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Heidi Klum is in the news again, this time, too, is because of a sexy photo shoot.

The 38 year old posed for the camera wearing nothing but body paint! Klum transformed herself to a living piece of art for a new campaign by the cosmetic brand Astor.

Soon after the photo shoot she offered the world a sneak-peek via twitter with the note “‘I had another fun photo shoot for Astor celebrating color!”

The supermodel split from singer Seal in January and heard saying that their split has been amicable.

Since her split Klum has been more than happy to part with her clothes and posed nude for Allure magazine in March.

“Black Heart” The New Single from Stooshe

This video unveils the new single from Stooshe that will be available on 10 June.

The track, produced by Future Cut (that is Lily Allen, Olly Murs and Professor Green), is the follow-up to the band’s top five breakthrough single ‘Love Me’.

‘Black Heart’ is released on June 11 on Warner Bros Records and will feature on Stooshe’s upcoming debut album Swings and Roundabouts, due for release later this year.

They collaborated with Jo Perry and former All Saints singer Shaznay Lewis on the Tamla Motown-inspired song. The song shows that the girls can keep it simple with a massive chorus and their now-trademark harmonies.

Has it really only been just over a year since the girls formed the band Stooshe was formed in January 2011? The group, which consists of members Alexandra Buggs, Karis Anderson and Courtney Rumbold, were put together by writer/manager Jo Perry following a series of auditions, followinging scouting in UK fashion shop Topshop. Fashion remains a key part of the Stooshe image. The band’s name originates from the word ‘Stoosh’, an urban term used to describe something that is ‘expensive’, but also describes ‘a girl who thinks she’s nicer than she is’; it can also mean being stoned or stashed away. It was the name of Skunk Anansie’s second album way back in the 1996.

So let’s look at the video. It begins with the preparation for the video shoot. The girls begin singing from their make-up area, and then the video moves to a more traditional staged video of the song. From the opening piano and drums, it’s clear there’s more than a nod here to the sound of the Detroit Motor-Town of the 1960s and 1970s. Note the large cameras, and the old fashioned hair-dryers; the video reeks of nostalgia for a time when The Supremes ruled the roost.

The song is a mid-tempo one, with a sound and feel not disimilar to the infamous “wall of sound” created by LA producer Phil Spector on records such as “River Deep, Mountain High”, by Ike and Tina Turner, and the Ronettes’ “Be My Baby”.

There’s a story that unfolds as the song plays, making this not just another vacuous pop video, but something well-crafted and memorable, with great attention to detail. The video ends with the hearts on the set being painted black to tie-in with the chorus and the title of the song. There’s passion, pain and great singing here- this is syrely going to be a bigger hit than their first single, and a great curtain-raiser for the new album, out later in the year.

Catch the video here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RgbKKZWZuQo

“The Land of Decoration” by Grace McCleen

Here’s an unusual video, directed by Nele Hecht, with words and music provided by the author of the work that the video promotes, Grace McCleen.

It begins with a girl swishing her legs in the air in a playroom, bored or perhaps contemplative… First-person narration begins over some simple acoustic guitar. The words hint at someone who is special, perhaps even troubled; the thoughts and images seem to come from someone older than their years. Is this just a child’s fantasist philosophy, or are their undercurrents of truth here? The video progresses to feathers tumbling out of a pillow, cotton wool and foam, which then magically turns to real snow. But the snow becomes a storm and the spoken words confirm that this is a special girl with a talent that may not be harmless or fully controlled or understood.

The film has a whimsical ephemeral quality about it, with gentle focus and subdued colours. The softly spoken words and unobtrusive minimalistic music also helps create a fascinating dream-like quality, which by the end seems to be turning into something of a nightmare.

It is a subtle well-shot video that intrigues and beguiles, and is perfect for setting a scene that the viewer will want to explore further. But don’t go looking for when the film is released, for his is a trailer for a book, not a film.

The book is the debut novel by Grace McCleen. It’s about a girl, Judith who lives with her Father. Judith is bullied at school, and she finds solace in making a model of the Promised Land- little people made from pipe cleaners, a sliver of moon, luminous stars and a mirror sea. A world of wonder that Judith calls The Land of Decoration. Perhaps, she thinks, if she makes it snow indoors (using shaving foam and cotton wool and cellophane) there will be no school on Monday…

Sure enough, when Judith opens her curtains the next day, the world beyond her window has turned white. She has performed her first miracle. That’s when her troubles begin.

The author, Grace McCleen grew up in a fundamentalist religion, with little contact with the outside world. A teacher’s suggestion that she apply to university changed the course of her life: association with unbelievers and further education were viewed as suspicious by the religion. When a long illness confined her to bed, she started to write songs and fiction.

Interested in sound, in spirituality, in miniature and the natural world, as a child she made what she called her Land of Decoration which now is given voice in her book of the same name. It’s about a young girl growing up in a fundamentalist religion, her struggles with faith and with the outside world.
The book was released in March and is already doing very well, being translated, at the last count, into 16 languages.

McCleen said in talking about the background to the book and what inspires her: “There is less room in the world for messages from organised religion but not for a new spirituality, independent of creed and faith, which is seeping into many people’s lives and unites rather than divides.”

McCleen has just finished writing her second novel, called The Professor of Poetry. I think we are goin to be hearing a lot of this author in the coming months and years.

Catch the video here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YpTUvh4x6po

Before Trainspotting; Skagboys

This video publicises a new book by Irvine Walsh, Published on 19 April 2012 by RandomReads. It’s a prequel to the groundbreaking, world-renowned and iconic book (and film starring Ewan McGregor), Trainspotting.

The video, just over a minute long, features a rather unsettling skeleton puppet accompanied in a variety of poses and scenes, made all the more strange by having the haunting sound of the record “In a Broken Dream” by Python Lee Jackson and featuring the unmistakeable voice of Rod Stewart.

Statements from the Skagboys are then thrown up with the images, along with stark 1980’s Edinburgh Housing Estates. The video ends with skeleton inanimate on the floor, while names are flashed up: Renton, Begbie, SickBoy, Spud, the characters who appear in Trainspotting and whose earlier story is told in this new book. Then two more names: Thatcher, and Walsh. It’s in your face, provocative, uncompromising. In fact everything that you’d expect from a trailer for a work by Irvine Walsh- who has never been a shrinking violet or one to soft-focus his messages.

What’s the book about? It’s the 1980s and we see earlier incarnations of the main characters from Trainspotting

Margaret Thatcher’s government is destroying working-class communities across Britain, and the post-war certainties of full employment, educational opportunity and a welfare state are all gone. When Mark Renton’s family starts to fracture, his life swings out of control and he succumbs to the defeatism which has taken hold in Edinburgh’s grimmer areas. The way out is smack. Heroin.

It’s no better for his friends. Spud Murphy is paid off from his job, Tommy Lawrence feels himself being sucked into a life of petty crime and violence – the worlds of the thieving Matty Connell and psychotic Franco Begbie. Only Sick Boy seems to ride the current, scamming and hustling his way through it all.

Skagboys charts their journey from likely lads to young men addicted to the heroin which has flooded their disintegrating community. This is the 1980s: a time of drugs, poverty, AIDS, violence, political strife and hatred – but a lot of laughs, and maybe just a little love; a decade which changed Britain for ever. Like Trainspotting, the book promises to be exhilarating and moving, with scabrous humour, and Walsh’s trademark salty vernacular.

Skagboys is Irvine Walsh’s ninth book of fiction. Interestingly, like Trainspotting and a number of his other books, the cover (and this video) features a skeleton. Can you work out why?

Catch the video here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uq-KaBS-mP8

Labrinth and iLuminate Launch Lumia

This video presents a heady combination of live performance featuring US dance act and America’s Got Talent finalists, iLuminate, and singer wunderkind Labrinth, who was showcasing a track from his debut album “Electronic Earth”. So what was the celebration? Nothing less than the 4 April London launch party for the Lumia Xperia S smartphone.

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At the launch Labrinth performed hits including ‘Let The Sun Shine’ and ‘Earthquake’ and was joined on stage by Team iLuminate – a group of glow-suit dancers from LA who finished third on the sixth season of the tament-spotting show, America’s Got Talent.

The video starts with a shouted invitation for the audience to “go crazy” and telling us that this is the first time in the UK for the glow-gyrators iLuminate from Los Angeles.

To the compulsive beat and electronically treated voice of Labrinth, we see the iLuminate go through their paces, dancing, jumping, swaying and swirling their coloured bodies to the rythmn. The astonishing effects creted by the dance troupe are due to their special suits being covered in a mixture of Electroluminescent Wire and LED’s; the flashing of the lights on all the dancers were synchronised to give various effects. An important tie-in with the occasion is that their suits display the words “Xperia”. This is a total meld of music, visual machinations and message!

The video is long- over seven minutes. The first song is two and a half minutes and ther video could have ended there, but then what party ends so quickly? Labrinth cools things down singing live into his vocoder. This develops into another song, but this one is more mid-tempo and doesn’t have iLuminate accompanying the music.

However the crowd certainly seem to like the song:

This continues to the end of the video when the tag line is displayed: “Made of Imagination”

It’s a clever concept and the mixture of dancing, lights and music work well together at the start. But I think it might have worked a little better if you’d saved the best till last and had the higy energy full-on iLuminate dancing after the solo performance of Luminate. It’s a little bit of an anti-climax at the end, even though the music is good. But that’s a minor point and you can always rewind and play the first part of the video again!

What did Labrinth think of the event?

“It was fantastic to perform tracks from Electronic Earth at the Xperia event and seeing the crowd’s reaction was amazing,” Labrinth said.

“My ethos is musical freedom and tonight was all about how when you let your imagination run wild, there are no limits to what you can create.”

That ties in nicely with the message at the end. The next launch party is on 10 April in India.

Catch the video here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gity5FhsX_o

As the blind auditions phase ends on April 14, The Voice UK coaches Jessie J, Will.i.am, Tom Jones and Danny O’Donoghue’s will finalize their teams to get down to the exciting “battle rounds” where only the top twenty acts going to the next stage!

The judges are not all alone in their battles as they have expert help to work on their team’s vocals and performances. Singers Paloma Faith, Cerys Matthews, Ana Matronic and Dante Santiago are more than happy to lend a helping hand to the coaches.

The upcoming battle rounds will have two acts from each team perform a duet where only one of them will be chosen by the coaches for the next round.

Speaking about the battle rounds Reggie Yates said: ‘This is a pivotal moment in the series, the gateway to our live shows and a massive event.  Forty Artists, twenty going home – it’s a really, really exciting point to get down to our top twenty.’

It feels like yesterday the world watched fairytale wedding of Prince William to Kate Middleton! Yet, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge are days away from their first wedding anniversary!

Madame Tussaud’s London museum has unveiled the wax figures of Price William and Kate Middleton in their engagement attire in honor of their anniversary!

Speaking about the new addition to the royal line up artist Louis Wiltshire, who sculpted Kate’s head said, “We created the engagement scene, that press call when they both looked a little bit nervous but so happy–that’s what we wanted to come across.”

While the London museum chose the engagement scene, Madame Tussaud’s NYC opt for a scene from the royal couple’s visit to Los Angeles last summer.

Despite being set up on a romantic date by the Edinburgh zookeepers the popular giant pandas Tian Tian and Yang Guang failed to mate!

Female panda Tian Tian is in the midst of her annual 36-hour ovulation period and the Edinburgh Zoo even constructed a tunnel of love for the Chinese born giants to hit it off! Much to Tian Tian’s disappointment, male panda Yang Guang spend the special day munching bamboo!

The zoo officials decided to help the panda “lovers” as they thought the time was right for them to mate. This was agreed upon after a series of hormone testing and behavioral observation done over several weeks.

Although the Tuesday’s romantic date didn’t exactly work out, the staff of Edinburgh zoo still believes that the giant pandas will make it work soon!

Katy Perry’s back with a new Adidas ad! The singer is paired with football sensations David Beckham , Lionel Messi and Basketball star Derrick Rose.

Perry and the stars promote Adidas new ClimaCool running shoes which keep feet cool and sweat free. The ClimaCool Seduction promo features London, Moscow, Los Angeles and San Francisco in a 60-second TV spot.

Perry appears in her blue chick bob looking super sporty! The commercial was filmed soon after the news of Perry’s divorce broke out. The singer is seen running, smiling and posing, in what seems to be a fun filled ad! The commercial features a remix of Perry’s new single “Part of Me”.

Department 19: The Orchard Close Incident

If you know nothing about Department 19, this video will intrigue you. If you do, then you will watch it even more closely.

The tag at the foot of the video says:

“Watch the footage closely and test your powers of recall to win prizes at http://D19TheRising.com.”

So, this is a test of observational skills, with a chance of prizes. Excellent- count me in. But what is this… a Police Procedural? And while your knowledge of Police Departments may or may not be extensive, who has heard of a Department 19? OK, let’s let the video unfold:

It’s from a hand-held camcorder or mobile phone first-person perspective. It seems to be a party- there’s the couple who have snuck away to a bedroom, as people do at parties-

The guests chatting and drinking (tea??)-

There’s the people dancing and the DJ-

But go back a bit- who was that weirdy looking bloke you passed on the stairs. Check again- aren’t his eyes a little bit, well, red?? Too much to drink? Don’t think so

The video then explodes into action with some kind of assault and all the lights go out. The next there’s one of the revellers on the floor with wounds to the neck-

As some kind of SWAT team enter, there’s a note scrawled in blood on a mirror-

Then the video ends with an invitation-

Well you can’t say that your attention hasn’t been grabbed! So you go to the link and there’s more. What is all this about exposing the conspiracy? Take the test, or rather the interrogation, and possibly win a “Spy Training Day” for you and three friends. This is a great way to gain attention to the book (and get you interested in the series- it’s likely to be at least a trilogy).

I couldn’t just leave it there, so I had to pursue this a little further and see what it is all about. If you want to discover it for yourself (and I don’t blame you if you do) then stop reading now, skip to the foot of this article and click on the video link!

It’s all to trail a young persons’ book that is coming out, by Will Hill called Department 19: The Rising.

This is a sequel to an earlier book; Department 19. That book received outstanding reviews, including

“Injects some blood and thunder back into the vamp mythos…this is a lively set-up to what looks to be a fun and blood-soaked YA thrill ride” – SFX Magazine

“Hill hits the ground running in this explosive debut, an action thriller inspired by a genre classic… this is a nonstop thrill ride right up to the cliffhanger ending. This cinematic adrenaline rush has the makings of a surefire hit.” Publishers Weekly, and

“…plenty of high-octane action, groovy specialized vampire-fighting equipment, buckets of gore, intriguing historical side trips and even a little romance…” Kirkus Review

So, Department 19 is a specialist top secret specially trained specially equipped government agency, created to fight vampires. And obviously, as this is a sequel, they didn’t managed to clear them out completely in the first book!

Will Hill says of his influences: “major inspirations to me were the books and films and comics and TV series that created worlds that are different than ours, but that worked so well you could just accept them as real. I loved Star Wars when I was a teenager, along with Dune, Buffy The Vampire Slayer, Sandman, Watchmen, Harry Potter, His Dark Materials, The Invisibles, Indiana Jones, and far too many others to mention! The scale of imagination on display was incredibly intimidating to me, but also incredibly inspiring–Department 19 is my attempt to contribute to that proud tradition.”

So, try out the interrogation, and see if you can try to prevent The Rising…

See the trailer here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_mJ5gkcpmLM