This Is It is a film of backstage footage of Michael Jackson
A film documentary containing recordings of interviews, rehearsals and backstage footage of Michael Jackson acquired by Columbia Pictures, This Is It, is set to break box office records and is out in the UK on 28th October 2009 for two weeks only.
This is your chance to see Jacko as he’s never been seen before – a tribute to the extraordinary life and career of the world’s most famous pop star, Michael Jackson’s songs reached millions and his performances electrified audiences the world over.
Since his tragic death of a heart attack suffered at his home in Holmby Hills on 25th June this year, Michael Jackson has continued to dominate the headlines. This documentary focuses on his rehearsals for a series of 50 sold-out shows at the O2 Arena in London. Directed by High School Musical’s Kenny Ortega who worked with the singer over the years, the concerts had a budget of £13 million and were planned to feature spectacular aerial dancing, 22 different sets, a 3-D video to make the audience feel like they were on the set of Thriller and costumes encrusted in Swarovski crystals. The film also features the posthumus hit single This Is It written in collaboration with Paul Anka.
Less than three weeks before the first show, Jackson died. The concerts had been cited as one of the year’s most important musical events and the first significant event since the HIStory World Tour in 1997. Michael Jackson himself had commented that these would be his final show performances in London, adding that it was his “final curtain call.” Sadly he didn’t know how final it was going to be.
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DiRT-2 plus DLC is on the shelves now
Codemaster’s exciting new driving game is the ultimate off-road racing with superb handling, exceptional visual and audio detail, exciting new locations and driving situations that can be played with multiple players or solo.
DiRT2 follows on from Colin McRae: Dirt and is the first video game in the McRae series since the Scottish rally driver’s untimely death in a helicopter accident in 2007. This time the game offers more in the way of graphics with details like water splashing on to the windscreen, slick vehicle handling and realistic crash sequences as with the screech of twisted metal, handbrake turns and roaring engines, you’re thrown from one event to another. One minute you may be in a rally cross event, the next you may be racing monster trucks or negotiating a point-to-point rally with a co-driver.
Taking place in real-world environments of Asia, Europe, Africa and North America, DiRT2 includes five different events: rally, rally cross, trailblazer, land rush and raid requiring mastery of different driving styles with canyon racing, jungle trails and city-stadium based events. Players can test their skills against the likes of Ken Block or Travis Pastrana – all the other drivers on the track respond to your driving method – ie if you play dirty and drive them off the course, they’re liable to hold that against you and give you a rough ride in future events. A flashback feature allows you to return to the scene of a crash up to three times so you can rectify your driving mistakes and difficulty levels can be altered before every event.
Codemasters have also released multiple downloadable content packs for DiRT 2 which can be used by players to customise and add features to the boxed game; the Access All Areas Pack for £3.19 which gives VIP entry to 100 events set on 41 tracks with access to X-Games events and their courses and The Trust Fund Pack at £3.19 means you can download and experience 35 killer rides and upgrade liveries.
With positive reviews from major gaming companies, DiRT2 is a white knuckle ride and a genuine test of your driving skills and you can buy it now.
Bon Jovi's new album The Circle is released on 2nd November
Bon Jovi’s new album The Circle will be released on 2nd November and comes in two versions; a single disc version and the disc and a two-disc DVD Deluxe Limited Edition incorporating the exclusive documentary When We Were Beautiful.
The US rock band continues the successful songwriting collaboration between vocalist Jon Bon Jovi and guitarist Richie Sambora that came up with the goods on a series of popular albums throughout the 1990s and 2000s. The Circle sees them reuniting with producer and songwriter, Jon Shanks who worked with the band on Have a Nice Day and half of Lost Highway.
Fans will find that the single We Weren’t Born to Follow is different from the one currently being broadcast on the airwaves, after fans indicated they would prefer more of a typical “rippin’and burnin” Richie Sambora solo. As Richie himself comments; “The album is a wholehearted return to rock and roll with some big choruses; It sounds like Bono Jovi but it sounds fresh,” he says.
Jon Bon Jovi agrees; “The last thing we want to do is try and Xerox something until it becomes a pale imitation of the original so when Jon called me up last year and said it was time to start writing, the first thing we asked ourselves was, ‘what do we feel like doing? Where are our heads at? And rocking was the answer,” he said.
The Deluxe version of The Circle costs £12.98 and the single CD £8.98 and will be on the shelves from 2nd November.
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Katherine Jenkins
Tickets are now on release for concerts showcasing one of the best-selling artists of the decade.
With global sales of more than 3 million, the celebrated mezzo-soprano Katherine Jenkins has more or less conquered the world at the age of 29. Not only content with being as sweet as a kitten, she’s also talented, beautiful and brilliant.
So how do you become an international star, the fastest selling mezzo-soprano of all time and 13th richest young person in music in Britain? It all sounds so easy on paper. Having won a scholarship to study at the Royal Academy of Music at the University of London, at the age of 17, Katherine also studied Italian, German, French and Russian (as you do) and graduated with honours. A spell working as a freelance teacher and model for hair and make-up followed before she was made The Face of Wales in 2000. And as if that wasn’t enough, she then proceeded to land an album deal with Universal Classics & Jazz worth a reputed £1million.
Since then she has brought a new meaning to classical and pop crossover, performing at the Rugby World Cup in 2003 in her Sydney Opera house debut and achieving 8 weeks at the top of the classical charts with her 2004 debut album Première, repeated by her follow-up album, Second Nature. As a result, she broke all records as the first British classical artist to have two number one albums in the same year.
Katherine is proud of her Welsh antecedents and is now the official mascot for the Wales rugby union team. She’s has plenty of pluck too. In 2005 when she headed off to entertain troops in Iraq at the suggestion of Vera Lynne, the helicopter was targeted by a missile attack and had to be flown back to the base.
Her songs range from arias, popular songs, hymns and a mix of vibrant classical and surprising pop, with the 2007 album, Rejoice containing two songs written by Take That’s Gary Barlow. Her voice excels in her most requested song by Puccini – O mio babbino caro and her Italian version of Dolly Parton’s I Will Always Love You which went to numbers 1,2 and 3 in the classical music charts, is full of vocal acrobatics.
A concert with Katherine Jenkins will always be a riveting experience with a stunning repertoire that’s as varied and interesting as it is beautiful. So make sure you get your tickets well in advance and there’ll be something to look forward to in 2010.
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Miniature File Cabinet
Here’s a solution for storing all those business cards you keep accumulating.
This miniature file cabinet measures only 6.5×4.5×6.5” and weighs 2lbs, but holds up to 800 cards. Sturdy and durable it’s made of plastic and comes in metallic silver. The top drawer has a built-in digital clock with the date.
And in case you’re worried about accessing all those cards, an A-Z card index is included.
Tadibros X-Racer Human Transportion System
Check out this Tadibros X-Racer Human Transportation System. The name may be a bit of a mouthful but this new Segway is a speedy beast, capable of nipping in and out of the traffic and travelling for distances of up to 30km.
With a futuristic, funky design, the system comes in five colours, red, yellow, blue, white and black and has three wheels giving greater security and stability. It has a removable rear platform which you can either stand on or remove and replace it with rollerblades or a skateboard instead.
For people over the age of 10, its maximum load is 200lbs. Sporting a single cylinder, two stroke, air-cooled engine the Tadibros X-Racer has a motoring power of 33cc, covering 20 miles on one mini tank. It’s easy to control too – why not save money and have fun into the bargain – you’ll find it’s a gas.
Biffy Clyro
As Biffy fans shout before the band comes on stage at a gig; “Mon the Biffy!”
Don’t miss a chance to see this critically acclaimed group appear at major venues across the UK including gigs in Newcastle, London, Manchester, Leeds, Belfast and Glasgow.
Biffy Clyro are a Scottish rock band famous for their melodic mix of vocals, guitar, bass and drums with complicated riffs and continually changing strands of music.
Simon Neil, Ben Johnston and James Johnston have been together since 1995 and matured through phases of punk, heavy metal and grunge. Their breakthrough came when spotted at the Unsigned Bands stage at T in the Park 2000 by the Beggars Banquet label and their first album, Blackened Sky was released. Singles, The Ideal Height and Questions and Answers were followed by a second more experimental album, The Vertigo of Bliss.
Intensive tours ensued and Infinity Land took birth followed by mainstream success in 2007 when the song Saturday Superhouse reached number 13 on the UK singles charts. Supporting stints for Muse, The Who, Red Hot Chili Peppers and The Rolling Stones helped Biffy Clyro expand their fan-base even further and in July 2009 a new single, Mountains reached number 5 in the UK singles chart. Subsequent singles have been featured on Zane Lowe’s Radio 1 show and the latest, That Golden Rule wouldn’t sound out of place in a Bond movie, featuring towering guitar, dramatic chords, changing rhythms and bare torsos.
Dizzee Rascal
He may be Bonkers but the British rapper, songwriter and record producer has got his head firmly screwed on when it comes to getting to the top.
Tickets are now available for his tour of venues in the UK when you can catch the Rascally rapper at locations including Glasgow, Edinburgh, London and Manchester to name but a few.
Born Dylan Kwabena Mills and of Ghanaian descent, the Rascal has got top marks for his critically acclaimed Maths + English album. This follows on from the runaway success of his debut album Boy in da Corner for which he received a Mercury Prize in 2003, becoming the youngest artist to receive such an honour.
With music that can be defined by garage and hip hop beats influenced by heavy metal, drum and bass, grime and ragga, the Rascal has said that he draws inspiration for his beats from “ringtones, video games and staticky pirate radio sounds.”
His performances are famously frenetic using asymmetrical beats and quick-fire rapping about problems facing the young in 21st century Britain; I Luv U, his breakthrough single tells the story of an unwanted pregnancy at the age of 16 and manages to be both humorous and disturbing. With his recent singles, Dance Wiv Me and Bonkers, shooting to the top of the singles charts in the UK, prospects are looking good for his studio album Tongue “N” Cheek due to be released in September.
“Everything I do is for the music – I want to master it like Bruce Lee mastered martial arts,” he says. He’s well on the way, don’t miss out on the chance to watch him arrive.
Hawkwind
Veteran space-rockers, Hawkwind are launching a series of concerts appearing at various venues across the UK including Newcastle, Wolverhampton and London.
The band first impressed the late radio 1 DJ John Peel when they turned up for a local talent night in Notting Hill. Their 1970s self-named debut album put them on the underground map and gained them many bookings, if little commercial success. After a gig at The Roundhouse in 1972, the live album Greaser Truckers Party was released, featuring the single Silver Machine with dancers and mime artist. It later got to number 3 in the UK charts. A second album In Search of Space in 1971, introduced the Hawklog booklet which developed into the Space Ritual stage show and gave the band their ethos and identity.
The band formerly reunited at a reunion event at Brixton Academy in 2000 called Hawkestra, when about 20 members took part. With bands like The Sex Pistols and Joy Division citing Hawkwind as influences on their music, this classic concert is essential for psych rockers and space travellers. Hawkwind’s famous wall of sound, created by synthesisers, guitars and sequencers is guaranteed to lift you off the planet.
Maximo Park Gig Tickets
Fresh from appearances at Reading and Leeds Festival and following a successful tour of the US and Canada, Maximo Park have only been around since 2000 yet in that time have released three studio albums, A Certain Trigger, Our Earthly Pleasures and Quicken the Heart, two of which went double platinum and one was nominated for a Mercury Prize.
Formed in Tyne and Wear, the band got their name from Maximo Gomez Park in Cuba. Front man, Paul Smith is noted for his supreme command of the stage and blisteringly energetic performance with some nifty footwork, as much as for his perfectionism, while Lukas Wooller on keyboard and guitarist Duncan Lloyd add to the general excitement without missing a note.
Maximo’s sets are never superfluous and there won’t be a dull moment. Watch out for singalong songs like Nosebleed, the exuberant Apply Some Pressure and sheer onslaught of Graffiti. And the new songs are just as good as the old.
Maximo Park have had pretty much blanket sell-out gigs in the past so tickets need to be reserved now.