The Phoenix - Hills Road Sixth Form College

14 Fawkes 4th April 2014 | The PhoenixFawkesThe GreatBritish SewingBeeCammie King questionsthe reality show.Take a mix of ten eclecticpeople more used to the hum oftheir Berninas than general socialinteraction. Insert celebrityhosts and a dash of fashion history.Oh and don’t forget a pinch ofendearing yet imposing judges.Let it simmer down and what doyou get? Why a jolly showcasingof a traditional British pastimetranslated to the modern world,of course! Serve this lightheartedjape with a sprinkling of camaraderieand the joy of kindredspirits and you’ve got a primeexample of good, clean fun. Except,wait, didn’t I hear the rollingof cameras and the snick offreshly sharpened shears. Thisisn’t the catty world of realitycompetitions as we know it, weare watching the subtle devolutionof a group of people as theybegin to realise that what theydo in the seclusion of their ownsewing rooms may not be appropriatefor national broadcast.Red CarpetSexismEllie Jones discusses.On any red carpet, thereis a tremendous amount of attentionfocused on what theladies look like and althoughmen are now frequently beingasked the mundane questionof “who are you wearing?”, thisis nothing compared to whatactresses have to deal with.Only recently at the SAGAward Show, did Australianactress, Cate Blanchett, call acameraman up on his casualyet predictable act towards her.The evolution of the sewertakes a different course, but onething remains the same: we allstarted out selfishly. We see fabricand we want it on our clothes.We see clothes and we wantthem in a different fabric, or,frankly, not at that price. As weexpand our wardrobes we beginto realise our capabilities andfind the equilibrium point on thediagram where our own personalstyle meets our constructionabilities. We realise our favouritefabrics, techniques and silhouettes,and we have a fairly accurateidea of how long the entireprocess will take. Many peoplereach this stage and set up shop,happy to churn out piece afterpiece that fits seamlessly (punintended) into their wardrobes.However, there is a secondDespite being nominated acrossthe board for ‘Best Actress’ in thenew Woody Allen film Blue Jasmine,she was not against interruptingthe slow, uncomfortable,full-length shot that attemptedto capture her outfit. Crouchingdown to the camera’s level witha pointing finger, she asked “Doyou do that to the guys?” It istrue, however, that actors seemto be approached with questionsdirected towards their performancerather than their appearanceand have far less attentioncentred on their look. We’re sureBradley Cooper was asked whatit was like to work with the director,David O. Russell, againon American Hustle rather thanwhere his shoes came from.half: boredom. Sticking to whatyou know becomes mundaneand it’s human nature to wantchange and improvement so thesewers stretch themselves. Materialsbecome more expensiveand harder to use, seam finishingbecomes paramount and tiny detailsbecome overwhelmingly important.We fight tooth and tailwith our own shortcomings untileven that doesn’t gratify our needfor progression. Enter The GreatBritish Sewing Bee, where sewersbattle each other once they’redone fighting with themselves.Everyone who enters aTV competition has an innateself-confidence, an arrogance: ultimatelyyou don’t enter a competitionif you don’t think youcan win. For this reason I wassurprised to see that in the firstIt was also at the GoldenGlobes where Mad Men actressElisabeth Moss was only just preventedfrom a producing a rudehand gesture on “Mani Cam”, afeature designed to show off actressesnails. Since then, bothincidents have been created asGIFs around social media, Catetwo episodes contestants wereflaunting the brief. In Episode 1Julie omitted to under-stich herblouse neckline and in Episode2 she inserted the wrong typeof zipper and didn’t machineher wasitband. Possibly not ahanging offence, but in a challengewhere everyone is judgedequally on their completion ofthe same techniques it certainlyputs you at a disadvantage.Why if you have put yourselfinto a competition to see if,on an even playing field, you areactually the best would you disregardyour instructions? If you aretold there are only three thingsyou have to do to succeed wouldyou not do two of them? On onehand it makes sense, we are allon some level stuck in the “comfortperiod” and it’s all too easyto rail against tight constraintsof being set a task and a timelimit. Moreover, in a competitiveenvironment it’s logical torevert to something we know weare good at rather than the unknown.Nevertheless, The GreatBritish Sewing Bee is a competition.The problem isn’t that it’swrong; the problem is you’re actingabsurdly and setting yourselfup for failure. A national broadcastis the worst time to start outyour career as a self-sabateur.Blanchett praised especially forshowing off the fact women inHollywood are still worshippedin the media for their bodiesand style rather than for theirachievements: the real reasonas to why they are there. It ismore a fashion parade thana celebration of their talent.The Phoenix | 4th April 2014 |The FiverfestEleanor Richards reviewsthe night of the17th January.The Junction regularlyhosts its ‘Fiverfest’ nights; agreat opportunity for unknowntalent to showcase what theyhave to offer. When you go toa local talent contest, its guaranteedthere is going to be alot of scope for improvementwithin the acts, that’s inevitable.This was the case on Friday17th January as anotherfiver night took place with theline-up consisting of: Soft LikeCamel, Motor Tapes, From TheSticks, 28 Boulevard and Goldstar.The saying ‘worst first,second best’ springs to mindas the acts got progressivelybetter as the night went on.First to take to the competitionwas Soft Like Camel,from Bury St Edmunds. Theirstage presence was not somethingto envy, they tried toadopt rock’n’roll egos whichdidn’t come naturally at all.If that wasn’t enough for thebaby-faced Bury boys, theirfirst song Cinnamon started offwith extremely wobbly vocals.It took until the 3rd song forany strength in their talent tobecome apparent. Vocally, theydid progress to become strongerwhilst maintaining theirmediocre guitar abilities. However,that does not mean theyweren’t enjoyable, their musicwas great – if only it was performeda little better! By their5th song in, Dancy Missy theyhad seemed to overcome whatwas hopefully just the nervesof being first on and having towarm up a stubborn crowd oflocals. Its solemn tone and melancholytouch quite soothingfor the soul, once it got going!They did manage to go off witha ‘bang’. Their last song, Dedicated,was extremely catchyand by far their best song of thenight incorporating repetitivevocals and a funky bass line.Motor Tapes followed SoftLike Camel, providing a breathof fresh air to The Junction.From the very start Motor Tapeswere vocally strong, not faultlessbut nonetheless of a high standardcompared to the usual talentthat attends the Fiverfest.In addition to this, their compositionof both the band and theirmusic really did compliment thevocals from their charming andreserved lead singer. One secondinto their first song Motor Tapeshad engaged the crowd well,something rare at these kind ofevents and it was an audiencewho weren’t there to solely seethem. If the guys in Motor Tapeswere dubious or apprehensiveabout performing their new singlefor the first time, they didn’tlet it affect their talent and confidencepulsed from their set.It really isn’t hard to tell thatthese guys are not only passionateabout what they do but alsodevoted, they also have a greatstandard of song writing, and anespecially talented lead guitarist.In the wake of Motor Tapeswas From The Sticks, but thatwas no match for the guys fromPeterborough who walked onwith definite intentions and deliveredcatchy, strong music fromstart to finish. Several of FromThe Sticks’ songs changed tempojust as the crowd were gettingacclimatised to it, yet this strokeof genius in their song writingtransfers perfectly live; showcasingtheir lead singer Rick’s abilityto rap. There is a naïve andrustic charm about the vocals,coming from the slight huskinessof the lyrics, which whenput before and after phenomenalguitar solos makes the bandstand out.. Like Motor Tapes,their new single Telefonica waspresented with no wobbles, justpure confidence. It was evidentto see that they’re comfortablewith their music and rightly so.4th up was Hills Road’svery own 28 Boulevard who hitthe stage with no waver in confidenceand a good bass vs leadguitar composition. Thankfullyas their set progressed so did thevocals to match the standardsset by the rest of the band. Whenthe guys slowed it down forLet’s Get Uninspired, as clichéas it sounds, they let their talentsshine through. There was amelancholic energy emanatingfrom each member that seemedto draw everyone into a silenthypnotism and it seemed thatfrom there on in they excelledtheir previous efforts of theirset. The song to follow Let’s GetUninspired lifted the beat withits fast rhythm and came in aspunchy as ever. Surprisingly,the vocals performed by theirdrummer were incredibly strongand gave them something thatenabled them to stand out fromthe other bands on the night.28 Boulevard are definitely theones to watch from Hills Road.Last but not least wereGoldstar. Goldstar had refreshinglysoulful vocals from theirfemale singer that lent itselfwell to their R n B sound withan undertone of rock from theelectric guitar. Goldstar seemedto pull the whole crowd in, theirFawkes15fans and friends out in force,even if they were of an older generationcompared to the bandspreceding them. The strongpoint for Goldstar was without adoubt the pitch range that theirsinger could reach, the highs,the lows and everything in between.However, it must be notedthat it felt like their singerhad outgrown the band. She hadundeniable talent and it seemedthat she was with the band becauseshe needed one and thatwas who she had. Separate fromher, the rest of the band hadgreat talent and potential, justas she does; just not together.All in all, this Fiverfestwas a mishmash of bands,genres and styles but they createdan overview of what’s to offerfrom small scale bands. No matterwhat your preference, you’dhave found it if you were there.