Next to Grover, who is my favourite Sesame Street monster bar none, I have a huge amount of affection for Ernie (especially) and Bert, the two diametrically-opposite housemates who have long amused and delighted with their Abbott and Costello-ish antics. Now Ernie is starring in a delightful musical number, Continue Reading
Music
Now this is music #91: Fare Soldi, HAEVN, Goldmyth, LAUV, Tyzo Bloom
Stop right there! Yes … YOU. I know modern life is busy af and slowing down seems like anathema, the desperate beats of FOMO drumming mercilessly through every thought and feeling, but there is a real joy and reward in taking a few steps back, finding a seat somewhere Continue Reading
James Corden presents … Crosswalk the Musical: Mary Poppins
No matter how you slice it, James Corden is a joy. An actor, singer and host of The Late Late Show With James Corden, he is an imaginatively talented man who is responsible for the viral-happy Carpool Karaoke, very funny skits and interviews, and the subject of this post, Continue Reading
Now this is music #90: Jessica Hernandez, Coin, Grizzly Bear, VÉRITÉ, From Indian Lakes
Given music’s deserved ubiquity in our society, it’s all too easy to forget how profound an effect it can have on our lives. For those of who love music, truly deeply, madly, completely love it, it is essential, not just a way of adding colour and flavour to our day-to-day Continue Reading
Now this is music #89: Knox Fortune, STRØM, Lxandra, Refs, Ruby Fields
One of the things I love about music is its complexity and relatability, the way it helps you to not just make sense of life but to add to it too, even if it all it does is lift you up for a moment. At the end of a Continue Reading
Now that the glitter has settled: Eurovision Song Contest 2017 wrap-up
This was an oddly quiet year for the Eurovision Song Contest. Granted yes there was the kerfuffle over Russia sending along an act to compete who had, in contravention of well-documented Ukrainian law, performed in Crimea, a brazenly provocative act that saw them withdraw from the event this year, Continue Reading
I have been waiting for these Visitors: @gezanthony’s amazingly evocative ABBA videos #Eurovision2017
If there is one thing that really made ABBA’s name, apart from their superlatively good music and a handy high-profile win at the 1974 Eurovision Song Contest, its the way they pioneered the use of visual images, in concert with now-famed director Lasse Hallström, to promote their songs as Continue Reading
Now this is music #88: Klyne, BRÅVES, Billie Eilish, Perfume Genius, Bipolar Sunshine
Life, you may have noticed – oh go on, you must have! – is a pretty complicated business. It zigs when you think it will zag, rises when you’re convinced it should fall, and never quite makes sense; well, not enough of the time anyway. Which is why you Continue Reading
Road to Eurovision 2017: Week 7 – The Big Six: France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Ukraine, United Kingdom
What is the Eurovision Song Contest? Started way back in 1956 as a way of drawing a fractured Europe back together with the healing power of music, the Eurovision Song Contest, or Concours Eurovision de la Chanson – the contest is telecast in both English and French – is open Continue Reading
Road to Eurovision 2017: Week 6 – Norway, Romania, San Marino, Serbia, Switzerland, The Netherlands + Russia
What is the Eurovision Song Contest? Started way back in 1956 as a way of drawing a fractured Europe back together with the healing power of music, the Eurovision Song Contest, or Concours Eurovision de la Chanson – the contest is telecast in both English and French – is open Continue Reading