Selena Gomez Enters '80s Karaoke World For 'Love Song' Video

For her new single, 'Love You Like a Love Song,' the pop star pays homage to cheesy '80s clips.
By Jocelyn Vena

Selena Gomez in her "Love You Like A Love Song" video
Photo: Hollywood Records

Selena Gomez may have been born in 1992, but that doesn't mean that the teen queen can't get a little nostalgic for the '80s. In the new music video for her very meta love ode, "Love You Like a Love Song," the 18-year-old pops into sets that recall that golden age of music videos.

The clip takes place in a Japanese karaoke bar, where a dolled-up Gomez (big hair, golden disco-style dress) takes the stage to perform the track, off her forthcoming album When the Sun Goes Down. Soon, she's transported into the videos on the karaoke's TV set. And as anyone who's frequented such a bar knows, those often look like a mash-up of every cheesy '80s video, movie or TV show ever made.

The pop star manages to appear in scenes that recall the B-52's, "Cry-Baby," "Amadeus," Belinda Carlisle and the Talking Heads, to name a few. With each new set comes a dazzling new outfit: On the beach, Gomez is hippie-chic in a flowing tie-dye gown. In the "Amadeus" set-up, she's in her finest powdered wig and gown. While driving in a convertible, she's wearing cat-eye tortoise-shell frames and a '50s-esque tailored halter top. And as she nods her head on the screen with her hair in a ponytail, bright silver lipstick, sunglasses and a white suit, she looks like a cross between computer-animated '80s TV personality Max Headroom and boyfriend Justin Bieber. Then, while hanging out in a field with a mariachi band, she sports a little dress with lots of sequins and tutu.

The video closes with Gomez, back in the karaoke bar, her co-stars from all the other scenes filling the seats around the stage and giving her a round of applause.

"The video is the craziest video I've ever done," she shared in a behind-the-scenes video about making the clip, directed by Geremy Jasper and Georgie Greville (Goldfrapp, Florence & The Machine). "Sometimes when you're in love, there are things you can't really explain and it doesn't make sense. That's how I feel when I'm in love."

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