PHOTOS-Alesha Dixon and David Walliams at Britains Got Talent

It was a bitterly cold Sunday lunchtime in Cardiff Bay where hundreds of people gathered outside the Wales Millennium Centre ready for the latest rounds of auditions for ITV talent show Britains Got Talent. It was a return to Cardiff for the show after finding previous winner Paul Potts a few years back.

Auditionees streamed in during the day whilst the audience were left queuing outside to meet and greet this years new judging panel.
First to arrive was ex-Strictly Come Dancing star Alesha Dixon who dazzled the crowds with her stunning dress (and legs!) Then joined by the other new judge comedian David Walliams. (Yep David Walliams was a deeper shade of David Dickinson!)

Both stars gave waves to the crowds who had waited many hours and posed for some official photos before quickly zipping inside to get ready to judge what Wales and the South West had to offer in the form of talent!

REVIEW-X-press 2 The House of X-press 2

1. THIS IS WAR
On first hearing this instantly took me back to 1988 and the looping Italio frenzy of Sueno Latino – taking the duo somewhat back to their roots? A real strong opener to a house long player and usually a hard decision of what to put first – something a bit slower and not as in your face or build it up throughout the album a bit more? So they didnt opt for the subtle beginning hence starting with a real solid track featuring vocals from Hannah Scanlon, lead singer of indie group Dolls and the Kicks. I really do like it when artists cross-over and do something outside their comfort zone. The vocal fits the songs very well and is a real strong start to the album.

FOOTBALL-Cardiff City v Crystal Palace

Another year in the life of Cardiff City football club and another big tournament final – their first ever time reaching the final of the Carling Cup. Cardiff City saw off Premiership opposition Blackburn in late November and then Crystal Palace were drawn for them to play next in the semi-finals.

VIDEO-Amazing timelapse video of Ho Chi Minh City

Whilst I try and only feature my own stuff here every now and then a video comes along from someone else which totally blows me away. This video from Rob Whitworth is no exception and is totally amazing in every aspect.
Rob took numerous trips to Saigon, now known as Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam, and spent nine months taking over 10,000 images! With a lot of post production and processing he has created a stunning video full of colour and movement!

LEGO-Can you guess what they are?

Lego is an all-time classic toy and was one of my favourites as a child. I thought I was creative and built many things when I was younger but it seems people have been VERY creative and have made some characters and scenes from famous movies and TV programmes – can you guess what they are all from!?
A couple of non-tv-related ones are thrown in for humour – whereas the last one IS tv-related but may take you a while to fathom out but it’s worth a think for the answer!

GRAFITTI-Boilerhouse and Hailey Park in Winter

Within the suburb of Llandaff, Cardiff, there is an amazing display of talent flourishing out of the first official dedicated grafitti and street art gallery – known as The Boiler House. This is taken from The Boiler House Press Release in February 2010 when the project opened:-

The Cardiff based arts collective ‘Peaceful Progress’ has transformed an old Boiler House into Wales’ first dedicated Graffiti and Street Art Gallery. It includes a large indoor graffiti gallery space, over 100ft of outdoor wall space, a shop and a studio. This innovative project provides a legitimate space for graffiti artists to reach a wider audience and showcases Graffiti art as a positive and sustainable art-form. Through workshops with Schools and Community Centres the Boiler House will inspire young people to get creative, and will be especially good at engaging with hard to reach groups of young people.
 

CANTON-Local ‘Mr Dog’ joins Twitter

Ever walked along the streets of Canton just before the old St David’s Hospital? Well recently you may have noticed a random tennis ball lying all alone in the road or lingering on the pavement!? Well it (lovingly) belongs to a guard dog from M & R Decorating Supplies based on Cowbridge Road West next to Castle Bingo.

When the builders yard is shut up for the night the World’s most nicest guard dog intentionally rolls the ball onto the pavement to tempt passing pedestrians to throw the ball back in for him to catch. The efforts of the public have been captured on video.

2011-Firework displays around the world!

I do enjoy a good firework display and capital cities around the world really pushed the boat out and spent millions of pounds to try and give their country the best display they would’ve seen. I’m sure many months of planning had gone into each display from chosing locations, music selection and more importantly the choreography of the whole event.

Having watched them all I feel that the London display won it hands down this year! Sometimes less is more and the firework choreography was spot on with the music selection. It was also great to hear some Welsh artists in the mix and some mashed up by Radio1 and 1Xtra DJ Nihal ! What else could I want! If you are going to only watch one display all the way through make sure its the London display! Complete with the amazing 10 minute mix from Nihal via the Soundcloud player below.

PS Happy New Year – here’s to a great 2012!