"Colors" is a song by Romanian group Morandi intended to be the lead single off the group's fourth studio album, Zebra. However, it was later included in their compilation album, Best Of (2011). The supposed Zebra's mix of club and British rock served as inspiration for the track. Written by the group, the song was first released on 16 June 2009 in Romania and on 6 August 2009 for digital download and streaming in the United States through Universal Music Romania.

"Colors"
Two men sitting in front of a white wall. The one on the left is wearing a black t-shirt with a diagonal streak of white paint and the one on the right is wearing a white t-shirt with a diagonal streak of black paint.
Remix EP cover
Single by Morandi
from the album Best Of
Released16 June 2009
Length4:03
LabelUniversal
Songwriter(s)
  • Marius Moga
  • Andrei Ropcea
Morandi singles chronology
"Save Me"
(2008)
"Colors"
(2009)
"Rock the World"
(2010)
Music video
"Colors" on YouTube

Commercially, the song topped the charts in the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) and Slovakia, and reached the top five in Bulgaria and the Czech Republic. A music video directed by Marius Moga and Giuliano Bekor was released to promote the song, which premiered on Romanian radio station Radio 21's website and was aired on MTV in late September 2009. The song was nominated at the 2010 Balkan Music Awards and at the 2010 Radio România Actualităţi Awards for Best Song from Romania and Best Pop/Dance Song, respectively. The video also received a nomination in the former ceremony for Best Video in the Balkans 2009.

Background and release

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In an interview with MTV Romania, the group stated that following the success of their third studio album, N3XT (2007), they were busy touring and admitted that they did not have time to record new material. Following the release of "Save Me" (2008), they began working on their new album, titled Zebra, which would include two types of songs, those "written for club[s]" and the others would have British rock influences. According to member Marius Moga, the inclusion of the two different music genres acted like an antithesis, which was the inspiration behind "Colors".[1] Moga and Andrei Ropcea wrote the song.[2]

On 12 June 2009, Urban.ro reported that filming for the music video would commence soon, and the song was confirmed to be the lead single off Zebra.[3][4] "Colors" was first released on 16 June 2009 in Romania.[5] On 6 August 2009, the song was released via digital download and streaming in the United States by Universal Music Romania.[6] A remix extended play was also issued in the same year in various territories.[7] The track was later included in their compilation album Best Of (2011).[8]

Reception

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Commercially, "Colors" reached the summit in the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) and Slovakia, spending three consecutive weeks atop the chart in the latter.[9][10] It peaked at number four in both Bulgaria and Czech Republic.[11][12] On the native Romanian Top 100, the song debuted and peaked at number 32.[13] It also peaked at number eight on Media Forest's Romania Radio Airplay.[14] At the 2010 Balkan Music Awards the song was nominated for Best Song from Romania, but lost to Akcent's "That's My Name" (2009).[15] It also received a nomination at the 2010 Radio România Actualităţi Awards for Best Pop/Dance Song.[16]

Promotion

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The music video was filmed on 15 June 2009 in Buftea Studios and was directed by Moga and American photographer Giuliano Bekor.[17] It premiered on Romanian radio station Radio 21's website on 29 September and started being broadcast on MTV the next day.[18][19] The music video was an MTV exclusive until October 6.[19] It begins with Ropcea and a woman rising from water and walking towards each other. They are shown holding each other while backgrounds change behind them and Ropcea is depicted singing intermittently with smoke floating beneath him. Thereafter, Moga starts singing underneath the water surface. The visual pans back to Ropcea's previous pose and he is then shown next to the woman inside a flaming square. Interspersed scenes throughout the video portray Moga flying in front of various backgrounds, the group's members being splashed by paint and musical instruments being submerged underwater. The video ends with the woman going down into the water and the word zebra appearing briefly from flames above her.[20] The music video was nominated at the 2010 Balkan Music Awards for Best Video.[15] On 15 October 2009, Morandi performed the song alongside "Angels" at the Slovakian Musiq1 Awards.[21] They performed "Colors" along with other tracks at Greek television network MAD TV on 22 October 2009.[22]

Track listing

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  • Digital download[6]
  1. "Colors" – 4:03
  1. "Colors" – 4:00
  2. "Colors (Gojira Remix)" – 5:15
  3. "Colors (OK Corral Spectrum Vocal)" – 6:43
  4. "Colors (OK Corral Spectrum Radio Edit)" – 3:41

Charts

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Release history

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Release dates and formats for "Colors"
Region Date Format Label Ref.
Romania 16 June 2009 N/A N/A [5]
United States 6 August 2009 Universal Music [6]
Various 2009 Remix EP [7]

References

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  1. ^ "Morandi lanseaza album cu influente brit-rock" [Morandi will release an album with brit-rock influences] (in Romanian). MTV Romania. 17 June 2009. Archived from the original on 19 June 2009. Retrieved 26 May 2022.
  2. ^ "Morandi – Colors". Spotify. Retrieved 9 April 2022. Note: User may click on the three dots on the right of the track to access its credits.
  3. ^ Bazavan, Cristina (12 June 2009). "Morandi filmeaza videoclip nou: 'Colors'" [Morandi is filming a new music video: 'Colors'] (in Romanian). Urban.ro. Archived from the original on 26 May 2022. Retrieved 26 May 2022.
  4. ^ "Morandi lanseaza 'Colors'" [Morandi releases 'Colors'] (in Romanian). Cotidianul. 18 June 2009. Archived from the original on 22 September 2014. Retrieved 26 May 2022 – via 9am.
  5. ^ a b "Noul single Morandi – 'Colors'" [Morandi's new single – 'Colors'] (in Romanian). Monden.info. 16 June 2009. Archived from the original on 20 June 2009. Retrieved 23 May 2022.
  6. ^ a b c "Colors – Single by Morandi on Apple Music". iTunes Store (US). 6 August 2009. Archived from the original on 7 January 2011. Retrieved 23 May 2022.
  7. ^ a b c Citations regarding the remix EP release of "Colors" in various countries:
  8. ^ Best Of (Liner notes). Morandi. Universal Music Romania. 2011. 4605026708518.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  9. ^ a b Morandi — Colors. TopHit. Retrieved 23 May 2022.
  10. ^ a b "ČNS IFPI" (in Slovak). Hitparáda – Radio Top 100 Oficiálna. IFPI Czech Republic. Archived from the original on 25 June 2013. Retrieved 23 May 2022.
  11. ^ a b "Week51 14.12–20.12.2009" Airplay Top 5. Bulgarian Association of Music Producers. Retrieved 23 May 2022.
  12. ^ a b "ČNS IFPI" (in Czech). Hitparáda – Radio Top 100 Oficiální. IFPI Czech Republic. Archived from the original on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 23 March 2022.
  13. ^ a b "Romanian Top 100" (in Romanian). Romanian Top 100. Archived from the original on 6 January 2010. Retrieved 12 June 2018.
  14. ^ a b "Media Forest – Weekly Charts. Media Forest. Retrieved 23 May 2022. Note: Romanian and international positions are rendered together by the number of plays before resulting an overall chart.
  15. ^ a b "Balkan Music Awards 2010". Balkan Music Awards. Archived from the original on 15 July 2014. Retrieved 21 November 2017.
  16. ^ Scraba, Gabriela (3 February 2010). "Premiile muzicale Radio România Actualităţi 2010" [2010 Radio România Actualităţi awards] (in Romanian). Radio România Actualități. Archived from the original on 14 November 2013. Retrieved 10 April 2022.
  17. ^ "Teaser videoclip Morandi – Colors". Industria-Muzicala (in Romanian). 28 September 2009. Archived from the original on 5 June 2011. Retrieved 26 May 2022.
  18. ^ "Videoclip Morandi – 'Colors'" (in Romanian). Monden.info. 29 September 2009. Archived from the original on 2 October 2009. Retrieved 23 May 2022.
  19. ^ a b Popescu, Marius (30 September 2009). "Morandi lanseaza noul videoclip la MTV" [Morandi launches their latest music video on MTV]. Revista VIP (in Romanian). Archived from the original on 19 September 2020. Retrieved 26 May 2022.
  20. ^ "Morandi – Colors". 21 January 2011. Archived from the original on 12 August 2021. Retrieved 23 May 2022 – via YouTube.
  21. ^ "Morandi au castigat premiul International Act" [Morandi won the International Act award]. Webworks (in Romanian). 21 October 2009. Archived from the original on 23 October 2009. Retrieved 23 May 2022.
  22. ^ "Mad Day Live 26/10/2009 – Morandi". 27 October 2009. Archived from the original on 23 May 2022. Retrieved 23 May 2022 – via YouTube.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  23. ^ "Media Forest – Weekly Charts. Media Forest. Retrieved 23 May 2022. Note: Select 'Songs – TV'. Romanian and international positions are rendered together by the number of plays before resulting an overall chart.
  24. ^ "Top Radio Hits Russia Weekly Chart: Aug 20, 2009". TopHit. Retrieved 27 April 2024.
  25. ^ "Top Radio Hits 2009". Tophit. Archived from the original on 8 October 2021. Retrieved 23 May 2022.
  26. ^ "Media Forest – Chart 2009". Media Forest. Archived from the original on 15 June 2018. Retrieved 23 May 2022.
  27. ^ "Top Radio Hits Russia Annual Chart: 2009". TopHit. Archived from the original on 27 April 2024. Retrieved 27 April 2024.
  28. ^ "Top Radio Hits 2010". TopHit. Archived from the original on 21 October 2020. Retrieved 23 May 2022.
  29. ^ "Media Forest – Chart 2010". Media Forest. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 23 May 2022.
  30. ^ "Top Radio Hits Russia Annual Chart: 2010". TopHit. Archived from the original on 28 April 2024. Retrieved 30 April 2024.
  31. ^ "Russian Top Year-End Radio Hits (2011)". TopHit. Archived from the original on 3 August 2020. Retrieved 9 August 2019.
  32. ^ "Top Radio Hits Russia Decade Chart: 00s". TopHit. Archived from the original on 21 April 2024. Retrieved 1 May 2024.