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Squad Goals: Fifth Harmony and Why I Love Them!

In the world of Pop music today, it seems that vocal groups have made a triumphant return to the music industry instead of a slew of solo artists. Not that solo artists aren’t amazing, but there is something about a good vocal group that mostly everyone, including myself, can appreciate. Traditionally, with vocal groups, it seems to be a battle of the sexes, male vocal groups versus female vocal groups. Male vocal groups seem to take off the quickest while female groups take a little more time to catch on and find their fan base and audience. Boy groups it seems are always around but good, successful girl groups are hard to come by. With the start, the recent decade (2010-present) girl groups were nowhere to be found. Then in 2011, we got Little Mix, A UK girl group that won the British version of X Factor, which is the first group to do so in the history of the show.

In the picture below is Little Mix being announced as the winner of the X Factor (2011). From left to right is Leigh-Anne, Jade, Tulisa (Judge), Perrie, and Jesy.

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[photo: The Telegraph (UK)]

For a while, they were the only girl group with a good amount of exposure and success. But then nearly a year later on the American version of X Factor, a stateside girl group was formed that would eventually surpass Little Mix’s popularity. That group is Fifth Harmony.

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[photo: www.billboard.com]

With a strong correlation to One Direction, Fifth Harmony having finished third during their time on X Factor (USA) exactly like One Direction finishing 3rd on the British version. And much like One Direction, Fifth Harmony would soon be one of the biggest vocal groups currently in the music industry. Sadly, Little Mix hasn’t fully cracked the US yet. But Little Mix is a great girl group that already have 3 albums and a wide fan following. But with little exposure in the US, Little Mix hasn’t achieved what Fifth Harmony has yet. Hopefully, they do gain more exposure in the coming years, but as for right now, Fifth Harmony is the more commercially successful girl group.

Fifth Harmony was not the instant success that the Spice Girls were back in the 90s but they have consistently been becoming more popular as the years go on and they are riding high right now with their sophomore album 7/27 along with their current tour to promote their album. They have had two massively successful singles “Work From Home” and “All In My Head (Flex)” that have come off of their sophomore album. 5H has also been hitting television screens more and more with performances on award shows, talk shows, morning shows, and even on a new television show called Greatest Hits (ABC) where they performed a medley of Destiny’s Child songs…and did so brilliantly!

My love for these girls started with their formation on X Factor and I followed their journey until they finished 3rd, but I had a feeling that was not the end for the budding girl group. It may have taken them awhile to find their sound, but once they released their debut studio album Reflection I was even more of a fan and would listen to the album from start to finish at least two to three times a day for an entire year. Even though they were formed on a television show, chemistry is hard to fake or manufacture. Fifth Harmony has all the must-haves of a girl group or any group that I, as well as many others, love.

  • All the members can sing - The last big ‘girl group’ was the pussycat dolls and I can easily remember Nicole Scherzinger being the frontrunner of the group. But with 5H, their parts are as equally distributed as they can be and the girls let the producers decide which girl is the best for each part so that pettiness doesn’t arise amongst the group.

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  • All the members are individuals - even though we are talking about ‘girl groups’ each girl should be an individual and be not cookie-cutter like some groups tend to be. Every member of 5H has their own personality and style and I appreciate that very much. Plus with each member of the group being different, it helps widen and diversify the fan base and the audience the group can draw in.

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  • Diversified music catalogue - Everyone loves a song they can dance to and 5H has definitely provided that, but it’s also nice to have those songs that show the groups soft and more personal side. It is important for groups to have the slow songs so that fans can connect with the group on a more intimate level.

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  • Message - Music is created for many different purposes and intentions and so, hopefully, every song the group or any artist releases should have a message or meaning as to why the artist chose to release that song. 5H’s message contains the ever popular ‘Girl Power’ and having women being independent, as well as staying true to yourself and not changing to “fit in”

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  • A United Front - The old saying goes “united we stand, divided we fall,” and this quote rings true as to why I am attracted to and love groups, male and female alike. There is something I like about each individual member and that they each contribute something different to the group to make it a success. Groups show that people of different backgrounds, whatever they may be, can unite and create something positive. I love Fifth Harmony for this very reason! I love positivity and being united for a greater purpose. Those who are in a musical group, a group project, a sports team, or even at a job have a responsibility to make that group, team, or their place of employment successful.

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One of the unique things I like about Fifth Harmony is that since they were formed on the X Factor, which is a competition show, they had to have a strong work ethic and bond so that they could stay in the competition. With the girls finishing in third, they were in it for the long haul and they had to push themselves to improve so that the group could advance…its teamwork. They seem to genuinely care about their fans and have their own thoughts and opinions about current events and topics of discussion.