Lopez Blogs

GAH! I have not been in the mood to blog these past few days - or really do much of anything so intense has work been. Still watching the DVD extras of Hairspray late into the night has been a good a tonic as getting a nice spooning from Dazpants when i crawl into bed :) And last night, bff Kirsty dragged me to The Duchess which was just so lovely and elegant and finally made me forgive Keira Knightley for breaking Andrew Lincoln's heart in the ever amazing Love, Actually. Anyway, on with other things that have been sun poking through the clouds these past few days...

• Return of switch 22 - back in the good old days of Zapping It To Ya, i was pretty much focused on 3 acts. One of course being Simon Curtis and another being Switch 22... They have been pretty quiet of late and I feared they had gone to the great unsigned pop band heaven in the sky. But no! They are back with a "nu" sound. Literally. Still propping up their myspace are their catchy pop-rap hybrid tracks 1985 (with brillo Adam Ant reference) and Back To The Dancefloor (best intro to a pop song ever), but now there are two new tracks. Nu Sound (See?!) is a fiercely rapped electro tune complete with non-cheesy handclaps and sounds a little bit more punky than their previous tunes. My World is a slightly darker sounding track, no less catchy but represents a rocked up evolution in the s22 sound. The cobwebs of creaky old boyband pop are well and truly blown away and I'm more than ready for the switcheroos to take their rightful place in pop history :)
• The third was Conor who was busy pushing out a nice line of S/A/W inspired pop in late 2006. Anyway, guess who popped up on last week's X Factor... Conor! (Seriously, if you guessed anyone else at that point you have issues). You can check out the video here - it's a typically set up "ooo i know Louis/simon telling him this could be his last chance" scenario. He sounded pretty decent i thought (compared to some others who got through) so i guess it's a case of watch this space!! Woohoo! 2006 predictions finally coming big :) Ish...
• Colour me more surprised than ANYONE that i think the debut single proper from Leon Jackson (or Leonb as popjustice brilliantly call him) is actually pretty decent. Entitled "Don't Call This Love", (and don't judge me for this), it's rather epic but in a simple way. Leon's voice is nowhere near as annoying as I first remembered, and it mixes his crooners style well with some simple melody enhanced by a glorious strings section throughout the chorus. Perhaps it seems better than it is because i am so genuinely surprised that i like it! Time will tell, but for now I'm quite the smitten kitten with this lovely track. Oh god! Does this mean I will have to start liking David Archeluta's Crush? Oh too late. D'luv already talked me into that one :)
• Leona Lewis new single mix of Forgive Me is a welcome change of pace but frankly it's not enough. Sure Bleeding Love and Better in Time were ace singles and perfect for showcasing her vocals so Simon Cowell can look more smug than usual. But this is a bit dreary and underproduced - i was hoping that when Leona picked up the pace it would be more "I'm Your Baby Tonight" or (god help me Yuri!) "Please Don't Stop The Music"/"Disturbia"!! Thank god Jennifer Hudson has said that she doesn't just want to sing ballads on her funky sounding debut out later this month...
• What no "Hairspray" the movie alum albums? Surely Nikki Blonski could take time out of her busy reality star brawling schedule (she's not graduated to proper pop star brawling/beating up toilet attendants just yet) to be the next Diana DeGarmo? (Don't judge - i love that shrieky little minx) And Elijah Kelley is just gorgeous and has the most amazing soul voice. One track on a Disney album is not enough! But it's Jimmy Marsden who i want to hear a whole album from. Not only is he one of my "ten most beautiful men in the world" but his voice is as creamy as home made vanilla ice cream. PS - If Simon Curtis ever gets the opportunity to play Link, grab it with both hands!!

I'll leave you with my two favourite quotes of the day - one by Blair Waldorf (Gossip Girl) and one by Darren. I'm sure you'll have no trouble guessing which is which...

"Oh. My. Effing. God"

"It's like they walked back to 1982, raided Blake Carrington's man about house wardrobe and put it on the shelves!!" (regarding the new River Island collection)