When Shane Byrne came out tonight dressed as Freddie Mercury on Charity You're A Star; complete with white vest, black leather jacket and white jeans, and lashed into Queen's "Crazy Little Thing Called Love" I started to laugh so much that I couldn't breath. Some people were surprised but in 2005 the Singing Mullet gave an interview to The Guardian which signalled his favoured taste in rock and, if he stays in the competition all the way to the finals, we could be looking at a priceless version of either 'Enter Sandman' or 'Thriller'.
Q: OK, what music to you listen to before charging out on to the pitch? A: Something heavy. As you can probably tell from my hair... Q: Ah, so that's what it's all about! A homage to heavy metal! A: It's not a homage to anything! I just hate short hair. Simple as that. Q: So what's the last CD you bought? A: Well, I'm a modern type of guy so I tend to download music rather than buy CDs. I've got very wide-ranging taste. I listen to everything from Metallica to Michael Jackson to classical stuff.
Certainly, the show is a bizarre cross between the final scene in 'About A Boy' and those very nasty 'Hostel' films, except in this case the contestants willingly submit themselves to immolation. Its brilliant car crash television and far funnier than anything on Paramount Comedy which exists on endless re-runs of live concerts by Jack Dee, Lee Evans and Tommy Tiernan. Good on you Shane.
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2007 - REM live in the Olympia, by Michael O'Hara. Possibly the definitive review of any of REM's performances during their 2007 Olympia residency. Even the official REM website linked to it.