Lopez Blogs

I could absolutely and positively get used to these 4 day weekends. The sun is in the sky like a gigantic fried egg. Clouds are floating by, birds are tweeting (not literally on twitter, obv, as they don't have opposable digits), voles are vole-ing and poodles are poodling. Everyone is in a quite good mood and yay! It happens all again next weekend thanks to May Day Monday (aka national holiday in celebration of my momentous birth. 11lbs 4 oz. My mom still moans over the Christmas turkey that i ripped her like a tissue) and of course KATILLIAM ARE GETTING MARRIED!! Mazel tov!! One thing that I am disappointed about here is the lack of pop spectacle surrounding the event - last year in Sweden, loads of the country's top popstars had specifically commissioned songs out. My fave was lovely Darin singing Can't Stop Love, which would have been brilliant for Mr Shayne of the Ward to cover :/ And I'm assuming Shayne would look as trouser stretchingly magnificent in a tux as Darin did. Still, his song Closer to Close (see my chart) would have worked equally well. Here are 3 more of my faves that should be the official soundtrack (who would you pick??)...

• The Overtones ~ Only Girl In The World: I have been rather effusive about The Overtones over the past six months on this blog and am more than pleased to see their album go platinum, their recent tour be a massive success and more national adulation on the horizon. Britain is currently in the mood for pure pop melodies that is free from studio gimmickery & heavy on melody, musical ability & harmony. Obviously, the 'Tones deliver this in bucketloads. This - and their penchant for seeming like absolute (well-attired) gentlemen would have made them the ideal commission for Katilliam's reception. And what better to sing than this sparkling version of the Rihanna smash that features on the special edition of their latest album? They turn it effortlessly from sparse club stomper to smoky jazz club vibed cool-cat track. It's a little bit romantic, a little bit naughty and the fingerclicking and harmonies give it that cheeky feel that makes it just fly

• Daniel Boys ~ Too Much In Love To Care (with Rebecca Lock): Oh my. For my money, Daniel Boys would be one of my premiere picks to perform at my wedding (perhaps my 5 yr civil partnership anniversary on June6th?? :P), so he's completely qualified to sing at the royal wedding. I love the versatility that the very dashing Mr Boys has - he can absolutely kill a Broadway track as much as he can nail every note of a pop standard like To Make You Feel My Love. For kate and William there is an embarrassment of riches from Mr Boys to choose from, but I'm going for his regal cover of Too Much In Love To Care (duetting with Rebecca Lock). The version above doesn't need anything other than the sumptuous piano accompaniment to match a soaring vocal from Rebecca and a goose bump delivery from Daniel. It encapsulates the crazy wild abandon that comes with love and both singers more than do justice to this delightful Sunset Boulevard track. Second album soon then please Daniel??

• Darren Criss & The Warblers ~ Hey Soul Sister: I've suggested the modern cool of the Overtones, west end magic of Daniel Boys, so why not the sheer exuberance of The Warblers doing Hey Soul Sister? It would be a bit irreverant, a bit cheeky for the royal wedding but totally appropriate for a modern monarchy. As I've said many times, Blaine and the Warblers are the sparkling highlight of season 2 of Glee and as they promote their entirely brilliant album, Mr Criss just comes across as so endearingly humble and charming that I want to scoop him up and pop him in my pocket. I can't help but think they party would definitely be getting started Westminster way thanks to the sheer joy that they give to this track. Dazzling.

Top 21 songs of the week:


21 ~ Shayne Ward, Close to Close (NE/VID)
20 ~ Sanna Nielsen, I'm In Love
19 ~ The Monikier, Oh My God
18 ~ Tove Styrke, High & Low
17 ~ The Wanted, Gold Forever
16 ~ Scissor Sisters, Sex & Violence
15 ~ Joe McElderry, Feel The Fire
14 ~ Love Generation, I Dance Alone
13 ~ Westlife, I Will Reach You
12 ~ Brandon Flowers, Was It Something I Said?
11 ~ Lady Gaga, Judas
10 ~ Same Difference, Best Mistake
09 ~ Take That, Happy Now
08 ~ Rochella Danishei, Never Been Kissed
07 ~ Maroon 5, Is Anybody Out There?
06 ~ Andrea Lewis, She
05 ~ Kylie, Put Your Hands Up
04 ~ Eric Saade, Popular
03 ~ The Feeling, Set My World On Fire
02 ~ Elouise, Born This Way
 01 ~ Sara Ramirez, The Story (3 weeks)

Alright, alright, settle please :) Time to take a break from watching that hot dude in the new Britney video and check out some other tunes :) (Please)!

Boy Banned ~ Hot Spot: I do enjoy a bit of Boy Banned. Their tweets are often quite amusing. They do weird online challenges to keep their fanbase entertained. Pob will quite often have the most unhealthy food and then still maintain his slimline figure. The git. When they are not busy larking around for their adoring minions, they come up with new music to titillate and delight. And actually, in a way that works for the modern musical download world - announce, then a week later have a video and a song available for viewing and purchasing. It's a cheeky little dance number full of euro-disco beats, sultry down & dirty vocals & suggestive lyrics such as "take you where the sun don't shine"!! It's as potentially naughty as when Rachel Stevens promised to let you in her back door!! A simple but clever refrain of "if it's getting cold outside/welcome to the hot spot" is catchy and singalong enough to get the song fun & interesting from start to finish. and then there is that rather chortlesome video - the boys get invited into a limo by some deep voiced ladeez/ladyboyz, who proceed to strip them out of their geek chic attire (oh i do love a boy in a bowtie) while they generally look rather terrified/appalled by the process. (As they should, judging by how eager their hosts are, they are lucky they didn't end up strapped to chairs with a ball in their mouths!! Or maybe they did...) Anyway, interspersed with dance routines we finally get to the boyband (and hopefully regular Boy Banned) staple of some bare flesh and getting wet. Hurrah! So generally, all in all, tres bon!!


Dalton Warblers ~ Somewhere Only We Know: Not a boy band, but they absolutely should be :) Blaine (the lovely Darren Criss) & the Dalton Warblers are the definite high spot to a patchy season on Glee. As i've stated before, rather than do cookie cutter pop video versions of tunes the way the New Directions kids do, they examine every harmony and note to help them reconstruct the tune that matches their strengths while still providing familiarity. Their version of When I Get You Alone was inspired genius (check out the point at 1m25-1m30 where Blaine sings "baby girl you the sh...." - Gap guy and Kurt's reaction are hilarious). Now they are taking on my second favourite ever Keane track and frankly it could only be more perfect if they were tackling the epic Everybody Changes. It's a smooth, multi layered rendition that becomes a beautiful almost hymn like rendition. It's perhaps one of their most faithful renditions to date, but the interweaved harmonies raise this to new levels of gorgeousness. increasingly smitten!


Maroon 5 (ft PJ Horton) ~ Is Anybody Out There?: Hurrah times a bajillion! New music from Adam and the boys. It's essentially a song they penned in 24 hours for free download via Coca Cola for charity purposes. And jolly fine it is too. It's one of their tunes that builds from a basic beginning of a piano riff and Adam's lovely vocals through to adding layer upon layer of instrumentation. It all comes down to it's instantly memorable chorus, a 2-1 handclap beat that propels the song forward and gives it a rather joyful feel. The addition of PJ Horton in the middle 8 adds a nice bit of singing to the tune before one final singalong :) Slotting in nicely to their current sound of Hands All Over, this is a pleasant and unexpected addition to their canon. Now I cannot wait to see Adam on The Voice each week from the end of this month...