March 2008 Archives

A third series of The Street is on the way, and I can reveal one of the storylines.
A man is walking down the street and sees a house on fire with a child crying for help from one of the upstairs rooms.
He forces his way into the house, manages to save the kid, then battles the flames to get out again where he spots a friend, thrusts the child into his arms and says
"you saved him. I'm on invalidity."
It's a cracking storyline, and I can't wait to see it on screen.
But isn't going to change anyone's perception about the north.

Only two weeks until the Viennese Balls now and I don't know about you others, but I can't wait!
I'm not sure just how much dancing I'll be doing on the night though (and many thanks to Brian Nicholson on his kind words about my dance video clip!).
Not necessarily because I don't want to give it a go, but because I have chosen what I now realise is likely to be a totally inappropriate dress for the purpose.

I see the producers have found their new Bill Shankly.
Scottish actor Jonathan Watson was unveiled at Anfield this morning - and will now have a busy month until An Audience with Shankly opens at the Olympia in West Derby Road.
But what will Reds fans think?
Writer Andrew Sherlock himself has high praise for the 51-year-old.
He said: "As soon as Jonathan uttered the first line it was like an electric shock - you would swear Bill Shankly himself was in the room.�
No pressure then.

At last! My hot hoofing antics at the Viennese ball class have made the paper and the website.
Check out why I write rather than appear on TV!
Check out the nifty footwork too though - I'm really quite pleased with how some of it looks after only a couple of hours of lessons.

They're filming on the Brookie set again - but there's no sign of anyone being buried under the patio despite it being a horror flick.
The team behind Salvage, one of three winners of the Digital Departures competition for Capital of Culture year, are currently hard at work turning the Close into a physical and psycholgical battle ground.
I popped down last week to meet two of the main cast members, Neve Campbell and Shaun Dooley.

It was the day of reckoning - the day I discovered whether I was an Alesha Dixon or a Fiona Phillips.
You'll have to wait a while to discover which I was as my report on my first ever Viennese waltz class which took place in Fairfield yesterday has been delayed for a few days.
When it does appear in the paper there will also be a video on the Echo website - all I'll say is, there were no camera tricks used in the making of the video and yes, it really is me cavorting across the dance floor.
To tell the truth, I've discovered dancing is really quite addictive and I've been annoying them in the office all day by skipping around doing reverse turns and so on.
I'd love to be as graceful as Ginger Rogers. I'd even be happy to be able to dance like Ginger Spice.
Just don't let me look like Ginger McCain in a frock........

The inaugural Liverpool Art Prize was announced yesterday and I went along to see who the judges favoured in this Capital of Culture year.
All the finalists are exhibiting at the Contemporary Urban Centre in Greenland Street - the old Buddleia building from the ECHO's Stop the Rot list which is looking superb following a £16m regeneration.
The Liverpool Art Prize has taken over two of the six gallery spaces.
The overall winner was audio and visual artist Imogen Stidworthy for her piece based on the idea of communication.

I saw Ben Johnson and his wife Sheila at the Akram Khan dance premiere on Friday night (see review in today's Echo).
They had just completed their final day of work in public on the Liverpool Cityscape and told me the final numbers coming to see them topped 50,000.
Amazing.
They also told me about a lovely man who had emailed them about the huge canvas and came in to see them at work - Ben said he looked like he may be homeless.
He arrived later the same day armed with a bottle of champagne and a box of chocolates which he presented to them saying how much he'd enjoyed watching them work - he'd had a good day busking apparently, and must have spent his earnings on the gifts.
What a lovely man and it shows in Liverpool art touches the whole city - and everybody has the chance to take part and enjoy it.

I had a nosy inside the new improved Bluecoat this afternoon as it hosted the very droll and dry author of this year's Liverpool Reads book.
They were also serving class chocolate biscuits with a melt-in-the mouth filling!
Anyway, said author Mal Peet was a very entertaining talker and I'd urge everyone to give his books a go.
I was hooked on Tamar, a novel about the Dutch resistance in the Second World War, during a long train journey last week.
And I picked up a copy of Keeper at the event this afternoon.

Were you one of those who voted in Radio City's Song for Liverpool competition?
If so, you can now buy a copy of the winning entry - The Pool of Life - which has been turned into a CD and download by its composers.
They performed the song live at Zavvi in Clayton Square yesterday afternoon and I went along for a listen.
Of course it's impossibly catchy and I hope they do well.
The song won 26,000 votes from Radio City listeners - if they all bought a copy this week, that would be enough to get it in the charts!
The record is also on sale at Woolies and HMV, and the boys will launch it (again) at the Cavern Club this evening.