Latest gossip says that Girls Aloud's Kimberley Walsh has signed up for Strictly, along with former model and rock star squeeze, Jerry Hall and The Great British Bake Off's Paul Hollywood.
And The Voice is set to cut down on the live shows and show more chair swivelling. We're a funny lot aren't we? We'd rather watch chairs swivel than hear people sing a song all the way through. But the funniest moments did happen then, so I'm not going to argue :)
Tuesday, 28 August 2012
Wednesday, 22 August 2012
Snippets: Strictly Come Dancing; X-Factor
Dancing With The Stars professional dancer, Lacey Schwimmer, has been choreographing for the Strictly pros. As reported previously, the launch show will be on September 15th, with the first live show scheduled for October 5th.
Chris Hoy and other sports stars to mentor on the X-Factor? Not according to the man himself! Although, while they couldn't advise on showbusiness, I bet their contestants would be the fittest, mentally and physically, and we'd see a much better calibre of performance - it's not as daft an idea as it sounds!
Chris Hoy and other sports stars to mentor on the X-Factor? Not according to the man himself! Although, while they couldn't advise on showbusiness, I bet their contestants would be the fittest, mentally and physically, and we'd see a much better calibre of performance - it's not as daft an idea as it sounds!
Monday, 20 August 2012
Snippets: Strictly Come Dancing on Ice
Olympic rower Mark Hunter is another of Team GB's medallists linked with swapping the red, white and blue lycra for fuschia, silver and azure lycra with added sequins, on the next series of Strictly, while new judge Darcy Bussell is releasing a coffee table book to coincide with the start of the series. 'A Life in Pictures' is available from September 1st.
More celebs rumoured for Dancing on Ice include chef Nigella Lawson, winter Olympic champ Amy Williams, former Strictly contestant, Diarmuid Gavin and champion boxer Steve Collins.
Keep up with the news as it develops on both series with their respective websites: Strictly Come Dancing/ Dancing on Ice.
More celebs rumoured for Dancing on Ice include chef Nigella Lawson, winter Olympic champ Amy Williams, former Strictly contestant, Diarmuid Gavin and champion boxer Steve Collins.
Keep up with the news as it develops on both series with their respective websites: Strictly Come Dancing/ Dancing on Ice.
Saturday, 11 August 2012
Snippets: Superstar; Strictly Come Dancing on Ice; X-Factor
Superstar hopeful Jon Moses has landed the part of Prince Valiant in a Christmas production of Sleeping Beauty.
Strictly Come Dancing's Brendan Cole to the rescue! Brendan stopped a pick pocket ruining a girl's day, when he stepped in on the action on the underground.
Apparently, Strictly, Dancing on Ice, I'm A Celebrity and everything else is fighting over our Olympic stars. Strictly appears to be the favourite to get most of them, with Rebecca Adlington, Victoria Pendleton and Beth Tweddle all hinting at the BBC show, according to the national media. Even Bradley Wiggins has been linked, together with Lizzie Armistead and Ben Ainslie. Other rumours include Dannii Minogue, Chris Evans, Nicky Byrne and Fern Britton (again!), Charlie Brooks and Sid Owen, Michael Vaughan and BGT winner, Ashleigh Butler, minus Pudsey. And Noel Gallagher was apparently too busy or he'd have loved to do it. It's unclear what tone that was said in. And, there's also Amy Williams, our winter Olympian, Sian Williams and the legend that is Ronnie O'Sullivan. Can you imagine having a total sport line up? How many hours of training would that lot tot up as they all try to beat each other?
Those tipped for Dancing on Ice include Tara Palmer-Tompkinson, Glenn Hoddle, Jodie Marsh, Matt Lapinskas - and Jedward, who will appear "separately". I'm trying to get my head around how they'd skate together - without a professional each? *facepalm*
According to Telly Mix, Darcy Bussell has been given a crash course in ballroom dancing so she doesn't put two left feet in it during the next series of Strictly - which is reportedly not returning to the Mecca of ballroom dancing, Blackpool Tower this year due to the "mammoth logistical exercise." The new series is set to begin in mid September.
Telly rival, the X-Factor, will be with us at 8pm on Saturday, August 18th, with Nicole Scherzinger replacing Kelly Rowland. Gary, Tulisa and Louis all returning.
Claudia Winkleman has confirmed she won't be doing It Takes Two but will be back for the Results Show.
Strictly Come Dancing's Brendan Cole to the rescue! Brendan stopped a pick pocket ruining a girl's day, when he stepped in on the action on the underground.
Apparently, Strictly, Dancing on Ice, I'm A Celebrity and everything else is fighting over our Olympic stars. Strictly appears to be the favourite to get most of them, with Rebecca Adlington, Victoria Pendleton and Beth Tweddle all hinting at the BBC show, according to the national media. Even Bradley Wiggins has been linked, together with Lizzie Armistead and Ben Ainslie. Other rumours include Dannii Minogue, Chris Evans, Nicky Byrne and Fern Britton (again!), Charlie Brooks and Sid Owen, Michael Vaughan and BGT winner, Ashleigh Butler, minus Pudsey. And Noel Gallagher was apparently too busy or he'd have loved to do it. It's unclear what tone that was said in. And, there's also Amy Williams, our winter Olympian, Sian Williams and the legend that is Ronnie O'Sullivan. Can you imagine having a total sport line up? How many hours of training would that lot tot up as they all try to beat each other?
Those tipped for Dancing on Ice include Tara Palmer-Tompkinson, Glenn Hoddle, Jodie Marsh, Matt Lapinskas - and Jedward, who will appear "separately". I'm trying to get my head around how they'd skate together - without a professional each? *facepalm*
According to Telly Mix, Darcy Bussell has been given a crash course in ballroom dancing so she doesn't put two left feet in it during the next series of Strictly - which is reportedly not returning to the Mecca of ballroom dancing, Blackpool Tower this year due to the "mammoth logistical exercise." The new series is set to begin in mid September.
Telly rival, the X-Factor, will be with us at 8pm on Saturday, August 18th, with Nicole Scherzinger replacing Kelly Rowland. Gary, Tulisa and Louis all returning.
Claudia Winkleman has confirmed she won't be doing It Takes Two but will be back for the Results Show.
Thursday, 26 July 2012
Superstar: Ben wins the crown of thorns
Ben Forster has won the title role in the forthcoming arena tour of Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice's Jesus Christ Superstar.
In an emotional final last night, in which all three finalists fluffed up at some point, Ben's solo performance of Who Wants To Live Forever false started as he missed his cue. However, he recovered with a stunning vocal, full of passion and strength, to put the pressure onto Roger and Rory.
Rory chose a favourite of mine, I Don't Wanna Miss A Thing, but I don't think it showed him at his best, not quite as smooth as usual and without the impact of the night before. With Dawn hanging onto every note, Roger had me, her and Mel all smiling soppily with a lovely, warm performance of Don't Let The Sun Go Down on Me with even a couple of duff notes not detracting overall.
Definitely all feeling the pressure then, when it was time for the Gethsemane test, the famously difficult solo from the show, requiring a massive range, stamina and emotional depth. After the happy clappy opening of Hosanna, this is the one they wanted spot on. It was, including the three sweetest screams in the whole competition. All of them nailed it, while at the same time sounding so individual.
Multiple standations occurred, including for Mel who performed I Don't Know How To Love Him, accompanied by Andrew. I wouldn't say she was the greatest vocalist but it was rocky with a soft edge, with power and doubt in equal measure.
With Roger announced in third place - they could''ve shortened the programme by ten minutes and just announced the winner really, I always think singling one out is a bit unfair - Ben and Rory were practically exploding with anticipation when Amanda finally proclaimed Ben the winner.
Talking of Amanda, wasn't it nice that she got into the whole spirit of the thing by wrapping herself in silver foil, like an oven ready turkey? Or a cracker if I'm being less bitchy. Loved her hair though.
Ben will now join Mel and Andrew for rehearsals, with the tour set to begin in London, at the O2 on 21st September.
In an emotional final last night, in which all three finalists fluffed up at some point, Ben's solo performance of Who Wants To Live Forever false started as he missed his cue. However, he recovered with a stunning vocal, full of passion and strength, to put the pressure onto Roger and Rory.
Rory chose a favourite of mine, I Don't Wanna Miss A Thing, but I don't think it showed him at his best, not quite as smooth as usual and without the impact of the night before. With Dawn hanging onto every note, Roger had me, her and Mel all smiling soppily with a lovely, warm performance of Don't Let The Sun Go Down on Me with even a couple of duff notes not detracting overall.
Definitely all feeling the pressure then, when it was time for the Gethsemane test, the famously difficult solo from the show, requiring a massive range, stamina and emotional depth. After the happy clappy opening of Hosanna, this is the one they wanted spot on. It was, including the three sweetest screams in the whole competition. All of them nailed it, while at the same time sounding so individual.
Multiple standations occurred, including for Mel who performed I Don't Know How To Love Him, accompanied by Andrew. I wouldn't say she was the greatest vocalist but it was rocky with a soft edge, with power and doubt in equal measure.
With Roger announced in third place - they could''ve shortened the programme by ten minutes and just announced the winner really, I always think singling one out is a bit unfair - Ben and Rory were practically exploding with anticipation when Amanda finally proclaimed Ben the winner.
Talking of Amanda, wasn't it nice that she got into the whole spirit of the thing by wrapping herself in silver foil, like an oven ready turkey? Or a cracker if I'm being less bitchy. Loved her hair though.
Ben will now join Mel and Andrew for rehearsals, with the tour set to begin in London, at the O2 on 21st September.
Wednesday, 25 July 2012
Superstar: The Final Cometh!
Yes, it's tonight at 9pm and our Jesus Christ Superstar crowned will be either Ben, Rory or Roger.
But first, cast your minds back to Friday and the double elimination episode, which resulted in Jeff and Jon leaving the competition, after The Lord saved Roger following their rendition of Could We Start Again Please. Both put in good performances, especially Jeff, a proper rocker although I felt the screams were a little week. The energy for Whole Lotta Love was terrific and a great performance which earned a standation from the panel. Jon had some nice moments with Still Haven't Found but overall it was just that, nice. Thought Andrew was a bit unfair though.
Roger, although not 100% (and it showed in the sing off) melted almost everybody with Feeling Good. Dawn French cracks me up; they need her on every reality show panel. Ben was Cold as Ice - I wouldn't like to have been in the shoes of the person he was singing about. Brrrr. Another standation earned.
Rory was much more expressive and vocally supreme with Silenced by the Night, while David silenced me with Apologize - I just love watching him totally sing me the story. It's like Jackanory** set to music. Nathan was in his element with Sweet Child of Mine. Another standation and destined to be a star I think, he doesn't miss a beat.
They all hast a blast with Pinball Wizard to open the show; had everyone bouncing around in their seats *groan*
** A children's TV storytelling show with celebrity narrators back in the day ...
Onto Monday and no surprise really, that Nathan went. After the comments from Andrew and a VT of him talking about himself versus the others' VTs of them working with the backstage people, it was a no brainer.
It all started well enough, with We Are Young showing them all so at home on the stage. Nathan himself, got us under way with a damn fine version of Born This Way leaving me scratching my head at first, trying to place the song. Rock Gospel, inspired. But why tweet a pic of yourself in a crown of thorns. We know it's a tongue in cheek joke, Nathan, but Some People Take Things Far Too Seriously - so why risk it?
Roger injected soul into classic Brit Pop song Handbags and Gladrags, causing Dawn to surrender herself unto him once more. David was impressive, with possibly my favourite performance by him of Too Close. He's already a God. It's an advert Mel, even I've heard of it, come on.
Rory wasn't Under Pressure at all, he well and truly got me there. Fabulous. Ben, as ever, stunned with another massive performance - as Dawn said, turning It Must Have Been Love, an 80s film sountrack pop song into a James Bond theme.
They sang Greatest Day with Gary Barlow before we confirmed what we knew already - Nathan in the bottom two, with Roger, singing Love Changes Everything. And we have our semi final four.
And what a fantastic semi final it was! From the opening group number of What's The Buzz, each of them performed out of their skin.
Rory was pure and brilliant, like a tin of Dulux white, as he entranced us with Something in the Air Tonight; Ben just needed a bright light around his hair, so awe inspiring was his version of Run; Roger was rawwwwww and way Too Hard to Handle, like a black Tom Jones but 30 years younger. If ever a performance would see him out of the bottom two, this was it. Electrifying. David had to follow that lot and for me, he totally did, giving us his own unique and special take on Macy Gray's I Try, superbly acted and vocally perfect. A triumph.
No Matter What was the sing off song choice and at this stage it was anybody's game - the general feeling was that we'd see Roger there again but no! He was sent straight through with Ben and it was Rory versus David. Rory's arenability won out for him - but The Lord is tempted to do a run of Sunset Boulevard and David would be his first casting decision.
An exciting final lies ahead, although the favourite would have to be Ben, the only one never to be in the bottom two. 9pm tonight, ITV1 - catch up with all the performances here.
But first, cast your minds back to Friday and the double elimination episode, which resulted in Jeff and Jon leaving the competition, after The Lord saved Roger following their rendition of Could We Start Again Please. Both put in good performances, especially Jeff, a proper rocker although I felt the screams were a little week. The energy for Whole Lotta Love was terrific and a great performance which earned a standation from the panel. Jon had some nice moments with Still Haven't Found but overall it was just that, nice. Thought Andrew was a bit unfair though.
Roger, although not 100% (and it showed in the sing off) melted almost everybody with Feeling Good. Dawn French cracks me up; they need her on every reality show panel. Ben was Cold as Ice - I wouldn't like to have been in the shoes of the person he was singing about. Brrrr. Another standation earned.
Rory was much more expressive and vocally supreme with Silenced by the Night, while David silenced me with Apologize - I just love watching him totally sing me the story. It's like Jackanory** set to music. Nathan was in his element with Sweet Child of Mine. Another standation and destined to be a star I think, he doesn't miss a beat.
They all hast a blast with Pinball Wizard to open the show; had everyone bouncing around in their seats *groan*
** A children's TV storytelling show with celebrity narrators back in the day ...
Onto Monday and no surprise really, that Nathan went. After the comments from Andrew and a VT of him talking about himself versus the others' VTs of them working with the backstage people, it was a no brainer.
It all started well enough, with We Are Young showing them all so at home on the stage. Nathan himself, got us under way with a damn fine version of Born This Way leaving me scratching my head at first, trying to place the song. Rock Gospel, inspired. But why tweet a pic of yourself in a crown of thorns. We know it's a tongue in cheek joke, Nathan, but Some People Take Things Far Too Seriously - so why risk it?
Roger injected soul into classic Brit Pop song Handbags and Gladrags, causing Dawn to surrender herself unto him once more. David was impressive, with possibly my favourite performance by him of Too Close. He's already a God. It's an advert Mel, even I've heard of it, come on.
Rory wasn't Under Pressure at all, he well and truly got me there. Fabulous. Ben, as ever, stunned with another massive performance - as Dawn said, turning It Must Have Been Love, an 80s film sountrack pop song into a James Bond theme.
They sang Greatest Day with Gary Barlow before we confirmed what we knew already - Nathan in the bottom two, with Roger, singing Love Changes Everything. And we have our semi final four.
And what a fantastic semi final it was! From the opening group number of What's The Buzz, each of them performed out of their skin.
Rory was pure and brilliant, like a tin of Dulux white, as he entranced us with Something in the Air Tonight; Ben just needed a bright light around his hair, so awe inspiring was his version of Run; Roger was rawwwwww and way Too Hard to Handle, like a black Tom Jones but 30 years younger. If ever a performance would see him out of the bottom two, this was it. Electrifying. David had to follow that lot and for me, he totally did, giving us his own unique and special take on Macy Gray's I Try, superbly acted and vocally perfect. A triumph.
No Matter What was the sing off song choice and at this stage it was anybody's game - the general feeling was that we'd see Roger there again but no! He was sent straight through with Ben and it was Rory versus David. Rory's arenability won out for him - but The Lord is tempted to do a run of Sunset Boulevard and David would be his first casting decision.
An exciting final lies ahead, although the favourite would have to be Ben, the only one never to be in the bottom two. 9pm tonight, ITV1 - catch up with all the performances here.
Friday, 20 July 2012
Superstar: Tim and Niall leave the show
I'm in catch up mode at the moment, on account of this - the day job, having to go to all the Rochester Castle Concerts (Alexander O'Neal and Billy Ocean tonight. Someone's got to do it!) so I'm reviewing from the website.
And how bad do I feel, I, who has voted for Niall every night. I go out and look what happens? Sorry Niall. But before he left, it was Tim's turn, having faced David in the Sing Off. So distraught was our Lord, he changed the elimination to the end of the show instead of the beginning!
They sang The Long and Winding Road, with Andrew deciding with his producer's hat on: David was saved.
The group song was Viva La Vida and another impressive turn as a group. Niall went first in the solos, with, I thought, a strong performance of One. I think it's the judges comments that done for him. Rory's version of Roxanne I wasn't too impressed with, and not surprised to see him join Niall at the bottom. It lacked expression. In fact, I almost fast forwarded, having got a bit bored.
David handled the pressure superbly, a gutsy performance of One Day Like This. Jon was better than the night before, with I Won't Let You Go - lay off the falsetto though! Ben with This Love was another good interpretation, he's a good each way bet. Nathan with How To Save Your Life was captivating - exactly what I needed to hear, very subtle, less is more, softly softly, with just an itsy bitsy scream.
Roger and Here I Go Again I'd place in the same bracket as Tim's Dream On and Jeff's Kiss From A Rose - good performances but whether it's the tiredness kicking in or because I'm watching this mid afternoon, I'm not feeling the same buzz from many.
Last night's performances I found similarly lacklustre, with the notable exception of Nathan, again, with Ain't No Sunshine. Gorgeous interpretation. I didn't like the group number, Livin' on a Prayer sounded like they were struggling big time - it maybe my laptop speakers. Jeff wasn't raw enough with Satisfaction, Rory was nice with Fix You. Ben is Mr Consistent, Fast Car he nailed. Roger did Rolling in the Deep with controlled passion, while Jon with Feel may be on dodgy ground. He's the opposite of Ben, one night good, one night bad.
Apart from a couple of bum notes though, I still love Niall's voice - and he was one of the best actors in it, as demonstrated with Wherever You Will Go. Sadly not enough to save him, he did leave with praise from Andrew, who confided that a West End producer had called him about our lovely Niall and saying that he'd make a great Marius in Les Mis.
I'll hope to get tonight's show on during a break in my life tomorrow!
And how bad do I feel, I, who has voted for Niall every night. I go out and look what happens? Sorry Niall. But before he left, it was Tim's turn, having faced David in the Sing Off. So distraught was our Lord, he changed the elimination to the end of the show instead of the beginning!
They sang The Long and Winding Road, with Andrew deciding with his producer's hat on: David was saved.
The group song was Viva La Vida and another impressive turn as a group. Niall went first in the solos, with, I thought, a strong performance of One. I think it's the judges comments that done for him. Rory's version of Roxanne I wasn't too impressed with, and not surprised to see him join Niall at the bottom. It lacked expression. In fact, I almost fast forwarded, having got a bit bored.
David handled the pressure superbly, a gutsy performance of One Day Like This. Jon was better than the night before, with I Won't Let You Go - lay off the falsetto though! Ben with This Love was another good interpretation, he's a good each way bet. Nathan with How To Save Your Life was captivating - exactly what I needed to hear, very subtle, less is more, softly softly, with just an itsy bitsy scream.
Roger and Here I Go Again I'd place in the same bracket as Tim's Dream On and Jeff's Kiss From A Rose - good performances but whether it's the tiredness kicking in or because I'm watching this mid afternoon, I'm not feeling the same buzz from many.
Last night's performances I found similarly lacklustre, with the notable exception of Nathan, again, with Ain't No Sunshine. Gorgeous interpretation. I didn't like the group number, Livin' on a Prayer sounded like they were struggling big time - it maybe my laptop speakers. Jeff wasn't raw enough with Satisfaction, Rory was nice with Fix You. Ben is Mr Consistent, Fast Car he nailed. Roger did Rolling in the Deep with controlled passion, while Jon with Feel may be on dodgy ground. He's the opposite of Ben, one night good, one night bad.
Apart from a couple of bum notes though, I still love Niall's voice - and he was one of the best actors in it, as demonstrated with Wherever You Will Go. Sadly not enough to save him, he did leave with praise from Andrew, who confided that a West End producer had called him about our lovely Niall and saying that he'd make a great Marius in Les Mis.
I'll hope to get tonight's show on during a break in my life tomorrow!
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