Hang on!

They’re … talking about … themselves!!

Yes, this latest offering from the senior coalition partners is a Party Political Broadcast with a serious message. A real serious message.

So please do watch it, and take careful note of what it’s saying.

Real lives are at stake…

It seems as though every time Simon Cowell is on the cusp of making another million, another controversy rears up, giving endless amounts of column inches and free publicity.

It’s all rather suspect.

This time, though, I will bite … and feed Syco more of the publicity that, ultimately, only ever seems to end up lining his pockets.

When you were a child, did your mother ever sing you this?

No, mine neither. However, it does seem to be quite a popular children’s song. Indeed, I have many happy memories of wandering around amusement arcades with the jingle ringing out, inviting me to waste spend my parents’ money in tupenny machines. How times don’t change…

Anyway, the tune is popular. So popular, it seems, that X Factor 2010 finalist Cher Lloyd, signed by Simon Cowell’s Syco label almost as soon as she was rejected by the British public, has been accused of ripping it off for her debut single, to be released next month.

(Caution: above video may cause epileptic fits or uncontrollable vomiting … or the inexplicable urge to jump up and dance)

Notice the similarities? Well until it breaks into some heavy beats. But, let’s face it, the tune is the same. Kind of makes her lyrics a little bit ironic (“you should get some of your own”).

In both Cher and Syco’s defence, they are not the first to rip the tune. Take this irreverent classic from the hit musical Billy Elliot.

(Caution: the above video is not for anyone of a nervous disposition)

I’m not saying that Cher Lloyd’s first release is a direct act of plagiarism, but perhaps we should remind ourselves of the legal action faced by Men at Work after the Girl Guides claimed that a riff in their hit Land Down Under was plagiarised from a song written for them.

The Guides (or, specifically, Larrikin Music), of course, won, and those behind the song, including Sony (Syco’s parent company), were ordered to pay costs and a percentage of income from the song.

With so much popular reproduction of the tune in the original video above, it seems unlikely that any similar action would be taken.

However, there has been much sniping abound on Twitter, although the only “professional” criticism I have yet found was from an artist who allowed himself to be involved in this.

Hang on, doesn’t that tune sound oddly familiar as well? Oh, wait…

Yes, a throwback to more happy memories playing Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas as an unwind tool after GCSEs (wait, am I allowed to admit that?!).

Anyway, Cher Lloyd? Well, let’s just say she’s beginning to grow on me (with absolutely no innuendo intended!) and I imagine Swagger Jagger will still end up finding its way into one of the top three spots in the charts when it is released.

But then again, what do I know…?

* I am currently in a prolonged state of “downtime” mode following my exams. Expect normal service (whatever that is) to resume after I’ve had a holiday somewhere nice and hot…

House Arrest from Winston Burrows on Vimeo.

With Royal Wedding fever gripping the nation (*ahem*), it is always refreshing to see content being generated by companies that are completely unrelated.

Take, for example, this brilliantly-choreographed dancefest from T-Mobile, one half of the Everything Everywhere Ltd mobile giant, with its positive message and catchy backing track.

With such a veritable mix of characters, however, one wonders where they get their inspiration from sometimes…

“I may be bad but I’m perfectly good at it”, says Rihanna in perhaps one of the most controversial mainstream songs (and music videos) of this generation. So controversial, in fact, that the video has even been banned in some countries.

Being the rather busy bee that I am, I rarely have time to enjoy such luxuries as music and, I am not ashamed to admit, pick up most new music via KMFM whilst driving to and from work and university.

Imagine my surprise, then, when I discovered Rihanna’s S&M (the clue’s in the title) in a Media Law seminar last week – when one student highlighted it as something that could be considered to be “obscene”.

Whilst Rihanna has kept some elements of?subtlety?and innuendo in the video, the lyrics (and the rest of the video) leave little to the imagination. But is it “obscene”? Should it have been banned?

For once, I am going to keep my thoughts to myself on this one and leave it up to you to decide (for convenience, I have embedded the video below).

However, Rihanna’s S&M is something of a wet dream for Media Law students.

Not only could the video cover a good half of a seminar on obscenity (if unmoderated), but she is now being sued by celebrity photographer David LaChapelle for copyright infringement!

Apparently the video was “directly derived” from his photographs, with eight of his images used as the basis for scenes in the video. If only I’d have known about that in the weeks before the obscenity seminar – when we covered copyright.

Although all this controversy is whipping up a frenzy amongst some people, it hasn’t stopped 12.5 million people from viewing the video on YouTube since it was posted on 31 January 2011.

Personally, I’m all for promoting good music – and if it causes a stir along the way, then that is just an added bonus!

Lord Prezza has turned to selling his body (in advertising, at least), and appears opposite Omid Djalili in the latest moneysupermarket.com advert.

Call me what you like, but this had me in stitches, especially Prezza’s look at the end…

Unfortunately, I think I have already featured a John Lewis advert in a previous countdown (though I cannot be sure) and this song is not a Christmas song.

However, the ex-Kent Uni student Ellie Goulding’s beautiful version of Your Song features on this year’s John Lewis advert, and I love it so much, I thought I would share the full song with you.

And, if you enjoyed the song, you can download it (and the entire Bright Lights album) from iTunes here.

Today, like hundreds of thousands of people across the country, I observed the two minutes’ silence to remember all those who have given their lives for our freedom, and those who are, or have been, prepared to give the ultimate sacrifice.

This year, it was personal. As those closer to me will know, my Grandad passed away earlier this year, aged 88. So today, at 11 o’clock, I stood by his final resting place, laid a cross and spent the two minutes remembering his life, and everything he did for his family.

It has been a rather surreal day. This morning, I don’t mind admitting, I was sat in McDonalds eating breakfast. There, I tweeted that, once again, I could not use my car radio, as the aerial does not react kindly to water.

Yet, as soon as I had finished my act of remembrance, I started my car and, for the first time today, KMFM came through clearly. And it was the most beautiful, fitting song imaginable.

Adele has a powerful, yet soothing voice. And I don’t mind admitting, hearing her version of “Make You Feel My Love” almost made me cry.

It was then that I decided that it absolutely had to be the song played at my funeral. If not for a fair few decades yet…

At last night’s River Ward by-election count at Gun Wharf, the tables for guests were covered in cut-out-and-decorate flags for the promotion of Medway’s bid for city status in 2012.

Today, Medway Council has released a promotional video for the bid, with an?introduction?by Richard Hicks, one of Medway Council’s Assistant Directors, and an overview of some of what Medway has to offer.

This comes on the day that the Medway Messenger reveals that funding the bid is costing every Medway resident just 10p – a total cost to Medway Council of ?25,000.