Be Happy!

Be Happy!
A toaster in Greece produced this!

Wednesday 23 November 2011

Jessie J, and why you should love her...

JESSIE J is probably my biggest inspiration in the music industry. In fact, I would say she is my biggest inspiration. At the age of 23, Jessie has had a crazy year. Being previously in the shadows, penning tunes for the likes of Miley Cyrus and Chris Brown, Jessie has finally emerged into a fully fledged superstar. The recent one year anniversary of her debut number one single 'Do It Like A Dude' is a milestone of how far she has come; a sell out tour across the UK and releasing a platinum album....already!

Due to MASSIVE demand, Jessie was forced to add more tour dates to her 'Heartbeat Tour'...as if she didn't want to! So I was lucky enough to bag a ticket from a friend and see her live for the third time this year...and what a show it was! After breaking her foot after falling off the stage whilst rehearsing for Capital FM's Summer Time Ball, Jessie performed all her summer gigs with a huge 'moon boot' (as she called it) on her leg whilst sitting on a throne. Her Hammersmith Apollo performance was the first time I had seen her perform without it.

Jumping and dancing around the stage showed me how energetic she was and I realised it must have been so hard for her to just sit and perform. Jessie went all out on her last London show, even handing out heart shaped baloons to the crowd and inviting the X Factor contestants up on stage to sing with her! Her ability to make the crowd howl with laughter and cry their eyes out is one talent. Her voice, is another. The whole audience were up on their feet (including her grandparents who were watching her perform for the first time!) throughout the gig singing to her best known songs including 'Who's Laughing Now' and 'Price Tag' and even her not so well known ones 'Technology' and 'My Shadow' which I think overwhelmed her. I don't know much about music, but it is clear to see that Jessie has extreme talent and she is constantly improving.


 Once dubbed as 'the best singer in the world' by Justin Timberlake, Jessie has the ability to sing any song. Her voice, better live than on the CD, is simply phenomenal and she is finally getting the credit she deserves.  Winning titles including Best Female Artist (Urban Music Awards) Best Newcomer, UK act, Album and Song at the MOBO's and Critic's Choice Award at the Brits are to name a few of her awards this year so far.


So, if you haven't already, get listening to Jessie J's debut album 'Who You Are' and make sure you get tickets for her next tour. As an aspiring journalist, my ambition is to interview Jessie so keep an eye out as one day it WILL happen!

p.s. don't be shocked when you see a bald Jessie next year. She's swapping the iconic bob for a shiny, cold head. As she tweeted earlier this year “It’s hair, It will grow back. Even if it takes 2 years, if it saves lives it’s worth it. Even if its 1 life that’s something".

Wednesday 16 November 2011

BUSY BUSY BUSY

This past month has been one of the busiest...
Revising for summer exams as well as January re-takes is so time consuming! However I have managed to squeeze in some treats. Below is the list of my most favourite events from the past month...


1. Watching JESSIE J live on her 'Heartbeat Tour' at Hammersmith Apollo was amazing, inspirational and the most fun I have had in ages. Her voice is captivating and is the only artist I listen to that sounds better live than on the CD. Thank you Jessie
2. Shadowing a BBC Camera man as he films 'The One Show' live in White City. Such an eye opening and motivating experience! Matt Baker also ate my chocolates!
3. Halloween! Dressing up as Harry Potter was geeky but very fun! I was also the only Harry Potter at the 'Film Characters' themed party which was also a bonus! Painting my best friend blue (she was a smurf for the night) also added to the evening's highlights.
4. My univeristy application has finally been sent off. Today I was lucky enough to be invited to an interview at Southampton Solent! Thrilled at the prospect of studying Journalism there.


So this month has been busy but fun at the same time...i've also managed to squeeze in some TV watching....

- the new Misfits on Channel 4. For anyone that hasn't watched any of the series'.. WATCH THEM!
- X Factor! Very different this year in many ways however I think there is some great talent on there. I predict Marcus, Janet or Craig will win!
- I'm a Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here! I only started watching it last year and thought it was HILARIOUS. Even though there has only been one episode of this series so far, I predict it'll be a good'un
-TOWIE... sad that the series is over :( but the christmas special will be hilarious, as will the fourth series...can't wait
And some music.....
- Rizzle Kicks..love them
- JESSIE J (of course) heard some of her new stuff on tour so been listening on YouTube and will hopefully get her platinum album soon!
- Rihanna is amazing at the moment, especially 'We Found Love'
- Beyonce's new songs 'Countdown' and '1+1' I think are amazing

AND, I am looking forward so much to CHRISTMAS! Not long now, can't believe how fast this year has gone and how much has changed

Promise to post some more news soon xxxx

Sunday 9 October 2011

Finally starting to get the hang of this however it seems my blog isn't as good as everyone elses!
I've been looking at some people's blogs and their pictures are amazing, as well as the words of course so I am really going to try to blog a couple of times a week to get it up and running and hopefully I will get some followers!

From my perspective...

Stop and stare Think.

What is it about a person that walks, talks or acts slightly differently to everyone else that is so intriguing that people feel the need to watch them, comment on them and patronise them?
I remember the anger I would feel when my mum brought my older sister to collect me from school; people would stare, even my friends, at my sister who was ‘different’. Their eyes would wonder from the wheelchair she is strapped in, and the way she looks around at everything that is going on and just laughs, simply because she is the happiest person I have ever had the pleasure of meeting. The frustration would build up inside me when people who knew me had the audacity to stare at my sister like she didn’t belong, I remember mouthing ‘WHAT?’ to them to make them turn away. When I look back now I think, why didn’t their parents tell them off?
In the years I was at primary school, my sister would occasionally come with my mum to pick me up. Every single time, there would be people that stared, adults as well as children and not once did I see a parent tell off their child for doing something so rude. Did these children’s parents never explain that this behaviour was intolerable? It seemed as though they didn’t think their children were doing anything wrong. I believe this is because the parents themselves don’t understand, some people shy away from people with disabilities because they feel bad, they don’t know what to say so they turn a blind eye on the subject.
People are brought up with ‘normal’ things; they aren’t used to being around someone with severe disabilities all the time. I understand that because people aren’t used to it, they don’t understand how hard it can be and what many families around the world have to go through on a day to day basis. There are many long term and short term issues that families have to deal with such as the heartbreaking thought that their child, brother, sister, will never get married, they will never have children and experience the life that they truly deserve, more than anyone. Because many people don’t understand these issues, because they have never had to deal with them, it doesn’t mean they are excused from staring, open mouthed, when a disabled person is around them. Even adults, as well as children, have the difficulty to understand that not everyone is the same however why can’t everyone be treated the same? In this day and age, a person with black skin wouldn’t be stared at by a white person even though he/she has a different colour skin and is therefore different so why would they stare at a person with downes syndrome, or a person in a wheelchair?
The small minority of people that feel the need to act so ignorantly are clearly interested in the subject however they have no idea, so instead of staring why can’t they just ask, or research or even better, mind their own business and learn some manners?
I also remember as a child in Disneyland Florida it was amazing because there was much less ignorance; people weren’t staring at Megan wherever we went. Strangers were complimenting my parents on their hard work in caring for a disabled child. Instead of gawking or ‘sweeping it under the rug’, people embraced and understood that yes, it is the most challenging, sad, frustrating job in the world but it has to be done and people need to be informed of the millions of people that have to do this job, simply out of love, to enable them to understand this topic that is not spoken about frequently enough.
So, next time you feel the temptation to turn around and have a look at the little boy on the bus with special needs that is slightly louder and more fidgety than others, stop for a minute and think about how you would feel if he was your son and someone was staring at him.