“Thank U, Next”, by Ariana Grande, was released on Nov. 3 without prior announcement. Since the surprise release, Grande had been posting teasers of the music video for the song on social media. Fans had high expectations for the music video after the fact that the song hit number one on Billboard Top 100.

On Nov. 30 the music video was finally released. The music video was inspired by certain fan-favorite films, including “Mean Girls”, “Legally Blonde”, “13 going on 30” and “Bring It On”. There were also several celebrity appearances by Colleen Ballinger, Kris Jenner, Troye Sivan, and Gabi DeMartino. It also featured a few appearances by original “Mean Girls” cast members, including Stefanie Drummond and Jonathan Bennett.

The “Thank U, Next” music video surpassed 50 million views on Youtube in just 23 hours. It is the biggest video debut in Youtube history. Grande is also the first and only artist in history to have the fastest song to reach 100 million stream and views for “Thank U, Next”.

“I think that the fact that the music video is that successful is well deserved because Ariana Grande put a lot of work into it and it’s very unique from any other music video.” freshman Helin Yousif said.

There were many recreations of the movies in the music video. There’s the teeth-brushing scene, lifted from the movie “Bring It On”, performed by Kirsten Dunst and Jesse Bradford and reenacted by Ariana Grande and Matt Bennett. The cheer choreography was also from a scene in “Bring It On”. There was also the “Jingle Bell Rock” dance sequence, lifted from “Mean Girls”, with Kris Jenner holding the camcorder in a pink tracksuit inspired by Amy Poehler’s character.

“This music video exceeded my expectations.” sophomore Kalkedan Gashaw said, “I loved how she combined all four of my favorite movies, “Legally Blonde”, “Bring It On”, “13 Going On 30” and “Mean Girls”. Also there was a mini Victorious reunion with Elizabeth Gillies, Matt Bennett, and Daniella Monet, and I loved that.”

Grande dedicated the song to her journey of finding self love instead of bad-mouthing her ex’s. In the song she says “Plus, I met someone else… her name is Ari, and I’m so good with that.”

“The music video was so entertaining and unique.” junior Emily Callao said. “I loved all the different celebrity cameo appearances in various roles from the rom coms. I also think it was very mature of her to not diss her ex’s and instead appreciate them.”

Everyone in the music video were wearing outfits similar to those in “Mean Girls”, but Grande made one significant change: Regina George, the character in “Mean Girls”, was wearing a tank top that originally read “A little bit DRAMATIC”, but Grande changed “DRAMATIC” to “NEEDY”. There is speculation that “Needy” will possibly be her next single.

“Ariana Grande is so creative by putting little snippets of clues about her next single,” senior Jasper Etienne said, “She’s just creative in general. I loved how she used her own style to make such a unique music video.”