Cheryl Cole and X-Factor USA; PR stunt or victim of TV bosses hasty decisions?

Simon's grin was photo-shopped onto this photo. 

I'm not sure that we'll ever know the real story behind Cheryl Cole's supposed exit and re-hiring as a judge on X-Factor USA.  Was it a PR stunt, as some people are suggesting?  It seems unlikely because Cheryl has been in the firing line of some highly critical press since the story ran.  Mocking her fashion sense, her accent and suggesting that she lacks 'chemistry'.  Cheryl seemed to be unstoppable before this began. 

The lack of any official press releases has been quite frustrating. 

What do you think?

UPDATE: Cheryl's not been re-hired.  Simon Cowell's spoke to press.  Cheryl's still silent.

WIN THE ULTIMATE VIP EXPERIENCE

WIN THE ULTIMATE VIP EXPERIENCE AT THE CAPITAL FM SUMMERTIME BALL WITH STARBUCKS FRAPPUCCINO® KICK-START YOUR ROAD TRIP NOW

95-106 Capital FM are taking over Wembley stadium on the 12th June to bring you the Summertime all with the biggest artists performing the biggest tracks. J-Lo, Jessie J, LMFAO, The Wanted, icole Scherzinger, Katy B, Cee Lo Green, JLS and many other massive acts will all be performing their hits.

Want some VIP tickets? Capital FM have launched a competition for you and three friends to win the ultimate VIP experience which includes VIP tickets to the ball, An exclusive backstage tour, a night in a 4* London hotel and a road trip to get you from door to door in style.

All you have to do is join your local Capital FM road trip at the Capitalfm.com. Your position on the road trip is determined by a daily question, answer correctly and you’ll move up the road trip answer incorrectly and you’ll be moved backwards. There will also be secret accelerator codes released on Capital FM’s Twitter and Facebook accounts, via Capital Street Stars out and about in your area and more exciting destinations so keep your eyes peeled for your chance to jump forward in the road trip.

Aswell as a grand prize for each Capital Region, there will also be weekly spot prizes handed out to random places in the road trip. The spot prizes include Topshop vouchers, standard Summertime Ball tickets, Starbucks vouchers and Starbucks Ready to Drink Frappucinos®. J-Lo, Jessie J, The Wanted, LMFAO, Nicole Scherzinger, Example, Mike Posner, Katy B, Cee Lo Green, JLS, Wretch 32, Far East Movemnet, Ne-Yo and Enrique will all be performing at this year’s 95-106 Capital FM Summertime Ball with Starbucks Frappuccino®. This is the first event since Capital went national in January, to become the UK’s number 1 hit music station. The concert takes place on Sunday 12th June at Wembley Stadium.

Join the road trip here for your chance to win http://roadtrip.capitalfm.com/
Follow Capital FM on twitter at www.twitter.com/capitalofficial
Join Capital FM on facebook at www.facebook.com/CapitalFM

Nicola Roberts - Beat Of My Drum

Nicola Roberts has often been described as the least popular member of Girls Aloud, but I've never seen any evidence to prove that.  Infact, I'm always reading highly positive things about her.  She has been quietly building a fanbase in her own right. She's striking in appearance and has become as bit of fashionista since the Girls Aloud fanfare died down.  She has her own cosmestics range and she's been busily working on her debut solo album.  The first single is called 'Beat Of My Drum' and it's certainly not what most people were expecting.  Listen to the Soudcloud clip:
http://soundcloud.com/paganpoet/beat-of-my-drum-nicola

It's quite a hard electronic sound and the chorus is a bit like a playground chant.  However, it works - and it's really making me excited about the forthcoming album.

The Sugababes are back!

With many live appearance on their books, it was obvious that the Sugababes were about to announce something soon.  'Freedom' is the title of their new single and it appears in the below viral video which promotes a new Nokia mobile phone.  What do you think?

...it also features in this video...

I'm back!

Sorry about the lack of posts.  Due to illness and a busy work schedule, it's been impossible - but I'm now back and ready to go.

Records, buying music and how it will never be the same again

It may be difficult to imagine what was like in the eighties if you didn't experience them.  In fact, you might look at your families old photos and laugh at the terrible fashions and hairstyles.  I wouldn't blame you. In the eighties, I was a youngster but I still remember the good and bad things about fashion.  The sleeveless T-shirts (only gym queens looked good in them - the other poor sods looked like trailer trash rejects), long quiffs / flicks (I wanted to be Phil Oakey, and still do) and grey slip-on shoes (the 'Jedward' of men's shoes).  Aside from actually having hair in the eighties, a highlight was owning fold-up aviator sunglasses.  I didn't care if people scoffed at me.  I felt cool and that's all that mattered.

My parents weren't massive music lovers, but my mother did like country music and consequently to this day, I still love Dolly Parton.  Apparently, according to my mother, my first word was 'Man' (as in 'Stand By Your Man' - the Tammy Wynette classic).  It's ironic that my first word became my favourite word, a word that I've been particularly obsessed with since puberty.

I'm always thinking about music and the industry and how it's changed over the years. By 1986, I was a typical music-lover.  I bought my first record, and that one purchase was the start of a long lover affair with collecting music. 

By the late eighties / early nineties, I had huge amounts of vinyl, mostly bought from a few local shops and some given to me from DJ friends.  I lived through the era of Stock, Aitken & Waterman, buying Kylie vinyl and cassingles (cassette singles).  I then made the move to dance music, euro-pop, acid house, Soul II Soul etc...  I was a DJ junky.  It was a fun time because buying was a great experience.  We didn't have the days of the internet and convenience.  We had to go out to shops and meet people.  I would often buy music on the advice of my friends and DJ's.  In one popular DJ shop, the owner would put sticky labels on the covers, and write a small description about the music.  'What it sounded like'? 'The genre?' ...and 'was it any good?' I haven't felt the same level of excitement about music since.  Of course, I still love music.  It's in my soul.  The changing face of technology has impacted how we purchase music and therefore those days are now long gone.  It's a shame because the youth of today will never experience the joy of searching through stacks of records and finding something that's amazing.   The joy of owning vinyl was being able to appreciate its beauty.  The creative artwork and the limited editions - the posters, the picture discs, box sets.... If you were a fan of an artist, you had opportunities to collect their material in a way that is far more impressive than a few folders of mp3's on somebodies hard-drive. 

Scream 4 - I've seen it and here are my thoughts

I've just seen Scre4m.

I didn't want to make this a review because I'm sure that there are many Poptweetz readers that haven't seen this forth installment of the Scream movies.

It must have been a difficult decision to make another Scream movie.  Sequels tend to have a bad reputation and they always seem to pale in comparison to the original.  Yes, the Scream movies have been massively successful.  However, I'm sure that the 'surviving' cast members were probably a little cautious before signing their contracts.

Let me make one thing clear.  Scream 4 is a worthy sequel.  It was a pleasure to see Sidney, Gale and Dewey return to the big screen. 

So, what makes the Scream movies so special?  'Scream' is the acceptable face of horror / slasher movies.  For example; humour plays a integral part in the story.  The Scream movies are not groundbreaking in the sense that the stories are original - infact, in many ways that isn't the point.  The creators knowledge of the horror genre is clear, and that is crystal clear when the characters discuss the 'rules'.  You can read the 'rules' from the first three movies here: http://somepsychoticramblings.blogspot.com/2007/10/rules-from-scream-trilogy.html   The main cast is impressive, and in particular, Courtney Cox's inclusion has made Scream movies 'mainstream'. 

Without revealing too much, tell me about Scre4m. 

• The opening scene is really quite clever. 
• I didn't know who the murderer was until seconds before the reveal.
• Scream fans will not be disappointed as it's doesn't stray from the formula of the previous movies.

I'm not going to write anything else, so you will have to go and see for yourself.

Sade - The Ultimate Collection

This fab 2xCD collection is released next month and apparently there will also be a limited edition CD & DVD pack.

Disc 1
1. Your Love Is King
2. Smooth Operator
3. Hang On To Your Love
4. The Sweetest Taboo
5. Is It A Crime
6. Never As Good As The First Time
7. Jezebel
8. Love Is Stronger Than Pride
9. Paradise
10. Nothing Can Come Between Us
11. No Ordinary Love
12. Kiss Of Life
13. Feel No Pain
14. Bullet Proof Soul

Disc 2
1. Cherish The Day
2. Pearls
3. By Your Side
4. Immigrant
5. Flow
6. King Of Sorrow
7. The Sweetest Gift
8. Solider Of Love
9. The Moon And The Sky
10. Babyfather
11. Still In Love With You
12. Love Is Found
13. I Would Never Have Guessed
14. The Moon And The Sky (Remix Featuring Jay-Z)
15. By Your Side (Neptunes Remix)

Adele - Promise This (Cheryl Cole cover)

This woman can cover any song and make it sound heartfelt and improve on the original.

Genius: Banananarama - 38 videos in 15 minutes

This video is fantastic and the person responsible is a genius.

Bananarama have enjoyed success for almost 30 years.  It's an incredible achievement and this video celebrates all of those memorible songs and videos.

Of course the monster hits are there, like 'Venus' (the US number one), 'Cruel Summer' (another huge global hit and it featured on the soundtrack to the classic eighties movie 'Karate Kid'), 'Robert De Niro's Waiting', 'I Heard A Rumour' etc....

The fashions are amazing, and sometimes not so amazing.  The hair styles are mostly hilarious.

Shed a little tear when Siobhan left (but then re-appeared later in the Eurotrash Eurovision TV show), and cheer when Jacquie came on board (short lived, but still missed). 

It's a fanastic reminder of this much celebrated and loved pop group.