Ooh La La

Album: Smurfs 2 (2013)
Charted: 72 54
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Songfacts®:

  • This song plays at the end credits of The Smurfs 2 movie. Britney had her own two children, Sean and Preston in mind when she agreed to record the tune. "I have always loved the Smurfs as a kid and now my boys are the biggest Smurfs fans EVER," she said. "I wanted to surprise them with a song in the movie. I know they'll think it's Smurftastic!"
  • The song was penned by hitmaker Bonnie McKee ("Hold It Against Me") along with J Kash, Lola Blanc and Fransisca Hall and produced by Spears' Femme Fatale collaborators Dr. Luke, Ammo and Cirkut. Los Angeles-based singer-songwriter Lola Blanc told Idolator: "We originally wrote 'Ooh La La' for me — it was me, Fran Hall and Ammo. I came up with the title, which was sort of a play on my name, and then Dr. Luke heard it and was like, 'I want this for Britney!'"
  • Britney is not the only music superstar to contribute to the movie - Katy Perry returns to repeat her role as the voice of Smurfette in the CGI sequel.
  • Britney's two sons, Sean and Jayden, made cameos in the song's music video. They were 7 and 6 years old at the time, a younger age than their mom when she made her showbiz debut on Star Search at the age of 10. Britney told Ryan Seacrest that during filming, her kids were pros. "They were actually really, really good on set," she told the radio presenter. "They were, like, acting, and my oldest son, Preston, was right on cue every time they would tell him to do something. Later on I got to see what they actually did on camera and it was adorable."
  • Britney explained the song's meaning to Ryan Seacrest on his radio show. "It's about feeling good," she said. "Like when a guy makes you giddy. It's more of a feeling. When I eat chocolate I have that 'ooh la la' feeling."
  • Bonnie McKee and her frequent collaborator, Katy Perry, secretly recorded background vocals on the song. Katy and Britney didn't meet as they laid down their parts separately.
  • McKee's contribution was to tweak the lyrics to make them family friendly. "I actually came in and was the doctor behind it. A lot of it was already written. It was a great song to begin with. ... They wanted it for the Smurfs movie, and it was originally pretty sexy," she recalled to MTV News. "I was like, 'OK, how do I take this sex-drenched song and make it Smurfs friendly?'"

    "That was kind of my task, but it still had to work at radio and be something that people would buy as a Britney Spears song because she's not a Smurf," McKee added. "So, it was just kind of fun to find double entendres to put in there and kind of trick the parents into thinking it's kid friendly."

Comments: 1

  • Joseph from New York, NyThe original writers on the song were Ammo, the producer; top liner Francisca Hall; and Lola Blanc, the pop sing/songwriter who penned the title and the hook as a play on her name (on Instagram she's @oohlalola, on twitter she's @ohlalola). Dr. Luke instantly recognized "Ooh La La" as a hit, and a perfect song for Britney Spears. Lola Blanc was approached, she considered the opportunity for a few weeks during which time wrote new songs, including "Bad Tattoo" which some industry insiders considered even stronger. By deal time, Lola Blanc was thrilled to sign off on "Ooh La La" and be part of a songwriting power team working on a single for Britney Spears. The original lyrics were reworked by Bonnie McKee to be more appropriate in the context of the Smurfs 2 movie; final production was handled Dr. Luke and J. Kash.
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