Craig Smart - 123

Craig Smart had a major time to shine last year when he collaborated with Longo and Wainwright on "One Life Stand." I didn't really find that song too interesting, but "123" is a step up for Craig Smart and is showing strong potential.

The song has strong vocals which is the first sign of improvement. This powerful singing is backed up by an equal emotion behind the adoring lyrics. For a still emerging artist it's not always common to have a powerful voice and real emotion, but this song is defintely showing the best of Craig Smart. This is why I say that it has stong potential; as we've seen lesser artists emerge with a minor hit, so it should be no trouble for Craig to do just as well if not better.

Not everything is perfect about this song though. The lyrics are pretty cheesing, but that can be forgiven since it still has strong emotion. On the other hand you will notice that the song is incredibly similar to Bruno Mars' "Just the Way You Are." A sweet love song telling a girl how great she is, sound familiar? Furthermore, both Craig Smart and Bruno Mars have smooth tenor voices and both songs have similar background music. So overall it's hard to miss the similarities and this can take away from the effect of the song.

Considering how impressive the vocals are on this song I say that that can cancel out the fact that the majority of the song is borrowed from Bruno Mars. I'm sure it's still bound to have success, afterall "Just the Way You Are" was able to win over the population. If Craig Smart is going to continue a successful career he'll need to keep up his progress as a singer, but find his own style.