Thursday, July 29, 2010

Sophie EB + Sophie Muller + Boat + Ibiza = wow!


So, Churno (BANG Showbiz) from PopJustice informed us first that Sophie Muller will be filming the video for Not Giving Up On Love. Contact Music just confirmed this:

ORIGINAL ARTICLE: http://www.contactmusic.com/news.nsf/story/sophie-ellisbextor-heading-to-ibiza-for-video_1155748

Sophie Ellis-Bextor Heading To Ibiza For Video

Sophie Ellis-Bextor is set to try and break into the trance scene and is recording a video for her dance track with DJ Armin Van Buuren in Ibiza.

Sophie Ellis-Bextor will film her next video in Ibiza.

The 31-year-old singer has recorded a trance track, 'Not Giving Up', with DJ Armin Van Buuren and the pair are heading to the clubber's paradise to shoot the promo and will also perform at legendary club Amnesia.

Speaking at the launch of the Jacques pop-up Townhouse earlier in the week, Sophie told BANG Showbiz: "I'm filming the video for 'Not Giving Up' in Ibiza this weekend.

"We've got a really beautiful location. And we'll be on a boat. It's going to be directed by Sophie Muller. And then I'm going to perform with Armin at the Amnesia club, where he has a residency.

"I can't wait. It's going to be so much fun. I like Ibiza, it's really beautiful. San Antonio is not really my cup of tea but the rest of the island is gorgeous."

Discussing upcoming album 'Straight to the Heart', Sophie revealed the LP is now finished ahead of its release in the autumn.

She said: "My album is all done. It will be out in the autumn. Although that's as far as I've got in my head. I'm not very good at planning ahead, it's sort of one thing at a time."

Wednesday, July 28, 2010

News about the Not Giving Up video


Sophie's tweet:
today a try on of the wardrobe for Not Giving Up video. think helmut newton in Ibiza. throw in a motorboat and a nightclub. alright!

Hopefully they'll have a story line in the video.

Someone from the press said that Sophie Muller might be directing the video for Not Giving Up.

I'm really excited for the single. Amazing lyrics + amazing melody + Mulller video + Sophie + Armin Van Buuren. YAY!

Sunday, July 25, 2010

Not Giving Up On Love (Dash Berlin 4AM Remix) - Armin vs. Sophie

So Armin played the Dash Berlin Remix at the Sunrise festival and someone recorded it.

The mix is pretty good. I love how everything breaks down at the chorus. I assume the middle-8 of the original is something like this. I hope the original is just as energetic. I love the idea of mixing the electro sound + piano with trance.

Can't wait to listen to the original....

Sophie Ellis-Bextor: Cream Of Pop

ORIGINAL ARTICLE: IRISH INDEPENDENT

Sophie Ellis-Bextor's new album lifts the lid on the not so candy-coloured world of pop music, but it is also imbued with happiness -- reflecting the singer's life, she tells Ed Power

Sophie Ellis-Bextor can spot them a mile off. "Every woman knows when they meet a girl who's not a 'girl's girl'," she says, lips pursed in an expression of amused vexation. "All her friends are male and she's really, really flirty with everyone's boyfriends. I think women can tell those types straight away and know they are best avoided."

She has written a song about this for her new album, an electrifyingly catty piece entitled Homewrecker. Given Ellis-Bextor is married to Richard Jones from The Feeling, a rock band with a substantial girlie following, it's only fair to ask if the track is based on personal experience?

"You'll probably think I'm protesting too much," she says. "The truth is that Richard and I aren't jealous types. It wouldn't work very well if we were. In fact, I'm more likely to get annoyed if a girl next to me at one of their gigs was shouting for another band member. I think they should all fancy my husband."

It's early afternoon in Notting Hill, west London, and Ellis-Bextor is settling down to a cup of tea and chat. The singer, whose parade of hits includes Murder on the Dance Floor and Groovejet (If This Ain't Love), lives in a townhouse off trendy (if grungy) Portobello Road with Jones and their two sons, Sonny, five, and Kit Valentine, 18 months.

She's just back from Los Angeles, where she recorded the new album Straight to the Heart with Lily Allen-collaborator Greg Kurstin. "I really had fun making the record," she says. "That was a bit of a criteria, really. I had to enjoy the process. Otherwise, it didn't matter what it sounded like. It had to have a sense of happiness imbued in it."

If you were searching for an insight into life in pop's fast lane, Straight to the Heart is a good starting point. As she has already pointed out, Homewrecker is a wry rumination on ladies with an eye for other women's men. Then there's Dial My Number, inspired by the stalker who has been pestering Ellis-Bextor via text message. Isn't the subject matter a bit serious to serve as grist in a throwaway pop song?

Her response is a shrug: "If it was someone in person it would be more ... well, the fact it's only text messages means it's more manageable. It was a bit of a quirky inspiration. You start to think about people who have your phone number -- just because they have your number, doesn't mean they are going to get anywhere with you."

She may be the face of Rimmel and muse to fashion photographer Rankin, but Ellis-Bextor has had to put up with no end of flack about her (admittedly unconventional) looks. With her wide, angular features, she isn't straightforwardly gorgeous and, at school, was nicknamed Rhombus Face. When she became famous at the start of the Noughties, the insults flew thick and fast. Frank Skinner asked her "why the wide face?" at an award ceremony; Robbie Williams, ever the charmer, said she looked like a satellite dish.

"[Take] Debbie Harry; have you seen her face?" she said a few years ago. "It's quite wide. [Harry] was called Moon Face at school. But that's why she photographs so well. Her face catches a lot of light. Quite a lot of famous people have got big features. It's more interesting that way."

Through it all, she has always been able to count on the support of her biggest fans, the gay community. One of her first live performances was at London's G-A-Y club; last month, she vamped it up alongside two bare-chested beefcakes at New York City Gay Pride. In August, she headlines Milk, Ireland's first gay and lesbian music festival, at Ballinlough Castle, Co Westmeath (see panel).

"My gay fans are incredibly loyal," she says. "I owe my career to them, really. We have a shared passion for the fact that disco music has long been a forum for people who felt like outsiders. It's where they come to feel accepted and celebrated. It's very enthusiastic. Also, that sort of music has a wistfulness and sadness running through it. We enjoy the same reference points."

As to juggling music and motherhood, Ellis-Bextor says it isn't always straightforward. Both her children were born prematurely, due to a blood-pressure condition she suffers. Leaving them behind to tour and record is, she confesses, a wrench. On the other hand, it's not as if she can drag two pre-schoolers all over the world simply to assuage her guilt.

"I'm with them more than most working mums," she says. "This week, I'm with them today, tomorrow and all through the weekend. If I think they'll get something out of it, I sometimes bring them with me. Children live very much in the moment. They're happy and I'm happy."

Ellis-Bextor herself didn't have the most idyllic of childhoods. She was three when her mother and father divorced (her mum, Janet Ellis, was a BBC presenter and something of a sex symbol in 80s Britain). Almost as traumatic as her parents' break up, she says, was her stint at the exclusive girl's prep school Godolphin & Latymer (alma mater to Nigella Lawson, Kate Beckinsale and, back when it admitted boys, WB Yeats). Reading between the lines, Godolphin sounds like a cross between St Trinian's and a Bret Easton Ellis novel.

"I learned to stand up for myself at school, where I was never too popular," she said recently. "There was an Anti-Sophie club. One time, they pelted me with coins. It was pure jealousy, because my mum was on TV."

Talented and precocious, Ellis-Bextor received her first taste of celebrity at 17 fronting Theaudience, a so-so indie sextet which sent male music journalists across Britain into a collective tizzy (Melody Maker splashed her on the cover before Theaudience even had an album out). The departure of the lead guitarist saw the band peter out, but by then, Ellis-Bextor had set her sights on a pop career.

A hook-up with Italian DJ Cristiano Spiller resulted in the 2000 Ibiza smash Groovejet (If This Ain't Love) and suddenly Ellis-Bextor was a chart star. It seems only fair to ask whether, if she was starting now, she'd try to fast-track her career via X Factor?

"It's difficult for me to answer. I came through in such a different way. Being in a band for me was such good grounding. When I was a teenager, I didn't even want to be a solo artist."

Not that she considers Simon Cowell to be the devil's spawn. "[X Factor] is definitely an avenue. But you would hope that people don't think it's the only option. I think people are savvy enough to know that. Actually, some very good people have come through those shows. Someone like Will Young -- he's definitely a talent. The cream always rises. Fair enough, these things are primarily entertainment shows, but, on the other hand, they can give birth to proper pop stars."

Now aged 31, Ellis-Bextor is arguably entering the pop equivalent of late middle age -- but if growing older troubles her, she does a good job of hiding it. "Pop is fickle," she says. "Then again, that's what I like about it. You've got to remember it's also incredibly cyclical. I'm in my 10th year. It's strange to see things coming around again when I started. It's quite funny."

Does she look at Lady Gaga and think, I'll get my coat? She shakes her head: "Because I'm such a fan of pop, I find it very inspiring whenever there are exciting female artists around. It's more when I see bad stuff that I think, 'oh, what's the point?' The good stuff is what makes it all worthwhile. It should be like that. You've got to earn your place. It's when you get a bit petulant that it starts to go wrong."

Straight to the Heart is released in the autumn. Sophie Ellis-Bextor headlines Milk festival at Ballinlough Castle on August 14

Monday, July 19, 2010

Acoustica (pt. 2)

Here are Groovejet and Today The Sun's On Us (live and acoustic). It's tagged as track #5 and track #6 with the Acoustica album cover for your iTunes. I'll check if i still have a couple of SEB's older stuff. I know she performed Mixed Up World and I Won't Change You acoustic a long time ago.
Today The Sun's On Us (live/acoustic) - http://www.mediafire.com/?mo9k588bity0cc8
Groovejet (If This Ain't Love) (live/acoustic) - http://www.mediafire.com/?5ydfd9kgrz7j8it

Friday, July 16, 2010

Pandemonium Tour, Day One

The set list at the Pandemonium Tour:
  1. Dial My Number
  2. Bittersweet
  3. Murder On The Dancefloor
  4. Take Me Home
  5. Groovejet (If This Ain't Love)
  6. Get Over You
  7. Heartbreak Make Me A Dancer
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YNayVBE-oUM&feature=player_embedded
(snippets from the show)

Thursday, July 15, 2010

Sophie Ellis-Bextor - Acoustica

I know it's going to be a while before Not Giving Up is released. So i decided to compile a couple of Sophie's best acoustic performances. Everytime i listen to these acoustic versions of her songs, i keep wishing she'd make a fan-edition of Straight To The Heart with just acoustic versions of all the songs and a few of her singles. I don't know if that will ever happen, but if there are any Soph fans out there who want something like this too, here's a compilation just for your iTunes.

ACOUSTICA
1. Not Giving Up (Live Acoustic)
2. Bittersweet (Live Acoustic)
3. Getting Away With It (Live Acoustic)
4. Heartbreak Make Me A Dancer (Live Acoustic)
DOWNLOAD: http://www.mediafire.com/file/gm2gzljy00nngzy/SEB_Acoustica.zip

There are a couple of other songs that she has performed live with an acoustic setting - Today The Sun's On Us, Groovejet, Murder On The Dancefloor, If You Go etc., Look up these songs on youtube. They are equally brilliant. If you want mp3's for the same, leave a request and i'll have them uploaded for you.

Wednesday, July 14, 2010

the campaign is a little messed up

I'm not very happy with how Fascination are handling Sophie right now. Someone on PopJustice once posted that there was going to be a strange release strategy for the new album. Back then nothing was revealed. First Fascination decided to include the Freemasons single on the album. Next they made Not Giving Up an Armin Vs. Sophie track. They will also release the Junior Caldera track in UK. Lets add two and two

1st single - Freemasons feat. Sophie - Heartbreak Make Me A Dancer
2nd single - Sophie Ellis-Bextor - Bittersweet
3rd single - Armin Van Buuren Vs. Sophie - Not Giving Up
4th single - Junior Caldera feat. Sophie - Can't Fight This Feeling
album released after this

No wonder they didn't let Roger Sanchez use the Sophie/Nervo track which he made for his album. Fans would be confused if it's a Sophie release for her album or if it's just a Roger Sanchez release.

If it goes this way, we can all say bye-bye to b-sides. I don't think any DJ would want to release a Sophie-only song produced by someone else on their single as a b-side. We'll just get some more boring remixes.

The whole campaign seems like a desperate act to save Sophie's career after Bittersweet's flop. Banking on the DJ's goodwill to release a single so they can get an easy hit. I mean, if all this is just to score hits, why not make a collaboration with David Guetta (as much as i hate the idea myself), cos anything with his name is a hit somewhere in the world. They should also let Roger use the track for his album and stick it at the end of Sophie's album as a bonus track or whatever. Roger is huge. Why aren't they using his name!?

If both Not Giving Up and Can't Fight This Feeling end up in the top 10 and top 20 respectively, then maybe we'll have a Sophie-only single after the album release. Maybe Starlight or Revolution or Off And On.

What are your thoughts about this?

Digital Spy on Not Giving Up

Sophie Ellis-Bextor has premiered her new single 'Not Giving Up' by performing a live acoustic version of the track.

The 'Bittersweet' singer recently told Digital Spy she had switched her single plans to release the song instead of a track called 'Off & On'.

Ellis-Bextor performed an acoustic version of the Armin Van Buuren collaboration yesterday on Dermot O'Leary's BBC Radio 2 show.

Lyrics of the chorus include: "I know we're strong enough/ I'm not giving up/ I'm not giving up on us/ I said I'm not giving up/ I'm not giving up on love".

The singer also confirmed that her upcoming fourth studio album Straight To The Heart will be released in autumn.

Ellis-Bextor recently admitted that she was unsure over which song she was releasing next, claiming label bosses are also keen to release her collaboration

with Junior Caldera, called 'Can't Fight This Feeling'.

It is rumoured that the promo clip for 'Not Giving Up' will be shot in Ibiza.

SOURCE: http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/music/news/a242126/ellis-bextor-premieres-new-single.html

Tuesday, July 13, 2010

Sophie live from Dermont O'Leary

Not Giving Up - acoustic (7.0 MB) http://www.mediafire.com/?ezxnzqztzdg

Getting Away With It - acoustic (8.2 MB) http://www.mediafire.com/?2hdlwwzyqhn

Sorry for the lack of updates. I have a couple of other things to post about, and i will do that sometime today. I've been out of town rafting and hiking and stuff.

By the way, Not Giving Up is oh-my-fucking-gorgeous! Sophie sounds amazing when she sings live. I really wish it does well on the charts. The live cover of Getting Away With It is also gorgeous. Sophie should really do a guitar album, something on the lines of her theaudience sound. Maybe combine that with her disco pop.... maybe an album entirely with Metronomy and Alex James.

Anyway, here's the entire interview from the show - http://www.mediafire.com/?ogmy5za2mti

(Many thanks to Paul for all the links. You're a star Paul)

Thursday, July 8, 2010

Recent tweets and more

1. next week first date with pet shop boys! i am happy girl.
2.
today chiswick house festival. bit of singing rewarded by food and drink. ok then.
3.
@MonsieurDeMatt because we are going to have fisticuffs (when asked about why the new single is Armin "vs" SEB)
4.
@SlaterPalmeira no! whatever gave you that idea?! (when asked if the album/single was scrapped and if Sophie left Fascination)

Xondus, on PopJustice, who heard the acoustic performance of Not Giving Up posted the lyrics to the first part of the chorus:

'Hold me now
Nothing else matters
It's just the two of us
And if it all falls down
Nothing else matters
You know we're strong enough'


Wednesday, July 7, 2010

Sophie: I'm not a glam mum

ORIGINAL ARTICLE: http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/woman/3041566/Sophie-E-B-Im-not-a-glam-mum.html

SHE is a chart-topping pop princess and a fashion icon to women across Britain. But Sophie Ellis-Bextor, 31, is taking on her toughest challenge to date: being mum to 16-month-old Kit Valentine and six-year-old Sonny while maintaining her place as one of the hardest working women in pop. Her new single, Bittersweet, is out now and she is touring with the Pet Shop Boys this July.

Sophie, married to The Feeling's guitarist Richard Jones, takes her two roles very seriously. The busy mum explains to LIVEit how she copes. She says: "I think as a mum you have to not be too hard on yourself. Sometimes you feel like everything is ticking over really well and at other times you will be working a bit too hard. You have to go with the flow and not beat yourself up too much. That is easier said than done, but I'm not the only working mother out there. There is a lot of guilt, but the idea of giving up work when I became a mother didn't really cross my mind. Kids take it as it comes as long as they're happy, supported and always have someone listening them. We have a wonderful nanny, who has been with us for five years, my mum's down the road and my dad's around too."

"I haven't done any trips where I am away for a long time, I've been strict about that. The other week I had a gig in the Eastern part of Russia, it took 13 hours to get there, but I did the gig and came home again. I don't sleep much, I do the job and come home again. I think I'm a better mother for working. My work is my passion and a part of who I am, so if that was taken away from me I think I'd feel a bit odd. I see more of my kids than a lot of working mums because I work intensely in little periods of time and then have lots of gaps during the week so we can go and do special things."

Sophie's boys were both born early and she knows that for other mums like her this can be a worrying time. She says: "The boys were premature so there were certain things they didn't know how to do and they weren't allowed to leave hospital until they were well equipped. It wasn't the easiest way to have a child, but the staff at the hospital where I had them were so tremendous, the technology that is there for premature babies is incredible."

As a face of Rimmel make up Sophie is one of Britain's most stylish women, but she feels this is no longer a priority. She says: "I think being a glamourous mum should be pretty low down on your list of priorities. I don't think doing the school run in heels would be that appropriate, we walk about a mile to school, so it's better to wear flats. Fortunately my day job is being a pop star, so I'm not hankering after glamour."

Sophie is keen to fit family trips away into her busy schedule. She says: "We had a good trip to the New Forest in Hampshire and I like the Great British seaside and Europe is so child friendly."

Sophie has always been a face on the summer festival scene and having children has not changed this. She says: "Last year we went to Glastonbury with Sonny. I think a lot of festivals are really family friendly these days, but we cheat a bit if one of us is working there, we'll bring our nanny and she will take the kids when it gets to 7pm so they can have a good nights sleep."

With a job and children, Sophie tries to fit in relaxation when she can. She says: "The time I spend at home is relaxing. Cooking is something I find therapeutic, reading to my kids and having a good boogie once in a while shakes away the cobwebs!"

Sophie is fronting Sky Broadband's 'Happily Ever After' competition to ask people what happened next in the nation's favourite fairytales. If Sophie selects your alternative ending you could win a trip to the Black Forest and a year's free Broadband and Sky TV. For more information and to enter visit: sky.com/happilyeverafter.

Straight To The Heart out in October

Sophie was on This Morning on the July 7th.
Here's the whole interview - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mv53oWsfBi4
Sophie talks about the album being a very positive, up-beat and very dance-y. She had the most pleasurable experience making this 4th album. She says, "I know what I like now, and try to play to my strengths." She has built up a circle of people she loves working with, and keeps going back to them. It's become like a little work-family. "If it's hard work the songs don't sound so good. The best songs have that happiness imbued in them because you enjoy making and singing them." She has become popular in Russia. She has an urge to get back home to her children, so when she did a gig in Vladivostok (13 hours away) she came straight back home the same day.

Fascination (not Sophie) are confused about which single to release next. They are planning to release Can't Fight This Feeling in the UK now. I knew Can't Fight This Feeling would end up becoming a part of the album as a bonus track, but making that the second single just because it's doing better than Bittersweet is some parts is silly because it really seems like they're desperate for a hit. I don't see how releasing a song that is already released elsewhere and is sooo old can go top 10 in the UK. Besides, all SEB fans already have the CD, some may even have Junior's album. Who will care about it!?

Here's what Digital Spy extracted from Hard Candy's site:
Sophie Ellis-Bextor has revealed that she is unsure over which single she is releasing next. The 'Bittersweet' singer has admitted her label are undecided on whether to release her collaboration with DJ Armin Van Buuren 'Not Giving Up', or the song 'Can't Fight This Feeling' featuring Junior Caldera, which has already been released in parts of Europe. She told Hard Candy Music: "There's a song I did with Armin which will definitely be a single called 'Not Giving Up', and then I also wrote a song with French DJ called Junior Caldera which was released in France and some places around Europe." "It has been doing well, so I think they're going to be bringing that out, [but] it's the same label bringing out both tracks so I'm not sure what order we're going to go for yet."
Ellis-Bextor also revealed that the music video for 'Not Giving Up' could be filmed in Ibiza. She said: "I think it's around Armin's schedule a bit because I have to go where he is and he's DJ-ing around the world all the time. I think it might be in Ibiza because he is doing a residency there." Sophie Ellis-Bextor is due to release her fourth studio album Straight To The Heart later this year.
ORIGINAL ARTICLE: http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/music/news/a239827/ellis-bextor-unsure-over-single-plans.html

Sophie tweeted saying, "Tune in to dermot's show, radio 2 this Saturday for first performance of my Armin vs Sophie song, not giving up. Sung acoustically. Nice."
So the track might end up becoming Armin vs. Sophie. I thought it would be a SEB vs. Armin but anyway. It's sad how they're making almost every release a DJ feat. SEB. I'm still okay with it, so long as we actually get the single and the album. I'm kinda hoping for this era to pass by quickly so she can get on with a GH or the next album.

Here's the Fairytale Challenge that Sophie took up -

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=JWU97YZ0 (DOWNLOAD)
"We set singer, model and fairytale fan Sophie a Twitter-style challenge.
Can Sophie, a Snow White lookalike, guess the famous fairytale from the Twitter-length 140 character description? It's not as easy as it sounds..."
(thanks to Paul)

I found a nice write up about Sophie on Edgeonthenet:
Sophie who? That might have been the question you asked if you ventured over to the NYC’s 2010 pride pier dance. Sophie Ellis-Bextor was one of the featured performers along with Ultra Nate. You might actually know Sophie and like her if you push your ipod aside and dust off some of those old CDs, Sophie had some mega hits in the early 90s like "Murder on the Dance Floor" and "Groovejet" that kept you dancing to the wee hours of the morning. I was interested to meet Sophie to finally put a face to the songs I have dance the night away to for years. Sophie is a well known pop star in the UK, but suffers a little bit of name recognition in the US even though she has some well charted singles here. Her debut appearance in the US was at this past Gay Pride Pier Dance in New York City. Sophie’s says she "never had a master plan" and is a believer in "serendipity" and always goes where "I am invited." Sophie looks forward to her next album in the US as a chance to break in to the huge US market. For Sophie’s next album she is working with several top DJs including the Freemasons, Armin van Buuren and Calvin Harris. Her singles with these DJ will be compiled on her own album and included in the the DJ’s own projects. Sophie worries that she might get lost behind some of these big names, but is excited to release a new dance pop album. Its no surprise superstar DJs are working with Sophie, she has a tone to her voice that works very well with elector dance beats that is distinct while not being overpowering. Her first release off the upcoming album is "Heartbreak" a song she did in collaboration with the Freemasons. Its quite a catchy upbeat song that will be surly be a contender for the song of the summer. But it seems to be contender for the song of the summer the artist has to have the outrageous factor, like running around at Yankees games in a bra and panties kissing girls ala Lady Gaga. Outrageousness might be a challenge for Sophie, she is 31 yo, happily married to The Feeling guitarist Richard Jones and the mother of two young boys. But don’t count her out when it comes to outrageousness, when she was a teenager she kissed many girls and she felt "it was an absolutely fine experience." Would she try it again? laughingly she said "I never met the right women" and now she is happily married and would considered such dalliances forms of infidelity. According to Sophie her cute husband wouldn’t be into her kissing another women for fidelity reason too. If that is right Spohie might want to give Sandra Bullock tips on finding a man and everyone other women in America. Sophie likes to vamp it up for her videos throwing on a pair of stilettos and a mini skirt. Oddly enough the British tabloids tag her look as being unconventional. Looking at her you would never know why she is unconventional looking I found her to be quite pretty and extremely charming. So I had to ask her why is her look so unconventional? Sophie says "I have been told on many many occasion that I have and odd face and it looks like an alien." Spohie is confident with her look and tells the tabloids to "bring it on." Screw the tabloids, she is on track to be one hot MILF I told her. She was quite familiar with the term and laughingly says "its charming". On a larger note she wants to break the sterotype of having children and being considered "a frumpy and unsexy mother". Well she is far from a frumpy and unsexy mother and I think her sons are going to be very popular during their high school years. Sophie better be prepare for a lot of sleepovers. Sophie is a former poster girl for Peta and feels terribly about what is happening in the Gulf and the effects on marine life. Sophie says "sometimes it feels like a scary time to be alive full stop with all the enormity of the things we are dealing with" Shohie is glad music and other forms of entertainment can provide some sort of escapism. Sophie recalled her NY Gay Club hopping days with her buds, Fred Schneider from the B52s and Jake Shears from the Scissor Sisters. She quite fondly remembers hitting the former Beauty Bar with Jake, and Bunglow 8 and some other nameless bar with half naked men with Fred . She says she might be even hitting some of the hot spots with the Freemason after the Pier Dance. The kids are safe at home and Sophie is ready to party. Shophie is very excited to make her US debut by performing at this year Gay Pride Pier Dance in NYC. From the feedback I heard the boys loved her and want more. So hopefully we will see and here a lot more of Sophie in the US.

Monday, July 5, 2010

Sophie has NOT parted ways with Fascination

If you come across any bullshit about Sophie parting ways with Fascination or getting signed onto Al Around The World, don't believe it. It's not true. There is no official statement either from Sophie or Fascination. Apparently all these rumours sprung up from a tweet (which was eventually deleted) and someone from PopJustice happened to find this tweet and post it there.

Sophie and Fascination are probably taking their time with this release because they don't want Bittersweet's charting to affect the new single in any way. Disassociating themselves from a flop. "Not Giving Up" will be out sometime soon. Sophie is probably done with the video by now. She will soon be opening for the Pet Shop Boys.

Sunday, July 4, 2010

PSB Concert dates

13/07 - Blackpool (Empress Ballroom)
19/07 - Birghton (Birghton Centre)
20/07 - Bournemouth (BIC)
21/07 - Cardiff (Cardiff International Arena)
23/07 - Newcastle upon Tyne (Metro Radio Arena)

Don't forget to catch Sophie opening for the Pet Shop Boys concert.

Friday, July 2, 2010

Next Mag write up about Sophie's first performance in America

ORIGINAL ARTICLE: http://nextmagazine.com/nexus/scene-heard-dance-pier-sophie-ellis-bextor-says-without-gays-there-would-be-no-disco-um-duh

As the Gay Pride March wound down in the West Village, 14th Street filled with gorgeous men making their way to Pier 54 for the Dance On The Pier, the semi-official closing ceremonies of New York Pride. The marathon dance party featured sets by the Freemasons as well as "surprise" performances by Sophie Ellis-Bextor and Ultra Natè. “This is my first ever bit singing in the States,” said a nervous Ellis-Bextor backstage. “I’m very fortunate that I have a lot of gay fans. I owe my career to them, really." Does that mean we get a cut of the royalties? (Kidding!)

The British singer couldn't have been happier to have her New York debut during Pride. “I suppose it’s just a celebration of all the positive sides of humanity, which is a brilliant thing to be proud of," she told us. "The gay community has been responsible for so much, particularly in the arts. I’d say I’m most proud, in terms of what I do, of their contribution to the disco movement. Disco wouldn’t exist without the gay community. And without disco you wouldn’t have contemporary dance music. That’s pretty substantial!” Good thing disco isn't dead, Sophie, or we'd all lose our gay cards!

But Ellis-Bextor, who wowed the waterfront crowd with "Murder on the Dancefloor" and "Bittersweet," isn't the only one happy to have the gays around. “I think the turnout and the attitude is something to be proud of this year." said James Wiltshire of the Freemasons, the dance's official DJs. (Wiltshire and partner-in-crime Russell Small produced Ellis-Bextor tracks "Heartbreak" and "Bittersweet.") "I got got trapped in the West Village today by the parade and it’s been an amazing atmosphere. It seems that the Pride event here goes across the entire cross-section of New York. It still seemed to have an element of the original standpoint as well, which is really good. It is a semi-politic celebration...The idea of standing up against ignorance and against bigotry seemed intact."

When asked what they hoped for their Pier Dance premier, Small said it was all about smiles. “Happy faces is the goal at the end of the day,” he uttered with a grin. “People coming out smiling, having enjoyed the evening, is what we hope for.”

With a packed dance floor, Wiltshire and Small in the booth, Ellis-Bextor and Natè singings their hits, and fireworks overhead, happy faces were in no short supply.

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