Catch Andy Warhol’s amazing Michael Jackson portrait as it comes to London for just three days next week.
The iconic MJ picture will go on display at the British Music Experience from Thursday 6 August and will be its only European showing before it returns to New York to be sold.
The portrait was commissioned to celebrate record sales of the King of Pop’s Thriller album in 1984. If you’d like to own it, the opening bid starts at just $800,000!
Don’t miss your chance to see this unique piece of music history.
Once on this Island is billed as a “jubilant Caribbean musical” – and that’s exactly what it is.
Set among tropical palm trees, with brightly coloured costumes and Calypso-infused music, the show brings a taste of the Caribbean to Hackney Empire.
Through storytelling and song, Once on this Island tells the tale of a young peasant girl who falls in love with a wealthy planter.
But the path of love doesn’t run smoothly, as the girl’s fate is decided by the island’s gods of love and death.
Once on this Island takes you through a range of emotions, exploring themes of class, love, death and regeneration.
Despite a not-so-happy ending, the show is very family friendly, and people of all ages should leave the theatre feeling jubilant.
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“…Sky rockets in flight. Afternoon delight. Afternoon delight”…some of you may recognise the lyrics from the Starland Vocal Band (later used in hilarious comedy, Anchorman) but to Jamie and I, the words play out like a sweet reminder of our marathon of Afternoon De-Light meetings this week.
For those of you who have not yet indulged in our guilt-free Afternoon De-Light, it’s London’s first ultra-chic yet waist-friendly version of the quintessential occasion.
Our marathon began on Monday. Following the success of the after-party at The Met Bar, we celebrated our accidental initiation into the “Ministry of Waxing”, truly converted by their manifesto to perfectly manicure the bushes of London’s elite – population that is!
On Tuesday, we welcomed vintage record-spinning DJs to the bar, the Broken Hearts (also known as Amber & Nisha), renowned for their kitsch costumes and fabulously themed parties. They will be making a guest appearance on the Afternoon De-Light roster in October with “The Broken Hearts present Scream Tea – a Halloween Spooktacular”!
On Wednesday, sassy author-in-the-making Bethanie Lunn joined us to experience the menu in order to include it in her forthcoming book, “The Modern Girls’ Guide to Fabulousness”. As a previous Burlesque performer and girl-about-town, word of our delectable tea had been ringing in her ears and she could resist temptation no longer. Perhaps it was the promise of a Victoria’s Secret cocktail?!
With more than 20 low-fat cupcakes (not that we’re counting) consumed (and still feeling saintly), yesterday we reached the dizzying heights of delight when seductive lingerie brand, The Modern Courtesan visited, who in less than seven days (8 August, to be exact) will be co-hosting our “Cour-tea-san De-Light” – sassy seduction classes where you can have your cake on the side.
Here we are at the start of a new day, with another meeting and yes, you’ve guessed it we’re “gonna grab some afternoon delight”…!
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Ealing Jazz Festival kicked off on Wednesday. All hope of a warm summer’s evening was lost as the rain poured down on West London. But singer Ray Gelato kept everyone’s spirits up in the packed main tent:
“It’s raining outside, but we don’t care, cos we know we’re gonna rock Ealing!”
The festival drew a mixed crowd – from teenagers, to older jazz fans and there were plenty of other attractions aside from the music, including a massage tent, a hat stall and delicious chorizo for sale.
I’ve got my fingers crossed that the festival will see better weather over the weekend– it’s well worth the bargain price of just £1 for a day ticket (or a fiver for the whole festival!). Even if it does rain, there’s no camping to worry about, just make sure you take an umbrella.
Take a look at London’s other music festivals.
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We’ve had exciting sports news all over the capital in the last couple of weeks. From the Athletics Grand Prix to the Olympic Stadium to the Rugby World Cup, sport in London has never looked so strong.
And this trend continues. Trafalgar Square has long been host to some of the world’s coolest events. And this summer is no exception.
Alongside the current excitement of the Fourth Plinth, on Saturday 15 August you can also watch the World Freerunning Championships, for free!
Simply register for free tickets through Facebook. You only need to hand over your name, email and postal address… but you’ll need to be quick! There are just 7,000 places, and you have to register before Wednesday 5 August to be in with a chance of a ticket.
This is only the second year the World Freerunning Championships have taken place.
If you’re lucky enough to get a ticket, you’ll see 27 freerunners from 17 different countries tackling a specially designed course in Trafalgar Square, showcasing their creativity and the physicality of freerunning.
We’re sure there’ll be a brilliantly exciting “don’t try this at home” feeling to the whole afternoon.
London adds a new landmark sporting competition to its calendar today, with the announcement that the 2015 Rugby World Cup will be played in England.
Non-fans of the funny shaped ball may be surprised to learn the Rugby World Cup is the world’s third biggest sporting event. (Only the Olympics and FIFA World Cup beat it!)
The 2015 World Cup will run from 4 September to 17 October, and the final will be played at Twickenham.
Other London venues taking part include Wembley and the Emirates Stadium.
During the tournament, matches will be played in 10 cities at 12 grounds across the country, including Old Trafford in Manchester; Anfield in Liverpool; and Cardiff’s Millennium Stadium, the only non-English venue.
The Rugby Football Union beat competitive bids from South Africa and Italy to win the tournament.
Mayor of London, Boris Johnson is thrilled that England won the bid: “Rugby has a passionate and loyal following in England.
“With the Women’s Rugby World Cup in 2010, the men’s tournament in 2015 is another feather in the cap for the sport and adds to London’s outstanding calendar of international sporting events – from the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games to the ICC Twenty20 World Cup, and the NFL at Wembley to the Tour de France Grand Depart.
“London has some of the finest sporting venues in the world – Twickenham, of course, as well as Wembley and the Emirates Stadium. But from 2012 there will be another, excellent new venue, the Olympic Stadium. We will discuss … it providing another base with the RFU and work with them to ensure the 2015 Rugby World Cup is the best ever tournament.
“And it goes without saying that rugby fans heading to the capital from across the world in 2015 will also enjoy a hearty welcome, as well as an unbeatable range of other activities and attractions.”
Last week, we were all dreaming of some better looking new stars to grace our screens in EastEnders. Thanks to everyone who took part.
Right now, we’re celebrating! It’s Love Parks Week.
Love Parks Week is a whole week dedicated to getting outside and enjoying the great British summer. The people at Love Parks Week have organised a whole host of fun events to help you get the most out of your local parks. Right across the country, people are getting into everything from family fun days to live music performances.
If you’re a fan of green spaces, London’s got a lot to offer.
But we want you to tell us which is your favourite London park.
Do you enjoy the bustle of beautiful bronzed bodies and empty beer bottles on Clapham Common on a warm summer’s day? Or do you prefer the wild, windy Hampstead Heath? Perhaps you’re a fan of Hyde Park, with the Serpentine lake for boating and Rotten Row for horseriding. Or perhaps your local patch of green is a real hidden gem, with plenty of quirky features to recommend it.
Let us know…
To celebrate the launch of the Sister Act Original London Cast Recording album, the show’s glamourous star Patina Miller and her singing sisters will be performing live and signing copies of the album at the HMV flagship store on Oxford Street on Monday 27th July at 1pm.
They all have amazing voices and the songs are brilliant, so it should be a real treat. Patina Miller and the wonderful Sheila Hancock will also be signing copies of the album in the Dress Circle on Monmouth Street on Saturday 1st August at 12.00pm.
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Birgit Vosper and Vanessa McClure report.
a-ha kicked off their eagerly anticipated Friday night iTunes set with The Sun Always Shines on TV and Morton Harkett was on top form. Displaying none of his occasional diva-like antics, he appeared unfazed by cries of ‘Get yer shirt off!’ and ‘I want to have your babies!’’. The whole band looked like they were having a great time, no doubt sensing the rampant enthusiasm of the audience.
The set was varied and featured new songs plus their greatest hits. James Bond theme The Living Daylights became a gigantic sing-a-long and even some of the men in the crowd (who had probably been dragged along to The Roundhouse by their partners) couldn’t hold back and joined in.
There wasn’t a bad song in the set and choosing highlights is hard, but if pushed, we’d give special mention to Stay on These Roads, the emotive Summer Moved On (complete with a bravura holding of the longest note in the history of the Top 40 which raised much applause), rousing new single Foot of the Mountain, and the new album title track The Bandstand. And of course, the ubiquitous, roof-raising encore Take on Me and Train of Thought.
It’s not often that you find religious radicalism, comedy and the artist formerly known as Prince in the same sentence – let alone the same play. But award-winning author Hanif Kureishi has managed it in The Black Album.
The new production is Kureishi’s stage adaptation of his own novel, also called The Black Album, which takes its name from Prince’s unreleased but widely bootlegged album of 1987.
The music theme continues with a energetic soundtrack from Sister Bliss from Faithless. Who better to do the music for a play about religion than a member of the group who once sang God Is A DJ? The mix of 80s classics had me tapping my feet as soon as I entered the National Theatre.
The scene is set 20 years ago in 1989 – the year that a fatwa was issued against Salman Rushdie for his controversial book The Satanic Verses. The play explorers the religious tensions of the era, the repercussions of which are still felt today, through Shahid Hasan (played with energy by Jonathan Bonnici), a young Asian boy leaving leafy Sevenoaks to study in the bright lights of London.
The Black Album deals with some pretty heavy issues: religious fanatism, drugs, racial identity, sex and violence, yet at times it felt more like a comedy sitcom. Family dramas were peppered with comic insights into Pakistani domestic life, Shahid’s brother Chili (Robert Mountford) was like a flamboyant Boycie from Only Fools And Horses, and there was even a starring role from an aubergine pakora!
Like the multi-named, cross-dressing Prince, the characters each juggle different identities. Watching the play, the hardest part was not deciding who to believe, but trying to figure out what they believed.
I’m off to the upcoming talk on 10 August with Hanif Kurieshi and the play’s director Jatinder Verma in search of enlightenment!
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