Nirvana for Xmas No.1 in the UK

We all know too well of the horrors of the Xmas No. 1 Single Spot going to the manufactured Xfactor winner, but what happened to the race to become Xmas No. 1? 

Since 2005, the Xfactor has been wrongly grabbing the Xmas No. 1 Spot, with covers of songs sang by (debated) manufactured singers, which to be honest, aren't that great. But why do we always buy them every single year?

It's the way the public is so gullible that makes us want to buy the Xfactor single. We are presented with a show full of (ahem) "talented" vocalists that takes over most of our weekends, not to mention the unintelligent ramblings of the "Xtra Factor" that we are encouraged to watch, which to be fair, I would rather watch a monkey pick at it's own bumhole...

Yes, I have a grudge against the Xfactor...so what...

...but it's the way we give in to social pressure of buying the utter crap that the Xfactor produce as the Xmas No. 1. 

So why are we so bothered?

Admit it, the Xmas No.1 has never been the pinnacle of musical talent, but it's the traditions we got used to that make us want to buy the Xmas No.1 Single. Since the introduction of the UK Singles Chart in 1952, the Xmas No. 1 has been known to musicians as a very prestigious 'award'. A lot of the time, the Christmas No. 1 spot has been home to charity singles, novelty songs or songs with a Christmas theme. Doesn't sound very appealing, but we do eat that up! In my opinion, the Christmas No. 1 should be something with meaning, or something for the kids! It's nice to have a jolly, alcohol related sing along to the Christmas No. 1 on Christmas Day!

In 2009, we broke (yes, I was part of that Facebook movement! :D...meaning I bought the single several times! :D) the Xfactor Xmas No. 1 streak with Rage Against the Machine's Killing in the Name Of after a successful Facebook campaign lead by Jon Morter. Finally breaking the Xfactor shit streak. But unfortunately, last year, Matt Cardle got the Xmas No. 1 again with that God awful cover of Biffy Clyro's Many of Horror (which was annoyingly renamed to When We Collide...excuse me while I vomit...).

The campaign was critiqued, saying that it would never work, and Simon Cowell wouldn't be bothered if Rage Against the Machine got to No. 1 because they're both under Sony Music Entertainment (Epic Records and SyCo) and lets face it, Cowell probably had shares in the company so he wouldn't necessarily lose out on money anyway, but this wasn't the point! People were fed up with being drip-fed the same crap from the Xfactor, and musicians were/are annoyed that such an important honour was going to manufactured 'artists' that hardly worked for it. The campaign was also raising money for charity, which is what the Christmas No. 1 should do! After all, it is the season of giving!

The new campaign currently underway is "Nirvana for Xmas No. 1" supporting the charity Rhythmix. The choice of charity seems natural after the row between Rhythmix and Simon Cowell after the makers of Xfactor named a girl band on the show with the same name as the charity (see story here). Now it is has come to the media's attention that thousands are behind the charity and are supporting Nirvana for Xmas No. 1 (see story here). I think this is an excellent campaign and I could not support it more! Not only do we want to see Nirvana kick Xfactor arse, but we would be supporting a major charity in this country that deserves a little more respect after it's name was tainted by the Xfactor.

Even if you don't want to support Nirvana for Xmas No. 1, please support Rhythmix as it is one of the UK’s leading music charities, delivering a large range of music making opportunities for young people across the South East region. Since 1999, Rhythmix has worked with more than 40,000 young people, enabling their creative activity through music and developing their personal and social skills. It is a fantastic charity!

If you know of any people supporting this charity, or have views against the campaigns, or just generally want to give your opinion on this, please comment below! Everyone has views on this and it would be fantastic to see what you guys think! I read every single comment so please get posting! 

Also, if you click the links above, you can support the campaign and Rhythmix by going to their websites! Please donate, because as we all know, every single penny counts! 

:D

Something to put a smile on your face...

Here's my end of the day post to put a smile on your face after a hectic day! Or maybe you stayed in bed all day...but still this will make you laugh! 

 

Guest Post: University from the other side...

University for me is a struggle! But you never know what it feels like from the other side, so I asked my lovely boyfriend, who most of you know as the Double Glazing Blogger (@glazingblogger), to write me a guest post of his views of university from the other side. The other side being the ones back home that are hours away from university...

If you have an experience you would like to share from either the student side or the other side of university, please comment below, email me at sophiimaria@gmail.com or tweet me at @SophiiMaria :D

DoubleGlazingBlogger:

I’ve wondered all day today how to start this post. The subject of this particular blog post is about university and what it’s like for the other person while their loved one is away there. I’ll just ramble on a bit and hope it all makes some coherent sense as I’m writing it!

First a quick background catch up. Me and Sophii met roughly six weeks before she went back to do her second year at university in Aberystwyth. Before now I had known Soph on and off for about 3 years. We had met at parties, and we’re part of the big group that went to festivals. We never really talked that much. We met in August of this year through me inviting her to a local gig (technically it was through her asking if anyone had a Google+ invite she could have, I gave her one, and the conversation naturally moved on to gigs!).

The next six weeks were some of the best weeks I’d had in years. We always had the best fun when we were together. She had done something which I thought wouldn’t happen in quite a while - she showed me that there are some genuine, nice people left in the world!

Saying goodbye to her as she left to go back Uni was one of the hardest things I’ve ever had to do. We’d connected so strongly so quickly, I never appreciated how difficult it would be, not being with her. Obviously I can see her at weekends and she can come home at various points, but unlike other relationships, we don’t get to see each other as much as we would like.

Relationships with university involved are different to standard ones. University has a reputation of being a promiscuous breeding ground, with people flitting about. For a person who is having to say bye to someone leaving for uni, that is a huge thing to accept and get used to. You have to put your utter trust and faith in that person to do the right thing, even if the surrounding environment doesn’t make that easy. Obviously that person at uni has to trust their partner at home too!

Then there are other issues. Money is one of the biggest. Students struggle notoriously with money. Part time jobs barely cover their living costs. Almost all of their loans go on student accommodation. Speaking from the point of view as someone who works, has a steady job and is living relatively comfortably, it’s gut wrenching to see my loved one struggle for money. It’s frustrating having to see her buying the cheapest of cheap food, having to budget literally by a single pound.

One of the biggest wrenches is having to face up to the fact that you can’t be round him/her as much as you would like, looking out for them, making sure all is well. You hope that the people they live with will treat them with respect, help each other out, include them in whatever activities might be going on, support them when they need help. But you also hope that they respect your loved ones boundaries too. These are all things you just have to trust will happen.

For me, the biggest frustration is not being able to help in any physical way as I’m more than 3 ½ hours away. I’ll probably never be able to get used to it, I just have to learn, and I am, how to deal with it better.

That’s the negative stuff out of the way!

The result of having a loved one at university is that when you do see him/her, that time together is made so much more special and important. Maybe one of the downsides to a normal relationship is that the spark sometimes goes if you see that same person every day. Those at uni and those who have a loved one there don’t get that luxury. But it does make you appreciate the time spent together.

Some people may be sceptical of the amount of money and time it takes out of your life to go and see someone if they’re at university far away. But this depends on how you feel about that person. If you truly believe that you have met someone special, and that he/she could be the one, then driving nearly 4 hours and into another country is nothing to you. It’s nothing to me. Personally I’d drive to the tip of Scotland to see her. If you believe this, then university won’t cause a single issue.

I was worried about university and how it would affect the relationship between me and Soph, especially after so many negative comments from friends. But in all honesty, it has me us stronger. We trust each other completely; we both appreciate the time we get to spend together. We talk on Twitter, Skype etc. all the time which does also make things easier.

They key to a university relationship from my point of view is trust and communication. Talking keeps fears at bay. Trust in each other keeps you both relaxed and able to focus on your day ahead without tearing your hair out. Look forward to your time together when you get to see each other. We do, and we love each other all the more for it!

Phenomenology (pt.2)

Trying to understand phenomenology is hard! This is why I wanted to this blog post in two halves. This analytical approach isn't something you should try to do on it's own, it is better to use this approach to push your analysis into another analytical approach, such as semiotics. 

To understand this approach, you must learn how to use it. If you are analysing an object onstage, you must look at how you react to it, without using many adjectives...

...yeah, I know!

Generally, if you eat a lemon, you would say it is 'sour' or 'bitter', but this wouldn't be a entirely phenomenological approach. You could say, however, how you reacted to the tasting of the lemon, even if you just make a noise. The next challenge is to transform this reaction into language, as close as you possibly can to the real reaction. Avoid using adjectives as these are only signifiers to your emotions or reactions, rather than the correct way to describe this. 

If you are to write about an object and your phenomenological approach to it, you would describe how you felt around it, what it feels like in weight, texture, the smell of it, the taste of it, everything to do with your senses that you instinctively react with. 

There is no right or wrong answer to your own phenomenological approach and this makes it difficult to be of use to other people around you that read your phenomenological analysis of a performance, however, it is very useful in conjunction with other analytical approaches. Finding how you react to something, then getting into the nitty gritty of what this means and the semiotic approach to it is a far more effective way of analysing a performance. Nevertheless, you shouldn't dismiss phenomenology, but don't get too bogged down into the meaning of it.

I could go on and on about how to write about the phenomenological approach to something, but I find that all research on phenomenology is very repetitive. In a sentence, phenomenology is the build up to a very effective analysis of a performance, and can be used in conjunction with other analytical approaches.

I know this is a very hard subject, and it can relate to many other industries and subjects of interest, but it is very hard to discuss this without over-complicating. If you have any questions at all, please leave a comment, email me at sophiimaria@gmail.com or tweet me (@SophiiMaria), and I will try to answer your question as much as I can; after all I am here to help you understand! If you have any examples of this, please leave a comment or if you just want to say hi! again, please leave a comment. 

:D

Phenomenology (pt.1)

Until recently, I thought phenomenology was more complicated than it actually is! Rather than being an analytical approach to find the meaning of a certain object on stage, like semiotics, or an approach that digs into the extraordinary circumstances of a play (like the themes, techniques or approaches to the making of a production), it is simply a way of analysing what is in front of you and how you experience it. 

Phenomenology looks at "the world as it is lived rather than as it is objectified, abstracted and conceptualized." (Stanton B. Garner, 1994) This means if you are looking at an object onstage, you look at the way you experience it, don't try and find a meaning to it! If the object is an apple, analyse what the apple looks like, feels like, tastes like, etc. instead of finding the hidden meaning like the forbidden fruit, for example. 

It would seem that semiotics and phenomenology would go hand in hand and yes, you're right. You can successfully analyse a performance using the analytical approaches of phenomenology and semiotics because you are analysing the object and what it means to you in the way you experience it and the meaning behind the use of this object (or lighting design/scenery/performance style etc.).

I know this is a very simple way of looking at phenomenology, but I wanted to guide you in before I go all guns blazing into this topic so have a look out for the second part of this blog next week!

Also, coming soon will be a Glossary page for all those words you don't quite understand! This will be an ongoing page that will update frequently as I discuss more and more topics! :D

Finally, if you have any ideas/theories/approaches/techniques/gossip/music releases etc. that you want me to cover, email me at sophiimaria@gmail.com, tweet me at @SophiiMaria or comment on any of my blogs. I will happily research into anything you want me to cover on the entertainment industry!

:D

Drama Queen!

A lot of people who study drama often have to put up the so-called "Drama Queens". The people that have to be the centre of attention all the time so talk utter rubbish to get in the limelight. Not to be confused with the earlier topic on Drama Snobs, the Drama Queen doesn't necessarily have to study or be involved with acting. We all know that one Drama Queen that drives us up the wall...

We all have a little bit of a Drama Queen (or King!) inside of us, but how often that part of us shows is what describes a person to be a full on Drama Queen! Personally, I believe there are more Drama Queens in the acting world than any other industry because we are constantly trying to get 'discovered' so we need to be a bit full on, but sometimes, it can get out of control.

As far as I know, there are two types of Drama Queen: the first being the full-on "it's all about me!" type who constantly speaks up with their own opinion and displays emotion to the fullest when it suits their fancy; the second being the subtle type who find a talent that they milk without anybody else (except a few) realising it. 

The first type are known to be friends with everyone, but at a certain point, all hell breaks loose and you either don't want to know them at all, or get shoved out of your little clique after a huge bust up on a day out with everyone. 

The second type are known to be a little more sneaky. They use social networking sites to promote their views/opinions on other things, or people, and often have a talent which they abuse to get attention. This sort of people aren't always malicious. They probably just get a lot of attention from the things they say online because they are too scared to say it in public, but it's still a bad habit to get into.

I know this is mostly my own personal opinion and experience but there will be the Drama Queen at some point in your lives. How do you deal with these kinds of people? What can we do to relax and not want to be in the spotlight all the time? I know I can be a Drama Queen sometimes, I admit it! But I'm pretty sure I'm on the scale of just wanting to have a little bit of attention to make me feel good, rather than the full-blown bitch a lot of people fall into. Let me know what you guys think! 

Sorry this is a rather negative and a bit ranty. But these kinds of people annoy me, and I'm sure they annoy you too. I just wanted to get it off my chest and see what everyone else thinks. Even if you're not in the industry, tell me about yours! I really do read all comments and I will publish!

:D

Framing

I have recently discovered how the framing of a performance can be translated into real life. I was talking to my boyfriend on how I don't really like going out anymore when I am at university because the atmosphere around the night life of a university has a different frame to the night life of, say, my home town. 

The atmosphere around university campuses are very "out-to-pull" sort of environments. Girls are constantly being hit on by drunk guys and the girls that are up for it are writhing around with two or more men. This is the atmosphere I don't really like. I used to enjoy a cheeky dance with a guy on a night out, but now I have someone very special in my life so these sorts of environments don't appeal to me anymore. Don't get me wrong, I'd love to go out with my friends and have a laugh but when you're in that sort of environment, you get sick of the atmosphere. 

However, if I went out with the same group of people back home, it would be a very different experience. Because in the past I have only been out in town back home with my friends for birthdays and celebrations, I find that there is less pressure on everyone, men and women, to go out on the pull. Back home, the atmosphere is more about enjoying your night out with your friends, not finding someone to 'get off' with. 

Now how does this relate to theatre? Well the framing of a performance depends on the atmosphere of the space that the performance is being. If a performance is held in a theatre, then there is a certain type of framing to it. You are expected to sit in the auditorium in a quiet and respectable manner, and not leave until the end. If a performance was held in a public space, however, such as a town square or a plaza, you wouldn't necessarily have to watch the whole piece. Now, I know these are only simple examples, but because there is a different attitude to both of these situations, the framing is different for each. In a public space, you are probably there for a purpose, so you may want to fulfill that purpose and not watch the performance, but in a theatre, you are there to watch a production, therefore, you watch and enjoy it (as much as you can). This is similar to a night out: in my experience, you go out in university for a purpose - to pull; at home you go out to celebrate something, and maybe if you pull, thats a bonus, just like a public performance.

Obviously, this is just my opinion and only an example but have a go at finding something similar to the framing of a performance in your life. Maybe there are situations at work that you could compare this to? Or even at school? Have a go and leave a comment below.

:D