Late yesterday, Katy Perry released the full version of “Last Friday Night (T.G.I.F.)” through her website. With a small clip surfacing just a week ago, “Last Friday Night (T.G.I.F.)” is a vehicle for Perry’s alter ego, a 13-year-old high schooler named Kathy Beth Terry who dresses like its 1988 and has interests like she’s stuck in 1995.
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Perry has taken her alter ego outside the realm of the eight-minute music video, creating social media accounts for Kathy on Twitter and Facebook. Her Kathy Beth Terry accounts, on the other hand, are thinly-veiled promotion vehicles. Perry’s nerdy teenage character talks often of her parents – Corey Feldman and Debbie Gibson in the video – and the singer provides nearly-identical information as that on her @KatyPerry account, albeit in a different voice:
Aside from the former ‘80s teen dreams starring as parents, plenty more former stars have cameos in “Last Friday Night (T.G.I.F.).” Kenny G shows up for a saxophone solo, Hanson is the party band, Rebecca Black gives Kathy Beth Terry a makeover, and Glee stars Darren Cris and Kevin McHale also make an appearance.
While the video directed by Marc Klasfold is certainly a production matching the excess of Lady Gaga’s “Telephone” and the recently-leaked Chris Brown video for “Next 2 U,” what about the music? As a track on its own, “Last Friday Night (T.G.I.F.)” is flimsy, without the power of “Firework” or the fun of “California Gurls.” Although a light pop song that will likely do well on the charts, “Last Friday Night (T.G.I.F.)” pales in comparison to other party-friendly radio fare by Ke$ha, Lady Gaga, and Rihanna. Considering the amount of effort Perry appears to have put into the video, with an alter ego and cameos, you’d think that the song would be more substantial. Watch the full video here:.