Mandy Moore - "Extraordinary"

Mandy Moore - "Extraordinary"
Grade: C+

Mandy Moore's "Extraordinary" off of her upcoming Wild Hope debuted last month, but the video was just released on May 7th.

I just don't know how to feel about this whole thing. I realize most of you were probably listening to the Pixies and Husker Dü when you were in the seventh grade, but not me. I was hung up on two people: Rob Thomas and Mandy Moore. I've been looking forward to Wild Hope, thinking that maybe Mandy Moore had grown up with me and was going to release some songs I can enjoy as a grown-up as much as I liked "Candy" as a kid.

Yeah, I'm not holding out hope for that so much anymore. And that breaks me up inside.

The song itself isn't so bad. It's just that with the production and vocal mix, Moore panders to the same crowd she pandered to before: Girls who like pop music but can't get into the over-the-top personas of other singers.

The video is a neat concept, with a massive tower of Mandy Moore's stacked sky high, each Moore a little different than the one below her. But nothing happens. Ever. And after 30 seconds, my eyes started hurting from all the damn grey.

It's unfortunate. I really want to like Mandy Moore, especially after her stints on Clone High and Scrubs and her role in Saved!, but I just don't think she'll ever be able to capture the magic she had back when I was a kid.

(April Wright)