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Production and release
"XO" was co-written by Beyoncé Knowles herself, Terius "The-Dream" Nash and Ryan Tedder. Production of the song was helmed by Tedder, Nash and Knowles as well as Chauncey Hollis under his production name Hit-Boy and HazeBanga. Ramon Rivas engineered the song, with assistance from Justin Hergett. Knowles' vocals were recorded by Stuart White and Bart Schoudel whilst all instrumentation and programming was carried out by Tedder. The song was finally mixed by Andrew Scheps. "XO" was recorded in four studios: Jungle City Studios and Oven Studios, both in New York City, as well as Trackdown Studios in Sydney and Tritonus Studios in Berlin.

"XO" was included on Knowles' eponymous fifth studio visual album Beyoncé which was released on iTunes Store with no promotion having taken place beforehand. In October 2013, it was reported by a source to the Daily News that Knowles planned to release a new single and video on December 3, 2013. The publication further speculated that the single was expected to be the song whose music video was filmed in August of the same year, "XO". Another source stated that the single would be released on Jay-Z's 44th birthday: December 4, 2013.

Later, when the album was released, Billboard reported that "Blow" would be released as the contemporary hit radio single both in the US and worldwide, and "Drunk in Love" was reported to be sent to urban radio in the US only; "XO" was reportedly scheduled to be released as the second worldwide contemporary hit radio single in 2014. However, the release of "Blow" was scrapped and "XO" impacted contemporary hit radio in Italy and adult contemporary radio in the US on December 16, 2013. It was also sent to US Mainstream, urban and rhythmic radio on December 17.

Background and filming
On August 29, 2013, Knowles was spotted on Coney Island's Cyclone roller coaster filming a music video directed by Terry Richardson. She was wearing a white tank top, jeans and a baseball cap with a picture of the face of Notorious B.I.G. It was later confirmed by several publications that Knowles was filming a video for a then-upcoming song titled "XO" from her upcoming fifth album. The Daily Telegraph further reported that fashion models Jourdan Dunn, Jessica White and Diandra Forrest also appeared for the filming of the video. The video also shows scenes recorded during her concert at Brazilian festival Rock in Rio at Rio de Janeiro. The music video for "XO" was first released on the visual album Beyoncé on December 13, 2013, which contained a previously filmed music video for every song. The video was later released to Vevo on December 16, 2013. During a behind-the-scenes video about the filming of the music videos of several songs on Beyoncé, director Terry Richardson described the process for the filming of the clip for "XO", "You know, it's amazing cause in one point we were like in the arcade and I said to Beyoncé let's just do this. You wanna open the door and you're gonna perform and we're just gonna walk out and see what happens and she was like 'Yeah, let's go for it'. And literally we came out the door and it was like just hundreds of people sort of coming around us. People everywhere, cameras, people yelling her name. It was incredible, I have never experienced anything like that. It was really reportage, loose, not planned, we went with feeling, we went with instinct... It's a beautiful cycle of energy."

Synopsis
The video opens with scenes of Knowles standing in front of a wall made of flashing multi-coloured light bulbs. Her look is complete with denim pants and a white tank top. Several scenes of people riding bumper cars follow as Knowles also goes riding one. She then continues playing carnival games and rides the Cyclone roller coaster with her stylist Ty Hunter while wearing a cap emblazoned with Notorious B.I.G.'s face. Several scenes show Knowles walking along the boardwalk, while the paparazzi film her; during one scene a TMZ cameraman makes a cameo appearance. Several other scenes show the singer dancing with her fans and street performers while sporting a light bow on her head. Knowles also dances a choreographed dance with several girls on a skee-ball game; the choreography includes making heart and X shapes with her hands to accompany the chorus of the song "you love me like XO". Scenes of love couples and instances of various iconic establishments are also featured throughout. Footage of Knowles leading a crowd for the choreography of the song is also featured as well as Knowles appearing with a bat made of money. Models Jourdan Dunn and Jessica White also make cameo appearances.

Reception
Upon its release, the video received positive reviews from critics. A writer of Rap-Up magazine praised Knowles for "spread[ing] the love" with the "feel-good clip". Mike Wass of the website Idolator praised the video saying that, "Happily [it] is as gorgeous as the song with Terry Richardson simply filming Bey living it up at Coney Island. It’s almost too perfect." In another review, he also called it "carefree, neon-drenched" and one of the best clips on the whole album adding that it looked more like a home movie than a music video which was "part of its immense appeal". Chris Martins from Spin magazine wrote that the video is "all pretty huge and heartwarming". Kory Grow from Rolling Stone noted that the clip was a "fun video for a likewise song" further saying that its choreography made with hand signs of the letters "X" and "O" may result as Knowles' version of a similar dance from "Y.M.C.A.". Hardeep Phull from the New York Post also commented that the video "captures the spirit of the song in a way that’s sweet if not exactly original". Malene Arpe from Toronto Star described the video as a "happy-party-at-the-fair romp". Jordan Sargent of Complex magazine wrote in his review of the video that it recalls "the joyous adrenaline rush of falling in love" and added that it is "appropriate" and different from the rest of the videos on the album. He also noted that its director showed the themes of "budding romance" while shooting the scenes in pink and blue. Tyler Hanan from the website Under the Gun Review wrote that the video has "all lights on blast and all ages included" and added that it was complete with "smiles, joy, and good-natured silliness".

Writing for the Daily Mail, Shyam Dodge praised Knowles' "lean and toned" figure complete with her outfit as well as the "visually stunning" and "atmospheric" nature of the island boardwalk where the video was filmed. Similarly, Rachel Brodsky of MTV described the video as a DIY one and praised Knowles' look and the dance choreography. Melinda Newman from the website HitFix described Knowles' look in the video as "sultry, slightly euphoric" and noted that the main theme of the video was comparing love to a carnival. She concluded that the video for "XO" is "an interesting clip, almost as if we're seeing her in some state of heightened reality enhanced by some mood-altering substance-- or maybe that’s just what love does to Beyonce." Joe Lynch from Fuse commented that the shots of Knowles' smiles, children dancing and roller coaster throughout the video made it "the most joyous music video of 2013". The same writer in another review said that the video shows Knowles "at her most flippant, casual best". However, Whitney Phaneuf of the website HitFix compared the video to Mariah Carey's "Fantasy" (1995) saying that the latter's music video made "the roller coaster look better".

Live performances
Knowles performed "XO" live for the first time on December 13, 2013, during a concert in Chicago as part of her The Mrs. Carter Show World Tour. Prior to the performance she revealed that the song was written for her fans and added, "This is the first time, something I'll never forget". She then performed the song as a call and response with the crowd. Molly Wardlaw of Fuse described the performance as "glorious" and a "heavenly thing to behold". Later, Knowles also performed the song during the remaining stops of the North American leg of the tour as a part of the encore. While reviewing Knowles' performance in Washington on December 19, 2013, Lavanya Ramanthatan of The Washington Post noted that "XO" was one of the "most thrilling songs" of the concert. Stacey Anderson from Rolling Stone wrote that the song "was delivered with visible emotion, and seemingly with a spontaneity absent from the rest of the precise operation".