Are you bummed about the Tokyo Olympics getting postponed until 2021? Well, Sam Smith and Demi Lovato’s new music video for their single, “I’m Ready,†which dropped on Thursday, might fill the Olympic-size hole in your heart. The video follows Smith and Lovato as they engage in various Olympic sporting endeavors — Smith wins a wrestling match while Lovato belts on a diving board — and ends with both of them on the podium.
While the music video is undeniable sporty, the inspiration for the music video came from musical theater. “I’m nervous about the song because the song, for me, is a song that’s reaching,†said Smith in an FaceTime interview with Zane Lowe on New Music Daily on Apple Music. “And, when it’s like you’re reaching for the stars in the melody, you’re reaching for the stars in all of it, it almost sounds a bit of musical theater at times. Like it feels cheesy at times. And I’m trying to own that because that is a genuine feeling that comes out sometimes in the studio. And it’s fun. It’s really fun to go to that place.†Smith goes on to say that they think duet partner Demi Lovato is a “queer icon†and that the video is basically one big queer Olympics. “When you see the video, you’re going to scream,†Smith tells Lowe. “I’m dancing and I’m in wrestling gear. It’s basically, it’s the queer Olympics. I’m doing a hundred-meter relay race in heels in a dress.†Spoiler alert: Smith wins that 100-meter dash, but to be fair, they weren’t racing against Britney Spears. Check out Smith and Lovato’s “I’m Ready†and see if it also makes you scream.