American Idol contestants

This years American Idol has come a surprise in more ways than one. Firstly, i was shocked at some of the people that weren't chosen for the main part of the competition, these few seemed to have genuinely good voices. Some of the early people they did choose were vocally far from what they were looking for. I think this year the women are out shining the men, although Phil had a very good voice and shouldn't have been voted off. I do think it's unfair that Blake was chosen over Lakeisha because she has a much more powerful voice than he does, but you know like last years contestant Jennifer Hudson, who was voted off because voters were apparently racist. Not saying this was the issue for Lakeisha, it's just that when your future lies in the hands of the public, you don't know who's voting for or against you, they have their reasons why they like you or no don't like you. Well now there's three left, Jordon, Blake and Melinda. Because of past shows it's so obvious to see who will be voted off next and who will win. Jordon is a young, talented girl, who (unfortunately) visually 'fits' the image that singers have nowadays. Similarly Blake is like Justin Timberlake, he's a white guy who has a soulful black sound and can dance hip hop. Then there's the powerful, shake your bones, singing Melinda, who could without a question win American Idol, but in this unfair industry which selects looks over talent, has her age playing against her. Well who knows! If Melinda wins it would definitely be a surprise, although she's an amazing singer. American idol hardly chooses black people as their idol, unless they are mixed with another race. Just like any other reality T.V show. it's very sad and discriminative, because again it's like the media has it's ideas of who fits the look and who doesn't, they want someone who will appeal to everyone, which results in everyone looking the same. It's such a shame. But you know what, Melinda is going to make it in the music business whether she wins American Idol or not, her voice is timeless and you can't deny talent like that.

R.I.P Steve Irwin, but there's not a copy-cat is there?

I have to say that I was sad when I read of the death of the Australian crocodile hunter Steve Irwin. But this may sound harsh, but i wasn't surprised. If someone has chosen to do dangerous stunts with animals and basically risk their lives every single time they did a stunt, what on earth do they expect. Personally he should have stopped all of that when he had the chance, he would've still been alive today. I just don't believe in people who do these animal stunts for show. What exactly are they showing? OK... so yeah they are brave to jump on a crocodiles back and tackle him to the ground, OK.. i didn't know there was a qualification for that. I just think that doing this kind of activity is dangerously unnecessary and we don't need someone to demonstrate how vicious animals could be, we've all watched nature programs before and have heard what their animal nature is. To my surprise, I accidentally came across a Steve Irwin look-a-like and copycat, his name was Austin Stevens and he a general animal hunter. He was holding poisonous snakes by their necks, catching a violent turtles and showing how violent it could be by pushing his foot into its mouth! All that comes to mind is why.... why would you do that, it's like having a death wish. Steve Irwins death was ironic, he wasn't even trying to catch the animal or aggravate it, he was just doing a normal documentary on jellyfish. But it was strange how this time he was the one under threat.

What I miss about Guyana....

I miss waking up and seeing my Granny every morning, we'd have to hug each other first before we did anything else. She would then put on her classic Gospel music and then open up the veranda doors and some of the windows in the house. She would then go to sit down on the veranda for 30 Min's or so, to watch Georgetown wake up. I liked joining her, it was peaceful, i loved being around my grandmother, we got a long so well, i was soo much like her. For breakfast, as she always did when i was a child, she'd pour me a glass of orange juice in my favorite glass, the one I've used since i was a child, then she'd make breakfast.

I miss the hot sun and the noisy traffic on the road. The bus conductors risked their lives every time they were working on a bus, because they'd skillfully hang onto the inside of the bus with one hand and wave people in with the other, this all happened when the bus was moving.
I miss the old sweet shops at the corner. The sweets the shops sold were always kept in a big glass jar, for some reason they'd looked more mouth watering that way.

I miss the music that would blare out of peoples houses on the main road on the way into the market. I miss the ice cone man who sold refreshing ice cones for 10$ on the street corner. I miss eating fudge from that one market stall in Georgetown i use to buy it from. I miss sitting in the bus when i would go to see my family in new Amsterdam or Linden and looking through the window at the fields, palm trees and sea. I miss feeling the breeze on my face.

I miss going to my granny's church and sitting waiting for communion to come because i liked how the bread tasted, i miss asking my granny for sweets during the Church services. I miss going to my auntie Marilyn's house, going around town with her and her taking me to see her friends. I miss the food. I miss falling to sleep at the sound of the crickets and the hum of the fan when lying in bed under a netting.

I miss the friendly faces and smiling passerbyers who would say hi even if they didn't know me. I miss getting tired after being out in the sun all day and just sliding down into a chair and falling asleep to a black and white movie. I miss home.

The song has some truth!

Unlike a lot of songs nowadays where all the artistes are singing about is sex and the general physicality's of being in a relationship (or in most cases an open relationship), it's refreshing to hear artistes who actually take time to sing about the natural feelings of love and what being in a relationship actually means.

When i first heard Danity Kanes' 'Ride for you', i loved it. This is 5 member girl group, compiled by P Diddy, they sing, dance and have personality. This song of theirs basically speaks about being there for someone and staying with them throughout the good and bad seasons (this is depicted by seasons of the year in their video). I just thought that this was different because there's a line in the last part of the song which state 'oh, don't tell me that we've gotta let it go, we've been on top for too long just to let it go under....i don't want to start off with another..' and i personally feel this is quite deep. instead of moving on and going onto the next relationship, it's makes you think 'hang on this takes work, it's not going to work out by itself' and encourages both people in that relationship to work at it.
I think the main reason I like this song is because it denotes commitment which is not a popular word in our society today. Obviously be wise in relationships and don't let songs or rash feelings make decisions for you, think things through, but what i admire is that the song is encouraging people to stick through things, it's a reality, it's not going to be peachy all the time, maybe in the beginning but not always.

What happened to the positive black TV families?

My favourite American black sitcoms have have all stopped showing. Well the Cosby Show and Diff'rent Strokes (which I've started watching recently) stopped years ago...but i have to say i do miss sitcoms like those which show the black family in a positive light. I was sad when i was watching the last episode of The Fresh Prince of Belaire, this show was my weekly dose of jokes. The Cosby show takes me back to my childhood days, when i watch the classic re-runs now it's like I'm taking a dive back into the 80's. The most recent black sitcom to end is the Hilarius My Wife and Kids, when i my friend had told me that the producers had stopped filming the show i thought 'arrgh what am i going to watch now!'. Not to say these are the only type of TV i watch but they're the only ones i can really relate to.

The one thing these sitcoms have in common is, they're all American! I'm trying to think now...i don't recall any black British sitcoms...oh wait 'Desmond's' was one, that was great, Desmond was the owner of a barbershop and most of the comedy happened right there, it was soo funny. Oh and i remember that he was of Guyanese heritage! This showed around the early 90's and stopped filming after Desmond's death.

I'm trying to think of any other show..there was 'Baby father' which aired around 2002 and ended shortly after. Oh and then there was the seriously unfunny sitcom which i can't even remember the name of! and not to forget the popular comedy sketch show 'The Real McCoy' which was like the black communities answer to 'Goodness Gracious Me'.

Anyhow, although a few black comedies have aired on TV, there hasn't been any quality black sitcoms like the good old Cosby Show. I miss watching the warm, loving and successful black Dr Huxtable teach and educate his happy children beside his equally successful wife. Things like this aren't on TV anymore, and i just don't understand why. The only black family i see on TV are on Eastenders and it's not very positive. Black families are hardly ever shown on TV nowadays and when they are shown, they seem to be struggling, working menial jobs, unglamorous and disappointing. Why can't they convey BOTH the successes and struggles together, like any other race, black people are not always poor. Why can't the son's be successful and daughters be ambitious, instead of being portrayed as 'no good' and a threat.

My question is why can't black families be shown more positively on television here, in the same way that black families in America are portrayed?

Rain Rain go away!!

Oh my gosh! hasn't the weather taken a dreary, windy plunge this week!?

I was very pleased with the hot weather a week and a half ago and was looking forward to it getting better. But then, the weather did become hot quite early in the year... so we might be experiencing April showers in May.

Looking at the extended forecast, it seems that more rain is coming. So all of you out there who have Afro's, it's cornrow time, make sure your hair is wrapped up nicely. I had to do mine in twists fast, my hair is not for this weather! It prefers nice, hot and sunny weather! But, truthfully, my hair thrives in hot weather, well i was born in Guyana and lived there for 6 years, so it's just what my hair is use to. When I was in the USA and the Guyana for a 2.5 months my hair grew much more in those two months than it did when i was in the UK. I think it's also to do with the hard and soft water too. Apparently (not questioning whether it's true, its that I'm unsure) the water here is hard, and Afro hair doesn't benefit from this. That's the difficult thing, for me, for 75% of the year I have to take extra good care of my hair and so now you know why i'm wishing for a hot summer! Anyway, just as long as the summer is hot, I'm not bothered, it's exam season anyway so having to stay in because of bad whether is probably a blessing in disguise!

Disney fantastic!!

Cheetah Girls 2, Jump In, High School Musical and That's So Raven are a few of the shows that broadcast weekly on the Disney Channel. That's So Raven is a kids comedy, full of antics and animation. Kid actress Raven Simone is the main star who has psychic ability which is always getting her in trouble!
I'm a big fan of the films Cheetah girls 2, Jump in and High school musical, they're all packed with song, dance and drama for the whole family. Parents don't have to worry about explicit content, because they're all Disney films, they're kid friendly!

The catchy songs and skilled dance moves will have you and your bro's sis's and even parents singing and dancing along. You're never too old for these type of films.

Big up to the Disney Channel!