We awarded 14 monstas for the best pop, theatre, TV and film of 2019 in December – and here we look at the cream of 2020 so far and what’s to come. Suede, Shura, Bananarama, Suede again and the Divine Comedy are previous winners in this category.
WORTH A LOOK?: ****
OUT: Amazon Prime
Our story opens in 1990s Wolverhampton where 16-year-old Johanna Morrigan is an aspiring writer and dreams of escaping her council estate for a life in London.
WORTH A LOOK?: *****
OUT: now
Hurts reveal their best song since the track that launched them – Wonderful Life in 2009 – from a new album out in just over a month.
WHEN?: Eurovision Again: 1999 took place on 18/7/20 and Eurovision Again is at 8pm every 3rd Sunday
2020 is the first year without a Eurovision Song Contest since 1955 and lockdowns caused by Covid-19 have seen the rise in popularity of synchronised watching of past competitions on social media on the third Saturday of every month.
WORTH A LOOK?: ***1/2
WHEN?: 25/7/20
WHERE?: via internet
SETLIST: Reach; Creep: To You; Waiting For You; Take On Me; Yesterday; My Heart; She Used To Be Mine; Stay; Break My Heart Again; I Wish I Had A River; For All Of Us; A Song For Our Time
Blake Patrick Anderson is one of our favourite musical theatre performers and so it has come as a pleasant surprise during lockdown to discover that he’s also a talented singer/songwriter.
Outdoor theatre is back at one of our favourite venues, Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre, with 70 performances from 14/8/20 of a concert version of one of the shows most successfully staged there. Tyrone Huntley (pictured above, Leave To Remain and The View UpStairs) joins the cast and was nominated for an Olivier for a previous production of the show at this venue. We’ll be reporting from the previews about what the experience is like. Tickets
WORTH A LOOK?: ****
OUT: now
Both Dua Lipa and Lady Gaga have enjoyed rapturously received returns to releasing music in 2020 during a curious pandemic period when their euphoric and uplifting dance albums have proved just the tonic that the world is looking for.
We awarded 14 monstas for the best pop, theatre, TV and film of 2019 in December – and here we look at the cream of 2020 so far and what’s to come. Temple, Oddshaped Balls, The Ferryman, The Inheritance and Appropriate are previous winners in this category.
WORTH A LOOK?: ***1/2
OUT: now
TRACKLIST: Save The Whale; Must I Evolve?; Am I Missing Something?; House Music All Night Long; Sometimes I Am Pharaoh; Swanky Modes; Children Of The Echo
The first Pulp album we fell in love with (His’n’Hers) contains a track that pinpoints the exact moment when summer dies (David’s Last Summer), ‘the whole sound of summer packing its bags and preparing to leave town’.
WORTH A LOOK?: ****1/2
OUT: now
We saw Little Boots (pictured above) twice in May 2012 (once headlining at XOYO and once supporting the Scissor Sisters at 02 Shepherds Bush Empire) and since that happy fortnight we’ve not seen her perform live again.
