Latest news with #Overload
Leader Live
a day ago
- Entertainment
- Leader Live
3,000 music fans wowed by Sugababes at Cheshire Oaks
The highly anticipated event, dubbed 'Summer's Greatest Secret', delivered on its promise of surprise and spectacle, with the Sugababes lighting up the stage. They performed crowd pleasing, chart-topping hits including Push the Button, Overload and Freak Like Me as part of the 30th anniversary celebration of Cheshire Oaks. Adding to the celebratory atmosphere, Howard Donald of Take That and Kimberly Wyatt of the Pussycat Dolls got the event, which was free and a gift to the local community, started with high-energy DJ sets of 90s and 00s hits in honour of the centre's 30-year legacy. With a purpose-built stage, golden circle access for team members and local charity partners and a VIP meet-and-greet for a lucky few, the night was a heartfelt thank-you to the shoppers, staff and supporters who have been part of the outlet's journey since it first opened in 1995. MORE NEWS: From homeless mum to award-winning Flintshire business owner Former town centre menswear shop set to become travel agents Application to demolish former MG garage in Wrexham as part of homes plan Kenny Murray, General Manager at Cheshire Oaks Designer Outlet, said: 'We promised something special, and the reaction from the crowd said it all. 'The Sugababes were the perfect surprise to mark this milestone and having Howard and Kimberly on the decks as well certainly made it a night to remember. 'This was about celebrating both our community and our customers, and the incredible journey we've been on together over the last three decades.' The 30th anniversary celebrations will continue throughout the year, with more surprises still to come as the site, which at 400,000 square feet and 165+ resident brands, is the largest designer outlet in the UK, continues to pay tribute to and celebrate its storied past.
Metro
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- Metro
00s pop icons surprise shoppers with free car park gig
The Cheshire Oaks Designer Outlet's 30th anniversary celebration featured 00s icons (Picture: Shirlaine Forrest/WireImage) A rainy night in Cheshire wasn't enough to dampen the spirits as Sugababes surprised shoppers with a free gig. The 00s pop icons were the secret headliners for Friday night's car park gig celebrating the 30th anniversary of Cheshire Oaks Designer Outlet. Over 3,000 shoppers, residents and more flocked to the retail park where a special stage had been set up for an evening of entertainment. The show was non-ticketed, with anyone wanting to join in the fun simply ushered through security and able to join in the fun. Pussycat Dolls star Kimberly Wyatt got things started with an energetic DJ set before introducing Take That's Howard Donald graced the stage for the next hour. After that, it was time for Sugababes to grace the stage as a ray of sunshine with the rain pouring down. They delivered an incredible hit-filled set to get everyone dancing and singing along, with classics like Round Round, Overload, Freak Like Me and Ugly. Sugababes were the event's surprise headliners (Picture:for ABA) Kimberly Wyatt did a DJ set (Picture: Shirlaine Forrest/WireImage) She was all smiles as the enthusiastic crowd cheered (Picture: Shirlaine Forrest/WireImage) Since its launch, the retail outlet has become a staple shopping destination (Picture: Shirlaine Forrest/WireImage) Their live band kept the energy up as the beloved girl group – made up of founding members Keisha Buchanan, Mutya Buena and Siobhán Donaghy – thanked the fans for sticking around in the rain. They were loving the unique setting, with a stage put up in a car park in the middle of the shopping outlet. 'More of this,' they shouted about the idea of a free surprise gig. After more hits including Push The Button, they rounded off the gig with a punchy, heavier version of About You Now with the crowd singing back every word. There was a golden circle area for team members and local charity partners, although partway through Howard's DJ set, the barriers were taken down to bring everyone closer to the stage. Sugababes were eventually brought out to huge cheers, and delivered a special show for everyone in attendance. Howard Donald of Take That also made an appearance (Picture: Shirlaine Forrest/WireImage) Fans were thrilled with the high quality free entertainment (Picture: Shirlaine Forrest/WireImage) Kenny Murray, General Manager at Cheshire Oaks Designer Outlet, said: 'We promised something special, and the reaction from the crowd said it all. 'The Sugababes were the perfect surprise to mark this milestone and having Howard and Kimberly on the decks as well certainly made it a night to remember. 'This was about celebrating both our community and our customers, and the incredible journey we've been on together over the last three decades.' Cheshire Oaks, at 400,000 square feet and 165+ resident brands, is the largest designer outlet in the UK. It's celebrating its 30th anniversary all year, with this event being a 'thank you' to the locals. It also highlighted charity partners like The Hospice of The Good Shepherd, Koala, Flynns Port in the Storm and Claire House. For more information on future celebratory events at Cheshire Oaks, visit: Cheshire Oaks Designer Outlet | Up to 60% Less | McArthurGlen Got a story? If you've got a celebrity story, video or pictures get in touch with the entertainment team by emailing us celebtips@ calling 020 3615 2145 or by visiting our Submit Stuff page – we'd love to hear from you.
Business Post
24-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Business Post
Gig of the Week: Exquisite vocals aren't quite enough to raise the game for Sugababes
A lot of water has passed under the bridge since the original Sugababes - Siobhán Donaghy, Mutya Buena and Keisha Buchanan - released their debut single, Overload, a quarter of a century ago.
Metro
24-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Metro
Keisha Buchanan says Sugababes saved her from pressure to be ‘stick thin'
To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video When you're in a girl group with all eyes on you — and your body — it can be easy to give in to the pressure to conform. But not when you're a Sugababe. Keisha Buchanan believes the 'rebellious' nature of the original trio, who recently officially reformed, freed her from the constraints of 00s beauty standards. As fad diets reigned and plus-sized models were a myth, Keisha – alongside Mutya Buena and Siobhán Donaghy – stood fast in her own image and vision. 'We've always been the rebellious ones,' the Overload hitmaker exclusively told Metro as she joins forces with SlimFast ambassadors Kelly Brook and Big Narstie for a new campaign. Keisha continued: 'I was maybe 13 or 14 years old [when I first started] and back then, there was a lot of pressure for girls to be stick thin. 'I was always thankful that I was in the Sugababes just because we were sort of known as the anti-that. No one could push us into it, anyway.' The trio would brush off comments that came their way in the era of thinner-is-better mindsets, bolstered by each other's support. 'I think for us, there wasn't so much pressure on us to necessarily look a certain way,' Keisha added. 'Even outside of not wanting to conform physically, I think we naturally did that anyway, but also with our music. 'We were doing things completely different.' That's not to say the Sugababes were immune to the intense conversations around bodies, weight, and looks in the 00s, particularly as women. One headline from 2008 asked if Keisha was in a 'bad mood' at an event due to her gaining weight, with Mutya sharing in 2021 that she felt 'fat and ugly' after leaving the band. Weight management and loss remains a sensitive topic for many artists, with Lizzo recently shedding pounds and calling out those who criticised her at her heaviest. Keisha shared: 'I feel like we just need to embrace all shapes and sizes because there are people who are naturally thin, and that is just their natural way of being. You can be unhealthy on either [end of the] spectrum. 'It is a duty for those of us who are in the public eye to actually celebrate every shape and size and just really encourage everyone just to live a healthy, positive lifestyle.' For the Push the Button hitmaker, being healthy meant losing some post-Covid weight after months of lockdown meant she no longer felt like her best self. 'I wanted to start a fitness programme, which entailed me doing a lot of walking because I'm not someone who enjoys all the hard stuff in the gym,' Keisha confessed. 'I do love working out, but it was more like I have to enjoy it. So I did a lot of walking, a lot of weight lifting. I really wanted to keep my curves intact.' Part of her new fitness regime included swapping out the occasional meal for SlimFast shakes, allowing her to 'lose quite a bit of weight and get into quite a good shape'. Keisha wanted to be 'feeling fit and healthy' before the Sugababes' triumphant return to Mighty Hoopla and Glastonbury. 'There's such an embrace of imperfection nowadays,' she praised. 'I definitely feel like social media has a big part to play in that because everyone's just putting their raw self [forward]. 'For me, that has been great for my own journey because it's allowed me to be more confident. People would assume that being on stage, you're the most confident person, but not necessarily. 'There's a lot of pressure, but this is the least amount of pressure that I've ever felt over the last few years, and it's because I feel like I can just show up exactly as I am and put my best foot forward. Sometimes that is wearing baggy clothing, and sometimes that is wearing maybe more fitted stuff.' She laughed and added that she 'definitely wants to wear more fitted stuff' now that she's feeling confident in her body again, thanks to SlimFast. Walking was a huge part of Keisha's health journey but now dancing is also coming to the forefront as the Sugababes are back on tour. Speaking about shutting down West Holts at last year's Glastonbury, the Jungle singer shared:'We were just as surprised as you. It's been amazing just to be embraced the way that we have. 'At Glastonbury 2022, that was the first shutdown, and we really thought that that was just because people were excited to see us back. So to have it happen again? More Trending 'It was an incredible experience. Very humbling as well, and as usual, we had fun.' Keisha calls Siobhán and Mutya her 'sisters', adding there's a 'lot of history there' but they always make sure to have their bonding time. She said: 'As much as we're working, we definitely have that time for ourselves as well to go out together and have girl time.' 'We're having the most fun we've ever had,' Keisha concluded. Got a story? If you've got a celebrity story, video or pictures get in touch with the entertainment team by emailing us celebtips@ calling 020 3615 2145 or by visiting our Submit Stuff page – we'd love to hear from you. MORE: The 'bucketlist' UK town that had starring role in iconic 00s TV show MORE: Surprising Victoria Wood documentary that inspired beloved 00s song MORE: All the celebrities who 'refuse to touch' blockbuster Harry Potter TV reboot
Irish Times
21-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Irish Times
Sugababes in Dublin review: A steamroller of peerless pop and sisterhood
Sugababes 3Arena, Dublin ★★★★☆ Like a cross between Destiny's Child and the cast of Grange Hill, Sugababes ' streak of early 21st-century hits applied a gritty British teenage twist to classic girl group pop. The only missing ingredient was the ability to get along. From the start, their quicksilver pop was clouded by melodrama and the occasional backstage bust-up. But a quarter of a century later, the band's founding members – Mutya Buena, Keisha Buchanan and Siobhán Donaghy – have tied a ribbon around their tumultuous history and replaced conflict with collective joy. Rolling into Dublin 3Arena for the latest leg of a greatest hits tour, they delightfully blend nostalgia with the message that even in the cut-throat music industry, time heals all. There was a lot of healing to do. Donaghy left Sugababes in acrimony after just one album in the middle of a run of dates in Japan. Three years later, in March 2004, a concert in Dublin was cancelled ten minutes after it was due to start amid rumours of a dressingroom face-off between Buchanan and Donaghy's replacement, Heidi Range. READ MORE If ever a comeback was destined to be bumpy, then it was surely that of Sugababes, who are back in Ireland and the scene of the most notorious flashpoint (it was later reported that the cause of the Buchanan-Range dust-up was the perpetually controversial subject of Britney Spears's Toxic). The Sugababes in Dublin: delightfully blending nostalgia with the message that time heals all. Photograph: Alice Backham The twist is that instead of tears and tension, the original Sugababes have returned wiser and more appreciative of their audience. To that end, their Easter Sunday concert at 3Arena is a treat as delicious as an artisanal chocolate egg. It helps that, unlike some of their contemporaries (cough, Spice Girls, cough), their music has held up. That point is demonstrated as they kick off with the doomy, slo-mo stomp of their September 2000 debut single Overload, performed on stools that are revealed as a giant curtain falls to the ground. The atmosphere is half early 2000s pop revival and half heavenly school disco. Backed by a no-frills video display and a pub rock-y band, they rip through Red Dress and Ugly, a one-two that doubles as post-girl power feminist anthemia ('unzip your bias', declares the video screen during the former). Sadly, the mid portion of the set lags by comparison. The problem is that Sugababes don't have quite enough hits to deliver end-to-end bangers. A medley of their early recordings is, for instance, received with polite applause rather than any great enthusiasm. But they get things back on track with an epic new tune, Weeds, a trip-hop thumper that suggests a cross between Girls Aloud and Radiohead. From there, it's into top gear with Round Round: the sort of effortlessly effervescent pop many of their early 2000s contemporaries attempted but could never pull off. The encore is even better as they rip through their Tubeway Army-sampling cover of Adina Howard's Freak Like Me and the bittersweet barnstormer About You Now. The latter is a heartfelt chugger, which the trio, having changed into tracksuits, turns into a divine singalong. With old tensions smoothed over, Sugababes' Easter return to Dublin is a steamroller of peerless pop and sisterhood rekindled. Sugababes at 3Arena. Photograph: Alice Backham
