THEGAYUK

Category: Entertainment

  • Will anyone actually watch the X Factor final?

    Will anyone actually watch the X Factor final?

    The X Factor final is looking to be the lowest rated to date, according to bookmakers.

    The X Factor is odds-on at 8/11 with Betway to pull in its lowest ever final viewership this weekend.

    The long-running singing competition has seen its ratings drop in recent years and 8/11 says this 2018 edition could also be responsible for the lowest ever series viewership, which currently stands at 6.52million.

    THEGAYUK.com recently revealed that only one only gay contestant had won the X Factor, but the show had spawned at least four homophobic winners.

    Worryingly the X Factor has produced more winners who have been revealed to have been homophobic or tweeted anti-gay comments than actual LGBT winners.

    In 2014 James Arthur was eventually dumped by his record label after it emerged that he released a diss track in which he used the term “f**king queer”. In 2018 it was revealed, days before she was to headline Birmingham Pride that Louisa Johnson had repeatedly used the slur “faggot” on Twitter. Birmingham Pride did not cancel her appearance, despite calls from pride goers. The first ever winner of the show, Steve Brookstein once said that he wished the openly gay gossip columnist Dan Wootton had HIV.

    So who will win?

    The leading online bookmaker is not ruling out the possibility of this being the last ever series, going 10/1 for 2018 to be curtains for the long-running show, with Dalton Harris the 1/4 favourite to triumph on Saturday.

    Betway’s Alan Alger said, “Having been on our screens for 15 years, X Factor’s popularity has dwindled and we are 8/11 for this weekend to see the show’s lowest ever final viewership.

    “Dalton Harris is 1/4 to win the series but then it could be curtains for the show altogether, as we go 10/1 for this edition to be the last ever one, though it’s never over until the fat lady sings.”

  • ‘Homophobic’ Christmas song crowned greatest festive hit ever

    The Pogues’ “Fairytale of New York” has been crowned the best Christmas song of all time.

    Topping Mariah’s “All I Want For Christmas” and WHAM!’s “Last Christmas”, “Fairytale of New York” has been crowned the nation’s favourite Christmas song.

    It also managed to top Band Aid’s “Do They Know It’s Christmas“, which took the fourth spot.

    Research commissioned to coincide with the Magic Radio ’12 songs of Christmas’ list found that for nearly half of Brits, Christmas music is most likely to put them in a festive mood.

    A quarter of adults felt seeing Christmas decorations go up helped aid festive cheer, while Christmas shopping came in at third place with 18 per cent.

    A Magic Radio spokesperson said, “When it comes to putting people in the Christmas spirit, music is king.

    “And it’s no wonder that more people are turning to music to bring them festive cheer – it’s the ultimate escapism in another year of uncertain times and bad news.

    “With Christmas bringing loved ones together, there’s no better time to put music on and relax into that Christmassy feeling.”

    “Homophobic”

    However, the song crowned number one contains a homophobic slur and is found problematic by some. Every year a debate rages about whether the song should have the word “faggot” bleeped or silenced when it is broadcast publicly.

    In 2007, BBC’s Radio 1 in the UK, censored the offending word, but soon reinstated it after a public backlash.

    The festive period was selected in the poll as the most anticipated time of the year, with 69 per cent of adults most looking forward to Christmas over New Year and Summer bank holidays.

    Spending time with loved ones was also deemed the most important part of Christmas for 60 per cent of adults, whilst the Christmas Party comes bottom of the list, with just two per cent of adults looking forward to the annual ‘do.

    Magic Radio announced plans earlier this week to switch their playlist to 100 per cent Christmas with non-stop Christmas songs all the way up to Boxing Day.

    rawpixel / Pixabay

    The ’12 Songs of Christmas’ as selected by Magic Radio listeners are:
    1 Fairytale of New York – Pogues and Kirsty Maccoll
    2 All I Want For Christmas Is You – Mariah Carey
    3 Last Christmas – Wham!
    4 Do They Know It’s Christmas – Band Aid
    5 Driving Home For Christmas – Chris Rea
    6 Happy Xmas (War is Over) – John Lennon and Yoko Ono
    7 Step Into Christmas – Elton John
    8 Wonderful Christmastime – Paul McCartney
    9 Merry Xmas Everybody – Slade
    10 I Wish It Could Be Christmas Everyday – Wizzard
    11 Stay Another Day – East 17
    12 Merry Christmas Everyone – Shakin’ Stevens

     

     

  • THEATRE REVIEW | The Wizard Of Oz, Birmingham Rep

    ★★★★★ |The Wizard Of Oz, Birmingham Rep

    • a marvel spectacle matching the West End

    This seriously was the most fun I’ve had at a theatre for a long time. My jaw dropped countless times at the set, costumes, effects and the talent of the ensemble. The Wizard of Oz by Frank Baum, with music and lyrics by Harold Arlen and E Y Harburg, is a story that has been part of every generation, and The Rep pulled out all the stops with this gem.

    From the start, you were gripped by Dorothy’s plight, and we highly sympathised with her not wanting to give such a cute dog away. The first scenes, our hearts melted with the use of a real dog who just looked adorable as the scenes moved and swished around him. Chisara Agor played Dorothy with much sweetness and love, making for a very heart-wrenching story live on stage. Chisara was very dexterous with her singing and movement abilities; it made for an unstoppable watch.

    The three main characters, Scarecrow (Ed Wade), Tin Man (Dillon Scott-Lewis) and Lion (Kelly Agbowu) were surreally brilliant; sublime in their characterisation. Other than the original film, their portrayal was my favourite, and I felt like a kid again. I was a little nervous that the show may have been more for children, but every generation was in awe and drawn in with the magic and illusion. Ed was superb as the scarecrow with mannerisms being truly identical to the film, but with his own twist, rolling around and walking differently. Dillon was a movement mastermind. His dance ability resulted in a masterpiece performance of Tin Man – the way he walked and moved was an eye-popping effect on its own. I would watch it again purely to watch Dillon as Tin Man. Lion, played by Kelly, though lacking in courage, had vocal chords of an Angel, seriously what a voice! I can see why Lion had many songs as Kelly‘s voice was heavenly.

    The set, designed by Angela Davies, was honestly spectacular. I have seen many shows now, but this show really made me feel like it was my first time experiencing new wonders. I can’t imagine how excited the children must have been in the audience.

    The character of Oz was incredible – a massive head with eyes and mouth that moved as Oz spoke, and it made to appear like it was a real giant’s head. This was worth the wait.

    The highlight of the show for me was the Munchkin dance when Dorothy arrives into the land of Oz and crushes the Wicked Witch of the East. The puppets, designed by Samuel Wyer, together with performers puppeteering them, dazzled the audience, and I just kept hearing ‘wow’ and ‘oh my god’ from all around me. The detail of the characters and the versatile movement of each character was a stroke of genius. I could watch that routine over and over again.

    Never have I wanted to recommend a show as much as The Birmingham Rep’s The Wizard of Oz.

    Running: 24 November – 13 January

  • Britney’s biggest hits ranked

    Britney’s biggest hits ranked

    If there’s a top list of Britney tracks to be compiled… leave it to the gays

    It came as a shock. Especially for those of us who pretend to still be in our twenties (even if it’s only late twenties) when we were clearly old enough to go clubbing when Britney Spears‘ first hit soared up the charts.

    The shock is that song, “Baby One More Time” recently turned 20… that, as Patsy Stone says, make us “how old”?

    via GIPHY

    So here are our top 10 Britney hits – to make it on to this list we only used songs that reached at least top three in the UK charts.

    10) Born To Make You Happy 1999 / …Baby One More Time

    Weirdly this doesn’t even come close to the strongest ballad on her debut album, but it still made number 1 in the UK charts – this song? Huh? and not “Sometimes” which was arguably the summer song of 99.

    “Born to Make You Happy” is a typically 90s produced song with not a real instrument in sight and drum loops galore and a reminder that wah wah guitar doesn’t just belong in the 70s. The accompanying video is a proper piece of 90’s music video nostalgia. No real storyline, but the singer looking pretty is key – in at least three costume changes. They could be scenes from three separate songs really.

     

    9) Piece Of Me 2007 / Black Out

    We love the self-confessional vibe of the lyrics in this song, detailing all the things that had happened to her during her runaway years. Remember the marriages, the hair shaving, the babies, not controlling her own finances? She may seem to have shiz altogether now, but there was a time during the 00s when Brit Brit went Kray Kray. Afterall she was, as she says in the song, “been on the scene since I was 17”.

    8) Opps!… I Did It Again 2000 / Opps!… I Did It Again

    More of the same really after her epic hit, “…Baby One More Time”, but we in the UK lapped it up nonetheless, as it became her third number 1. The American’s didn’t like it as much and the song peaked at 9. “Opps!… I Did It Again” was more meaty than”…Baby One More Time” in terms of production but had an epically camp midsection in which she has a conversation with one of the song’s writer Max Martin about a piece of jewellery. The song is so similar to…Baby One More Time you can pretty much sing the lyrics in the chorus of “Opps!… I Did It Again”

    7) Me Against The Music 2004 / In The Zone

    Britney’s fourth album In the Zone brought an entirely new sound for Spears. “Me Against The Music” was her call to fans, press and the industry to take her seriously as a pop artist rather than just a bubblegum princess. The song saw her team up with Pop Queen Madonna and had a mad bridge to the chorus with so so many words.

    6) Everytime 2004 / In The Zone

    Britney does pop music. She does it very well – not so much the ballads which can come off a bit cheesy – just listen to “Dear Diary” on her first album if you need any proof, but “Everytime” is beautiful. It is also one of the rare songs that Brit herself has written. Apparently, the song is an answer to Justin Timberlake’s “Cry Me A River”. The two had been pop’s biggest power couple, but split in 2002. The breakup was used by their respective labels to push album sales.

    5) Womanizer 2008 / Circus

    By 2008 Britney was back on track throwing out albums again after a short break. She released Blackout in 2007, Circus in 2008  and single’s collection in 2009. Womanizer is a catchy girl anthem against cheating womanizing men. The song was deemed by many critics as her definitive comeback single.

    4) Gimme More 2007 / Blackout

    When Britney had her meltdown in the middle of the 00s, fans weren’t sure whether she’d actually pull through. Everyday brought more news about her antics and the break down of her mental health. So when it was announced that she was working on new material fans were gifted with “Gimme More” with the now legendary saying “It’s Britney Bitch” cemented into pop consciousness forever. However, her first outting of the song on the 2007 MTV Video Music Awards was panned by critics.

    The video looked incredibly cheap, almost as though her label had given up hope on Britney’s staying power at the top, how wrong were they were. The song reached number three in the UK and the US. The album went on to sell over 3,000,000 copies worldwide.

    3) My Prerogative 2004 / Greatest Hits: My Prerogative

    It was Britney second single that wasn’t originally hers (the first was “I Love Rock and Roll” in 2002)- it was a Bobby Brown hit before Britney had it. I’m going to say something controversial here. Hers was better. Soz not soz. It reached number 3 in the UK, but failed to chart in the US. The song starts with Britney breathing the lyrics “People can take everything away from you / But they can never take away your truth / But the question is, can you handle mine?” Little did we know that Britney’s truth was going to become tabloid fodder for years after this track.

    2) Toxic 2004 / In The Zone

    Did you know this iconic pop song was originally offered to Kylie Minogue? But she rejected it… For Brit it went on to become one her biggest selling singles of all time. It even won her a Grammy, her only Grammy. Accompanying the song was video, which is a calling for every gay boy to pretend to be a flight attendant… okay maybe that’s just me.

    1) …Baby One More Time 1998 / …Baby One More Time

    Well, it’s the song that launched her career and there’s no other song in the world that can fill a dance floor in just three notes. The album it came from, released in January 1999 went to sell over 25,000,000 copies worldwide, making Britney a somewhat overnight success.

  • FILM REVIEW | Postcards from London

    FILM REVIEW | Postcards from London

    ★★★☆☆| Postcards from London

    A young handsome man from Essex travels to the Big Smoke and encounters unusual situations in the new film Postcards from London.

    Harris Dickinson, who was so sexy and memorable in last year’s critically-acclaimed film Beach Rats, is again sexy in this new role, a role where he again plays a gay character.

    Dickinson is Jim who winds up in, of all places Soho, where he falls into a crowd of male escorts, but these are not the typical kind of escorts one would encounter in any big city – these escorts are of an artistic bend. They, strangely, have a thing for the paintings of Caravaggio – paintings that are all so homoerotic and sexy. And Jim becomes, for one of his paying clients, a character right out of one of Caravaggio’s paintings. But It’s a premise that’s very unusual, including the fact that Jim seems to have some sort of hallucination of planting himself in the paintings, it’s a premise that just doesn’t work.

    A film called Postcards from London should show part of London, especially Soho and all its nooks and crannies.

    But Postcards from London was shot on a soundstage, so there’s actually very very little (just in the beginning) shots of the city it’s named after. And while most of the other actors are good, and while Dickinson does his utmost best to try to keep a straight face, I guess the only reason to watch this film is because most of the actors are scantily clad most of the time.

    Postcards from London is available to pre-order now.

  • Trans politician Sophie Cook releases her debut book

    Trans politician Sophie Cook releases her debut book

    A transgender woman, who narrowly missed out on becoming Britain’s first transgender MP has released her first book.

    Having spent a lifetime hating herself and struggling with post-traumatic stress, her gender identity, self-harm and suicide, RAF veteran and former motorbike racer, newspaper editor, Premier League football and rock photographer, Sophie Cook was at breaking point when she transitioned in 2015.

    She became the first transgender woman to work in football’s Premier League as club photographer for AFC Bournemouth following her transition, and was Europe’s first trans TV newscaster with Brighton’s Latest TV where she also presented her own chat show and now has a show on RadioReverb.

    Sophie has also been flying the flag for diversity and inclusion as well as forcing the discussion about mental health awareness as an in-demand public speaker, delivering keynote talks and LGBT workshops across the UK for high profile organisations such as the TUC, Kick It Out and Stonewall.

    In April 2017 she was selected by the Labour Party to contest the East Worthing and Shoreham seat in the General Election, where against all the odds, she increased the Labour vote by 114% and narrowly missed out on becoming the UK’s first transgender MP.

    “Everything that I’ve done since my transition has been about trying to raise awareness and help others, whether it’s mental health, hate crime, trans inclusion or breaking down the walls of prejudice. Politics felt like the ultimate way in which I could try to make a difference.”

    Sophie’s autobiography Not Today: How I chose life has just been published and the book charts her personal journey from despair to redemption and acts as a self-help book for anyone struggling with their mental health or identity. From her childhood and her first suicide attempt at the age of 12, through post-traumatic stress after saving a colleagues life following an explosion whilst in the RAF. Sophie explores and examines her self-harming and depression, ultimately finding redemption, awareness and self-love.

    Suicide, self-harm and coping

    Writing in the book Sophie describes some of her darkest moments, “I know that one day I’ll kill myself, because I don’t know how to stop feeling this way but it won’t be today. In the meantime I’m going to do the best I can to enjoy every single day and then on the day that I die, in many, many years time, I’ll look back and realise that I didn’t get around to doing it.

    But adds that she’s found a coping mechanism, “With this simple revelation, I found a way to live. It may not have slain my demons completely but it significantly reduced their power to hurt me.”

    “Over the past three years I’ve spoken to thousands of people about my journey and how I overcame my demons and this, in turn, has helped them with their mental health and now it’s time to tell my full story for the first time.”

    Poignant and heart-rending, yet at the same time inspiring and uplifting, Not Today traces a journey from private torment to personal triumph. Told with honesty and candour – and written with warmth and intimacy, outlining the huge emotional and social toll of gender dysphoria and chronicling a voyage towards truth, validation and authenticity. Sophie’s compelling story portrays the fragility and fortitude of human emotions, demonstrating how – by conquering fear and summoning strength – a person is capable of making the progression from loathing themselves to loving themselves.

    But Not Today isn’t just a memoir.

    “There’s all of the stories and ideas that are floating around in my head and I really needed to share them. It’s part autobiography, part self-help book, part political manifesto, and part personal philosophy. It’s everything that makes me me, and everything that I understand about how my journey led me here.

    “Not everyone has the opportunity to change the world with a single act but we can all make incremental changes, by being nicer to people, by helping them, by standing up to hate or by respecting those that we meet.

    “If we want to change the world we first need to look within ourselves and find the strength, compassion and love that fuels the human spirit. By loving ourselves we can learn to love others, by being kind to others we can learn to be kind to ourselves, unfortunately so many of us fall down on loving ourselves.”

    Not Today: How I chose life is available as a paperback or eBook from www.sophiecook.me.uk/book

  • THEATRE REVIEW | Dietrich Natural Duty, Wilton’s Music Hall, London

    THEATRE REVIEW | Dietrich Natural Duty, Wilton’s Music Hall, London

    ★★★★★ | Dietrich Natural Duty

    Marlene Dietrich has been called to duty – and lucky for us it’s in London.
    Dietrich, star of many a stage and film, as well as many a front line during WWII, was a legend, was a humanitarian, and was perhaps one of the most famous women of the 20th Century. Now, for a second time this year, we can bathe in her presence, and voice, in a show called Dietrich Natural Duty: A One (Wo)man Show now playing at the almost gorgeous as Dietrich venue Wilton’s Music Hall.
    In a stunning, shimmering, glittery beaded golden sequin dress, Dietrich (played to perfection by Peter Groom), takes us back to the time when she, in 1942, amidst the battlefields, turns her back at the country of her birth, Germany, and helps to rally, and excite, the troops. Through a mix of song, wit, curves, and a voice to die for, Dietrich Natural Duty is an irresistible and breathtaking show where Groom just about channels his inner and outer Dietrich to shear perfection. This show, and Groom, is mesmerising and will take your breathe away.
    Duetrich Natural Duty: A One (Wo)man Show ends its run on Saturday November 24th. To buy tickets, please click here:
  • THEATRE REVIEW | Briefs, Leicester Square Spiegeltent, London

    THEATRE REVIEW | Briefs, Leicester Square Spiegeltent, London

    ★★★★★ | Briefs

    The Briefs boys are back and they’re being extra naughty!

    You know the boys – they are the burlesque troupe from Australia who, annually, bring us fun, frolics, and huge loads – of sexiness – to the Underbelly tent in the Southbank every summer season. Well this year they’re giving us a extra dose of themselves – they are putting on their act in Leicester Square!

    Headlining two shows in the Leicester Square Spiegeltent (the first show at 7:30 and a second at 10:15), Briefs: Close Encounters take us into outer space with the sexy guys who wear all sorts of space attire (and luckily for the audience the attire comes off!) in a show that can be described as too sexy for space!

    The cast, and pretty much the show, is very similar to their show at Underbelly – but the space theme is a twist in the right direction! The Briefs boys, led by fabulous emcee Fez Fa’anana, includes one of Australia’s leading circus showmen Captain Kidd; acrobat and clownish time-hopping rabbit Dale Woodbridge-Brown; superstar aerialist Thomas Worrell, defying gravity and tying himself in knots above the crowd; and the youngest member of Briefs, the loveable rogue and boy wonder Louis Biggs, as well as performance artist Harry Clayton-Wright.

    They perform their circus skills, raucous comedy, and display their unique disrobing skills for the audience to enjoy. But stop press – the 10:15 p.m. show is even more racier, more raucous, with more genitalia on display, and isn’t that what the world needs now?

    And after the 10:15 p.m. show the tent becomes a disco where you can dance and boogie with the stars of the show! Having attended both shows last week, and then stayed on for the disco, we had an excellent time. With this, we are definitely buying tickets for their New Years Eve Extravaganza, which will be the place to be in London. It will be guaranteed trash, disco, glamour and nudity!

    Briefs: Close Encounters is an encounter I want to experience again and again!
    Book tickets for Briefs: Close Encounters click here

  • Emily Atack climbs to the top of jungle on odds to win

    Emily Atack has climbed to the top of Betway’s I’m A Celebrity outright winner market after just her first night in the jungle.

    Immediately the centre of attention after sky-diving into camp before being named as this year’s first to face a Bushtucker Trial, Atack is now the leading online bookmaker’s 11/4 favourite having been as big as 11/2 before Sunday night.

    Pre-show fancy James McVey has gone cold in the betting and is out to 8/1 from 9/2, while X Factor finalist Fleur East has impressed early on and has been cut to 13/2 from 12/1.

    Betway’s Alan Alger said, “After the first night in the jungle, punters are beginning to strongly side with Emily Atack and she’s now our new 11/4 favourite to go all the way. She featured heavily in the opening show and faces the first Bushtucker Trial, so on entertainment value alone she’s made a fast start.

    “Fleur East has been backed into 13/2 from 12/1 after a busy opening show, while James McVey, a big early fancy at 9/2, failed to get much air-time and has been pushed out to 8/1.”

    I’m A Celebrity outright winner:

    Emily Atack

    11/4

    John Barrowman

    5/1

    Fleur East

    13/2

    Anne Hegerty

    7/1

    Nick Knowles

    7/1

     

  • Who is James McVey dating and what band is he from?

    Who is James McVey dating and what band is he from?

    James McVey is in the jungle, but is he dating anyone and what is he most famous for?

    Is James McVey dating anyone, is James from the Vamps gay,

    Twenty-four-year-old James McVey is the guitarist for the band, The Vamps. The band has been together since 2011, when he met his fellow bandmates on YouTube and Facebook.

    Together the band has amassed five top 10 singles and their last album, Night and Day reached number one in the charts. James himself is the third most popular member of the group on social media with nearly 1.8 million followers on Twitter. His bandmate Connor Ball is the most popular with over 2 million followers.

    Is James McVey gay?

    Embed from Getty Images

    Nope, James McVey has never identified as gay or bisexual and is currently in a relationship with his girlfriend, 22-year-old Kirstie Brittain, who is a model. The pair started dating at the end of 2014. They split but later reunited. Prior to Kirstie, James was romantically linked to Game of Thrones actor, Sophie Turner. However, the pair had an acrimonious split on Twitter in July 2014.

    Is James McVey Married?

    Embed from Getty Images

    No, not yet at least. James is currently dating his model girlfriend, 22-year-old Kirstie Brittain. They’ve been together since late 2014, but there’s been no talk of marriage or engagement, yet.

     

     

     

     

     

  • THEATRE REVIEW | Everybody’s Talking About Jamie, Apollo Theatre, London

    THEATRE REVIEW | Everybody’s Talking About Jamie, Apollo Theatre, London

    ★★★★☆ | Everybody’s Talking About Jamie

    (C) Matt Crockett

    Jamie, Jamie, Jamie. ‘Everybody’s Talking About Jamie!’ And damn right they should be. And it’s one year old!

    Everybody’s Talking About Jamie, in case you haven’t heard by now, is the heartwarming story of Jamie – a young man from Sheffield who is different from the other kids in his class.

    When his teacher asks her students what they want to be when they grow up, one says doctor, another says lawyer, while Jamie says that he wants to be a drag queen! Supported by his mother and her best friend, along with some of his best mates, who all happen to be girls, Jamie’s dream may eventually come true! But first, he has to overcome prejudice, as well as the school bully (and also an unloving father who has practically disowned him), to be able to be who he wants to be!

    Everybody’s Talking About Jamie opened to critical acclaim at the Sheffield Crucible in 2017, and has been playing to practically sold out audiences for exactly one year at London’s Apollo Theatre in the West End.

    It’s a heartwarming and enduring story that’s actually true. It’s based on the life of Jamie New – who appeared in a 2011 BBC documentary called Jamie: Drag Queen at 16. With Music by The Feeling’s Dan Gillespie Sells, and Books and Lyrics by Tom MacRae, Everybody’s Talking About Jamie is touching, but at the same time manufactured in the way Kinky Boots is (we all know how it is going to end).

    John McCrea is brilliant as Jamie – he really works the stage in those high high heels! And he’s a dead ringer for the real Jamie! Rebecca McKinnis is great as Jamie’s mum Margaret, and she does get a show-stopper or two (‘He’s my Boy’ may bring a tear to your eye).

    In a bit of stunt casting, Michelle Visage is the teacher, but it’s Shobna Gulati who plays, and is fierce, as Margaret’s best friend, and one of Jamie’s staunchest supporters.

    It’s a feel-good show with a feel-good message, and isn’t that we all need right now!

    Book tickets to see Everybody’s Talking About Jamie!