In 2010 Annie Lennox released A Christmas Cornucopia - a collection of her favorite Christmas songs, along with the new song "Universal Child", which became the albums first single. The album (her most recent to date) received excellent reviews and entered the UK top 20 and the US top 40.
The second single was her take on "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen" which came with this excellent video.
Morrissey has condemned Queen Elizabeth II's Diamond Jubilee
celebrations.
The former Smiths singer posted a message online on why he opposes the tribute concert and parades to
mark Queen Elizabeth II's 60th year on the throne.
"This week, the Queen's Diamond Jubilee presents a new
lesson in the force of tyranny, and is an expression of loathing and abhorrence
of the British poor - and all done, quite naturally, at the public's expense!
It is degrading to anyone of intelligence," Morrissey insisted.
His message continued: "While dictatorships throughout
the Middle East are gently condemned by the British government, there is no
examination of the extremism enforced by the British 'royals', who remain the
most overpaid and most utterly useless people on the planet. Having done
nothing to earn our respect, they demand everything by return.
"It is a cunning and extravagant form of benefit fraud.
I should mention that I am frequently asked to appear on BBC television's
Question Time to air my views. But is it possible to engage with the British
media and not be carved up? I doubt it. Meanwhile, somewhere else, far away
from tabloid Britain, the moon retains its friendly silence, and the world is
all before you."
While I am of course not British (and Morrisey is a bit mad), I must say that I feel that he does have a point. I have never understood the purpose of the Royal Family - they do absolutely nothing! I feel the same way about the Icelandic president, but thankfully the tax payers are not expected to foot any massive bills because of him. To me, the only good thing about the Royal Family (or ANY royal family for that matter in the world) was Princess Diana. She actually did a lot for the people in the UK, and she served as an inspiration to a lot of people outside of the United Kingdom. To me, if you are going to have some very expensive royalty in your country, make sure they actually do something!
To be fair, I might feel differently though if I lived in the UK - the royal family is such a massive part of the British culture...
That said, the Brits know how to make spectacular shows out of the royal, well, everything. Last year's wedding was stunning (to say the least) and last night saw a massive concert which included some very big names. There was quite a lot of people performing that would have put me to sleep (Elton John, Robbie Williams, Jessie J, Cheryl Cole, Tom Jones, Will.i.am, Paul McCartney etc) BUT: there were a few divas on hand to save the night!
Yes, we had Shirley Bassey. We had Annie Lennox. We had Grace Jones. AND: we had KYLIE!!! Leave it to the girls to save the show!
No matter what people may think of the Royal Family, I think it is safe to say that the celebrations yesterday will not be forgotten any time soon.
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