Tag Archives: competition

Alfie Boe’s Best Live Song 2017: No. 3

Three weeks left until the 2017 Together Tour starts and excitement is almost reaching fever pitch levels.  Cardiff at the end of this month sees the first tour date and it’s safe to say that fans can’t wait.

Before then, however, we have the last three songs in the Alfie Boe Best Live Song poll and number three is a song that has featured twice before, once at number one and last year at number two:

This was of course at Gary Barlow’s BBC New Year’s Eve show in 2013 and astonishingly in this digital age, was kept a complete secret until Alfie leapt onto the stage.  Since then, it has been one of Alfie’s most popular live songs, as seen by it’s consistent presence in the live song polls.  Why is this?  Well, my theory is that as well as being totally unexpected, Alfie is so clearly having a fabulous time – it’s a joyous performance and one that you can’t listen to without smiling and dancing.

The thing is, it’s not just Alfie fans that think this about Queen’s Don’t Stop Me Now – science thinks it too.  In 2016, neuroscientists from the University of Missouri published data about what makes a song happy and as the answers were all about upbeat tempo, the song that was chosen as the happiest, in seventy per cent of choices, was Don’t Stop Me Now.  Let’s see the song with Adam Lambert and Queen:

Have you entered the competition to win a signed Together Again deluxe album?  Click here – entries close this Friday.

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Win a Signed Ball and Boe Together Again Deluxe Album!

Alfie Boe and Michael Ball’s new album debuted at the top of the album charts in the first week of release and in case you haven’t got your copy yet (what are you waiting for???) or didn’t manage to get a signed copy, here at thoughtsofjustafan we have one to give away. It’s the deluxe version which includes the DVD of the first Ball and Boe ITV special (it’s region specific to the UK, unfortunately) and was signed by the boys at HMV Oxford Street.  To win, just answer the question:

Which Disney songs appear on Together Again?

Fill in the form to enter*

Here’s one of my favourite tracks from the album:

If you want to see some excited fans at the Oxford Street signing, click here!

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Signed Classic Quadrophenia Programmes – Winners!

It seems ages ago now but Classic Quadrophenia in the US has finished and so has our competition to win four programmes signed by Alfie – yes, you’re right in that the original post said three, but another one came back to the UK with Annie.  Thanks so much to Roberta, Cecelia and Annie for getting Alfie to sign them and to Linda A for passing the last one from A to B.

With further ado, the winners are:

Angie Pells

Kate Devaney

Diane Lilga

Jennifer Parr

Well done ladies, please send me your address via the contact page – click here.

Alfie and Michael yesterday released a video of Maria as part of the West Side Story Medley from Together Again:

Wonder if this will be their song on Strictly this year?  No idea if they will appear but it’s a great slot for autumn album releases and they already have their dancing set up!

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Win Signed Classic Quadrophenia Programmes!

It’s competition time again – this time we have three Classic Quadrophenia programmes signed by Alfie Boe to give away.  All you have to do is answer this question:

Who conducted the five performances of Classic Quadrophenia in the US?

The competition is now closed.

In the meantime, let’s take a look at Alfie in Classic Quad:

Good luck!

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Carousel Competition Winners

The ride on the ENO Carousel with Alfie Boe and Katherine Jenkins is over and despite the sadness that it’s over, I’m left with an overwhelmingly lovely bunch of memories from these five weeks; Alfie was on top form as Billy Bigelow, I’ve had some fantastic stage door experiences and best of all, I got to share it with fabulous friends.  It also seems that Alfie thoroughly enjoyed the experience, judging from Instagram:

The role of Billy Bigelow will remain with me for the rest of my life. Thank you to all who helped me channel this complex character. I love bringing role to life but as a performer, we must remember “You’ll never be bigger than the show you’re in.” And my favourite line in the show is “Don’t be scared of people who don’t like you, just try liking them!” Love to you all.

Great choice of favourite line Alfie – perfectly demonstrates the overall theme of Carousel, redemption.  Thinking back over the shows I’ve seen, I think it is the story of redemption that will stay with me as much as the nuanced performance that Alfie gave, especially the further the run went on.  Alfie’s vocals were of course immaculate, that was never in doubt, but to see the subtle changes in his performance was something special and showed he really understood the flawed character he was portraying.  I’m really hoping that this is not the last time we see Alfie in a musical or even, a return to an operatic role.

Now, the competition winners! To celebrate both Carousel and thoughtsofjustafan’s third birthday, I’ve got five signed Carousel programmes to give away and the five lucky winners who knew that Alfie recorded Barcelona with Katherine in 2014 are:

Rhonda Greenwood

Pat Davies

Simmi Parkinson

Hazel Mackel

Jo Sorsby

Congratulations – send me your address details and I’ll get them sent out.  Here are Alfie and Katherine singing Barcelona in Edinburgh:

 

I’ll finish with one of my favourite moments from these five weeks – forgive the indulgence!

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It’s thoughtsofjustafan’s 3rd Birthday – Competition Time!

Woohoo – we’ve made it three years and still going strong!

Let’s celebrate with a live performance from Alfie – one of the best ever!

It’s been another fabulous year – my first full year being the Official Alfie Boe Fan Blog! – and I have some signed Carousel programmes to give away!

All you have to do is answer the question* below:

Entry is now closed.

My personal highlights from this last year:

The Together tour – the music, Alfie and Michael, fabulous friends

Carousel – press night and a visit to the stage door the following week when Alfie thanked me for my review (“you always give me such good reviews”)

It’s also been a pleasure meeting so many readers and fellow Alfie fans who took the time in the last year to come and tell me how much you enjoy thoughtsofjustafan.  Thank you, you make it worthwhile.

As always, there’s a few people I’d like to thank:

Roberta, Carole, Linda A, Linda W, Karen, Jan, Sue, Pat, Cecelia and Sally – thanks for being fantastic friends and always having my back

Linda W and Nikki – thanks for the amazing photos and videos (Linda)

Deb – thanks for holding my hand every step of the way

Emily and Jo at Vector – couldn’t do it without you

Alfie – thank you for the inspiration and all the support – definitely couldn’t do it without you!

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Album Review: Vera Lynn 100 with Alfie Boe, Aled Jones

Will Dame Vera Lynn become the first centenarian to hit the number one spot in the album chart when her new album, Vera Lynn 100, is released tomorrow?  I wouldn’t bet against the original Forces Sweetheart as her last album achieved the top spot just a few years ago, meaning she would beat her own record as the oldest person to achieve a number one album.

On this album, Dame Vera’s original vocals have been set to new orchestrations, courtesy of Morgan Pochin who of course have produced and arranged several of Alfie’s albums.  The result is a masterclass of gorgeous accompaniments that show off Dame Vera’s vocals to perfection whilst bringing out the best in each duet partner.

Unsurprisingly, my favourite track is the album opener, We’ll Meet Again featuring Alfie Boe; the arrangement allows Alfie’s voice to soar but never to overshadow our Forces Sweetheart in one of her most famous songs.

Of the other duets, The White Cliffs of Dover with Alexander Armstrong and As Time Goes By with Aled Jones stand out for me.  Armstrong’s TV persona on Pointless is very much that of a smiley, affable gentleman and you can hear the smile in his voice on his track, just as you can hear the same in Jones’ voice.  Cynthia Erivo, on When You Wish Upon A Star is also beautiful and elegantly understated.  Of the songs that aren’t duets, the highlight is Sailing which I wasn’t aware that Dame Vera had recorded but apparently I’m not alone in that!  The recording has not been widely known and is a real find on this album.  I loved it.

The warmth of these tracks seems to reflect the way Britain in general feels about Dame Vera; rarely, if ever, can there have been a singer who so transcends one genre of entertainment whilst also representing such a precise period of history.  So closely linked is she with the Second World War that even those who were born long after the event still know her to be the “Forces Sweetheart”, regardless of who has held the title since.

This album is a delight to be enjoyed by all – we all know the songs so we can all sing along and indulge in one of our favourite national pastimes, nostalgia, whilst listening to an array of wonderful singers paying tribute to a national treasure.  I’ll leave the last word to Dame Vera herself:

It’s truly humbling that people still enjoy these songs from so many years ago, reliving the emotions of that time…and it’s so wonderful for me to hear ‘my songs’ again so beautifully presented in a completely new way.

I have one copy of this album to give away – just answer the question below* and the lucky winner will be drawn at random on 24 March!

Vera Lynn 100 is available here:

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Alfie Boe Michael Ball Competition Winner!

We have a winner!  Our new year competition was to win a Ball and Boe Together tour goodie bag and this morning the lucky winner was selected (randomly, thanks to twitter) as

Pauline Merrick!

Congratulations Pauline, please click here to send me your address details.

It’s so exciting, perhaps we should celebrate by watching Ball and Boe Together on YouTube:

And if you want to look back at some fabulous memories of Alfie over the last few years, click here to see Linda W’s gorgeous photos.

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Win Alfie Boe Michael Ball Together Tour Goodie Bag!

Happy New Year!

It’s the beginning of another exciting new year for Boe and Ball (we’re allowed to call them that on this site!!!) and to start us all off in the right mood, it’s competition time!

I have a Together tour goodie bag to give away which contains the following:

BB umbrella

BB VIP bag

BB tour lanyard

BB hardback tour programme signed by both Alfie and Michael

To win this goodie bag all you have to do is answer the following question*:

How many live dates are Alfie and Michael scheduled to perform in 2017?

Entry is now closed!

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Win Tickets for Ball and Boe: One Night Only

Alfie Boe and Michael Ball’s Together tour is nearly upon us and a spate of TV promotional appearances will shortly be announced – anyone excited?

Before that however, Alfie and Michael will be recording their one off ITV special, to be shown later in the year.  Some lucky fans managed to get tickets from ITV directly when the Ball and Boe special was announced a couple of weeks ago.  If you weren’t one of those lucky few (there were only a limited number for both Alfie and Michael fans), don’t despair because I have a pair of tickets up for grabs!

To win this pair of tickets, all you need to do is answer the following question:

Entrants must be subscribed to this blog – sign up on the right – and be able to attend the show at ITV London studios on Tuesday 25 October.  The competition will be closed on Saturday morning and the winner announced Saturday evening.

Good Luck!