From October 1st to November 12th 2011, I took part in an internship programme with siteformedia.com.
It was my job to write short showbiz based reviews and articles for the website. I did this on a weekly basis covering and researching source material for many different interesting people and events, from reviewing Rihanna's triumph with her eleventh UK number 1 and the 2011 MOBO Awards to voicing my opinion on the infamous Lady GaGa!
Being a music lover and a news enthusiast, this placement not only acted as an insight into one avenue of the media, but an exciting and enjoyable experience.
Below I've posted some of the articles I've written over the weeks.
MOBO Awards 2011:"Music should not be ignorant".
Sunday, 09 October 2011 21:17 Published in AWARDS
The media has talked of nothing else since the MOBO’s 16th Awards show that was aired live from the SECC in Glasgow. This saw Boyz II Men win the most coveted award in music: the ‘Outstanding contribution to music’ that marked over twenty years of their being in the industry. The event was hosted by Strictly Come Dancing’s Alesha Dixon and ‘Watcha say’ singer Jason Derulo who revealed just before the ceremony that he’d never hosted anything before in his life. He said “I’ve never hosted anything, not even a birthday party so it’s going to be very fun and interesting.... The crowds here are actually really different. They’re very rowdy and get wild like me so I’m pretty sure it’s going to be quite an event!” It certainly was a lively party as we saw the likes of Wretch 32, Alexis Jordan and Jessie J perform-not forgetting a moving tribute to Amy Winehouse from Dionne Bromfield. And of course every Award show has the one outstanding performance that makes everyone’s jaws drop, and this year it came from rising UK artist and dark horse Emeli Sande. She took to the stage and delivered a stunning performance of ‘Heaven’ as well as taking over MOBO Twitter just days before with a live Q&A fan session as did Rizzle Kicks from London. Four time MOBO Award winners of last year, JLS flew into London on none other than a private jet making sure of their presence while Tinie Tempah picked up the award for Best UK Hip-Hop/Grime Act, Rihanna; Best International Act and this year’s singing sensation Adele won the well deserved award for Best UK R&B/Soul act. The biggest surprise of the night though had to be Jessie J. Not for the fact that she was wearing a black and gold Egyptian inspired playsuit which despite her usual outlandish fashion tastes, still surprised people. No, she was awarded an outstanding four MOBO’s in one night including Best song for her first studio release ‘Do it like a dude’, Best Newcomer and Best UK act in association with Capital FM. She graces this year’s copy of MOBO magazine with her presence and features an interview inside. What’s next musically for Jessie? She tells MOBO “Just write and enjoy…The next album may have rap, it may have some orchestra or musical theatre. Change and being free to me in music is vital. Music should not be ignorant.” To read the full interview, MOBO Magazine is now on sale in all major HMV stores across the UK. To catch up with all the gossip and interviews live from the red carpet, check out BBC iplayer now.
Has GaGa finally gone GaGa?
Sunday, 16 October 2011 14:03 Published in POP
Lady GaGa certainly doesn’t shy away from controversy- She’s incubated in and emerged from a large glass egg earlier this year at the 2011 Grammy Awards; she even got the animal activists going when she turned up at the 2011 VMA Awards in LA in her infamous meat bikini. Some say it’s to detract from her distinct lack of talent. Some say her wackiness is inspiring and unique. And don’t get me wrong- when GaGa released her first single ‘Just Dance’ I thought she was great too. The song was edgy but fun and her unusual dress sense came across as artistic. It was all excitement and admiration for her as she turned up at each award and appearance dressed in one of her many outlandish outfits. But then she filmed the music video to her third single release ‘Paparazzi’ that featured her being thrown off a balcony and becoming paralysed all while wearing a barley there black patent leather leotard (hence her leotard obsession started). Put simply, she went downhill from there. One of her later singles ‘Bad Romance‘ that showed her and backing dancers, crawling out of shiny white coffins and her being dragged out of a bath, was when alarm bells started ringing. She stopped being different and eccentric and started making people wonder if she’d well and truly lost it. After she turned up at this year’s MTV Music Awards dressed as a man as she slagged herself off in front of millions of international viewers on stage during a long speech, you start to tire at her attention seeking stunts. Last week she appeared on the Jonathan Ross show in a turquoise PVC suit complete with antennae –accompanied by a ram. Yes you read right. A ram that she named Kevin. The 25 year old singer whose real name is Stefani Germanotti told Jonathan on his show “I feel sort of irrelevant doing other things. I’ll die without the spotlight”. A cry for help? And although GaGa is our guilty pleasure because we all secretly love her music really (yes, we all know who we are), we can’t help but conclude that she’s taken this whole egotistical and narcissistic act to the point where it’s no longer funny. It’s been done. We’re still waiting for the day when she finally acknowledges this and seeks the medical help she needs and then the whole world can take a huge sigh of relief because her melodrama will finally be over and we can focus solely on her music.
