
Matt Willis told the Essex Chronicle that the song came about after a night out in TOTs 2000 (now known as Talk nightclub) in James Bourne's hometown of Southend-on-Sea. "We were too young, we got drunk and went to TOTs," Willis said. "Then we walked home and continued drinking on the way – it took us ages. When we got back to James' house, we went to his bedroom and just picked up the guitar and that’s when we started writing What I Go to School For."

In 2003, the real-life inspiration for the song was revealed to be Willis' former teacher Michelle Blair, who made a surprise appearance on The Frank Skinner Show on ITV during an interview with Willis. Blair, who was 28 and had been married for three years at the time of her appearance on The Frank Skinner Show, was Willis' dance teacher at the Sylvia Young Theatre School when Willis was 15. Speaking about the surprise appearance with Willis on the show, Blair said: "It was hilarious – he looked like he wanted the ground to swallow him up. I only found out the song was about me after it came out – it's really flattering." Blair said that at the time she was not aware of her pupil's crush on her, but that she did remember him from the dance classes: "He was quite cheeky and charming and always had something to say in class. He used to tell us he was in a band, but I never dreamed they were going to be this big and I certainly hadn't a clue I was going to feature in one of their songs!"

Commenting on the veracity of these events as portrayed in the song, Blair said: "I think he's used a bit of artistic licence in the song. It was a dance class so we never used any pencils but I suppose he had ample opportunity to look at my bum. There was never any tree outside my bedroom window though – I think I might have noticed a Peeping Tom." Reflecting on his time under the tutelage of Miss Blair, Willis said, "She was kind of nice and there was always something really sexy about her." Being identified as the object of adolescent lust, and the subject of a pop song, hasn't caused any friction with her husband, according to Blair: "My husband thinks its (sic) hilarious and takes the mickey. I don't think he's really worried I'm going to run off with a pop star. I'm proud of them. Looking back it was obvious Matt had what it takes."

On 29 October 2012, Michelle Blair appeared as the correct answer in the "line-up" section of BBC Two panel Never Mind the Buzzcocks.

Musical
What I Go to School For became the title of a musical theatre production produced by Youth Music Theatre UK following the story of Busted from their origins in Southend-on-Sea, Essex, through to their break-up in 2005. The musical was written by Elliot Davis with songs from the Busted albums and new music by James Bourne. It was directed by Steven Dexter and played at the Theatre Royal, Brighton in 2016.

Music video
The video for the song features model Lorna Roberts as Miss McKenzie, the object of the band's desire. Then 14-year-old Jade Ewen, who later joined the Sugababes, appears in the video as a schoolgirl. The filming of the What I Go To School For video was later parodied in the video for the Busted song Nineties.

Track listings

UK CD1 and Australian CD single
 "What I Go to School For" (single version) – 3:30
 "What I Go to School For" (acoustic version) – 3:26
 "What I Go to School For" (alternative version) – 3:31
 "What I Go to School For" (instrumental mix) – 3:28
 "What I Go to School For" (CD-ROM video)

UK CD2
 "What I Go to School For" (single version)
 "Brown Eyed Girl"
 Interactvie interview (CD-ROM video)

UK cassette single
 "What I Go to School For"
 "Dawson's Geek"
 "What I Go to School For" (acoustic version)

US enhanced CD single
 "What I Go to School For" (radio version)
 "What I Go to School For" (album version)
 "What I Go to School For" (CD-ROM video)

Charts and certifications

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

Release history

Cover versions
 "What I Go to School For" was parodied by the Amateur Transplants on their 2004 album Fitness to Practice.
 The Jonas Brothers covered the song for their 2006 album It's About Time.

References

2002 debut singles
2002 songs
Busted (band) songs
Island Records singles
Songs about school
Songs written by Charlie Simpson
Songs written by James Bourne
Songs written by Matt Willis
Songs written by Steve Robson
Universal Records singles