We awarded 13 monstas for the best pop, theatre, TV and film of 2017 in December – and here we look at the cream of 2018 so far and what’s to come. Suede, Shura and Bananarama are previous winners in this category.
WORTH A LOOK?: ****
WHERE: Greenwich Music Time
WHEN: 5/7, touring to 20/7/18
SETLIST: Summer Of Love; Better The Devil You Know; 5,6,7,8; Say You’ll Be Mine; It’s The Way That You Make Me Feel; Chain Reaction; Heartbeat; Stomp; Glitter and Gold; No More Tears On The Dancefloor; Better Best Forgotten/Last Thing On My Mind; Neon Blue; Love U More / You”ll Be Sorry / After The Love Has Gone / Love’s Got A Hold Of My Heart; Deeper Shade Of Blue; Scared Of The Dark; One For Sorrow; Tragedy
Greenwich’s Old Royal Naval College sitting imperiously on the south bank of the Thames is a stunning outdoor venue and Steps are a fitting headline act for day 3 of the week-long Greenwich Music Time festival.
WORTH A LOOK?: ****
WHERE: Under The Bridge
WHEN: 25/4, tour runs to 10/11/18
SETLIST: Queens; Hån; Dance; Diva; Euphoria; Rise Like A Phoenix; Every Way That I Can; Rock’n’ Roll Kids; No Fear; Don’t Deny Our Love; My Touch; Domino; Calm After The Storm; Dance Like Nobody’s Watching; Con Te Partiro; Half A Heart; Wild Wild Wonderland; Monsters
The Eurovision Song Contest might mean a once-a-year event to you but for this year’s Finnish contestant Saara Aalto it is the culmination of a 14-year quest.
Our favourite venue marks its bicentenary with events around the 11/5/18 weekend including an open house, street party, variety night headlined by the Olivier Award-nominated Atim, who starred in Girl From The North Country here last year, and ball. We shortlisted Atim for our 2016 monsta for Best Theatre Actress for her star turn in the all-women Shakespeare Trilogy and she won our 2017 Best Performance Of A Song (see below). We’ve loved how Matthew Warchus has transformed the OV with an emphasis on gig theatre, family entertainment and work with messages. Tickets
WHEN?: 8/5/18
WHERE?: Altice Arena, Lisbon, Portugal
Fan theories would have it that this is the more difficult of the two semis but we’re not so sure. This is where our favourite sings (Finland’s Saara Aalto pictured above) and the UK votes.
We loved her in X Factor, Finland picked the best of three fine songs for her May Eurovision entry and she brings her Eurovision Wonderland show to Under The Bridge 25/4. We think her co-penned Monsters is our favourite song of the year so far. Tickets
WHEN?: 3/3/18
We wouldn’t usually cover Finland’s Eurovision selection show, Uuden Musiikin Kilpailu (UMK), but we’re doing so this year because it has chosen UK X Factor runner-up Saara Aalto to sing each of three songs.
