Philip and I went to see Sugababes tonight for his birthday. It was really, really fun. We were on the 9th row, which meant we could see every little thing (including the Amy Winehouse-inspired eye liner), so the filming on cameras/phones going on around us was incessant. To that end, Phil noticed that people seemed to be rather partisan when it came to capturing the performance, regardless of who was actually performing. For instance, there was a fellow standing in front of us that only recorded Keisha, never mind that she was actually only contributing some 'runs' while her compatriots took most of the leads. I thought that was the case in this video, and that jmbradbury1 was a Heidi partisan, but it turns out he/she just didn't want to move the camera.

Regardless of who's on camera, they covered 'Don't Let Go' by En Vogue, and it was SO GOOD. We're going to see Girls Aloud in May, and, although I can imagine their performance being more of a well-coordinated spectacle, I'm not convinced they could sound better than the 'Babes. But I guess we'll see.

Anyway, an early happy birthday to my best mate.

A few points on this new Sugababes promo picture:

* Amelle looks only remotely human. Or, for that matter, alive.

* Keisha's hairstyle looks better on Rihanna, and that's not saying v. much.

* Heidi is the best turned out, although the volume of that weave is a little excessive if you ask me.

On an unrelated note, I tend to hate Doctor Who episodes that feature authors from the past, so I am not looking forward to meeting Agatha Cristie in series 4.

In other words, boos all around.

If pressed (and not very hard), I'd have to say Mutya is a better performer than Siobhan by a factor of 37. 'Real Girl' may not be my most favourite song ever, but that girl knows what she's doing in ways that Donaghy clearly doesn't. I told Philip that if we'd gone to the Sugababes concert last Friday night, we'd have seen all five in the course of a week. But, no...so many splinters, so little time. (That we each paid a total of 5 quid for the two while the other three woulda cost something like 30 probably had something to do with it, as well.)

Meantime, Amerie is playing at G-A-Y tonight. If kfan were here, we'd so be going. (Wouldn't we, Kev? Don't let me down here, buddy.) Instead, there's Unskinny Bop. Now that I know DGS has a boyfriend (thanks a heck of a lot, Bri), I guess I have to pursue a plan B.


Did you know I'm going to Moscow on Monday?
Anyone with scoop they'd like to share?

There is so much wrong with the Sugababes v. Girls Aloud throwdown that I can only sit here stupefied.

Wow.

In case you missed it, Pitchfork tackled the (import-only) greatest hits comps of Girls Aloud and Sugababes in a single bound today. kfan calls it "probably the most important review of the year," and I'm not inclined to disagree. Read it here.

All this on a day when the New Statesman publishes an interview with the Girls, who come out as pro-tax and pro-NHS and anti-WAG (despite the marriage to Ashley Cole and all). My favorite quote is from Cheryl: "Politicians know that we get listened to by more young fans than they do. That's why David Cameron said he fancied me. He was just trying to be cool. I bet he couldn't name a single song of ours. Do I fancy him? No! Politicians should stop trying to be cool and get on with running the country."

Delightful.