Vox to the pop!

Our first edited vox pop as the A team!!!


Voxpop Re-edit by Tim EP

Christmas TV Package

Our first christmas package from the A-team!!! It was definitely a wicked team effort!! Enjoy!

Les Miserables - Far from a miserable performance!!

For my last musical blog i'm going to write about the phenomenon Les Miserables which is one of the most famous musicals and is also the longest running musical on broadway and the West End.
Les Miserables is full of highs and lows, and the magic of it is that the spectators are drawn into those highs and lows, feeling ready to cry for joy at some points and out of sadness at another point. This performance is magnificent, I cannot enforce this enough. The main characters each have their own little toils which they have to deal with and one finds oneself siding with a particular character. I found myself siding with Eponine wishing and hoping that she would end up with Marius. Eponine is one of the saddest characters yet she is the loveliest person as she shows us by how she protects Marius and Cosette from her own father.
This has to be the Worlds Best musical, keeping you thrilled from start to finish with tear jerking moments aswell as luaghs with the Thenardiers. I would recommend this musical to everyone as it is an experience. The music from start to finish is atmospheric and the songs arn't corney like most musicals can be bursting into song with cheesy queues. Based about the french revolution, the musical follows the story of a man Jean Valjean and his life.

We're your dream girls.....

Following my blog on the hit musical "Rent" I have now decided to do a blog review thang on each of my favourite musicals as addmmitedley they are my guilty pleasure!

The first of these will be the hit movie of 2006 "Dream girls", staring Jeniffer Hudson, Jamie Fox, Eddie Murphey and Beyonce Knowles.

I thoroughly enojoyed this movie as it demonstrates soul music in all its glory!

The vocals given by everyone in this movie are mind blowing with the highlight being Jennifer Hudsons version of "I'm telling you"
Dream Girls is the fictional account of the rise 60’s girl group, starting out unknown as The Dreamettes and ending up world famous as The Dreams. This film is quite the spectacle, as it should be, and the music is far better than I’d expected. Sure there’s a clunker or two that sound like a show tune rip off of a soul song, but that’s not the majority. As a matter of fact, I was pleasantly surprised at how well they were able to capture how that sound changed and developed over that time period. There are little touches that pull it together and show that these people really are fans of the music.

You’ve got people here that do some tremendous work, specifically Eddie Murphy and Jennifer Hudson. Theses two really bring Dream Girls up to a level that without them it would have been a fairly entertaining, but a wholly forgettable film where the biggest thing would have been the novelty of Beyonce Knowles starring in it. Hudson is incredible and I lover her pipes. As an enormous fan of 60’s soul music she was a pleasant surprise, but Murphy takes the cake. There is a scene where he has a new song rejected by head of the label and with one glance he sums up his entire life and everything he’s feeling. It’s very small and restrained, especially compared to the rest of the film, but perfect.

Why everyone loves a little bit of Michael Buble

Well lets face it the guy is amazing! The official king of swing since Elvis Presley the most amazing swing singer of our time! He's gorgeous and stylish and does the best versions of complete classics that I think anybody has ever heard!!!!
Michael Buble is the greatest swing singer of our generation. He is charismatic, insanely talented and let’s face it rather scrummy! He’s held the title of “King of swing” for many years now and gives the most enjoyable performances to all who watch him at his various concerts and numerous guest appearances on shows, (the most recent of these being singing with X factor finalist Stacey on X factor 2009).
His renditions of classic songs are unique and flawless. For example his version of “Can’t buy me love” by the Beatles can in no way be compared to it. This being because its rhythmic structure is completely different and to be perfectly honest – it’s a lot better.
His music can suit any occasion with many of his songs being played as background music in various movies – which shows the versatility of his singing and the popularity of his music.
His soulful and powerful voice is enough to make any girl go weak at the knees and his crisp Italian suits makes any other singer crumble beneath him.
His performances are always enjoyed by millions of screaming girls across the world and his signature smile and quirky stance will remain legendary for years to come and that is why everyone should love a little bit of Michael Buble.

RENT!

Ok so for this particular blog i've decided to talk about one of the more recent musicals to hit the stage in Broadway. Which is the hit rock opera "Rent".

Now i am a HUGE fan of musicals and even if you may not like them, you can not denie the fact that they have inspired generations around the world for hundreds of years inspiring the way people dress and the way we walk and talk. The phenomenon of "Rent" is no exception.

"Rent" is a rock musical with many amazing and memorable songs written by Johnathen Larson. These include the very powerful number "La vie boheme" and the more moving numbers such as "Without you" and "1,000 sweet kisses" with the most famous song from the musical being "Seasons of love". Based on Giacomo Puccini's opera La bohème this sensational musical tells the story of a group of impoverished young artists and musicians struggling to survive and make their mark in New York's Lower East Side and struggling to fight against the life threatining illness that is AIDS.

Now I have to say when it comes to musicals I normally favour the stage versions of it rather than the film as I find that attending the theatre brings something more to a show however in the case of "Rent" I think that the film is a million times better than the stage version. Which is of coarse due to the fact that the cast of the film are the original boradway cast who are all consistently fantastic throughout.

Rent is a musical that involves several lower-class bohemian adults living in New York City. The musical takes place in the winter, and goes forward into spring. It is a touching musical that examines the different aspects of everyones life. Gay lovers and drug addicts are amongst the characters, but they show such love and passion for each other it’s hard to believe they face struggles. Rent is easily one of the most touching modern rock musicals ever written, and it is a definite hit with most who watch it.

Rent the Musical started in the 90s as a Broadway production, but was later turned into a film for those that couldn’t make it to the Broadway shows. It is controversial, heart warming, tear jerking, and upbeat at the same time. The catchy songs and lyrics make you think, but also make you want to dance. The musical is not only fun to watch, but its fun to sing along too. It gets graphic and heart wrenching at points, but its well worth it.

It is no longer shown on Broadway anyway, but the musical earned quite a large sum from its performances over the years. It didn’t make anyone rich, but it has touched the lives of anyone who has seen it. Symbolism and subjects performed include talking about AIDS, drug addiction, gay relationships, and the hardship of love in general, poverty, and starving. The hopes and dreams of a few individuals are performed so boldly and brilliantly on stage and on screen. The RENT musical is easily found for viewing, if you are interested in checking it out. It’s the best modern musical and highly recommended for anyone looking to watch a great musical or a great film.

Adeline Virginia Woolf's Monk House

On Saturday morning I was sitting in my living room deciding what I was going to do to fill the day. Should I commit to my normal routine of a bit of shopping, maybe some lunch and a late film with my boyfriend? Or should I vere off from the norm and do something vaguely educational on the weekend I mean I'm sure it would be just as fulfilling as getting a new handbag from Top shop or a new pair of shoes!

Sooooo with a baited breath I looked on the internet to see what was open where I live on a Saturday that may interest me and my boyfriend. Only after about 2 seconds of researching on trusted google I discovered that Virginia Woolf's Monk house was open! - Which my boyfriend (who really wanted to go to brighton) was obviously thrilled about!

Now anybody who has read a book by Virginia Woolf will learn that to complete one is a small fete in itself. I myself have only ever managed to finish one book written by Adeline Virginia Woolf which is one of her most famous works "To the light house" and found it enjoyable but relatively strenuous!

Even though I have only ever read one of her books I am still a great admirer of her work so was very interested to go and see her summer house and see where her creative mind worked wonders.

The house itself was small and modest but insanely beautiful! The interior had mostly been designed by her sister Vanessa Bell who lived near by at Chareleston Farmhouse.

During their years at Monk's House the Woolfs entertained some of the best-known literary and artistic figures of the day. Among the visitors were Vita Sackville-West, Lytton Strachey, E.M. Forster, Maynard Keynes, T.S. Eliot and Roger Fry. Which is a pretty impressive guest list by anyones standards!

My favourite part of the house would undoubtedly have to be its garden covering almost 1 acre it was full of flowers and life! It also played home to Virginias summer house where she wrote all the time and now is full of interesting information about the acclaimed writer!

All in all I think the swap of a shopping day for an educational one to this beatiful national trust property was definitely worth while and both me AND my boyfriend enjoyed ourselves! (And we still had time to go and see the new Ricky Gervais film "The invention of lying")

Bring on the mud! - Glastonbury festival!

Glastonbury Festival is definitely the best music festival of all time celebrating it's 40th anniversary this year. I personally have only been able to purchase Glastonbury tickets once before (this being due to previous cash flow issues) but this year I was extremely dedicated and was up at 7:30am last Sunday falling asleep by my computer in an attempt to ensure I would be able to register for my oh so precious Glastonbury ticket.

The ticket sales for Glastonbury 2010 reached headline news on Monday as they completely sold out within 24hours. This was in record breaking time in comparison with recent years such as 2009's Glastonbury tickets taking several weeks to sell out and 2008's Glastonbury tickets not selling out until the day of the actual festival.

The fact that people were so eager to purchase their Glastonbury ticket (which this year costs £185 and is a £10 increase on last years ticket price) shows the hype and expectation that Glastonbury has been able to create for itself over the past 40 years because the line up is yet to be announced and people were still purchasing Glastonbury tickets even though the festival itself is still 9 months away.

I personally purchased my tickets so early because I wanted to ensure my place at Glastonbury festival as I previously found the experience amazing and constantly enjoyable! Also it is clear to see that this years swift Glastonbury ticket sales have been helped by rumors that the festivals 40th anniversary will draw in some spectacular headliners such as Beyonce Knowles, Radio Head and U2 and is definitely guaranteed to be a huge success even with the mud!

If you are one of the unfortunate many who were not able to purchase their Glastonbury ticket do not fear as another batch are said to be going on sale within the next couple of weeks.

Look magazine

As you are aware there are countless fashion magazines being published across the world daily. Each one attempting to convey what they believe to be 'fashionable' in attempt to dictate to their readers what they should and shouldn't be wearing. My favourite fashion magazine has to be ‘Look’. It is a weekly publication and is one of the few publications that concentrates on the clothes themselves, the material, style, colour and design. Too many other magazines focus on who is wearing the stuff, forcing us to copy celebrities and attempt cheaper versions of their choice of designer wear. I like ‘Look’ because it educates its readers to take the latest fashion and make it work for them. It looks at affordable pieces that still scream quality and does not focus only on the designer labels such as Prada etc... It encourages us to develop our own image.

The editor of the magazine Ali Hall is clearly passionate about fabrics and patterns and experimenting with designs to suit different bodies. ‘Look’ explores how clothes flatter all shapes and sizes and makes for much more interesting reading than its celebrity driven rivals.

I think if I were able to develop this magazine, I would create a sister publication, ‘Look Further/Ahead/Beyond/Deeper/Out that would celebrate the bigger woman and show her how to exploit all her assets. It is much more interesting to look at everyone we come into every day contact with, rather than be guided by ‘perfect’ bodies.

'Look' is attempting to stop its readers being fashion victims. It influences rather than dictates.

Doc Martin..

Now I am not personally a huge fan of the show. However having recently been to Port Issac (which is where the show is set). I was bemused to learn that you are not allowed up to the house where Doc Martin supposedly lives which is not true as Port Issac is only used for the scenes of the show that take place outside. Everything else is filmed in a TV studio. Not disappointing for me for the other hundreds of people who had come to see the set - very disappointing!

The Boat That Rocked!

I have decided to begin my blog with a post on what I believe to be one of the best films of the last year at least! It is an incredibly alive film that showcases everything that was brilliant about this era be it the incredible music or the fantastic fashion which are both shown throughout this film.

The film tells the story of a pirate radio broadcasting from a ship in 'The middle of the freakin ocean' to the United Kingdom. Although the films story itself is not real it was inspired by true events of a pirate radio ship that did exist called 'Radio Carolyne' and most of the radio Dj's are based on real Dj's from radio stations at that time!

The soundtrack of this wicked film is a definite MUST BUY, with such classics as, 'Wouldn't it be nice', by the beach boys, 'All day and all of the night' by The Kinks you'll be dancing in the street all night long! Which is ironic as 'Dancing in the street' by Martha and the Vandellas is one of the songs on the soundtrack!

The celebrated director Richard Curtis has bought us many other awesome British films such as Notting Hill, Love Actually, Bridget Jones diary and Four Weddings and a Funeral and has given us an amazing cast in each one and 'The Boat That Rocked' is no exception.

There are many actors performing in this film but the ones who in my opinion give the most memorable performance constantly throughout this film are the legends who are;

-Bill Nighy who plays 'Quentin'
-Rhys Ifans who plays 'Gavin Cavanagh'
-Philip Seymour Hoffman who plays 'The Count'
-Nick Frost who plays 'Doctor Dave'

Having watched the film various times with various members of my family and friends I guarantee this film to be a crowd pleaser! I recommend buying it or renting it or watching it online and if you share my views of this awesome film let me know!