But whilst we can go on for hours about how brilliant she is, this new video with her new (and quite handsome) best mate Elviin makes us go all warm and fuzzy inside…

Have a look at the video below of Elviin and Alesha singing Elviin’s track ‘Worth Getting Arrested For’ at Southampton Guildhall 17/11/09 and let us know what you think…

Ruth. xx

We all know she’s got a reputation for being an uber-diva, but the utterly ridiculous demands that she made at the celebration party for her new album Memoirs Of An Imperfect Angel at London nightclub Jalouse, kinda makes me think ‘get your bags packed and get back to America.’

So, not only did she have a white car with pictures of herself on the side, two specially designed phantoms who escorted her from the car to the venue (wrapped in her new Angel Champagne branding) Champagne, yes, she’s now flogging the most expensive bubbly in the world now.

On top of that was her entourage – two stylists, her own personal photographer, a personal DJ, a personal candle lighter (to ensure none of her scented candles went out during the night, naturally), hoards of bouncers and of course about 20 other people who were just there.

But that’s not all, there’s even more… the venue was adorned with white roses, white and silver Hummingbird cup cakes and gold and black balloons, whilst an entire area was redressed in thick white fur, including a cashmere white carpet for her party heels to walk on. Oh please.

Oh, and if you needed a drink there were semi-naked male Angels covered in gold paint and wearing angels wings serving HER Champers… I mean come on love, we’re struggling to do our Sunday big shop here, we don’t need this.

Ruth. x

Good Shoes return with their first single from their forthcoming second album ‘No Hope, No Future’, due for release on 18th January 2010. ‘Under Control’ precedes the album on the 11th January 2010, released as a 7″ and download with accompanying b-side ‘Talk’.

Written, recorded and produced by the band in various friend’s basements and bedroom studios (in Morden naturally), they follow up their 2007 debut ‘Think Before You Speak’. ‘No Hope, No Future’ has a character, charm and edge only Good Shoes could pull off. Like all good second albums should be, there’s a progression – a heavier sound, more intricate, a little more atmospheric and moody.

Then there are those tracks, so very Good Shoes, which are so brimming with energy and riffs that crawl under your very skin and act like a magnetic force hauling you to the dance floor. The kind of songs that made everyone fall in love with Good Shoes to begin with.

‘Under Control’ within minutes of it’s throbbing, disco-flecked opening chords is without doubt such a song.  And perfectly complementing it is b-side ‘Talk’ with its rolling drums and spiraling twists and turns through jaunty to the
angular. It’s love at first listen all over again.

The band are currently on a full UK tour throughout November and December,
finishing with a London show at ULU on 12th December….

November
18 – Central Station, Wrexham
19 – Cockpit 2, Leeds
20 – Club Strut, Darlington
21 – Priory, Doncaster
23 – Fibbers, York
24 – King Tuts, Glasgow
25 – Dexters, Dundee
26 – Electric Circus, Edinburgh
27 – Digital, Newcastle
28 – Korova, Liverpool
30 – Leadmill, Sheffield

December
01 – Musician, Leicester
02 – Hare and Houngs, Birmingham
03 – Club Ifor Bach, Cardiff
04 – Ruby Lounge, Manchester
05 – Cooler, Brighton
12 – ULU, London

So, he’s been working on some new songs, great, we expected as much… but he only reckons they’re better than anything he recorded with Oasis… I mean, WHAT? Oasis are one of the best bands of all time… and you’re only one small part of that mate!

The cocky indie kid (or grandpa as the case may be) is working with the same line-up of Oasis, just minus his brother Noel, who quite the band back in July… so technically it’s Oasis, just without the brains of Noel.

In an interview with MTV Italy, Liam said he had been “demo-ing” tracks with his bandmates ever since Noel walked out prior to a show in Paris in the summer after his rocky relationship with Liam hit a new low.

Liam said: “We’ve been demo-ing some songs that we’ve had about, that we’ve had for a bit. Just doing that, on the quiet, not making a big fuss about it. After Christmas we might go in the studio and record them and hopefully have an album out in July or summat.

“We’ll do it in a different kind of way now. I’ll try and reconnect with a new band, new songs, and I’m feeling confident about the songs. I’m feeling a million per cent confident that they could be better than Oasis.”

It has since emerged that the brothers hardly spoke in the year leading up to Noel’s departure, as Liam revealed; “I love him to bits but we just don’t get on. Me and our kid have never been that close anyway. We’d only sort of hang out when we were on tour. We didn’t have a solid relationship.”

Ruth.xx

Even if they are doing it as some kind of high concept practical joke on the entire nation, which I sincerely doubt they are, the joke has worn so thin it’s possible to see clean through it, down the street, over the bridge that isn’t there anymore and on to the nearest port.

I know that people are going to react badly to this, and assume that I haven’t seen the irony of championing the talentless, but the fact is that this whole business is a clear example of the modern British public accepting mediocrity and flash-in-the-pan sensationalism over enjoying people who can ACTUALLY SING AND/OR DANCE.  Or aren’t twats.

It would be slightly more bearable if they weren’t so ridiculously smug and confident all the damn time!  Do they actually think they’re any good?  Because they’re clearly not.  And the more everyone entertains the fact that they are, and the more that pillock Louis Walsh backs something that he MUST know is shit, like fully 100% tripe, the more they believe it, and it’s completely unwarranted!

It’s a sad state of British music, when you’ve got so many bands working so hard all the time, writing proper, original music and being completely overlooked while the majority of the British public are obsessed with something that is so clearly appalling, it makes me sad.

This has been vitriolic, and I apologise for that.  Though I stand by what I’ve said completely.  Please, please good intelligent people of Britain, can we unite and make sure that this abomination to entertainment does not outstay their welcome in our collective consciousness beyond what they already have.  I was so desperate to make my point I wrote the most rambling sentence in British history, sorry  about that.  Rant over, now go and have a cup of tea and think about something more pleasant.

Vote No on John & Edward.  Please.  Please.  Oh Go On.  Oh Please, please go on.

The Blackout.xx

Find out what else those foxy little Blackout boys got up to below…

Win Singed Goodies From The Blackout

Jamie & Lucie Jones were my two favourites, and after seeing them both leave the competition in the past week has left me altogether furious – don’t get me wrong, I love Stacey, Danyl and the gorgeous Olly, but Jamie was an utter legend… and to see him go whilst ‘worse’ acts remain is beyond a joke.

Personally I can’t stand Joe McElderry, and I’m hoping we see the back of him in the near future  – I don’t  know what it is with him… I mean, I know he can sing, but his voice sort of vibrates, and he looks like he belongs in Butlins (or as Cabin Crew) and I just really don’t see what everyone else sees.

And then there’s Lloyd Daniels… aww, I hate saying bad things about him because he’s so sweet, but come on, he’s not a great singer is he? Good to look at, but drowned out by the bigger voices on the show… and somehow, even by Jedward!

Speaking of Jedward, I felt so sorry for them when Calvin Harris burst onto stage brandishing a pineapple, but he was actually sticking up for them with his act of defiance, and you know what, I think my vote’s going to be going to them next week for keeping their composure, and not acting like diva’s.

At the end of the day – love them or hate them – John And Edward have taken a lot of knocks ever since Louis put them in his bottom two, and not once have they lost their dignity, despite the media slaying… so Kudos to them, and I really wish them all the best now, because they might not be the next Rhydian Roberts, but they’re good fun and seem like genuine guys…. They want this just as much as anyone else, so lets not sell them down the river.

To give you a bit of (essential) background, it’s the new promo shot for Israel’s Orphaned Land and their ‘Highly anticipated; fourth studio opus “The Never Ending Way Of ORwarriOR” in Europe.

Their new album turns out to be a sophisticated concept album taking Orphaned Land ’s unique brand of exotic, heavy music to soaring new heights in terms of complexity and catchiness. It is an audible manifest that the time has come for Middle Eastern metal to take over!

Vocalist Kobi Farhi comments on the album’s concept and the striking new promo photo as follows: “As people that were born into the tragedy of our region, we have always been devoted to creating harmony between conflicts, a musical heaven on earth, a tango between God & Satan.

“Even in the album’s artwork we combined Hebrew and Arabic, regardless of the fight between Jews and Muslims. I found a Jordanian guy, specialized in calligraphic artwork. He took letters from Hebrew and Arabic and moulded them in his art to create a symbol of peace. Same goes for our band photo, where we portrayed a synergy between the three monotheistic religions, that believe in the same God and yet, ridiculously have been killing each other for centuries “in the name of God” and turned the holy land into an orphaned land.

“Naturally we continued this idea of union on a musical level as well and the result is as always crazy, it’s a miracle – in our concerts: our Jewish fans sing in Arabic and our Muslim fans sing in Hebrew, brave friendships have spawned and our Middle Eastern metal music destroys all this political witchcraft we have been trapped in for so long. This is a musical journey of hope in lands of war, creating heaven on earth, building a new Jerusalem.”

I’ve got to hand it to them though, Orphaned Land is probably the only band from this country that has managed to succeed at building up a huge following among Muslims and Arabian people. These fans communicate freely via the band’s social networking pages, some of them even proudly bearing Orphaned Land, even though that puts them at huge risk in their home countries! The African musician Fela Kuti once said: “music is the weapon of the future” – Orphaned Land is the living proof of that!

I don’t know what I’m more baffled by… music legends appearing on our little show OR that Simon Cowell is willing to let Brian and Roger witness our John And Edward *ahem* performing one of their hits.

To be honest, I’d be pretty stoked if the X Factor themed their week after me, but what with ’rock week’ and now ’Queen week’ can anyone else see how Jamie Archer is finding himself pretty lucky…. Hmm, do I smell a Simon Cowell-based plot here?

Anyway, I’m pretty excited to witness the crazies that are Jedward attempt the opera-style vocal acrobatics made famous by the late Freddie Mercury… I mean we complain about them still being on the show, but who isn’t looking forward to seeing what they do next?

However, with the contestants having coaching from guitarist May, 62, and drummer Taylor, 60, ahead of tomorrow’s show, we think all the remaining acts’ performances will be nothing short of spectacular!

So, who do you think will sing what this week?

Ruth. x

Don’t get me wrong, as soon as I heard the video was online I HAD to check it out right away, and it is (as per usual) GaGa-tastic with mind blowing wardrobe choices and an utterly bizarre storyline, let’s face it, after committing a fake suicide on stage at an awards ceremony this year, and killing her boyfriend in her last music video, this one had to go one better, but making yourself look like an anorexic… isn’t that a bit too far?

Whilst I have no shame in admitting I can’t get enough of Lady GaGa’s remarkable dress sense and I wish, wish, wish I could just spend five minutes with her, I am kind of disgusted by what I see at 2.15 on this video – because with the amount of young girls who thing she’s the bee’s knees, this is surely setting the wrong example?

I’m not going to assume Lady GaGa would be all too bothered – because you don’t see girls walking around in porcelain dresses or covered in plastic bubbles – but it’s the principle of the thing; GaGa looks pretty naked in the clip, so kids might assume she’s naked (and therefore ridiculously skinny) in real like too.

Whilst other parts of the video shows her looking rather healthy (and gorgeous) in just her underwear, this small part has ruined yet another masterpiece from miss GaGa… I just think as a role model to young women she should have thought this one through a little better.

I know Christina Aguilera shows the same body types in her video for ‘Beautiful’ but wasn’t that telling people that ‘You are beautiful, no matter what they say?’ when we see GaGa surrounded by hot men albeit in a rather weird setting, I know there would be people wishing to be in her shoes.

So, what do you think? Is it too much, or am I overreacting?

Read my review of the Lady GaGa – Bad Romance video here.

Ruth. x

Lets be honest, I never really liked Rachel Adedeji and was glad to see the back of her last week, regardless of whether or not she had a ‘big voice’,  Stacey Solomon impression on the 24th October was the final nail in her X Factor coffin for me.

But to see another huge vocalist go out of the competition last night when in the ‘sing off’ against Jedward has really left me furious this morning, but it’s not because they got the most public votes that has left me downing the Kenco this morning, but the fact that Simon Cowell didn’t get rid of them.

If you missed the show last night, you would have seen that after each act had sung, Louis voted to keep Jedward, whilst Cheryl and Danni voted to keep Lucie… and as Simon had made no attempt to hide his distaste towards John and Edward over the previous weeks, I felt certain we would finally be waving goodbye to the comedic pair.

But no! Simon decided to take it to deadlock because he didn’t believe “either of them could win the show,” so, rather than keeping the better singer (and the girl who I though had the most chance of winning) he decided to ‘let the public decide’ and inevitably it was Lucie who waved goodbye to her dream.

Lucie and Stacey are clearly the two biggest threats to Simon’s Over 25’s, because I think everyone is pretty certain that Danyl, Olly and Jamie probably have the most chance of winning should Danni lose her girls, and so it seems as though Simon was playing a very tactical game last night.

What’s more, what the hell was Danni doing? Couldn’t she remain dignified over the loss of her act? Whilst Lucie shed a few tears and said “they [the twins] deserve to be here, they work so hard” Danni turned into a mega-bitch and started moaning that we should get rid of all the good singers, and all start rapping next week. Oh come on Danni, grow up.

Either way, I think it’s appalling that the girl I wanted to see in the final three (alongside Olly and Jamie) has lost out on her dream to a pair of lads who can’t really sing, but at the same time, let’s not hate John and Edward, because they’re trying to achieve their dream too, and if more people voted for them than they did for Lucie then fair’s fair, but don’t whine if you didn’t pick up the phone and vote, because essentially that’s making you just as bad as Simon!

So, what are you all thinking? Did Simon know Lucie would be toast and get rid of her to preserve his own acts, and will the rest of the juidges crucify him the second on of his acts get in the final two? One thing’s for sure, it’s a good job it’s not Britain’s Got Talent, because it really doesn’t seem like this show is about talent anymore.

Ruth. x