Fans eagerly anticipate the V Festival 2012 Line-Up

Previous statements from V Festival said that the line-up would be announced this coming Thursday (23rd February). However, it seems that people working hard at Virgin to book guests for the festival may be waiting just a little longer to hear from certain artists...

The line-up release date has been moved two days further, now being announced on Sunday 26th February.

As we draw nearer to the eagerly anticipated announcement, more rumours are spreading across the internet about which artists could be appearing on the bill. 

Previous rumours have included The Stone Roses, Coldplay, Florence & The Machine, Professor Green and The Vaccines.

Two of the latest rumours for the event are Lady Gaga and Snow Patrol, who both last played at the festival in 2009. On the Sunday night in Chelmsford, Snow Patrol were pushed further up the bill to headline the event, after Oasis were unable to attend (and later broke up the following week). Lady Gaga's appearance was more popular than organisers must have expected; as fans crowded into the JJB Arena, the gates had to be closed and locked to prevent any further entries. 

With just a week to go, more rumours are set to spread over Twitter and festival-rumour websites, before the announcement at 9pm next Sunday.

V Festival - Criminal or Careful?

A recent report claims that V Festival is to blame for a rise in crime in Chelmsford in the past year. Whilst the statistics seem to show that this is true, I believe that the festival must be praised for how safe it is.

It would be difficult to have such a large and popular festival in the county without there being a crime issue. However, I'm sure if you compared the rates from V Festival to the crime rates from Glastonbury, Reading, Leeds, Download or T in the Park, you'd probably find that the festival, held in Hylands Park every August, would have the lowest levels of crime.

At any live music event, you're bound to have incidents of theft and drug use, but from my experience from attending V Festival for the past five years, I have always found that the security is second-to-none. Any incidents are dealt with at impeccable speed and with such a professional nature.

The view of the 4Music Stage: crowds are kept controlled

Last year, Sunday night at the festival saw chart-superstars Eminem and Rihanna perform, which was obviously set to cause a mass turn-out. Many fans queued at the V Main Stage all day to see these global phenomenons perform, which caused a larger crowd than they organisers had maybe expected. Irish band The Script featured on the bill just before Rihanna and towards the end of their set, conditions became more crowded and intense. With so many fans trying to get further to the front, people towards the front were being crushed and conditions became more and more dangerous, so security measures intervened.

The Script: Performed before Rihanna at Sunday's V Festival in 2011

The crowds were asked to take steps back, the audience were given water and the security men and women in front of the barrier reacted very quickly to vast numbers of people, predominantly teenage girls, who needed to be removed from the crowd. I have never seen security measures so efficient as this.

The security and police at the festival deserve more recognition than they are given, as conditions like these could have been much worse if their actions and professional standard had not intervened.

Furthermore, the nature of the festival is very different to that of Glastonbury, Reading and Leeds. V Festival is renowned for adopting pop culture, with many of the artists on the line up featuring in the chart and on commercial radio stations. As a result of the type of artists on the line up, it is plausible to suggest that visitors of the festival may be younger and the festival is very child and family friendly and therefore, visitors are aware of the nature of the guests around them. 

Pop Culture: Olly Murs at V Festival in Hylands Park last year

Why should there be doubts for hiring the Essex 'working class twang'?

Reports have said that around 70% of business leaders in a recent poll would have 'serious doubts' about hiring someone who spoke with an Essex 'working class accent', but people based in Scottish and Home counties have an accent that promotes 'hard work and success'. I'm sad to say that I'm not totally shocked by this news, but I still completely disagree with these opinions.

With the increase in popularity of the county, Essex finds itself in the media and in the press much more now than it may have done 5-10 years ago. With TV shows like TOWIE, a stereotypical image of Essex girls, and also the boys to some extent, has been portrayed but my opinion is that this image is not entirely true.

Yes, some people in Essex enjoy a spray tan or a session in a sun-bed.
Yes, some people in Essex will have hair extensions, fake eye lashes and fake nails.
And yes, some people in Essex do speak with this typical accent that you hear from the likes of Amy Childs and Sam Faiers.

But - you could find this anywhere! Take a look at Geordie Shore, Desperate Scousewives etc; all of these programmes feature the extreme characters of the region who fully portray the stereotypical image that adheres to the entertainment needs of the public. But take a look further into Newcastle and I'm sure they're not all like the characters from the hit MTV show. Similarly, in Essex, if you branch out, you can find some really beautiful areas that highlight the opposite side of the county that the public never get to see.

It must be remembered, that in TOWIE, a show well known for fitting into the 'dram-ality' genre, many of the scenes are set up for entertainment purposes. Whilst the characters are real people whose lives are fully documented in the show, many of the things we see would not happen in real life it wasn't for the producers asking certain questions and placing them in certain situations. (This isn't to say that the show isn't an entertaining and a hugely interesting watch on a Sunday and Wednesday evening.)

If somebody asked you, what do you think of when you think of Essex, you're likely to answer with the orange tans and hair extensions that you witness in TOWIE. It is debatable whether anybody would consider the top-class education available in Essex. Colchester County High School, King Edwards Grammar School and Chelmsford County High School are three of the country's best schools, with the highest attainment on the League Tables. The latter two, based in Chelmsford, have become so popular that they've had to enforce a tighter catchment area, as so many people across the wider areas of Essex and into London have been applying for places and attending the schools.

So why is it that businesses are feeling reluctant to hire people from Essex? With the best education available across the whole country, businesses should be recognising the intelligence that Essex holds and should be revelling in the talent available to them.

If you take a look at the huge successes that have come out of Essex, it is clear that the county boasts an enormous amount of talent that shows the large capability of people from Essex, that is not being fully understood by these companies:

Olly Murs, Pixie Lott and Jessie J are three of the biggest names in pop in 2012 and continue to progress in the music industry with #1 singles and albums.

Jeff Brazier, Denise van Outen and of course Dermot O'Leary are three of the country's most successful TV presenters, with Dermot even presenting the E! Coverage of the BAFTAs last night, broadcast around the world. You can't be much more successful in the industry than that.

Everybody knows Jamie Oliver, one of the country's most recognised and best-loved chefs, as well as being  Britain's second biggest selling author.

And Essex is even progressing across the pond. Russell Brand and Nick Frost, both Essex boys, have starred in hugely successful films, both in the UK and the USA.

If these names don't promote the hard-work and success previously mentioned from the Scottish and Home counties, I don't know what does.

Everybody in Essex should embrace their accent and be proud of their Essex origin, as it seems clear, success can come from the county, despite the views held by some companies and journalists.

Denise & Lydia take to the Delhi desert

Next month will see Essex girls, Denise van Outen and Lydia Bright, travel to India for what is set to be one of the toughest journeys of their lives.

The pair will be tackling a 289-mile bike ride across India, starting in Delhi and travelling across Rajhastan, the largest state in India. The girls will be challenging hot and sandy deserts, barren rural towns, as well as travelling through some of the biggest cities, such as Jaipur, otherwise known as the Pink City for its infamous architecture, and Agra, home to the Taj Mahal.

It's not every day that you hear of two Essex girls cycling across the terrain of India, but this is all for such a good cause that they couldn't possibly turn it down. Great Ormond Street Hospital is one of the world's leading children's hospitals, giving treatment, care and hope to children suffering with often life-threatening conditions, both to children from the UK and from across the world. The charity need to raise over £50 million a year in order to maintain the hospital, keeping it refurbished to maintain a comfortable haven for ill children, as well as to provide the most up-to-date and innovative care required to battle such complex illnesses.

The shortest journey that the model and presenter, Denise, and TOWIE star, Lydia, will be facing is likely to be a massive 5 hours, and this could stretch to a staggering 9 or 10 hours. The pair must be very brave to tackle such difficult conditions in India, but they know that they are doing it in order to help those children that continue to be the bravest people in the country who need the help of Great Ormond Street. 

Lydia & Denise: their recent visit to Great Ormond Street Hospital

To support the girls, please visit their Just Giving page donate money to this wonderful charity:

Denise & Lydia - Just Giving

As the BRITs draw closer...

It has become tradition within the past few years for some of the country's biggest artists to come together to perform at the BRITs War Child gig at Shepherds Bush, and this year is no exception.

Coinciding with the BRIT Awards each year, these gigs help to raise awareness for War Child, a very special charity helping to raise money for children across the world who are affected by war. By providing medical care,  education, a safe place as well as helping to protect their human rights, War Child work day-in-day-out in countries such as Uganda, Afghanistan, Congo and Iraq. In the past three years, these gigs have raised over £500,000.

2009 saw The Killers and Coldplay join together to put together a spectacular show, made even more incredible with two special guest appearances from two of the biggest names in music - Bono and Gary Barlow. Barlow started off the encore, performing 'Back for Good' with Chris Martin, whilst Brandon Flowers and Bono soon joined in to perform the Killers classic 'All These Things That I've Done'. The iconic lyrics: 'I've got soul but I'm not a soldier', echoed around the room as 2,000 fans sang along at the exclusive and memorable event.

In order to establish the post-BRITs War Child concert as an annual event, the show continued in 2010, with Best British Group winners, Kasabian headlining. The group were joined by Calvin Harris, La Roux and even Mighty Boosh's Noel Fielding.

With a new year came a new venue, as in 2011, War Child moved to the Indigo Arena at the O2, showing how the concert is developing to grow each year. This year's headliner was Mark Ronson, who brought along many other special guests including Temper Trap, Boy George, Katy B, Ms Dynamite, Wretch 32 and Kyle Falconer from The View.

2012 sees the War Child gig move back to the O2 Shepherds Bush Empire. With a slight change this year, the concert will take place on Sunday 19th February - two days before the BRITs Awards Ceremony. After a hugely successful 2011, as well as having the most BRIT nominations with a fantastic four, Ed Sheeran tops the bill. Ed described headlining the show as 'an absolute honour', and the singing sensation will be joined by Damon Albarn, Graham Coxon and Dry The River.

Who will follow in the footsteps of Gary Barlow, Bono and Boy George making a guest appearance at the event?

Tickets, that went on general sale on Saturday 4th February, are some of the hottest tickets around and will be the most magnificent run-up to the awards show on Tuesday 21st February.

"Keep Calm and Play Louder" Tour comes to Essex

McFly's latest tour, Keep Calm and Play Louder, will see the four boys travel across the country from 7th March to 21st April, making an appearance at Cliffs Pavillion in Southend on Wednesday 4th April.

You may have read a recent article on Essex in the Media giving information about a local band Fuze, who had applied to the McFly Battle of the Bands competition, whereby 26 bands would be chosen to support McFly at one of their tour dates. It is with great pleasure that I can announce that Fuze are one of the 26 lucky and talented bands who were chosen by Tom, Danny, Dougie and Chelmsford's very own, Harry.

Ed Alston, George Kirchner, Jack Goldsmith and Keir Adamson form the four-piece who come from Essex and London, whose debut album 'That's What She Said' is available to buy on Amazon or to download on iTunes.

To follow the future success of this local band, please follow @fuzeband on Twitter or 'Like' them on Facebook: FuzeBandUK

Fuze at a recent video shoot

Sport Relief Returns for 2012...

It's that time of year again when the greatest heads at the BBC are put together to create one of the greatest fundraising events of the year.

The event that alternates with Red Nose Day, or Comic Relief, every year, is back on Friday 23rd March, where the tele-marathon will begin. This will be succeeded by the Sport Relief mile on Sunday 25th March, whereby events will be held up and down the country, with the public being able to run 1, 3 or 6 miles to raise money for the charity. Essex's very own Olly Murs is one of the many celebrities taking part.

This isn't the only Sport Relief event that Murs will be contributing to...

24th March will see a special Sport Relief matinee show being held at London's O2 Arena, headlined by JLS. Olly Murs and Rizzle Kicks. Tickets are still available and all proceeds will go to Sport Relief.

Olly's hat-trick of Sport Relief events will be completed when he takes part in Lets Dance for Sport Relief. The BBC1 show returns this year on 18th February and will see Mr Murs performing alongside Radio 1 DJ Scott Mills. Another Essex appearance will also be made when TOWIE stars and cousins Amy Childs and Harry Derbidge perform. Other dancers will include Ulrika Jonnson & Angelos Epithemiou from Shooting Stars, DJ Tony Blackburn, comedian Omid Djalili and many more.

The show will also include performances from some of the biggest names in music including LMFAO, Tinchy Stryder, Will Young, JLS, as well as Brentwood's Pixie Lott.

To find out how to apply to take part in the Sport Relief Mile, please follow the link. Best of luck!