Archives for June 2012

My new series (Coming Here Soon, Tuesdays 9pm) looks at how the world’s economic crisis has affected us all - in particular young people – and is one of the most important series I think I've done.
 
In the past I’ve focused on situations that are just as important as this one, but certainly a lot harder for us to relate to. The issue of child soldiers in DR Congo is fortunately not something many of us have first-hand experience of.

But feeling the pressure to find a job or make the wage we earn go as far as we need it to? That’s totally relatable. Nearly all my pals, and definitely myself, have been in that situation. It's no fun.

The economy is in bits here in the UK and as unfair as it is, it seems to be the least to blame are often the hardest hit. It's the same feeling over in Greece, although the Greeks are facing a much tougher time than us right now. Every single person you talk to there tells you they’re stressed and panicking about their future.

Greece is in so much debt and many Greeks say it's because they have been contending with a bent government. They will tell you that those in charge were - and still are - corrupt. They will tell you they were lied to, and given a false sense of security.

Now the country’s leaders are running around trying to find the money they owe. They’re putting harsh austerity measures in place on normal, hardworking people.  Jobs are being cut all the time; families are struggling to feed their kids. There were some areas of Athens that reminded me of a third world country. It's a city on its knees.

Half of the Greeks’ youth are unemployed yet every young person I met was bright, academic, keen and talented. They should be an asset to their country, but instead it seems to me they are wasted. They've studied for years because they were told that if they did they would have decent jobs and comfortable lives. That's not been the case. I was heading back to my hotel room one night, and I saw a young lad on a main road with a needle hanging out of his arm nearly unconscious.

That was the same day I saw a mum hanging off the side of a building threatening to jump because she and her partner have both been told they were losing their jobs. She’s got two kids, one of whom is disabled  and requires expensive medicine.

One night I will never ever forget, is when I was in the thick of a protest. There were nearly one million people outside parliament. I've never seen anything like it in my life. The riot police were aggressive and scary; they threw so much tear gas there were rumours they ran out of supplies.

From what I witnessed, the police threw it without any warning whatsoever. There were kids here at this stage and everyone was struggling to breathe. I couldn't see. You lose your vision and can't get out of the way because there’s so many people, some of whom were getting crushed. In retaliation, people threw petrol bombs and buildings started burning down. This went on for hours. I remember people smashing marble off the steps and buildings. It was terrifying.

I hope people watch the episode and are able to see what it's like for Greek people at the minute. I was blown away by what they are going through right now, especially the young people. You have to keep your fingers crossed and hope things somehow work out for them.

Whether it's a total clear out in parliament or a revolution from the public, things have to change.

What stuck with me is this isn't Africa or South-East Asia. This is a country in the European Union, four hours away on a plane.

It's very close to home.

Coming Here Soon is on Tuesdays at 9pm.

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Grab your top hats and fascinators! You are cordially invited to the launch of a brand new series of Don’t Tell the Bride coming to BBC Three in August!

We're celebrating the return of everyone's favourite wedding show by giving you the chance to vote for your best episode ever! Your chosen top ten will then feature in a special Best Ever show, heading -up the new series.

So what is your all-time favourite episode of Don’t Tell the Bride? We’ve shortlisted 20 of the very best programmes, so all you need to do is check out the featured episode clips.

Click here to vote now!

Confetti at the ready, it’s time to celebrate the best. RSVP!

How did we choose the shortlist?

The shortlist was devised by a BBC Three panel who are experts in all things ‘Don’t Tell the Bride’. Using their knowledge of the series and considering episodes recognised by fans as amongst the best, they have whittled down all episodes of ‘Don’t tell the Bride’ into a shortlist of 20.
Tell us about your favourite episode below, and we’ll be using the best comments as part of our special ‘Best Ever’ episode to launch the new series!

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Politics. Music. Music. Politics.

No, we’re not talking about the karaoke clubs of Westminster, we’re talking about the underlying political messaging that is seen all across the music industry. From Plan B to Riz Ahmed to back in the day of Public Enemy, it seems that politics really does sell when dropped to a beat and put on a mix tape.

In the wake of Ill Manors, Free Speech shot a debate asking how politics has influenced rap:

What do you think? Do rappers have a political and social responsibility?

Meanwhile we’ve asked Robbie Wojciechowski, Music Editor of Live Magazine, to give
us his take on the politics of music.

 

It’s easy to blame the protest, but that's a naïve perspective. So instead of offering a simplified conclusion, let's look at the voices of today's poets - the grime artists, and the musicians that set alight Britain's musical landscape.

For grime artist, P Money, it’s a question of battling against control: “Our generation is being born into an attitude where they’re told they’re never going to make it, because ‘grime’ is their voice. So there’s a natural anger.”

There’s an attitude amongst our generation that society sees youth expression as aggressive and unwelcome. So is it any surprise that aggression feeds into the passion of ‘grime’ as a genre? Grime may very well be the genre of the young and angry, but it’s not the only politicised music being written at the moment.

Take the music that fills our airwaves on radio and through television - pop music. Is that political? Jazz trumpeter and hip-hop artist Soweto Kinch seems to think so: “The most dangerous fiction is saying music is de-politicised. Pop music is intensely political; it’s exhorting people to see the world in a particular way."

If pop music is the metaphor for an idealistic society, then surely we’re all accepting political music constantly, in whatever landscape, class, or lifestyle we set ourselves.

Music is political, and always will be. Although it’s not something we’d directly relate to our everyday lives, it’s something that affects and controls us all. Maybe it’s a case that today’s artists are getting better at talking about politics?

So what do you think – is music getting more political, or has it always been politicised?

As always, we want to know what you think, so hop on to our Facebook and Twitter now to let us know, or leave us a comment in the space below. And on that rhyme, it’s over to you.

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I don’t know about you, but I find modern life pretty confusing. In a world of extremes, how do we find balance? When is it ok to break the rules and when is it not? How do we juggle everything without going cross-eyed?

These are some of the questions I investigate in my new series, How To Get a Life (Wednesdays, 9pm). Sadly I have to tell you that there are no neat answers and, kind of predictably, when we were filming, our questions mostly led to more questions! But what I found from talking to so many people were some really useful pearls of wisdom that have helped me get my head around some of life’s most perplexing issues.

In the series I’ll be meeting people to find out more about:

- modern relationships
- addiction
- how our looks can change our lives
- prejudice
- working & playing hard
- how money affects love.

It’s probably not good to have a favourite but I definitely have a soft spot for the third episode. In this programme we ask how we can use our looks to change our lives and, in today’s society, have our looks become more important than who we are? I met a group of feisty ladies who set me a challenge that took me waaaayyyy out of my comfort zone! I also met a tattoo artist who completely changed my perception of how looks can be used to take control and, perhaps my favourite moment of filming of all time, I met a male stripper who made me laugh so much I cried.

I met a lot of young men and women along the way who were equally promiscuous, and some not at all, who were making up their rules as they went along. Some that I met had slept with high numbers of partners and told me that they love sex and are single so what’s the problem? How many is too many and who decides anyway? After talking to a lot of young people, I get the feeling that the taboo surrounds women more heavily and that it’s still more acceptable for men to sleep around. We really got into the heart of the debate in a few of my hub chats and I was really impressed with people’s honesty.

When I tweeted ‘How many is too many and is there such a thing as a ‘slut’ anymore’ there was a general sense that for girls an acceptable number is 8 whereas for boys it can be 15-20. It also seems that girls are still afraid to be called ‘sluts’ so often tell people they’ve slept with fewer guys whilst boys up their numbers to impress! It seems that whilst we do live in a relatively liberated society, we are all still very aware of the rules.

Later in the first episode I meet a young couple who are also making up their own rules - they have an open relationship that is full of experimentation. The more I talked to them the more I realised that this wasn’t as simple as it sounds. After going on a bit of an, ahem, adventure with them (not in that way!), they both had a bit of a revelation. I also had a bit of a revelation: PVC is extremely flattering but also extremely clammy. Nice.

The first episode holds lots of other surprises and, of course, I overshare massively - my poor mum. I really hope you enjoy the new series and would love to hear any of your questions via this blog or twitter.

Cherry Healey: How To Get A Life is on Wednesdays at 9pm.

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Alicia Douvall is a glamour model and mum to sixteen year old Georgia and six month old Papaya.  Last year we followed Alicia’s addiction to plastic surgery and her tempestuous relationship with Georgia in Glamour Models, Mum and Me. In this follow-up documentary, Glamour Model Mum, Baby and Me, their lives are thrown upside down when Alicia becomes a mother for the second time. Georgia reluctantly goes to America with Alicia during her mock exams to babysit whilst her mum has more cosmetic surgery. Below Georgia gives us the low down on her unconventional relationship with her mum.

 
The way my mum told me she was pregnant was “Good night honey. Oh, and I’m pregnant.” I thought she was joking as she jokes with me a lot. I felt a mixture of excitement and disappointment. I knew how much she struggled with me and I didn’t know how she was going to cope being a single parent again. Things were completely going to change, and I was not sure if it was for the better.

Her bump seemed to grow very quickly but I knew mum not being with the father meant things weren't going to be easy for us. I told my friends at school and they were all excited, some even bought baby clothes. That took some of the fear away and I will always appreciate my friends for that.

I went for a scan with mum and they told us it was going to be a girl. I could see her arms and legs kicking around and her heart beating strong, and that’s when I fell in love with her. Mum asked me to be there for the birth. I didn’t want to to start with because, as you can imagine, it seemed a scary scenario. What if something went wrong, and what could I do anyway? However I agreed, because she had no one else.

The big day finally came on December 23rd 2011 after nine months of mum feeling fat, teary, happy and apprehensive! At six am we walked to the hospital ready for mum’s planned c-section.  Of course with my mum there is always drama; she was in two minds over whether to go ahead with the operation. The doctors told her that if she went into labour over Christmas she might end up having a c-section with a junior doctor. After years of having plastic surgery, a bad scar across her tummy was worse than her fear of child birth!

We sat in the waiting room until they wheeled her in and then it was too late to turn back! Before I knew it I was cutting the cord of this tiny baby who was screaming her head off, but looked perfect. I was amazed and in awe. Christmas day came around and because my mum suffered complications, we ended up spending it in hospital with no decorations or presents and with a cold, horrible hospital dinner, but somehow none of that mattered. My baby sister was the best present we could have had.

Papaya is nearly 6 months old now, and she’s made me realise that I don’t want to have children for a long time. I want to be married and settled and not worried about what tomorrow will bring. My mum is a strong women but I can see that bringing up two kids alone without a steady income is hard and you have to make sacrifices that I’m not sure I’d want to make. I’m planning on going to University to study Drama, English and Biology and hope to be working as a serious actress in the future.

Glamour Model Mum, Baby & Me is on Tuesday at 9pm.

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