UK Asian Music Awards

For the first time B4U Music, the number one Asian Channel in the UK has teamed up with the premier event for the UK Asian Music scene, the UK Asian Music Awards. With only a few weeks to go, the organisers have been busy putting together a fantastic show to celebrate and honour the best in the industry with exciting performances and great celebrity guests and hosts.

Taking place at Southbank Centre’s Royal Festival Hall on Thursday 6^th March, the awards ceremony which promises to be even bigger and better than previous years will be hosted by West End star Priya Kalidas (pictured) alongside B4U Music VJ Salil, who will be flying in from Mumbai for the show.

Attendees to the event will be treated to performances by some of the UK’s finest Asian musical talent and also a few international artists. Performances on the night will include; North American hip hop artists Blitzkrieg, Roachkilla and Kidd Skilly with Surinder Rattan, D-Boy featuring Swiss and V Dubl E, Dutch singer Imran Khan, RnB sensation Jay Sean, Singer-songwriter Karen David, Punjabi singer Lehmber Hussainpuri, Punjabi Hit Squad featuring Alyssia, girl group Serese, the Shaanti Collective with The Kalyan, Sona Family, Bollywood producers Trickbaby and Rishi Rich will be closing the show with a special performance with Veronica, Mumzy and H Dhami.

After months of public voting via the official website www.theukama.com, the winners will finally be announced and presented with their awards by a whole host of celebrity guest presenters. Awards will be awarded for Best Album, Best Act, Best Female Act, Best Underground Act, Best Video, Best International Act, Best Newcomer, Best Producer, Best Club DJ, Best Urban Act, Best Radio Show and Best Website. Special awards on the night include Commitment to the Scene and Outstanding Achievement.

B4U Music is the official presenting partner for the event. The channel will be exclusively capturing all the excitement at the event; the big performances, the acceptance speeches and interviews with the winners and performers on the night for a special programme to be aired on B4U Music later in the month. On the partnership, Bala Iyer, Head of Business B4U Network Europe says, “We believe that B4U Music plays a pivotal role in the Asian music industry worldwide, therefore we are pleased to be involved in an event that promotes and celebrates the talent in UK and abroad.”

Promising to be an exciting event, with top performances, great music and celebrities, the UK Asian Music Awards is an event not to be missed. For tickets please visit www.theukama.com

Sweeney Todd Title Sequence Nominated For Best Film And TV Graphics By The British Animation Awards

Th1ng’s Sweeney Todd title sequence has been nominated for Best Film and TV Graphics by the British Animation Awards (BAA). The awards recognise the most memorable examples of animation in the UK and will be held on March 13th 2008.

The Sweeney Todd title sequence is a narrative led combination of live action and animation and was directed by Th1ng’s title director, Richard Morrison and design director, Shay Hamias.

Morrison, who has previously worked with Tim Burton on the memorable opening titles to Batman, said he was delighted at the news and hopeful that the sequence will help the Oscar nominated movie to be a major success in 2008.

“The making of the sequence involved an army of CG and compositing experts and took over three months. We are delighted that this has been recognised by a leading industry panel and look forward to the awards gala”.

Living up to the Burton legacy, the title sequence opens as a suspenseful and eerie narrative with blood oozing pictures. It foreshadows the film’s action and establishes the mood and visual character of the plot.

The sequence, a mini movie of its own, has initially functioned as a promotional trailer to the movie.

Dominic Buttimore, Th1ng’s executive producer said: “The success of this title sequence has once again brought Richard Morrison’s name to the top of the title directors’ league table”.

Read the EntsNews review of Sweeney Todd here

Gervais Doesn't Deserve Globe

It's not exactly news that Ricky Gervais has won yet another award, this time a Golden Globe for Extras. As a fan, I'm certainly not averse to the idea of Gervais (who I consider to have one of the sharpest comedy brains of our generation) receiving due credit for his work. But I do feel, in this case, they got it wrong. Now, admittedly the competition wasn't all that strong (30 Rock, Californication, Entourage and Pushing Daisies were the rivals), but nevertheless I think at least one of these shows (namely Entourage) was a better all-round piece of television.

The US infatuation with anything touched by the hand of Gervais is getting a bit embarrassing. Witness for example his guest turn on The Simpsons, which turned out to be little more than a watered-down David Brent dancing to the same old tune. Or look at Stardust, where his cameo as a space-merchant was once again reduced to a series of Brent-ish facial expressions and grammatical punctuations that we've become so used to.

The rumour is that Ricky's next project with Stephen Merchant will be a straight drama. I've not doubt they are capable of handling a serious piece, and in fact I'm fairly confident they'll excel (my theory has always been that good comedians can always handle 'heavier' material but rarely does it work the other way round). But whether the US (and indeed for that matter the UK) sycophants will allow him to grow out of Brent remains to be seen. I'd hate to see him follow the path so sadly trodden by Steve Coogan.

There Will Be Blood (...But Not Till February)

Paul Thomas Anderson's There Will Be Blood, starring Daniel Day-Lewis, has taken several top awards from the National Society of Film Critics (for full story click here). However, I for one had barely heard of the film due to the ridiculous discrepancy between US and UK release dates. It's old news for Uncle Sam, where it was first glimpsed back in September, whereas we Brits won't get a piece of the action till...wait for it... February the 15th!!!!

Yes, I realise that this is a situation that has gone on since celluloid began, but surely it's time to start redressing the balance? In a digital age it's simply inexcusable to stagger international release dates to this degree. If anyone has any further thoughts as to the (presumably commercial) advantages of doing this, I'd be grateful to hear them.

Here endeth the rant.

Ghostly Goings On At Student Film Awards

Two friends and Salford University graduates went head-to-head on Wednesday 4 December when their film projects were short-listed for the Royal Television Society North West student awards.

On the night it was The Park by the BA Television and Radio graduate Nick Gillespie which finished ahead of Billy Wright made by his friend Ed Lilly, but both went away happy in the end as the two friends had helped each other out in the production of their films.

Nick’s film, which was successful in the Undergraduate Drama category, is a horror story based on a legend about a ghostly lady who is said to haunt Marbury Park in his home town of Northwich.

Since graduating, Nick has gone on to become a freelance camera operator and has worked on a number of projects including a new film of his own based around the Story of Little Red Riding Hood and work for Steve Coogan’s production company Baby Cow. Ed, meanwhile, has started his own production company producing music videos.

As a result of his success in the North West region, Nick will be taking The Park to compete in the national RTS Student Awards which are held next May in London.

One of Nick’s tutors at Salford, Channel M producer Paul Barron, was responsible for getting the entries into the competition. He said: “Both Nick and Ed were great assets to us on the Channel M project at Salford, so I had no reservations in putting their own films forward for RTS consideration. I had a gut feeling they would make a good impression. It was just a shame that they were both nominated in the same category, being such good friends, but they can both take pride in their achievements. I’m delighted for both of them, and feel sure they will find even greater success in the future”.

Nick, whose win contributes to over a decade of Salford success at the Royal Television Society awards, was honoured to just be nominated. He said: “Everyone involved with the film worked really hard and I suppose it’s a bit of a cliché, but I really wasn’t expecting to win. The whole night was a bit of a blur and having a chance to go to the national awards in London next year is very exciting.”