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STYLE ADVICE | What’s the best way to apply foundation if I have a beard?

Ever had a style or grooming question, that you’ve always wondered about but never had someone to ask? Then worry no more, our style and grooming expert Thomas Swallow is on hand to help. This month, he’s tackling the topic of Male Makeup.

muratkalenderoglu / Pixabay

What’s the best way to apply foundation, if I have facial hair? If I add foundation to it, it looks a mess and if I don’t I just get a line there.

The best way to deal with facial hair when applying foundation or any other type of coverage product i.e. BB creams is to not avoid or apply the product directly to the area. What you want to do, is apply the product to the rest of your face/neck (please don’t forget the neck) and then just run the excess product through your facial hair. This way you avoid a harsh line but you don’t coat your hair in product and it just creates an overall even finish.

My Recommendation:

I personally would always opt for a BB/CC cream or a light to medium coverage foundation. If going for a more full coverage look though, try and opt for a powder foundation. Powder products will always look more natural than liquid products through facial hair.

1) ALTR for Men: Blemish Balm

Available at: altrformen.com

2) LAB Series: BB Tinted Moisturiser SPF 35

Available at: labseries.co.uk

3) MONUSKIN: Perfecting Tint SPF 15

Available at: monushop.co.uk

Have you got a skin, beauty, grooming for fashion query for Thomas? Email: style@thegayuk.com or visit Thomas on Instagram @UrbanMaleUK

19th May 2019
CONCERT REVIEW | Ute Lemper’s Rendezvous With Marlene

★★★★ ★| Ute Lemper’s Rendezvous With Marlene

Ute

‘Falling in Love Again…’ an entranced Sasha de Suinn reviews Ute Lemper’s sold-out cabaret show Rendezvous with Marlene at the Arcola Theatre, London.

Where were you when Princess Di died?

Shocked, indifferent or simply unborn then? Like the Twin Towers, Di’s death instantly branded itself into cultural awareness worldwide, becoming a cultural landmark of collective disbelief. Still – if not quite on such an exalted plane – artistic earthquakes also create an enduring, seismic blip in public adoration and memorable regard. But forget the pointlessly premature – if still shocking – deaths of musical prodigies Prince, Amy Winehouse and Michael Jackson; they’re the negative downside of cultural lightning brilliantly caught in a bottle. Ah, but don’t despair – there’s always light in the darkness, a Dumbledore to every Voldemort! Why, given a convenient TARDIS like every cosy, pansexual Time Lord, who wouldn’t want to witness Maria Callas, Judy Garland and Bowie’s Ziggy Stardust shows at their iconic, history-making peak?

Still, those moments, if rare, continue to persist as thrilling possibilities. And culturally – right here and right now – we’re incandescently privileged to witness Ute Lemper’s totally game-changing Rendezvous With Marlene. The work of a simply superlative artist at the top of her game, it’s a fearless exploration of Dietrich’s doubts, regrets and shockingly raw humanity.

Like the finest, vintage Krug champagne – with all its’ attendant depth, resonance and complexity of flavour – Rendezvous has intensely benefitted from its’ long, thirty-year gestation in Ute’s mind.

While playing Sally Bowles in a stage version of Cabaret in Dusseldorf back in 1992 when she was 24, Ute wrote a postcard to the 88-year-old Dietrich apologising for the constant barrage of spurious comparisons lazy journalists were drawing between the two artists. To call those journalists merely misguided would be ridiculously kind; they were wildly inaccurate. Where Dietrich was breezily, bisexually promiscuous, Ute was married with children; where Dietrich barely strayed beyond performing a narrow repertoire of expected classics, Ute’s range – including tackling songs by Nick Cave and Tom Waits – was eclecticism personified; and finally, while Dietrich stage’s act and barely-passable ‘singing’ remained essentially static and she explores no other creative pathways privately, Ute was a first-class chanteuse, actress and dancer, painting and song-writing in her precious downtime.

Very different women, then, despite the most blatantly obvious, shared physical characteristics; blonde hair and shapely bodies. Still, both had a shrewd grasp of the human impact of restrictive politics – as in Dietrich’s profound disgust towards the Nazis, while Ute – pleasingly in an era of blanket, Trump idiocies – comes across as an electrifying, pro-choice Valkyrie at the Arcola, sharing Dietrich’s passion for strong, female self-determinism.

Framed as a post-modern metafiction – Ute switching characters back and forth between herself and Dietrich, and exploring Dietrich’s memories in character en route – Rendezvous is almost an act of secular worship in performing, spontaneously eliciting an aura of hushed, quasi-religious devotion from the audience. Faultlessly exhibiting the high-functioning playfulness of an Alpha-class empath, Ute is so sensitive to nuance she virtually leads the audience en mass to the emotional mountaintops of Dietrich’s revelations. Throughout, Ute exhibits two exceptional qualities wholly lacking from the frenzied, truncated idiocy that passes as modern stage direction; dignity and restraint.

Surely a reigning role-model of liquid-boned finesse, Ute’s slightest, rippling gesture speaks emotional volumes, and she has the incalculable, expressive gift of making even the most chronically over-exposed lyrics imaginable –Blowing In The Wind, anyone? – resonate with the shocking, public poignancy of Christine Blasey Ford testimony against the vile Brett Kavanaugh.

A sheer master-class in memorial intimacy, stagecraft and the taut, emotional fury of suppressed pain and regret, Rendezvous With Marlene is an astounding instance of spiritual ventriloquism, of one acclaimed performer so prepared to relinquish egotism she’ll voluntarily become the mouthpiece of another.

Utterly in tune with our present, diversity zeitgeist, Ute’s tribute is not only pansexual, acknowledging Marlene’s female and male lovers, but also – going even further than Russell T. Davies’ Years and Years – transageist, as a youthful, ebullient Ute assumes the serene gravitas of Dietrich herself. Masterly? Of course; and – by a huge margin – simply the finest act of sustained, emotional intensity and fearless self-revelation I’ve ever seen. Ute – like Bowie, Callas and Garland before her – is in an unprecedented class of her own.

18th May 2019
Lost LGBT Scene | The Duke of Clarence, Islington

We’re creating an online memory board for some of London’s lost venues. Since the turn of the century, London’s gay scene has lost over 100 venues.

We’d love for you to help us grow this historical archive of London’s lost gay scene. If you’ve got photos or memories of any of the venues you’d like to share please use the comment section below and we’ll add them right here.

The Duke of Clarence

A lesbian bar in Islington off the Essex Road, most likely closed at the end of the 90s.

A reader shares, “. Lesbian bar on Rotherfield St just off Essex Road N1 – when That area was full of gays bars. After about a year of trying to remember the name someone finally came up with it last night! The Duke of Clarence. It deserves to be remembered purely because it existed in Islington when it was THE gay place to be”

Can you add more description or pictures? Add them at the bottom of the page in the comment section.

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18th May 2019
Why is online homophobia being ignored?

A shocking campaign shows how real life homophobia and transphobia is dealt with in minutes by law enforcement, but online hate can fester for years and years.

A brand new campaign has set out to show the impact of online homophobia and transphobia.

Every day thousands of homophobic and transphobic messages are posted online and some of these vile messages made their way onto a disturbing billboard in real life.

Passersby were shocked by what they read and within twenty minutes the police had been called and the removal of the printed messages was underway.

However, the filmmakers are keen to stress that these same messages still appear online.

The powerful video, filmed in Canada, dubbed “Brutal postings” was created for the International Day against homophobia, biphobia and transphobia and is asking people to flag and report hate they see online.

The video starts with a stark fact, that every 23 seconds an anti-LGBT message is posted online.

Filmmakers set out to show what happens when homophobic and transphobic messages that have been published online are printed onto black and white cards and then pasted to a huge billboard.

The result is a shocking wall of hate, which soon attracts the disgust of passersby, who remark at how vile the words are and that the huge billboard needs to be removed.

Some of the messages target the trans community, while others focused in on the gay community.

Within minutes the police are called and the messages are removed – but why doesn’t that happen online?

Recently UK reality star, Bobby Norris shared some horrific anti-gay online hate directed at him. In early 2019 he started a petition which he delivered to 10 Downing Street asking the government to make online homophobia a specific crime.

He managed to garner over 100,000 signatures to support his campaign.

18th May 2019
5 amazing global drag events you have to visit

Drag events have that unique ability to bring fun and excitement to all areas of the community. While they’re a huge draw for the LGBT community, these events provide fun for everyone.

But what really makes a night at a drag show really stand out from the crowd? Perhaps the biggest global events will answer that question. Here are five shows that you simply cannot miss.

RuPaul’s Drag Race Tour

via GIPHY

If one TV show seeped beyond the reaches of the LGBT community to earn a wider audience, it’s RuPaul’s Drag Race. A reality show designed to find the best drag artist around, it even drew a grudging approval from a host of straight viewers.

The good news for all is that the Drag Race is on tour and in 2019, it’s a global phenomenon. Hosted by Michelle Visage under the title of Werq the World, all of your favourite superstars from the show are here. The event takes in North America, Europe, Latin America, Asia and Australia so there really is no escape from the Drag Race phenomenon and while the Tour is already underway, it runs right through to the end of 2019 with tickets left for all remaining shows.

Michelle Visage will be your host for the live show and will introduce such great acts as Detox, Bob, Asia. Peppermint and Shangela to name just five of the cast. For fans of the TV show, this is not to be missed. Even if RuPaul’s Drag Race has skipped your radar, this is a night of pure fun that has to be seen to be believed.

Austin Drag Festival

Austin Drag Festival is a fixed event that doesn’t go out on tour – but it’s one of the longer-established events on the drag circuit. For those in the vicinity or for fans who want to make a special trip, it’s well worth the expense.

Held across four days in November, this event attracts hundreds of drag artists from all over the world and it boasts over 400 performances across the weekend. Meet and greets are available with your favourite stars while there is a drag market and even a workshop where you can learn the ropes and become a top drag act yourself.

If your appetite has been whetted by the Austin Drag Festival, the official website offers information on flights and accommodation to make this the most memorable of weekends for fans of drag.

Drag Queen Bingo

via GIPHY

Some of the greatest drag events across the world are held in some exotic locations across far-flung corners of the globe, but for those who are confined to barracks between now and the end of the year, there is a way to enjoy your favourite drag artists in most LGBT cities – at drag queen bingo.

As drag events go, drag queen bingo perhaps an unlikely pairing in a game that is thought of more as a pastime for straight ladies over a certain age. The original concept of Drag Queen Bingo was dreamt up by Judy Werle in Seattle in the 1990s. It was a fun way for the early LGBT community to get together to play and to raise money for the AIDS charity Chicken Soup Brigade at the same time.

While the game remains popular in the US, drag queen bingo is now being held in Amsterdam, London and Berlin. It’s like conventional bingo but with a drag caller and a whole feast of fun so get dressed and look forward to a great night out. Intrigued? Head over to Wink Bingo to learn more about some of the best drag bingo events.

Christmas Queens

The festive season is the perfect time to celebrate all things relating to drag artists and events and Christmas Queens is your perfect partner. This is predominantly a UK event which has been held over the holiday season for a number of years and it tours up and down the country. There is, however, a clear focus on towns and cities with a strong LGBT community including sunny and welcoming Brighton down on the South Coast.

The show largely features the best artists from the UK but there are appearances from overseas acts, too. The festive theme is carried on throughout the performance with sketches and songs including We Three Queens and a unique LGBT friendly look at Let It Snow.

Since its launch, Christmas Queens has grown steadily in size and the 2018 tour will take in 10 dates in the UK before crossing overseas and adding a further six shows across Europe from Amsterdam to Helsinki.

Tickets are widely available from online sources but if you can’t get along, don’t worry because the official site’s webstore has a host of merchandise including CDs and downloads.

Partysane

For so long, Berlin has been a mecca for drag queens, as one look at David Bowie’s music video for Boys Keep Swinging can demonstrate. Watch the video and you’ll see the Thin White Duke dressed as drag queens of various vintages. The drag scene in Germany’s capital preceded Bowie and his legacy lives on, partly in the crazy Partysane event.

In many ways, this event could be the decadent Berlin of Cabaret, and there is certainly a harder edge to the Partysane shows. The host, Gloria Viagra, is the moustache-toting temptress and this is an event that combines the best in drag entertainment with a traditional club night featuring some of the hottest DJs in town.

Not able to get to Berlin? Don’t worry – the Partysane roadshow goes on tour. In 2014, it made its London debut at the Dalston Superstore and it has been gradually making its way around Europe. This is not always a regular show on the annual drag circuit so keep a close eye out for future dates. Even if the event isn’t on the forthcoming calendar then don’t worry as you are sure to find the iconic Gloria Viagra, dubbed as the Empire State Building of the Berlin scene, in one of the many drag clubs around the city.

17th May 2019
Taiwan becomes the first country in Asia to legalise gay marriage

On May 17, 2019 in a historic vote, the Parliament of Taiwan voted to legalise same-sex marriage, becoming the first country in Asia to do so.

CREDIT: © ivonnewierink Depositphotos

This landmark step follows a ruling by the Constitutional Court of Taiwan back in 2017, which ruled that legislation preventing partners of the same sex to marry was unconstitutional and violated gay people’s right to equality.

A civil society campaign in support of marriage equality, led by Marriage Equality Coalition Taiwan, has been gaining strength over the last two years both at local and international levels. Jennifer Lu, the coordinator of the campaign, has been part of OutRight’s Advocacy Week at the United Nations in December 2018 and a speaker at OutSummit, enabling her to address international policymakers directly.

The groundbreaking changes were passed by Parliament despite a referendum held at the end of 2018 which showed that a majority of Taiwanese people did not support gay marriage.

The provisions passed by Parliament today allow for same-sex marriage as well as some adoption rights, and will come into force on May 24.

Jessica Stern, Executive Director of OutRight Action International, commented,”The Parliament of Taiwan made a historic decision today. They stepped up and unequivocally showed that human rights and equality are not subject to public opinion. The Parliament made a decision recognizing that love is love, regardless of gender, and that everyone who wishes to formalize their relationship and benefit from the corresponding protections of the state can do so, regardless of whether their partner is of the same or different gender. With this groundbreaking decision Taiwan becomes the first country in Asia to recognize same-sex marriage. It is incredible that the decision was made on International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia, Biphobia and Interphobia, sending the strongest possible message against hate and discrimination and for recognition of the human rights of LGBTIQ people.

“But while the Parliament deserve immense credit for taking this brave step in spite of opposition, it could not have happened without the relentless courage and perseverance of LGBTIQ activists in Taiwan. Their success brings hope, and inspiration to LGBTIQ movements in Asia, and around the world.”

17th May 2019
Great Escape Cars – Classic car hire

An invitation dropped on the mat recently from an awesome company called Great Escape Cars, based in Redditch.

It was an invitation to join them on one of their classic car road trips.

Let me explain; Great Escape Cars are basically a classic car hire company with a twist.

They offer a range of services, from a one hour classic car taster, to a full day road trip where you get the chance to experience 5 different cars from their £300,000 fleet of classic cars, with lunch included. There are many other options too, something for everyone you might say.

The day started with a meet and greet at the Great Escape Cars premises in Redditch. Coffee and a chat with the other attendees and a look around the fleet.

There are something like 20 cars on the fleet, there something for all tastes.

If you’re a Jaguar fan, you’re in good company. On the day we had a plenty of choice in the Jaguar stable; XKR convertible, Mk2 3.4, Mk2 3.8, XJS convertible 4 litre, XJS coupe V12, XJS coupe 4 litre and XK150.

Fancy something a bit newer, they have; a Porsche 911 (996), Ford Capri 280, Saab 900 T16S or even a Mondeo ST200. If you prefer something more traditional, how about; a Morris Minor Traveller, MGB GT, HMC Healey or Alfa Romeo GTV V6 (916). Whatever your taste, these guys pretty much have you covered.

5 cars were allocated to us randomly.

Our day started in the Jaguar XJS coupe V12, series 2. Slip in to the stylish, leather and wood trimmed, unmistakably Jaguar cabin, and you immediately feel special. There’s a touch of the old film star to it. It feels like we should be cruising to Monaco for my latest premiere.

This is a lesson in how GT cars should be. It’s not modern car fast but it’s chic, dignified and relaxing. The V12 is silky smooth and the car drives very well.

Next up was the MGB GT. Ours was a 1971 chrome bumper model. This is such an alluring, pretty car, you can’t help but like it. Driven by such names as Margaret Thatcher, Sting, John Voight and many more, the MGB GT is arguably THE iconic, archetypal british sports car.

With 97bhp when new from the 1798cc engine, it’s not fast by modern standards, but is a lovely way to pass some time driving through the Cotswolds.

After a spot of lunch at the incredible Caffeine and Machine in Warwickshire, we were off in our next ride.

Mine was in an iconic british muscle car that I have always admired from afar but never manager to win her heart. The charismatic, rarefied and brutish 1986 Ford Capri Brooklands 280.

The Capri was the British Mustang, a muscle car for Europe.

Leather Recarros and that 3 spoke leather trimmed steering wheel are unmistakably Capri. Fire up the V6 and you’re met with a menacing, deep rumble.

Hopefully I’ll get another chance to drive one one day, but if not, that’s ok, I’ve had my moment in the sun and it was worth the wait.

Next up was the 1988 SAAB 900 turbo. There used to be a SAAB garage near me when I was a lad and I remember swooning over the 900 turbo. Now here I was, sat in the leather driving seat of one.

As you would expect, it wears it’s miles very well. It’s no match for the modern crop of 250+bhp hot hatchbacks but the SAAB turbo makes a very healthy 175bhp from it’s 2.0L intercooled 16-valve. It’s old school laggy but goes really well when you press on. You can’t help but giggle when it comes on boosts and heads for the horizon.

Last was the Jaguar XKR convertible. What can you say about this car. It’s a brute. The 370bhp supercharged V8 has all the power you need. The interior is typical Jaguar. Soft leather seats and burl walnut trim and the torque from that supercharged V8 is intoxicating. This is a true continent crushing GT car.

I would strongly urge anyone who wants to try one of these classic cars to give Great Escape Cars a call.

Maybe you haven’t had the opportunity to drive one before, or perhaps relive your youth and drive something you reminisce about.

It’s an experience you won’t forget or regret.

17th May 2019
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17th May 2019
CAR REVIEW | Citroën Berlingo Flair, We Go Berlin’Go’

★★★★ | Citroën Berlingo Flair

What Have We Got?

Here we have Citroën’s third incarnation of the 23-year-old Berlingo. In 23 years there have been just 3 generations of Berlingo. People keep coming back for more and it doesn’t seem that its van derived origins are putting people off.

So has the Berlingo 3 (B3) got what it took Berlingo 1 (B1) to make it a success? It moved car derived vans up a notch in the UK and the Multispace people carrier became an acceptable mode of transport for us English.

Driving

B1 was a soft lolloping cruiser. Never managed to do anything wrong because its engines were never known as rapid units of propulsion. Cruise and comfort was the name of the game.

B3 has retained the echos of B1. It rides softly and it will cruise you and 4 others with plenty of space and comfort. Despite the soft ride, it is devoid of excessive body roll. The only roll you seem to get is you in the seats. They cater for all types of body and as a result, they do lack side support for most shapes and sizes.

The 110PS 1.2 3 cylinder petrol engine manages to carry the boxy body well. The gear change is easy and 3rd 4th are mostly used through town. On the open road, it will reach a comfortable cruising speed easily. Only when a level of urgency is required, does it need a few gears dropped but it will never break your neck in outright performance?

Inside

The Berlingo is known for its space. Here B3 demonstrates more luxury over B1 with little exposed paintwork and far better fitments of trim. There are some coloured smatterings around the door cards and the seats are brightly covered. Sound deadening stretches over the boot floor.

B3 doesn’t improve on the uncovered window trim on the front door. This time it gets bigger with 2 types of weatherstrip mould into one. Like the rear doors, this needs a cover. B1 suffered from this thought on a smaller scale.

As before, there is the ever useful ‘modutop’ storage facility and panoramic glass roof option. At £750, it is expensive but worth having.

Living With It

If you need to carry people, or boxes or people in boxes, there is very little that can beat the Berlingo. Space requirements will be essential if a Berlingo is to be on your shopping list. And it does this better than almost anything this price and more. It has also managed to retain the original B1 dimensions, give or take a few inches.

Low boot low lip, rear sliding doors and high driving position make getting in and out of the Berlingo easy. You are making very little compromise with a Berlingo just as long as driving dynamics are not your number one priority.

The Verdict

Now this might come as a surprise, it’s a well-kept secret, I really like Berlingo’s. I’ve nothing but praise for B3. There are a few things it doesn’t do well. These are however down to your driving style over functionality. And if it’s performance and on the edge handling you want, buy a sports car. Berlingo 3 has remained faithful to its original concept. It just got better at it.

Berlingo has become more competitive to those ever-popular but space compromised SUV’s. B3 can now come with a host of safety equipment like the active brake, collision alert, park assist and adaptive cruise to name a but a few. It’s everything you’d expect in a car and not a van. The spacious CDV market has evolved.

Would I have one? That’s not really a question, is it? Would I bring it indoors on a cold winters night and wrap it under a blanket? What do you think!

Love

Ride comfort

Space

Standard/available equipment

Loathe

Comfortable seats lack side support

Uncovered front window trim

Awkward rear door internal handle

The Lowdown

Car – Citroën Berlingo Flair 110PS

Price – £ 24,295 (as tested)

MPG – 37.5 – 42.4 mpg (WLTP low/high combined)

Power – 110PS

0-62mph – 11.5 seconds

Top Speed – 109 mph

Co2 – 119 – 132 (WLTP g/km)

17th May 2019
Does eDermastamp really work?

We sent our Editor and Chief to get stamped! He was very happy with the results.

It is with some hesitation that I do anything to interfere with my face. Creams yes, pills yes, needles in the face in the name of a more youthful complexion? I wasn’t so sure.

With images of Kim Kardashian’s blood soak vampire facial in my mind I headed to RUSH in Piccadilly, in my lunch break to meet Epsom Skin Clinic’s senior specialist Charlotte Botting. After asking what I thought my problem areas were, (all of it) she talked through the pros of the eDermastamp treatment and its benefits. I was assured that this was the treatment that would work best for me.

First off you have to understand why we start to look craggy after the age of thirty. Collagen, your natural youth serum and the compound that gives your skin its natural elasticity stops producing. Collagen’s job is to create mesh like bonds which keep the skin firm and stop it sagging. When we are younger skin is made up of around 80% collagen.

The eDermastamp process is rather simple I was told. Using a pen like device the specialist literally roles six fine precision needles across your entire face. The 1.5 millimetre needles cause controlled trauma under the skin, stimulating cell proliferation, which results in new collagen formation, the body’s natural healing chemical and youth maker, rushes to the area to repair the damage. It sounds horrific and painful – but in truth it isn’t.

First off, your face is thoroughly cleansed and carefully numbed with a cooling antiseptic and anesthetic cream. Charlotte, put me at ease with her friendly banter and chat, she tells me that she’s tried all of her treatments, I try to raise my eyebrows to question this (as she looks just incredible and not at all like a reality TV star on some obscure digital channel…), but I find the anesthetic has done its job rendering my eyelids somewhat useless. Then it begins. I brace myself; fear for the worst yet nothing more than a light humming vibrating saunters across my forehead.

If you’ve had microdermabrasion, this is actually less painful – and MDB isn’t painful at all.

Carefully my faced is circled, every inch was “stamped”, there were more tender moments, around the nose and above the eyes where it’s a little more uncomfortable, but that’s all it is – discomfort, nothing more that a light scratching, which lasts around 5 seconds.

After, I’m red and a little puffy, but I’m told this will go away in 24 to 48 hours, which it does. So it would make sense to not have any big events planned in the days after your treatment. As for any discomfort felt in the days following, I would say, no worse than mild sunburn for 24 hours and very mild bruising for up to three days after. Simply put it doesn’t hurt.

A week after, I start to see the signs that this actually works and within a week and a half I’m looking younger, fresher and tighter, but in a good way – not in a ‘I’m-about-to-appear-in-a-Celebrity-Big-Brother-quick-fill-every-inch-of-my-face-with-filler’ way.

Six weeks after the treatment and my skin still looked great – and tighter and I didn’t even have to stick to any daily skin regime. It almost felt naughty, like I cheated ten years off.

Gentle polling of friends and strangers, I ask how old I look – anything from 7 to 10 years younger than I actually am… My lunchtime facelift has been completely successful.

For £125 this could become my new skincare regime.

Find out more visit Epsom Skin Clinics or call: 01372 737280

17th May 2019
Elton John responds to his biopic, Rocket Man

Elton John and his writing partner Bernie Taupin have responded to the brand new film.

The legendary 72-year-old singer was apparently very emotional watching the film about his life. Speaking about watching the film, Elton John said, “I was blown away. I was very moved, I cried the first time I saw it… I cried a lot this time”.

Bernie Taupin, Elton’s long-time co-songwriter echoed Elton’s reaction, adding it was “very emotional”.

Speaking about Taron Egerton‘s acting and singing ability, Elton was shocked at how good Taron actually was saying, “I knew Taron could sing and soon as I met him, I felt that there was something special there. And when I first heard him sing, don’t let the sun go down on me, I was flabbergasted. This is as good as my version really!”

He continued, “There are very dark moments in the movie, but the music lifts it out of the dark moments. Not only did he have to perform my life but he had to sing my life and that’s a double whammy. I’m am looking at me. This is me here”.

Elton ended by saying that he was “very proud of this movie” and that he was very proud of Bernie.

Rocket Man opens nationwide 22nd May 2019

17th May 2019