The grand final of Eurovision 2012 takes place in Baku, Azerbaijan on Saturday, 26 May. As contestants slip into their tightest pants and warm up their wind machines, I'm previewing this year's hottest acts to help you decide who deserves your televote. Today's contestants include Engelbert Humperdinck--the 76-year...
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In a taxi somewhere on the streets of West London the cab driver turned to me and said "What continent has got six of the fastest growing economies in the world?"
"Well it's Asia isn't it!" I replied firmly.
And there an awkward silence...
As we head towards one more tacky but popular Eurovision final, will a spotlight also be shone onto the serious human rights abuses in Azerbaijan, this year's host? Or will the Azeri government succeed in burnishing their image and hiding the reality of violence, repression and an increasingly hostile environment...
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Music fans, I know you're grieving the lack of Glastonbury in 2012, but for all you field-loving, ruddily muddy campers, I pose this alternative: Latitude, surely the only festival for any discerning culture vulture. This year, London's premiere dance venue, Sadler's Wells returns with a stellar line up: Jonzi D,...
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I can't get enough of the 7 up series, a TV documentary following a group of people across the course of their lives. The first instalment was in 1964, when a group of 14 seven-year-olds from different backgrounds were selected to participate with the original premise "give me...
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Revisiting this film three or four years after I first viewed it (for research on Ealing Studios' colour films) I still think it is unjustly dismissed within many studies of Ealing's productions: Charles Barr, for example, described it as 'an expensive, ponderous and loss-making period spectacle.' (Barr 1980: 188). The...
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Dear Iron Sky producer, you had me at "Nazi's from space."
Proving that effortlessly easy high-concept pitches don't always find their way straight to the screen (despite both Snakes on a Plane and Sharktopus proving otherwise), Iron Sky founded its shaky cinematic feet in fresh waters.
With the zeal...
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We left Austin and the mania of SXSW with sore heads, dashed through an airport or two and found ourselves in the northwest, Portland, OR.
I took a little rest and stayed out of town with family and met the boys in Portland early on Monday. After...
Wasting my life on pop culture blogs and gossip sites, so you don't have to.
This week we bring you the news that Naomi Campbell has celebrated her birthday in Bethlehem. That's right. Like JESUS.
As the Associated Press report, the renowned phone-flinger and...
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You might think logically that the Cannes film festival is all about films. It's not.
It's substantially about brands trying to hawk their names around the festival and ensure that they are associated with the most luxurious event of the year.
To be fair, even when the festival isn't...
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Just over 5 months ago, X Factor crowned Little Mix as the winners of the 2011 show... On May 23rd in Liverpool the search started once again for the next act to take the 2012 crown.
Yes, I know the search has already been underway at the...
Yes comrades.
You might have guessed we've had a few days off. Back in London. Very nice it was too.
So... where were we? Santiago? Don't remember much about the gig. I'm sure it was stunning.
To be honest I was...
In 2009 I was asked to be one of the Orange Prize for Fiction judges. I loved it. Although my boyfriend groaned every time I opened another book, I revelled in it. As I charged through the 30 or so books I was sent over in a large...
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I said in my original blog about Cannes to expect the unexpected at the film festival. Well, who would have thought that Ronan Keating would be here for a film and that torrential rain would dampen the spirits of everyone at the festival - including Ronan?
"I...
So - here we are. After months of preparation, the annual kitsch-fest of sequins, divas and shrill voices (and that's just the fans) has kicked off in Baku, the oil-rich capital of Azerbaijan. Below are my tips for the top in this Saturday's final.
The Grey Vote
UK - Good...
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The rain might still be here but there are no damp spirits in Cannes. It could be because Hollywood golden boy Brad Pitt has arrived in town.
His new film Killing Them Softly has just had its first big screening and I was there. The Variety Live producers didn't...
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I write this, my first Huffington Post UK blog, sat in a bedroom full of Ikea furniture circa 1992 in the gay quarter of Manchester - this is what 'on tour' means in 2012. I've been making my directorial debut with Unhappy Birthday an immersive theatre show I've been working...
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Last week, there was an academic conference at the University of St Andrews dedicated to the Harry Potter series of books. Over 50 academics gathered to discuss J.K. Rowling's books, and apparently this caused quite a stir among people who think that children's literature is not worthy of study.
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As a drug policy pedant, it was with great interest that I noted BBC Three's Free Speech were to address the drugs debate - the discourse had raged on Free Speech's social media and blogs for a few weeks prior to the show.
Triggered by
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Since 1732, when Benjamin Franklin first published Poor Richard's Almanac, America has gradually become obsessed with self-help literature as a way to find the next quick fix to achieving that elusive "American dream". So it was only a matter of time before this multi-billion dollar industry teamed up with the...
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