Lopez Blogs

Big Brother 8 has arrived, bringing a load of female contestants into the house. As the great philosopher Patricia Kaas once sang, "Ou Sont Les Hommes?". I'm not watching it: not yet anyway!! The must-see glory days where you switched on at 8am to see four different camera angles of housemates fast asleep, are long gone. Now the people who go into the house know far too much about media manipulation, and this for me has killed a once great show. But maybe I'll give it a go. I'd love to be proved wrong: maybe for once Channel 4 might give us a group of genuinely funny, likeable (or love-to-hate) housemates whom we might actually care about. Doubt it though...

My interest in "Nouvelle Star" has waned considerably since Pierre's departure last week, leaving Julien, Tigane, Gaetane and Julie as the final four. This week Tigane and Julie were in the bottom two, and it was Julie - who's lucky she made it to this stage as she's nothing particularly special - who made her exit. Oh well, I'll probably watch the videos eventually..

As stated previously, it looks as if Julien (described by one French showbiz mag as the long lost son of oddball Philippe "J'Adoooooooore" Katerine) who will take the prize this year. As you know I am not a fan of Julien, although credit where it's due for his slaughter of "I Put A Spell On You" some weeks back. No reality pop show contestant anywhere in the world would ever dare to put on such a so-bad-it's-good performance like that. He may yet have the last laugh.

As for Gaetane, she got some mileage out of an alleged romance with Julien, although when it comes to singing talent she wouldn't stand a chance against, say, Star Academy's Dominique and Cynthia or indeed Nouvelle Star's Amel Bent.

So much for customer choice. We learned today that the rather wonderful CD-WOW! lost its court case against the all powerful BPI, the fatcats who control the British record industry, and will now have to pay approximately £35 million in damages. Yeah, the BPI, who all those years ago wagged the finger and told us that home taping is killing music. The same BPI which now battles the tide of illegal downloading. Yet they choose to punish something as legitimate as CD-WOW! which sells real CDs - not fake ones - the only 'crime' being that the company may have sold CDs which were licensed for sale in Hong Kong, for example. Who cares where they were licensed - they were (and are) legal, and give us, the record-buying public, a chance to obtain CDs at decent affordable prices and not the rip-off-Britain prices which you'll pay in many record stores. What was that about internet shopping giving us freedom of choice? There won't be much chance of that as long as the Scrooges of the BPI exist. We at EuropeCrazy say "Long Live CD-WOW!" We will certainly continue to order our CDs from them.

t’s been kind of a strange weekend. Because our apartment is right in the centre of the gay village here in Birmingham, Darren and I become the unofficial gay pride hosts to all our friends and it’s a role I really enjoy. However, after a week of being sick, I was pretty much really looking forward to the weekend as I hadn’t really had the greatest week ever obviously ;) Anyway, you should always be careful what you wish for as sometimes you end up very disappointed! First off, the weather was freaking atrocious, it did nothing but rain rain rain rain rain! And not summer rain Belinda Carlisle styl-ee, but more Travis Why Does It Always Rain on me styl-ee. It was very chilly too. Then, my pills should have kicked in by this point and made me better but they totally haven’t so I am due back at the doctors tomorrow for more tests. Oy! So i was feeling quite rough still, and now everytime I go anywhere I’m exhausted after about a few minutes. Grife! Then I was meant to hook up and meet/see Kevin Jon, Beyond and Billiam (all pyramid of power acts who were playing the main stage of pride) but was too ill to go out in the rain! And I was kind of really upset and disappointed about this. But then something really kind of magical happened – my friends. The apartment was never empty this weekend, and my lovely friends were chatty, considerate, comforting, funny, entertaining and constant. Even those that couldn’t be there were texting or emailing constantly (xo, cat, simon&markalicious, Bernice and Kirsty!). And really, that is more important to me than anything else I could have done this weekend J Here are some photos from the friends pride weekend...(i love how the first one is really grainy it reflects how rough i felt, but i love my new trousers and t-shirt in this shot!!)

THE RANDOM FINDINGS FROM THE WEEKEND:

· Simon Curtis is growing his hair. Good luck to him. I’m four weeks late for a hair cut and it’s driving me nuts! PS ~ I can post future-celebrity minutae if i like :P

· Check out the lovely Candy Coated Chaos girls and their pics from their current club tour. As they said to me, it’s all about the hair and make up... you can now purchase their aces single Take Me Home Tonite here! The remixes are bonza!

· Switch22 have done an interview at Phoenix FM – the interviewer quite rightly was fizzing at the slit over them. It’s great to see the boys getting more and more publicity, I feel like a proud father :P

· Lee Cheney and some aces other acts (including supercute Sean Mac) are playing at a showcase in London this Thursday. You can still get tickets here. It’s not to be missed.

· Dr. Who is now a human and some little kid I can’t place from a movie has the pocket watch that can turn everything back to normal. In other words, it was a very very good episode.

· I have started dealing with my Veronica Mars grief by watching again from season one...i’m up to episode four. She’s a marshmallow.

· My favourites Ben and Lee are in the final four of Any Dream Will Do. Justice may indeed prevail!

· Maroon 5 quite rightly have the number one album in all of England. Sadly they are only number two in the singles chart. I just don’t get Umbrella...

Hopefully back tomorrow!! See you then!

It's only been 5 months since the end of the 6th series of "Star Academy" in France - but already auditions have commenced for the 7th (and possibly final) series of France's biggest reality pop show. Auditions kicked off in Marseille over the weekend with the usual massive turnout.
This despite some very negative comments by season 6 finalist Brice, who in an exclusive interview with "Public" last week revealed that the finalists' tour has been a shambles, as the singers are paid very little and they have received virtually no support from the likes of Alexia Laroche-Joubert and Kamel Ouali to name two. As for Raphaelle Ricci, it appears that she has been frozen out of the show and claimed that she wasn't even told that their concert was taking place at Bercy.
There may also be a big change to Season 7 - when it starts and ends. Fitness guru Christophe Pinna recently revealed that the show is due to start in October 2007 and run until February 2008, instead of its usual end of August to pre-Christmas run time.

Thanks to the excellent Livejournal community (check the link on the right) I couldn't resist putting some of their fab screencaps on my blog. So here goes.... Lee on video just before his performance of...
..."Daydream Believer"!
Lee and Ben rehearsing.
How great was Lee's duet with Josh Groban on "You Raise Me Up"??? (And how great did Lee look in a suit as well!!)

After the emotional hankie-wringing finale of season 2 (yes I'll admit there was a major lump in my throat as Denny died) would episode 1 of season 3 live up to the hype? Well, strangely...no! I found it rather disappointing as it oddly relied on flashbacks to carry the episode through. Needless to say we can look forward to many weeks of Meredith dithering about her love life etc etc.... but being Grey's Anatomy we will lap it all up of course - and there are certainly some interesting storylines to come.

Five Josephs left, and after the major outcry over the eviction of the massively talented Daniel last week, surely this week would bring justice, i.e. the eviction of Lewis?
Where last week they saved the best till last, this week it was the turn of Lee Mead to kick off the proceedings. After all these weeks of deep and intense performances, it was time to see the lighter side of Lee. (Personally I prefer the darker side, but any Lee is better than no Lee at all...!) On "Daydream Believer" he delivered a performance full of life and enjoyment, but that whole pyjama-thing was so not a good look. However he managed to get The Lord's mojo working. Oo-er missus.

I am trying to pick a second favourite in the event of Lee not making it (perish the thought) and Ben would appear to be it. He is sooooo cute and if I wasn't so besotted by Mr Mead I would have to go for Ben. What he loses in vocal talent - and he lost a lot tonight, tackling "Crying" (not the easiest song for anyone) he makes up for in presence and charisma. Although there were many off-notes, he managed to give a simple, subtle, theatrical rendition beyond his years and did a decent enough job. I am still a bit put off by his growing arrogance though - not quite at the level of Anthony-me-me-me-Kavanagh in "Grease Is The Word" but you can tell it's increasing by the week.

Be very afraid. Cabaret Craig is beginning to grow on me, but why is he wearing pink lipstick every week? If you have the mind of a conspiracy theorist you would think that "Suspicious Minds" had been deliberately chosen to get him into the sing-off. But he does have some appeal and we're glad he is still in, as he is the least theatrical of the lot and seems likeable enough. Bill would say that Craig has been on a journey blah blah blah, hoping it doesn't end tonight. And we like the hairdo. (Craig's that is, not Bill's).

The paper tissue industry will not go bankrupt as long as Lewis is around. (He should have sang "Crying"!!!!) He must realise that The Lord made the wrong decision last week. Anyway he was given "Hero" this week - surely some mistake as he was anything but. Unconvincing and devoid of any personality or star quality. More cabaret indeed than Cabaret-Craig!

After his performance the panel were polarised more than any other performance of the evening. John Barrowman - we looooove him - said that HE. WAS. NOT. JOSEPH. Whilst Bill (Mr Nice Guy) stuck up for him. Listen Bill - they can't all be Joseph! Stop being so positive!
Last word to The Lord - "fantastic charm but no inner strength". Charm????

Finally to Keith-Teeth who is quite frankly puzzling us now. Yes he is good, yes he can sing, but strangely left me cold tonight on "Let Me Entertain You". He is too young and clean-cut for this song, and I keep visualising him in pantomime. Last week he was Liza Minnelli, this week he's Tommy Steele (LOL!) Vocally he is Joseph, says Zoe, whilst Bill "Journey" Kenwright trots out the old "You are on a journey" thing blah blah.

And now to the results show with an added cliffhanger. Who would all-round quality singer Josh Groban choose to duet with him....er, let me think about that one for a moment....
Keith-Teeth spitting out "Josh Groban and Lee Mead", overflowing with envy. It's not nice, not nice at all.
Ooh....Lee and Josh singing "You Raise Me Up". Not one of my favourite songs unless Brian Kennedy is singing it, however the sight of Lee duetting with Josh screams "WINNER!" With the other Josephs relegated to backing vocals, presumably sticking pins into the Lee Mead voodoo doll whilst they wonder if any of them could ever still be Joseph.

Biggest shock of the evening is that Lewis (don't get me started) could still be Joseph. F***!!!!
Lee - YOU COULD STILL BE JOSEPH!!!! YAY!!!!!!!!
Ben - You are in the sing-off!!
Keith - You could still be Joseph, you jealous little....
Craig - You are in the sing-off, and you got the lowest vote. They know how to p*** you off.

Sing-Off: No big dramatic number but instead it's Barry Manilow's "I Made It Through The Rain". Only thing is, Craig didn't, and Ben got custody of the umbrella. The Lord's reasons for dumping a Joseph are getting more bananas by the week: "it was down to casting....your acting didn't come through". Blah blah.

Close every door to him: Take the coat Ben! Take the coat, take the coat. (Curse of the coat: it didn't work this week but surely next week...Yes. Lewis hopefully condemned to oblivion and a sponsorship deal with Kleenex). Four Josephs remain. Semi-final next week!!

So Dean Delannoit is Flemish-speaking Belgium's new "idol". He beat Esther Sels in VTM's final screened last night. The youngster performed his debut single in the final of course - "So Many Ways" is a catchy number which is very reminiscent of The Kooks' "She Moves In Her Own Way" - a song which of course he performed earlier in the contest.
Runner-up Esther needn't be too upset - she will also release a single called "That Will Make My Day" which lyrically is a bit of a gold-digging anthem and which is an equally catchy reggae flavoured number and is sure to be a big hit in the Flemish Ultratop chart. She seems a bit too clean cut for this song though!

Finally got round to watching the exceptional "Ray" which of course was all about the life of soul & r'n'b legend Ray Charles. No surprises that Jamie Foxx won many awards for his portrayal of the singer. What was particularly special about this film was that it showed Charles' life warts and all, and didn't gloss over his drug use or affairs with other women. Despite being almost two and a half hours long, our attention never wandered - that's the sign of a truly great film.

Whilst our multi-channel universe is full of exciting American imports - whether it's "Greys Anatomy" and "ER" emotionally ripping your heart out, "Prison Break" and "Heroes" having you on the edge of your seat, or the tremendous laugh-out-loud absurdity of "Boston Legal", there's lots to watch these days. Dig deeper and there are a few lesser known imports slipping under the radar, one being "What About Brian" currently airing on E4. It's been compared in some places to "Friends" but I would make a comparison with "Thirtysomething", reinvented for the 21st century. Its main man Brian is a pleasant looking leading man, the theme being that he's reached an age where he's still single whilst all his friends are married and settled down. Add to that him being in unrequired love with his best friend's girl, throw in some sub plots about open marriages and artificial insemination and the result is a pleasant way to pass an hour. However, I feel it's still missing that vital ingredient to elevate it to must-see status. Obviously the American tv network agreed, and they pulled the show after 2 series. Guess we better enjoy it while we can.

Veronica Mars (Series Finale – boo you CW Whores!) ~ Oh dear. I don’t really know where to begin. Little veronica filled the buffy sized hole in my life three years ago and provided some whip smart entertainment that never really took with the masses, despite almost universal critical acclaim. The final two episodes show why this masterpiece could never be a massive hit ~ it’s premise put people off discovering an incredibly cleverly written show, with hilarious one lines and deep layered plots that actually continually made sense and doled out revelations in a timely and suitable manner. I love that the more Veronica fell for Piz, the more attracted to him I became. I love the return of three of the Kanes (2 in slightly creepy picture form). I love that Papa Mars was willing to commit a crime for his daughter. I loved Paul Rudd as a washed up has been rock star with a happy ending. And I loved the dialogue throughout. Discussed in depth elsewhere (including my beloved P76 site) here are my 7 fave lines from this magnificent departed beast…

1. “I hear matchbox twenty are making a return” “Who cares ~ Rob Thomas is a whore…” (RT is also the name of the show’s creator)
2. “Weevil – you’re wobbling”
3. “Teen People says if I shave my legs all the boys will notice” “Really? FHM says to bare my breasts…”
4. “I’m easy. Easy like Sunday Morning…”
5. “I’m in line, eating frozen yohurt, talking about my feelings. I’m a girl!”
6. “two questions ~ one, why do you suck and two, what’s it like to suck so much?”
7. “hello lover…” (as Mac sees a super computer!)

Overall, it was very much like a greatest hits of Veronica’s previous moments – weevil framed, a sex tape story, keith disgraced as sheriff, logan a bit of a psychopath and Veronica back in her high school mode of being alone again. Naturally.

Brothers & Sisters ~ this did what all good season finales should. It wound up the season in a satisfying way while moving things forward for next year. I love the party thrown for Kitty and the Senator and the two nightmare families mingling together. I’ve been waiting all season for someone to make a cat noise at kitty’s name and finally some drunken uncle in law did so yay! Ultimately, I was most moved by Justin’s story ~ his return to Iraq moved up by two days he tried to spend time with his family doing things they wanted to do (including going to see Wicked with Kevin!!) and Sally Fields was a power house actress once again. Ending the season havinf fun in the swimming pool where the pilot started and a place that caused so much misery was a really nice touch. It’s not groundbreaking tv, it’s not edgy or hip, it’s just good solid entertainment and I like it.

Lost ~ Sheesh, I don't even know where to begin addressing this one. It was fairly obvious from the start that Jack was in "the future" so i'll come back to that in a minute. The action on the island was pretty intense. Thanks to crap shot Jin, the plan to blow up the others didn't quite come off and Jin, Bernard and Sayyid had to be rescued (wearing last years black gags - i hope they washed them, ew.) by Hurley in a camper van! Genius. The underwater stuff was pretty cool too - i love Charlie and was sad to see him die in a quite poignant and sad scene :( And how rude was Penny, she was all "screw you bitch, bring me Dessypoos". No wonder Charlie slammed the door in his face... back to the island, now the signal is unjammed Jack was free to make a call on his brick of a phone, only for Locke to harpoon Naomi Liar in the back. Golly - now everyone thinks they are being rescued but the flash forwards hold a whole new intrigue to the show. I eagerly await next season to see if Desmond makes it out, to see if Juliet is a lying whore, to see if Ben survives being tied to a tree (they sure love tying each other up on the island, kinky buggers) and to see if Jack's chopper lands to change everything we've ever known. Feb seems a long time away...

I quite liked the last episode of Desperate Housewives this year. It did a good job of bringing Brie back into the fold (I love how she is going to wear a pregnancy belly to avoid the shame of having an unmarried knocked up daughter) while placing the rest of the ladies in various new situations. It was nice to see Susan ditch the drama for a change and have what I thought was a far more romantic wedding with Mike. And poor Gabrielle finding out that the politician who was into being peed on from sex and the city only married her to get the latino vote. At least she doesn’t have to whizzle on him in the shower like Carrie Bradshaw almost had to do. Lynette’s storyline was rather touching – it will be interesting to see if the lymphoma is still around in the new season or whether she has recovered over the summer. Her mom is amazing, hahaha in a scary evil way. And of course the biggest development was Edie’s final few minutes. It seemed a bit out of character for her, but maybe the thought of being alone combined with the weddings was just too much to take. Time will tell.

Smallville was a frigging rollercoaster of a ride of a season finale (end of current series). At times it was almost like it was written with a season finale cheat sheet to hand. Earth shattering revelations? Check. Major characters in life or death dilemmas? Check. Wrapping up of season long plot threads? Check. It was all pretty good, until the last 2 minutes which was quite brillo. I don’t believe for a second that Lana blew up in that jeep – I think it’s pretty obvious that she hopped into the Postal van. Lionel is currently drowning and Chloe’s tear transferred her lifeforce to Lois (how annoying British guy and Ivanova is Babylon 5). I’ve always been a bit annoyed by Lois in Smallville. I was quite hoping she would die after she had been stabbed and that Chloe would take her name in her honour. But probably not then. And Clark fighting himself at the end, before turning into Bizarro Clark was brilliant! Oh! And the “previously on...” was the best I’ve seen since Buffy’s The Gift. I still think season 7 should be the final year however..

Ugly Betty may well be the most over the top show on television at the moment, but if you embrace the insaneness, it’s actually pretty hilarious and amazing. The season finale had a lot going for it. SPOILERS AHEAD!! (PS Don't look at the pic above either :P)

Once upon a time, in a previous series of "Nouvelle Star", panellist Marianne James accused the French public of having s**t in their ears, when choosing to eliminate a talented contestant and, presumably, saving a dud one in the process.

May I then use the same expression tonight then, as I have just discovered that my favourite, and the most talented singer and performer in this year's competition, the divine Pierre Darmon, is out, and with him goes my interest in this competition. With Pierre, Raphaelle, Alex and Ilyes gone, Tigane is now the only remotely interesting and talented contestant left (although the fact that a non-white artist has never won this competition goes against him) - the less said the better about bland Julie and Gaetane, and don't even start me on Julien. Cult figure he may be, but a star he is definitely not.

If there is any consolation for Pierre and his fellow evictees, it's that the biggest star ever to emerge from this contest in its five year existence was a young woman who came third in season 2. Her name is Amel Bent, she enjoyed both commercial and critical success with her debut CD, and in the next few weeks she will release the long-awaited follow-up.

Today we learned that Liberty X, the band who were formed in 2001 by the three girls and two boys who didn't get into Hear'say on ITV's first "Popstars" series, are to split up. The split is said to be amicable with all five continuing to be friends, and they will now concentrate on the usual "solo projects". For a group manufactured on a reality show, Liberty X managed to make a few good records and they always managed to get attention thanks to their more risque image. Still, as the great philosopher Nelly Furtado would say "all good things come to an end" and in these days when pop seems to be a dirty word, so another pop act bites the dust.

Radio Netherlands Media Network (www.rnw.nl) has announced that Radio 10 Gold, the Dutch radio station which fans of mediumwave radio have enjoyed since it began in the 1990s, will cease broadcasts on its 1008 kHz frequency by 30 June at the latest. This is very sad news indeed as this station showed its dull British counterparts how oldies radio should be done - with a diverse playlist and a once strong signal (675 kHz R.I.P.) which could be received reasonably clearly here in the UK, especially on those dark winter nights. Recently the station has had to cut down its transmitter power which was the beginning of the end: the station's owners blame a lack of advertising revenue for the station's downfall. One more nail in the coffin of mediumwave: how many more stations will follow?

Så har det gått mer än en vecka sedan eurovisionen tog slut. Det är väl bara att acceptera att allt har ett slut. Normalt vardagsliv har infunnit sig med allt vad det innebär i form av SAS-strejk i antågande och en massa extra jobb som det kommer att generera.

Jag vill tacka alla er som har läst min inlägg och för era kommentarer. Det är ganska fascinerande att man kan kommunicera så enkelt och smidigt med en massa människor. Under de 10 eurovisionsdagarna som jag skrev på bloggen hade jag nästan 1500 besök. Självklart många återkommande men det är ju det man vill. Kul är det och det inspirerar också till att fortsätta skriva. Min tanke är att framöver bl.a skriva om resetips, mat och dryck och annat som är väsentligt och viktigt i livet.

På återhörande hälsar Lilian

Just realised that I've reached 100 posts on this blog!
The theme of post 101: Måns Zelmerlöw’s debut CD is out today!
Couldn't wait to hear the soundclips of "Stand By For..." and I will definitely be ordering this one. From the 30 second soundclips on http://www.cdon.com/, it sounds like a very good pop album. Måns is already shaping up to be a very versatile performer - "Cara Mia" fans will like the very similar and schlager-tastic "Dreaming" whilst new single "Work of Art" is very reminiscent of Mika's "Grace Kelly". The result is yet another example of high quality, commercial Swedish pop, which they seem to do effortlessly - and Måns deserves to be a big star. I will review this album in full when it lands at EuropeCrazy HQ.

t Won’t Be Long Before Now is finally here! In the shops! Maroon 5 have returned triumphant. RAR! Without going into a long hyperbole about how magnify. they are, lets go have a quick shuftie at some of the magazine features recently out...

LINK: Download the M5 Nissan set

In the semi-final of "Idool 2007" it was Andrej who exited the competition, leaving Dean Delannoit and Esther Sels to battle for the title in this week's final. Dean is the clear favourite to win - not just because male contestants always win this contest, but he is young, with teen appeal and he is also quaintly endearing in an amateurish way. There has been a bit of an outcry at Esther taking a place in the final at the expense of Andrej. She is good and pleasant enough, but lacks charisma which Dean has, although there was no excuse for those stripey trousers last week. Hm.

..."for-me-daaaable!!"
Just discovered the video clip of Pierre Darmon on last week's Nouvelle Star. After his massacre/interesting version of "Grace Kelly" the previous week, this time he was back on very safe ground indeed for "Big Band" week, with a song which he had previously sung at the audition stages and which showed off his talent for a jazzy tune. A confident and winning performance which very clearly ensured another week for him in the competition, although at this stage it looks as if hype (Julien) may sadly triumph over talent (Pierre)
This week the three contestants with the lowest votes were Julie, Gaetane and Raphaelle. It was goodbye to Raphaelle, which I found very surprising as at one point I thought she was going to be the last girl in the competition.

I finally finished rereading Harry Potter and The Half Blood Prince today. I know some people think it’s all exposition and back story that could have possibly been spread out over the five preceeding books, but I really enjoyed it a lot more second time round and could barely put it down (hence enormous bags under my eyes today!!). It’s got me SO excited for the final book, and I have to jot down a few theories here – i’d love to know whether you agree or now...

· The Dursleys ~ It seems that Harry will have to return to the Dursleys at least one more time for the annual protection he receives there. I’m betting there is a lot more to Aunt Petunia that has not been told yet also...

· Horcrux ~ Book six was mainly about the revelation that Voldemort (oh stop flinching!!) had hidden parts of his soul in different horcruxes. Harry now must find at least four more (with two already destroyed – the diary from Chamber of Secrets and the ring blackening of Dumbledore’s hand). One that Dumbley and Harry looked for late in book six has already been nabbed by someone R.A.B. Regulus Black maybe? Sirius’ brother?? In book five, while staying at the headquarters of The Order of the Phoenix, Harry and the gang found “a heavy locket that none of them could open” at the Black residence...

· Hogwarts ~ Oh dear. Is this the end of Hogwarts? I doubt it – as much as Buffy was about Sunnydale, Harry Potter is about Hogwarts and it remains very much a key link to Voldemort. Still, i can’t see many parents being happy with all the year six attacks and now a headmaster being killed – by a teacher no less. I think there will be one more Dark Arts teacher (the curse continues! No one lasts more than a year!) and maybe Voldemort will return to seek out the Gryffindor sword??

Amid poor ratings and Simon Cowell's admission that it has been a flop, something had to happen over at ITV's "Grease Is The Word". As time is running out to choose a Danny and Sandy for the West End theatre production, money man David Ian chose to reshuffle the existing couples!
Anthony & Alison....became Anthony & Vicky
Song - "Ain't No Mountain High Enough". Now Vicky is our favourite girl of course but she will always be in the shadow of Anthony-me-me-me-Kavana-Kavanagh: they didn't bond, they had no chemistry, he's not that great and is only surviving on past glories.
Danny R & Lauren...became Danny R & Alison
Song - "When You're Gone". He sings well but the whole thing is a farce as he won't be able to carry a show's scripts due to his speech impediment. Really feel sorry for Alison as she's one of the best girls but will face an early exit as the other half of this couple.
Bradley & Michelle...became Bradley & Lauren
Song - "It Takes Two". He looks like her dad. I never really liked him, and she's too young, so I won't be too upset if they go.
Michael & Vicky...became Michael & Susan
Song - "We've Got Tonight". The first pairing tonight which have shown that they are serious contenders. I'm no Susan McFadden fan of course but have to admit that they have clicked and could be Danny and Sandy...
Danny B & Susan...became Danny B & Michelle
My attention wandered and I can't even remember what they sang. Bland bland bland.
The sing-off
Bradley & Lauren versus Danny R & Alison.
B & L out: so therefore Danny R lives to fight another week. Glad for Alison but how long will the panel put him through this?

Been too busy this week to write a review of my brilliant Stockholm holiday, so here are some pictures which I took instead! A friendly moo at Skansen.

A street in Gamla Stan.
Moose - can't get away from them.
The Royal Palace. Being royals of course, they don't actually live in this one - they've got a bigger and better one just outside the city. Can't resist an amusing sign whenever I go on holiday....!
A traditional old Swedish country house at Skansen.
And another one.
Yet another one of those tall, leggy Swedish blondes.
Took about 300 pictures of moose at Skansen. Here's just one.

Above is the City Hall at sunset, seen from the little island of Helgeandholmen.
The lovely square named Stortorget on Gamla Stan, whose architecture owes more to Holland than Sweden.
City Hall again, spoiled by a rather unnecessary crane.
Gamla Stan seen from the Djurgården ferry.
How Swedish can a lunch be? Meatballs, potatoes, cloudberries and a Pripps Blå !!

I was lucky enough about a month ago, thanks to my supersexual flirting and general whoring of my body to the fine folks at Instinct Magazine, to have a 42 minute (and 7 seconds) phone conversation with Adam Levine. You can read that exclusive interview in the latest issue of said amazing magazine (in all good usa stores right this second) and catch some of the excerpts that weren't published below. I'm in bold, Adam is just fine in regular font :P

I’ve listened to this album about 8 times in the past few days which is quite unusual for me. Usually when I get a new album, I don’t like to wear it out too quickly in case I get bored of it. I like to let the tunes grow on me and earn my love and devotion. Every so often though, an album comes along that I can’t stop playing. This is one of those times and it’s two for two for the talented Maroon 5. It’s straight in with attack mode with opening track If I Never See Your Face Again positively steeped in disco era Sly and The Family Stone, some electro influences and a healthy dose of Prince obsession. Nice use of backing vocals in the verses that sound a little distorted and add to the manic feel of the song. Makes Me Wonder is up next and was absolutely the right choice for first single. It’s an inspired funk driven tune that not only gets catchier the more you listen to it, but serves well as a mission statement for what the album is about. This is a Maroon 5 that are comfortable with their musical influences, feel cohesive as a band and are not to be messed with. It’s number one slot on the American charts gives me continued hope for quality pop making a comeback. VERY sexy video too. In terms of future singles, well there’s plenty to choice from here. It’s rumoured that Wake Up Call is to be the second choice and sees the boys take a slightly rockier stance on this menacing track about poor Adam finding some 6ft dude in his lady’s bed. So he shoots him. It’s The Thunder Rolls from the guys perspective. Great use of persistant guitar chord to add to the menace of the song, and I love the heart beat that ends the middle eight. For third single in October time I would probably plump for the slightly punk influenced Can’t Stop. The fuzzy guitars play well against Adam’s voice and work up to a frenzy in the chorus. Then for Christmas (and definite standout track on the cd) it’s Adam’s favourite tune, It’s Better That We Break. Shades of Elton and Billy Joel on this track as it starts off as a gorgeous piano ballad before adding some percussion gently to the backbeat. Devastating lyrics about how sometimes despite how hard you try, relationships don’t work make Mr LeFine’s voice sound more doleful and sorrowful than ever. I swear it’s a crime if this is not a single. However, that’s not to say there aren’t plenty of other gems in here and pretty much every song for me is a winner. What works so well about this album is that it not only reflects the styles of the first album, it also revels in what is in the Maroon 5 cd cabinet. For Harder To Breathe fans there are rockier tracks like the Little Of Your Time and Wake Up Call. For fans of the funky soul sounds of This Love there is current single and Kiwi (with the great lyrics “I’ll give you everything you ever want – a stronger hand a faster lover”) and for fans of laid back tracks like Must Get Out &unday Morning there are amazing tracks like Not Falling Apart (VERY Police inspired) and Goodnight Goodnight. Truly a winning cd from start to finish and one that I am sure I’ll be revisitng many times over the coming months…

LINK: Stream the new cd at MTV…

THE EXTRANEOUS TRACKS OF MAROON 5:

Good old Adam and the boys didn’t leave fans hanging for new material between albums. There was an acoustic ep, a live album, Live Lounge covers (Don’t Look Back In Anger), tracks for Spiderman2 (Woman), Christmas songs (War Is Over), childrens songs (Pure Imagination) and hook ups (Everyday People with Sly & Family Stone). It seems this album may well be going the same way – depending on where you purchase the album, there are already 3 bonus tracks floating around. The Way I Was (b-side to Makes Me Wonder) is a piano driven track that Keane would be proud to own, where Adam recalls the good times of hot love and making love to a picture frame with his special lady. Story is a more drum and guitar driven tune that actually reminds of Keane again in Is It Any Wonder mode, only more tolerable and with some lovely bittersweet lyrics. It’s Kanye influence all the way on Infatution ~ a slinky r’n’b style jam with a shuffling beat. As if all of this wasn’t enough, the boys have been doing the rounds for promotion. As reported last week, an amazing acoustic version of Makes Me Wonder was performed at BBC’s live lounge along with a smooth Akon-Police mashup. And AOL presented a performance from the boys on 3 album tracks plus This Love and She Will Be Loved thrown in for good measure. Brillo. Check out the links below to download the songs.

MP3: Maroon5 – Don’t Look Back In Anger

MP3: Maroon 5 – Makes Me Wonder (Live Lounge)

MP3: Maroon 5 – Akon-Police mashup (Live Lounge)

LINK: JohnnyAli’s site with zip file of AOL session

THIS (IDOL) LOVE:

Plus check out Chris C on Any Dream Will Do (love the outfit - darren hates it)