Go Azerbaijan Go

I'm just watching the Eurosong festival 2011 with one eye and one ear, and so far only one country jumps out: Azerbaijan. They are my favourites for first prize. Running Scared" is a song performed by Azerbaijani duo Eldar & Nigar. It will represent Azerbaijan at the Eurovision Song Contest 2011, to be held in Düsseldorf, Germany. The song was performed in, and qualified from the first semi-final on the 10th May. It will now be performed in the grand final on the 14th May.

Leave Your Sleep - Natalie Merchant

I just bought the best CD of 2010! Leave Your Sleep by Natalie Merchant is a double cd with 26 songs, a luxury booklet of 80 pages and contains some of the most beautiful and varied music I have heard in a long time. Be careful to get the double CD, as there is also a single CD that is not so strong (and does not contain the booklet).

You may know Natalie Merchant as the lead singer of 10,000 Maniacs. Or you might know her from those wonderful solo records like "Tigerlily" or "The House Carpenter's Daughter". Even if you have never heard of her, I can assure you that you will not regret buying Leave Your Sleep. It's a concept album, and just as simple as it is complex: Natalie took 26 poems that she selected with her 6-year- old daughter, and turned them into gorgeous folk and popsongs. The poems are all by famous (and not so famous) English and American 19th and 20th Century poets, and the music styles range from folk and country over jazz, klezmer, cajun, oriental, bluegrass and reggae. Each song more beautiful than the other.

My favourite numbers zijn "Bleezer's Ice-Cream", "The King of China's Daughter" and "The Dancing Bear", but I'm sure you will find your own favourite soon.

Trust me on this one: if you like poetry, varied music and wonderful orchestration (more than 120 musicians contributed to the album) you will simply love Leave Your Sleep.

A must-have for anybody who likes music.

School of Rock

"School of Rock" gives you what it promises: an evening entertainment for the whole family. Sure, the movie is very predictable, but it worked much better than I thought and it contains some hilarious moments, especially if you are familiar with the rock scene. Jack Black is briliant in his role (apparently he is in real life just as crazy as he is here). When I saw this movie in the cinema, it was filled with young kids (10 to 14-year), and they had a great time. The real roles are played by children, and the interaction with their "teacher" is hilarious.

You have to see this if: you like simple, good humour, a predictable plot that manages to surprise you, good music and a happy ending with some sentimental value.
Don't see this movie if you: are looking for a foreign-language intellectual drama, you want a movie where everybody dies or you hate it when kids turn out smarter than grown-ups.

Down and out rock star Dewey Finn (Black) gets fired from his band, and he faces a mountain of debts and depression. He takes a job as a 4th grade substitute teacher at an uptight private school where his attitude and hijinx have a powerful effect on his students. He also meets Zack, a 10-year-old guitar prodigy, who could help Dewey win a "battle of the bands" competition, which would solve his financial problems and put him back in the spotlight.