Britians Got Talent 2010: my views on it all!

So, another year of 'Britains Got Talent' has drawn to a close and a winner has been chosen by the nation. To answer the question of: 'Does Britain have talent'? I think there is a good answer, there is a lot of talented people out there, but there are also some that are holding onto a dream that may never come true in the way they hope. Everyone has a talent, whether its something they can perform, something they can create or share. It's more a matter of finding your strength and building that strength to be something to be proud of sharing. I do feel sorry for the people who believe they can do something but, sadly, fail dismally in the thing they believe they can do. My advice to them would be to find another 'channel' for them to hone in on.

This years talent, on the show, was brilliant, the final was fantastic and really showcased how talented some people are out there. My favourites that I wish had got to the final, but didn't, were 'The Arrangement', Stevie Starr (aka: The Regurgitator) and Neil Fullard (The Singing Bouncer). I do hope they reappear on the television sometime, or at least get some good luck in their futures from their appearances.

I have no doubt that Christopher Stone will either get a record contract or be on the stage in a musical as a leading man, somewhere in the future!! Amazing voice and thought he was brilliant.

Spelbound were amazing and do deserve to win, I also hope they get to be in the 2012 Olympics opening ceremony for London, they could really make a good impression for the UK.

I really wish Tobias Mead had got higher in the vote, he was EXCELLENT and I sincerely hope that he has lots of luck with his career, he definately deserves it. His creativity and dancing is mind-blowing and I'd love to see him dancing live.

Paul Burling!! Amazing, hope he does get to do some more TV work, even his own show, he deserves it, amazing fun and brilliantly creative mind to come up with his impression routines.

Twist and Pulse, absolutely BRILLIANT and so funny!! Loved their routines and thought their personalities definately shone through. Hope to see more of them in the future too.

As for some of the younger contestants, this year, hey, they have plenty of time, I hope they don't get exploited and they still have a childhood, now, rather than look back in years time and wish they hadn't got the 'fame and fortune' back then and how they feel they have missed out.

I really hope someone in the 'TV world' can bring some of these talents together in a regular capacity. Why don't we have a 'regular' variety show every week/fortnight/month? We used to, when I was growing up!! Someone out there in TV Production, please, get something together and get some well loved acts and some of these new acts together on one stage, I believe it's a money spinner and would get watched!

To all the contestants, well done, you deserve what recognition and luck comes your way, you're an inspiration to a lot of people and have left many of us in awe of your talents. Lets hope next year will be as good if not better!!

How to train your dragon (film review)

Description: From the creators of Shrek, Madagascar and Kung Fu Panda comes How To Train Your Dragon, an animated adventure comedy set in a mythical world of burly vikings and wild dragons, based on the book by Cressida Cowell.

The story centres around a viking teenager, who lives on the island of Berk, where fighting dragons is a way of life. Initiation is coming, and this is his one chance to prove his worthiness to his tribe and father. But when he encounters, and ultimately befriends, an injured dragon, his world is turned upside down.


My review: I took my 3 children to watch this today, this has been out a while and it only has 2 showings left at our local cinema. This was an absolute treat to watch! My children are 4, 7 and 9 years old and all of them loved it, including me!

The story is based around young 'Hiccup' (yes, even Vikings gave their kids cruel names!) he's not the image of a burly, strapping Viking, no, not like his father, Chief Stoick the Vast, he's a bit of a 'let down' to his father and the Viking tribe, so he works in the 'weapons' department, under the watchful eye of seasoned warrior Gobber the Belch, instead of swinging them at Dragons, who terrorize the village, he helps to make them.

BUT, time is coming when he must 'come of age' and take the plunge to become a true Viking, kill his first dragon and make his mark. But that's not what Hiccup is wanting to do, he's more into using his brain than, building and, using brawn. After he manages to bring a dragon down, with a self-made contraption, during an attack, he tracks down where it landed and finds he can't bring himself to kill the beast. On letting the dragon free, he and the dragon forge a friendship and end up helping one another out.

The warriors of the tribe go to war with the dragons, sailing to the island to try to infiltrate the nest and hoping to cull the firey aggressors. Whilst the warriors are away the younger generation of the tribe must be brought to fighting and warrior standards, under the training of Gobber and a few trapped dragons (why practise against something false when you can go against the real thing?!). Hiccup is among the yougsters and in his spare time is tending to and learning from 'Tootless' the rare and most intelligent 'Night Fury' Dragon he caught. He learns things from Tootless and tries them against his opponents in the ring, during training, which leads to some intriguing discoveries about the Dragons that none of the Vikings knew of before.

The animation is wonderful, totally trasporting you into the film. The story is beautiful, amusing, thrilling and heartfelt. It's a movie I could definately be 'dragged along to' again, without a murmur.

The soundtrack is brilliant and is something I'm now going to be on the lookout for, during the end credits is a track by Jonsi (whom I LOVE) called 'Sticks and stones', that was a great little surprise for me at the end. All in all, it's a film I would recommend to anyone of any age and it's not childish, it's beautiful, uplifting and worth watching.

Official website for 'How to train your dragon'.

Celebrity Come Dine with Me: Game show hosts.

Last night I sat and watched Celebrity Come Dine with me on Channel 4, on this episdode they had 4, past, game show hosts competing for the prize money. The celebs were Pat Sharp, Jenny Powell, Anthea Redfern and Michael Barrymore.

I have not laughed and cringed so much in ages!! It was pure entertainment and I loved it, I made my stomach hurt through laughing so hard (at Michael Barrymore's antics) and nearly had tears rolling down my face. There was laughter, tears, shocking events (plates are involved) and more, it was brilliant, if you didn't get to see it then look out for it when it's available on Channel 4's On Demand.

To go and look at the webpage click here!

Britains Got Talent: auditions wk 5

Wasn't so swept away with BGT the last two weeks. Week 3 I didn't think much of, yes, there are talented people out there but nobody blew me away. Last week was better but I had a busy week so didn't blog, not about BGT anyway. BUT, this week I had a couple of favourites, they were.

Twist and Pulse:


Paul Burling:



Note: Youtube and BritainsGotTalent09 (user) have now stopped embedding the video, so please click on the acts name, above, and the link will take you to the video, thank you.

Some of my favourite beauty products!

I thought I’d share some of my favourite products with you. These are things I use daily and could, almost, not be without!!


ETI Turbodryer Professional hairdryer. Lots of colours, lightweight and plenty of power. Two Speed. Four heat settings. Professional 1500 watt motor and long cord. Does a great job and doesn’t make your arms ache!



SCP Tormaline Medium Mk 5.4 Hair Straighteners heat quickly, lightweight and good size for most hair lengths. Long power cord and adjustable heat.
I got mine from Girls Stuff Direct!


Indola 4+4 vitamin hair treatment : I love this as an extra ‘conditioner’ and also have used this for pre-treating hair before colours and perms. Smells nice and just helps your hair when it needs it.


John Frieda Frizz Ease Secret Agent: I love this product!! It’s like an ‘old fashioned’ finishing cream. It helps to smooth down the frizzies and the flyaways. If you have problems with your hair looking a bit ‘frazzled’ from your straighteners then I recommend you use this after blowdrying your hair, just a little goes a long way and concentrate on the ends, then use your straighteners, then put a little more on after your done. It’s brilliant stuff and as long as you don’t suffer with greasy hair then you’ll probably love it too.


Body Shop Almond Hand Rescue Treatment: I use this daily if not several times a day, I suffer with dry hands, mainly because I don’t like wearing gloves for washing up and stuff. It smells great and is thick but not greasy. My family often gets asked to buy this as a present for me! Trust me, a gift of this is always welcome.


Body Shop Hemp Hand Protector: I have really dry hands from everyday ‘mum work’ and this is part of my arsenal for trying to stop my hands getting to the stage of cracking. I use this if nothing else seems to get rid of the dryness. Usually put it on before bed so it has extra time to do its thing. Brilliant and if you have dry hands it’s worth investing in a small tube to try it.


Boots Luxury Deep moisturizing foot cream: I do like to pamper my feet occasionally and this is one cream I like. Firstly it smells pleasant and not overpowering, how some of them can be. It’s light enough to use and not get ‘greasy’ for too long, great if you have dry feet and heels and are wearing socks, put it on right after your shower and then put your socks on, your feet will feel pretty good by evening!!

And this is from personal preference, my favourite perfumes/fragrances are:
Burberry ‘The Beat’ for women

Body Shop ‘Japanese Cherry Blossom’ Body Mist

From Lidl’s I get Suddenly ‘D’Or’ for Women Eau de toilette, great cheaper perfume for everyday. (About 3.99 for 50ml bottle).

Britains got Talent: auditions week 2

This weeks show I found it hard to have just one favourite!! In fact this week I had three! Each with their own reason for me liking and admiring them. So, here's my three favourites from this weekend!

The Arrangement!

Just plain fun!! Love the use of their classical musical talents and mixing it with the pop of the charts!



Spelbound!

Wow, seriously WOW!! Brilliant, just captivating and so well executed!



Christopher Stone!

Transported me back to when my dad did AM-DRAM and did West Side Story! Beautiful voice and so pleased he was what I hoped he would be, with his parents pushing him to do this, it could have been very different!




And an honourable, and slightly repulsed, mention for Steve Starr 'The Regurgitator': this man's got a talent, but please don't try this yourself!!

Britains Got Talent 2010 - week one auditions! Tobias Mead

WOW, Tobias Mead blew me away last night on Britains Got Talent, he is AMAZING!! The moves, the fluidity of him. Brilliant routine. He gave me goosebumps right from the start and my eyes were transfixed to the television.

Then today in the press, and this is going on what the press has posted, it says that he has had 'family problems' because of him wanting to go into dance and performing and not into football. I really hope if one of my kids wants to do something like that that I won't be so judgemental and can be all out supportive. Amazing young man and will definatlely deserve to see his name in lights!!

What is passion to you?

What is passion to you?

The definition in the Oxford English Dictionary is:

PASSION
• noun 1 very strong emotion. 2 intense sexual love. 3 an outburst of very strong emotion. 4 an intense enthusiasm for something. 4 (the Passion) the suffering and death of Jesus.

I must admit, this, to me, is a very good definition. But how would you describe passion?!

To me, passion is; that feeling of fire in your belly, when your heart quickens a little, or a lot, because of something. Whether it’s a passion for someone, something, a cause, an object, a piece of music, a sport. Whether it’s a passion of loving something or loathing it, you feel that ‘fire in your belly’.

I was brought up to believe that life is what you make of it. Living life, being grateful for what you have, there are always people worse off than you. Whether it be financially, physically, mentally, emotionally. Look at your life: what do you have? A family, friends, health, wealth, happiness through diversity? Whatever there is in your life, be grateful.

I do believe everything happens for a reason, you can go through some really rough times but in the end you should learn from the experience, good or bad, and come out the other side a better person for going through it. Feel that passion for life, don’t give up, however bad times seem, know that there has to be a silver lining to this cloud hanging over you. It could be a major turning point in your life when someone new comes into it, a new partner or friend. You may achieve a goal you’ve wanted to reach in a long time. You could lose a loved one, but discover a wealth of information from others who loved them.

Through all paths in life, live and learn, live with passion, don’t give up, however much you want to, there’s always an upside to every downside, however bleak it may seem at the time.

Don’t let life, your life, get you down. Hang on for the ride, life is definitely like a rollercoaster, with its peaks and troughs. Whether you have a hateful passion for something or a loving passion for something, stick with it, see it through and don’t hurt your nearest and dearest in the process, which, we’re all guilty of.

Feel that fire in your belly, take a deep breath in and feel the air fill your lungs, look at your surroundings and take in the things around you, the people that are there for you, even if it’s only one person, there’s someone there who loves you, unconditionally. Do a good deed, however small and feel that warmth in your heart for helping someone out. Feel a passion for life, not just a singular thing, but for your life and keep that feeling in your mind and heart EVERY DAY.

HAVE A PASSION FOR LIFE and live life to the fullest!

The joys of motherhood!

I had a restless night’s sleep last night, between snoring next to me and two of my children coughing in the dark hours, I ended up with my mind racing with too many things. One of which is the ‘joys of motherhood’.

When you embark on this journey of a lifetime, known as motherhood, or parenthood in general, who gives you the real ins and outs of the kind of stuff that can happen?! Now, don’t get me wrong, I know not every child is the same, not everyone’s situation is the same, etc, but there are SOME fundamentals that must/are the same for all parents and mothers. Here are some gems that I wish I’d been warned of:

Childbirth is frightening, but still somewhat enjoyable, yes, sounds insane. Reflect, if you will on the wonders of what the human body can do! This little human has been nurtured by your body for 9 months, or there abouts, and then your body has to get this human into the outside world. I never had a cesarean, mine came out ‘down there’. A few things went through my head while giving birth, especially the first time: my husband went to the ‘active’ end and I couldn’t help thinking ‘what if seeing that puts him off me completely?! It could happen! My husband is not one for blood and gore, so the fact he even still fancied me after seeing ‘that’ was a marvel. Yes, it can hurt, A LOT, but after the birth, things do calm down and when you hold that baby you do, almost, forget how painful it was. Now, one thing I wish I’d been warned of is: the bruising that comes out for the next few days maybe a week or two. The John Wayne style gait you adopt may be amusing, but it is a tad painful. AND your body will NEVER be the same again! However, you can learn to accept and respect that, along with the fact that you’ll have your ‘badges of honour’ yes, those wonderful stretchmarks that most mothers end up with – wear them with pride!!

The baby: Breast feeding is not ‘natural’ it is hard work and takes a lot of patience, which when you’re sleep deprived and recovering it’s REALLY not an easy feat. This little bundle can freak you out, the first few days/weeks with the sleeping. Yes, they DO sleep a lot and there’s times where your mind plays tricks on you ‘are they still breathing?’, ‘maybe I should poke the baby see if I get a response?’ - if you’re a parent, you know what I mean. AND do you realize how loud these little creatures can be? Not only when they scream, but the can belch and fart with the best! Not to mention the projectile stuff that can come out of these little mites! Baby puke is horrible, but easier to deal with than the stuff that comes when the solids are in. Nobody warned me about projectile pooh from an infant! Yes, I have had experience of that while doing a nappy change, and it’s pretty frightening!! It took ages to clean off the door, carpet and changing area! If you have a boy, best piece of advice I was ever given is make sure you have some tissues of toilet roll handy and put a bit over the ‘sprayer’ as soon as you can until you get the nappy done up again. AND, don’t do the nappy up with the ‘winky’ pointing UP!! Not good, the next time they go they get a wet tummy.

Something you are never prepared for is the sleepless nights! You get into a nice routine, eventually, and then you get the illness sleeplessness. Urgh, it is the worst! The coughing, the sniffing, the tummy bugs, it’s horrible and I don’t know that I will ever adjust to that. THEN you have to drag yourself around the following day doing ‘the usual’ stuff. AND the more kids you get the longer the sleepless nights get, you can guarantee if one of your kids gets a tummy bug, I have 3 boys, then you soon find that the tummy bug is in the house for about a fortnight! WHY!!?? Prepare, have bowls or something that you ‘earmark’ for such circumstances.

The fact that as your kids get older they can melt your heart saying things at times but it can turn to a dagger to your heart with some stuff they come out with as they get older. We’ve all done it at some point, as kids ourselves, you don’t realize how bad it is until you become the one on the receiving end.

It’s an ongoing journey, you learn as you go and have to improvise as you go along. People have been having and bringing up kids for years, so it’s something that can be done with keeping your sanity intact, just!

The good times, hopefully, outweigh the bad, the proud moments outweigh the disappointments and the laughs hopefully outweigh the tears. Whatever is thrown at you just get through it as best you can and try to find the good in all, even the really bad situations. Learning: we all continue even when we leave school – its life, its experience, it’s what we’re here for and it helps if we can teach our kids that you can grow from experience and not to make the same mistake twice or more.

I feel alone.

Something I wrote in October 2007 after moving back to England from Michigan (after living there for 9.5 years).


I feel alone

I feel alone
Like a stranger in a strange land
Sounds really weird
Seeing as it is ‘my home land’
I feel foreign
Like people are staring at me
Not sure if I look different
But certainly not free

My heart is somewhere else
While my body is here
Soul and head at conflict
Filling me with fear
Feeling like the outsider
Screaming but no-one is listening
Who am I now?
Not sure, hope I can find out.

Feeling lost and confused
Why should I feel this way?
I’m a woman, mother and wife
Yet feeling such a stray.
This decision was not mine
Yet I have to bear the consequence
Uprooted, moved and taken from all I know
To pastures new, strange and unfamiliar

I want to feel like I belong, again
Not like a stranger, alien or misfit
I’ve had this feeling in my life before
Like I’m being shoved into grit
It hurts my soul, my heart and head
Not feeling myself
Wanting to hide in bed

I will carry on, for my loved ones
But my heart, it is broken, along with my spirit
I just want to feel whole
Like that puzzle piece that fits
Just want to be me
As if I found all the bits

Tugged pulled and shoved
My heart is yearning for peace
A place I feel is ‘home’
So this emptiness will cease.