During Ocober 2011 I took part in a 6 week Editorial internship with siteformedia.com. While on this, I was assigned different showbiz and awards related tiopics to write short articles on, on a weekly basis.
This ranged from reviewing the MOBO and Q awards to voicing my opinion on Lady GaGa's showstopping antics and The X factors conroversy.
This opportunity enabled me to have an insight into how this industry works and most importantly,it made me resolute that Journalism and Media is what I wanted to aim for career wise.
Below are all the articles I wrote for Siteformedia.com with the accompanying link if you'd rather view it direct from the site.Enjoy!
http://www.siteformedia.com/index.php?option=com_k2&view=itemlist&task=user&id=411%3Ahanniehmills&Itemid=110&lang=en
Has GaGa finally gone GaGa?
Lady GaGa certainly doesn’t shy away from controversy- She’s incubated in and emerged from a large glass egg earlier this year at the 2011 Grammy Awards; she even got the animal activists going when she turned up at the 2011 VMA Awards in LA in her infamous meat bikini. Some say it’s to detract from her lack of talent. Some say her wackiness is inspiring and unique. And don’t get me wrong- when GaGa released her first single ‘Just Dance’ I thought she was great too. The song was edgy but fun and her unusual dress sense just came across as artistic. It was all excitement and admiration for her as she turned up at each award and appearance dressed in one of her many outlandish outfits. But then she filmed the music video to her third single release ‘Paparazzi’ that featured her being thrown off a balcony and becoming paralysed all while wearing a barley there black patent leather leotard (hence her leotard obsession started). Put simply, she went downhill from there. One of her later singles ‘Bad Romance‘ which showed her and backing dancers, crawling out of shiny white coffins and her being dragged out of a bath, was when alarm bells started ringing. She stopped being different and eccentric and started making people wonder if she’d well and truly lost it. After she turned up at this years MTV Music Awards dressed as a man as she slagged herself off in front of millions of international viewers on stage during a long speech, you start to tire at her attention seeking stunts. Last week she appeared on the Jonathan Ross show in a turquoise PVC suit complete with antennae –accompanied by a ram. Yes you read right. A ram that she named Kevin. The 25 year old singer who’s real name is Stefani Germanotti told Jonathan on his show “I feel sort of irrelevant doing other things. I’ll die without the spotlight”. A cry for help? And although GaGa is our guilty pleasure because we all secretly love her music really (yes, you know who you are), we can’t help but conclude that she’s taken this whole egotistical and narcissistic act to the point where it’s no longer funny. It’s been done. We’re still waiting for the day when she finally acknowledges this and seeks the medical help she needs and then the whole world can take a huge sigh of relief because her melodrama will finally be over.
Double Q Award winner Adele reveals her success secret. Featured
It certainly was a huge success for 23 year old ‘Chasing Pavement’ singer Adele who picked up awards for Best Female and Best Track for her recent single ‘Rolling in the Deep’ at The Q Awards , held at the luxurious Grosvenor House Hotel in Park Lane earlier this week. Her latest album 21 sold over 5 million copies and is now one of the big names in the very exclusive and small group of female solo singers that have sat at the top of the US Billboard chart which include the likes of Mariah Carey, Whitney Houston, Beyonce and Leona Lewis. So what’s her secret to success? Well all the statistics to one side, we can’t say we really know a lot about Adele on a personal level. She tells Q magazine in a recent interview that she refuses to “sell out” and says she despises “artists who exploit their fans for financial gain by turning their lives into a soap opera”. Katie Price come’s to mind at this point. She wont even tolerate the marketing scam of some record companies where albums are re-released with extra tracks on them to make fans buy a record twice, she says “ I was furious when they did that on [first debut album] 19. I said ‘No’ and they did it anyway…It’s just mugging off your fans”. Paul Rees, the editor of Q himself says on Adele’s low-fame approach “What’s become lost in the Lady GaGa- era is the confidence in the idea that less is more. A large element of Adele’s success is that she remains something of an enigma and we don’t know everything about her”. Well she must be doing something right, as her honest approach to her singing career has definitely written her name in International music.
MOBO Awards 2011:"Music should not be ignorant"
The media has talked of nothing else since the MOBO’s 16th Awards show that was aired live from the SECC in Glasgow. This saw Boyz II Men win the most coveted award in music: the ‘Outstanding contribution to music’ that marked over twenty years of their being in the industry. The event was hosted by Strictly Come Dancing’s Alesha Dixon and ‘Watcha say’ singer Jason Derulo who revealed just before the ceremony that he’d never hosted anything before in his life. He said “I’ve never hosted anything, not even a birthday party so it’s going to be very fun and interesting. … It’s a real honour because the MOBO Awards are a very special awards show honouring black music... The crowds here are actually really different. They’re very very rowdy and get wild like me so I’m pretty pretty sure it’s going to be quite an event!” It certainly was a lively party as we saw the likes of Wretch 32, Alexis Jordan and Jessie J perform-not forgetting a moving tribute to Amy Winehouse from Dionne Bromfield. And of course every Award show has the one outstanding performance that makes everyones jaws drop, and this year it came from rising UK artist and dark horse Emeli Sande. She took to the stage and delivered a stunning performance of ‘Heaven’ as well as taking over MOBO Twitter just days before with a live Q&A fan session as did Rizzle Kicks from London. Four time MOBO Award winners of last year, JLS flew into London on none other than a private jet making sure of their presence while Tinie Tempah picked up the award for Best UK Hip-Hop/Grime Act, Rihanna ;Best International Act and this years singing sensation Adele won the well deserved award for Best UK R&B/Soul act. The biggest surprise of the night though had to be Jessie J. Not for the fact that she was wearing a black and gold Egyptian inspired playsuit which despite her usual outlandish fashion tastes, still surprised people. No, she was awarded an outstanding four MOBO’s in one night including Best song for her first studio release ‘Do it like a dude’, Best Newcomer and Best UK act in association with Capital FM. She graces this years copy of MOBO magazine with her presence and features an interview inside. What’s next musically for Jessie? She tells MOBO “Just write and enjoy…The next album may have rap, it may have some orchestra or musical theatre. Change and being free to me in music is vital. Music should not be ignorant.” To read the full interview, MOBO Magazine is now on sale in all major HMV stores across the UK. To catch up with all the gossip and interviews live from the red carpet, check out BBC iplayer now.
Cue X Factor Controversy: Cowell slams down on hopefulls.
Kitty rings in and votes for herself over 126 times, Frankie Cocozza gets drunk and snapped (again), Misha B is accused of bullying her fellow contestants backstage, Tulisa tells this weeks edition of More! magazine that Kelly Rowland’s no longer talking to her following the row they had and after much speculation and rumours filtering through the media Alexandra Burke was asked to stand in for sick judge Kelly Rowland who came down with a rare infection and couldn’t fly over from her LA home to be at last week’s show. Just an average few weeks at the X factor house! But it is X factor after all, so what do we expect? So what’s new this week? Well according to The Mirror, Simon Cowell was forced to step in and issue warnings earlier this week. The Mirror quotes him saying “This is your one chance. You have to take control... and a lot of you aren’t doing that right now”. Couldn’t help but wonder if he was talking directly to Frankie there considering the pompous, carefree attitude he flaunts each week. He’d just finished making an apology for revealing lewd details about an encounter with a Geordie Shore star live on the Xtra factor around the same time so it may not be of coincidence. Frankie’s mentor on the show, Gary Barlow, tried to gloss over the on stage rows and indifferences by telling Daybreak that ‘they’re going to make the show stronger… through a bonding session’. Although his intentions seem good, ITV Bosses don’t seem to be convinced as there have been rumours of there being a double eviction on this weeks show in an attempt to boost the viewers. That sounds like more controversy in the making...
Rihanna and Calvin Harris: A match made in heaven?
Let me just apologise for all those who clicked on this hoping I was talking about Rihanna and Calvin Harris becoming a couple. I'm not. Right, so now we've got that over and done with, picture this: You turn on your computer and log onto the internet. All of the showbiz pop-up's are talking about how Rihanna was told to 'put some clothes on' as she stripped on a farmers field in Northern Ireland while shooting her video for her new single 'We found love'. But then that's Rihanna for you is'nt it? Hardly breaking news. You read on anyway, and then pause for a few seconds. You re-read the line again. The song is a collaboration. With whom though? Think chalk and cheese, a hot drink on a humid summer's night. Big producer and songwriter, specialising in electropop. He's worked with some pretty big name's too like Dizee Rascal and Kylie Minogue- heard of them maybe? His first studio album 'I created disco' was released in late 2007. Of course we're talking about Calvin Harris. Suddenley you start thinking of all the mismatched and disasterous collaborations you've heard. Ellie Goulding's and Tiny Tempah's 'Wonderman' spring to mind by any chance? In fact-let's not go there! You click to hear the song anyway. 'Why not?' you tell yourself 'I'm only listening for a laugh'. Within a few seconds though, your laughter is replaced with silence and a stunned expression settles on your face. 'It can't be good. It wont work' you say to yourself. And it is'nt good. It's amazing. This song is an even mix of the two artists. Calvin Harris' well known high energy sound and electrifying base pulsing over Rihanna's edgy but smooth vocals. It's the kind of song where you turn up the volume to full blast and kill the 'replay' button. This songs is due for chart release on November 21st. And although she will have some competition from Nickleback who are releasing thier comback album 'Here and now' during the same week, I still dont see her having any trouble bagging her eleventh UK No.1! But you don't need me to tell you anymore. Listen to the song below and see for yourself.
