ABC/Randy HolmesThe recently chosen winning videos of Elton John‘s global competition The Cut, which invited people to create official clips for three of the pop-rock legend’s classic hits — “Tiny Dancer,” “Rocket Man” and “Bennie and the Jets” — premiered Monday during a special screening at the Cannes Film Festival. The music videos also have been posted on Elton’s official VEVO YouTube channel.
The YouTube-supported contest — launched in December in honor of the 50th anniversary of John and lyricist Bernie Taupin‘s partnership — asked fans to create videos using three distinct styles: animation for “Rocket Man,” live-action for “Tiny Dancer” and choreography for “Bennie and the Jets.”
The “Rocket Man” video, which was created by an Iranian filmmaker and refugee named Majid Adin, is an animated tale where the main character is a refugee who takes a metaphorical journey to another planet, where he feels isolated and longs to see his family again.
“Tiny Dancer,” by filmmaker Max Weiland, shows a variety of colorful characters driving in their vehicles around Los Angeles as they listen to or sing along with Elton’s 1971 tune. Marilyn Manson has a cameo in the clip.
The winning video for “Bennie and the Jets,” by Jack Whiteley and Laura Brownhill, tells how the fictional space-age band in the song was formed via a “futuristic talent show” featuring flamboyantly dressed dancers.
“I’ve been moved and amazed by these re-imaginings of our songs and pretty humbled by the process overall,” Elton says in a statement. “The future of creativity is clearly collaborative, fusing art and technology and it’s been fantastic to open up our work to the next generation of creative talent and to share that process with the world on YouTube.”
The creator of each winning video received $10,000 to support their future projects.
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