Ronan Busfield Sings Maria: I Can't Believe He Wasn't Golden Buzzered....

I didn't use to watch TV talent shows because I formed the impression that they were less kind than they used to me, and that they let people on with no talent just so they can make fun of them.  However, a couple of years ago I caught an episode of Britain's Got Talent and have been hooked ever since.

Last night Ronan Busfield shambled onto the stage and, because I hadn't been paying attention during his video introduction, I thought perhaps he was a stand up comedian.  But then, music started playing and the most glorious voice came out in a sublime rendition of the song Maria.

Just watch the video above -- I need say no more.  The original video on Youtube can be found at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gTPqOuJJJ3E

Remembering Terry Wogan

Sunday yesterday was more depressing than normal with news of the announcement of Sir Terry Wogan's death.  I'm too wishy-washy to consider myself an ardent fan of anyone but I'll remember him fondly for his original radio 2 show when it was just him, the mic, and the letters from his loony listeners (before even the word "TOG" had been coined -- then we were TWITS ("Terry Wogan Is Tops Society")).  Letters from the likes of Major Roadworks and Seamus Always.  I even had a go myself with the less imaginative pseudonym, Ivor Screwloose.  And weren't we genuinely delighted when he then sold them back to us in his book, Banjaxed (though I missed the boat when it came to the unlikely possibility of being good enough to be included in it).

And who would have ever watched Dallas were it not for his talk of The Poison Dwarf and Sue Ellen "You're a tramp, a drunk and a unfit mother"?  We just had to watch to see what it was all about.  Heck, he even made the Pause for Thought slot bearable to listen to.  Some even went out and bought his vocal rendition of The Floral Dance (see video above).

There's been a few sad celebrity deaths lately (and let's not forget the legendary Frank Finlay who had the double misfortune to die the same day), but none has made me so properly sad as the loss of  Sir Terry so, if you'll excuse me, I'll leave you now and go and shed a manly tear.

Hale and Pace and other gems

During a recent visit to a local Poundland I bought a DVD of the third series of 80's hit show, Hale and Pace.  Not having been disappointed by it, I thought I'd have a rare look on Youtube to see if there was more of them to be found there.  There was.  Complete episodes even (though not in HD quality), and lots of clips, including this amusing musical interlude featuring Norman Pace singing a Status Quo medley as opera.  Other gems included a complete Cannon and Ball live show, lots of live music (e.g. Billy Joel Live in Tokyo), and even some stuff that's there legally.

The Next Big Thing...

Great video of Katherine Hughes singing the catchy number, Put Your Records On. There's more videos of her in her Youtube channel, and you can follow her on Twitter, Facebook, and she has an about.me page too: about.me/katherinehughes (not any more it seems).

Sometimes I Am Easily Amused...

Sometimes I am easily amused and these ads from my local Freecycle group gave me a good chuckle:

Admittedly, the second one was meant to be funny. One hopes.

Sending Up "Tara Medium"

I like to add a little randomness into my life by entering free prize draws (it's great when a DVD turns up unexpectedly in the mail (as half the time they don't bother email to say it's on its way)). Unfortunately, I made the mistake of agreeing to receive "a free reading" from "Tara the Medium" and now I can't seem to get rid of her emails.

Belatedly Googling "Tara Medium" revealed a familiar tale of emails promising an imminent influx of money, if only I cover 'her' expenses: £79 should do it; after no response from me, £69 then; then £49; now we're down to £29. Always accompanied by warning about the seriousness of my problems, and how some mysterious forces are somehow working against me, dooming me to a life of financial misery and bad luck which only she can defeat by performing some "Great Magical Intervention", for the aforementioned donation, and always assuring me that she is my "devoted friend" (so why don't you do it for nowt then?).

Fortunately there's an antidote to Tara's incessant doom-mongering in the form of a blog, gently sending up her many emails (or rather the pages they link to), by a kindly Canadian blogger, named Graeme Perrow: perrow.ca/blog/tara/index.html Highly recommended reading for any others suffering from Tara's touching concerns for their future.

Thank You Hater! -- Funny Youtube Video

Hilarious Youtube video made by Clever Pie and Isabel Fay, and dedicated to all those Internet Haters and Trolls found in comments sections everywhere (Found thanks to @curu on Twitter).