"Sun Is Up" is a song by Romanian recording artist Inna, it serves as the lead international single from her second studio album I Am the Club Rocker,. In the United Kingdom, the song will serve as Inna's fifth single to be taken from her debut album, Hot. The song was written and produced by Play & Win and was officially sent to Romanian radio stations on June 29, 2010. It became a smash hit in her home country as it reached number two on the Romanian Top 100, surpassing the chart achievements of her debut single "Hot". It reached number one in Bulgaria and on the Swiss Romandie Chart, number two in France and number three in Switzerland and Russia and the top ten in Belgium (Wallonia) and the Netherlands. An adjacent music video was filmed in Spain, directed by Alex Herron. The song was performed live during the INNA en Concert tour.

Background [link]

On June 28, 2010, Inna's official website announced that two new songs entitled "Sun Is Up" and "Un Momento" (with Juan Magan), both written and produced by Play & Win, were supposed to be released together as a "Hit Summer Pack". But while "Sun Is Up" premiered on Kiss FM on June 29, 2010, "Un Momento" was released later on and appeared on YouTube on September 2, 2010. On September 5, Inna's website confimed "Un Momento" to be a bonus track on the Spanish version of her debut album Hot, which was released on September 28, 2010. "Sun Is Up" was also named the best dance track of the year, thus winning the 2010 Eurodanceweb Award.^[1]

"Sun Is Up" was also included in the UK compilation Now That's What I Call Music! 79 (UK series) alongside "Mr. Saxobeat" by fellow Romanian singer Alexandra Stan and eighteen other songs, considered the best in 2011.

Critical reception [link]

"Sun Is Up" received mixed reviews from Romanian and French critics. Paul Lester of The Guardian said in its review that "Sun Is Up recommends that you "put your hands in the sky" and reminds us of "Boys Boys Boys" by Sabrina.".^[2]

Chart performance [link]

"Sun Is Up" became a radio hit in Romania and quickly charted on the airplay-based Romanian Top 100. Only after the release of the music video the song entered the top ten of the chart on October 31, 2010, climbing up to number ten. It peaked at number two on November 28, 2010, only being blocked from ascending to the top spot by Smiley's "Love Is For Free". "Sun Is Up" spent a total of eight weeks in the top ten, becoming Inna's fifth top ten single and her highest charting song after "Amazing", which peaked at nu mber one.^[3]

It has charted in Slovakia, where it has peaked at number twenty on the official Slovakian Airplay Chart. It became her second highest peaking single on the chart, only being behind "Love", which reached number five. "Sun Is Up" also peaked at number three on the Russian TopHit 100 Airplay Chart, beating-up the record set by "Amazing" for the highest position on the chart. In Hungary it charted at number six on the Hungarian Dance Chart.

After "Amazing" the song became Inna's second number-one on the Bulgarian Airplay Chart. It reached the top position on November 21, 2010, lost it to Rihanna's "Only Girl (In the World)" on the following week but returned to number one on December 5, 2010 for one additional week. It has spent a total of twenty-three weeks inside the top forty. The song was also a hit in Greece, Serbia, Macedonia and Ukraine.

In France, on the official French Digital Singles Chart it debuted at number four on January 19, 2011. It was the second highest debut of that week in the chart, after Spears' "Hold It Against Me", which opened at number three. Due to its high digital sales "Sun Is Up" was one of the songs to chart on the new official French Singles Chart which combines physical and digital sales. On February 4, 2011, it debuted at number five.^[4] After its physical release "Sun Is Up" climbed up the chart, reaching its peak position at number two on March 6, 2011.

It had also debuted at number three in Switzerland on February 27, 2011, becoming her highest charting single on the Swiss Singles Chart. It has also charted at number-one in the Music Chart from the Swiss region Romandie, debuting directly at the number-one spot! There Inna scored her first number-one. In Belgium, "Sun is Up" became Inna's best chart effort with a week inside the top five of the Wallonian Ultratop and it was also a top-twenty in the Flannish Chart. In the Netherlands, "Sun Is Up" was also a top ten success on the Single Top 100 (number seven) and the Dutch Top 40 (number nine).

In the United Kingdom, "Sun Is Up" was digitally released on May 8, 2011. The song reached British radio stations and music channels seven weeks prior to its release. On April 15, "Sun Is Up" was added to the B-Playlist on the UK's biggest radio station, BBC Radio 1. On the week of its release, "Sun Is Up" charted at number seventeen from digital downloads only. The next week it climbed to number fifteen, becoming Inna's third most successful song released in the United Kingdom. Due to the success of "Sun Is Up", her album Hot was released both digitally and physically on June 5, 2011 and June 6, 2011 respectively.

In Germany, "Sun Is Up" became Inna's highest-charting single on the German Singles Chart, debuting and peaking so far at number twenty-six on May 16, 2011.

On May 20, "Sun Is Up" became Inna's third charting single and her highest-charting on the Irish Singles Chart, peaking at number thirty-eight. Inna performed in Lebanon "Sun Is Up" On The NRJ music tour in 23 July 2011. It reached a peak at number 6 there .

Music video [link]

The music video for "Sun Is Up" was shot on August 24, 2010 in Marbella, Spain. It was directed by Alex Herron, who previously worked with Taio Cruz and Kesha ("Dirty Picture") and Basshunter ("Saturday"). A teaser of the video was released on September 27, 2010 that showed Inna on a bed being privately photographed by the photographer of a photo shooting. The official music video finally premiered on September 30, 2010 on Inna's web site.^[5] The video's length is 3:18 and it was filmed in HD.

The video begins with Inna walking cross a river in the middle of a forest, dressed-up in green. She then appears before a photo shooting with Tore Frisholm Jr, with all her preparation helping her to get ready. The next scene is with Inna in a jacuzzi bath in a mountaine area, singing bare-naked. Then, Inna is dancing and singing at a party. When the sun sets Inna is at her home, posing around on her bed and being privately photographed by Frisholm. In the last moments, the video turns back to the party scene. In the end, Inna and Frisholm make out in the sunset. The video was viewed over one million times on YouTube in just one week. As of March 13, 2012, the song has gained over 30,000,000 views worldwide and over 4,000 comments only on its official channel. The music video debuted at number-three in the Romanian TV Airplay Chart, gaining a maximum number of 180 views per week.^[6] It had been broadcasted by all the Romanian music TV channels, hitting the top ten of the UTV airplay charts. Releasing the video helped the song to become an airplay hit.

Live performance [link]

Inna performed "Sun Is Up" for the first time at the Romanian Music Awards 2010, in Craiova, in a medley with "Señorita", "10 Minutes" and "Amazing". She has also performed it in several tour dates in Spain, Ukraine, Slovakia or Bulgaria. On December 29, 2010 she performed "Sun Is Up" live at Kasho Club in Braşov, along with her hit singles "Hot", "Love", "Amazing" and "10 Minutes". Her first abroad performance of the song was at Fun Radio, France. There, she premiered a song that was intended to be her newest single, "Got Me Goin'". Inna performed "Sun Is Up" during the Opening Ceremony of the 2011 NRJ Music Awards. Then, she performed it during her INNA en Concert tour trough France and other European countries. On May 17, "Sun Is Up" was performed both as Opening song and Encore song for her INNA: Live la Arenele romane gig in Bucharest, Romania. The opening act is called "Intro/Sun Is Up" and Inna made her appearance on the stage by levering from a helicopter. The song was performed live on September 16, 2011 at Piaṭa Sfatului in Braşov, Romania during the Romanian Music Awards 2011. After performing her rendition to Lady Gaga's "Born This Way" Inna got to the main stage (previously performing on a B-scene) to perform "Sun Is Up" and "Un Momento" and confetti were thrown over the crowd. The song was also performed at the Palais Omnisports de Paris-Bercy next to Paris, France on November 26, 2011 during Starfloor 2011. It was Inna's opening number that night and she emerged from a giant gyroscopic square as her dancing were performing their choreography.

Track listings [link]

• UK iTunes remix EP

1. "Sun Is Up" (UK Radio Edit) – 2:32
2. "Sun Is Up" (Play & Win Mix) – 4:43
3. "Sun Is Up" (Cahill Radio Edit) – 3:25
4. "Sun Is Up" (Cahill Mix) – 7:17
5. "Sun Is Up" (Kryder Mix) – 5:30
6. "Sun Is Up" (Mico Mix) – 6:05
7. "Sun Is Up" (Odd Mix) – 6:03

• Dutch iTunes remix EP

1. "Sun Is Up" (Cahill Radio Edit) – 3:25
2. "Sun Is Up" (Cahill Mix) – 7:17
3. "Sun Is Up" (Cahill Instrumental Mix) – 7:11
4. "Sun Is Up" (Kryder Mix) – 5:30

Sun Is Up (Official Remixes)

1. "Sun Is Up (Play & Win Radio Edit)" - 3:44
2. "Sun Is Up (Play & Win Club Remix)" - 4:43
3. "Sun Is Up (UK Radio Edit Version)" - 2:32
4. "Sun Is Up (Radio/Video Edit Version)" - 3:11
5. "Sun Is Up (Cahill Radio Edit)" - 3:25
6. "Sun Is Up (Cahill Club Remix)" - 7:17
7. "Sun Is Up (Kryder Remix)" - 5:30
8. "Sun Is Up (Mico Short Radio Edit)" - 3:27
9. "Sun Is Up (Mico Club Remix)" - 6:05
10. "Sun Is Up (Odd Radio Edit)" - 3:17
11. "Sun Is Up (Odd Club Remix)" - 6:02
12. "Sun Is Up (The Perez Brothers Radio Edit)" - 3:48
13. "Sun Is Up (The Perez Brothers Club Remix)" - 4:18
14. "Sun Is Up (Dandeej Remix)" - 7:02
15. "Sun Is Up (Ilario Estevez Remix)" - 5:32

Charts [link]

Chart precession and succession [link]

Release history [link]

References [link]