Festival4stars - Belfast talent competition 2008

In my third year as a judge at Festival4stars I'm looking forward to seeing the tremendous talent in Belfast. The Northern Ireland heat has produced some national winners in the last couple of years and the standard there is superb. One of the young dance groups from last year was even better than anything I've seen on Britain's Got Talent this week!

The competition is open to people of all ages and has various sections for all kinds of talent, including a new section for musical theatre groups. Four winners from each section go through to a regional final on the same day and the eventual winners represent the region in the national finals later in the year.

Entries are still open for Belfast and you can find out more info on the Festival4stars website at www.festival4stars.com or telephone Judy on 0141 620 2300. Please mention that you saw this blog by Kate if you're ringing to enter. Please note that you can't just turn up on the day, but you can telephone the Festival4stars number at any time up to the event begins.

Details for Festival4stars Belfast:
Sunday 8th June 2008
Belfast Hilton Waterfront Hotel
First section begins at 9am.

Sections:
Solo dance 12 years & under
Solo dance 13 years to 18 years
Group dance
Group dance duos & trios
Group musical theatre
That's Entertainment

Solo singing 14 years & under
Solo singing 15 years to adult
Solo musical theatre 14 years & under
Solo musical theatre 15 years to adult

Brush up on your skills and learn new moves - try these dance DVDs.

Dirty Dancing :The Official Dance Workout

Pineapple Studios - Dance Masterclass: Strictly Street

I'd Do Anything ... and all the TV moans this weekend

I'd Do Anything - Week 4 Reviews

It was time to say fare thee well Francesca on I'd Do Anything results show, week 4. Ashley put up a fight in the sing-off despite getting the lowest vote (where are all the Scots this weekend!).
The list is whittling down and there are a few really strong contenders in there, but no-one who really stands out head and shoulders above the way Connie Fisher did last year in the Maria shows.

Sarah proved herself worthy with her new look and brilliant performance, but I reckon Jessie slipped down the ranks a bit. That might have been because the song choice - Why Do Fools Fall In Love - was awful. I'm not particularly convinced by Jodie this week either, but again it could be the song. The best of the night had to be Rachel with The Way We Were. It was simply beautiful.

Another Oliver made it through to the semi-finals too. It's going to be awful seeing some of them go home, they're so talented.

Britain's Got Talent - or not!

Some truly awful moments were to be seen and it was definitely a case of Britain's Got No Talent until young Charlie Green came on and sang Summer Wind - awesome. And of course the extremely talented Madonna, saved until the end, blew me away with her tremendous voice.

Apart from the handful of good acts, the rest of it was just embarrassing and cringeworthy. What was the dirty old man in the overcoat thinking? And Amanda and Piers should be sacked for putting that awful woman dancer with the hideous off-white bra through. It makes a mockery of dance altogether.

Talking of dancing, it's a pity we didn't see more of the dance groups. One of the groups who went through did a tap routine but unfortunately the producers thought it would be a good idea to dub over the sound, even for the few seconds of airtime they got.

Dance teams bring me to the next subject of this weekend's TV:

Television BAFTAs

It was lovely to see Bruce Forsyth get the Academy fellowship award. He is such a versatile entertainer and at 80 years old has proved his worth time and time again.

The whole show was spoiled by the flashing background. When Brucie was making his speech it was difficult to watch the TV for fear of a migraine. It was also very disappointing that the award for News Coverage wasn't shown. It makes you wonder whether it was because it was a Sky News programme of the Glasgow Airport attack, and if it would have been shown if the BBC's War In Afghanistan had won.

Getting to the point, it was great seeing the fantastic dance team, MD Productions, being shown in the nominations clip of last year's Britain's Got Talent. They are one of the best dance groups I've come across in years and their choreographer, Miguel Doforo, is an inspiration to all of us humble dance teachers.

A very entertaining, if not quite overflowing with talent, weekend of TV nonsense.

Dance Teacher Makes $100

Not millions I know, but hey we all have to start somewhere. My adsense account finally reached the magic $100 payout limit - just need to wait until next month to see any money!

One thing's for sure, internet marketing's harder than it looks and anyone who says it's easy is either trying to sell a get rich quick ebook, or has been very lucky. Now I'm not saying it can't be done; there's proof out there and I'm still working on it, but it will not be an overnight thing.

Take yesterday for instance. After sorting out my site, getting the keywords right and promoting it on various forums, Google do a crawl and everything goes to pot! Page positions went down for just about all of the search terms and the visitor count reduced accordingly.

Still, there's hope on the horizon as Ebay have introduced the new version of their partner network and as long as people are buying and selling the commissions remain a possibilty.

Meantime, there's nothing else for it but to keep teaching those 4-year-olds to point their toes and smile!

Dancewear Web - dancewear and costumes

I'd Do Anything - Week 3 and another Nancy gone

Another fab I'd Do Anything show on Saturday. The real contenders are starting to shine through and those who are not quite up to the job are being whittled out.

It seems Jessie is a strong favourite with the judges, with Rachel and Jodie closely behind. I can see Keisha struggling to stay in the competition next week unless she pulls something out of the bag, after being in the sing-off again. And while Francesca's Time of My Life started off well, it wasn't convincing enough once she got into it.

Some of the judges were a bit unfair on Sarah; she's got an amazing voice with real power behind it. I get what they're saying about her look, and for me the dress didn't help. But in the right costume she'd be a convincing Nancy.

Tara was bound to go and although I thought she did better than Keisha in the sing-off, I doubt if she'd have lasted another week. The standard of the competition is so high but most of these girls are good enough to get West End jobs, just not as leading ladies yet.

The Olivers, as usual, made the show worth watching. Superb entertainment all round.

I'd Do Anything - the right choice

The Lord sent the right person home on Sunday, in the I'd Do Anything sing-off. I'm a little confused about what he was saying at the end though, about the wrong choice being made by the viewers.

If he was in any doubt, Cleo's performance of I Know Him So Well (Chess) should have confirmed that she is not up to West End standard.

Highlights of the week were Rachel's Beautiful and Ashley's Mercy, but it was Jessie who stole the show on Saturday night. Singing Killing Me Softly - the original Roberta Flack version - she really showed her talent for the stage.

Sarah and Niamh didn't quite live up to last week's reviews, singing Take Another Little Piece of My Heart and I've Got The Music in Me respectively.

The Olivers gave a superb rendition of Electricity, from Billy Elliot in the first show - it was simply brilliant. In the results show the 2nd semi-finalist, Chester, touched a few heartstrings with his beautiful voice in the boys' performance of Pie Jesu.

I still say the girls need something a bit more West End, and less cabaret, to really show off what they can do.


West End Theatre Tickets - Best Prices Guaranteed

I'd Do Anything - first Nancy says goodbyeee

I take it all back, the I'd Do Anything/Oliver show was great. The song choices weren't too bad for the first week, although I still stick by my earlier comments about musical theatre shows.

Favourite performances:

1. Rachel - About You Now
2. Sarah - Get There
3. Niamh - First Cut Is The Deepest

Wasn't impressed by:

Tara - Suddenly I See
Francesca - Hero

Results show

Although Amy's performance of Respect didn't do anything for me on the Saturday show, I thought she was much better than Francesca in the sing off. Both girls sang As Long As He Needs Me and Amy had a lovely quality to her voice, and really got into the part. Don't agree with ALW's choice this week, but I'm not sure if Rachel would have got much further.

The highlights of both shows was without doubt the Olivers. They are fantastic and could teach the girls a thing or two about stage presence and confidence. Their performance of Bright Eyes on the results show was just beautiful, and in the group number with the girls (I'd Do Anything) every one of the boys shone. I don't envy the Lord's job in choosing three of them.

Opinion: Can't wait to Be Back Soon!

Oliver! DVD [1968] Oliver Soundtrack (1994 London Cast)

Why some of us will never be The Apprentice

Whilst one can only speak for oneself, one finds that one could never be The Apprentice if one has to handle/lookat/smell/cut/eat fish. Not only that, but one has to put one in between every few words - could get one rather confused after a while!

The first episode of the new series was brilliant stuff. All the backstabbing, the great social class division theme, and of course Sir Alan's famous facial expressions.

I do wonder though, how much of it is hyped up. The posh boys v the rough-around-the-edges lads just seems a bit too contrived somehow. Although, some of those toffs are hilarious. I can see Raef annoying most people eventually, and Nick's super education didn't get him very far.

The preview clip of next week's episode makes Jenny look really scary, can't wait to see her in action. Next week's ponder:

• Will Lucinda still have a pink beret on?
• Will Michael burst into tears if he doesn't get a pat on the back for doing a good job?
• Will the soap suds in the laundry be beneath the likes of Raef?
  

The Apprentice Soundtrack