Emergency supplies: A box full of cans of beer stands in the mud this morning
You've got to laugh: Hayley Davenport manages to keep a smile on her face as she carries her guitar through the mud. Left, another festival fan is more than prepared for the expected wet weather
More than 177,000 people are expected to attend the festival in Pilton to see the likes of U2, Beyonce and Coldplay perform.
Unlike last year's sun-drenched festival, music fans have packed woolly jumpers, waterproofs and wellies as they brace themselves for autumnal temperatures and regular downpours.
Barefoot bravery: Katie Featherstone and Lucy Loretto arrive in the mud clutching their festival gear
Nearly all donned their wet weather gear as as the damp conditions threatened to cause a repeat of the 2007 mudfest.
Weather experts even warned revellers making their way to the annual bash that they may need to brace themselves - for hail.
Met Office forecaster George Goodfellow said: 'The weather for the period of Glastonbury Festival is looking very unsettled but we could see the most intense showers on Thursday.
'When we get these intense showers at this time of the year we can see hail, which is a possibility for Glastonbury.'

Carefree: A festival goer laughs as he arrives at the Glastonbury Festival site with a dirty face - and the fun hasn't even begun
The Met Office has also warned night temperatures will drop to as low as six degrees - while heavy rain is already turning the 1,100 acre site into a mud bath.
A spokesman said: 'It's not going to be a typically wet Glastonbury but it won't be like last year's either.
'We're expecting some heavy showers for the first two days but it will gradually improve and while Sunday won't be that bright it could be quite warm.'
Determined: Two festival goers have a steely look on their faces as they battle through the wind and mud
But the weather is unlikely to put off excited festival-goers who will turn Worthy Farm into the south-west's third largest city after Bristol and Plymouth.
James Beal, 25, from Bristol, is making his fourth trip to Glastonbury and spent last year's festival basking in the heat wave.
He said: 'This year's event will be brilliant, regardless of whether it's wet and windy or sunny and bright.
'I think it's impossible for the weather to put me off, I'm here for the music and the atmosphere.
'I can't wait to see Beyonce; I hope Jay-Z makes a guest appearance - that would be amazing.'
Some revellers will be enjoying the festival fun in rather more luxurious surroundings than others, however.
Popping up next to the Glastonbury Festival is the latest venture in posh camping - deluxe tents which cost up to £1500 for the weekend.
Festival-goers with fat enough wallets can spend the weekend in safari-style bell tents with double beds, valet parking, wooden deck flooring and hot showers in an upmarket encampment just outside the festival.
And for those who need a pick me up after a hard night's raving, the so-called pop-up hotel offers full English breakfasts to guests.
Missing the point? The luxury on offer at the Pop-Up Hotel just outside the festival site
Event organisers are employing around 1,600 staff to look after the event, which is now in its 40th year.
Thousands of acts from local unsigned bands to the world's biggest rock stars will be appearing on stage over the five-day festival.
Taking centre stage on the famous Pyramid this year are U2, Coldplay and Beyonce while Morrissey, Primal Scream and Tinie Tempah are also expected to draw huge crowds.
Lesser known acts will perform on the 100 other stages and performance areas.
Wet weather gear: In scenes that could be repeated this year, a discarded pair of wellies lie at the exit of Glasto' 2009
Compare and contrast: Brollies provided a different kind of protection for last year's festival as sunshine beat down on gig-goers
Festival organisers are dedicating six per cent of the event's revenue this year to keeping the place clean and tidy.
The site will have 20,000 rubbish bins colour-coded for recycling, enabling the festival to recycle more 400 tonnes of waste.
This is being co-ordinated by 160 'green police' who patrol the vast site ensuring people don't drop litter or urinate in the stream.
A team of 950 people will clean up rubbish every morning and ensure the 4,600 toilets are acceptable to use.
How to walk onto the Pyramid Stage at Glastonbury Festival 2011

A drive around Glastonbury Festival Site 18/06/11

source : dailymail

VIA Wellies and winter coats will be order of the day as weather looks grim for Glastonbury

CANNES, FRANCE - MAY 20: Rosario Dawson attends the 'This Must Be The Place' premiere during the 64th Annual Cannes Film Festival at Palais des Festivals on May 20, 2011 in Cannes, France.

CANNES, FRANCE - MAY 20: Delphine Chaneac attends the 'This Must Be The Place' premiere during the 64th Annual Cannes Film Festival at Palais des Festivals on May 20, 2011 in Cannes, France.

CANNES, FRANCE - MAY 20: Fiammetta Cicogna attends the 'This Must Be The Place' premiere during the 64th Annual Cannes Film Festival at Palais des Festivals on May 20, 2011 in Cannes, France.

CANNES, FRANCE - MAY 20: Anja Rubik (L) and Peter Dundas attends the 'This Must Be The Place' premiere during the 64th Annual Cannes Film Festival at Palais des Festivals on May 20, 2011 in Cannes, France.

CANNES, FRANCE - MAY 20: Anja Rubik attends the 'This Must Be The Place' premiere during the 64th Annual Cannes Film Festival at Palais des Festivals on May 20, 2011 in Cannes, France.

CANNES, FRANCE - MAY 20: Gwen Stefani attends the 'This Must Be The Place' premiere during the 64th Annual Cannes Film Festival at Palais des Festivals on May 20, 2011 in Cannes, France.

CANNES, FRANCE - MAY 20: Gwen Stefani attends the 'This Must Be The Place' premiere during the 64th Annual Cannes Film Festival at Palais des Festivals on May 20, 2011 in Cannes, France.

CANNES, FRANCE - MAY 20: Courtney Love attends the 'This Must Be The Place' premiere during the 64th Annual Cannes Film Festival at Palais des Festivals on May 20, 2011 in Cannes, France.

CANNES, FRANCE - MAY 20: Model Claudia Schiffer attends the 'This Must Be The Place' premiere during the 64th Annual Cannes Film Festival at Palais des Festivals on May 20, 2011 in Cannes, France.

CANNES, FRANCE - MAY 20: Model Claudia Schiffer attends the 'This Must Be The Place' premiere during the 64th Annual Cannes Film Festival at Palais des Festivals on May 20, 2011 in Cannes, France.

CANNES, FRANCE - MAY 20: Eve Hewson attends the 'This Must Be The Place' premiere during the 64th Annual Cannes Film Festival at Palais des Festivals on May 20, 2011 in Cannes, France.

CANNES, FRANCE - MAY 20: (2L-R) Paolo Sorrentino, Heinz Lieven, Liron Levo, Sean Penn, Eve Hewson, Judd Hirsch, David Byrne and Simon Delaney attend the 'This Must Be The Place' premiere during the 64th Annual Cannes Film Festival at Palais des Festivals on May 20, 2011 in Cannes, France.

CANNES, FRANCE - MAY 20: Clotilde Hesme attends the 'This Must Be The Place' premiere during the 64th Annual Cannes Film Festival at Palais des Festivals on May 20, 2011 in Cannes, France.

CANNES, FRANCE - MAY 20: Clotilde Hesme attends the 'This Must Be The Place' premiere during the 64th Annual Cannes Film Festival at Palais des Festivals on May 20, 2011 in Cannes, France.

CANNES, FRANCE - MAY 20: Daniela Lumbroso attends the 'This Must Be The Place' premiere during the 64th Annual Cannes Film Festival at Palais des Festivals on May 20, 2011 in Cannes, France.
source : daylife
photo: Gettyimages

VIA Eve Hewson attends the 'This Must Be The Place' premiere during the 64th Annual Cannes Film Festival

CANNES, FRANCE - MAY 22: Director Pablo Giorgelli with the Camera d'Or for his movie 'Las Acacias' with Camera d'Or jury president Joon Ho Bong (R) and actress Marisa Paredes (L) during the Closing Ceremony at the Palais des Festivals during the 64th Cannes Film Festival on May 22, 2011 in Cannes, France.

CANNES, FRANCE - MAY 22: Director Nuri Bilge after winning Grand Prix Ex-aequo award for the film 'Bir Zamanlar Anadolu'da' (Once Upon a Time in Anatolia) during the Palme D'Or Winners Photocall at the Palais des Festivals during the 64th Cannes Film Festival on May 22, 2011 in Cannes, France.

CANNES, FRANCE - MAY 22: Director Maryna Vroda winner of the Palme d'Or - Short Film poses at the Palme d'Or Winners Photocall at the Palais des Festivals during the 64th Cannes Film Festival on May 22, 2011 in Cannes, France.

Argentinian director Pablo Giorgelli poses with the President of the Camera d'Or jury Joon Ho Bong during a photocall after being awarded with the Camera d'Or (best first film) for his movie 'Las Acacias' at the 64th Cannes Film Festival on May 22, 2011 in Cannes.

CANNES, FRANCE - MAY 22: Actor Jean Dujardin poses with director Maiwenn Le Besco during the Closing Ceremony at the Palais des Festivals during the 64th Cannes Film Festival on May 22, 2011 in Cannes, France.

CANNES, FRANCE - MAY 22: French director and actress Maiwenn poses after winning the Jury Prize for the film 'Polisse' at the Palme d'Or Winners Photocall at the Palais des Festivals during the 64th Cannes Film Festival on May 22, 2011 in Cannes, France.

US actress Kirsten Dunst poses with Venezuelian actor Edgar Ramirez after being awarded with the Prix de l'Interpretation Feminine (best actress) with the movie ' Melancholia' during the closing ceremony of the 64th Cannes Film Festival on May 22, 2011 in Cannes.

Belgian directors Jean-Pierre Dardenne (L) and Luc Dardenne pose during a photocall after being awarded with the Jury Grand Prix for their film 'The Kid with a Bike' at the 64th Cannes Film Festival on May 22, 2011 in Cannes.

CANNES, FRANCE - MAY 22: Actor Ryan Gosling (L) and 2011 Best Director Nicolas Winding Refn of the film 'Drive' pose at the Palme d'Or Winners Photocall at the Palais des Festivals during the 64th Cannes Film Festival on May 22, 2011 in Cannes, France.

CANNES, FRANCE - MAY 22: Producers Bill Pohlad (L) and Dede Gardner (R) pose with the Palme d'Or for 'The Tree of Life' at the Palme d'Or Winners Photocall at the Palais des Festivals during the 64th Cannes Film Festival on May 22, 2011 in Cannes, France.
source: daylife
photo: Gettyimages

VIA The 64th Cannes Film Festival on May 22, 2011 in Cannes, France

Desperate measures: Site workers try to suck mud from the market areas close to the Pyramid Stage in an attempt to dry them before the main event begins tomorrow
In for a penny... Tom Wilder, 17, from Kent, gets into the festival spirit and performs a dramatic slide in the Glastonbury Festival mud
Diving face down through Britain's biggest mudbath, teenage reveller Tom Wilder ensured the Glastonbury cheers started early.
Egged on by his mates, 17-year-old student Tom, from Kent, performed headlong dives on demand to cheer up arrivals trudging through the sodden 900-acre site.
Countless efforts left him caked in mud from head to toe, with dairy farm sludge stuck in the braces on his teeth.
But he declared with a grin: 'If I run out of clothes, I'll just do it naked.'
His dives received roars of approval from hundreds of onlookers along with the group of friends he was camping with.
Best friend Callum Burgess, also 17, said: 'I'm supposed to share a tent with him but he can sleep outside. Look at the state of him.'
Clouds cleared over the Pilton hills last night, but the rain returned this morning and is due for a reprise later today - the best weather is not expected until Sunday.
Tent city: Aerial view of the Glastonbury Festival taken today. Over the course of a few days Glastonbury becomes the home to thousands of party goers creating a temporary town twice the size of the city of Bath
More than half the ticket-holders for the sold out event will have squelched their way to the site by tonight.
This year's event sees U2, Coldplay and Beyonce headline.
Treacherous conditions: Festival goers traipse through the mud around an ice cream van at the Glastonbury Festival
But early arrivals' efforts to secure prize camping spots were confounded by yesterday's monsoon-like conditions.
Hundreds of tents were flooded withing a few hours as torrential downpours began shortly after gates opened and fans began streaming in.
Campers hauling their bags and beers along the slippery thoroughfares were even told to pitch tents on hills to escape the worst of the wet conditions.
Marc Saunders, 31, from Bath, pitched his tent in driving rain with his five-year-old daughter Sam and wife Sarah.
He said: 'We say it's "go hard or go home". We're thrilled to be here, the place is magical - even in the mud.'
Go hard or go home: Muddy revellers chill out at the stone circle during the evening celebrations at Glastonbury last night
Another early arrival, 19-year-old James Street, from Belfast, was caked in mud from head to toe after slipping in a puddle.
He said: 'I'm drenched, obviously. But it's great just to be here with my pals. Legendary place, legendary line-up.
'We're not interested in the headliners - there's so much more to see.'
The first of the main acts take to the Pyramid Stage tomorrow, when the wet weather is expected to return.
Among a host of theatrical events at the site will be Glastonbury's own version of La Tomatina.
Other new elements for this year include The Spirit of 71 stage, with acts that played at the festival 40 years ago.
Beyonce, who fell in love with the Somerset festival after watching husband Jay-Z perform three years ago, is believed to have cleared her diary to party in Pilton over three days.
Rapper Jay-Z is even money with bookmakers Ladbrokes to join his wife on stage this Sunday.
NOW WATCH THE MET OFFICE'S GLASTONBURY WEATHER FORECAST

source : dailymail

VIA Glaston-buried: Fans drown in sea of mud and the music hasn't even started yet

Archaeologist Yoram Haimi says organizers of Midburn, an Israeli affiliate of the Nevada carnival, burned a wooden temple Saturday on a hilltop scattered with flint tools from the Palaeolithic, Neolithic and Chalcolithic periods.

The site was discovered 30 years ago by an Israeli archaeologist. The area is not marked with signs and it is hard to see the ancient remains. He says the extent of the damage is unclear.

Midburn spokesman Eyal Marcus said the festival was unaware of any sensitive sites at the location, and that antiquities officials only approached organizers in the middle of the festival. He also provided an official antiquities authority map that showed no archaeological sites at the location of the festival.

"I'm sorry if there was a misunderstanding," Marcus said. "We are going to check what happened and make sure that this doesn't happen again."

Source: The Associated Press [May 28, 2015]

Tropfest 2015 | Gold Coast | Australia

And no, unfortunately that isn't as dirty as it sounds. The world's largest short film festival, the Movie Extra Tropfest, is on again this weekend and by some beautiful sign from the Gods, it's coming to the Gold Coast. I know what you're thinking; `so what? I don't live on the Gold Coast.' But for those of us who call the cultural vacuum home, having an event like this each year is a glorious reminder that yes, there is artistic expression and free-thinking individuals somewhere. Rejoice!

The festival is one of Australia's most iconic cultural events and has grown from humble beginnings in the early nineties at the Tropicana Café in Sydney, to what is now the largest outdoor short film festival globally. Out of thousands of films that entered, the 16 finalists will be screened on Sunday night with the 14 finalists in the Trop Jr category playing in the afternoon.

The finalists are broadcast nationally to a live audience of more than 150,000 via simultaneous satellite broadcast in Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide, Hobart, Canberra, Brisbane, the Gold Coast and Perth. A fantastic opportunity for up and coming filmmakers, the top entrants compete for prizes worth $150,000 across several categories.

Tropfest festival director John Polson, who also directed the Russel Crowe-starring film Tenderness (for those of you playing at home)
Festival director and founder John Polson says watching the entries is the best part of his job, but choosing the final 16 is the "the toughest''.
"This year's line-up encompasses an incredible, entertaining and thought-provoking mix of comedy, drama, animation, documentary and even mocumentary,'' he says.
"There are some familiar faces amongst the 16 finalists, including some past Tropfest finalists, but it's also great to be able to showcase some of Australia's best, new filmmaking talent.''

The flick I'm, er, rooting for is Testicle, an animated short film from a duo in Queensland about a baby born with one testicle. You've got to admit, it's pretty ballsy *insert face slap here*. The festival highlights will also be broadcast live on the Movie Extra Channel. If you feel like you're missing out, never fear because Tropfest is a global event and the New York leg is one of the biggest so I suggest check out the website here for all the details on a Tropfest near you.

VIA The Largest Outdoor Short Film Festival — Tropfest 2015

The comments sent shock waves through the film world.
Kirsten told the Mail Online that she kept thinking, 'Lars, shut up'.
She added: 'He's a great film-maker who, sometimes I feel should let his films speak for themselves.'
In any event, the actress who has come a long way since starring in the Spiderman pictures.
Touched: She was awarded the coveted prize during the closing ceremony of the 64th Cannes Film Festival
She gives a terrific, deeply felt performance in Von Trier's film Melancholia as a newly-wed bride who instantly regrets her marriage while at the same time the planet Earth is on collision course with another planet.
Her character Justine is an utterly depressed young woman .
'I understood a little of what Justine was going through', the actress told the Mail Online.
Dressed for the occasion: Kirsten looked stunning in a silver and white floor length dress
It is a huge triumph for Kirsten as there was formidable competition from the likes of Tilda Swinton who starred in the British entry We Need To Talk About Kevin.
The win also helps Kirtsen make a shift from main stream Hollywood films to more independent fare.
The big award of the night, the Palme d'Or went to Terrence Malick's epic visual poem
The Tree of Life which starred Brad Pitt and Sean Penn.
Best actor went to Jean Dujarin for the enchanting picture The Artists which took a touching glance back to the era of silent films.
Best director went to Nicolas Winding Refn for his work on the brilliant but bloody-
thirsty thriller Drive which starred Ryan Gosling who is excellent as a movie stunt car driver by day and a getaway driver by night.
Carey Mulligan, Oscar Isaac, and Christina Hendricks also star in the film which opens in the UK in the Autumn.
Other prizes went to the superb French movie Polisse which looked at a Parisian child
protection unit.
Jury members included Uma Thurman and Jude Law.
Delighted: The 29-year-old lapped up the attention from her peers during tonight's Closing Ceremony in Cannes
Critical acclaim: Dunst stars in Melancholia as a newly-wed bride who instantly regrets her marriage while at the same time the planet Earth is on collision course with another planet
source: dailymail

VIA Kirsten Dunst conquers the Cannes Film Festival and takes the best actress award

VIA UNEARTH turns Darkness Into Light

Sydney Film Festival 2015

Its been a little while since we’ve talked about the delightful Harry Cook, one of the pivotal actors alongside Geena Davis in Accidents Happen. But since his next film Caught Inside screened at the Sydney Film Festival last week, what better time to talk about his favourite movies. The 18-year-old had this to say:

“That’s hard. Forrest Gump is really good. I like old school films, like Death Becomes Her is amazing. Thelma and Louise too, and I’m not just saying that because of Geena Davis, it really is an awesome movie. The first movie I ever saw was Oliver and I would love to do the musical one day.”

Stay tuned for an up and coming interview with Harry Cook about Caught Inside.

P.S. Dear The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader. Because you are the first film I ever got to visit the set of, you shall forever hold a place in my heart. However, the excitement and enthusiasm I once felt for you quickly dwindled away when I watched your first full length trailer online. Craptacular doesn’t even begin to cover it. I know there’s a story in there somewhere because I’ve read the synopsis, so how about showing that in the trailer? Or heaven forbid, a logical order of events as opposed to a wet painting here, a magical coat there and Ben Barnes with a pedo-mo slotted in the middle? Sigh. I hope the hardcore fans are a little more pleased than the rest of us.

VIA Favourite Movies With Harry Cook

Julian McMahon

Okay, lame title, I know. But serioulsy, there's only so many Gold Coast Film Festival related titles you can write before you hit wall. Sigh, I digress. The festival opens tonight at the Birch Carroll and Coyle Cinemas Australia Fair and there’s a huge line-up of stars coming along for the opening night. Leading the charge is Nip/Tuck star Julian McMahon (above), who is in Queensland filming shark action-thriller Bait 3D. McMahon forged a career in Australian television before he broke into Hollywood as Cole Turner on hit TV series Charmed and roles in the Fantastic Four franchise and RED.

McMahon's Bait 3D co-stars Xavier Samuel and Sharni Vinson will also be at the opening night, along with director Kimble Rendall. Samuel was most recently seen in The Twilight Saga: Eclipse and Aussie horror flick The Loved Ones, while Vinson had success as the lead in Step Up 3D. They will be joined by Tomorrow, When The War Began stars Lincoln Lewis and Phoebe Tonkin, and other Australian actors including John Jarratt, Dan Wylie, Adrienne Pickering, Cindy Nelson, Francesca Gasteen, and Alex Russell, star of the opening night film Wasted On The Young.

However, it is not just big name actors who are attending, with a who's who of international industry professionals. Along with Hollywood horror screenwriter Todd Farmer (My Bloody Valentine, Jason X), will be producers Chris Adams (Syriana, An Inconvenient Truth ) and Steve Kearney (Jucy) , the founders behind industry consultation company Adams Kearney. Local guests include Oscar-winning special-effects whiz John Cox, producer Chris Brown (Daybreakers, The Proposition) and Emmy-award winning make-up effects artist Jason Baird.

I will be on the read carpet chatting to all of these lovely peeps and I’m off to chat to a few of them at their hotel now, so, keenly stand by for the latest and greatest dets from the festival.

VIA Open Wide, Movies Inside

VIA Michael Sheen :"Rachel McAdams's "Fantastic Actress"

Mes Aynak is a vast site in a mountainous area south of Kabul, near Afghanistan’s border with Pakistan and adjacent to Taliban supply routes. The area is roughly the size of the city of Pompeii in Italy. Archaeologists say it is one of the richest sites in the country, with objects dating back 5,000 years. Excavations were conducted recently with the support of the French government and continue with urgency with a skeleton Afghan crew. Yet more than 90% of the site still remains unexamined.

It is almost sure to be under-examined. Mes Aynak is also the site of extensive copper deposits, which explains why it was a trading centre for centuries. The name Mes Anynak means “little source of copper,” although “little” understates the case. Those deposits are now under contract for extraction by China Metallurgical Group Corporation, a state-owned Chinese mining conglomerate that plans to begin mining the site this year. The copper underneath is said to be worth $100 billion, according to the Afghan government. That is an amount that might make the occasional Taliban attack seem tolerable.

The fight over Mes Aynak is the subject of this documentary film by Brent Huffman. The main narrator of the grim tale is the Afghan archaeologist Qadir Temori. With the help of French archaeologists, Temori and his team have unearthed temples, fortifications, objects and stupas (memorials) that reflect the Buddhist and Hellenistic styles common to the region. But China Metallurgical Group Corporation has built an extensive modern camp for workers and is poised to remove the hills and the ancient remains beneath with modern bulldozers.

To call this a David and Goliath story is like saying $100 billion is a modest incentive. The American archaeologist Mark Kenoyer, a specialist in Afghan and Pakistani cultures, compares bulldozing the site to submerging the city of Atlantis. The French archaeologist Philippe Marquis calls it “the tip of the iceberg.”We are told in interviews with Afghan officials that the proposed mine will enrich the country with $7 billion dollars of economic activity.

We are also told by former government employees that the minister responsible for the deal— which involved a Chinese payment of some $3 billion to the minister—is living in a luxurious new house. (That official has since resigned and has accused his successor of corruption, Huffman says.)

International protests have not made much difference. Alarmed archaeologists and Buddhists around the world achieved a brief delay by raising their voices, yet the mining seems set to begin.

Saving Mes Aynak does not fit the usual contours of films about art. There are exquisite objects on screen that came fr om recent excavations, although most of them are too recently unearthed to be conserved and exhibited in a delicately-lit jewel-box museum context. They are hardly the proven treasures that might induce politicians to fight for preservation.

A chilling parallel to this film came in another documentary at the Full Frame Documentary Film Festival. Overburden by Chad Stevens examines the practice of mountaintop removal to extract coal quickly and cheaply over a vast area, with a fraction of the workers required in the conventional deep mining process. Citizens in West Virginia who feared the destruction of their homes and water sources locked horns with a huge coal company, Massey Energy (which has since been sold to Alpha Natural Resources), and coalminers who were fighting for their jobs.

Saving Mes Aynak involves a hauntingly similar standoff. Overburden is the mining term that refers to rock and dirt between the surface and mineral deposits. In Mes Aynak, 5,000 years of culture are the overburden.

Huffman shows grim video of the destruction of the Bamiyan Buddhas by the Taliban in 2002, yet at a time when the destruction of ancient cultures is a stated policy of the Islamic State, Saving Mes Aynak presents us with a different crisis: the horror of business as usual. Under governments wh ere conservation doesn’t count for much, the race for resources runs faster than rescue archaeology.

Author: David D'Arcy | Source: The Art Newspaper [May 30, 2015]

Fire festival

VIA «Promo-pavilion for the city of Żory»

Work it: (L-R) Mollie King, Una Healy, Vanessa White, Frankie Sandford and Rochelle were playing a short set at Metro Radio Live at Newcastle Arena - a kind of urban indoor one-day pop festival
However, one person who had most definitely overcome her nerves was Nicola Roberts, who made her live solo debut last night, just days after saying she was dreading going on without her Girls Aloud bandmates.
Talking to MTV earlier this week, she'd revealed: 'I'm nervous and I'm dreading the night before. I know I'm going to be like losing half a stone in weight overnight, so I'm going to have to get myself into the zone.'
She added: 'There does feel like there is a little bit of extra pressure, because it is just me and it feels a little bit like, is that enough, is it enough to just look at that?'
Solo debut: Nicola Roberts got over her nerves to play her first ever live gig without Girls Aloud at the show
Dainty doll: The star threw some shapes as she performed and totally won the screaming crowd over
However, she seemed to quash her butterflies and impressed the crowd, singing debut solo single Beat Of My Drum in a tiny red and pink dress accessorised with a kooky headscarf and multicoloured strappy heels.
Other acts playing the bash included dubstep queen Katy B, Chipmunk, Sophie Ellis Bextor, The Feeling, The Wanted, rapper Example, hot new band The Overtones and Amy Winehouse's goddaughter Dionne Bromfield.
Meanwhile, Nicola has been explaining why she chose to take such a different direction musically with her new single.
Strutting her stuff: Mollie was wearing titchy high-waisted orange shorts and a low cut see-through blue vest top that showed off her black bra
Working with hot underground music producer Diplo, she explained: 'I tried to drum in to him that I wanted these quirky dollops of sound like M.I.A. (who he's worked with before) or Major Lazer (his Jamaican dancehall project).
'Don’t try and make this record come back like a commercial, just-for-radio song with 500 dance synths all over it ‘cause it’s not where I’m trying to go.'
Scouse beauty Nicola also says she feels like she's unleashed her singing voice properly for the first time too.
On song: Frankie belts out one of The Saturday's singles wearing tight striped shorts and a blue top with a distressed denim top half, as Una sports ripped denim and a low cut purple top showing off her red bra
She said: 'I was sick to death of singing the quiet, whispery parts. I was like, no, f*** this, I’m going to sing!'
Talking to MTV, Nicola said it was good that it was so different to Girls Aloud: 'It was important my first single was different to anything else around.
'I love that it’s a song everyone can sing and dance along to.
Earning her stripes: Rochelle has teamed her jeans with a leather jacket and a midriff-exposing tiger print top
Thighs the limit: Una strikes a pose at the Newcastle Arena
Nicola Roberts will be releasing her debut album ‘Cinderella’s Eyes’ in October.
Meanwhile, the Daily Mirror is reporting that Girls Aloud are heading back into the studio in January.
But apparently, the girls are ditching their former producers, hitmakers Xenomania.
A source said: 'At the moment the Girls are really excited about their new beginning, although they are scratching their heads over who will create signature hits for them.
'They’re excited they’re going to be making a fresh start together on this next adventure of their lives.
'In six months time it’ll be back to work as normal – they are itching to get back in the studio.'
An audience with...Sophie Ellis Bextor was also on the bill at the bash
The band are reportedly set to reform to celebrate their 10th anniversary next year at a special festival for the London 2012 Olympics at the O2 Arena.
Nicola though is onstage again for a hometown gig at Liverpool's Radio City Live tonight, before playing T4 On The Beach on 10 July.
Beat Of My Drum is then released on 18 July.
Meanwhile, MTV Music show On Set With Nicola Roberts is on at 2pm tomorrow.
And the next Metro Radio Live is on 7 July and features JLS and Olly Murs.


source: dailymail

VIA Keeping it brief: The Saturdays play live in tiny shorts as Nicola Roberts gets over nerves to make solo onstage debut

VIA Ellen Bryan was crowned Miss Ohio 2011

VIA Machine Head Announce Album Title, Release Date and European Tour

The singer, who is currently dating footballer Wayne Bridge, was dressed in a short striped navy, white and peach dress with a suede dark brown leather jacket.
She finished off her look with a pair of oversized sunglasses and a pair of brown peep-toe ankle boots.
Frankie arrived at the radio station with her bandmate Una Healy, who was bright in a strapless tangerine-coloured maxi dress with gladiator sandals.
WAG style: The Saturdays singer appeared to have taken some inspiration from Victoria Beckham's short crop which she displayed in 2008
The girls had made a pit stop to pick up breakfast and a coffee ahead of their radio appearance.
Frankie has recently spoken out about her relationship with footballer Wayne, who she has been dating since January, and believes Waynecan be trusted and won't stray.
She told More Magazine: 'You can’t ever say for sure that someone would never do that, but Wayne’s different.
Summer style: Frankie and her bandmate Una Healy were seen looking lovely as they arrived at a radio studio
'We don’t hang out with other players, and I’m not really interested in being a WAG.
We’ve both had past relationships that were in the public eye.
'This is more private, and so much nicer. Things are going really well. I’m so happy.'
The Saturdays have been busy this week and yesterday the girls sported a whole host of summery looks as they arrived at the BBC Radio 1’s live lounge Maida Vale studios to record a session.
Out with the old: Frankie decided to change her signature side bob style into a shorter crop
Anybody in? Frankie was seen knocking on the window of the building before she was let in with her fellow Saturdays
The band also have a number of television appearances in the next couple of weeks before they take to the festival circuit this summer.
They're on Graham Norton's chat show this Friday, before T4 on Saturday and both Daybreak and Lorraine on Monday.
Mixed styles: Rochelle donned a pretty peach dress with a patterned scarf while Mollie wore the same printed T-shirt that Frankie wore yesterday
They're gearing up to release their next single All Fired Up ahead of the release of their as yet untitled third album later this year, ahead of their All Fired Up Tour in December.
source :dailymail

VIA Feeling a bit posh? Frankie Sandford sports new elfin crop hairstyle just like Victoria Beckham's old do

Avelino `El Rico' Lescot

What happens when a stuntman, actor/director and screenwriter walk into a Gold Coast bar? They come up with the concept for an action fantasy film that is already raising eyebrows in Hollywood no joke. Rene Perrin, Avelino `El Rico' Lescot and Susan Macguillicuddy are the trio behind The Black Sun, which recently took out the Most Ambitious Screenplay award at the 2010 International Action on Film Festival in Los Angeles.

The locals are hoping the added hype surrounding their screenplay will push the project into production and attract the eye of distributors. Lescot, a Gold Coast-based actor, stuntman and filmmaker who has worked on The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, Peter Pan and The Condemned, said The Black Sun incorporates several genres.

``It's enchanting and mystical,'' he said.
``It's a gypsy, action, adventure, romance, western with a strong supernatural feel that is set in the Pacific Islands, Mexico, China, New Zealand and here.
``At the moment the film industry needs something different but financially manageable and that's The Black Sun.''

The film follows a warrior's worldwide journey on the Matariki boat, which Lescot said is `like another star of the film'. Lescot and Perrin have an impressive international fanbase thanks to the success of their action film Among Dead Men. It won several awards for best fight choreography and generated considerable profits in DVD sales in Canada, Germany, Thailand, Cambodia, Poland, Puerto Rico, Hawaii and Hong Kong. It also grossed several times its $7000 budget in DVD sales through Walmart in the US. Perrin, who has worked as a stunt performer on films such as The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, Daybreakers, Nim's Island, Fool's Gold and Ghost Ship, said they wanted to combine their `love of action with a love of romance' in The Black Sun.

Balancing out the testosterone on the team is screenwriter Susan Macguillicuddy. Despite having worked with the likes of Cate Blanchett, Jessica Alba, Antonio Banderas and Melanie Griffiths, Macguillicuddy said working with `the boys' on The Black Sun has been her `most cherished writing experience'.

``It's like we each started at one end of the canvas and worked our way to the middle, fine-tuning the parts of the script we liked,'' she said.
``It took us about a year and hundreds of meetings but we're happy with the finished product.
``We wanted to do something very avant garde with the genre and something new.
``Getting the Most Ambitious Screenplay award means we really pushed the genre, which is what we set out to do.''

International distributors have shown interest in The Black Sun and the trio is currently in the process of looking for investors.

P.S. Since it is less than two days until the release of Tomorrow, When The War Began I figure it’s time to start getting you all majorly excited. That is, if you aren’t already. Which you should be. Therefore, I’m officially declaring this as Tomorrow, When The War Began day and prepare yourself for a swag of related stories. Starting with the lovely Phoebe Tonkin (below), who plays Fi in the film.I interviewed her at the Queensland premiere last fortnight and the next day over breakfast in Southport. As well as talking about the movie and future projects, all the usual stuff, we broached the big one - Phoebe Tonkin’s favourite movies.

“I’ve always loved Pretty Woman, that’s probably my favourite. I saw Shutter Island recently which was really good. Princess Bride, oh and Girl Interrupted is also amazing. I love Julia Roberts so anything with her in it really.”

VIA Black Sun of a Gun