Latest news with #karaoke
The Guardian
4 days ago
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
It's showtime in Andalucía! How I found my voice on a musical theatre retreat
'Do you prefer alto or soprano?' asks Steve Moss, poised at his electric piano. My mind goes blank. I'm usually more of a pinot grigio girl, but that's not the answer the former musical director of Les Misérables is looking for. Although I struggle to carry a tune in a bucket, I'm an enthusiastic karaoke singer, a big musical theatre fan and a shameless show-off, so Sing the Greatest Showman, a residential singing retreat in Spain, is right up my street. Founded by Zane Rambaran, a veteran concert promoter with his roots in musical theatre, Sing Eat Retreat offers a choice of breaks here throughout the year (from Sing Les Mis to Sing Mamma Mia), with 30 hours of tuition by West End professionals. (In October, Sing The Sound of Music will be held in Salzburg too, with guests recording tracks in a studio and performing in the actual movie locations. I've already packed my dirndl.) Our base in Spain is Huerta Belinda, a gorgeous Spanish finca close to the surfing mecca of Tarifa, where we'll have five days of one-to-one and small group sessions on vocal technique, acting through song and performance preparation. The villa has eight rooms and some of the 21-strong group (mostly women in their 40s and 50s – and 60-something Ray, the only man) stays in Mesón de Sancho, a charming hotel nearby, but all of us eat together. I'm no stranger to pushing the boundaries of my comfort zone, but staring at a musical score – all impenetrable squiggles to me – under the expectant gaze of a West End director, I think I've pushed it too far this time. As Steve, who has been musical director of Mary Poppins as well as Les Mis, takes us through the song This Is Me!, breaking it down into easy chunks, I struggle to follow the music and can't decide which octave to sing in. I end up squalling up and down the bars like an angry seagull. I ask Steve if I'm a lost cause. 'I don't necessarily think that everyone can carry a tune, but I think everyone can improve,' he says, kindly. 'People always leave the retreats a better musician in some way, whether it's an improved singing voice or just learning to stand still when they're performing.' Well, I can definitely stand still. All retreats induce a naturally bonding environment, but there's something rather special about singing together. Much of our group has choir or am-dram experience, while others – like me – are complete beginners, and about half have come alone. Prior to arrival, guests fill out a questionnaire about their singing ability, what they want to achieve, and a clip of them singing Happy Birthday so tutors can assess abilities and arrange groups, but all levels are welcome. Our group includes guests from Switzerland and Spain; sisters Trish and Janet from Ireland, who sing in a choir; Emma, a teacher from Cambridge who runs musical theatre groups; and Miracle, a self-proclaimed 'nomad' who is on her fifth retreat here. One thing we all have in common is our love of musicals. Days start with breakfast in the villa, followed by a group warm up before we splinter off for workshops. The week is run along the same lines as preparation for a West End show, with vocal coaches, musical directors and choreographers. 'In the first week of a new show we do vocal calls,' says Steve. 'We start with note bashing, recording it on our phones and making notes on the music, then the cast can go off and practise. By the Friday we do a sing through of the show, have a sit through with the orchestra, then the directors and choreographers start working their magic.' Performance practice is led by Maria Graciano, who appeared in Miss Saigon and Wicked! and was the resident choreographer for Moulin Rouge! The Musical. Vocal coach Zev Chaplain teaches us about the physiology of singing and importance of warming up our vocal cords with lip trills, owl hoots, and ho, ho, ho's in the style of the Jolly Green Giant. One of the (many) highlights is a three-hour masterclass with Luke Bayer – who starred in Everybody's Talking About Jamie and Rent in the West End – giving us priceless advice and feedback on our performances. Over the week, singers are picked out for solos – not me – and all of us can have a one-to-one session with a tutor. There are plenty of breaks – it's a holiday after all – and this is where friendships blossom, with the contagious sounds of singing around the villa as people practise their scales. Any free time is spent by the pool, sunbathing in the gardens and soaking up the glorious views across the Strait of Gibraltar. There's little opportunity to venture farther afield, but most guests arrive a day or two early to explore the beaches and sand dunes of Tarifa. If you ask Zane, he may take you along when he walks Charlie, his dog. Sign up to The Traveller Get travel inspiration, featured trips and local tips for your next break, as well as the latest deals from Guardian Holidays after newsletter promotion Eating is a big part of the retreat too, and the food is delicious: Spanish breakfasts, fresh salads and soups for lunch, roast chicken, paellas, curries in the evening, along with plenty of wine and beer. After dinner, we congregate in the lounge and chat over more wine, before someone inevitably fires up the karaoke machine. When I arrived at Huerta Belinda, I was tempted to sit at the back and mouth the songs, such was my lack of confidence in my singing ability. But as the week progresses, I find I enjoy singing more and want to belt the tunes out with the rest of them. Thanks to Zev, I learn to breathe properly and really notice an improvement in my vocals. Part of it is because I don't want to let the rest of the group down. No one is coming into this half-heartedly; we want to put on The Greatest Show. It isn't just me who finds her voice. Elinor from Barry, a hardcore musical theatre fan (she won the quiz), loved to sing but lost all confidence after being criticised at school. 'This week has been life-changing for me. It's given me back my voice,' she says. The crescendo of the week is a concert on Friday night, with a real audience. During the day, our nerves start to show as we rehearse. But come 8pm, as we step on stage and sing the first 'whoahs' of The Greatest Show, they're quickly replaced with dopamine as the altos, sopranos, and Ray the tenor – and all the soloists – bring their A-game. It feels incredible. Waiting in the wings before our final song, I look around at my new friends, hugging, laughing, congratulating each other on their performances. It's been an incredible week both musically and emotionally. And it turns out I can hold a tune, after all. While it's far (very far) from West End-worthy, it doesn't make Charlie howl, which I'm taking as a win. The trip was provided by Sing Eat Retreat. Trips from £995, including tuition and performance practice, seven nights in a villa or hotel (five days full-board, one day half-board, including drinks)
Daily Mail
5 days ago
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
Scarlett Moffatt stuns in a neon green ballroom gown as she showcases her incredible talent at glitzy dance competition
Scarlett Moffatt cut a glamorous figure on Friday as she took to her Instagram Story to showcase her impressive talent at a glitzy dance competition. The TV personality, 34, turned heads in a stunning green embellished ballroom gown, gliding gracefully across the dance floor with poise and confidence. Her chic ensemble featured a plunging neckline, sparkling sleeves, feathered cuffs, silver detailing at the waist, and a dramatic flared skirt. Scarlett elevated her look with a pair of bold orange heels and exuded confidence as she showed off her best moves. To complete the ensemble, she accessorised with green tassel earrings and styled her dark tresses into a sleek up do. From A-list scandals and red carpet mishaps to exclusive pictures and viral moments, subscribe to Daily Mail's showbiz newsletter to stay in the loop. She captioned the post: 'First rule of dancing; HAVE FUN!' It comes after Scarlett enjoyed a very boozy karaoke night in Torremolinos, Spain, earlier this month. The former Gogglebox favourite flaunted her slimmer frame in snaps posted to Instagram, showing off her wild night out with her friends. Scarlett looked glamorous as she posed in a semi-sheer co-ord, which was made up of a shirt and matching wide-legged trousers. Revealing that she now takes the opportunity to let her hair down now she's a mother, Scarlett said: '48 hours in Torremolinos with my besties. 'Honestly, no one is wilder on a night out than a mother, I used to be very mild and now I'm a stay-at-home mam I'm first on the dance floor and last off the karaoke.' Alongside her sizzling shots, Scarlett shared a clip of her singing the night away during a fun karaoke session joined by one of her best friends. She looked over the moon posing for a slew of hilarious selfies with her pals and later posed alongside two glamorous drag queens. It comes after Scarlett flaunted her recent weight loss as she enjoyed a very boozy karaoke night in Torremolinos, Spain, earlier this month Scarlett also shared a fresh-faced snap of herself going make-up-free while posing with a thumbs-up. The former I'm A Celebrity star previously flaunted her weight loss as she enjoyed a sweet family day out to Tynemouth beach in Newcastle last month. She showed off her new look in an album posted to Instagram, and she looked happier than ever in a chic light green co-ord. Scarlett layered her two-piece in a figure-hugging leopard-print body suit as she accessorised her look with a pair of orange-tinted sunglasses. During the outing with her fiancé Scott Dobinson, Scarlett looked every inch the doting mother as she played with their son, Jude, 22 months, on the beach. Sharing the family pictures to her social media, she penned: 'Quick dash to home bargains this morning for a bucket & spade, some picky bits from m & s and we were ready for a proper British day at the beach.'
NHK
23-05-2025
- Entertainment
- NHK
In Deep with Snack Bars - Outside in Lost in Academia
Japan's snack bars are a unique form of nightlife. Harvard-trained anthropologist Maura McGrath's research reveals a fascinating look into this world. What secrets do they hold? Maura singing karaoke Maura sings a duet Maura and a snack bar proprietress Maura reading a book
The Guardian
20-05-2025
- Automotive
- The Guardian
Sing when you're winning: how karaoke heralds the triumph of Chinese carmakers
If Chinese carmakers are to be believed, a lot of people really love karaoke. Those people love karaoke so much that they want it in their family car. This was not something the European mind could comprehend a few years ago, according to Volkswagen's chief financial officer, Arno Antlitz. Yet the technology, included in electric cars sold by China's BYD and Xpeng, is just one example of the lessons that Volkswagen and its European counterparts have had to learn as they scramble to keep up with Chinese rivals on track to dominate the global electric car market. 'Nobody in Wolfsburg thinks you need karaoke in the car,' said Antlitz last week at a conference run by the Financial Times. 'But you do need it.' A decade ago, such humility from the world's second-largest carmaker would have been surprising. Few people in Europe had driven Chinese brands, which were associated with shoddy workmanship. The global industry was dominated by longer-standing carmaking countries led by Germany, France and the UK in Europe, and Japan and South Korea in Asia. Yet the advent of batteries offered a clear run for Chinese manufacturers – with huge state subsidies – to try to dominate the nascent electric vehicle industry. They have seized the opportunity. Chinese brands achieved more than 10% share of European battery EV sales in some months of 2024, according to data from Matthias Schmidt, an electric car analyst – although that fell back to 7.7% in February. But the scale of China's home market is unrivalled, with 12.8m battery and hybrid cars sold in China in 2024 – more than the entirety of the European car market. China's rapid progress took rivals by surprise, particularly after technological leaps during the years of coronavirus pandemic isolation. Bentley boss Frank-Steffen Walliser told the FT conference that the technology presented to the world at the Shanghai motor show in 2023 'was kind of a shock coming back after the cold pause'. Chinese carmakers are increasingly racing towards a future in which the car is completely integrated with the rest of users' digital lives and does most of the driving itself. Of the western carmakers, Tesla is still the leader on this front, but it ceded its technology lead to China's BYD while its chief executive, Elon Musk, focused on getting Donald Trump elected as US president. Despite Musk's support, Trump's policies are expected to leave America's carmakers far behind. Chris McNally, an analyst at investment bank Evercore ISI, wrote last week, in a note to clients, after visiting the latest Shanghai show, that 'investors have yet to grasp just how far ahead China may be' when it comes to the future of the car. He cited the experience of sitting in massage seats in the Aito M8 luxury SUV, watching a film on a retractable projector screen while Huawei computer chips handled the driving. That was all available for half the price of a western luxury competitor. The global market share of the big three carmakers in each of Detroit, Germany and Japan has dropped from 74% to 60% in five years, McNally said. 'If you are a US/EU manufacturer and do not have a plan to come to market with an affordable/scaled EV in next five years, you may be out of business in the 2030s.' He added: 'Is the game lost for western manufacturers?' We can only say they appear down big at an auto evolutionary half-time.' BYD's Seagull has ruffled feathers with a price of about £6,000 in China – far below any rival but with autonomous technology, dubbed 'God's Eye', which matches that available on much more expensive cars. It has achieved that price by using heavier sodium ion batteries that sacrifice range for affordability, but it is still a stark illustration of what European manufacturers are up against. Chinese carmakers are on average able to develop cars at 27% of the cost of European rivals, according to analysis by Bain & Company, a consultancy. It is not just at the cut-price end. Chinese manufacturers were out in force at a test day last week run by the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders, a UK lobby group. BYD's new £33,300 Seal U DM-i, a plug-in hybrid family SUV, is going up against Volkswagen, whose plug-in hybrid Tiguan can be £10,000 more expensive. State-owned Chery (under the Omoda and Jaecoo brands) was accompanied by Leapmotor, Geely (owner of the Volvo, Polestar and Smart brands), and Xpeng – whose electric G6 was the first from the brand to make it to the UK. On a week's test, the Guardian found a wealth of driver assistance features and a smart, spacious interior that rival the Tesla Model Y – even if some reviewers found the ride a little too bouncy. All of them offer keenly priced cars with little to separate them from European rivals, with relatively smooth rides and often impressive voice assistants that allow a driver to open the sunroof without taking their eyes off the road. One of the most popular vehicles for test was the ferociously quick MG Cyberster electric sportscar, made by state-owned SAIC. There has been some sign of a fightback from Europe. The Renault 5, starting at £23,000, has already achieved huge popularity as one of the first affordable European-made electric cars. Renault has taken pains to cut the production cost of the vehicle as much as possible, and it has been rewarded with huge popularity – although it is unclear how profitable the model will be. The French carmaker has also sought to squeeze the time it takes to get new models to market, from 3.5 years for the Renault 5, down to three years for the next car, the Renault 4, and two years for the upcoming Twingo, with help from an unnamed Chinese partner. If you can't beat 'em, join 'em appears to be a popular European strategy. Volkswagen has invested in Xpeng (or more properly, Xiaopeng), Stellantis is selling Leapmotor cars in Europe, and is expected to use its technology, while purportedly Scandinavian brands Volvo and Polestar will rely more and more on technology from their owner, China's Geely. Britain's JLR is working with Chery to make cheaper vehicles under the previously retired Land Rover Freelander brand. Those cars, due to launch late in 2026, 'have the potential to go global', according to JLR boss Adrian Mardell. Nissan boss Iván Espinosa suggested the Japanese carmaker could build Chinese cars in Sunderland, north-east England, to use spare capacity. Even if they wanted to, avoiding Chinese tech is next to impossible for many companies: batteries are mostly made in China, with some competitors in Japan and South Korea. Europe's battery champion, Northvolt, collapsed. Meanwhile, BYD revealed in March that its new batteries could add 250 miles of range in five minutes of charging, only for Chinese rival CATL to say it could do more than 300 miles in the same amount of time. Shares in CATL jumped 16% on their stock market debut in Hong Kong on Tuesday. Europe has some defensive strengths. There are huge networks of dealerships – still the preferred model of purchases – and garages who can carry out maintenance. That will slow down the advance of Chinese brands. 'The European buyer is actually a very conservative buyer, very loyal to their car brands,' said Eric Zayer, who leads on automotive in Europe at Bain & Company. 'It is very hard for the Chinese to enter Europe and replicate the success.' He added that buyers will need to be persuaded that Chinese brands are not going to disappear – as happened to US electric brand Fisker – causing chaos for owners of vehicles built with regular software updates in mind. European bosses insist that the game is not lost, even if it is clear that China is at the very least going to win a significant chunk of the global automotive market. Bentley's Walliser said the 'Chinese are better at risk taking, quicker, working harder' and embracing new technologies. 'It's not magic,' he said. 'It could also be done here.' Luca de Meo, Renault's chief executive, said: 'We have to not underestimate the resilience of our automotive companies.'
The Guardian
18-05-2025
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
Hairy Biker Si King's Honest Playlist: ‘Led Zeppelin is perfect for when you're speeding along'
The first single I bought I Don't Like Mondays by the Boomtown Rats from Sounds Nice on Birtley High Street, when I was in my teens. I know it was about a school shooting, but at the time, I thought: I have a visceral reaction to Mondays as well. The first song I fell in love with Still in Love With You from Thin Lizzy's Live and Dangerous album. I was learning to play drums and Brian Downey, Thin Lizzy's drummer, used to do this wonderful shuffle beat because it's a relatively slow track, and his playing is beautiful. I still play the drums. I've never stopped being a musician. The song I secretly like There's a couple of Eagles tracks, like Desperado, mainly for that bit where Jeff Bridges in The Big Lebowski gets in the cab and says: 'I hate the fuckin' Eagles, man!' I probably shouldn't say that because as well as sessioning with a band called Groove Train, who are great, I've just been asked to play percussion for the Bootleg Eagles. The song I do karaoke The Royal Mile and Baker Street by Gerry Rafferty and Take the Money and Run by the Steve Miller Band are just about in my range. But I'm not a regular karaoke-er, man. The song I inexplicably know every lyric to I was sat in the park listening to some music and China in Your Hand by T'Pau and I Want to Be Free by Toyah Willcox came on. I mustn't have heard them for 30 years and I still remembered the lyrics. I've just got that sort of brain. I'm the same with telephone numbers. I can still remember my mates' mams and dads' telephone numbers. The song that changed my life John Bonham's drums on When the Levee Breaks by Led Zeppelin are nothing short of epic. Apparently they recorded them in a stairwell. That changed my life because I then wanted to be John Bonham. The song I can no longer listen toThe First Time Ever I Saw Your Face by Roberta Flack because it reminds me of lost love. The song that gets me up in the morning Gimme Some Lovin' by the Spencer Davis Group. The best song to play at a partyAin't Nobody by Rufus and Chaka Khan, because it's great. Sign up to Inside Saturday The only way to get a look behind the scenes of the Saturday magazine. Sign up to get the inside story from our top writers as well as all the must-read articles and columns, delivered to your inbox every weekend. after newsletter promotion The song that makes me cry On the Wire by Troy Cassar-Daley is a narrative of losing your way, your sense of place and home and just living on the wire. It's about love and comfort and fundamentally a reflection of how lonely the modern world can be. The best song to motorcycle to Kashmir by Led Zeppelin. What a track to have in your head when you're speeding. The Hairy Bikers: Our Family Favourites is available from the Guardian Bookshop.
