Lopez Blogs

Deck the halls! Hark those herald angels! I saw mommy kissing santa claus (the dirty minx)! Yes, Christmas is finally upon the world (sort of) and I have given you 5 days grace over last year when I did the 30 days of Christmas. That was a little bit ridick - I was like one of those crazy people who put their lights up in September and have Mariah Carey on a loop from October. Unless you did that - then you are not crazy. You are the most lovely exception to this steadfast rule. Anyway, from now until Dec 23rd, as often as possible I plan to put up a Christmas themed post. This will include some of the following categories:

• Christmas Past: A classic christmas song that is still quite marvelous and festive today.
• Christmas Present: A brand new christmas song released this year that is jollying up my holly and my ivy!
• Christmas Future: An instant pop classic, newly released, that will no doubt be the soundtrack to many a drunken hook up at office parties in the future. Delish.
• Christmas Reading: Which of my festive themed novels I am currently ploughing through.
• Christmas Watching: Ah tv does Christmas so well sometimes doesn't it? It fair warms the cockles of my heart. Does a heart have cockles - Ken aren't you doing medicine? IS this true? Anyway, I'll pick out some of my fave Christmas episodes from amazing/rubbish shows!
• Christmas Movie: Ah who doesn't love a good festive film? If you have said "me" meaning you not me, then you will probably not enjoy this blog for the next 24 days but you should probably continue to read it anyway. Thank you.

Then on Dec 23rd, this will culminate in the now annual Fizzypop Christmas Card, so be sure to get your festive photos to me as soon as poss my lovelies. Now on with the show (snow?)!!

CHRISTMAS PRESENT:

Ah Glee. It really does what it says on the tin does it not? It makes one most joyous and happy just watching it (though I really wonder how long it will follow the "Popular" tv show template - will the uncool kids become cool after sectionals?!) As is right and proper for a phenomenon of Glee's size and stature, those crazy kids have put out a very gleeful sounding version of Wham's Last Christmas. It's exactly as you would expect - note perfect, fun, perky, filled with almost literal whistles and bells and utterly enjoyable. While of course not as deliriously brilliant as the Wham original, I'd be quite happy with a festive themed episode and accompanying EP next year please. Here, by the way, are some more Last Christmas covers you may wish to "peruse"...

• Cascada and Whigfield go all keanu reeves - "i'm gonna speed it up!"
• Oh dear god, Crazy Frog just utterly wrecks it...
• Go tween with Hilary (Up the) Duff or Ashley Tisdale...
• Yo, respect to Taylor Swift, but the Wham version is one of the best of all time...
• There's a Boa version if you really must...
• Darren Hayes does it for Rosie O'Donnell!
• Plenty of early millenium pop group versions too - Westlife, Busted, Billie Piper, Atomic Kitten, Human Nature to name but a few!
• And of course it's a festive X Factor fave - JLS being the most recent to attack it!

CHRISTMAS PAST:

It's absolutely impossible for me to kick off December without belting out at least one version of Do They Know It's Christmas and although I adore the 20 year old Band Aid II version (viva Sonia! Viva Kylie and Jason! Viva Bros! Viva Bananarama!), it's often the 25 year old original that gives my vocal chords a work out (ignore the BA20 version, it's tosh). Considering it's grim subject matter, the song is utterly glorious and uplifting and remains a perennial favourite to this day. Plus every year I hear it, it inspires me to do something for charity at this time of year. And the song represents what Christmas is all about - helping others, optimism and hope. Obviously, it's about the birth of Jesus too, but that's just a few of the myriad of feelings Band Aid inspires :) Oh! And what's occuring? DO NOT forget to check out the entirely splendid appearance it made in the wonderful Gavin & Stacey Christmas Special last year. Magnif. Throw your arms around the world at Christmastime indeed.

CHRISTMAS FUTURE:

Grab yourself a mince pie, get yourself an eggnog latte and imagine - just imagine for a second that someone decided to do a cover version of Kylie's exquisite Step Back In Time. Wouldn't that be brilliant? No not really. What would be more brilliant if someone took the template of Step Back In Time, Sweden'd it up a little bit, gave it to a male singer to belt out and created an entirely new but equally addictive ode to 70s music out of it all! Well blow me (please) down with a feather, someone's only gone and done just that. Yes it's Magnus, of Magnus Carlsson fame! Frankly it's not very new at all, but I've only just got round to giving it the time it deserves and it's blooming splendid and bound to sound absolutely brilliant at a festive knees up. Just check out some of the lyrics - "hands up, there's no time to linger, reach out use your index finger, when you bump the bump under the mirror ball tonight"! Outstanding. Just try not to enjoy, I double dog dare you...

OTHERS:

• Christmas reading/movie: Ah Charles Dicken's A Christmas Carol is quite a wondeful and dignified read isn't it? Totally worthy of flicking through at least once a year - it's a cautionary tale to anyone who thinks that meanness, bitterness and thrift will get you through life. Of course it's also been done into millions of films, tv christmas episodes and cartoons by now but Disney have pulled a corker out of the bag with this year's 3D version. Far too dark (both visually and in subject matter) for kids, it's a wonderful visual of what Dickens England would have looked like and the 3D digital aspect really drawers you into the world. Aces.
• Christmas tv: If I'm going dark, let's start with something not so traditional. Buffy was never a traditional tv show and although Amends was plugged in year 3 as "A Buffy Christmas", it was Hush in year 4 that always seemed more of a Christmas fairy story to me. Completely creepy from start to finish, apart from a few character moments, this is a brilliant standalone story tale that could almost be the follow up to A Nightmare Before Christmas. Worth watching every year alone for Buffy sans voice trying to see if she can stake the gentlemen, but confusing everyone with her rapid hand gestures :)
• Finally (!) be sure to check out Steve Anderson's twitter Christmas Advent Calendar!!

Back soon with more festive faves :)