The Way I Am (Ingrid Michaelson song)
Encyclopedia
"The Way I Am" is a pop
song written by Ingrid Michaelson
on her album Girls and Boys
.
On September 21, 2007, Michaelson made her network television debut performing the song on Last Call with Carson Daly
.
American Idol Season 9
finalist Didi Benami
performed a cover of the song on the Top 12 female performances on Tuesday, February 23, 2010.
It begins with Michaelson dancing with a man, then switches to her standing among streamers hanging from the ceiling wearing all black, obviously standing out from all the couples dancing. The apparent dance is for clowns or mimes. Michaelson, who is neither a clown nor a mime, is made out as an outcast and receives glares by other couples at the dance. It switches back to her and the man dancing (played by friend and fellow musician Greg Laswell
), she then pulls away and runs off, leaving the man dressed as a clown all alone in the spotlight, looking down sadly. It pans to a bathroom with two women mime or clowns laughing and redoing their makeup, then she enters the bathroom, the women give her dirty looks and then leave, the man follows her and waits in the hallway, leaning against the wall across from the door to the bathroom. She begins staring into the mirror at herself, it then cuts to two clown children who are clapping to the song, as the camera goes back to her she brushes her hair out of her face and then there is a red dot on the mirror where a clown nose would be, we guess she drew it on with lipstick, she takes lipstick again and writes "Freak" above the clown nose. She leaves the bathroom only to run into the man she had been dancing with again she then tries to walk away but he grabs her arm and pulls her into an embrace, between scenes they return to the clown children clapping, then when they pan back the man and her are playing thumb war, then the clapping again and when they pan back once again the man and her kiss as paper flowers appear and then disappear, they pull away for a moment, and then the video fades out to end.
at #80 on October 4, 2007 and has since then peaked at #37. On the Canadian Hot 100, "The Way I Am" peaked at #51. It has been certified Platinum by the RIAA.
Pop music
Pop music is usually understood to be commercially recorded music, often oriented toward a youth market, usually consisting of relatively short, simple songs utilizing technological innovations to produce new variations on existing themes.- Definitions :David Hatch and Stephen Millward define pop...
song written by Ingrid Michaelson
Ingrid Michaelson
Ingrid Ellen Egbert Michaelson is a New York-based indie-pop singer-songwriter. Her music has been featured in episodes of several popular television shows, including Scrubs, Bones, Grey's Anatomy The Big C and One Tree Hill, as well as in Old Navy's Fall 2007 Fair Isle and Opel's/Vauxhall's...
on her album Girls and Boys
Girls and Boys (Ingrid Michaelson album)
Girls and Boys is the second studio album from American pop singer Ingrid Michaelson. It was self released on May 16, 2006. A few songs of the album have been featured in the television series Grey's Anatomy. Michaelson's record label Cabin 24 re-released the album on September 18, 2007...
.
On September 21, 2007, Michaelson made her network television debut performing the song on Last Call with Carson Daly
Last Call with Carson Daly
Last Call with Carson Daly is an American late night talk show that is broadcast on NBC. The show is hosted by Carson Daly, the half-hour show featuring celebrity interviews, documentary-style coverage of a topic, and musical performances. Last Call airs weeknights at 1:35 a.m. Eastern / 12:35 a.m....
.
American Idol Season 9
American Idol (season 9)
The ninth season of American Idol premiered on January 12, 2010 and concluded on May 26, 2010 on Fox. Simon Cowell, Randy Jackson and Kara DioGuardi all returned as judges, and Ellen DeGeneres permanently replaced Paula Abdul as the fourth judge. Idol Gives Back also returned for the season and was...
finalist Didi Benami
Didi Benami
Vered "Didi" Benami is an American singer/songwriter from Knoxville, Tennessee, who was the tenth place finalist on the ninth season of American Idol.-Early life:...
performed a cover of the song on the Top 12 female performances on Tuesday, February 23, 2010.
Music video
The song's music video was directed by Autumn de Wilde.It begins with Michaelson dancing with a man, then switches to her standing among streamers hanging from the ceiling wearing all black, obviously standing out from all the couples dancing. The apparent dance is for clowns or mimes. Michaelson, who is neither a clown nor a mime, is made out as an outcast and receives glares by other couples at the dance. It switches back to her and the man dancing (played by friend and fellow musician Greg Laswell
Greg Laswell
Greg Laswell is a musician, recording engineer, and producer from San Diego, California. He has released four studio albums: Good Movie in 2003, Through Toledo in 2006, and Three Flights from Alto Nido in 2008, and Take a Bow in 2010, as well as several EPs and special singles...
), she then pulls away and runs off, leaving the man dressed as a clown all alone in the spotlight, looking down sadly. It pans to a bathroom with two women mime or clowns laughing and redoing their makeup, then she enters the bathroom, the women give her dirty looks and then leave, the man follows her and waits in the hallway, leaning against the wall across from the door to the bathroom. She begins staring into the mirror at herself, it then cuts to two clown children who are clapping to the song, as the camera goes back to her she brushes her hair out of her face and then there is a red dot on the mirror where a clown nose would be, we guess she drew it on with lipstick, she takes lipstick again and writes "Freak" above the clown nose. She leaves the bathroom only to run into the man she had been dancing with again she then tries to walk away but he grabs her arm and pulls her into an embrace, between scenes they return to the clown children clapping, then when they pan back the man and her are playing thumb war, then the clapping again and when they pan back once again the man and her kiss as paper flowers appear and then disappear, they pull away for a moment, and then the video fades out to end.
Chart performance
The song debuted on the Billboard Hot 100Billboard Hot 100
The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...
at #80 on October 4, 2007 and has since then peaked at #37. On the Canadian Hot 100, "The Way I Am" peaked at #51. It has been certified Platinum by the RIAA.
Charts
| Chart (2007) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Canadian Hot 100 Canadian Hot 100 The Canadian Hot 100 is a music singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine which ranks songs in Canada. The chart debuted in the Billboard issue dated June 16, 2007 and was made available for the first time via their online services on June 7, 2007... |
51 |
| German Singles Chart Media Control Charts The official music charts in Germany are gathered and published by the company Media Control GfK International on behalf of Bundesverband Musikindustrie... |
73 |
| U.S. Billboard Hot 100 Billboard Hot 100 The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday... |
37 |
| U.S. Billboard Pop 100 Pop 100 The Pop 100 was a songs chart that debuted in February 2005 and was released weekly by Billboard magazine in the United States until its discontinuation in 2009... |
31 |
| U.S. Billboard Adult Top 40 | 15 |
| U.S. Billboard Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks The Adult Contemporary chart is a weekly chart published in Billboard magazine that lists the most popular songs on adult contemporary and "lite-pop" radio stations in the United States... |
2 |
| U.S. Billboard Top 40 Recurrents | 20 |
| Chart (2009) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Austrian Singles Chart | 36 |
| German Singles Chart Media Control Charts The official music charts in Germany are gathered and published by the company Media Control GfK International on behalf of Bundesverband Musikindustrie... |
69 |