Maroon 5 - Sugar (Official Music Video)
Film director David Dobkin, shot the accompanying music video for the single in Los Angeles. Inspired by the 2005 romantic comedy Wedding Crashers, it features Maroon 5 crashing weddings that happened in the city. The video premiered on January 14, 2015, and received its television premiere on January 17. A reality television series based on the music video was released on YouTube in August 2018.[2] The remix versions of the song were released, one featuring rapper Nicki Minaj on March 10,[3] and the other by Matt Medved (also known as Sicarii) on November 9, 2015,[4] respectively.
Maroon 5 - Sugar (Official Music Video)
Kyle Anderson of Entertainment Weekly noted the reminiscence of "Sugar" to the music of singer Bruno Mars.[12] Brad Wete of Billboard magazine compared the song's production to that of Katy Perry's 2014 single "Birthday", which was also produced by Cirkut, together with Dr. Luke.[16] Similarly, Rolling Stone's Jon Dolan compared the song to the works of Perry and wrote that the "funk-guitar licks zip across a spry, sun-drunk groove as Levine sings..."[17] Lyrically, Levine sings the lines to his romantic interest, "I just wanna be there where you are/And I gotta get one little taste".[16] The song's lyrics use the word "sugar" to describe coitus.[18] Jon Caramanica of The New York Times wrote that on the Levine sounds most lecherous while singing the lyrics "I want that red velvet, I want that sugar sweet." According to him "he croons so cleanly it's possible to imagine that he is truly singing about cake."[19]
The music video was filmed in Los Angeles, California.[36] It was shot at several ballrooms, located at various locations around the city, where weddings were happening. One of the ballrooms was at the Park Plaza Hotel, a very popular location for celebrations and parties.[37] A week before filming the video commenced, Dobkin went to see the band, who were rehearsing for the visual.[38] During the meeting, Levine questioned the concept, "What if people don't like us? What happens if we ruin the bride's moment?" That was the first time they started wondering, "What if we're ruining someone's most special day?"[38] In order to prevent that from happening, Levine got an idea: after performing "Sugar", he and the band's guitarist, James Valentine would perform an acoustic version of their 2004 single "She Will Be Loved" just for the bride and the groom. The dance floor would be cleared of everyone except for the newlyweds and the song would be another traditional "First Dance" for the newlyweds. According to Dobkin, that was a very good idea. "That's awesome. It's just sick romantic."[38]
According to Ryan Reed of Rolling Stone, video showed the band channeling the roles of actors Owen Wilson and Vince Vaughn in Wedding Crashers while surprising the audience with its performance of "Sugar".[11] The Daily Telegraph's Catherine Gee felt the video proved that "not a soul in Los Angeles would mind if the rock band arrived at their reception unannounced and performed their new single".[44] Elias Leight of Billboard noted that the reaction of the people in the weddings ranged from screaming and pointing to shouting, and finally dancing. He also noted that the women were quicker to recognize Levine than the men.[45] Melodi Smith of CNN wrote that the looks of faces in the rooms are "priceless: delight, tears, confusion".[33] Jennifer Maas of Entertainment Weekly noted how every groom should be embarrassed by Levine hugging his bride after the performance and wrote, "All in all, if this is somehow an authentic stunt, the music video director totally stole the thunder of those couples' wedding videographers."[46]
Several sources including Life & Style,[52] Rolling Stone[53] and Cosmopolitan[54] reported that the video was allegedly staged and filmed over the course of three days at the same location.[55] According to these sources, the first groom was played by New Zealand actor Nico Evers-Swindell, while actor Eric Satterberg and former America's Next Top Model contestant Raina Hein also played the roles of guest and bride, respectively. Additionally, two of the actors who played the role of parents said, "The Buzz on the internet is whether the Maroon 5 'Sugar' music video is real or staged. We played the parents of the Asian bride and yes, everything was staged."[52][55]
"Sugar" received generally positive reviews from music critics who praised its catchy feel and retro vibe. In the US, it peaked at number two on the Billboard Hot 100 and became the band's third top 10 single from V, and eighth consecutive top 10 hit. Film director David Dobkin shot the accompanying music video for the single in Los Angeles in December 2014. Inspired by the 2005 romantic comedy Wedding Crashers, it features Maroon 5 crashing weddings that happened in the city on that day. The video premiered on January 14, 2015, and had its first television air on January 17. The song is also used as the encore of the shows during the Maroon 5 World Tour 2015.
Several online magazines including Life & Style, Rolling Stone, and Cosmopolitan reported that the video was allegedly staged and filmed over a course of three days on the same location. According to them, the first groom was played by New Zealand actor Nico Evers-Swindell, while actor Eric Satterberg and a former America's Next Top Model contestant, Raina Hein, also played the role of a guest and bride respectively. Additionally, two of the actors who played the role of parents said "The Buzz on the internet is whether the Maroon 5 'Sugar' music video is real or staged. We played the parents of the Asian bride and yes, everything was staged."
Update: The Instagram accounts of some participants in the video give further examples of whether the video shoot was staged. Jessica Davis posted a video of herself at the shoot along with the caption "I had such an amazing day shooting with these oh-so-dapper gentlemen!" with one of her hashtags being "#actress." Additionally, an Instagram posted by bride Sharis Shahnazarian from a different wedding, seem to hint at Maroon 5 being a surprise. with a photo with the caption, "OK, last one but this is just too #priceless not to post! Everyone's reaction when the curtain dropped and @maroon5 came on stage!"
News about the band crashing one Los Angeles couple's wedding made headlines last month and it was revealed they had filmed their surprise performance for a music video. The newlyweds danced to some of their songs, including "She Will Be Loved," and posed for photos with Levine, who had tied the knot with Victoria's Secret model Behati Prinsloo, 25, earlier that summer. 041b061a72