Pop Buzz UK

Shane Warne, the scourge of the England Cricket team for 15 years now has announced his retirement from Test Cricket. And as soon as it was made public, the whole of the barmy army and every casual fan put their hands up in the air and cheered! There’s no doubting he’s a great cricketer but that’s the problem, he’s done so much damage to the English batting order over the years that his retirement can only mean the chances of an England win over Australia increasing exponentially. (more…)

I don’t know if any of these are in the UK but I’m warranted in posting them as they are just so mighty impressive. What had me searching for Christmas lights displays in the first place was an advert currently doing the rounds on British TV for the National Lottery. It shows a house display which is synched to the music, and I smiled when I saw it and thought it was good. Cue a quick look on You Tube and oh my god, there’s some goodies. So without further ado, here are 3 of the best… (more…)

Little Britain star Matt Lucas married his long term partner and TV producer Kevin McGee on Sunday. The comic, famous for characters such as Andy, the wheelchair bound grump and Vicki Pollard, has been with Kevin for four years after they met in a nightclub. After a 6 month engagement, they put an official seal on the relationship in a civil ceremony held at a private members club in London. The reception was the main talking point of the weekend though, with guests at the lavish do at banqueting Hall in Whitehall all dressing as panto stars. Guests included Elton John and David Furnish who dressed as Captain Hook and Prince Charming, Will Young who appeared as an ugly sister and Matt’s comedy partner David Walliams as Christopher Biggins! Don’t ask. (more…)

Debating: The Serial Killings In Suffolk

Reading: Hannibal Rising By Thomas Harris

Listening To: Cliff Richard’s Annual Cheesefest ’21st Century Christmas’

Playing: Pro Evolution Soccer 6

Watching On TV: The X Factor Finale

Watching At The Cinema: Jack Black’s ‘The Holiday’

Searching For: Miss USA 2006 Tara Conner

Remembering: How Pants Steve Brookstein Was

Looking Forward To: Christmas Obviously

Learning: Just 20 words make up a third of teenagers’ everyday speech.

Hannibal Rising, Cliff Richard, X Factor, Tara Conner, Miss USA, Christmas

Last night’s TV was totally dominated by the final of The X-Factor, ITV1’s flagship talent searching showcase. There were 2 contestants left in the final, vying to be crowned the winner and with it, a £1,000,000 recording contract. We had Ray Quinn, an 18 year old student and former child actor from Liverpool. And also we had Leona Lewis, a 21 year old PA from Hackney in London. The two strated as quite even odds although Leona was tipped by people in the know right from the off. The show took all evening to play out, with a first part of an hour and a half including the 2 singers singing 3 songs of theirs and their mentors choices. Ray did well, but Leona just blew away the audience with 3 near perfect and beautifully sung renditions of classic and well known songs. We also had the obvious and expected special guests, this year those being Take That and Westlife, the latter being Louis Walsh’ own band so no surprises there. (more…)

It’s a traditional and accepted way to spend all or at least part of Christmas. When the kids (and us childish adults) have opened all their presents, the turkey has been eaten, sprouts thrown in the bin, Gran has had a drink of sherry and is now fast asleep in the armchair, what do we all do? Yes, turn the TV on, the simple way to wind down after an eventful and stressful Christmas day. Unfortunately this year looks like being a bad one for any British television viewers hoping for a bumper new film and programme fest. According to research by the Liberal Democrats, the 3rd political party here in the UK, this year’s schedule is packed to the rafters with repeats. The party claim that the number of re-runs will be up by 42% this year from last, with a third of all shows on Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and Boxing Day, a repeat. (more…)

Princes Wills and Harry have announced plans to hold a memorial concert for their mum, the late Diana, Princess of Wales.

To mark the 10th anniversary of her death, plans are afoot to bring together a host of pop stars and celebs in a one off concert at the new Wembley stadium. The princes described the proposed choice of acts as musicians Diana loved and listened to in her life as well as some of the hottest names in pop today that both William and Harry like. (more…)

After finding the Ok Go Spoof that I posted last week I went on a bit of a hunt for other spoofs. And here is the first I’ll be showcasing, which is Electric Six with ‘Gay Bar’. First here’s the original in all it’s glory, it’s a great video in it’s own right and I loved it when it first came out a few years back. The innuendo and smut is crude but still clever. Enjoy… (more…)

Debating: The Tornado That Hit London

Reading: Doctor Who: The Official Annual

Listening To: Take That, Take That And More Take That

Playing: The New Nintendo Wii, With Game Of The Year ‘Zelda’

Watching On TV: The X-Factor

Watching At The Cinema: The Animated Feature ‘Flushed Away’

Searching For: The Grammy Awards

Remembering: The Horror Of Britney’s Exposed Crotch

Looking Forward To: Britney Spears Putting Her Pants Back On

Learning: There are 32 billionaires based in the UK who pay no personal tax here

Doctor Who, Take That, Wii, Flushed Away, Britney Spears

This evening sees the Semi-Final of ‘The X-Factor’ on ITV1 in the UK. Leona, Ray and Ben will be going head to head to try and secure the 2 places in next week’s final. But more interesting than that is the fact it seems Liam Gallagher from Oasis wanted to be a celebrity mentor on the show. (more…)

I recently wrote and posted an article about the new film ‘London To Brighton’. During research for this (basically while I was trying to find the film trailer on You Tube), I also came across this piece of footage. It’s a speeded up time lapse video of the train ride to London To Brighton and I enjoyed watching it so I thought I’d share. It’s a journey which would normally take about an hour condensed down into about 2 minutes. What’s it got to do with Pop Culture? Well, ermm, not much but it’s an interesting aside so ah, just enjoy it…

London To Brighton, Train Ride, Train Journey, Time Lapse

For all you Happy Potter fans, and I know there are tons of you out there, here is a video compilation of clips and previews from the upcoming film ‘Order Of the Phoenix’. Due for release on July 13th, this film of the fifth book out of the 7 part series already has fans excited, and I’m one of them.

‘The Order Of The Phoenix’ is one of my favourite of the HP books, second only to ‘Goblet Of Fire’ which I think they did a brilliant job of last year, so I can’t wait to go to the cinema to see this. The cast looks amazing again, with all the regulars such as Daniel Radcliffe and Alan Rickman joined by Imelda Staunton and the gorgeous Helena Bonham Carter amongst others. (more…)

I recently found this article billed as ‘The 50 worst artists in music history’ on Digg and after reading it I had to share it with my readers. Not because it’s excellent, essential reading, not because it got it all spot on. No but rather because it is atrocious, there are so many mistakes it’s unbelievable. I suppose I shouldn’t say that because music and our taste in it are personal and individual so what is one man’s Nirvana is another man’s Kenny G. Following that train of thought though, they shouldn’t have even printed such an article or set about trying to tell us who are the “50 worst artists in music history�?. It might be their choice of such but it’s certainly not mine.

So what do I agree with and what do I think is an insult to some great bands? (more…)

I reported a while back about Channel 4 losing the rights to ‘Lost’ to Sky and replacing it with ‘Ugly Betty’. Well those rumours are now confirmed with sneak peeks and previews of the show being aired in Channel 4 ad breaks over the last few days. From what I’ve seen it looks quite good, although it’s hardly a fit replacement for ‘Lost’ in my eyes. I don’t even think the viewers will necessarily the same, this attracting a more ‘Friends’ crowd. (more…)

A new British film opened in the UK last Friday December 1st. ‘London To Brighton’ is an urban thriller from acclaimed new British writer & director Paul Andrew Williams. Set in the twin towns of London and Brighton (a modern seaside resort an hour away from the capital), it’s the story of a young prostitute and an underage girl she’s trying to protect. Chased by her pimp, the film follows 24 hours in their lives while they try to get away from a premature death. Watch the trailer below… (more…)