BBC

Graham Norton/Craig David

January 10, 2020 — Leave a comment

As always the male legend that is Craig David performed a medley of some of his hits including Seven Days and the ever famous Fill Me In. As far as male singers go it’s great to see him back after so long away and he hasn’t lost any of his touch. Vocal-wise his singing is a smooth and fluidic as ever, can carry raw emotion and it still melodic. Accompanied by just an acoustic guitarist Craig put on a great performance and reminded us of why he has still got what it takes. I admit that even though I’m not a huge fan of R&B I’ve still got a soft spot for artists like Craig David.

Also on the sofa were Daniel Radcliffe, Miriam Margolyes, Alan Cumming and Sharon Horgan discussing upcoming projects

Graham Norton/Harry Styles

December 6, 2019 — Leave a comment

Former One Direction star’s new singer, Harry Styles’s new single, Adore You, is out now and even I have to admit that it sounds alright. I heard it for the first time this evening and it does have a proper rock-type sound to it and vocally Harry’s singing seems to have gotten better. In terms of his singing his voice has more of a roughness to it which it didn’t have before. He actually sounds more like an actual musician and is leaving his boy-band image behind and is coming more into his own now as a solo artist. If the rest of his upcoming album is as good as his new song this could mean a progression into becoming a more serious musician. The performance did have a fishy element to it bearing in mind there was fish being projected in the background.

Since the group split up their music seems to have got better, sounding less manufactured.

Also on the sofa was Jodie Whittaker, Michael Palin, Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson and Kevin Hart with banter and laughs as well as discussing upcoming projects.

Graham Norton/Kesha

November 29, 2019 — Leave a comment

Raising Hell, the new single from American singer, Kesha, is quite an upbeat type of song and has a gospel-sounding quality to it, and it’s probably as close to gospel sounding without going all the way. As always Kesha steals the show with her voice and stage presence. The song itself is upbeat and has a happy sound to it, also it has that singalong vibe to it with some EDM thrown into it. This is quite a good comeback for Kesha as musically it stays true to her musical roots as an artist, where her songwriting abilities are popular. She always the type of music she knows her fans will enjoy and this new song is an example of that. Rather interestingly everyone on the stage was dressed in pink. Pretty in pink (pardon the pun), the audience seemed to like it. In fact there was a lot of clapping and cheering from there.

Also on the sofa to share laughs, banter and discuss upcoming projects were David Mitchell, Chelsea and Hillary Clinton and Jamie Oliver

Graham Norton/Niall Horan

November 8, 2019 — Leave a comment

Former One Direction singer’s new single, Nice To Meet Ya, and I admit that it’s got a nice intro that’s worthy of Noel Gallagher and Alex from the Arctic Monkeys, and I don’t say that lightly. I admit that I’m not a huge fan of Niall, partly due to him being of boy-band stock, but even I have to admit this new song of his actually sounds pretty good. An entire dimension away from what I’m normally used to hearing. If Niall’s hoping to make the transition from boy-band to serious artists this is a good way to start it. It’s my type of music and is a decent mixture of Indie, electro and acoustic. If his new album, Flicker, sounds as good as Nice To Meet Ya  then I would be solely tempted to get a copy. His performance was really good and it was quite nice to see him play with a band, almost as if they record together, permanently. Now providing that he stays on this musical route there’s no reason why he can’t become a more serious indie/rock musician.

 

Also on the sofa were Helena Bonham Carter, Oliver Coleman, Chadwick Boseman, Lady Glennconnor and Richard Ayoade

Graham Norton/Camila Cabello

October 25, 2019 — Leave a comment

As a former member of the girl-group, Fifth Harmony, Camila Cabello absolutely wows as a solo singer and really comes into her element. Tonight she performed her new single, Liar, and it is amazing. Now I’ve seen footage of her live performance and she oozes confidence on the stage and make that spot her own, and has equally as much confidence to use her full vocal range. Whilst on-stage she wore red and it made her look sassy to say the least and she ozzed femininity. And it was a PVC suit which made the performance just that bit more daring. Liar as a sort of hit Latina quality about it and sounds like one for the summer playlist. It sounds like up beat happy song and one you could sing along to. Even though she was on-stage with five other dancers she is someone you simply cannot take you’re eyes of her. As a music lover I defy to look at her and not feel mesmerised by her. Oh, and she’s a Game of Thrones fan

Also on the sofa were GoT’s Emilia Clarken and Jason Mamoa , Ross Noble and Regina King providing laughs, banter and discussing upcoming projects.

Graham Norton/The Sugababes

October 25, 2019 — Leave a comment

After several years away from the lime light one of Britain’s best-known girl bands, The Sugababes, made a come back and it was with the original line-up; Mutya Buena, Keisha Buchanan and Siobhan Donaghy. They performed the late 90’s hit, ‘Flowers’, a garage classic originally performed by female duo, Sweet Female Attitude (SFA) with DJ Spoony. Now I remember the original line-up when they first emerged and it took me a while (and line-up change) to get into them. As much as I would have liked to have enjoyed their rendition of the garage classic sadly I just couldn’t get into it. Some of it may be because I’ve since grown up a bit since Sweet 7, the other might be because I’ve drifted away from that genre. Another reason why this girl band’s is that they are nickname as the time-lords of pop as every 1-2 albums there was a change in the line-up. Now I proudly call myself a fan in the past but sadly they weren’t doing anything for me this time.

Also on the sofa were Arnold Schwarzenegger, Linda Hamilton, Debbie Harry and Nadiya Hussain to discuss their upcoming projects as well as the upcoming film, Terminator: Dark Fate

The Cure@Glastonbury 2019

June 30, 2019 — Leave a comment

The night was young, the stage lights lit up and main stage, the night was young (ish) and the crowds gathered in the masses with pure excitement. Blood, sweat and adrenaline was rising, apart from the summer temperature. 80’s rockers, The Cure made a much anticipated return to Glastonbury, some 29 years since they last headlined back in 1990. And it’s worth noting that they headlined some fours years before then back in 1986, making them the second (or third) band to have headlined all THREE DAYS. Impressive. Front-man Robert Smith opened the set with Plain Busy before continuing their set with numerous hits such as Never Enough, Disintegration, Push, Love Song, The Walk. Between some songs Robert found the time to talk to both the crowd and fans alike. What is fantastic about the band and tonight’s performance was that they appealed to fans and music lovers both old and new. Even after all this time the band are as on-top and incredible now as they were back in the 80’s and early 90’s. The Cure can do no wrong and Robert Smith can still pull off his infamous long. Towards the end of their set they performed two of their biggest hits to date, Friday I’m in Live and the ever well-known tune Close to Me. The band ended the night on Boys Don’t Cry. All I’ll say is that The Cure were definitely worth the wait and you can forgive these guys for a long absence.

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Other live performances on today were Maverick Sabre who never fails to impressive, Christine and The Queens who, quite frankly, is always welcome, as is Friendly Fires. A welcome addition to the live line-up was Billie Eilish who impressed the crowds with her latest track Bad Guy.

Look forward to you next year Glastonbury

The Killers@Glastonbury 2019

June 30, 2019 — Leave a comment

The sun was setting, the adrenaline was rising as was the excitement and anticipation. It was the moment that everyone had been waiting for, American rock/indie band, The Killers, made their return to Glastonbury Festival and it was their second time headlining since their first appearance back in 2007. It was definitely worth the wait. Crowds screamed and chanted as the band, led by front-man, Brandon Flowers finally made their appearance before a crowd of hundreds of thousands. The band opened their set with the song Jenny Was a Friend of Mine, then they sang hit after hit after hit. Throughout the entire set Glasto fans were treated to an amazing light-show fest. Seriously, you could’ve gazed at it for at least 10 minutes and not got bored of it. If anything it helped build an incredible atmosphere. The Killers knew what both the crowds and fans wanted and wasted no time giving it to them. Armed with an incredible voice, guitar backing and drum beats they treated the people to songs such as The Man, Shot at The Night, Runaways, Read My Mind, Bling (Confessions of The King), Spaceman. Popular hits such as Somebody Told Me, always a crowd pleaser. During the set, and for some unknown reason, Jimmy Carr, appeared on stage on janitorial duties. I’m not going to bother asking. Towards the end of the set The Killers were joined onstage by Pet Shop Boys to perform a duet of Always on My Mind, they even stayed to sing a Killers hit, Human. Not bad going seeing as both bands are complete musical opposites. As the awesome night drew to a close Johnny Marr joined the band whilst they did a cover version of The Charming Man. I’ve heard the original and the Killers cover was quite good.

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Other performances during the day were from Tame Impala and Lewis Capaldi as well as Hot Chip. Overall, another fantastic night

 

Stormzy@Glastonbury 2019

June 29, 2019 — Leave a comment

UK grime rap music saw history being made today as British grime rap artist, Stormzy, made his headline debut on Glastonbury’s headlining slot tonight. The night was getting dark, the stage was a awash the incredible lighting effects in preparation for what was about to happen. Stormzy at last made his much anticipated debut on the main stage. Every potential headliners dream and for him it certainly was. He opened his set with Know Me From, even donning a union-jack bullet-proof vest (nice touch, I think). Fists were in the air, adrenaline was rising and anticipation was going sky-high. Stormzy churned his way through is set which by all accounts was absolutely epic to say the least. The first four songs of his set were solo, no-one on the stage but him though between Mr Skeng and Cigarettes & Cush the crowds were treated to a fluidic set by a ballet dancing duo. You don’t see that every year at Glastonbury, at least not on the pyramid stage anyway. By this point the blood, seat and tears were simply oozing as Stormzy continued his way through his set performing fresh songs such as Cold, Crown, Bad Boys, Shut Up. During his set he was joined by Chris Martin from Coldplay to perform Blinded By Your Grace pt 1. Part 2 was done later on with gospel backing. Whilst performing he even did a cover version of 00’s hit Sweet Like Chocolate. The crowds just couldn’t get enough, it it liked Stormzy couldn’t either. In keeping with the charts he was joined by other rappers to perform Funky Friday which made history by becoming the first British rap song to top the UK charts. Like all musical greats he ended his set on his epic track, Big For Your Boots. Towards the end of his set he paid tribute to several other grime/rap artists who helped pave the way for him and many others waiting in the wings such as Ms Banks. All I can say is that today/tonight musical history was made by having the first-ever British rap artist headline Glastonbury. TRULY EPIC!!!!!

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Also performing today were Two Door Cinema Club who performed all their hits including Satellite and George Ezra who wowed huge crowds with his hits including Shotgun and Paradise.

Graham Norton/Taylor Swift

May 24, 2019 — Leave a comment

Just caught a glimpse, well heard a glimpse actually, of Taylor Swift’s new song, Me, just a few minutes ago and I have to admit it’s not overly bad. The songs does it its moments in terms of the way in which it’s structured and has a sort of ‘girly vibe’ to it. Now I openly admit that I’m not a huge fan of Taylor Swift yet I openly admit that she’s a good singer and has a big vocal range on her. In regards to her singing abilities she’s actually quite good and seems, displays full confidence in herself and shows a commanding presence whenever she’s on the stage. In tonight’s performance she had great backing singers who appeared to be more like actual band members than just average backing singers. However, despite the fact that her new single sounds good I won’t be rushing to buy or download it anytime soon. Me is out now and is on her new album of which the title has yet to be released.

Also on the sofa were James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender, Sophie Turner and Jessica Chastain to discuss the new upcoming X-Men film, Dark Phoenix which comes out in early June. As an X-Men I genuinely can’t wait for this

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