Happy 10 years Little Mix!

On 19th August 2011, what was everyone doing? Me? I was getting ready to start my A-levels. Anyone else? Maybe you were beginning University? Starting a new job?

Well, 19th August 2011 was the day the lives of Perrie Edwards, Leigh-Anne Pinnock, Jesy Nelson and Jade Thirlwall changed forever, as that was the day that Rythmix, later changed to the name we all know and love, Little Mix, was created.

Of course, we actually saw this moment happen in September, as that is when bootcamp was aired on the TV. (sorry to ruin the magic everyone!).  However, because of 19th August being the actual day when Little Mix was formed, this is officially the date of their 10th anniversary.

Like Little Mix's male counterpart, in terms of most successful band this decade, One Direction, Little Mix all auditioned on their own. Perrie auditioned with You Oughta Know, by Alanis Morissette, Leigh-anne auditioned with Rihanna's Only Girl in the World, Jade sang I Wanna Hold your Hand, and Jesy sang Bust Your Windows by Jazmine Sullivan. All got through to bootcamp.

Of course, as it always happens with bootcamp, solo artists get put into groups, the groups get told they have not proceeded to the next round and then you don't see the contestant again. However, there are other times where the judges notice potential and put people, who had originally not been put through to judges' houses, into a group and then put that group to judges' houses. In this case, this was Little Mix.

Of course, what usually happens with groups, particularly, unfortunately, girl groups in The X Factor. was that they would be voted off in the first week of the live shows but Little Mix defied the odds. Not only did they manage to get to the final, they made history by being the first group ever to win The X Factor (JLS had come close but they came second to Alexandra Burke).

 

Often, apart from the few, such as Alexandra Burke, James Arthur and Leona Lewis, those who win have one winner's single and then are never heard of again. Of course, this was not the case for Little Mix.

Little Mix's first single, Cannonball, like many of the other winners, went straight to number one on the UK charts.  But that didn't stop Little Mix. Their first official single, Wings, went straight to number one and over the years, they have become really successful. They have achieved 18 top 10 hits, including 4 number ones (which included the number one they got as part of The X factor 2011 charity single),  all of the studio albums, from DNA to Confetti entering the top 10, with Glory Days going to number one. They have also earned 3 BRIT Awards, which comprises of a history making BRIT Award from 2021: the first girl group to win Best Group, something that even the Spice Girls didn't do.

So, what does the future hold for Little Mix? Well, who knows. In late 2020, Jesy Nelson announced she was quitting the group for her mental health. Furthermore, Leigh anne and Perrie have since had babies so of course they are going to want some time off with their little ones before they get back to doing what they do best: entertaining their army of fans, known as Little Mixers (or simply Mixers). In the meantime, they have collaborated with Anne-Marie on the new single, Kiss My (Uh-Oh) and announced a new greatest hits album called Between Us. Furthermore, they are due to be heading on tour next year, in the support of the latest album, Confetti.

 

Based on the success they have had, and will hopefully continue to have, it looks like Little Mix are here to stay within the pop world. This is good, as we need popstars like Little Mix to continue to release joyful pop songs that you can't help but sing along to, particularly when we consider what a tough time that the last year and a half has been for people.

Anyway, here's to another 10 years Little Mix.

Em x

25 years since Girl Power exploded on to the world

 The year is 1996. England have sadly not reached the final of Euro 96 (Don't worry guys, things are different in 2020), Sri Lanka beat Australia in the Cricket world cup and Braveheart won best picture at the Academy awards and the Olympics were held in America: Atlanta to be precise.

In terms of music, a lot happened. Jarvis Cocker decided that Michael Jackson's BRIT awards performance was ridiculous and invaded the stage during it, Oasis did their famous Knebworth
concert and Take That split, sending their fans into a frenzy (don't worry guys, they reunite in 2006 although Robbie Williams isn't part of this version).

However, with the exit of the biggest boyband in the world came the entry of the biggest girlband in the world. Yep, in 1996, five girls called Emma Bunton, Melanie Chisholm, Melanie Brown, Geri Halliwell and Victoria Adams (later Beckham because she married a slightly famous footballer called David Beckham. Might have heard of him?) became the biggest girlband in the world, the Spice Girls.

This week marks the 25th anniversary of the release of their debut single, Wannabe and no-one had any idea how big the single would get, let alone the band themselves. I think what was appealing of the Spice Girls was that each of them had their own personal personalities and style. A magazine even coined their nicknames, that then became the nicknames everyone knows and loves: Baby Spice (Emma Bunton), Sporty Spice (Mel C), Posh Spice (Victoria Beckham), Ginger Spice (Geri Haliwell) and Scary Spice (Mel B).

Like I have said, the best thing about the Spice Girls is that they all have their own style and personalities, which has given people confidence in being themselves. This was shown when in the run up to the anniversary, they asked what the Spice Girls meant to people on their social media, with most of the responses being that they inspired people to be confident in themselves. 

However, the other thing that is the best thing about the Spice Girls is the feel good songs that they have come out with. From the very first mention of the words, "Zigah Zigah Ahh", we knew that these girls would be queens of producing really catchy songs. From Wannabe to Stop, these girls have never failed to offering some great songs that have managed to stand the test of time. It is also worth noting that their albums have some great songs that were never released. These songs include, Denying, If U Can't Dance and Never Give Up on the Good Times (I admittedly only have the first two albums, Spice and Spiceworld).

Of course, with bands like the Spice Girls who become a phenomenon, much like Take That and, more recently, One Direction, it isn't just songs that the Spice Girls brought out. It was everything, including the obligatory dolls and even a movie. Yes, the movie is cheesy but it is much loved among 90s kids. In fact, the proof is in the...err...reunion tours (?) that the Spice Girls are still loved, having played sold out reunion tours in 2007 and 2019.

In 2021, the girls have now gone their separate ways again (they are still friends) but rest assured that there will still be people, old and new, who love listening to the Spice Girls, whether they are sad, happy or just want to listen to them in general. Therefore, I think we can all be safe in the knowledge that the Spice Girls will be loved by generations to come.

Happy 25th birthday Spice Girls and thank you for spreading some much needed Girl Power and positivity around!

Em x

Radio 1's Big Weekend of Live Music 2021

 Hello everyone!

This time of year is usually when people start getting excited about the festival season. Glastonbury and Reading and Leeds release their full line ups, and everyone starts getting their festival outfits together. However, because of a little thing (ok...a big thing) called COVID-19, festivals have once again been cancelled (ok a few are still going, like Reading and Leeds and Latitude but let's not hold our breaths that they will actually go ahead).

One of the festivals that got cancelled was Radio 1's Big Weekend. Unlike last year, Radio 1 just straight away said the festival was not going anywhere (l
ast year's location was meant to be Dundee) and that past and exclusive new sets were going to be played instead, along with classic live lounges and piano sessions.

You are probably wondering, how did it work? Well, past and previous sets, from the Big Weekend archives, and the live lounges were put on BBC Iplayer and they were played on the radio, complete with the Radio 1 DJs chatting about their memories of Big Weekend.

There were lots of highlights for me but apart from the live music, all the Radio DJs came together for the first time in ages (because of COVID-19 obviously) and I loved hearing how happy they all were about this. I particularly loved it when Scott Mills, Chris Stark and Jordan North hosted a show together, both on Saturday and Monday (for those who don't know I am a big fan of all three of them and their shows, along with Greg James), where they talked about classic Big Weekend stories, notably when Lady Gaga was late and left everyone hanging (mainly Scott Mills and Greg James, who was the unfortunate person who was waiting to introduce her). On Sunday, there was a special festival version of Unpopular Opinions featuring Jordan and Greg (again, I was so happy that two of my favourite DJs were on air together), along with Mollie King, Melvin Odoom and Charlie Hedges. Other DJs that joined in at various times of the weekend included Matt Edmondson, Katie Thistleton and Arielle Free.

Of course, whilst it was joyful to hear all the DJs back together, this Bank Holiday weekend was obviously all about the music and this weekend was no exception. One of my favourite sets was by Coldplay, who had the beautiful setting of Whitby Abbey as their performance location, complete with carefully placed lights across the ground, replacing the usual Mylo Xyloto bands that would have been worn by the audience. Along with hits like Viva la Vida, which featured videos of Coldplay fans singing along to the chorus, The Scientist and Something Just Like this, they also sang their new song, Higher Power, and a song called Human Heart, a duet with We Are King.

Another set I loved was from Ed Sheeran, who has had a little bit of a break, after dominating the charts with his hugely successful album, Divide. Along with his hit singles, The A Team and Shape of You, among others, he premiered a new song, which had obviously taken inspiration from the Coronavirus pandemic. The question is though, will there be a new album from Ed this year? 

There was also some sets from newer artists, such as Jorja Smith, who performed hits including Blue Lights and Be Honest at the Alexander Palace, as well as some new songs, Girl In Red, whose Piano Session from 2020 was included, and Griff, who had done an exclusive set for Big Weekend. I also enjoyed listening to Celeste, as I am slowly becoming a fan of her (for those who don't know her very well, she was the person who did the song for the 2020 John Lewis Christmas advert). I had already added her album to my Spotify playlist but I am hoping to hear more of her songs on the radio, as everyone deserves to hear her songs at least once.

 

Overall, Radio 1 has done what Radio 1 does best and that is to deliver a festival (albeit a virtual one like 2020) and the festival had it all. It had pyrotechnics, thanks to Royal Blood's set on Brighton Pier, dreamy locations, like Whitby Abbey, chilled out songs, thanks to the piano session sets, and the reunion of all the DJs together. Therefore, from my fellow listeners and I, thank you for providing us with some great entertainment over the May Bank Holiday. 

Now...here's hoping next year's festival goes ahead properly (and that goes for all festivals actually, including Glastonbury)...

Em x

Why the LOLathon was the highlight of Comic Relief 2021

 Well folks...it's that time of year again...this week just gone, the UK gathered to spread some joy, laughter and raise some much needed money for charities. 

For those who are not in the UK or the USA (they have an American version), Comic Relief is a Bi-annual charity event, aiming to raise money for charities in the UK and Africa, culminating in a TV event with comedy sketches, performances from some of the biggest music stars and highlights of the various challenges celebrities and members of the public have done in the run up to it.

One thing that has been a regular Comic Relief feature since 2017, is the LOLathon, involving Scott Mills and Chris Stark putting on a 24+ hour broadcast, consisting of jokes and stupid activities.

In the past, Chris Stark literally brought a horse into a bar (yes...really), done a Knock Knock joke at 10 Downing Street (again, that really did happen) and their fellow Radio 1 DJs, Adele Roberts and Jordan North, went out to find the dodgy sounding names of places in the UK (you would be surprised how many there are!).

Of course, things have been different for 2021 (the previously mentioned things happened in 2017 and 2019 respectively) yet Scott and Chris still managed to pull off a really good 24+ hour broadcast.

So why is the LOLathon the highlight of Comic Relief? Well, it means Scott and Chris can be let loose and do, to some extent, whatever they want (I mean their show is essentially like this in my opinion). However, they do even more crazy stuff than they usually do, particularly after 9pm.

During the day, three features were brought back in the form of Super fan Steve (Chris Stark) taking part in a quiz with Little Mix, with hilarious results (the unedited full version is even more hilarious) and Where Do You Think They Were, featuring Emily Atack and her mum, Katy Robbins (those who are regular listeners like me will know what this is about...). Scott also did some vocal coaching with MNEK, singing one of the biggest songs of 2020, Head & Heart

Little Mix, MNEK and Emily Atack weren't the only celebrity guests on the LOLathon. There was also KSI having his report card read out to him, Ian McKellan read out the lyrics to Babycakes by 3 of a Kind (does anyone else remember that song?) and Joe Lycett read some of Scott and Chris's old tweets. We also had a guest appearance from the Young Theatre Company, who performed a musical dedicated to the Scottish Beyoncé (his words not mine), Lewis Capaldi.

However, it wasn't just old features making a return and special guests. Each of the Radio DJs had a task to do. My personal highlight was Jordan North's "Running Jokes" challenge, which involved him being on a treadmill, whilst reading out jokes, with the rubbish ones causing the treadmill to speed up. There were a lot of classic jokes in there (mainly to do with cheese) and Jordan did really well, i.e. he managed to stay on his feet when the treadmill sped up.  

The other highlight for me was Clara Amfo attempting to break a world record in terms of naming the most Beyoncé songs based on the first line of the song.  Scott read the song lyrics and a Guinness Word Record adjudicator joining Radio 1 on Zoom (because of COVID restrictions), assessing whether Clara had managed to achieve this or not. Well...she did it! To be honest, why would doubt creep in when Clara is the resident Beyoncé fan of Radio 1? Clara also had the pleasure of hosting the first ever (and last...probably) Live Lounge for the 4 lads in Jeans who sang (what else) The Wellerman, after them singing it went viral on TikTok.

Other tasks set included Nick Grimshaw finding a group of Drag Dads (who called themselves Billie Irish, Jackie Beaver and Daddy Long Legs) and getting them to record a version of a song that went viral, when the Drag queens performed it on Drag Race UK. The song? UK Hun. Matt Edmondson organised Mollie King's hen do (complete with a life drawing session of Matt dressed up and Una Healy singing a special version of Issues) and Greg James found the funniest listener, who turned out to be someone singing in the style of Kermit the Frog and Annie Mac delivered possibly the best and worst mix ever, with a varied tracklist from Darude's Sandstorm to the Thomas the Tank Engine Theme.

Of course, the even better part is after 9pm, when (to some extent) anything can be said and done on Radio 1. There was a rude Whoooo game, a special non-official LOLathon anthem Yungblud wrote (in the style of Queen's I Want to Break Free) that jokingly implied Jack Saunders hated his Radio 1 colleagues (he doesn't) and Melvin Odoom read a letter sent to him from an ex, in front of Scott and Chris, and his colleagues, Charlie Hedges and Rickie Haywood Williams. The DJs also told some rude jokes live on air and took part in an alternative film quiz with Radio 1's film expert, Ali Plumb, complete with rude team names. It was quite interesting to hear Greg James, Clara Amfo and, of course, Scott and Chris, swear...

At the end of the day (or day and a half?) a very tired Scott and Chris finished hosting a 28 hour show and raised (at the time of ending the LOLathon) a massive £507,089. Of course, it is worth mentioning they have raised more since then (the total revealed during the Comic Relief telethon was £538,431) .

Click the video below to see highlights of the most hilarious 28 hours ever: 

Em x

PS: to donate to Comic Relief (if you can), visit donation.comicrelief.com

The 2021 Grammy Nominations Have Been Revealed!

 So...it is that time of year where nominations for the various awards ceremonies that go on around the world. A couple of them, like the BRIT Awards and the Academy Awards (AKA Oscars) have been pushed back, due to COVID-19 (no surprises there then...). The Grammys were pushed back as well, with the ceremony usually taking place in February, like the other main music and film ceremonies (oh...and the NME Awards), but were rescheduled to 14th March 2021.  

However, despite the rescheduled ceremony, there is still the small matter of who has been given a nomination. Of course, we have the usual suspects but if I tell you these now, there won't be any point of this blog post!

Before I get into the nominations, I am only doing the "general field" nominations because otherwise I would be here forever as there are about 100 categories. However, I will touch upon a few of the other categories where I see fit.

So...let's get into it. Here are the nominations for the grammys 2021...and who I think will win.

Record of the year:

Black Parade - Beyoncé

Colors - Black Pumas

Rockstar - Dababy featuring Roddy Ricch

Say So - Doja Cat

Everything I Wanted - Billie Eilish

Don't Start Now - Dua Lipa

Circles - Post Malone

Savage - Megan Thee Stallion featuring Beyoncé

There are a couple of these songs that could win...I mean Beyoncé seems to always win at least one Grammy and she is nominated twice in this category. However, she has got some competition in the form of the younger stars, like Dua Lipa and Billie Eilish. Both, in the past, have won multiple awards on the night, so could they beat the Queen B? Quite possibly...

So, who do I think will win? I think it is going to be a close call between Beyoncé (either on her own or with Megan Thee Stallion), Dua Lipa and Billie Eilish. Can't choose between them. 

Album of the year

Chilombio -Jhene Aiko

Black Pumas - Black Pumas

Everyday Life - Coldplay

Djesee Vol 3. -Jacob Collier

Woman in Music Part III - Haim

Future Nostalgia - Dua Lipa

Hollywood's Bleeding - Post Malone

Folklore - Taylor Swift

This is a tough category as there are three people that could win this: Haim, Dua Lipa and Taylor Swift. Those who know me will probably say "what about Coldplay?" Well...unfortunately after the fantastic album release (and tour) that was A Head Full of Dreams, Everyday Life wasn't as good. Anyway, if I had to choose between the three, I would probably pick Taylor Swift. 

Song of the Year:

Black Parade - Beyoncé

The Box - Roddy Ricch

Cardigan - Taylor Swift

Circles - Post Malone

Don't Start Now - Dua Lipa

Everything I've Wanted - Billie Eilish

I Can't Breathe - H.E.R

If the World Was Ending - JP Saxe and Julia Michaels

This is becoming a bit of a theme but there is not a song in this list that I can say "They will definitely win." Any one in this category could win it but I think those with the highest chance of winning are Dua Lipa, Billie Eilish and Taylor Swift. 

 

Best New Artist:

Ingrid Andress

Phoebe Bridgers

Chika

Noah Cyrus

D Smoke

Doja Cat

Kaytranada

Megan Thee Stallion

In terms of this category, there are two stars that I think deserve the win. Both Megan Thee Stallion and and Doja Cat have had great success over the last year, with Doja releasing her hit, Say So, and Megan Thee Stallion collaborating with both Cardi B and Beyonce. Therefore, I would like to see either of them win.

Regarding other categories, there is tough competition, particularly in the pop categories. This is notably the best pop vocal album category, which puts Justin Bieber (Changes), Lady Gaga (Chromatica), Dua Lipa (Future Nostalgia), Harry Styles (Fine Line) and Taylor Swift (Folklore) against each other. Who knows who is going to win this as they are all massive artists but I think the win could go to either Dua Lipa or Taylor Swift. 

 

It is also worth mentioning that Billie Eilish could win another grammy for the James Bond universe, as No Time to Die is nominated for Best song written for visual media, but it does have some strong competition in the form of Into the Unknown from Frozen 2.

Of course, we couldn't talk about The Grammys without mentioning the lack of nominations for The Weeknd. Despite having the biggest song of the year in 2020, in the form of Blinding Lights, and having a majorly successful album, After Hours. Furthermore, he had done a stunning Super Bowl Half time show (the best since Beyoncé in my opinion). All this is despite some of the other nominees being released about two years ago.

So there you have it, my rundown of (almost) all things regarding The Grammys. Due to living in the UK, I won't be tuning in because of the time difference but it will be interesting to see the results of the general field categories, as well as the other categories. Additionally, for those who can watch, you'll have the chance to see performances (presumably filmed from home because of COVID-19) from the likes of BTS, Dua Lipa, Billie Eilish, Chris Martin and Miranda Lambert to name a few.

Anyway, good luck everyone!

Em x

RIP Daft Punk: 1993-2021

Hello

So...in news that absolutely no-one saw coming, the legendary dance act, Daft Punk announced their retirement/split. 

Yep...the dance duo that had been going since 1993 (yep, I can't believe it either...) announced their split in only one way that Daft Punk can...as robots. Don't get it? Let me explain...

They put out a video called Epilogue,  based on a film they released back in 2006 called Electroma. Within it one of the members sets the other member to destruct. Yep it sounds weird but what else would you expect? Anyway, if you don't believe check out the random video below, if you have a spare 7 minutes:

But what made Daft Punk one of the most successful dance acts of all time? At the time, not many dance acts had released music like what they released before. The best way to describe Daft Punk's music is experimental robot dance music. In fact, they did a song called Robot Rock to further emphasise my thoughts into what I think their type of music should be called. Due to the different and new sound, fans instantly latched on, with songs like Around the World, One More Time and Technologic becoming big hits. Oh and of course, we have to mention the massive summer song Get Lucky, which featured two musical legends, Pharrell and Nile Rodgers.  It became the top streamed song in the UK in 2013 and it became a million seller within 2 months (the song was released in April and this happened in June).

But it wasn't just music fans who had become obsessed with Daft Punk and their music. Fellow entertainers had also shown their love for the two musical robots. Famously, Kanye West sampled the smash hit, Harder, Faster, Stronger as part of his hit called Stronger. Furthermore, Daft Punk have featured in a Family Guy sketch and were parodied in The Angry Birds Movie (yes, really as...Daft Piggy). It is also clear that they have influenced other fellow musicians in terms of sound: it is clearly heard in Pharrell Williams' song, Frontin'. You could also argue that Mark Ronson might have been influenced by Daft Punk's sound, notably, I think, in Late Night Feelings. 

So, thank you Daft Punk for giving us some great timeless songs that we can dance and sing along to, which I think we all need at this time.  You left a great legacy and for that, music fans are eternally grateful. 

Em x

Why Radio 1 was The Happy Place During 2020

 Hello everyone!

So 2020 was a weird year. COVID-19 took over, put the UK (and the world) in lockdown and cancelled the one thing that I love doing: going to concerts (ok I had not planned to see any concerts this year...yep shocking...but that doesn't mean I'm wasn't disappointed. I mean Glastonbury was cancelled...)

However, if there is one thing that I think everyone (OK..not everyone but most people my age) has been happy about is the joy of Radio 1. Yep, somehow admist the mayhem of 2020, Radio 1 has managed to be the joyous chaos that I think everyone has needed to get through this crazy year.

Radio 1 is a great radio station in general. Whether it is the joy of listening to Greg James passing a pasty around the country, (a listener said they had never had one so one got delivered  to her) and playing hide and seek with Nick Grimshaw, Scott Mills and Chris Stark providing a comedic guide to places around the UK (calling it a Stark Guide to Britain) or Clara Amfo providing Live music in the form of the Live Lounge, Radio 1 provides the music and entertainment that everyone needs in their life.

In 2020, this music and entertainment has been needed more than ever. Yes, we couldn't go to concerts or the theatre, or meet with your friends face to face, but we still had musicians releasing music (and comedians in the form of Matt Lucas singing about a baked potato) and radio still carried on being produced. 

Of course, Radio 1 itself had to adapt to new changes. For example, some of the DJs, when there were two of them like Scott and Chris, had to work from home and of course, you can imagine that not many people would be around in the studio with them, such as producers etc. However, Radio 1 still maintained its wonderful craziness that fellow listeners and I know and love.

There have been many highlights during this year, whether that be celebrities, from Jade Thirlwall, to Niall Horan, coming to do DJ sets on Scott Mills and Chris Stark's show to Greg James having listener Ava coming on to do the Sadvent Calendar, where each day they would play a standout moment from The Breakfast Show with Greg James or just funny moments in general.  We even had Annie Mac home school the nation (and Nick Grimshaw) in dance and rave music. Scott and Chris also joined in with the quiz trend, with their own, in the form of the Don't Look it Up quiz, led by producer Will aka. "Oh hi Will." There was even a virtual Radio 1's Big Weekend (the original was cancelled due to COVID), featuring classic Big Weekend performances, as well as exclusive new performances, done by music artists from their homes.

However, I think the big highlight for every Radio 1 listener was when a campaign was developed, thanks to a UK listener who suggested that Greg James should get someone from every country in the world to shout "Up Yours Corona!" after another listener from Germany had shouted this due to their plans being ruined (let's face it who hasn't had their plans disrupted by Coronavirus...). After this, Greg, his fellow Radio 1 DJs, including Mollie King, Matt Edmondson and Dev, took it upon themselves to gather as many worldwide listeners, from Switzerland to lesser known countries such as Uzbekistan and Tuvalu, to shout "Up Yours Corona" from 193 countries. The most impressive bit was that Radio 1 managed to do this all in a week.

You don't believe me that this happened? Just take a look at this video...

  

 It wasn't just on the radio where the DJs provided us with some much needed joy during this time. It was later revealed that Clara Amfo was doing Strictly Come Dancing (known as Dancing With the Stars in other countries), and Jordan North was going to do the UK version of  I'm A Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here, (in a Welsh Castle instead of the Australian jungle because yep...you guessed it...COVID). Us British love the glitz and glamour of Strictly and celebrities being face to face with their worst fears anyway, regardless of whether there is a pandemic or not, right?

So, with that being said, thank you  Radio 1 for providing us the entertainment and stupid nonsense that everyone has needed in 2020. Whilst we are still in lockdown in 2021, we can all rest assure that Radio 1 will still provide the much needed (fun) chaos that it is renowned for. 

Stay safe everyone.

Em x