My ShowBiz Vlog

My daughter Lucie treated my grandson Arthur and me to a meal and great seats at the Lyceum Theatre to see the wonderful musical The Lion King. It was Arthur's sixth birthday and my Christmas presents.Directed by Julie Taymor, this captivating reimagining of the...

Now this is how to open a show. A flashing, pulsating light show, super fit dancing girls in shiny bikinis and Tina Turner doing what only she can do. Superb staging. The whole song just whipped the audience into a frenzy from the outset.And here's another example....

When these boys came onto the stage at a Britain's Got Talent audition, everyone thought they were going to be ghastly but when they sang the song "Stars" from Les Miserables, everyone sat up and took notice. It's a great performance but wait until they step forward...

I came across this on FaceBook and I was, frankly, gobsmacked! This is one of the most powerful songs in musical theatre and is usually sung by a man whose friends have all been killed in the rioting. But here it is sung by an angelic choir boy, Cormac Thompson. It is...

Rick Parfitt Jr. (son of the famous guitarist from Status Quo) and his RPJ Band were playing at the Painshill Festival in Surrey when Rick saw a 10-year-old boy holding up a sign that said "Let me play guitar with you". Rick invited him onto the stage and this...

In May 2006, David Gilmore of Pink Floyd fame, performed a concert at the Royal Albert Hall with bandmate Richard Wright on keyboards. He closed the show, as he always does with, arguably, the most iconic guitar solo in history, Comfortably Numb. I know I've included...

When we think of famous dancers, such as Fred Astaire, Gene Kelly and even Michael Jackson, we probably don't realise that due to the 'colour bar', we don't include in our thoughts the magnificent Nicholas Brothers. They danced with Fred Astaire, Gene Kelley, Donald...

On May 14, 2015, at the age of 90, blues genius B.B. King was gone and we shall never see his like again. Born on a cotton plantation in Mississippi, King was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1987, and is one of the most influential blues musicians of...

... your parents bought you a banjo! Or, worse, a cello! If you're as into rock as I am, you probably love AC/DC and their amazing song called THUNDERSTRUCK. Well, here are two versions that will amaze you - I hope! :-)Well. after those. I suppose we should have the...

In 1993, Stephen Spielberg created another one of his classic movies. One that will be remembered and watched for decades to come – Jurassic Park. In this clip, watch the blocking of the actors and the use of camera movement and framing. Perfection! It is simply an...

I saw the Beatles live! Oh, yes I did! It was in 1963 in Croydon. I heard no music as the screams were so loud and they only used two relatively underpowered Vox speakers.Having said all that, it was still a lifetime experience. (I also saw Hendrix at the Isle of...

Stairway to Heaven is a song by the English rock band Led Zeppelin, released in 1971. The music was composed by the band's guitarist Jimmy Page and the lyrics by vocalist Robert Plant. The song is often regarded as one of the most iconic rock songs of all time. Led...

In 2016, a 12-year-old girl, ostensibly very nervous, auditioned for the TV program, Britain's Got Talent. She opted to sing the very difficult song Defying Gravity from the musical Wicked and my Goodness did she knock everyone's socks off? Her powerful acting in both...

When I first saw Les Misérables, I loved this patter song in the spirit of Gilbert and Sullivan. Alun Armstrong's dirty, leering Thenardier from the 10th Anniversary Concert is the best I've ever seen and Jenny Galloway's inebriated Madame Thenardier is icing on the...

While I accept that people often think of Susan Boyle when thinking of this wonderful song from Les Misérables - the musical by Claude-Michel Schönberg and Alain Boublil, based on the novel by Victor Hugo - Ruthie Henshall as Fantine performing "I Dreamed a Dream" for...

The brilliant performer and author of Hamilton, Lin-Manuel Miranda, appeared on The Graham Norton Show and stunned everyone by rapping impromptu the hardest number in the show, 'My Shot'.It's an extraordinary number with its extremely fast delivery and accurate...

I had heard of this weird musical full of rapping called Hamilton and it didn't interest me at all until I saw this performance on the Royal Variety Performance of 2018. I was not only struck by the music, the rhyme schemes and the speed and accuracy of the delivery...

This is Shakira's official live music video for her song 'Hips Don't Lie' featuring Wyclef Jean. The staging is spectacular, her dancing and performance is superb and I love her final 'jump bows' at the end. This is ENERGY personified! Truly awe-inspiring.

Whatever you think of Beyoncé, the woman is a born entertainer! This is her finale at her headliner act at Glastonbury 2011. Just watch as she crosses in front of the devoted crowd without missing a single note! Pure entertainment!

Formed in 1965, Pink Floyd were the seminal group (yes, we said 'group' in those days, not 'band') of the Swinging '60s and the originators of psychedelia (look it up ). "Comfortably Numb" is a song from their eleventh album, The Wall (1979). For me, this is the best...

This is the first in a series of videos that, to me, typify and illustrate superb entertainment. This one is Neil Patrick Harris and the company performing the Opening Number of the 2013 Tony Awards. Extraordinary! No wonder they got a full-minute standing ovation!The...