Something For The Weekend

play a part in tv history

On Saturday 28 February at 9.50pm, watch us on telly and win a big bundle of good stuff.

We're creating a television first - and we want you to be part of it. Tune into ITV on Saturday 28 February at 9.50pm. Three 60 second adverts will be aired, straight after each other, starting on ITV, moving to Channel 4 and then ending on Channel 5.

It's going to be the world's first Mexican wave of thumbs up... spanning the channels and spreading the good stuff, right around the UK. Watch the three adverts and guess the number of thumbs you see.
Visit this special page after the ad and tell us how many thumbs you think you saw. Simple!

• You could win a great big bundle of good stuff including:
• a two-night 4* city break to Barcelona for 2
• a two-night spa break at Thoresby Hall, Nottinghamshire with use of spa and treatments
• a pair of theatre tickets to see Sister Act
• a 3 course meal for 2 and a bottle of wine at Brasserie Roux, London
• plus a Silverstone Thrill drive experience in Northamptonshire for two
• And we have great runner-up prizes with 5 four night stays in top hotels.

Visit here to enter on Saturday night

Dan Pilkington

Dan and Grace's festival tit bits

 

T In The Park is once again looking like a cracker this year, with greying, cheese-making legends Blur headlining alongside The Killers and the now stadium-humping Kings Of Leon. Lower down the bill is looking equally exciting with the much anticipated return of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs and Katy Perry for your faux-lesbian pop kicks.

Our band to look out for at this year’s festivals is Ra Ra Riot. Fresh from supporting Vampire Weekend across Europe last year, they’re an exhilarating concoction of Arcade Fire’s orchestral beauty and the poppy thrills of the aforementioned Weekend and The Strokes. Don’t miss them.

Dan Pilkington

Dan is a former music journalist, is our resident musical expert and loves bands named after inanimate objects. Never ever ever ever ask him if he knows anywhere good to go when the pub shuts,unless you want sit on sofas held together with gaffer tape in bar that only sells 1 lager (always overly strong). It will however have a great stereo and will have featured on the album cover of a 1960s EP that only ever sold 60 copies,

Book T in the Park tickets here from 9am on Friday

Piaf (Vaudeville Theatre, The Strand)

Drugs, dodgy men, a voice of painful, soul-aching honesty. Yup, 50-odd years before Amy Winehouse, the world was being wowed by the powerhouse vulnerability and gripping back story of Edith Piaf. Heat magazine wasn’t around in those days of course, so Piaf had the added allure of mystique. In light of our ongoing obsession with the supernaturally talented royally messing up their lives, Jamie Lloyd’s production of Pam Gems’ play Piaf, is indeed timely.

Having played to rapturous reviews at the Donmar Warehouse, and now settling into a stint at the Vaudeville, Piaf is a slight but never less than enthralling journey through the icon’s mysterious life. Even if you only have a passing knowledge of the songs and that distinctive rasping voice, Elena Roger’s performance as Piaf is worth the ticket price alone. Detailing Piaf’s ascent from Parisian street prostitute to diva addict, Roger is uncanny in her vocal impersonation and captivating in her portrayal of Piaf’s bedevilling unhappiness, reliance on men and electrifying personality.

Soutra Gilmore’s minimalist set is compellingly claustrophobic in the madness, only becoming serene when Piaf is in the spotlight and her voice takes flight. Gem’s script undoubtedly takes second billing to the acting on show here, although it does have its inspired moments, particularly when Piaf and Marlene Dietrich (Katherine Kingsley) are in tandem.

So what price on a Winehouse play of similar content in 50 years time? Perhaps knowing the whole story already renders it rather pointless.

Dan Pilkington

Buy Piaf tickets here from £26

Jersey Boys - Prince Edward Theatre, London

If, as they say, the kids of 2008 think that fame is something thrust upon them after a few weeks singing other people's songs on X Factor, then things were a little different in 1953. The road out of blue-collar, Mob-controlled Fifties Jersey was somewhat rockier, with Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons managing to clock up prison, alcoholism and financial ruin in between becoming the biggest pop group in America.

Jersey Boys, the musical story of the Four Seasons, is, at face value, an all-singing, all-dancing tale of the American Dream; four boys from the wrong side of the tracks made good through talent and determination. Thankfully this huge Broadway hit never sweetens the pill, showing the harsh realities of families and friendships falling apart on the road to the top, as well as the dizzying highs, making it somewhat darker than your average West End schmaltz fest.

Despite note-perfect performances from Ryan Molloy as Frankie and the rest of the cast, the star of the show is the songbook of Bob Gaudio, the awkward rich kid who wrote classics like Oh, What A Night, Big Girls Don't Cry and Can't Take My Eyes Off You. As each one drills into your head, along with the slick set piece Sixties dance moves, you realise just how many Frankie Valli songs make up the modern pop cannon.

So even if you're not up and dancing in the aisles by the final scene, you’ll definitely feel like you've seen an important chapter in the history of modern pop music. Perfect for any budding X Factor hopefuls out there.

Book your Jersey Boys tickets here - with no booking fee

Dan Pilkington

Dan is a former music journalist, our resident musical expert and loves bands named after inanimate objects. Never ever ever ever ask him if he knows anywhere good to go when the pub shuts,unless you want sit on sofas held together with gaffer tape in bar that only sells 1 lager (always overly strong). It will however have a great stereo and will have featured on the album cover of a 1960s EP that only ever sold 60 copies,

Weighty issues: Fat Pig at the Trafalgar Studios

Fat Pig, Trafalgar Studios London,  16 May - 6 September

Have you ever been embarrassed to be seen out with someone you’re dating? Received a beating from your mates because your new paramour looks a bit, well, different? The questions this predicament raises about where personal insecurity ends and society’s prejudices begin are all explored in Neil LaBute’s short, sharp shock of a play.