Results tagged “Andrew Lloyd Webber” from Boom Bang a Blog

Hopefully, this sort of story will encourage other British acts to have a go at Eurovision next year, proving it's not a complete waste of time to get your face and voice out there in front of several million people.

Wonder if we can get Usher to write the song?

This may seem like an innocuous piece of news, but believe Boom Bang a Blog, it doesn't happen very often. Jade Ewen, the silky-voiced songstress who finished a well-fought fifth for Blighty in Moscow in May is back with her follow-up single. It's rather rare for UK representatives, especially unknowns, to have any sort of new material to come back at the tune-buying public with so soon after their Eurovision adventures.

This couldn't be more different to It's My Time - except both titles do have one word in common. The single is My Man, it got its first play (plus an interview with the lady herself) by Trevor Nelson on his Radio 1 show at the weekend, couldn't be further away than her Eurovision entry in terms of beats per minute - and you can't help but think this is more the type of music our girl wanted to get into the industry to record.

A further report on Jade's latest musical endeavours, plus a link to My Man, can be found here.

What do you think of My Man? Boom Bang a Blog always likes to peruse through your comments, be they good or bad.

Well can you believe it - today it's the day of the grand final of Eurovision 2009.

Having seen yet another dress rehearsal yesterday - this time the first run through of the final - we have decided to save all the excitement of tonight to, well, tonight.

Apostolos and I are in the apartment, Karen has taken herself off to a museum. We're listening to Eurovision Gold on my iPod, and Apostolos says that it brings back so many good memories. Music can do that, you know.

So all eyes turn to the final and to who will win. As I have said earlier, I can be the kiss of death with Eurovision entries... although I did get 16/20 qualifiers correct - how did you do Jamie? (I got 13/20. I'm not ashamed. Jame)

If you don't want to know what the UK staging will look like - or how Jade Ewen sounds live - before next Saturday, don't click any further.

Here we are - the 40th, 41st and 42nd songs taking part in the 2009 Eurovision Song Contest. If you've been following our blogbits since we introduced Monentenegro and Czech Republic all those days ago, you should now have your favourites and possibly spotted a winner.

But don't choose until you've heard the last three songs on offer, beginning with our Teutonic chums.

GERMANY
Alex Swings Oscar Sings!: Miss Kiss Kiss Bang

Boom Bang a Blog has a pound each way on this. It's quite possibly the most under-rated entry of the year.

Intriguing news from the BBC today as the first details of the UK's staging of My Time have been revealed.

According to one of the producers, Jade will be accompanied on stage by violinists (who won't be playing live) and Andrew Lloyd Webber at the piano.

There will also be a prop, which is currently winging its way to the Russian capital. If the mystery item doesn't make it to Moscow in time, someone has admitted that their A-Level carpentry may be called upon to save the day.

Very intriguing. And it would be a bit boring if it only turned out to be Lord Andy 's piano.

The official, all-filmed-and-everything promo video for My Time has now been released.

We now expect comments about lighting, editing, and perhaps even clothes and hairdos.

DOESN'T tempus fugit?

It is now five weeks since the nation decided to send Jade Ewen to Moscow in May with Andrew Lloyd Webber and Diane Warren's My Time - but our girl certainly hasn't spent the time inbetween eating Pringles and watching Diagnosis Murder.

For a start, here she is performing My Time at the Greek national final. And it may just swell your heart to know that the winner of Your Country Needs You was the only act on the night who didn't mime. Even the Greek entrant used playback for all three of his shortlisted songs.

And after that, we can now present to you...

IT'S not long now before we'll know who is going to represent the UK in Moscow with Lord Andy and Diane Warren's composition My Time.

And just to make sure the British public are in no doubt as to who is the best candidate for Moscow, Mark, Jade and (shudder) The Twins will each give a rendition of the song in tomorrow evening's grand final of Your Country Needs You.

Finger crossed it's the right choice (we're predicting Mark and Jade to do ballad-y versions, with The Twins' rendition getting a Girls Aloud-style makeover).

But is all this effort going to get the UK out of the Euro doldrums?

This 'performance' - plus a shaky version of The Everly Brothers' All I Have to Do is Dream - were enough to put this pair through to next week's Your Country Needs You final.

It's time to start worrying. There is a very real possibility that this shaky twosome will wind up as our entry in Moscow - and there's no guarantee they can last 10 minutes without bursting into tears about "their dream" or handle it out on stage in front of 20,000 people.

This could be Jemini Mark II, even with the added ammo of a song penned by Lord Andrew Lloyd Webber and Diane Warren (the song is going to be called 'My Time' by the way. It took the Andy and Di just two hours to write once they hit the right formula and we'll be hearing it at Saturdays final).

Charlotte's off. One of the two acts least likely to fall back on their inner mettle on a Eurovision stage was sent toddling home by Lord Andy on Saturday night's Your Country Needs You, just one week after he saved her from elimination because she had so much to learn from her 'journey'. Pretty short trip, then.

Now, is it just us, or are we getting worrying signs that The Twins are the Lord's preferred act for Moscow?

Please. No. That would be just terrible.

This is Jade, performing last on Your Country Needs You this evening. The BBC has a long history of giving the act they want to go through to the Contest the last slot in the national final running order, but as this was the first show of four, let's not be too analytical.

Jade is safely though to next week. Damien, whom Boom Bang a Blog thought was a good, albeit static, singer, was sent home first, with Lord Andrew choosing 17-year-old nerves-of-balsa Charlotte to be saved when the pair of them wound up at the bottom of the public vote.

WHAT do you think? The right man for the job? Someone who knows enough about what has worked well in the past to come up with an equally viewer-friendly variation on a theme for the 21st Century?

But enough about Matt Smith Being chosen as the eleventh Doctor Who. It's Andrew Lloyd Webber and Your Country Needs You that Boom Bang a Blog is here to chatter about.

These are the six acts through to the live knockout stages to find the UK entry for Moscow.

One of them will take a Lloyd Webber-penned tune to the yowge Olimpiskiy stadium in the Russian capital in late May and hopefully scoop some silverware for Royaume Uni while they're at it.

Did you see the show? What did you think? Well, the Boom Bang a Blog verdict on our six hopefuls is just this way...

...the BBC begins its Saturday night search for the artist who will represent the UK at Eurovision 2009 in Moscow.

According to media reports, Andrew Lord Webber has already found the six acts he wants on the shortlist for the Your Country Needs You competition, with the winner going forward to represent GB in Russia.

It should all get going on Saturday, January 3 (unless the schedules change) - and the first episode is set to include a film about Lord Andy's trip to the Russian capital to meet Vladimir Putin himself.

Goodness blimey.

"Tell Mr Lloyd Webber he should get the boys to pull the girls' skirts off, but the girls are actually wearing smaller skirts beneath those ones. It is genius. And very credible."

You may have heard the news over the weekend that Lord Andrew of Lloyd Webber has been over in Moscow meeting Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin ahead of next year's Contest.

The meeting was to discuss how more credibility could be brought to next year's event (I mean, Boom Bang a Blog loves the Contest, but even we think Mr Putin must have far more important issues to be dealing with) but the upshot of it all is that kindly Vlad has assured Our Andy that his televote is indelibly earmarked with the Union Jack come the 2009 final.

The question is - what exactly did Andrew Lloyd Webber do (or say) during that meeting to secure such a vote from such an influential man?

Putin: The Musical opens worldwide in autumn 2010.

Here's some slightly encouraging news. Following a recent Lord-related announcement, Irish bookmakers Paddy Power have given odds of 9/1 of the UK winning the 2009 Eurovision Song Contest, as well as a 3/1 chance that the song Andrew Lloyd Webber pens for Blighty hits the top of the charts.

This is all a lot more positive than the bookies' odds posted in the run-up to Belgrade.

Lord Andrew Sir Lloyd Webber (LASLW) has been chatting to those trendy types at Radio 1 about the Eurovision challenge which lies ahed of him in the coming months.

LASLW has some interesting things to say about the Your Country Needs You process - including some rather surprising info about the type of song he has in mind.

In addition to the news of Lord Lloyd Webber's national songwriting duty, Oswald Moseley's paper of choice, the Daily Mail, has announced that the Lord may join forces with lyrical powerhouse, Sir Tim Rice, to write next year's UK entry.

They haven't worked together since finishing Evita in 1976. If the reports are true, then Eurovision really is living up to its raison d'etre of unifying warring factions via the gift of song.

Sigh...

Rowetta, Charlotte Church, Beverley Knight and Heather Small... please make a note of the website address this man is about to give out.

Chanelle off Big Brother, Jordan, John Barrowman and anyone with zero experience of singing live in front of a huge crowd... under no circumstances watch this video and promise that you will never watch it, or follow the instructions given within it by this musical Lord of the realm, ever.

Ever, ever. Swear down, no lie.

And don't cross your fingers behind your back.