celebrity
John Barry, 1933-2011: Musician with the Midas touchTuesday, 01 February 2011
“When you write for film, the dialogue is like the voice, if you like, and I always consider that as part of the music,” said John Barry, who died on 30 January. “Certain orchestral textures have to match the texture of the scene. You deal with the... Read more... |
Gordon Ramsay: Shark Bait/ Dispatches: Fish Unwrapped, Channel 4Monday, 17 January 2011
With such weighty gastronauts as Heston Blumenthal, Jamie Oliver and Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall all aboard Channel 4's Big Fish Fight jamboree, Gordon Ramsay obviously couldn't bear to be left standing on the quay. In fact, with Gordon Ramsay:... Read more... |
Strictly Come Dancing: The Final, BBC OneSunday, 19 December 2010
It’s been a journey, an emotional rollercoaster, since 14 soap stars and sports personalities abandoned reality three months ago, donned a series of spandex and chiffon outfits and embarked upon the most important experience of their lives. They all... Read more... |
The Price of Everything, Stephen Joseph TheatreTuesday, 02 November 2010
The TMA regional theatre awards are about to be announced, which makes it perfect timing to visit a nominee - one of the UK’s most influential venues, the Stephen Joseph Theatre in Scarborough, North Yorkshire. The SJT was the country’s first... Read more... |
Frankie Boyle, Hammersmith ApolloMonday, 01 November 2010
The last time I saw bouncers standing at the foot of the stage at a comedy venue was at a Roy "Chubby" Brown gig. Back then, I remarked how nicely behaved his fans were, as indeed were Frankie Boyle’s last night; however, another quality the two... Read more... |
Celebrity Autobiography, Leicester Square TheatreMonday, 04 October 2010
Celebrity Autobiography, like most of the world’s best ideas, is simple yet inspired. Eugene Pack’s creation, developed with Dayle Reyfel, was first seen in Los Angeles three years ago, then in New York and other American cities, and was a sellout... Read more... |
The King is Dead, BBC ThreeFriday, 03 September 2010
It's not that I feel like a middle-aged fuddy duddy exactly - although I was even almost too old for The Word and I'm clearly not the target audience for BBC Three. But if I were still in the 16-34 age group - even at its most juvenile end - frankly... Read more... |
Big Brother, Channel 4Tuesday, 24 August 2010
There is a lot of talk about the contestants' experience of Big Brother but little about the viewer’s experience. During its decade on air there was a drop-off of both the red tops' shock-horror coverage and the intellectualised justifications put... Read more... |
Grandma's House, BBC TwoTuesday, 10 August 2010
There are many for whom Simon Amstell can do no wrong. He is clever, he is funny, and he fronted Never Mind the Buzzcocks. What’s more, although his appearance suggests a cute, geeky vulnerability, his exquisite sarcasm can skewer the most inflated... Read more... |
Prince, Super Rock Festival, LisbonFriday, 23 July 2010
Travelling along at 140kph in a Mercedes in a police convoy on the wrong side of the road with Prince, and Portuguese fado singer and his new protégé Ana Moura in the front, plus the artist’s agent and Rolling Stones sax player Tim Ries, is pretty... Read more... |
Living with Brucie, Channel 4Wednesday, 14 July 2010
So was it nice to see him (to see him nice)? Actually nice is probably the wrong word for Bruce Forsyth on the evidence of the opening documentary in a new series of Cutting Edge – tetchy, obsessive in his habits and (as we shall see) sometimes... Read more... |
Death Becomes... What?Thursday, 17 June 2010
A couple of very different publications have lately had me thinking about those 21st-century inescapables: death and celebrity. A new magazine called Eulogy hits the news stands for the first time today. It is an attempt – one that is on first sight... Read more... |
