Esta canção tem um motivo a mais para estar aqui: é pop de um berço alternativo. Mas bota alternativo nisso! A banda R.E.M.! A banda de rock norte-americana sempre foi conhecida por seus hits alternativos como “Orange Crush“, “It’s the End of The World As We Know It (And I Feel Fine)“, “The One I Love“, dentre outros. Mas com “Losing My Religion“, ele acabaram dando uma escapada por fora de sua bolha alternativa, angariando fãs à nível pop. Alcançou #4US e “Out of Time” vendeu 10 milhões de cópias. Eles fizeram algo parecido com “Shiny Happy People” (que poderia ser colocado aqui como “Desastres do Pop”, mas não é ruim o bastante). Enfim…

|Canção vencedora de dois Grammys de Melhor Performance Vocal Pop de Duo ou Grupo e Melhor Vídeo-Clipe|

———————————————–

Sobre a banda: O R.E.M. (Rapid Eye Movement) foi formado em 1980 pelo membros Michael Stipe (vocais, violão, teclado, harmonica), Peter Buck (violão, guitarra, mandolin, baixo, teclado), Mike Mills (voicais, baixo, teclado) e Bill Berry (vocais, bateria). Sempre tiveram influências dos anos 60 em suas músicas, assim como o folk também. Com mais de 10 álbuns de inéditas lançados e 64 singles (4 top 10 US – 10 top 10 UK), é um dos grupos alternativos mais bem sucedidos do mundo.

———————————————–

“Losing My Religion” foi escrita pela banda toda. O título da canção é uma expressão usada no sul dos Estados Unidos da América, quem significa algo do tipo “perder a civilidade, as estribeiras”. E foi produzida pela banda juntamente com Scott Litt (que já trabalhou com gente como Ian Hunter [do Mott The Hoople], Carly Simon, New Order, Patti Smith, e produziu alguns remixes para o Nirvana nos últimos tempos da banda, etc…).

Peter Buck compôs o riff principal e o refrão vendo televisão, enquanto tentava aprender a tocar seu recém-comprado mandolin. Foi realmente algo bem criativo para um mero experimento num dia de tédio vendo televisão. A canção também tem lá algo de Fleetwood Mac, mais necessariamente a influência que o baixista John McVie tem sobre Mills. E o mais estranho, é que Stipe chegou a comparar sua canção com “Every Breath You Take“, do The Police, no quesito pop.

De qualquer maneira, a canção consegue ter uma força incrível sem destoar das raízes do rock alternativo a qual a banda pertence. É uma espécie de “agradar a gregos e troianos” com qualidade.

O R.E.M. alcançou #4US e #19UK, conseguindo um estrelato que de fato nunca foi lá almejado pela banda. Eles acabaram de alguma maneira sendo jogados no mainstream e não sendo mais exclusividade do pessoal underground (se bem que, mesmo antes de Out of Time, a banda já não era tão underground assim). Sinceramente, acho o clipe um tanto confuso, apesar disso não tirar seu interesse (acho que a idéia de Stipe foi mesmo soar confuso e bizarro). O vídeo-clipe foi dirigido por Tarsem Singh (que já dirigiu vídeos das En Vogue, e até filmes longa-metragem, mas que sempre foi especialista em dirigir propagandas pra TV [tipo aquela We Will Rock You da Pepsi com a Britney Spears, Beyonce e P!nk].), no lugar do próprio Stipe, que costuma dirigir alguns vídeos da banda. De qualquer maneira, ganharam um Grammy e ganharam seis prêmios do MTV Video Music Awards (honestamente, quem se importa com prêmios dados pela MTV?).

Aqui vai o vídeo-clipe da canção:

Bruno

DEFYING GRAVITY: Currently thrilling all “Gleeks” (as fans of the hit FOX-TV show are called: The new Sony CD, Glee: The Music, Volume 1. Series star

MICHELE: powerhouse

Matthew Morrison (aka Mr Schu) and Wicked alumnus Kristin Chenoweth deliver a powerhouse performance of Heart’s Alone. Spring Awakening star Lea Michele duets with Chenoweth on a dynamic version of Kander & Ebb’s Maybe This Time, pairs with series co-star Chris Colfer on a soaring version of Stephen Schwartz’s Defying Gravity, and joins co-star Cory Monteith on lead vocals for Journey’s Don’t Stop Believin’. Music lovers and Broadway show tune aficionados characterize this first Glee CD as “delectably youthful” and “electrifyingly fresh” — and who are we to argue? And here’s another one to add to your Christmas list. The all-star soundtrack for Rob

FERGIE: one of Nine

Marshall’s screen version of the Broadway hit Nine will be released digitally December 15 and available for purchase in stores on December 22, three days before the film opens here. Bonus material on the disc includes a new version of Quando Quando Quando, performed by Fergie, who also sings one of the show’s big hits, Be Italian. Other so-far unlikely warblers include a clutch of Oscar winners who star in the movie — Daniel Day-Lewis, Penelope Cruz, Sophia Loren, Nicole Kidman, Marion Cotillard and Judi Dench, who gets to deliver the Follies Bergere showstopper. Can’t wait.

THE SHADOW OF HER STYLE: Supertalent Camilla  Scott always delivers the goods, in big stage musicals like Crazy For You, Mamma Mia and We Will Rock You, on U.S. soaps like Days Of Our Lives and The Guiding Light and

SCOTT: Larry's lady?

in intense TV dramas like Law And Order and This Is Wonderland. Now she’s playing another sublimely talented dame – the late, great Vivien Leigh – in Austin Pendleton’s wry behind-the-scenes comedy Orson’s Shadow. Set in 1960, it’s Pendleton’s version of what really happened when legendary London critic Kenneth Tynan brings Orson Welles and Laurence Olivier together to collaborate on the English language premiere of Ionesco’s Rhinoceros. Olivier, deep in the throes of his affair with his young co-star Joan Plowright, is not yet separated from the mercurial, iconic and fatally unstable Ms Leigh, which makes backstage rehearsals very, very interesting. After previews start tomorrow, Orson’s Shadow opens next week at Theatre Passe Muraille, with Christopher Stanton as Kenneth Tynan, Paul Eves as Olivier, Janet Porter as Joan Plowright, and Steve Ross as Orson Welles. To order tickets, click here.

DICKINSON: dog show?

DRAGONS’ DEN GOES TO THE DOGS: Woofstock creator Marlene Cook, the brainy entrepreneur whose annual summer salute to Man’s Best Friend drew 300,000 participants to downtown T.O. this year, pitches the Dragons tonight with five look-alike dogs — one for each dragon. Would you be surprised to learn that Ms Cook matched Kevin O’Leary to an English bull terrier?  Probably not. But apparently finding an apricot poodle with a coat that was just the right shade of red to represent Arlene Dickinson was a far greater challenge. To catch all the Dragons and their canine cut-ups, tune in CBC-TV tonight at 8 pm.

TOMORROW:

Julia Roberts, The Frantics, and more Dragons!

Bucky Isn't Scared to Compete with Anyone!!

Yes we are a bit nutty at NuttyIdea.net . . . just nutty enough to stand for what is right! Enough with these Fortune 500 trail mix companies filling up their trail mix bags with the cheapest products, all the while putting just a drop of the quality gourmet nut or dried fruit in the trail mix. Then when you open  the trail mix to enjoy the dried fruit, which should be called dried jerky fruit, there should be a bit of moisture in it still, right?!?

Then they pound us with marketing techniques and dominate floor shelving in the stores giving us no other options. Well we now have a unique option and soon they will hear our name throughout the trail mix world! We aren’t going anywhere and we aren’t sacrificing quality for price! I had rather have a somewhat more expensive product that be cheaper and offer you an inferior product.

Now you are going to have to decide . . . Want total control of high quality, fresh products and pay about 10% more for it? Or you may be focused on just price, regardless of quality – If that’s the case then NuttyIdea.net might not be for you. Try the big box retailers for purely price conscious products that are average in taste and freshness.

Bucky Digg’s has teamed up with your trail mix leader, NuttyIdea.net, and developed a short video having a lot of fun.  It is backed up with a song that fits our thought process throughout this video . . view youtube video here – - > . “We Will Rock You” by Queen.

Take a minute and enjoy this great song and all the neat pictures. Once your done share it with your friends and family and be looking for more spoof’s to follow . . . we are not done with that other pnut guy, what’s his name? Whatever!

Yesterday  was Rugby in Edinburgh and we won! Just so we can get that straight at the start.

But on the way to the Rugby we stopped off for some lunch and in case you hadn’t already guessed it, it was at Pizza Hut. For the avoidance of doubt, the branch at the Omni centre just next to the Playhouse Theatre in Leith Walk where We will Rock you is playing, the Queen musical.

Anyway, we arrived at just about 12.45 and I was surprised to see the restaurant with empty tables although not too many. But we just walked straight in and asked for a table for three, which we got instantly. Once seated, our server – who turned out later to be the manager – said our waitperson had to deal with another couple of tables before us. I spotted the said waitperson at the end of our section, playing with her computer terminal. By that I mean she was variously pushing the screen and coloured lights would go on or off accordingly. Anyway she stood there for about 5 minutes and about 5 minutes after that she shows up at our table. We gave her our order and I let her know that we needed to be away from here in about 30 minutes – rugby’s on you know – I said. Now that was a sort of superfluous comment as I was wearing the Scotland strip but not everyone is as clever as me.

“I don’t know if we can do that she said – you’re having starters”.

[OMG I thought to myself - STARTERS - I hadn't realise that tomato and mozzarella salad needed Gordon Ramsay and 30 minutes preparation time]

“Please try”, I suggested having momentarily regained my composure, “I’m sure you can do it if you try.”

No reply. She went away.

Drinks arrived.

20 minutes later I asked to see the manager – we had now been in the restaurant for 30 minutes.

He arrived and I stood up. Not through respect but because I wasn’t going to be talked down to (get it?) .

He then proceeded to give me a row for not having told him when we arrived that we had a deadline. Can you believe it?

I remonstrated with him in loud tones – no one told me when I arrived , I said that there was a 20 minute delay on food. He then offered me to box up our pizzas so we could take them with us. [I didn't come in for a carry out!].

1 minute after I had despatched him, our starters arrived – the others starters were luke warm – apparently they were ready but because we were speaking to the manager, they held them back in the kitchen   HDFHIKTD_(^(^%£PI({NM UP *MI(^. Unprintable expletive.

Just then our pizzas arrived and we were done by 1.30

We left without any words of apology from the service team or its manager. Clearly we were rugby louts and didn’t merit better treatment although we had not had a drink and I am a respectable 50+ and was accompanied by my two daughters

There is no possible justification for this kind of behaviour by Pizza Hut staff

Thin & crispy is the best description of the manager’s attitude I can manage!

JohnF

by Samantha Taylor

Image from nowt2do.co.uk

In the future, around 300 years from now, globalisation has conquered on a planet that was once called Earth. Real music is dead and everyone is identical. An army of clones who wear the same outfits, have the same hairstyles, like the same films, and think exactly the same things inhabit the place that was once free. But what if you don’t want to be like all the rest?

Welcome to the world of We Will Rock You: a smash-hit rock and roll musical based on the songs of the almighty Queen. The name isn’t just a title, it’s a promise. And a promise well kept.

Bursting onto the stage of the Edinburgh Playhouse on a chilly post-winter evening, the cast of the West End sensation look sure to warm-up the crowd quicker than you can say “Bohemian”.

Before the beginning of the play, the announcer declares that a few of the night’s cast members will not be on stage and will instead be replaced by their under-studies. This news doesn’t hinder the spirits of the crowd; they’ve come to here to be entertained and nothing could put them down.

Immediately captivating the audience, a massive screen lights up above the stage and begins rolling through a brief history of music and introduces tonight’s story. The discovery of the Beatles, the cancelling of Top of the Pops and the day that ‘Simon Cowell from hell’ ruined music are just some of the legends that flash before your eyes before being told of ‘Radio One’s last broadcast of non-computer generated music’ and the day that globalisation became complete.

The screen fades to stars and setting the scene is the ensemble, a group depicting the world’s race of genetic copies: the ‘Ga Ga girls’ and the boys from the ‘Boy Zone’. They immediately launch into the classic ‘Radio Ga Ga’ presenting Planet Mall in their very own Ga Ga World.

We’re introduced to the character of Galileo, who tonight is played by Patrick George. He is a dreamer, a ‘poor boy from a poor family’ and he sees song lyrics and images from the past in his head. Legend has it that young Galileo, along with his ‘chick’ Scaramouche will be the ones to save the world from this dystopian way of life.

They embark upon a perilous but playful journey, outrunning the dreaded Ga Ga cops and their Killer Queen, and making friends with the rebellious group of Bohemians who believe that somewhere, buried on Planet Mall, is the mighty axe, an instrument of a great and hairy guitar god. Together they seek the prize which will revive rock and roll.

This is a show that would appeal to rock fans and musical goers alike. The perfect combination of Queen’s greatest hits and the captivating storyline means it’s impossible to be disappointed. From ‘I Want to Break Free’ to the finale with the title song ‘We Will Rock You’, you can’t help but tap your toes or nod your head. Guaranteed by the end you’ll be on your feet dancing.

The comical but compelling characters made the show. Patrick George, who was standing in for Michael Salvon, created a unique and lovable character in Galileo. His singing voice was something to be admired and his relationship with on-stage love Scaramouche, played by Sarah French-Ellis, was flawlessly authentic.

The part of Britney Spears, which was played by Wayne A. Robinson, was the highlight of the evening. He perfectly entwined humour with heroism and it became impossible not to fall in love with him.

Staying in the background but helping to make the show a success was the band. They played a note-perfect set which rocked the background of the singers’ superb voices, making the walls vibrate and beating straight into your heart.

The musical, written by English comedian and author Ben Elton and Queen members Brian May and Roger Taylor, certainly did not disappoint. The tongue-in-cheek story and the numerous Queen songs left the audience in wonder and begging for more.

Unsurprisingly, it has gained standing ovations every evening and this wasn’t any different. Walking back into the cold night air after the last note of the Bohemian Rhapsody, you couldn’t help but keep the warmth of what you’ve just seen: something special.

I’m sure 98% of my readers have already seen this video.  But for those that haven’t, this is how a college football stadium should sound on Saturday night.

… За добре свършената работа вчера! Girls, You Rock!

Песента не е случайна, нали се сещате

Естествено, всички могат да се чувстват поздравени, никой не е игнориран, щом сте тук, значи поздравът е и за вас!

By Rory Reynolds

SCOTLAND rolled out the red carpet to welcome legendary rock stars Brian May and Roger Taylor for the opening night of the hit musical We Will Rock You.

The Queen legends wowed fans at the Edinburgh Playhouse with a live appearance at the show’s finale, which saw the audience clap and sing along throughout the whole show.

And the crowd went wild when May and Taylor belted out the band’s classic hit Bohemian Rhapsody.

We Will Rock You, which has received rave reviews during its run at London’s West End, is written by Ben Elton, with the show’s music being supervised by Taylor and May.

May, 62, said he was delighted to be back in Scotland on Monday, if only for one night.He said: “I love being in Edinburgh, my mother is Scottish, so it’s like coming home for me.

“I thought the audience were amazing, they were very responsive – it went really well.”

TV presenters Carole Smillie and Anthea Turner were among the audience along with Any Dream Will Do finalist Keith Jack.

Anthea said she had come along to support her friend Darren Day, who plays villain Khashoggi.

She said: “I thought it was fantastic, I’ve known Darren for more than 20 years, so I wanted to come along and support him.

“I’ve seen it before, but I think it was tighter this time and more polished.

“It was nice to see him do something a bit different.”

Thousands of screaming fans turned up over an before the doors opened at the Playhouse theatre in Edinburgh, and the party continued afterwards at Harvey Nicols’ Forth Floor restaurant in St Andrews Square.

The show will run from 10 January to 9 January.

See more of our pictures at our Flickr site and videos at our dedicated channel,  Deadline TV.

Termine Musical Starlights in Alsdorf und Düren

Das Musical Starlights gibt drei Gastspiele in der Stadthalle Alsdorf und der Arena Kreis Düren im Landkreis Aachen. “Musical Starlights” ist eine Show, die sich aus Highlights bekannter Musicals zusammensetzt. Wer kennt sie nicht? Die Musical Hits “Mamma Mia”, “Cabaret” oder “We will rock you”.

Deborah Sasson vereinte die original Solisten aus “Phantom der Oper”, “Les Miserables” und “Jesus Christ Superstar”, einem hervorragenden Chor und bekannten Tänzern aus der Musical Szene.

Die Termine für diese Musicals in Alsdorf und Düren sind:

22.Januar.2010, Arena Kreis Düren, 20 Uhr und

27/28.Februar.2010, Stadthalle Alsdorf, jeweils 20 Uhr

Mittels Videoprojektionen tauchen sie in die Welt der Musicals aus “König der Löwen”, “Mary Poppins” oder “Tanz der Vampire”. Zudem erleben sie Musical Hits aus den Highlights von “Moulin Rouge”, “Hairspray” und “We will rock you”. Erleben sie eine Zeitreise durch die schönsten Musicals und lassen sie sich in einer traumhaften Show verzaubern.

Quelle: http://www.baffy-scorpion.de/index.php/musical-starlights-aachen-dueren/

Omigod you guys – from Broadway to the West End, it’s finally here:

The Times’ Playlist magazine had a very pink looking cover wrap this weekend, shouting loud and proud that Elle is coming to town.

I’m a huge fan of the movie – that low-budget, enormously profitable surprise smash hit of 2001, that grossed $141m worldwide and catapulted a young Reese Witherspoon firmly into the A-list (she went on to command $15m for the sequel). My girlfriends share the love of the Blonde, but arguably I am the most ardent fan amongst us.

Hence why, on our New Year break in New York the year before last, when we were searching Broadway for a show that we all wanted to see, I somehow ended up winning the battle and dragging all four of us along.

Safe to say, they may hate to admit it, but we all had a total blast.

The biggest success for me – I guess as every musical should boast – was the music (rightly so, the Original Score earned the show one of its seven Tony nominations). The soundtrack, in lyric and arrangement, perfectly captures the exuberant, confident fun and frolics of Elle as she careers through the Harvard Law application process to win back her man. From the explosive opening Omigod You Guys to the empowering  So Much Better (Elle’s first victory over Warner at Harvard). The bridge of the piece (the titular Legally Blonde) comes when Elle admits defeat and decides to pack her bags back to LA - one of the only slow numbers of the show, it culminates in a powerful duet with Emmet.

The Broadway cast in action, led by Laura Bell Bundy

A fairly eclectic mix of a cast are bringing us the West End version. The naturally comedic Sheridan Smith (TV’s Gavin and Stacey, Two Pints of Lager…) takes the lead, and from the video preview on the show’s website, we’re assured she kicks ass with some very strong vocals. Boy band Blue’s Duncan James (having already proved his worth in the West End from a stint in Chicago) plays the smooth, gorgeous, arrogant object of Elle’s affections, Warner – while her emerging love interest Emmet is played by Canadian-born Alex Gaumond (fresh from We Will Rock You as Galileo). Two other very promising castings can be found in Jill Halfpenny as Paulette and the wonderful Peter Davison as Professor Callaghan.

Fairly obviously, it’s decidedly a show for fans of the movie, girls and those who are willing to suspend and notion of serious theatre for one night of unabashed silliness. It’s very pink, very blonde and never claims to be anything else – but if you are not enthusiastically tapping your foot and wholeheartedly rooting for Elle by the key change of the final reprise, I’d be surprised.

Tickets are on sale now, with previews starting towards the end of the month. Naturally I’ll be taking a front seat to see if the West End measures up to Broadway – and no doubt I’ll be dragging the girls along again. Only this time, they know they’ve got a guaranteed fun night ahead of them.

And if you’re not convinced, at least get your hands on the soundtrack. I personally promise it will get you dancing round your bedroom with a hairbrush.

Here’s the short Theatre Breaks in London Movie made up by capturing some live spontaneous dialogue about going on theatre breaks to London, transcribing the words into text then animating with some clever software to produce a movie for the theatre breaks channel on youTube

In the video, a couple are discussing what to at the weekend and starting to make plans for a theatre break in London before going online to make the booking.

The musicals considered are Mamma Mia! and We Will Rock You

Goed nieuws na de eerste opening in Londen in 2002 was het iedere voorstelling vollebak, geen wonder dat de show navolging kreeg in andere landen.

Momenteel is de show te zien in Melbourne, Madrid, Perth, Brisbane,Las Vegas, Sydney, Moskou, Keulen, Spanje (tournee door het land), Tokyo, Johannesburg, Cape Town, UK (landerlijke tournee) en uiteraard Londen.

Ook heeft het meerdere records gebroken o.a. het langst lopende show op West-End is inmiddels door meer dan 10 miljoen mensen gezien, en eindelijk komt de show naar Nederland.
De productie zal geproduceerd worden door Joop van den Ende Theaterproducties en zal te zien zijn in het Beatrix theater in Utrecht. Een in mijn ogen een goede lokatie in het midden van het land vlakbij het Centraal station.

De musical, die in het theater-seizoen 2010/2011 in première gaat, is
een coproductie in samenwerking met QUEEN Theatrical Productions en
Michael Brenner. Wie de hoofdrollen gaan vertolken is nog niet bekend. De audities starten deze maand.

“We zijn blij dat we de grootste wereldwijde hit van dit moment We Will
Rock You naar Nederland kunnen halen. Het is een productie die goed
past bij de succestitels die eerder in het Beatrix Theater stonden
zoals Saturday Night Fever, Dirty Dancing en nu JOSEPH and the Amazing
Technicolor Dreamcoat. Dat de muziek van We Will Rock You van de
legendarische popgroep QUEEN afkomstig is en de oorspronkelijke
bandleden Brian May en Roger Taylor zo nauw betrokken zijn bij het
creatieve proces van deze productie maakt het extra inspirerend”.

Aldus Erwin van Lambaart, Algemeen Directeur en Producent van Joop van den Ende Theaterproducties, de tekst en regie van We Will Rock You zijn van de hand van Ben Elton en
de muziek- en liedteksten zijn uiteraard van QUEEN zelf. Ook de
muzikale supervisie ligt in de handen van de QUEEN legendes Brian May
en Roger Taylor.

Bron: via de Nederlandse Queen fanclub, Thanx Anja en Hannie

Fire ring! Motorcycles! Leather galore! Sexy dancers! Eyeshadow! Mascara! Dr. Frankenstein hairdos! Queen’s music! Butchering of lyrics! Freddy Mercury rolling in his grave! John & Edward will rock you!

If you thought for one second that a monday was going to go by without me posting the latest trainwreck tour de force performance by John & Edward (Double Scoop) my ongoing guilty pleasure?  Then you clearly aren’t a regular of these caves.

These media manipulators are geniuses!  Well whomever put their performances together and is coasting them is definitely someone who knows his/her job very well and John & Edward (the Double Divas from Dublin as judge Dannii Minogue loves to call them) are certainly up for playing along and doing anything and everything to continued driving the UK mad and having the internet a-buzz.  Two showboys if there ever were ones, and canny at that.  Whether they win on the strength of their sheer manipulation of the fans by way of musical jaw dropping/hilarious performances (certainly not their less than talented vocals and dancing feet) it’s still to be seen; one thing is for sure though, they’ll certainly find a career after this is all over.

After the comedic chaos of the previous show, I felt that this week was a lot more tense.  At the start, when I saw Cheryl wearing ‘that dress’, I knew that this week was bound to be an interesting show.

Joe McElderry was up first, singing ‘Don’t Stop Believin” by Journey.  I wasn’t too keen on Joe’s performance this week, purely because I didn’t think the rock style suited his voice.  And as for those dancers, what was that all about?!  Dannii thought his voice was exceptional and said he was an absolute star.  Shows how wrong I can be, eh?

Lucie Jones was next, with one of my mum’s all time favourite songs, ‘Sweet Child O’ Mine’.  I thought that Lucie’s performance was great and brought out her younger, edgeier side.  Louis said: “You’re one of the most versatile, consistent and professional performers in this competition”. 

Then it was the turn of Danyl Johnson singing ’I Don’t Want To Miss A Thing’ and boy, was I worried for him this week.  I’ve been a huge fan of Danyl’s quirky performances in the past, but this week I thought he was a shadow of his former self.  Dannii thought that parts of his performance were out of tune, and I had to agree.  So, I think it’s safe to say that this week was one of Danyl’s ‘off weeks’.  Hopefully next week he’ll be back on track.

Now, after last week’s debacle of Simon picking a rock song on Big Band Week, you’d have thought the other judges would have learnt a lesson from it, right?  Well this week, Cheryl chose the song ‘I Kissed A Girl’ for Lloyd Daniels.  I felt this song was totally wrong for him and wouldn’t even class it as rock.  Although Simon wasn’t too keen on Lloyd’s performance, he thought it was “a million times better than last week”.  I think that’s a compliment coming from Simon!

Stacey Solomon was up next and she was finally given some movement!  I thought her version of ‘Somewhere Only We Know’ was really good and Cheryl agreed, but wants to see more personality coming from Stacey during her performances.  Good call, Mrs Cole.

Then it was the turn of soon-to-be rock legend, Jamie Archer.  I thought he seemed really comfortable on stage this week as he sang ‘Get Your Rocks Off’, not everyone agreed though.  Louis said: “There are a hundred guys singing what you do in pubs tonight, you’re like a Lenny Kravitz impersonator”.  Oh dear!

Rachel Adedeji was next, singing the U2 classic ‘One’.  Her performance was a lot more mellow than last week’s, but I still thought that she did a good job of it.  Simon thought that Rachel had turned into a clone of Dannii this week and Danni fought back saying that Rachel had tried to get her hair like his, but “there wasn’t enough hairspray!”  Touche, Miss Minogue!

It was then time for probably one of the most talked about groups in X Factor history – John and Edward.  They sang ‘We Will Rock You’, complete with fire and masses of guyliner.  Dannii said: “I do look forward to seeing you every week, but I’m not sure that I would look forward to hearing you on the radio”.  Well said, Dannii.

Last but not least was Olly Murs.  He sang ‘Come Together’ and exposed a bit of flesh in the process – whey!  Louis  was full of praise for Olly saying: “I think you’re in the final three”.  Bold words there, Louis, but I hope your prediction is right!

The Results

After truly rocking performances from Bon Jovi…

and the return of X Factor faves JLS…

…the results were in.  This week, Rachel and Lloyd faced elimination and the judges vote was sent to deadlock as they couldn’t make a decision.  The contestant with the fewest public votes was Rachel, meaning that we had to say goodbye to her.  After being in the bottom two for the third time, this girl had certainly been through the mill, but I hope it won’t be the last we see of Rachel.

Right I’m off to psych myself up for next week’s show but before I go, I must congratulate Cheryl for being number one in both the single and album charts – you go girl!

Ciao for now!

So, yesterday I watched the X Factor, and this week they were all singing Rock songs, I am going to give my opinion on each of there performance, and give a link to the X Factor Youtube videos so you can make your own opinions.

They are in order.

1- Joe McElderry <—–Click there

I thought his performance was good, I like the original of the song by Journey, and I thought his version was very good as well.

2- Lucie Jones <—-

She sung Sweet Child Of mine by Guns n Roses, and as that is a song you sing high-pitched, she was doing ok, and even though she was nowhere near the pitch that Axl Rose sings at, she wasn’t trying to. There was no problem with her performance until the very end, where the last note sounded a bit dodgy.

But last week, Simon gave the comment she sung like an actress, but this week, she was acting more, as it is obvious she is not a “rock chick”, and she looked more comfortable in the Big Band week.

3-Lloyd Daniels <—–

All the girls love him, but to be honest, he is the second worst vocalist on the show now some have left, (the ones that are worst are Jedward). But unfortunately he will stay in because he is “cute”. HE CANNOT SING THE DEEP NOTES!

He sang I kissed a girl by Katie perry, which, i think you are thinking, IS NOT ROCK, it is a pop song. To even think that she is a “rocker” would INSULT every person in the country, world UNIVERSE that likes any form of rock music.

Yes, he change the words, so it didn’t say he had a boyfriend, and therefore loose all of his fans, (he has a fanbase of over 100,000 on facebook(mostly teenage girls)). But he deserves to be out soon, but he won’t be :’( .

4- Danyl Johnson <—- to see performance

The once “cocky, over-confident” one had a serious knock to his confidence last week, the favourite to win was in the bottom two. Proving he is not liked by the public, and only Simon Cowell. He was under confident, looked like he was going to burst into tears at any point.

But In my opinion, he is not the better singer, Joe, Jamie, Stacie, Lucie and Olly are all better, his voice his whiny and annoying, and whenever he sings a big note, you have to watch his furry tongue poke out, URGH.

5-Stacey Soloman <—–clickity click click

Did you know she is my friends second cousin? no, probably not, but they met once at her birthday party.

Now, this girl is mental, but hilarious, soo funny, so she will get votes to go far in the compitition. I think she will come 5th.

But even though she did a rock song, it was a slow one, I would like to see her do a fast song, or only fast-ish. So not my cup of tea, singing wise.

6- Jamie “Afro” Archer <—-afro!

We all know that X Factor has never done a rock week, and now when simon cowell has a rock artist, there suddenly is, coincidence I THINK NOT, but i couldn’t care less, it has been the best week song-wise. And i thought his performance was what he does best, and i think what simon and jamie say at the end of the video is just, it is TRUE, so watch the vid to find out what i am talking about.

7- Rachel Adedeji

In the first 2 weeks, she was in the bottom two, and she didn’t deserve to be, but last week, the first week she was not in the bottom she changed her hair and sang a fast song, so i fear for her safety as she sung a rock ballad this week, she may be out, or at least in the bottom two.

8- John and Edward <— awful irish twins (also known as jedward)

The last remaining group are AWFUL, watch the video and you will agree, they are truly and utterly rubbish. They ONLY and that is the ONLY 2 reason they are still in are:

to annoy simon

because of brian (the creative director) and his amazing sequences and sets.

I have nothing else to say on the matter, so make your own opinion on them, but singing WE WILL ROCK YOU on rock week, is a bit obvious, and boring.

THEY ARE RUBBISH, awful.

9- Olly Murs

His version of the Beatles Classic was brilliant. A great way to finish the show, but the bit at the end where he ripped open his shirt was not in my opinion, a needed thing. But a good version of Come Together, and one of my 3 favourite.

——————————————

So, that’s them all, and you are probably wondering what my favourite 3 are:

Joe, Jamie and Olly, so, if you have any other ideas, you can post them in a comment if you wish, if you don’t want to STILL DO.

My friend is a massive fan of Queen so a few days ago we went to see ‘We Will Rock You’ , the Queen musical, in the Bristol Hippodrome.  It’s a story about a time in the future when instruments have been banned and people can only listen to computer generated songs.  The actual story line is really bad but the music is brilliant!  All of the biggest Queen songs are sung at some point in the show.  The cast could all sing well and the staging and lights were really exciting.  It was bright and colourful and there was always something going on.  We had a fantastic time and would really recommend it to anyone who loves Queen!

Warner Bros. Interactive y MTV Games anunciaron el día de hoy que LEGO Rock Band recibirá en sus filas al legendario grupo de rock, QUEEN, así podremos ver en versión lego a sus integrantes, su líder Freddie Mercury, el guitarrista Brian May, en el bajo John Deacon and en la bataca Roger Taylor. Los temas incluídos son “We Will Rock You” y “We Are The Champions”.

“This is IT! I wanna play! When do I get my toy LEGO man? (¡Eso es TODO!, ¡Quiero jugarlo!, ¿Cuándo tendré a mi juguete LEGO?)”, es lo que comenta al respecto Brian May, guitarrista del grupo. Les dejo una lluvia de imágenes y además un video.

Beyonce, Green Day and Lady Gaga were the big winners at last night’s (September 13) MTV Video Music Awards.

Green Day won three awards for ‘21 Guns’, including Best Rock Video, while Lady Gaga, and Beyonce, for her ‘Single Ladies (Put A Ring On It)’, also picked up three prizes each.

The latter video also triggered a bizarre stage invasion by Kanye West when it it lost out in the Best Female Video category to Taylor Swift.

The New York ceremony, presented by former Shockwaves NME Awards host Russell Brand, also saw Madonna and Janet Jackson combine to pay tribute to Michael Jackson.

Opening the ceremony by recreating several of the late singer’s most iconic videos, Madonna declared he was “one of the greatest talents the world has ever known”.

Other performances on the night included a collaboration between Katy perry, Aerosmith’s Joe Perry and Brand on Queen’s ‘We Will Rock You’, while Jay Z and Alicia Keys closed the show with ‘Empire State of Mind’.

Photo Gallery – Images from the MTV VMA Awards 2009

Blog – Why Kanye West’s stage invasion was just another MTV publicity stunt

The 2009 MTV VMA results were:

Video Of The Year: Beyoncé – ‘Single Ladies (Put A Ring On It)’
Best New Artist: Lady Gaga – ‘Poker Face’
Best Male Video: T.I. featuring Rihanna – ‘Live Your Life’
Best Female Video: Taylor Swift – ‘You Belong With Me’
Best Hip Hop Video: Eminem – ‘We Made You’
Best Pop Video: Britney Spears – ‘Womanizer’
Best Rock Video: Green Day – ‘21 Guns’
Best Choreography: Beyoncé – ‘Single Ladies (Put A Ring On It)’
Best Direction: Green Day – ‘21 Guns’
Best Editing: Beyoncé – ‘Single Ladies (Put A Ring On It)’
Best Special Effects: Lady Gaga – ‘Paparazzi’
Best Cinematography: Green Day – ‘21 Guns’
Best Art Direction: Lady Gaga – ‘Paparazzi’
Breakthrough Video: Matt & Kim – ‘Lessons Learned’
Best Video (That Should Have Won A Moonman): Beastie Boys – ‘Sabotage’

Second day in London….
Date: July 2, 2009

9.10am – Left Y’s apartment after having cereal for breakfast. Got on the train from South Ealing station to Madame Tussauds on Baker Street.

Checklist Item Crossed #1: Madame Tussauds

With Shrek!!

9.45am – Queued up at Madame Tussaud’s entrance. Since I was alone, I decided to befriend the girl standing alone in front of me. Her name was Zabrina, a young German girl who was travelling around Europe on her own. We decided it would be more fun to go around checking out Madame Tussauds together and save ourselves from asking perfect strangers to help take our photos while we pose with the wax celebs;  10am – Went around Madame Tussauds, starting with the A-List Celebrities section. Zabrina and I had fun taking pics of each other with Brad Pitt, Angelina Jolie, George Clooney, Shrek, The Hulk, David Beckham, Princes William and Harry and the Royal Family, and other famous figures; 12pm – Took pics with Barack Obama that I eventually paid £8.00 for when I bought it as a souvenir photo. I also took a pic with Michael Jackson’s wax figure (although I didn’t really think it looked that much like him…) and signed the condolence book that was available for the public to leave their mark in. Later on, at the souvenir shop, I bought a £4.50 photo frame for my mum.

Checklist Item Crossed #2: London Eye, Big Ben, Houses of Parliament & Westminster Abbey

London Eye

1pm – Took the train to Westminster, walked to the London Eye….oh, frig…the camera battery just died (and it’s only midday)!!! 1.30pm – I had purchased the tickets for Madame Tussauds+London Eye package via online before I left KL. It had cost me about £35.30 to get the tickets online, but otherwise it would’ve cost me £42.50 to get it on-site. Anyway, back to the itinerary…I redeemed my ticket for the London Eye attraction, bought £9.00 disposable cameras at a 2for1 deal from one of the independent vendors located at the site, and proceeded to join the queue; 2pm – Rode the London Eye, took lots of pics of Westminster area (particularly the Big Ben and Houses of Parliament) from bird’s-eye view. Skipped lunch; 2.40pm – Got off the London Eye and purchased a couple of items from the souvenir shop, walked towards Westminster Abbey for a photo op, while snapping a few more pics of Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament along the way.

Big Ben & the Houses of Parliament

Checklist Item Crossed #3: Marble Arch, window shopping along Oxford St.
3.45pm – Took pics at the Marble Arch. There were many people there, and more were starting to show up for an apparent outdoor concert or festival or something; 4pm - Walked down the famous Oxford Street, checked out some souvenir stores and Selfridges (my £230/5days budget did not permit me to make any purchase although some of the things there were rather nice…); 5pm – Met up with Y at Tenezis, located in a corner where Oxford St. and Regent St. crossed; 5.45pm – Had dinner at a Japanese restaurant – Y’s treat!

Checklist Item Crossed #4: West End Theatre

7.30pm – Watched “We Will Rock You” at the Dominion Theatre, my birthday treat for Y. Like most of the attractions tickets, I had paid for the show with my credit card online. I love how convenient travelling is these days!! 9pm – The show was okay so far, except for a few lame/boring bits. Felt too thirsty, so I bought a gigantic cup of pepsi for £3.00(!) during the midshow break; 10.30pm – The show ended with a nice and energetic full-cast rendition of Queen’s “Bohemian Rhapsody”. Walked around the West End/near Chinatown area, shopped for a few souvenirs. 11.3opm – Arrived home with feet on the brink of death. Showered and Zzzz….

My Show Ticket and the Theatre Stage

Outside the Dominion Theatre

To download the booking form click here………….