Dark Monday • Declan Bennett is "Falling Slowly"

Declan Bennett and Zrinka Cvitešić sing "Falling Slowly" an the Graham Norton Show.

First, I'd like to admit to those people who haven't paid close attention to me in earlier posts that I am a huge Declan Bennett fan. The British singer/songwriter has been making music fro several years. Bennett has been cast in several musicals through the years, with roles in 'Rent', 'American Idiot', and ''Taboo'. His performance in these shows caught the eye of several people, and and just recently he has done that in a a new show which recently opened on London's West End. The show, with music and lyrics by Glen Hansard and Markéta Irglová, upon whom the musical was based on. Well the musical, as well as the and the movie of the same name. Anyway, please enjoy Declan Bennett and costar Zrinka Cvitešić sing "Falling Slowly" from the West End production of 'Once'.

For more about Declan Bennett, visit his official website. To find out more about 'Once The Musical', be sure to visit their official website. Once there, you will be able to check out their great love story, and enjoy some great voices.

Graham Norton • Summer 2010

Left to right: Diana Vickers; Kelly Rowland; and Usher.

I really do enjoy watching the Graham Norton Show, for many reasons. One is that Graham is just very funny to me, and I find myself laughing all the time! Also, there are some guests I would most likely not get a chance to see otherwise, and that just helps keep it fresh. And, of course, for the musical guests, for there are some great up-and-coming acts from the UK that are great fun, like the three I am picking out now. In fact, I picked out three guests that appeared three weeks in a row, on May 31st, June 7th and June 14th, all in 2010. The first on the list is adorable Diana Vickers, who was apparently an X-Factor contestant what went on to be signed and have some chart hits. One of those was the frisky and clever The Boy Who Murdered Love.



The next week, Graham has Usher on, and of course, the consummate entertainer put on an amazing show with Lil Freak. The single, which made it to #8 on the Billboard Hot 100, was one of the early songs to feature a young rapper named Nicki Minaj. She didn't make the trip with him, but it is a gerat show nonetheless.



And with the last act on this fun 3 week run, it is Kelly Rowland, who has a much stronger career in Europe and the UK than she does her in the US. Commander, which was produced by and featured DJ David Guetta, made it to #1 on the Dance charts in both the US and across Europe. HEre she is, singing the girl-power anthem.



Have a great Friday night!

Party Graham •

Graham Norton Show guests (Clockwise): Scooch, The Proclaimers, Mika, and Heloise & the Savoir Faire.

I wasn't sure what I was going to do for a Friday night, and the thought occurred to me that I should do something I hadn't before, like maybe introducing new music, or different music. Well, I love watching the Graham Norton Show on BBC America, and I am often intrigued by the guests, especially the musical ones. They are some of the new names in British Pop, and I have to look some up. So I went off to do a little research, and found a list of Graham's guest, and just picked four musical guests from the Spring of 2007, and gave them this post. I will start off with someone I hadn't heard of, and that is doubly silly for they are a band out of Brooklyn, New York. Heloise & the Savoir Faire performed this song on February 22nd, and I can't really tell you the actual name of the song, just that it was pretty good!



For more about Heloise & Savoir Faire, check out the official website here. Scooch was the 2007 entry in the Eurovision Song Contest, and appeared on an episode of Graham's show. I couldn't find that, but I did find them singing the Eurovision Contest song, the hilarious Flying The Flag.



For more about Schooch, visit their official Facebook page here. The Proclaimers went on to the show to promote an appearance on Comic Relief, a charity fundraiser. The duo appeared on a video put together by comedian Matt Lucas and featuring some of Britain's biggest names, including the 10th Doctor, David Tennant. Here is 500 Miles.



For more about the Proclaimers, visit their official website here. On April 26, 2007, Mika was a guest of Graham, and he had a fun and lovely interview with Dustin Hoffman and Graham, and then sang a current release, Love Today! Well, I couldn't find a good clip - it seems the show ended halfway through the song, so I found another live version. Enjoy!



To learn more about Mika, check out his official website here.

Sunday Morning with Liza Minnelli

Seems almost too perfect to bring Liza Minnelli out on this Sunday morning to sing A Quiet Thing, a song first made famous by the superstar herself on the broadway stage when she had her first starring role in Flora The Red Menace. Here, she duets with Kermit The Frog on The Muppett Show.



Although it first appeared on the musical charts in 1930, You Brought A New Kind of Love To Me, written by Sammy Fain, Irving Kahal, and Pierre Norman, was a sweet part of the film New York, New York, starring Liza and Robert De Niro. The film, a musical directed by Martin Scorsese, was a bit darker than most movie musicals ever tried to be...



Here is Liza from a recent performance on The Graham Norton Show. She sings I Must Have That Man, a song once sung by Billie Holiday.



I do have some mad, crazy love for Liza with a "Z." For more on Liza Minnelli, check out the official website here. You can check out her touring schedule, although she is currently touring Europe.

A Reggae Doctor Who

While there is no new Doctor Who until September, I thought it would be fun to share this version of the theme song, done by the reggae band The Simmertones. Perhaps it can tide us all over until we get to sigh even more at the sight of Matt Smith.



You can purchase it on iTunes here.

Instead of Doctor Who, BBC America offers another BBC show, Outcasts. It premiered last week, featuring the very handsome Jamie Bamber and the very sexy Eric Mabius. Bamber has been seen in such shows as Battlestar Galactica, Law & Order: UK and many guest roles on other US & UK series. Mabius has starred on such LGBT-friendly shows as Ugly Betty and The L Word.



So the show offers some prime beefcake, and has made promises to exploit it! I am giving it a chance, and hope it pays off. Thus far, I am intrigued. Here is the trailer for the show, which is on BBC America tonight at 9PM/8PM Central.



And, of course, it is followed by the glorious Graham Norton Show. He follows directly after Outcasts, at 10PM/9PM Central. He never fails to amuse me, and this particular group of David Tennant, Catherine Tate, Jon Richardson and Josh Groban on the couch. Graham is an out and proud gay Irishman, and a hilarious comedian.



To see the schedule and other shows that might catch your interest on BBC America, check out their official website here.