Christina Perri Debuts Mournful "Jar of Hearts"

Fox's "So You Think You Can Dance" is renowned for featuring some of the coolest music on reality TV, helping popularize artists like OneRepublic, Adele, Sam Sparro, Roisin Murphy, Goldfrapp, and even Lady Gaga. And the latest "SYTYCD" success story is songstress Christina Perri, whose breakup ballad "Jar Of Hearts" catapulted into the Billboard charts after it was stunningly featured on the show. "For like 17 days, I keep pinching myself. I don't want to sleep because I'm afraid I'm going to wake up or something. But it is real, and 'So You Think You Can Dance' has just changed my whole life," Perri said.
At just 24, Perri has already lived a handful of lives. She's toured the world as an assistant to a rock band, spent a year at a prestigious university, became a wife and then an ex-wife, produced popular music videos, made olive oil in Italy and even served as a fashionista barrista in Beverly Hills. The whole while, music had been tapping her on the shoulder, trying to lead her down a path as a musician. It seems that fate grew tired of this shoulder-tapping approach as well and went for an old fashioned sucker punch.
"Jar of Hearts" is a raw, defiant break-up song that Perri had written and aired on "SYTYCD" as a backdrop to a memorable piece choreographed by Stacey Tookey. The song is a ballad about a person who hurt Perri. In the chorus, Perri repeats: "Who do you think you are? Running'round, leaving scars, collecting your jar of hearts." Perri feels that "Jar of Hearts" has connected because," on a basic level, everyone has had this experience with a person who broke their heart. I'm just telling my story in a very real and direct way. This kind of slapped the crap out of everyone's hearts," she says with a laugh. She also stated in her blog: "I am so touched + speechless over your overwhelming response to jar of hearts. I wrote the song after I went home to Philadelphia for the holiday last December. I sat in my childhood bedroom and hid from the boy (with the jar of hearts) who wanted to see me. My heart wanted to see him, my head knew better."
Following Perri's stripped-down piano performance, "Jar of Hearts" continued its meteoric rise, and suddenly a hot property, Perri signed a record deal with Atlantic Records for her debut album, with an eye toward a late fall release. The songs Perri is recording for her debut album are all about love. She excels at setting dark, tumultuous emotions to stunning, pretty melodies. Perri says, "writing about love and heartbreak is just who I am. I've tried so hard to write about other things, but ultimately this is what comes out of me. I have zero capability to do anything that is inauthentic to who I am." Enjoy her music video for "Jar of Hearts", featuring Allison Holker and Kathryn McCormick.