1. Lucy Spraggan releases new album

Spraggan won our gig of the year monsta in 2020 and we said then: ‘Her warmth and empathy really shine bright in the guitar-based, folk-influenced material that she writes and performs.’ Her 6th album Choices is released 26/2/21 and includes Sober, a song of the month for us in November. Tickets were on sale for an April tour which has now been cancelled because of Covid-19 but you can watch that gig of the year. Details

• Read on for reasons including the return of KEiiNO, Melodifestivalen 2021 and Deutschland ’89

2. KEiiNO returns to Norway’s Melodi Grand Prix

KEiiNO’s Spirit In The Sky was our favourite song from 2019’s Eurovision and won the televote but could only finish 6th after scoring less well with the professional juries. Monument is the band’s new single which competes in the final of Norway’s Eurovision selection show Melodi Grand Prix on 20/2. It was a song of the week for us in January and feels like a calculated attempt to write a ‘minor symphony’ which would charm the juries but it has a fight on its hands with strong competition including Kaylee’s Hero. Watch it on NRK.

3. Melodifestivalen 2021 launches

Covid-19 means the arena shows for which Melodifestivalen is renowned are impossible in 2021 and instead the 6-show series will broadcast from a Stockholm TV studio. We’ve previewed Heat 1, Heat 2, Heat 3 and Heat 4 for you and will be predicting which songs will make it through to the 13/3/21 finalen on Fridays from 5/2/21 at monstagigz.com. If you were in any doubt about why it is the greatest show on earth, check out our 9 reasons why. Watch it on SVT Play.

4. Deutschland ’89 finally airs in the UK

Lead Jonas Nay won our Best TV/Film Actor monsta in 2016 for the original Cold War German-language drama Deutschland ’83 and its follow-up Deutschland ’86 also enjoyed considerable success. It’s disappointing that so many countries have enjoyed the final season before the UK  but we’re just delighted that it’s finally airing here on More4 from 9pm 26/2/21 with all 8 episodes available immediately after on All4.

5. The Roop go Discoteque

Band The Roop won the Lithuanian ticket to the Eurovision-that-never-was in 2020. We weren’t big fans of entry On Fire  but are delighted to report that they return to the Lithuanian final on 6/2/21 with the far superior Discoteque (watch and listen above). It was a song of the week for us in January and you can watch how it does on LRT in selection show Pabandom iš naujo! 2021.

6. Sheridan’s Showstoppers podcast

Smith last performed in the West End as the Narrator in Joseph at the Palladium. This weekly podcast launched in January and promises musical numbers that give goosebumps, inspire singalongs and ignite passions. Listen Episode 1 features an interview with Amanda Holden.

7. Blake Patrick Anderson stars in Gatsby – a musical

2020 was a dark year for theatre but a bright spot was the rising star that is Anderson who we saw in both Be More Chill at the Other Palace and Rent at Manchester’s Hope Mill Theatre. Here he stars alongside Emma Williams (Mrs Henderson Presents, Noel Coward Theatre) and Marc Antolin (Little Shop Of Horrors, Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre). Performances at the Cadogan Hall in London run 12-14/2/21. Tickets Note: this has been rescheduled to 26-28/2/21

8. We love the Teflon Brothers x Pandora

The last time we were this excited about Finland’s Eurovision selection show Uuden Musiikin Kilpailu (UMK) was when Saara Aalto premiered 3 new songs there and the public chose Monsters in 2018. This year we’ve heard all of UMK’s 7 entries and our favourite is currently riding high at number 2 in the Finnish charts. I Love You by the Teflon Brothers x Melodifestivalen’s Pandora was a song of the week for us in January. Watch UMK on 20/2/21 on YLE here.

9. Everybody’s Talking About Jamie film

Postponed from October 2020 because of Covid-19, we mention this because it was last scheduled for 26/2/21 although with cinemas closed indefinitely we currently don’t know when it will see the light of day. We’re hugely excited for it not least because it won our 2017 Best New Musical monsta.

• Picture via Facebook courtesy Lucy Spraggan Details
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