BARBIE GIRL

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"Barbie Girl" is a song by the Danish-Norwegian dance-pop group Aqua, who released the song in 1997 as their third single overall, and the first United Kingdom release. The song is included on the album Aquarium and was written by Claus Norreen and Søren Nystrøm Rasted after the group saw an exhibit on kitsch culture. The song topped the charts worldwide, particularly in European countries such as the UK, where it was a number-one hit for three weeks. It was also on top of the charts in Australia for the same length of time, and debuted and peaked at No. 7 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 on 6 September 1997 and It remains Aqua's biggest hit single in the USA to date, and their only one to reach the Top 20 of the Billboard Hot 100.

The lyrics of the song are about Barbie and Ken, the dolls made by Mattel. Both the song and its music video feature Lene Nystrøm as Barbie and René Dif as Ken. As such, the lyrics drew the ire of Barbie's corporate owners, and a lawsuit was filed by Mattel.

The song was voted the fourth "Best Number One of All Time" in a VH1 poll, and was featured in spot #32 on VH1's "Most Awesomely Bad Songs... Ever" countdown. In an unrelated VH1 countdown, VH1's 100 Greatest One-Hit Wonders, it was featured at #88. In 2007, Rolling Stone named "Barbie Girl" as one of the 20 Most Annoying Songs.^[1] Also in 2007, MuchMoreMusic featured the song at #27 on the list of the 50 Guilty Pleasures. In 2009,Same Difference voted it #2 in their Ultimate Cheese-Fest Top 20 on 4Music. Five years before, Blendermagazine voted it at #33, as one of the 50 Worst Songs Ever.^[2] Most recently, in September 2010, Matthew Wilkening of AOL Radio ranked the song at #5 on the list of the 100 Worst Songs Ever, stating that "Paris Hiltonwas 16 years old when this [song] came out. We're not blaming Aqua Girls entirely. We're just saying..."^[3] Despite the criticism, "Barbie Girl" has sold more than 8 million copies worldwide.