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. Florence and The Machine’s How Big, How Blue, How Beautiful, Lady Gaga’s Joanne, Lorde’s Melodrama, Saara Aalto’s Wild, Wild Wonderland and Sigrid’s Sucker Punch are previous winners in this category.
WORTH A LOOK?: ****
OUT: now
TRACKLIST: Take Me Home; Black Leather; Would I Lie To You?; Spirit In The Sky; Dancing In The Smoke; Roar Like A Lion; Praying; Colours; Louder; Bed With The Wolf
A year ago in Tel Aviv Norwegian trio KEiiNO won the Eurovision Song Contest televote eventually finishing sixth overall with our favourite song of that year’s competition, the soaraway pop smash Spirit In The Sky.
BBC Eurovision host Graham Norton (pictured above) won’t be in Rotterdam in the Netherlands on 16/5 when the Eurovision Song Contest was due to take place but UK fans will have a show to watch at 6.30pm – Eurovision: Come Together. The one-off special promises a celebration of the most unforgettable performances in the contest’s 65-year history along with the greatest songs from the modern contest. Read our predictions for who would have qualified from Semi 1, Semi 2 and how the pre-qualified finalists would have done.
It’s almost Christmas and what would the festive season be without some recognition of the best of 2019? Over the next month we’ll shortlist five nominees in each of 14 categories for our Oscars, or monstas if you will, of 2019.
McAvoy won our inaugural Best Theatre Actor monsta in 2015 for The Ruling Class and reunites with director Jamie Lloyd for this take on Cyrano de Bergerac running at the Playhouse 27/11 through 29/2/20. Tickets McAvoy also stars in BBC1’s His Dark Materials from 3/11/19 and you can read our Q&A with cast and author.
We awarded 14 monstas for the best pop, theatre, TV and film of 2018 in December – and here we look at the cream of 2019 so far and what’s to come. Make Me Feel, New Rules, Can’t Stop The Feeling and Goodbye To Yesterday are previous winners in this category.
WHERE?: Expo Tel Aviv, Pavilion 2, Israel
The UK votes in this semi, alongside fellow Big 5 members Germany and Italy, which sees many more of our favourites perform than semi 1.
WORTH A LOOK?: *****
OUT: now
It’s our favourite entry in the 64th Eurovision Song Contest in Israel in May and the UK votes in the 2nd semi in which it competes with a host of our favourite songs on 16/5.
