Well last night saw not one but 2 award ceremonies at both sides of the pond. In London we had the Orange BAFTA awards and in LA the world of music attended The Grammy’s.

For Ten 8ty Four we had our eyes on one category which was “Outstanding Debut by a British writer, Director or a Producer” and unfortunately Chris Morris from Four Lions took the award instead of Exit through a Gift Shop. However it was a night full of glitz and glamour with some amazing dresses on show on the red carpet and the majority of awards going to The Kings Speech, meaning so far Colin Firth has picked up an incredible 26 honours on the awards circuit. Helena Bonham Carter picked up the award for Best Supporting Actress for The King’s Speech, other winners on the evening included The Social Network with Aaron Sorkin picking up the honour for Adapted Screenplay. For me this was one of the highlights of the evening as I have been a huge fan and follower of Aaron Sorkin for well over 10years – very pleased for him. Below is a full list of the winners.

Academy Fellowship

Sir Christopher Lee

Outstanding British Contribution to Cinema

The Harry Potter films

Best Film

The King’s Speech, Iain Canning, Emile Sherman and Gareth Unwin

Outstanding British Film

The King’s Speech

Oustanding debut by a British Writer, Director or Producer

Chris Morris, Four Lions

Best Director

David Fincher, The Social Network

Original Screenplay

The King’s Speech, David Seidler

Adapted Screenplay

The Social Network, Aaron Sorkin

Film Not in the English Language

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, Søren Stærmose and Niels Arden Oplev

Animated Film

Toy Story 3, Lee Unkrich

Leading Actor

Colin Firth, The King’s Speech

Leading Actress

Natalie Portman, Black Swan

Supporting Actor

Geoffrey Rush, The King’s Speech

Supporting Actress

Helena Bonham Carter, The King’s Speech

Original Music

Alexandre Desplat, The King’s Speech

Cinematography

True Grit, Roger Deakins

Editing

The Social Network, Angus Wall and Kirk Baxter

Production Design

Inception, Guy Hendrix Dyas, Larry Dias and Doug Mowat

Costume Design

Alice in Wonderland, Colleen Atwood

Sound

Inception, Richard King, Lora Hirschberg, Gary A Rizzo and Ed Novick

Special Visual Effects

Inception, Chris Corbould, Paul Franklin, Andrew Lockley, Peter Bebb

Make up and Hair

Alice in Wonderland, Valli O’Reilly, Paul Gooch

Short Animation

The Eagleman Stag, Michael Please

Short Film

Until the River Runs Red, Paul Wright, Poss Kondeatis

Orange Wednesday’s Rising Star Award

Tom Hardy, Inception

Now the other topic to discuss is the fashion from the red carpet, it was incredible with the ladies going all out and showing the world this is what BAFTA and London is really about.

Glamorous: Rosamund Pike brought glamour to the red carpet in a mustard gown by Alexander Mcqueen

British actress Thandie Newton stole the limelight in this striking, voluminous gown by New York Fashion Week designer Monique Lhuiller.

Harry Potter starlet Emma Watson went for this beautifully delicate one-shoulder gown by Italian couture house Valentino

Hollywood resident Jessica Alba cranked up the glamour in this vibrant design byVersace .

For me the man of the moment in fashion Mr. Tom Ford looked elegant on the red carpet, he was accompanied with Julianne Moore, whom for me has to be the ultimate arm candy, she wore Tom Ford- of course

Hailee Steinfeld is the 14-year-old who can do no wrong when it comes to red carpet style. She is one for the future, For the BAFTAs she chose a black jewelled Miu Miu dress, court shoes byJimmy Choo

British Beauty the young actress Gemma Arterton went for grown-up glamour in Yves Saint Laurent .

Young American actress Emma Stone went for block colours in Lanvin, once again stunning, she just seems to get washed away with the red carpet behind her.

American newcomer Jennifer Lawrence chose a low-cut number by Stella McCartney, abit risque but she pulled it off….just.

Bond girl and French film star Eva Green channelled old-school Hollywood glamour in a piece byTom Ford .

Annette Bening looked chic in a long white gown by Marchesa .

The man of the moment and understandibly the last to arrive – boy how far has he come from the days of Mr Darcy in Pride and Pejudice, he arrived with his red-carpet ready wife Livia, who wore a green ‘Burqa Dress’ by ethical label Fashion ComPassion, beautiful indeed.

Helena Bonham Carter played it safe and she chose a gown by one her favourite and equally eccentric designers - Vivienne Westwood , accessorised with a bag by Lulu Guinnessand jewellery by Solange Azagury-Partridge.

hmmmmm, not too sure about this dress Neve Campbell chose a dress with a revealing plunging neckline byRoberto Cavalli .

For the love of me i couldnt think why Jameela Jamil was attending the BAFTA’s however she looked amazing in this beautiful Dolce and Gabanna floral dress

White was a popular colour for the night. Minnie Driver went for chic British labelTemperley whom are one of my favourite designers and really deserve the success they are having!

E! Channel presenter Kimberly Walsh wore Ashley Isham to interview the A-listers descending on the red carpet….

New mother Rachel Stevens wore a strapless dress by designer Rachel Gilbert.

I really like Tallulah Riley, I have been tracking her performances for quite a while and looked elegant in this sweeping satin dress

The fashion was a success, these were my top picks of the evening congratulations to all the winners and nominees as to be nominated is a bigger achievement in itself!

As BAFTA night approaches, the film world is gearing up for a mini-marathon of parties, cocktails and discreetly glamorous celebrations guaran

LONDON – It may not be a movie town for 12 months of the year, but for one weekend in February London dusts off the red carpet, welcomes a veritable flood of A-listers and sets about proving that it is every bit as much the home of glamour as New York or LA.

“It’s a huge year for London and for British film talent this year, and all eyes and on London this year anyway because of The King’s Speech and the Royal Wedding,” says Loren Craig, events manager of London luxury goods emporium Asprey, which hosts the official nominees party.

“That’s part of why there are so many events this year,” she adds.

The pinnacle of the weekend is, of course, the Orange British Academy Film Awards on Sunday (Feb 13), held at London’s supremely elegant Royal Opera House, Covent Garden. The 1900-seater venue “is filled to capacity,” says BAFTA chief executive Amanda Berry. “In fact, I’ve still got a long reserve list.”

After the ceremony, which shuts down the traffic in a fair chunk of central London, guests will be transported to the Grosvenor House hotel on Park Lane for an opulent four-course dinner. This year Dorset Blue Vinny cheese and leek tart, loin of venison and Rabot Estate chocolate ganache with salted caramel ice cream are on the menu.

For the nominees and the cream of the film industry, however, the party calendar starts to fill up from the week before.

“Oscar week in Los Angeles is almost a whole week of parties, starting from the Tuesday. At the BAFTAs we don’t really get going till the Friday night, but from then on it’s pretty intense,” saysNick Jones, founder of The Soho House, who co-hosts the Vogue/Working Title Friday night dinner at Cecconi’s.

Now in its sixth year, the dinner kicks off festivities in style.

“It’s a simple sit-down dinner for a hundred people – it’s nominees, their guests and people from fashion – just a very fun event,” says Jones.

Soho House, which will host its second Oscar party this year as well as events in Cannes and Toronto, also co-hosts the BAFTA awards afterparty alongside Grey Goose Vodka.

Famed for five-feet-high tiers of white and dark chocolate-coated strawberries and BAFTA-themed cocktails, the afterparty also boasts British band Squeeze have been drafted in to get things moving on the dance floor.

The Weinstein Company and Momentum Pictures are also co-hosting and after-party at London’s new W Hotel and Fox and Pathe are holding a separate event.

Momentum Pictures kicks off Saturday with a lunch at the soon-to-open Corinthia Hotel to celebrate their cohort of 22 nominations for The King’s Speech, The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, The Fighter, and Another Year, with Colin Firth, Tom Hooper, Amy Adams,Noomi Rapace and Gemma Arterton expected to be in attendance.

Later on the Saturday evening comes the official nominees party at Asprey, the Bond Street jewellers, which given over its three-storey department store to host around 500 people for cocktails.

With themed rooms – including a mouth-watering chocolate-tasting room from Hotel Chocolat that offers guests hundreds of different chocolates to taste from – the party promises a chance for the nominees to relax before the stress and anticipation of awards day.

“We wanted to celebrate all the nominees, not just the winners,” says Loren Craig.

Asprey also host one of the nominees’ style suites at the Savoy Hotel, alongside Lancome and hairstylists Charles Worthington. Nominees can be styled and helped with jewellery and accessories chosen from Asprey’s bespoke collection.

“This year the red carpet trend is to be more discreet with the jewellery. We are not seeing very heavy massive jewellery but there are a lot of
bracelets and very simple elegant pieces,” says Craig.

The culmination of the pre-BAFTA events is the Charles Finch/Chanel party at Mark’s Club, which draws an eclectic crowd from film, fashion, business and whichever friends of the longtime agent, producer, entrepreneur and film industry institution happen to be in town. Finch, who recently opened super-luxe travel attire shop Chucs Dive and Mountain Shop on Dover Street, is this year organizing year the a seated dinner for 110 followed by dancing and a Cuban band that will go on past midnight.

The trouble with even a mini-marathon is that by the time they reach the final straight, the participants risk running out of steam.

“I’m sure any actor caught up in the middle of it can find the whole thing an exhausting experience,” says Soho House’s Nick Jones. “But I think you’d rather be in that position than not.  In the end, I think people get very excited when they are up for what could be one of the
biggest awards of their careers.”

Julianne Moore continues to be the face of Bulgari and she is doing one hell of a job- for me she looks stunning!

Julianne Moore returns for her third naked Bulgari campaign lensed once again by Mert Alas & Marcus Piggott! She was accompanied by parrots and tiger cubs for past campaigns, and now she’s with snow tiger! Oriol Elcacho also posed with snow tiger for the men’s campaign.Julianne Moore also this season’s face of Talbots.

As the 83rd Acadmey Awards are just a few weeks away the excitement is building and last night saw the traditional pre Oscars nominees luncheon in L.A.

We at Ten 8ty Four are supporting one film/doc which is “Exit though the gift shop”- all about the street artist Banksy.

Exit Through the Gift Shop tells the incredible true story of how an eccentric French shop keeper turned documentary maker attempted to locate and befriend Banksy, only to have the artist turn the camera back on its owner with spectacular results. The film contains exclusive footage of Banksy, Shepard Fairey, Invader and many of the worlds most infamous graffiti artists at work, on walls and in interview. As Banksy describes it, Its basically the story of how one man set out to film the un–filmable. And failed”

The film was produced by our very good friend Jaimie D’Cruz who below is pictured at the Academy Awards nominees luncheon….Good luck J

If your wondering where he is on the picture, he is stood between the woman in the red dress and the woman in the green dress, to the right of the picture, he is wearing glasses!

I always love it when Louis Vuitton release new ad campaigns, as many of you have probably guessed we are big fans of LV at Ten 8ty Four towers.

Louis Vuitton’s ad campaign for their Spring/Summer 2011 collection is out. It stars Taiwanese model/actor Godfrey Gao and ex-Ralph Lauren muse Doug Pickett, photographed by Cédric Buchet. The campaign also features bags from the Spring/Summer 2011 Menswear Collection: Monogram Impression Sac Weekend, Utah Cabas Zippe (both from the show collection), and Damier Graphite Elvis.

I love the tropical summery vibe and freshness of these images. But I kind of wish Scott Campbell’s tatoo pieces (i.e. bag, scarf and ready-to-wear) were also featured. Nonetheless, it’s a great campaign!

I cam across this just a few days and love it….

As most of the fashion world is concentrating on the what is happening on the runways of Paris and Milan and looking forward to London fashion week, you probably won’t know this but this week saw Islamabad’s first fashion week, IFW, kicked off yesterday, mixing couture shows with ready-to-wear collections in a bid to introduce Pakistani designers to the world.

It seemed to have all the vitals in check at its commencement: a proper website with concise information on the participants, sponsors, media and the event schedules; the right connections with the government, important business corporations and an interesting mix of foreign participation like the World Fashion Organisation from Italy and Cosmoworld from The Netherlands.

Shafak Habib presented her Cleopatra inspired jewellery line, a regurgitated collection from her showing at Bridal Couture Week. One can’t expect jewellery designers to churn out such expensive pieces of art at the drop of a hat, but one can surely improvise on a more creative and different presentation. The ensembles, also used from BCW, stripped the raw aura of luxury and grace that the jewellery exuded. The saving grace as expected was Ammar Belal. The fashion maverick salvaged the evening in his characteristic imaginative manner.

In his “Corporate Resort Collection”, Belal showcased his brand’s strength of designing impeccable stylish clothes for the ‘dandy’ in all men. Although he played it safe, he spelled out his creativity in designing for men who are not yet completely ready to push their boundaries for fashion but still desire to make a statement through drain pipes, checks and stripes.

With Elvis Presley in the background and models dancing onto the stage, the entire ramp exploded in activity and song. A clever artiste, Belal juxtaposed the 1970s rock and roll culture with a few futuristic pieces in his monochromatic line for women that were accentuated with that feminine burst of scarlet in true Hollywood style, to show the direction that his brand was taking at present for the future.

His structured dresses, pleated pants, shirts and blazers for the corporate power woman were a great statement in androgyny without compromising on femininity and sexuality.

And when there is talk of sex appeal nobody does it better than gorgeous 1980s model Alia Zaidi who flew down from Hong Kong for Belal’s finale piece.

As she sashayed down the ramp with her classic oomph, Belal tied his brand together seamlessly: imaginative, fun and downright sexy.

This was a Pakistan that we wanted to show to the world for a softer global image; a Pakistan that can be sexy and cool without being raunchy and vulgar.

There are many designers that are appearing at IFW over the next four days and some are really worth looking out for, below some of the designers that showed on the first day.

Nilofer Shahid

Nilofer Shahid’s collection, Meeras, has dressed Madonna, Jemima Khan, numerous Saudi princesses and even Princess Diana, and she will be showcasing her latest designs at IFW. “Each of her collections sum up royalty from the bygone sub-continental era. When I look at her pieces, I think of romantic princesses, Mughal architecture and poetry,” says Farhan, who has her fashion editor’s eye on Shahid’s jewel-toned velvet opera coa

adaf Malaterre

Karachi-based Malaterre has brought a little bit of Parisian chic with her to Pakistan (she lived in Paris for years). Her designs are bright, slightly boho (think harem-pant jumpsuits) and never conventional in the Pakistani sense (no embroidery, ever). Apparently she’s also a bit of a character, too – all the more reason to expect her to make waves. “This lady knows how to cut a dress,” says Farhan. “Nobody in Pakistan does luxury ready-to-wear better than she does.”

Ammar Belal

Married to one of Pakistan’s supermodels, Amna Haq, Ammar Belal is the new kid on the block appearing at IFW this year. “His clothes are not for faint-hearted women” says Farhan – which is possibly why Sex and the City stylist Patricia Field went for them. Farhan says Belal’s clothes are “punky and theatrical” and a bit crazy sometimes, such as the jacket he created in homage to Michael Jackson.

House of Kamiar Rokni

This label, run by design duo and cousins Kamiar Rokni and Tia Noon, was at Paris fashion week last year and will be at IFW this year – not bad, considering it’s only been around for a few years. HKR loves playing with traditional Pakistani finishes and fabrics and combining them with western cuts. “It’s desi-chic”, explains Farhan (“desi” meaning “native” in Urdu). Their spring/summer collection for this year is called Folkistan, and is full of kitsch, folksy embroidery.

Faiza Samee

Regal, elegant, traditional with a fun twist – that’s Faiza Samee. Her clothes are exquisite. “She just simply never disappoints,” sighs Farhan, who is lusting over Samee’s patchwork Afghan tunics. Samee’s pieces have been shown at the V&A museum, and she also designed Benazir Bhutto’s wedding dress.

HSY

One of the best-known Pakistani designers, both inside Pakistan and out, HSY Studio by Hassan Sheheryar Yasin is haute, haute, haute couture and already very renowned for bridalwear. Farhan says, “He’s a total success story and it’s always a delight to watch HSY on the ramp. Always very well thought-out, with sleek choreography.”

Sana Safinaz

Sana and Safinaz are best friends and sisters-in-law, and are behind one of the most sought-after brands at the moment. At a recent bridal exhibition, ambulances had to be called in because fights between well-heeled ladies broke out over the Sana Safinaz collection, according to Farhan. “We’re talking cat fights!” she says. Still, a look at the clothes sort of explains why. Simply stunning.

To find out on more about what is happening at IFW go to http://www.ifw.com.pk/

The Shafaq Habib show

The Ammar Belal show

The Hameeda show

The Deeba and Zoa show

Last night Hollywood kicked off awards season at The Beverly Hills Hilton in Los Angeles with the 68th Annual Golden Globe awards ceremony. The event was hosted by our very own Ricky Gervais and it could prove to be his final, he may have scripted his own Hollywood downfall at last night’s ceremony as the host tore into celebrity targets at the annual awards do – and divided opinion with his cringe-worthy performance.

Ricky was dressed by Ted Baker, his 3 piece suit with appears to be a monogram style fabric design, not something I have seen before but I like it because of how unusual it is!

It seemed the single ladies lead the fashion pack as the best dressed last night with Scarlett Johansson, Christina Aguilera and Eva Longoria all wearing stunning dresses to show the rest of the world, they maybe single ladies but that isn’t going to stop their careers reaching superstar status!

Stunning in black: Eva Longoria looks amazing in this black fishtail creation by Zac Posen

Sexy: Single lady, Ms. Aguilera goes it alone and looked every inch the Fifties starlet in black lace Zuhair Murad

British designer Jenny Packham dressed the beautiful Sandra Bullock, who went it alone on the red carpet in her vintage style dress and Jimmy Choos

Scarlett Johansson in a pale sequinned Elie Saab had a male friend accompanying her on the red carpet.

Unofficial Lanvin brand ambassador Julianne Moore donned an asymmetrical gown in a fabulous hot pink shade. But sadly, she made the mistake of sitting down before she hit the red carpet. Creases. So unfortunate.

Currently my favourite actress, Anne Hathaway knocked ‘em dead in a Giorgio Armani gown covered in what Ryan Seacrest described as “mini CDs.” Her futuristic pailette-encrusted gown featured trendy structured shoulders.

If there’s anything Jennifer Lopez does well, it’s diva drama. She glittered in a Zuhair Murad dress with a thigh-high slit, matching the glitz of the gown with some very, very shiny eye shadow.

The stately Nicole Kidman hit the red carpet in a sleek pale gown by Prada that perfectly complemented her creamy complexion. This is classic Nicole, and done so well.

January Jones wore Versace, which should surprise no one. The plunging, tasseled neckline, however…surprising. The Mad Menstar can certainly pull it off, especially with that sizzling ’50s hair and makeup.

Natalie Portman is now the best-dressed pregnant woman in the universe. Her pale pink Viktor & Rolf gown was sheer ’60s glamour with a modern sweetheart twist at the rose-embellished bustline. A smooth beehive, diamond jewelry and a hot pink lip made this one of Ms. Portman’s most beautiful red carpet moments.

Angelina Jolie rarely opts to wear bright colors on the red carpet, but she threw all her critics for a whirl this year with a heartstopping floor-length gown by Atelier Versace in a vibrant emerald green. There are no words for this gorgeousness.

Olivia Wilde could have easily passed for a princess in this deep chocolate Marchesa gown glittering with sequins and beads. Where else can anyone get away with so much tulle?

Someone else was feeling the ’60s vibe on Golden Globes night: Jennifer Love Hewitt. The actress donned a big old beehive with her minty beaded Romona Keveza gown.

Holy Halle! The Oscar winning actress was undeniably hot in a form-fitting Nina Ricci minidress with a streaming sheer train. Talk about provocative! Hopefully she’s got something equally special planned for the upcoming Academy Awards.

Winter’s Bone star Jennifer Lawrence may have worn a black gown, but it was anything but boring. Her 50s-inspired Louis Vuitton frock was tastefully textured, and looked lovely with her Judith Leiber clutch.

Yeah, Helena Bonham Carter decided to complement her Vivienne Westwood gown with mismatched shoes. Of course she did. And, judging from her pose, she’s just daring the world to make fun of her awesome weirdness.

Oh, Heidi Klum. There was a time and a place for this Marc Jacobs dress, so lovingly paired with diamond-accented bangles, but it was not the Golden Globes. Heidi sort of looked like she was ready to go yachting in St. Barts, albeit with way too much makeup on.

The buzz behind this gig was incredible, so many friends were on BBM asking me if I was able to sort out any tickets, friends of Ten 8ty Four  were in attendance which included Joleon Lescott, Danny Simpson, Micah Richards, Seb Hines, Stephen Ireland and Sophie Reade to name just a few….

Its is only the second week of January and the big hitters from the world of music are invading the UK helping to bring a ray of sunshine to what is always known as miserable January. Drake’s whistle stop UK tour arrived in Manchester last night for 2 shows over 3 days, with his support act J. Cole playing his own headline UK gig in-between days.

The US rapper delighted fans last night, mainly screaming girls and women with a hits packed set, there were no special guests to join the rapper on stage, as rumors were rife before he took to the stage, it could have been Florence and the Machine or Nicki Minaj.

I haven’t been to a gig in a few years as there hasn’t been anyone that has really interested me and I have seen pretty much most of the current urban artists at smaller intimate venues before they became superstars, however Drake isn’t one, I passed on him a few years back when he played the Apollo as he had only released a few mixtapes, including the one which got him signed by Lil Wayne to the Young Money Entertainment label, “So Far Gone”. This mixtape put Drake on the map, so I was very interested to see what material he would play as “Thank Me Later” was only released in the summer of 2010 with “Over” and “Find your Love” being the big club bangers from the album.

Supporting Drake on this UK tour was one aptly named artist that goes by the name of J. Cole, I was really looking forward to seeing him perform as he has just taken the internet blogs, forums and many digital music sites by storm. He made some major moves by featuring on tracks with Jay -Z, Jay Electronica, Hi- Tek and Talib Kweli to name a few and is known as the first artist to be signed by the Jigga man – Jay-Z- to his Roc Nation record label, he could be the biggest artist this year when his debut album drops in the spring. He took to the stage and played tracks from his mixtape  ”The Warm Up” and “Friday Night Lights” his flow was incredible, he really spoke to the crowd through his lyrics, he didn’t even have to try and connect with the audience. It just came naturally to him and the crowd loved him, hanging of his every word. After playing for more than half an hour it was time for him to leave the stage, but not without a standing ovation from the crowd, the North Carolina rapper will go very far this year if he continues to keep up his work rate.

The main event saw Drake taking to the stage and introducing himself as the guy who goes by the name of “The One Drizzy Drake, a rapper from Toronto who has always dreamed of coming and playing in Manchester” – hmmm, that’s strange to hear as he was only here, in Manchester, last year! However the crowd didn’t mind that with the hordes of screaming girls and women all wanting to throw themselves at Drake and some hoping to possibly share more than just a drink after the gig.

He whipped up admiration for himself from the screaming and screeching fans, getting on his knees and describing with words and pelvic thrusts to the thousands of women about the “Drizzy 3 stroke”, which I am sure it’s something he has performed on many a girl since hitting the big time. The 24- year old made no bone about telling the crowd he was young, single and hasn’t had sex in over 2 weeks (yeah right, whatever) and wasn’t working the following day and if there was any females who would like to keep him company…. the response was immense.

This lead him into “What’s My Name”, a single that was released by Rhianna last year but featured Drizzy Drake, which is currently in the UK charts riding high, but this was just to be one of the large number of hits he played last night including “Aston Martin” and “Single”.

Drake played the game very well, he is a true hip – hop star in the making, with his set geared around his female fans. He is a new breed of rapper, a 21st- century rapper to say the least, who raps for the girls but keeps his credibility and lyrics so tight that he is able to appeal to the male population too. This was very evident to see as the people around where I was sat included both male and females and the passion coming from both sexes was clear to see. The women wanted to sleep with him and the guys wanted to be him as the words that arose from his mouth were very deep and meaningful to them, so much so many rapped along with him to every track he played.

Early on in Drake’s set he played “The Resistance”, which is a confession, where he rhymes about girl trouble, abortion and a lyric on moving  his grandmother into a nursing home and pretends he doesn’t know how to work the phone, he puts it down to being what dreams are made of – maybe, not quite sure about that!

Drake has become famous rhyming about his desire for fame (and girls) and his constant fear of getting lucky. But he has got lucky. Like his onstage pillow talk, which lasted for well over half an hour and got to the point where even the women were getting bored of it, but this shows this artist is on his way to becoming a hip hop superstar as he is comfortable with who he is and what he is about.

“I avoided the coke game,” the man born Aubrey Drake Graham comment, “Took the Sprite route instead” (a cheap reference to the soft drink advert he fronted). If you take away Drake’s African- American heritage and all you are left with is Sacha Baron Cohen who has finally made it as a rapper. Most of Drake’s set came from his debut album proper, Thank Me Later, an anxious, unconventionally produced, club-unfriendly record that none the less went straight to No 1 in the US on its June release. and so far has notched up 1.25million in sales alone, not bad for a former Jewish child actor from Toronto.

Like many other hip -hop artists in the past those to come in the future – Drake is well and truly a mama’s boy. This tour was meant to happen last summer, but was cancelled when Drake’s mother, had to have surgery. However this is a rapper who cannot invoke the danger of drugs or guns, so he sources his street cred from his bedside manner and by the famous company he keeps.

The young rappers promise was spotted not by one but two big names in the industry with both Jay-Z and Lil’ Wayne, placing Drake on a pedi-stool as being the next big rapper, someone to take over the godfathers when they decide to retire. He certainly has lived up to the title, with his rhymes being tight and collaborating with the hottest male and female artist out there and firmly putting his stamp on the rap and hip -hop game.

When Drake finally finished talking to the crowd and telling the women how much he wanted to have sex with them and how Manchester was the best gig he had ever played in his life and how he always dreamed of coming to Manchester ever since he was a young boy – he finished the set with “Say Someting” which went sent the crowd wild, the music then suddenly stopped mid way through as had become a familiar annoyance from his set. A single light shone on him, he dropped to his knees and spoke to the crowd with a boxers gown draped over him and tells the crowd “Anytime you’re afraid to try something new, Remember- amateurs built the Ark n professionals built the Titanic”, he continues to speak for another few minutes, the crowd is hanging off every word and expecting an encore and he builds it up to the point where it may possibly happen……but he tells the crowd “Safe journey home”-  the lights go up – what a complete let down.

I have to say his flows are never brilliant but are of a high level, Drake’s mistake last night was to have J. Cole as his support act as he was was up staged by the Jigga man’s protégé, as was the general consensus by all afterwards.

Drake’s second album – Take Care, due in spring – he has a great deal to live up to.

Many thanks to Monique from Island Records.

Merry Christmas everyone, hope you all got what you wished for, however I am sure many of you are bored by about 4pm.

So Check this out, its amazing…..

Enjoy and Merry Christmas!

If that doesn’t work then try this link as well…

http://kickload.com/stream/1e7dad3a1cb8

any issues please email