I know this is a very last minute post, but wanted to quickly comment on the return of past contestants on the X factor UK tonight.
As Frankie Cocozza was kicked off the show this week, the four contestants booted off the first week have been given a second chance.
2 Shoes, Amelia Lily, James Michael and Jonjo Kerr returned to the house and set off quite a stir. Misha B and Marcus Collins have both been said to have "both thrown tantrums and their behaviour has been unsportmanslike" (the sun)
Amelia Lily and 2 shoes have refused to come back to the show, so that just leaves the two boys. In tonight's Lady Gaga Vs Queen night, one of the two boys will be able to come back to the competition. I personally am rooting for James Michael. His first performance was a little weak, but I think he is a true musician, and has a really nice tone to his voice. Here is a clip, in case you have forgotten who he is. I found a home made video made of the 20 year old on youtube:
Bruno Mars has released a new single, 'Let it Rain' which was available to buy from 27th September. The video is now officially out to watch, after delays, it came out on the 9th November. Its a great song, really showing his strong vocals and ability to create a hit, and is also quite moody. It is said to be the lead single on the official soundtrack for The new Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part one which we all can't wait to see. The idea of Bruno Mars being played whilst watching the love triangle of Robert Pattinson, Kristen Stewart, and the drop dead gorgeous werewolf Taylor Lautner, thrills me to pieces.
Twilight: Breaking Dawn Part one is going to be released on the 18th November, and I absolutely cannot wait. The official Original Motion Picture Soundtrack for this film was released on the 8th November, produced once again by Alexandra Patsavas, who has been the music director in all previous films in the saga.
Anyway here is Bruno Mars new official video:
He is beautiful isn't he? If you want to also check out his official website then here in the link:
It is official, Frankie Cocozza has been axed from the X Factor today after he broke a 'golden rule' of the competition.
The Sun say he joked about taking Cocaine, whilst The Guardian are saying ITV1 have landed themselves in trouble showing Frankie saying 'Fucking get in there' when he survived the public vote last weekend. They have been under scrutiny after last years Rihanna's raunchy performance and have been told they need to tighten their control over the show with young children and families watching. According to The Guardian they have received hundreds of complaints from viewers as he is seen to glamorize alcohol, swearing and general bad behaviour.
From the beginning Frankie has been known for his partying and womanizing . We can presume that drug use is not tolerated, but in my opinion I think the bosses got sick and tired or his constant partying, out of control partying and negative influence to the public. Or, it could be that they finally realized he couldn't sing in tune, and couldn't stand the idea of another flat, spoken performance next Saturday night. I think a lot of people are very happy that he has gone, but still sad that The Risk had to be voted off before this happened. We want The Risk back!
Read the full articles from The Sun and The Guardian if you want more info:
Florence and The Machine have caught my attention recently, and are my latest obsession. So, naturally I thought I would do some investigating.
The lead singer, Florence Welsh, born 1986 (only three years older than me) and is known for her dark, intense but catchy songs, fiery red hair and her wild and daring outfits. She has been compared to Kate Bush in vocal style, but I think she is utterly original and has such great talent.
Florence and The Machine consist of various musicians, including bass guitar, drum and percussion, keyboards, backing vocals, guitar and even the harp. They started by playing smaller gigs in the London music scene, and proceeded to playing bigger gigs at Shoreditch festival in 2007, then playing Glastonbury, Reading and Leeds and Bestival in 2008.
They released their debut album 'Lungs' on 6th July 2009, which was number two in the UK chart for a total of five consistent weeks. It went on to win Mastercard British Album award at the 2010 BRIT awards, and Florence was nominated Best New Artist, and won Best British Album.
Florence says, " I hope that my music has some of the big themes- sex, death, love, violence- that will still be part of the human story in 200 years time."
She split up with long term boyfriend Stuart Hammond, a literary editor, and began watching all of the gorgeous Ryan Gosling films. He is famous for being in The Notebook. We all know we've been there.
The Breakup with Stuart inspired her to make the hit album 'Lungs'.
Burt, she wasn't always a confident person, as the Daily Mail's interview with her reveals, "I was so awkward in my own skin. I used to hide behind my hair because I was so ridiculously self-conscious." (dailymail.co.uk)
It just goes to show, how famous stars in the music industry were once just as insecure as the rest of us when they we were growing up.
"I dyed my hair red when I was ten and when I was 11- my my goth period- I dyed it black and I was really into witchcraft. I made mini shrines in my bedroom with candles and tried to cast spells to make the boy in the next class fall in love with me." (dailymail.co,uk) Maybe we all didn't go to these extremes.
'Lungs' sold over 100,000 copies in the UK, a great success. They released the lead single "Kiss with a fist." which is a typical example of what this band do, dark lyrics contrasted with happy melodies.
The second song 'Dog days are over' is another great song, really catchy and has yet again haunting vocals with plenty of the essential reverb effect on her voice. You'll know it when you hear it, I can guarantee it. Unless you never watch TV, or listen to the radio. Another great catchy single is 'Rabbit heart (raise it up)'. Another track you will most definitely have heard around.
The fourth single released was 'Drumming' which is a really moving track, using unusual and powerful percussion and instruments such as the bass, piano, organ, violin, cello, viola and harp. This is definitely at the top as one of my favourites.
The next single to be released was the cover of Candi Staton's 1986 'You've got the love." a classic, and I really like their take on it too. She performed this at the BRIT awards joined by Duzzee Rascal rapping, and they released the remix the next day, 'You've got the Dirtee love". Although they are a very unlikely collaboration it seems to really work.
'Cosmic love" was released in July 2010 which featured in several American TV series, including The Vampire Diaries and Gossip Girl. I love their use of harp in this track its absolutely stunning.
In September they announced they were re-releasing 'Lungs' and releasing the album 'Between two lungs' which includes many remixes, live performances including those from the itunes festival, and the collaboration with Dizzee Rascal.
'Heavy in your arms' was the first single on this album, which played in The Twilight Saga; Eclipse in June 2010 credits and was out on the Twilight album. Remember those haunting vocals now? It's one of the darker tracks in their fantastic collection.
Their latest album 'Ceremonials' was released last month (31st October 2011) is made up of 12 songs. My favourite on the album is the beautiful and mesmerizing 'What the water gave me.' (released in August). It was an instant hit on itunes, and drew in an incredible 1.5 million views in only two days. The song was apparently inspired by the famous novelist Virginia Woolf's suicide. Her voice is perfect in this song, and really inspires me as a singer with its stripped down sections, and unusual key and tone. I also really love the unusual instrumentation, and the arty video is enchanting. Take a look, and if you haven't heard this song yet, be prepared to be blown away:
I can see Florence and The Machine are going to be inspiring and a great new influence on the melodies in Honeygene. Her vocals are delicate, and certainly send shivers down your spine.
Finally, I need to put the clip of Florence and The Machine performing on X factor on Sunday evening with their new single 'Shake it out' (released September 2011) I really like it, and her dress is incredible. She has great stage presence, and her voice is great live. I cannot believed its taken me this long to discover this amazing talent. A real find.
So if you haven't got their albums go download them NOW you will not regret it, every track takes you through an emotional journey and leaves you wishing you could make music like this.
I am so sad today as reality has sunk in that The Risk have officially been voted off on the X Factor. The nation, fellow contestants, and judges were shell shocked last night, as two acts were eliminated, Johnny, and the biggest shocker being The Risk who were one of the acts said to win the competition. They sung really well together on Saturday night, so it was definitely a big shocker, and a great loss to the show. The Risk, who had the lowest votes were sent home, whilst Johnny and Kitty had a sing off. Even though I am no fan of the over the top Kitty, I have to say, she performed very well. Johnny also sung his heart out, with properly his best performance of the show.
Going back to The Risk they did a heart throbbing cover version of 'Greatest Day' A cappella,which was meant to be their survival song. They never even got to perform this but did themselves proud on the Xtra Factor. Check this out, beautiful harmonies, and beautiful boys:
I really hope to see these boys around, and hope they get signed and keep performing. I have high hopes for these boys, and will miss them next Saturday.
So, I've never really been a big fan of Coldplay, as I think they reproduce quite similar sounding tracks.. But I do think they are talented, and have some really good tunes. 'Clocks' was my previous favourite, I was in love with this song. One thing I like about Coldplay is the piano riffs. Really nice.
They performed on Jonathan Ross show last week with their new catchy single 'Paradise', and I thought I'd put the clip on here. Take a look, this song has been stuck in my head.
I've also put 'Clocks' official video on here if any of you love Coldplay and want to get into a moody music vibe.
Kitty Brucknell, in the over 25's category on the X factor, and who has caused much controversy in the show has now been said to have racially insulted Derry Mensah, from The Risk).
Derry claims he was warming up his vocals and woke the singer, who then proceeded to call him an "evil black bastard." Horrifying. Kitty seems to believe the contestants are "out to get her" and that Derry 'made the whole thing up'.
Kitty hasn't had a good week, with X factor bosses admitting they used effects on her vocals as she sung 'Sweet dreams' on last weeks Fright night performance. She has said she "knew nothing about it." and will make sure no effects are used on next weeks performance.
If you want my opinion, I think she is a little big for her boots, and a big diva. Unlike fellow contestant Misha B, who I think has similar tendencies, she just doesn't really have the right. Yes, she can sing, but a lot of the time she wavering on out of tune, or is just shouting. I have a big problem with shouting and thinking this is great singing. It just means you have big lungs.
Anyway, apparently X factor managed to pull in 13.8 million viewers last Sunday which was 'up almost one million on last week." (Mirror.co.uk)
If you want to read the full article, and gaze at Derry's delicious pictures, then look at this link:
As for Derry, keep singing, and please keep waking Kitty up. Her true personality needs to be revealed. She can't keep up this innocent act for long, as she clearly believes she has already won and is above everyone else on the show. I might be a bitch, but I have a soft spot for Derry. Sorry Kitty, you said the wrong thing to the wrong guy.
