Leave it to Ellen DeGeneres to find amazing things on Youtube. Probably one of her most famous findings was Sophia Grace Brownlee, who along with her cousin Rosie McClelland rose to stardom after posting a video of them singing Nicki Minaj's "Super Bass."
DeGeneres saw it and couldn't resist inviting them to her show so the girls could show off their talent in front of an American audience. Essex natives Sophia Grace, then 8 years old, and Rosie, 5 at the time, became recurring casts on the show, where they hosted their own segment called "Tea Time with Sophia Grace and Rosie" and had the opportunity to interview guest celebrities such as Taylor Swift, Justin Bieber and Reese Witherspoon over tea.
The British duo won the "Choice Webstar" at the 2012 Teen Choice Awards for their segment in The Ellen Show, and landed coveted spots on major red carpet events as correspondents for the Grammy Awards, the American Music Awards, the Billboard Music Awards and the MTV Video Music Awards.
Now, Sophia Grace, 10, is taking steps towards being interviewed on the red carpet instead of interviewing celebrities, as she just released her first original single "Girls Just Gotta Have Fun." In the song, she references Nicki Minaj and calls princess, and mentions Ellen as her queen. She also has some sassy lyrics but always keeping it age appropriate.
"It's the princess swagger, moves like Jagger, haters gonna hate and they gonna chit-chit-chatter, I'm Sophia Grace, I got the super bass, and I've been flying in a rocket in and out of space, Nicki is my princess and Ellen is my queen, put them all together that's the Hollywood dream."
The video was directed by Matt Alonzo, who's known for directing artists like Soulja Boy, Ice Cube, Pitbull, New Boyz, The Game, Chris Cornell, The Clipse, Cypress Hill, Xzibit, Far East Movement and more, and shows Sohpia Grace riding around in a mini pink SUV, sitting in a pink throne, dancing with friends and "flirting" with a boy, although she only walked up to him and said no while waving her index finger. Later in the video, the boy throws a piece of cake at her in a typical behavior of kids their age when they like each other, to which Sophia Grace responded by smearing a whole pie into the boy's face.
Rosie was featured too, although she didn't sing. She was always next to Sophia Grace and shared a cute moment while trying to choose which dress to wear for the party they were going to.
Although the video, released last Friday and seen over 1.6 million times, was tastefully done and very age appropriate, it has caused major controversy among parents all over the world.
"This is so messed up in so many levels," wrote one person on the Huffington Post website. "She is 10 years old and already being taught it's okay to 'party'!!! What in the heck is she going to be like in a few years? I don't understand why parents allow their children to be exploited in this manner, unless all the parents are concerned about is that bank account!!! Inexcusable!!!!!"
The Hollywood Gossip had a very strong opinion about it: "Will it go viral? No doubt. Is it a tad disturbing, considering the age of the singer? Oh yes." And Pop Blend thinks Sophia Grace should stick to doing covers. "Firstly, it's clear this chick is better off singing covers of more popular songs. All the autotuning going on in "Girls Just Gotta Have Fun" reminds me of one of those news stories that have been autotuned into something resembling music rather than a nice little pop diddy."
But not all was bad, as some people defended her: "I don't think that these little girls are being exploited at all. I think the video was in good taste," another person commented on the Huffington Post website. "It was just little kids having fun. They are dressed appropriately, not like all these 'Toddlers and Tiaras' kids. Now that's exploitative... I don't think that Ellen would have them on her show if she felt they were being exploited."
Now it's your turn to share your thoughts on the video. Do you think Sophia Grace is being exploited? Comment below and let us know!
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