The 67th edition of the Madrid international book fair will be inaugurated on the 30th May by King Juan Carlos in Retiro Park. The festival allows bookshops, publishers and distributors the chance to display their books to the public. Most of the books will be written in Spanish but Retiro will prove a spectacular setting for those interested to peruse over 350 stalls.
Distinguised authors such as Jorge Semprún and Martin Amis will be giving talks and describing what inspires their stories, and there will also be a special childrens section. If you do head over there, you are recommended to try a Horchata in one of the cafes in the park, a refreshing drink made from rice and almonds. Sumptious on a beautiful summers day!
This year’s edition of the Madrid Book Fair will focus on promoting the careers of young Latin American authors trying to emerge from under the shadow cast by the giants of the 20th century boom. Fair director Teodoro Sacristan said he was excited that the 67th edition of the event has made Latin America its focal point as he believes there are Latin American writers, such as Colombia’s Gabriel Garcia Marquez, whose works remain in demand more than 40 years after the Latin American boom of the 1960s and 1970s began and it is time for a new generation to emerge.
So get yourself down to Retiro. Enjoy the park, and take a stroll through the stalls. The festival runs until June 15th, and the best bit, IT´S FREE!!
Sir Alex Ferguson had made it his priority this year to take the Champions League trophy back to Manchester this season in memory of those who did not survive the Munich disaster. As United won Europe´s elite trophy for a third time, the triumph was made more poignant as it came fifty years on from the air crash.
The opening moments of the game were predictably tense. Neither side was willing to give the other an inch and there was plenty of possesion but little to mention in terms of clear opportunities. The game sparked into life however in the 20th minute when an aerial collision between Scholes and Makelele left both players with a yellow card and bloody faces.
This was the spark that United needed and for the rest of the first half it was all them. Ronaldo had been terrorising Essien on the left wing all game and when a pin point Wes Brown cross found its way to the back post, predictably there was Ronaldo, to steal ahead of Essien and send United into the lead. Chelsea rode their luck from then on in but they were partly saved by poor finishing. Carlos Tevez and Michael Carrick both should have done better with their chances and the game should have been all over by half time. But as is football, Chelsea were back in the game by half time. Essien, driving forward from the back in order to make up for this mistake, had a shot deflected away. No United player followed up the ball, and there was Frank Lampard to equalise for Chelsea. Such a fitting tribute for a player who is playing so recently after the loss of his mother.
From then on, it was all Chelsea. They came out for the second half with their tails up and played United off the park. Twice Chelsea hit the woodwork, twice they were denied by the heroics of Van der Sar. But at the other end, John Terry somehow stopped United from retaking the lead with a incredible goal line clearance. Neither side could break the deadlock and so after 30 minutes of gruelling extra time, severe cramp and some childish behaviour by Drogba that earnt him a red card, there came the chance to be a hero in the penalty shootout.
Tevez and Carrick were on target for United as the shoot-out started, with Ballack and Juliano Belletti following up for Chelsea. Then up stepped Ronaldo, so often the saviour for United, but this time his arrogance almost cost him as his kick was saved by Cech. And so with defeat staring United in the face, Terry stepped up. However the weather had been treacherous and he slipped, sending his kick against the upright and giving United another lifeline. Anderson and Kalou were both successful before Giggs threw all the responsibility on Anelka as the shoot-out reached sudden death. However it proved too much for the striker, who saw his penalty palmed away by Van der Sar. United were crowned kings of European football once again.
After the second semi final on Thursday 22 May, the EBU reveals that one of the ten contestants who qualified in thursday nights round was selected thanks to the support of the back-up jury, and would not have made it to the Final under the old rules.
The new rule was put in place before this year´s Eurovision Song Contest. The rule states that the top-9 contestants chosen by the televoters qualify for the Final. The highest ranked contestant from the back-up jury results and who have not yet qualified through the televoting, also qualifies for the Final.
After the first Semi-Final, it appeared that the televoters and the back-up juries selected the same 10 contestants to qualify for the Final. This was not the case after the second Semi-Final, as one of the 10 contestants who qualified was not in top-10 of the televoters. So, one of the qualified Semi-Finalists would not have made it to the Final without the support of the back-up jury.
In order to keep the Final exciting the country that was chosen by the back up jury will not be revealed until after the final inorder to keep the suspense high. The complete results of the two Semi-Finals will be revealed through www.eurovision.tv on Sunday morning.
We’ve all been there, and the decision is not an easy one. You’re home in the afternoon on a weekday, you find yourself having a couple more hours free than you expected. Do you take your siesta?
It sounds like a simple yes or no decision, but there are a lot of factors that play into the verdict. How long do I sleep for? Is it a couch or a bed endeavour? Shouldn´t I do that load of laundry that I’ve been putting off for weeks that has forced me to have to steal my roommate’s skid-marked underwear?
Recent research, not to mention Spanish culture, says forget the laundry and snooze it up. According to an article on BIO.com (http://http://web.archive.org/web/20070310193716/www.bio.com/newsfeatures/newsfeatures_research.jhtml?cid=19200022), a short nap is very natural after a long hearty afternoon meal (especially if the meal is cocido, in which case you want to sleep to forget the fact that you just ate that stuff). The article goes on to say that a short nap after eating can help prevent obesity, and can keep your mind functioning better for the rest of the day. Daytime sleep can also prevent narcolepsy, which is a scary, scary thing.
The real question though is how long to nap. If you’re out for too long, you’ll wake up feeling groggy, disoriented and sometimes even grumpy. And nobody likes a grumpy guy with skid marked underwear.
To avoid that, most sleep research suggests taking a power nap, somewhere between 15 and 45 minutes, but not longer. If you sleep longer, you will shift into the next, deeper stage of sleep, and interrupting that is what you feel when you wake up from a nap and have no idea where you are or what day it is. However, one full sleep cycle is about two and a half hours, so if you’re really dead you can get a nice, long, full nap, one that is usually reserved before a long night of partying.
The toughest part of taking a nap though, is the inescapable guilt. With every ´to nap or not to nap` internal debate comes the guilt. While our Spanish counterparts have long been famous for their post-meal pillow parties, the American in me still feels that guilt before every nap that I take. The internal battle is there whether or not we admit it to ourselves, but please, don’t let guilt take away what you hold most dear. You’ve got modern science behind you. Screw the man, set your alarm, hop into your bed or couch or floor or cardboard box, and snore away!
Thursday 22nd May saw the second of the Eurovison Song Contest 2008 take place, the second semi final.
This is the first time in the competitions history that there has been two semi finals, in order to determine which 25 countries go through to the final.
The second semi final was as good as the first if not better, the theme of the show was ‘water’ and included some special touches such as during one of the breaks, a viedo clip showing Serbian tennis star Ana Ivanovic welcoming viewers to her home city of Belgrade.
After the remaining 19 participants performed, the voting commenced. The voting revealed that the final 10 countires going through to the final were: Ukaraine, Croatia, Albania, Iceland, Georgia, Denmark, Sweden, Latvia, Turkey and Portugal.
The second semi final winners will join those from the first semi final (Greece,Romania,Bosnia and Herzegovina, Finland, Russia, Israel, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Poland and Norway) to battle it out in tonights final round of the Eurovison Song Contest 2008 in Belgrade. France, United Kingdom, Spain and Germany also join the group but their entries qualified straight to the final as they are part of the big four.
The countries that are not going to the final and that are heading home include: Andorra, Belarus, Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Estonia, FYR Macedonia, Hungary, Ireland, Lithuania, Malta, Moldova, Montenegro, Netherlands, San Marino, Slovenia and Switzerland.
Never mind and better luck next year, sometimes taking part is better than winning hahaha.
The final of the competition takes place this evening, you can watch it live on www.eurovision.tv.
On the bus ride out to the Ciudad de Rock, the other journalists and I were shown a video with a virtual tour of what the festival site for Rock in Rio Madrid should look like. As I saw an animated crowd rocking out in front of digital architecture, I thought I was watching a trailer for a new video game - some type of mix between The Sims and Guitar Hero. When we arrived and I saw the unfinished construction and patches of Spanish desert, I doubted this digital vision could be made into real life. But when the organizers began explaining what Rock in Rio will offer and how it will function, I began to change my mind.
First and foremost, it’s a music festival. The diverse line-up balances popular music with world famous DJs, upcoming talent, and veterans from the Woodstock era, even if it lacks proper rock groups. At 7:30 every night, the biggest names will start to play on the World Stage - a 100 m long and 28 m tall monument to modernist architecture. The artists will have 2,100 m2 at their disposal, and the audience will have 200 photovoltaic panels spread throughout the 2,500 m2 façade, creating a light extravaganza and intensifying the live performances during the last weekend in June and first in July.
June 27th
The first night on the World Stage will be a relaxed but fulfilling start to the festival. With Neil Young headlining, you can expect to see lighters in the air and hear smooth, classic rock favorites like “Heart of Gold,” “Southern Man” and “Keep on Rocking in the Free World.” He may be more from our parents generation, but don’t forget that Pearl Jam and Nirvana labeled him as the godfather of grunge. Jack Johnson will also play beforehand, filling the air with head-nodding beach music just outside of landlocked Madrid.
June 28th
The Madrid based El Canto del Loco will headline the second night. The group won best Spanish Artist in the 2005 MTV European Music Awards and will give a night of Spanish guitar infused alternative music. Tokio Hotel, the German youth sensation, will play beforehand. Their teenage appeal may have been their first claim to fame, but their melodic rock style is catchy, even if you don’t want to admit it in public.
July 4th
Shakira will headline the third, dance-filled night. This will be the Queen of Latin Pop’s second time shaking across a Rock in Rio stage and her only concert in Spain during the summer. “Underneath Your Clothes,” will surely echo out into the crowd, with even guys shamefully getting into it. Jamiroquai will play beforehand, gracing our presence with his quirky hats and eclectic dance music. Before the dancing begins, Amy Winehouse will get us in the mood with her jazzy, soul-filled voice.
July 5th
The fourth night will be perfect for eclectic music lovers. The Police will headline with their satisfying mix of punk and reggae, for sure blessing us with a rendition of “Every Breath you Take.” Alejandro Sanz will play beforehand and show us why his romantic voice woven between Cuban beats, hip-hop, and flamenco won him a Grammy for Best Latin Album in 1991. And for you die-hard flamencophiles, a once in a lifetime collaboration of the biggest names in flamenco called Flamenco All-Stars will hit the stage to start things off.
July 6th
The fifth and final night will bring the perfect close to the World Stage. Bob Dylan will set the scene with his quintessential music festival aura, before Franz Ferdinand comes on and lets us jump around. Lenny Kravitz will then headline, with his smooth guitar riffs and melodic voice, but the true closer is DJ Tiesto, coming on at 2:00 a.m. The highlight of his career is when he mixed the opening ceremonies for the 2004 Olympic Games in Greece, so it is only fitting that he will begin the end of the World Stage.
If your tastes aren’t geared towards more established groups, the Hot Stage will give you a dose of experimental and upcoming artists. Starting every afternoon at 5:30 and playing until 7:50, groups from Spain and abroad will mount the 22m long and 14 m tall cubic stage. Three groups will play every night, with bands like Zucchero, Draco, The Right Ons, Mando Diao and Standard balancing out the festival with blues, latin rock, funk-soul rock, indie rock and electro rock, respectively.
If the other stages don’t do much for you, the Electronic area will get your heart pounding, even without the use of chemicals. The architecture alone could make it the 8th Wonder of the Modern World. Based on Stonehenge, the design takes six massive gramophone speakers with projection screens and laser lights and arches them back in on the 900 m2 circular dance floor. The party starts every night at 3:00 a.m. and goes until sunrise, with world famous DJs like Carl Cox, Satoshi Tomiie, DJ Vibe and Cristian Varela brining us the best dance music from England, Japan, Portugal, and Spain, respectively. The line-up doesn’t actually have a set time for the DJs playing each night, so expect everyone to be mixing until the sun comes.
After staying the whole night, you will probably start to wonder how you’re going to get home. Alsa has arranged for a fleet of 340 buses to take ticket holders to and from the festival sight. The buses will depart every 15 minutes outside of the metro station Santiago Bernabeau, beginning at 3:30 p.m. and running until midnight. Buses returning from the festival will start at 7:00 p.m. and run every 15 minutes until 7:00 a.m.
Driving there yourself will be tricky, being that the festival site itself only has 6,000 parking spaces, which have to be purchased beforehand. Free parking is available near the Hospital del Sureste in the closest town of Arganda del Rey, but even then you would have to take a quick bus to the festival site. Especially if you’re up all night partying, your best bet will be to take the bus.
So if you’re like me, you are probably thinking what you can do this summer now that your domestic football season has drawn to a close. Your teams fate has been decided, you’ve shed your tears and you promise yourself that next season you will listen to your partner when they say, “it’s only a game, love!”
But is it really worth all the drama? Is it worth losing your beloved fingernails? Is it worth your wife or girlfriend threatening to leave you? Too damn right it is! And that’s why, even though England aren’t in it this time round, all football fans eyes will be peeled on the European Championships this summer.
You can never get enough of football. Even if your team isn’t in it, there is always some member of your team playing, and you even get an early opportunity to scout some of the targets your manager is after. Seriously, what more could you want? So let’s get the lads round, crack the beers open and read my guide to the top three countries this coming summer.
1) Spain- The Perennial Under-achievers
Every tournament pundits say the same. This is their best chance. They have the players and they have the support but every tournament they fall away at the quarter-final stage. So why should this year be different I hear you shouting? Because this time, Spain are coming into the tournament on a great run of form. 14 games without defeat including games against England and Italy. Fernando Torres will lead the line, Cesc will be tougher after a hard season and Ramos oozes class at the back. Could this year actually be their year?
Key Player: Fernando Torres to continue to knock the goals in
2) Italy- The reigning world champions
So can the best team in the world, become the best team in Europe? Arguably the best passing team around, Italy’s only problem has been their lack of pace in going forward. However with a new fluid front three, they have a new attacking dimension that could catch teams out. They have the experience and they have the players. A definite threat.
Key Player: Andrea Pirlo will hold the team together and provide a set piece threat
3) France- Last chance for the golden age?
Raymond Domenech has been bold in his squad selection. He has left out David Trezeguet and in his place fans will be itching to catch a glimpse of the countrys new gems, Karim Benzema and Hatem Ben Arfa. They have a solid, experienced spine with the likes of Thierry Henry, Claude Makelele and William Gallas all itching to make amends for their World Cup misery.
Key Player: Thierry Henry to make up for his Barcelona misery
Call me biased, but I actually believe this could be Spain´s year. I´ve probably just jinxed them…
Last night was the first round of the Eurovision Song Contest; the first semi final. Representatives from all nineteen countries presented their songs all hoping to make it to the next round and represent their countries. Serbia pulled out all the stops for the show and really impressed the audience by producing an amazing set and even involving Serbian performers and celebrities to kick off the voting.
The theme of the show, presented by Jovana Janković and Željko Joksimović, was “City”, and the theme of the Second Semi-Final will be “Water”.
After all songs had been presented, televoting started in all the participating countries as well as in Spain and Germany, who are already qualified for the Final, but were drawn to vote in the First Semi-Final, while the other directly qualified finalists - France, The United Kingdom and Serbia - get to vote in the Second Semi-Final. Nine of the qualifying countries were decided by televoting.
The countries that qualified were Greece, Romania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Finland, Russia, Israel, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Poland and Norway.
As bookies predicted Russia have a good chance of wining. I personally agree as the song is a beautiful ballad and definitely has a Eurovision song contest feel to it. Russia may have to watch out as Greece in my opinion have a tremendous chance of winning as the song is catchy, dance like and definitely something that could be a winning number. Although performances from Russia, Greece were catchy and definitely deserved to go through to the second round of the competition others were not so lucky. Countries such as Ireland, Belgium and Estonia will have to try harder next year as this year performances were nail bitingly awful. The first semi final seemed to be influenced by a pantomime child like feel as Ireland were represented by Dustin the turkey with a song Iralnde Douze Pointe was hilariously bad which in my opinion was a shame considering Ireland’s amazing success in the competition since it first started. Belgium were represented by Ishtar with a song called O Julissi, also a poor performance in my opinion. Estonia also added to the pantomime feel during the competition as the performance looked like three middle aged umpa lumpa childrens entertainers. They were represented by Kreisiraadio with a song Leto Svet.
All in all I think the first semi final of the competition got off to a good start. If you’re a Eurovision song lover like me then if you watched yesterday’s first round it definitely wet the appetite of us lovers and definitely got the ball rolling for the competition. Out of the qualifiers from the first round my money is definitely on Russia, Greece and Israel.
If you want to watch the second round of the semi finals you can watch the show live on www.eurovision.tv. The second round of the semi finals will be on Thursday 22nd May. The countries participating will be Iceland, Sweden, Turkey, Lithuania, Albania, Switzerland, Czech Republic, Belarus, Latvia, Croatia, Bulgaria, Denmark, Georgia, Hungry, Malta, Cyprus, FYP Macedonia and Portugal.
Rangers’ Uefa Cup dream ended after they fell 2-0 to Zenit St Petersburg in Manchester. The game was severely overshadowed however by scenes of violence that ruined the carnival atomosphere. Thousands of ticketless Rangers fans had made their way into Manchester city centre during the day and were looking forward to enjoying the game on the big screen and hopefully witnessing Scotland´s first European cup in 25 years.
However violence broke out after a giant screen in Piccadilly Gardens failed to work, leaving thousands of fans unable to watch the match. Police said that most fans were well-behaved, but a “significant minority” reacted angrily, pelting the screen with beer bottles. Riot police charged the crowd after hostile fans lobbed bottles and cans while others taunted officers and filmed them with mobile phones. Thirty people were arrested and charged with a variety of offences including affray, possession of an offensive weapon, serious assault, possession of drugs and theft.
Rangers came to Manchester in search of a great prize but could only leave the stadium with their heads held high. Zenit were by far the better team, but the Glaswegian steel made sure that the game was always tense. En route to the final, Rangers had won just two games and their campaign has been defined by patience and endurance and they continued with their strategy all through the games. Though Zenit were clearly the more accomplished side, for much of the game they were not permitted to rise above the struggle. Rangers harried and hurried the opposition and fought for every ball.
But the suspicion that Rangers could not hold off the attacking threat of Zenit, which had seen them romp home against Leverkusen and Bayern Munich, proved to be founded. when two slick Zenit moves sealed the competition for the Russians. At the beginning of the game the Rangers fans had unfurled a banner for the squad to read as it conducted a pre-match warm-up. The message read: “This is your chance. This is your time. Become legends.” Alas for the players and the fans, their dreams of a historics quadruple fell at the first hurdle.
The Eurovision song contest 2008 kicks off this evening with the first leg of the competition, the semi final. For the first time in the history in the competition there will be two Semi Finals held to decide which 25 countries will be represented in the Final.
The first Semi Final takes place today, Tuesday, 20th of May.
The countries participating in the first Semi Final will be Montenegro, Israel, Estonia, Moldova, San Marino, Belgium, Azerbaijan, Slovenia, Norway, Poland, Ireland, Andorra, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Armenia, The Netherlands, Finland, Romania, Russia and Greece.
The 19 participants are getting more and more nervous and tension is rising as they all are hoping to qualify for the Grand Final that will be held on Saturday.
The Semi Final competition will be aired live and will be shown live in all the 19 participating countries and also live on German NDR and Spanish TVE.
Other countries may also broadcast the competition as well, so check the timetables of your local broadcasters to see if the Semi Final will be shown in your country.
If you miss the Semi Final you will have the opportunity to watch it again as it will be available for 7 days on Eurovision TV.
The Semi Final televoters from the 19 participating countries will be able to vote for their favourite songs as well as the TV audience in Germany and Spain. The local televoting numbers will be displayed on screen during the show and will also be available on your national broadcaster’s website.
We at European Vibe will be following the competition, so if you’re a Eurovision Song Contest fan like me, I will be covering the highlights and lowlights of the show. So stay tuned for all the latest Info.
The second Semi Final will take place on Thursday 22nd May.
