2011 Essex Round-Up!

As we draw close to the end of 2011, reflecting upon the year, Essex has played a bigger role in the media than ever before.

With the continuous influence of The Only Way is Essex in the media, or TOWIE as it is better known, Essex has been finding common ground in day-to-day life across the country. ‘Shuuut-Up’, ‘well jel’, and who could forget Joey Essex’s signature word ‘reem’ have all been widely recognised not just in Essex but throughout England and the UK. It’s difficult to watch the television for one week and not see one of the TOWIE characters popping up on chat shows or game shows. Some of our favourite TOWIE characters have even left the show to appear on reality TV, with Amy Childs appearing on Celebrity Big Brother, placing fourth, and of course Mark Wright just losing out to McFly’s Dougie in the I’m A Celebrity final.

Dougie’s bandmate Harry Judd, born in Chelmsford, had a very successful 2011 as he lifted the Strictly Come Dancing glitterball this month. Alongside dance partner Aliona Vilani, he fought off competition from Waterloo Road’s Chelsee Healey and Jason Donovan to claim the top spot.

This year has seen the country fall further in love with Essex boy Olly Murs as he jumps from one success to the next. Starting off the year by trekking across the Kaisut desert in Kenya for Comic Relief alongside 8 other celebrities, including fellow Essex boy Dermot O’Leary, Murs’ year began with a bang. The sound of the summer was Olly’s ‘Heart Skips a Beat’ featuring Rizzle Kicks, which reached the number 1 spot in August. Olly’s third number 1 single came in December with ‘Dance With Me Tonight’, which he also performed on The X Factor this year. One of Olly’s biggest successes this year would be his weekly role on ITV2’s ‘The Xtra Factor’ alongside Caroline Flack. The pair have been heavily praised by the media for what many people would argue has been the best series of Xtra Factor to date. 2012 should be an even bigger year for Witham’s Murs as he starts his first ever Arena tour in February, which kicks off in Cardiff before moving to The O2 Arena.

Another huge success story from Essex in 2011 has come from Romford, birthplace of popstar Jessie J. After starting the year as BBC Sound of 2011 and as the Brits Critic’s Choice, big things were predicted for Jessie J. With 4 Mobo awards and a #1 single in ‘Price Tag’, these predictions were very true. It has been recently announced that Price Tag was in the Top 3 of the most downloaded songs of the year. It was also announced this year that Jessie J would star as a judge on new BBC One talent show ‘The Voice’, where she will star alongside Tom Jones, Will.I.Am and Danny O’Donoghue in the new year.

Other Essex singers who have been successful this year include Pixie Lott, whose single ‘All About Tonight’ entered the chart at #1. Also, Matt Cardle has had a successful year following winning the X Factor in 2010, with The Guardian calling his album ‘Letters’ the best of 2011. 

Each year the X Factor gives us a fantastic contestant from Essex, with Matt Cardle, Olly Murs and Stacey Solomon coming to mind, and this year has been no exception with one quarter of winners Little Mix coming from Essex. Jesy Nelson, from Romford, was put together with Perrie, Leigh-Anne and Jade at bootcamp and was mentored by Tulisa.

2012 is set to be an even bigger year for Braintree’s Louie Spence, who was this year announced to be a judge on ITV’s Dancing on Ice. The new series is set to begin in January.

Lets hope that this time next year, there will be even more news about these Essex stars and many more new faces who will appear across 2012. Happy New Year to everyone in Essex and beyond!

Emotional Attachment to a Company

Do you live in Essex? If you do, please give 5 minutes of your time to completing the following questionnaire.

My brother is currently studying for a Geography degree at Leicester University and is in the middle of completing his dissertation, all about how you may be emotionally attached to a company. By completing this survey, you will be really helping my brother. 

If you feel the questionnaire doesn't really apply to you, please pass it on to parents, brothers, sisters, aunts, uncles, grandparents, and any other friends or relatives who live in Essex. 

Please pass this,

Thanks for your help.

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/viewform?formkey=dExkcm56QTFUdkp0NW9jcW85U21pc1E6MQ

The Essex Girl Stereotype

After the success of The Only Way is Essex on ITV2, the 'Essex Girl' stereotype has become a familiar image in UK society. But how truthful is this image that the likes of Amy Childs, Sam Faiers and Lauren Goodger portray?

Sian Rawson, student at Swansea University, is investigating the Essex Girl stereotype in her final year dissertation and is looking for responses to her attitude survey.

"This attitude survey is designed to explore the stereotype of Essex men and women, and the regional disparities such stereotypes cause.

" All answers will be kept anonymous, and used only for the research of a dissertation at Swansea University."

Thank you for your help and participation. Please follow the link below to take part in this attitude survey.

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/viewform?hl=en_US&formkey=dEUzdTdrTHVEa1NKdENHcng5dXpHUEE6MQ#gid=0

Success for Mr Murs

Olly Murs must be constantly grinning ear-to-ear at the moment!

Following on from the success of Olly's self-titled debut album and sell-out theatre tour, Olly is practising a new talent in presenting. Olly's mentor from the X Factor, Simon Cowell, recruited Olly to co-host the Xtra Factor on ITV2 with Caroline Flack. After only 3 episodes of the Xtra Factor so far, Olly has received great reviews for his natural presenting ability, as well as for having a great on-air relationship with Caroline.

But it doesn't stop here!...

Last week, Olly was celebrating his 2nd #1 single with 'Heart Skips A Beat', which also features upcoming band, Rizzle Kicks, who have been very popular at festivals this year with BBC Introducing. Olly's first #1 Single came just a year ago with his debut single, Please Don't Let Me Go'. This year, Olly had to fight off stiff competition from Will Young and Calvin Harris to reach the top spot, which he celebrated in style on the Official Chart show with Scott Mills on Radio 1. Olly's X Factor companion Joe McElderry also reached #2 in the album chart with his second album 'Classic'.

Even before Olly has released his yet untitled second album, which is due out on November 28th, tickets for Olly's second tour have nearly sold out! Olly will be taking Album 2 on an arena tour across the country, visiting The O2 Arena and Wembley Arena in London, The LG Arena in Birmingham, Motorpoint Arena in Sheffield, MEN Arena in Manchester, as well as many more!

Tickets are becoming very limited so make sure you head to Ticketmaster soon to get your tickets for February and March.

A Lott of #1's for Pixie

Essex girl, Pixie Lott, is on her way to her third UK #1 Single with 'All About Tonight'.

Following the success from her debut album, 'Turn It Up', 'All About Tonight' will be the first single from her second album, still untitled, which is due to be a success in the months leading to Christmas. This album is due for release on November 7th.

Having studied at Brentwood High School after moving to the region when she was 13, Pixie is one of the biggest stars to have come out of Essex over recent years. Music mogul, Simon Cowell, must agree having chosen her to be a guest on his new hit TV show 'Red or Black?'. On Sunday night, Pixie performed the new single and then had to choose from a selection of '4 Pixies', each of whom were wearing a locket containing either red or black butterflies, therefore determining the fate of 4 hopeful millionaires.

All the best of luck to Pixie for this Sunday, when Reggie Yates will announced the Official Chart on Radio 1 from 4pm.

The EsseX Factor

Having already been to Birmingham, Manchester, Cardiff (just to name a few), this week the X Factor auditions finally reach London. The auditions for the 8th series of the hit TV show will be held at the O2 Arena in North Greenwich, where hundreds of contestants will be joined by brand new judges Gary Barlow, Tulisa Contostavlos and Kelly Rowland, as well as Louis Walsh - the only judge who has taken part in all eight series.

In previous years, Essex has played a huge role in the final rounds of the X Factor, and we hope that this year will be no exception! In 2009, Olly Murs reached the final of the series, coming second to Joe McElderry. Murs' debut album has gone two times platinum, with his debut single 'Please Don't Let Me Go' reaching #1 in the Official Chart. Now currently on tour with previous X Factor finalists JLS, Olly has been one of the biggest success stories from the past seven years of the X Factor, and one of the biggest celebrities to have come out of Essex in recent years.

And of course, 2010 saw Essex take the X Factor crown when Halstead's Matt Cardle beat One Direction and Rebecca Ferguson to become the seventh winner of the TV show. His debut single 'When We Collide' was the Christmas #1, and his forthcoming debut album, due to be released in October, is bound to be a big hit.

With stars like Olly Murs, Matt Cardle, and of course 2009 runner-up Stacey Solomon, putting Essex on the map throughout the past years of the show, we have big hopes that this can continue in the 2011 series of the X Factor, due to start in August.

If you are going to the auditions at the O2 this week (Wednesday 6th July/Thursday 7th July/Friday 8th July), keep your eyes and ears peeled for the talent that Essex has to offer!

Essex News - Coming Soon!

As it says in the 'About Me' section on this page, I am currently studying for my GCSE's!
I have now had 4 out of the 19 exams that I will be sitting this summer.
Because of this, I am very busy revising and have not had any time to write any new posts on the blog.
However, as soon as my exams are over, there will be many posts coming your way full of the latest Essex news!
Watch this space towards the end of June, when I will be back with Essex In The Media!

Brazier Gets The Boot!

Jeff Brazier has had to hang up his skates this week after his eviction from Dancing on Ice on Sunday night. After his amazing performances within the past few weeks, Essex had high hopes for Jeff as he edged closer towards the end of the series. However, Jeff has been voted out with the final in just two weeks time!

This week was Prop Week, with Jeff and his partner Isabelle having to perform with a table and two office chairs! In Jeff's routine, he had several slip-ups when it came to his easier steps, which caused his marks to dip slightly. However, his performance dazzled with stunts and lifts that wowed the audience. Jeff even became the first celebrity male skater ever on Dancing on Ice to perform a one-handed lift above his head - which he performed to perfection. 

Jeff continued to make Essex very proud!

When Jeff was placed in the dreaded skate-off with Sam Attwater, the nation saw Jeff's heart sink as seemed to realise his fate against the show's hit skater. Sam has been topping the leaderboard since the start of the series and has been bookie's favourite from Week One, currently standing at 6/4. Out of the 5 celebrities still remaining in the show, Jeff was in fourth place on the leaderboard, with rival Sam just above him at third.

Jeff said on 'This Morning' the following day that he would have 'fancied his chances more' if he had been placed in the skate off with Johnson Beharry VC, who was in last place on the leaderboard. 

Jeff may have been voted out of Dancing on Ice but here in Essex we are still immensely proud of him! Fellow Essex girl, Stacey Solomon, was at the Dancing on Ice studios at the weekend to give him all of Essex's support!

Essex Stars Hit The Desert!

Last month, nine of the country's biggest celebrities gathered together to take part in a Comic Relief fundraising adventure. In previous years, we have seen David Walliams swim the channel, Christine Bleakley jet-ski across the channel, Helen Skelton row the Amazon and who could forget Gary Barlow, Chris Moyles, Fearne Cotton, Cheryl Cole and other celebrities climbing Mount Kilimanjaro in 2009. A new year brings a new challenge, and 2011 was the year of the desert trek...

On 21st February, the BT Red Nose Day Desert Trekkers arrived in Kenya to start their mission. Scott Mills, Craig David, Peter White, Lorraine Kelly, Ronni Ancona, Nadia Sawalha, as well as Essex's own Olly Murs, Kara Tointon and Dermot O'Leary have all now returned safe and sound after what was probably one of the hardest week's of their lives.

After five very long days in the scorching sun and heat, the nine celebrities were obviously extremely exhausted but also very proud of the gruelling exhibition that they had completed. Our very own Olly Murs said that he 'wasn't prepared' for the extreme heat that the celebrities had to face, saying that it was a much harder task than he had expected.

From interviews on the radio, it seems as if the group of 9 got on very well with one another, with no reports of arguments just yet! To find out more, tune into BBC1 tonight at 9pm to see the group as they trekked across the desert in Kenya.

Also, be sure to tune into the Red Nose Day show on BBC1 tomorrow from 7pm to find out the total that the group managed to raise. All the money that they have fundraised will go towards aiding blindness across Africa.

To sponsor the trekkers, please go to:
http://bit.ly/feM7LH

New Date Announced For Park Gig!

For those of you who were unfortunately not able to get tickets for JLS & Olly Murs at Hylands Park, I have some good news for you! It has been announced that the two X Factor stars, as well as more guests to be announced, will play a second day at Chelmsford's largest park.

After the event set for Saturday 9th July sold out, the acts will now stay in Chelmsford and continue to play the following day. Tickets will be on sale soon for Sunday 10th July.

Tickets cost £32.50 and are available from most ticket outlet sites.

Got To Dance shows off Chelmsford's Talent!

Sky1 TV show Got To Dance has been back on our screens since the start of January, with the live Semi-Finals airing this weekend. Essex hip-hop dance troop 'Bam Bam Boogies' featured on the third episode of the show and left the stage with two votes from the judges and a place in the next stage of the competition.

Led by Vicki Stavrinos, owner of V Dance Studio in Chelmsford, Bam Bam Boogies are a talented group of young, passionate dancers who are all based in Chelmsford, Essex. Having previously performed at the O2 Indigo Arena in London as part of a Michael Jackson tribute exhibition, the group were prepared for the crowd and pressure that Got To Dance were set to bring them. Along with their performances of 'Bam Bam Boogie in Wonderland' and 'There's No Place Like Funk' - urban adaptations of Alice in Wonderland and The Wizard of Oz - this dance troop already have a lot of experience in the industry.

On the 6th of October of last year, Bam Bam Boogies set off for Battersea Power Station in London in the early hours of the morning. Upon arrival at the infamous Got To Dance 'domes', the group registered and got themselves prepared for their performance. They met presenter of the hit show, Davina McCall, who helped to calm their nerves. After many hours of waiting and anticipation, their determination and energy paid off and helped them to receive a place in the next round. Despite only receiving one gold star initially from Ashley Banjo, Pussycat Doll Kimberley Wyatt changed her mind, putting Bam Bam Boogies into the second stage of the competition.

Although the group have not reached the Semi-Finals of the competition, they are eager to continue practising, rehearsing and performing so that they are even better for next year's competition. Keep looking out for Bam Bam Boogies - watch this space!

Bam Bam Boogies at the Got To Dance domes! (courtesy of Alice Wood)

Essex wins at the NTAs!

The annual National Television Awards took place this week at the O2 Arena with the ceremony broadcast on ITV. Hosted by Colchester's Dermot O'Leary, he started off the celebrations for the evening.

The show opened with a performance from our very own Stacey Solomon, who captured our heart's last year on X Factor, as well as last Autumn on I'm A Celebrity. Solomon performed with her fellow campmate, Shaun Ryder. Stacey started the performance singing 'Feeling Good', formerly by Nina Simone - a song that she performed whilst competing in The X Factor alongside Joe McElderry and Olly Murs. Ryder then joined her on the stage to sing Happy Mondays hit 'Step On'.

Stacey was soon on the stage again whilst collecting the award for Entertainment Programme, that was deservedly won by 'I'm a Celebrity'. Stacey graced the stage again towards the end of the night whilst presenting the award for Most Popular Serial Drama to Eastenders.

However, Stacey wasn't our only X Factor star performing at the ceremony. Matt Cardle took to the stage to perform his Christmas Number One hit single, When We Collide. Singing and playing the guitar, Cardle wow-ed the audience with the incredible voice that won him last year's X Factor. He also took to the stage alongside Simon Cowell and Cheryl Cole to collect the award for Talent Show, that X Factor beat Strictly & Dancing On Ice to.

The Inbetweeners picked up the award for Digital Choice - a new award that is awarded to the best TV show on digital channels. Alongside fellow co-stars Simon Bird (Will) and Blake Harrison (Neil), Essex boy Joe Thomas (Simon) collected the award with his girlfriend and co-star Hannah Tointon, also of an Essex background and sister to Strictly Come Dancing winner, Kara Tointon. Joe Thomas attended King Edward Grammar School for boys (KEGS) in Chelmsford before attending Cambridge University.

Congratulations to all the winners from the night, especially to I'm A Celebrity, X Factor & The Inbetweeners.
Roll on The Brits on the 15th February for some more Essex award-winners!

X Factor Stars Perform at Hylands!

With V Festival prepared to pack in thousands of music fans to Hylands Park in Chelmsford in the summer, another event has just been announced that is expected to be just as popular. JLS are bringing their UK tour to Chelmsford, and bringing Essex boy, Olly Murs, with them!

Tickets go on sale tomorrow morning (31st January) at 9am from all popular ticket outlet sites. Tickets are expected to sell-out quickly with the concert being hailed as one of the events of the summer! Essex fans of Olly Murs and JLS will be overwhelmed with the news that two of the most successful X Factor artists will be performing locally.

The event will take place on the 9th July, just over a month before V Festival. Good luck to anybody trying to get tickets - see you at Hylands Park!

Jeff Brazier takes to the ice!

Into its fourth week, Dancing On Ice is topping TV ratings every Sunday night! It wouldn't be an entertainment show without a little bit of Essex thrown into the mix, and this ITV show is no exception!

Tiptree boy, Jeff Brazier, is skating into the nation's hearts every week with his cheeky grin and Essex charm, which is sure to take him far in the competition.

The 'This Morning' showbiz reporter was ninth on the Dancing On Ice leader-board last week, with a score of 11. Although Jeff Brazier hasn't been praised as one of the best skaters by the judges, former Spice Girl Emma Bunton has revealed that she has a 'soft spot' for our Jeff!

With support from the county, Jeff could potentially go very far in the competition! Dancing On Ice is on ITV tonight at 6:30 - Vote Jeff!

V Festival Rumours Have Begun!

One of the biggest music festivals in the country, organised by Virgin, always attracts thousands of music-fans to Chelmsford every summer. This year will be no different, with competition for tickets set to be fierce if the current rumoured acts are to be correct!

V Festival, which will take place at Hylands Park over the 20th & 21st of August, never fails to pull in some big name artists. 2010 saw Kings of Leon and Kasabian headline the festival on the main stage, with The Prodigy, David Guetta, Calvin Harris, Scouting For Girls, Florence & The Machine and the Stereophonics being just a few of the other artists who packed in large crowds over the weekend!

This year is set to be bigger and better than ever, especially if the current rumours are true. Sheffield rock band, Arctic Monkeys, were one of the first names that spread across the internet in relation to the event. Having never played at the festival, Essex fans of the band will be excited to hear that they may play at Hylands Park in the summer. Coldplay have also been rumoured to play.

One of the biggest and most exciting rumours spreading over the internet is that US Superstars Eminem and Rihanna may both play sets, including performing together. Their song 'Love The Way You Lie' was the biggest selling song of 2010 in the UK, so there is no doubt that they would attract huge crowds to watch their sets. 

No acts have been confirmed yet but the list of rumours are set to grow and expand until the official line-up is announced in the Spring. Keep checking back to the Essex In The Media blog for more rumours and line-up news.

Essex Star Is A Hit for 2011

Essex girl, Jessie J, has been awarded with the prestigious BBC Sound of 2011. The BBC and Radio 1 are always looking out for the most promising new artists and the Sound of 2011 helps to find these artists for the upcoming year.

Jessica Cornish, who has already been awarded with the Critic's Choice Award at the upcoming Brit Awards, topped the list, with James Blake and The Vaccines taking second and third place. The list is chosen by experts in current and new music, with occupations that stretch from magazine editors to music critics, as well as radio presenters and respected bloggers.

In previous years, the 'BBC Sound of...' has been awarded to Ellie Goulding, Adele, Mika and Keane.

Having received this accolade, as well as the Critics Choice Award, there is no doubt that this Essex girl will have a successful 2011. Her album 'Who You Are' is sure to be one of 2011's biggest successes when it is released later in the year in June.

Watch this space for more Jessie J news - she is set to be one of biggest acts of the year!