Il 15 novembre è scaduto il bando ufficiale per le varie tv associate alla EBU e dunque il parterre dei paesi che parteciperanno al prossimo Eurofestival, in programma l’ultima settimana di Maggio ad Oslo va definendosi. Resta ancora un mese circa, per le ultime rifiniture. Vale a dire: un paese iscritto può ancora ritirarsi entro il 31 dicembre senza subire sanzioni. E alcuni paesi che devono ancora dare la conferma potranno farlo.

Nel primo caso, il riferimento è ad Andorra. La tv del principato ha comunicato infatti che “c’è grossa crisi” e che parteciperà solo se in questo mese e mezzo troverà uno sponsor. Il secondo caso riguarda la Russia, che non ha dato notizia di rinuncia ma della quale si attende ancora il si ufficiale e San Marino, che a fine anno potrebbe annunciare il ritorno in gara. Restano in dubbio Armenia e Lituania per motivi economici.

SPAGNA E LETTONIA OK – Con il si di Spagna e Lettonia, sono 37 i paesi che hanno confermato la partecipazione. In precedenza si era accodata la Francia. Non ci sarà invece il Montenegro, che in tre partecipazioni è sempre uscita in semifinale (ma è stato anche parecchio sfortunato, visto che per due volte di fila ha cantato per primo). Salta il debutto del Liechtenstein, che esordirà l’anno prossimo. Come è noto, si fermano per un anno anche  Ungheria e Repubblica Ceca.

TOM DICE PER IL BELGIO – Dopo Miroslav Kostadinov detto Miro, che rappresenterà la Bulgaria, la tv di lingua fiamminga del Belgio ha annunciato il suo artista: finalmente UN CANTANTE. Niente saltimbanchi, niente gruppi che cantano in  lingue inesistenti, niente cloni di Elvis. Toccherà a Tom Dice, 20 anni, secondo classificato alla edizione belga di X Factor nel 2008. Evviva.

GARY BARLOW  & DUNCAN JAMES PER GLI INGLESI? – La tv inglese, quinta l’anno scorso grazie alla canzone del Barone Lloyd Webber, cerca il bis col nome grosso. Era stato contattato Elton John, ma ultimamente le attenzioni si sono spostate su altri due grossi big. A scrivere il pezzo potrebbe infatti essere niente meno che Gary Barlow dei Take That.

E se l’artista come pare dovesse essere scelto non con un concorso ma con una selezione interna, la BBC andrà senz’altro su un nome di richiamo internazionale. Rumors portano verso Duncan James, il cantante dei Blue. Con il Regno Unito che a quel punto diventerebbe il favorito numero uno per la vittoria.

PARTECIPAZIONI CONFERMATE – Paesi ammessi di diritto alla finale (le “big 4″ e il paese ospitante): Germania, Francia, Gran Bretagna, Spagna, Norvegia. Paesi che dovranno passare per le semifinali: Albania, Andorra, Azerbaigian, Belgio, Bielorussia, Bosnia Erzegovina, Bulgaria, Croazia, Cipro, Danimarca, Estonia, Finlandia, Georgia, Grecia, Irlanda, Islanda, Israele, Lettonia, Macedonia, Malta, Moldavia, Olanda, Polonia, Portogallo, Romania, Serbia, Slovacchia, Slovenia, Svizzera, Turchia, Ucraina.

Speech Debelle

This is actually cringe worthy. Maybe because her album isnt that bad and i used to intern at her label. I feel really bad for her, i heard shes now dropped from her label and career is on the ‘down-slope’

This is footage of Speech Debelle (Mercury Music Prize Winner) in Notting Hill on Wednesday ‘helping’ to promote the new Take That game

Ive never heard anyone get boo’ed sooo hard im my 22 years of life!!

haha watch the bit when the host says ‘anyone can rap’ and starts in on his own ‘ish and makes her sound like a drunk old fougy attemping karoke

Since winning the Mercury Music prize Speech Debelle has been in the news for one drama after the next!

This week she has been under fire for her humiliating attempt to rap over a Take That song, at a Take That event, in front of Take That fans!

Checkout Madnews for all the details.

Now Speech has decided to come out with her side of the story…

Former Atomic Kitten member found a way to attract the eyes of all those present at Take That’s video game launching party.

How did she do it? Easy. The star’s white panties could be seen quite clearly through her see-thru pants. A very courageous choice. However, with or without underwear in sight, Jenny had a great time. Especially as she had to be carried home after losing the ability to walk…

We have known all week that it is going to be Take That & Elton John songs this weekend. But I have finally found some song rumours online to share with you guys!

Stacey – Something About The Way You Look Tonight & Rule The World

Joe - Sorry Seems To Be The Hardest Word & Could It Be Magic

Lloyd – I’m Still Standing & Million Love Songs

Danyl – Your Song  & Relight My Fire

Olly – Saturday Nights Alright For Fighting & Love Ain’t Here Anymore

What do you think crew? Are they what you expected?

Frankly, I can’t wait for a big Saturday night in, curled up on the sofa, watching them all!

And, as a special treat, watch this clip of Take That (mark 1) live in Manchester. Those puffy shirts are hilarious and brilliant.

I previously reported that rapper Speech Debelle suffered humiliation after attempting to rap through Take That’s 1993 track Pray.

Now check out the video footage…

[Thanks Alison]

CLICK HERE TO WATCH.

That was embarrassing to watch! Terrible…. just terrible……….. Especially after the performance. ‘I don’t do that Take S**t’.

I have a sneaking suspicion that Speech and her hype woman were both drunk. So unprofessional. She has a lot to learn.

I’ve been informed that Speech is desperate to tell her side of the story and will post a video soon.

Don’t bother luv!

UPDATE: Check out Speech’s explanation below…. 

[Thanks Shach]

She has got A LOT to learn…

Quick intro: So we’ve done 100 years of fashion at uni, and now on Monday 3oth November 2009 we have to dress up. We’ve all been given a decade- and as you may have guessed from the title- I’ve been given the 90s. (For the record I’m going grunge) Was hoping of the 70s but oh well, here goes; I hope I do it justice.

 First let’s get the ego part out my system; the best thing about the 90s was me being born in the middle of 1990. I know being a 90s child I should like it, but I don’t. I look back on photos and wonder what on earth I was thinking.

The best fashion moments from this decade are hard to pick and I only have to choose three. It was all about minimising and looking back. There where so many different trends, it really was the start of being an individual. I managed to pick three though and those are: Grunge, Brit Pop and Punk. It’s my blog therefore I can choose what to write on, you may think about hip-hop, the start of sports wear as fashion and all those other things, but I don’t. I shudder at the memory of jelly shoes and a union jack dress and I still feel track suits should be for the gym and that showing off your stomach for your holidays.

Grunge was really a less political version of punk. Charity shop buys was the way forward. Like punk it was a lifestyle not just a fashion and I think that is what draws me to all three. You’re not just making fashion choices, your making a lifestyle statement. The effortless, comfortable feel makes this one of the best things about the 90s. Mixing a floral dress with a men’s baggy checked flannel shirt, add Converse on the bottom and you where dressed. Music came along and joined with bands like Nirvana and Pearl Jam. Who needed the hype of the Take That and dare I say it, the Spice Girls?

Brit-pop or a cheaper Mod you make the decision. Like grunge this had a music scene. Bands like Oasis, Blur and Pulp bought Brit-pop to the mainstream. If you look at photos of Mod’s then look at a photo of Brit-pop don’t you see something similar? Smart straight leg jeans, short jackets, baby t’s and a pair of Chelsea boots. Seriously if you add the scooter and a parker you’d get a Mod. Looking back and changing it to fit the current time really get’s proven here.

Skip to the late 90s and we start to see punk emerging. Admittedly not 70s punk, there was nothing political about it. It was just youths dying and spiking their hair, adorning themselves with body piercings, band t-shirts and black jeans. Both sexes would wear black make-up, bringing back the ‘goth’ look.  Compare this to today’s fashion and I think we call it emo.

(I’d add pictures but I don’t know how, I’m not that good yet lol)

Personalisation on a website is a lot more than  just colours and fonts. It can be a lot more detailed. The best way to explain website personalisation is by using Amazon as a quick example. When a user views or purchases an item on Amazon, the website keeps that data and will look their database for similar items which it will recommend to you. For example, if a customer was to purchase a cooking book by Jamie Oliver, Amazon may recommend other books by Jamie Oliver, or even by other famous chefs such as Gordon Ramsey. It will also look in its database for what other users bought when they bought that item. This can be both an advantage and a disadvantage. For example, a customer may purchase numerous cooking books by different chefs, in which case is an advantage. However, if a customer is doing their Christmas shopping on Amazon, they may just purchase 1 cooking book, with a toy, video game and a CD. This is a disadvantage because they bear no resemblance to cooking books.

I typed in Jamie Oliver to Amazon, and I clicked on his ‘Ministry of Food: Anyone Can Learn to Cook in 24 Hours‘ book, and I noticed on page 4 of the ‘Customer Who Bought This Item Also Bought’ section, that there were numerous books and even a CD which had no relation to Jamie Oliver or cooking, such as Jeremy Clarkson and Take That’s Circus album. Other strange results included Michael Parkinson, The Big Book of Top Gear, Alan Carr, Barack Obama and Gok Wan.

Another type of data like this is the ‘Frequently Bought Together’ section. This selects the item you selected, plus 2 other items which are frequently bought with it, and it shows you the amount of discount in total you are getting if any of the items are on sale or discounted.

Sources:

• Amazon – www.amazon.co.uk

Today, I learned that when I am bored and depressed at work, to motivate myself I will pretend that my duster with the extendable handle is a lightsaber. It works.

On another note, WORST DAY EVER. I am so glad it’s over. I don’t think dinner is getting made tonight, and I am okay with that, because I have a date with the carton of Smarties icecream in the freezer. Yuuuuuuuuum. So worth a dollar.

Playing FF12 again tonight, most likely, I will be having another go at that bloody Stilshrine of Miriam. Who is Miriam? I want to know where she got her security system, because it freaking WORKS. I’ve been stuck there for almost 3 weeks now, with no end in sight. On the other hand, I would really really like to meet this woman so I can give her a tough lesson in how one treats their guests, because apparently she never learned things like not throwing invincible zombies at them for pushing a button wrong.

~Alennia

If you keep going round and round, and round, and round like that, you’re going to get stupid.

Take That are really immune to much of the standard criticism of creative musicians. It’s hard to get angry at them when they appear in Marks and Spencer adverts or lend their own brand of neo-Beatlesian pop music to whatever consumer products they don’t buy.

When Iggy Pop does it, it’s nothing short of a scandal. But try telling Mark Owen he’s a sell-out soulless shell of a musician, you can’t do it can you? It’s like telling a small child there’s no Santa Clause.

It doesn’t even bother me that if their music was electricity it couldn’t reheat soup. They just seem like such nice guys and who can grudge them coming back for a second bite of the pie that is fame and fortune?

What I do find annoying though, is the unwritten rule that anywhere on television, when something inspiring/motivational/life-affirming/celebratory happens, they play that fucking Greatest Day song.

This isn’t strictly Take That’s fault but my fucking god does it smack of a lack of imagination.

At least it’s relegated U2’s ‘Beautiful Day‘ to the realms of obscurity save for those occasions that are too impersonal for something like ‘Greatest Day’

But it’s so horribly expositional, like having an extremely loud person in the room shouting ‘HEY! THIS IS GREAT? ISN’T IT?’

They didn’t do this with ‘Stayin’ Alive‘, every time someone doesn’t die on television, you don’t hear the bass kick in. In future, pray for some restraint or pray for something different!

Via BBC News

Mercury winner Speech Debelle was booed by Take That fans as she tried to rap one of their songs at a London event in honour of the group.

The rapper was one of a host of stars performing at the launch of the SingStar Take That video game.

Debelle chose to rap her way through the 1993 hit single Pray, leading to boos from some of the 500-strong crowd.

She was also criticised by host James Corden, who said “anyone can rap”, before launching into a rap of his own. Continue Reading….

Oh dear…when attempting to do something different goes terribly wrong.

Why would she even attempt to rap her way through Pray? The thought of her up there rapping  the line ‘All I do each night is pray’  just makes me cringe!

Earlier this week Speech announced that she was leaving her label Big Dada because of disappointing album sales.

On Thursday night, a Children in Need show at The Albert Hall saw performers such as Robbie Williams, Take That, Shirley Bassey, Dizzee Rascal, Sir Paul McCartney and so many more all take to the stage.

Friday hosted our annual Children in Need show and the stars turned out in force to back the charity. Terry Wogan and Tess Daly presented as Alesha Dixon kicked things off with a performance of her single ‘The boy does nothing’, accompanied by dancers from ‘Strictly Come Dancing’. From then on in we saw a series of sketches and routines that we are only ever likely to see when it’s raising money for charity.

Fiona Bruce and a team of newsreaders ditched their usually smart attire for something a little bit easier to dance in…and teamed up with street dance act Diversity to show us what they’re made of.

Throughout the night we saw the cast of ‘Eastenders’ singing and dancing away in a one-off special and performances from Pixie Lott, Paloma Faith, JLS and Westlife.

The show also saw the first airing of the Children in Need charity single featuring classic children’s characters such as ‘Postman Pat’ and ‘Bagpuss’ singing a medley of popular songs and has been put together by Peter Kay. The Official Children In Need Medley by Peter Kay’s Animated All Star Band  is now available to buy in shops or to download online.

 To donate to Children in Need click :

http://www.bbc.co.uk/pudsey/donate

Most things in psychology seem to boil down to childhood, so I think my family would be a good starting point in condensing my whole personality into one blog post. I have two older brothers and no sisters so I always had a big male influence in my life. My family is close and so I have always looked up to my brothers and tried to impress them. This is probably the reason for my boyish interests and tastes. I spent my childhood watching X-men, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, WWF and Star Wars, and these tastes have carried on throughout life. But that didn’t stop me enjoying the girly side of childhood too. Put a young boy or a young girl in a room full of toys and the majority of them will go towards the ones typical of their gender. There is a reason for those stereotypes. Put me in a toy shop and I went straight for the dolls, but that didn’t stop me playing with my brothers Lego and Action Figures as well.  We have pictures of me wearing a frilly pink dress and fairy wings whilst wrestling with my brothers. Doesn’t everyone?

My brothers used to tease me about my girly interest (I think they wanted another brother – they even tried to name me Max). There’s one birthday list I remember which contained the likes of Bring It On, Crossroads, Save The Last Dance and Charlie’s Angels on DVD that received a lot of teasing, but rightly so. And their teasing even resulted in me hiding my love of Take That from them in primary school, although I’ve later discovered that they were hiding their love of them too – hence the teasing. But that was surprisingly rare and I feel very lucky to have them as brothers. I have some very fond memories of them taking me to see Spice World The Movie one summer and helping me put on shows to our parents when I’d spent the day making up a dance. They never discouraged me from acting like a girl, they just wanted their sister to be cool.

So I always had people around who were willing to attempt to teach me how to do kick ups (not that I ever succeeded with more than 3) but no one to teach me how to apply make-up and give me advice on boys. My mum was never really interested in make-up and, to my knowledge, she was more interested in reading and ballet then she was in boys and partying when she was younger. I think that this male influence is not only the reason for me getting on better with guys but has also resulted in my yearning to stay feminine.   I spent my younger years looking longingly at the pretty, blonde girls that all the boys fancied, who knew how to wear make-up and knew how to flirt. I wanted to be like that but my attempts at make-up left me looking more like a clown and the boys always fancied my friends over me. Apparently being able to punch as hard as them wasn’t as high up in their girlfriend priorities as you’d have thought. Still isn’t actually.

I’ll leave it there for now. Next Why am I a guy’s girl? post….my schooldays. Sounds rivoting I know.

When the inevitable happens and I finally take control of this planet we like to call Earth (do we actually like to? Strange saying..) these are the things I’m going to do to make the world a better place:

• Consider a new name for Earth that we DO like to call it
• Ban beards. Just why? They’re ewwy!
• I’d meet Taylor Lautner. I’d only have to meet him once for him to fall in love with me, haha (I wish)
• Every book I love will be made into a TV show/Film
• Being Scottish will be illegal
• Flying will be free (for people I like)
• Everyone will say hello and goodbye with a hug
• Anyone I don’t like get’s sent to Fiji
• I’ll build a bridge between the UK and USA with one giant flat (and uber fast) esculator thing along it so you just have to stand there
• Scales will be illegal – who cares how much you weigh?
• OAPs and children will not be allowed to go to town when I am
• My favourite TV shows will run continuously (every week) without hiatus or season breaks until I say so
• All dance/trance/house/rnb will be banned
• Chivalry will be law, but there will be clear guidelines on the difference between chivalry and sexism
• All bombs/guns/explosives will be destroyed and anyone wanting to fight must do so (with my permission) using swords and bow and arrows
• Karma will be MADE to happen
• No one is allowed to say they don’t like something unless they have tried it. Properly.
• Arguing with me would result in death
• All idiots will be prosecuted
• I would have one of every item of clothing/shoes in Topshop, Bershka, H&M, Dorothy Perkins, Miss Selfridge, Republic, River Island etc and someone to help me pick what to wear each day
• Anyone who annoys me while I’m driving will have their licence removed. For life.
• All hot lads must play either guitar/bass/drums and know how to ride a motorbike
• All cities will be removed from Africa, people from there will be given the option of a house in a different country or staying there and living in a tribal hut
• People who are bosses/supervisors/managers will be taught that they are only ‘higher’ during working hours and must consider than the rest of the time they’re no better than ‘their staff’ and should therefore treat everyone with respect within working hours too. Or it may come back to bite them in the arse.
• The whole ’sleep at night’ convention will be removed and the world will be constantly in motion with people sleeping whenever they want instead
• Friday and Monday will become parts of the weekend
• Everyone must read my blog. Or be punished.

That’s all I can think of for now. My world sounds pretty darn nifty, doesn’t it? Have a song that matches. Take That – Rule The World ♫ http://blip.fm/~gvp9n Enjoy!

Even if you weren’t a teenage girl in the early nineties, with Take That posters on your walls, you now like Take That; if you say you don’t, you’re lying. But it’s okay, there’s no shame in liking Take That, a band whose career has covered two decades, spawned some pretty successful careers (and then there’s Robbie Williams too) and feature a man often regarded as one of the best songwriters of today. With the release of SingStar Take That on the PS2 and PS3, there’s a tough decision ahead of you: do you admit to knowing all the words and being able to sing the songs pitch-perfect, or do you embarrass yourself in front of all your friends when they realise you can’t?

The latest entry in the SingStar franchise, this Take That game features 25 tracks from the band’s career, going from their debut “Do What U Like” right up to songs from their latest album The Circus. The goal is simple: sing along to your favourite Take That song and hope that you hit the notes better than your friends, a goal which isn’t always the easiest to reach when struggling to hit the high notes of Patience or Back For Good (c’mon, everyone knows the words to Back For Good, right?)

The benefit of a Take That version of SingStar is that, like the band and their music, you don’t have to be a teenage girl to enjoy, although it does help: many of those teenage girls from the 1990s have grown up and I can think of several mothers who’ll be thrilled to open their presents on Christmas Day to find this waiting for them. Mind you, there are also a few dads who really wish they were Robbie Williams and will be having a go after a few too many slices of brandy-soaked pudding.

The thing with singing games is, you either like them, you don’t, or you secretly like them but are far too ashamed to play them with other people around. With the likes of Rock Band and Band Hero around to exorcise that shame, that leaves us with those who like these games and don’t. And if you don’t like SingStar games, and you don’t like Take That…well, there’s just no hope for you any more, and you can drop all games consoles and music systems off at BurnAllZombies’ HQ for immediate confiscation.

Zombie Rating: B+

SingStar Take That is available now on PS2 and PS3.

1. A Million Love Songs
2. Babe
3. Back For Good
4. Beautiful World
5. Could It Be Magic
6. Do What U Like
7. Everything Changes
8. Greatest Day
9. Hold Up A Light
10. I’d Wait For Life
11. It Only Takes A Minute
12. Love Ain’t Here Anymore
13. Never Forget
14. Once You’ve Tasted Love
15. Patience
16. Pray
17. Promises
18. Reach Out
19. Relight My Fire
20. Rule The World
21. Said It All
22. Shine
23. Sure
24. Up All Night
25. Why Can’t I Wake Up With You

First up here’s the alternate video to Wiley’s – Take That. Haye and Naseem dropping bombs!

Wait there’s more. Here’s the remix to the track feat JME, Lethal Bizzle and Scratchy, introduced by MistaJam. Who got the best verse?

So i heard this song a few month’s ago, and ive been addicted to this messy track ever since. What amazes me about Wiley is how he’s never… well… really ever took off. We had “Wearing my Rolex” and then nobody wanted to hear from him, then came “cash in my pocket” that was a massive tune. in-between we had “summertime” in which was an amazing song and the album was bloody excellent (much better than dizzee’s tongue in cheek). Well he’s teamed up with Chew Fu to make this crazy club hit, but as for it taking off like “wearing my Rolex” dont bank on it!.

Wiley Ft. Chew Fu — Score 8/10

The Remix featuring JME, Scratchy and Bizzle…..

Wiley ft Chew Fu ‘Take That’. A true monster i first heard a couple of months ago and am still not tired of! Wiley started the scene and evolves it (again)! Apparently with the signing of his Island Records deal he is now on it and putting the work in…..the new Wiley?

Dis choons goin Number 1! and da dancer with the frizzy hair done ALOT!!

Albumul de debut al cantaretei Susan Boyle, senzatia de anul acesta de la concursul Britain’s Got Talent, al carei destin semana cu al tenorului Costel Busuioc(castigator al concursului spaniol “Hijos de Babel”, de la canalul TVE),a reusit sa inregistreze cel mai mare numar de comenzi la nivel global pe Amazon, inainte de lansarea sa oficiala, potrivit Reuters.com.

Albumul “I dreamed a dream” va fi lansat pe 24 noiembrie de Sony Music si este debutul lui Boyle, in varsta de 48 de ani, care a luat cu asalt Internetul si a uimit o lume intreaga cu intrepretarea sa de la celebrul concurs “Britain’s Got Talent” in aprilie.

Boyle este dintr-un orasel din Scotia, nu are un loc de munca si este voluntar la biserica.

“Albumul lui Susan in mod clar captureaza inimile clientilor nostri de pe intreg globul,” a spus Craig Pape, senior manager la Amazon.com.

Compania nu a dorit sa dea cifrele ale pre-comenzilor, dar a spus ca albumul a depasit recordul care era detinut in 2008 de japonezii Mr. Children cu albumul “Supermarket Fantasy”, pe Norah Jones cu “Not Too Late” si Take That “Never Forget: The Ultimate Collection”.

Boyle a pierdut finala concursului in fata unei trupe de dans, apoi a fost internata la o clinica din cauza epuizarii.

Cu toate acestea a semnat un contract pentru album prin Simon Cowell, membru al juriului atat la Britain’s Got Talen si American Idol si a interpretat piesa “Wild Horses” de la Rolling Stones in septembrie la America’s Got Talent.

***IATA, CE  SCRIAM IN APRILIE 2009, CAND SUSAN BOYLE A DEVENIT SENZATIA CONCURSULUI BRITAIN*S GOT TALENT:
http://mihaimarin.wordpress.com/2009/04/27/britain%c2%b7s-got-talent/

MARIN MIHAI-HAI, ROMANIA!-BLOGUL ROMANILOR DE PRETUTINDENI(http://mihaimarin.wordpress.com)