Ehmmm...

My video for TRTE, where I rave about Janelle Monae, is currently up on their site and will be for the next 24 hours. Check it out here

As you'll hear, in between me saying 'ehm' a lot, I managed to mispronounce the name of the abum. My bad. The studio lights got the better of me, I'm afraid. Apols, Janelle.

Meanwhile, The Red Radar site is beginning to get into full swing. My contribution, about how I inadvertently wound up in local band Bipolar Empire's music video for their new song is up here. Reckon you can do better? Well, I believe they're still on the lookout for contributors...

Party Ben - This Tightrope's Made For Walking (Janelle Monae vs Nancy Sinatra)

Red Alert

Last Thursday, I ambled along to the Digital Socket Awards, a brilliant event organised by a number of Irish music bloggers. It was nice to put names and faces to a number of my favourite Irish bloggers and wonderful to see bloggers collaborating on a project that brings people together.

For this reason, it was a fitting setting for the launch of TRTE's new initiative, Red Radar. This new site is bringing together some of Ireland's most enthusiastic music and fashion bloggers under one URL. I'm delighted to have done a couple of pieces for the site, particularly considering some of my favourite online writers are involved, including Conor, Catherine, Angela and Louise.

Be sure to check out the site here and watch it grow over the next few weeks.

Team Whitmore

I popped into the shop today to get change for my bus and who should I see staring up at me from the front cover of 'RTE Guide' but MTV presenter and DCU alum Laura Whitmore. Seemingly, Laura has been shortlisted for RTE's 'Best Dressed Celebrity Award', facing competition from Lorraine Keane, Róisín Murphy, Victoria Smurfit and a host of RTE's home-grown 'personalities' (shocker.)

Although Laura herself reckons Róisín has the award in the bag, I reckon Team Whitmore could reign supreme. Click here to cast your vote.

"One's Got Alopecia. One's Pregnant. Only In Ireland."

Maybe I should be ashamed to admit this, but I thoroughly enjoyed the RTE series 'The Model Agent', which wrapped up last night. Honestly, I didn't realise our national broadcaster was capable of such standards of reality television. Of course a show like this is never going to appeal to everybody but few could dispute that it was a very well-produced programme.

I particularly liked the music used throughout the series and thought the format of the show was a refreshing alternative to the 'Next Top Model' set-up. Erin O' Connor and Fiona Ellis were great anchors and both came across as grounded, likeable despite both having carved out careers in a notoriously vapid, bitchy industry.

Despite the fact Ellis' insistence that she wanted to find modelling talent in a way that would avoid "all the drama" that forms the basis of the 'Next Top Model' series, the show threw up some brilliantly bizarre sequences of events.

I don't wanna say too much in case people fancy watching the series on the RTE Player or on this here Youtube channel but the drama of the last episode, in particular, made for some of the most entertaining homegrown 'reality TV' since Nadine Coyle's now legendary revelation in 'Irish Popstars'.

Incidentally, I recently learned Sinéad Sheppard from the now defunct Irish pop-group Six that was formed as a result of 'Irish Popstars' is attempting to launch a career in politics. The Cobh native is vying for a place on Cork County Council as a representative for Fine Gael.

You couldn't make this stuff up.

[Images: RTE and Last.FM]

RTE In The Mix

A guy from my class kindly brought this gem of a musical venture to my attention. The Aengus Mac Grianna one is probably my favourite.

One question though: when are we gonna get to hear ditties inspired by Anne Doyle and Sharon Ní Bheoláin?

[Image: RTE]

What The Jiggins?

1. Doesn't this look like a scene from Father Ted?

2. Check out the vertically challenged man at the back, trying to get in shot.

3. Watch carefully as the bearded man to the right of David Davin-Power falls over mid-way through the video and then returns to the shot moments later, facing the wrong way.



Proud to be Irish.

Recession Killed The Radio Star

Una Rocks had some interesting things to say about the RTE cutbacks that have seen Nikki Hayes' and Rick O' Shea's roles on their respective 2FM radio shows being reduced to providing links between playlisted songs.

All non-music items, such as interviews, movie reviews, etc. have been dropped as RTE cuts back on its number of radio producers. Una hits the nail on the head when she says that 2FM are naive to let the talents of these two presenters go to waste as they churn out playlisted pop instead: "Do the people who make decisions at 2fm not understand that if young people want to listen to music, they plug in their iPod or whack on Last.fm? Do they really just want the afternoon slots at 2fm to turn into a soundtrack for customers at Spar or petrol stations?"

And here was me thinking that radio-journalism was the route I wanted to take...

[Image: rte.ie]