The Voice UK 2014: Twin Power, Kylie's Magic Bag And Girls' Night! (Watch FULL Episode 4!)

Enjoy the full show + Louder! :)

This week's lucky team members: Jessica, Sarah, Tila & Tavelah, Rachael, Jai, Gemyni, Melissa 

xo K

Into The Blue - Kylie Minogue The Official VideoS!

Into The Blue is the new track and the lead single from Kylie Minogue's 12th studio album, 'Kiss Me Once', due to be released in March.

It got its first radio play on January 27th and was accompanied by the very beautiful (handwritten) lyrics video. The single is officially to be released on March 9th, 2014 and is already available for the pre-order on iTunes and on Kylie.com store (for more details, please follow the link)

Kylie shot the video for the song earlier this month, in London and it's OUT! :)

Stay tuned!

xo K

The Voice UK 2014: Adele's Cousin, The Chicken Man And Tom Jones' Angels (Watch FULL Episode 3!)

The Voice UK continued its ratings success for BBC One last night (January 25), once again topping Saturday's prime-time ratings with an average audience of 7.89 million (35.2%) tuned in to watch this weekend's show, which saw performances from Adele's cousin Georgia, and Vicky Jones - the sister of McFly's Danny Jones.

Enjoy the highlights (The VoiceLOUDER) and FULL episode 3! :)

New lucky team members! :)

Georgia, Iesher, Myles, Celestine, Laverne and Vicky:

xo K

Kiss Me Once - Kylie Minogue's New Album Artwork, Title, Tracklist + First Listen (Sampler)

(please scroll down for pre-order details, links and updates :)
After teasing fans updating her Facebook page cover unveiling parts of the picture, Kylie Minogue has finally showed her new album artwork and title!

‘Kiss Me Once’ is the name of her 12th studio album and the first since she signed with Jay Z’s Roc Nation. The album is available for a pre-order on iTunes from January 27^th. 

The tracklist (thanks to Kane at SH):

Into The Blue
Million Miles
I Was Gonna Cancel (AKA The Winners)
Sexy Love
Sexercize
Feels So Good
If Only
Les Sex
Kiss Me Once
Beautiful (with Enrique)
Fine
Mr President (Bonus Track)
Sleeping With The Enemy (Bonus Track)
Into The Blue (Video)
Into The Blue (Making the video)
Into The Blue (Trailer)
Behind the scenes of the Kiss Me Once photoshoot
Kylie on Kiss Me Once

Executive producer - Sia Furler (confirmed on Twitter) and Kylie.

You can listen to the sampler of the album here :)

KISS ME ONCE LIMITED EDITION VINYL BOX SET 

(ONLY 2,000 AVAILABLE WORLDWIDE - pRE-ORDER HERE)

Beautiful Silk Cloth Bound 12" Vinyl Box.

Includes:

- 12” Vinyl With Cd Album And Digital Download Code 
- 5 X 12” Art Prints 
- Includes An Exclusive Image And Lifesize Kylie Lip Print! 
- 12” Sticker Sheet Containing 10 Kiss Cut Sticker Designs 
- 12” ‘Faux-Window’ Featuring Raindrops And Album Title So You Can Recreate The “Kiss Me Once” Album Artwork 
- 100 Signed By Kylie




INTO THE BLUE 7" VINYL SINGLE and other available releases PRE-ORDER HERE :) 

Earlier it was announced that Kylie will perform new material at the MasterCard Priceless Gig in March. 

She said: "I can't wait to perform some of my new tracks at my MasterCard Priceless Gig. After a year of working on my album in the studio, I'm so excited to share all my hard work. It's genuinely a priceless moment for me to be given this unique opportunity."

The lead single, 'IntoThe Blue', premieres on January 27th and is out on March 9th. Kylie has already filmed the video for this one!

Meanwhile, do not forget to watch The Voice UK, every Saturday night on BBC1, 7pm! ;)

xo K

The Voice UK 2014: Tom Jones & Will.i.am Alien Talk, Kylie The Calming Fairy & New Team Members! (Watch FULL Episode 2!)

(the review will be added later today, and for now, enjoy the FULL show and check out the highlights! ;)

This week's lucky team members: Sophie, Kelsey Beth, Jimmy, Jamie,  Jermaine, Mairead:

xo K

MasterCard's Priceless Gig: Kylie Minogue To Showcase New Album Material LIVE In March!

Kylie Minogue has been announced to play one of the "priceless" gigs organized by MasterCard. The event is scheduled for March with gig's date and venue yet to be revealed.

Kylie announced that she will perform new material at the concert. She said: "I can't wait to perform some of my new tracks at my MasterCard Priceless Gig. After a year of working on my album in the studio, I'm so excited to share all my hard work. It's genuinely a priceless moment for me to be given this unique opportunity."

MasterCard UK & Ireland's head of brand and sponsorship, Shaun Springer, commented: "Kylie Minogue has been right at the heart of some of the BRITs' most iconic moments so we're absolutely delighted to have her on board for this year's MasterCard Priceless Campaign. We're extremely excited about giving one fan a truly Priceless Moment with her."

 

Kylie’s fans can enter a competition to win a chance to meet Kylie by retweeting the @MasterCardUK tweet (between midnight of January 14th and midnight of January 15th):

New The Voice UK coach meanwhile has been busy shooting new video for her new single 'Into The Blue' (out March 16^th), recording blind auditions for The Voice Australia and getting ready for the exciting #KM2014.

xo K

The Voice UK 2014: Kylie "Bum Press", Tom Jones Well Up And First Lucky Team Members! (Watch FULL Episode 1!)

"It does that thing that is the thing that we're waiting for..."

(thanks to the creator ;)

Ok, it's official: Kylie Minogue, Ricky Wilson, Sir Tom Jones and Will.i.am, Emma Willis and Marvin Humes is just THE line-up for The Voice UK!

The premiere of the season 3 on Saturday, January 11th gathered the audience average of 8.37 million viewers, a peak of 10.6 million and was up over 2 million viewers during last year's premiere, and became the most watched show of the day!

The BBC1 controller, Charlotte Moore commented in delight: "BBC1 continues its start to the year in excellent form with the return of The Voice peaking at a huge 10.6 million last night. As we hoped our new line-up is clearly connecting with audiences."

Beth, Lee, Christina, Sally, Anna, Leo are the lucky one to have made the teams. 

So far this is what we have:

#TeamKylie: Lee and Leo, or KyLee and KyLeo... or KyLeeLeo - you choose!

#TeamTom: Sally

#TeamWill: Anna

#TeamRicky: Beth and Christina

The coaches highlights that will stay in our memory forever:

The world saw the "famous bum press" last night, as Kylie was spinning around in her red chair on her way to get the second member of #TeamKylie, Leo

And Sir Tom Jones gets very emotional (not that we hadn't shed the tear too!) after the performance of the new-found #TeamTom's Sally (thanks BBC The Voice FB page for the caps of these!)

And while we are waiting for the next episode, you can enjoy the show again by watching the FULL episode (Thanks to our friends at ShineOnAndOn blog :)

or recap the highlights of last night's events and a little more ;)

And here's our favorite Episode 1 Review, by DigitalSpy :)

We hope you enjoyed the show as much as we did, and see you next week... and the week after... and the week after... and... until the end of the season! ;) Stay tuned for more pictures, highlights, videos and more!

xo K

Parlophone Press Release: Kylie Is Back On The Dancefloor!

Parlophone's Press Release as of January 10th, 2014, regarding Kylie Minogue's first single, Into The Blue, and 12th studio album (thanks to MuuMuse)

KYLIE IS BACK ON THE DANCEFLOOR!

HER BRAND NEW SINGLE “INTO THE BLUE” WILL BE RELEASED ON 16TH MARCH 2014

NEW STUDIO ALBUM COMING LATER THIS YEAR

“Into The Blue” will be the first track taken from Kylie’s highly anticipated new album to be released later this year.

The song, a euphoric return to the dance-floor after 2012’s, “Abbey Road Sessions”, was written by Kelly Sheehan (Mary J Blige, Rita Ora, Beyonce).

Kylie spent 2013 recording her new album in both the U.S. and the UK with a host of producers including, Pharrell, Greg Kurstin, Metrophonic, Cutfather, MNEK and Ariel Rechtshaid. The new album will be Kylie’s 12th studio record and the first album of new material since 2010’s “Aphrodite”.

Kylie said: “2013 was a year of big change, planning and preparation for me and I’m so excited that 2014 is finally here so I can share this new music . Into The Blue is really special to me as it encapsulates a lot of what I’ve been feeling – I can’t wait for it to be out there.”

Kylie has also recently joined The Voice as a coach; the first episode airs this Saturday (11th January).

“Into The Blue” will be released on 16th March 2014 on Parlophone Music.

xo K

Roger Federer vs Rod Laver: Game Of The Greats

Roger Federer traded shots with his hero Rod Laver on Wednesday in the stadium that bears the Australian great's name.

The 17-times Grand Slam champion enjoyed a few rallies with the 75-year-old, who was dressed in traditional whites and impressed a packed crowd with his movement ahead of Federer's exhibition match with French world number 10 Jo-Wilfried Tsonga.

"Hitting with Rod Laver for me clearly is an absolute dream come true," Federer told reporters, "It's in his arena as well, it's named after him and he deserves it so much..  

"While I was playing my racket was feeling extremely heavy, that means I was very nervous which I really was because you don't want to miss a shot.

"I was happy we had some rallies. What an honour it was for me and I hope that the crowd enjoyed it and I'm very thankful that he was willing to do something like this because it's not normal in any way and that's why I really appreciate it."

Later, Roger pleased the crowd with a 6-7(5) 6-3 7-5 win over Tsonga in the fund-raising event for his charity, the Roger Federer Foundation, on Wednesday, January 8th. Roger and Friends raised more than $1 million 

"What a pleasure to play any match here, in particular a match for a good cause," said Federer. "I played some of the biggest matches of my career right here. It’s very special being back. It was a dream come true to play some balls with Rod Laver, spend some time with him, speak with him. The most important thing tonight was to enjoy it, have fun with Jo and get into the mood of the Australian Open. 
"It's a pleasure playing the Australian Open. I’ve been coming for nearly 15 years. This was perfect preparation, but so much more tonight."

A Night With Roger Federer & Friends (starts at 4m00) - FULL Replay! (Thanks Australian Open!)

"I’m really pleased to be here tonight," said Tsonga, speaking to Hewitt. "To help Roger is always an honour. I played well. It was a good match tonight. It’s always tough to play against Roger. It’s great to be here tonight for a great cause."

(Eurosport)

xo K

Kylie Minogue Performs At G'Day Qantas Spirit of Australia Event

G'Day USA is an annual program designed to showcase Australian business, innovation, tourism and government policy in the United States - Australia's closest ally and largest trade and investment partner.

Iconic Australian singer Kylie Minogue OBE flew to Los Angeles right before The Voice UK season 3 premiere on Saturday to perform exclusively for 200 special Australian guests at the Qantas Spirit of Australia event at Mr C. Hotel on Wednesday, January 8th.

Kylie was pictured with John Travolta on the Red Carpet of the event:

Miss Minogue performed two of her hits, Can't Get You Out Of My Head and Locomotion, as well as once again reminded that she loved her home country Australia, by singing I Still Call Australia Home :)

*UPDATES are coming, stay tuned! :) *

xo K

Kylie Minogue To Perform At G'Day Qantas Spirit of Australia Event

G'Day USA is an annual program designed to showcase Australian business, innovation, tourism and government policy in the United States - Australia's closest ally and largest trade and investment partner.

Iconic Australian singer Kylie Minogue OBE will perform exclusively for 200 special Australian guests at the Qantas Spirit of Australia event at Mr C. Hotel in Los Angeles on Wednesday, January 8th.

 

(Kylie has already arrived in the LA on Tuesday - zimbio pics)

“We’re delighted that Kylie Minogue will be entertaining our guests. The Qantas Spirit of Australia party is about showcasing the best of Australia to a global audience and this is something Kylie has been doing successfully for a long time,” said Mr Hickey.
“As Australia’s largest private investor in tourism, Qantas is committed to supporting home-grown talent and celebrating the work of successful Aussies to the world,” added Mr Hickey.

Kylie Minogue said she was looking forward to performing at an event that recognised Australian talent.

“I’m honoured to be part of an event that is aimed at promoting and celebrating Australian talent to the world. It will be a fantastic opportunity performing to some of Australia’s most outstanding exports,” said Kylie.

Kylie Minogue’s performance will follow outstanding performances by talented Australian musician Keith Urban and Australian music legends Icehouse.
(Source)

xo K

The Golden Gate Bridge - Construction Of The Wonder (USA)

The Golden Gate Bridge is one of the most internationally recognized symbols of San Francisco, California, and the United States. 

It has been declared one of the Wonders of the Modern World by the American Society of Civil Engineers.

The Frommers travel guide considers the Golden Gate Bridge "possibly the most beautiful, certainly the most photographed, bridge in the world". 

It opened in 1937 and  until 1964 had the longest suspension bridge main span in the world, at 4,200 feet (1,280 m).

Before the bridge was built, the only practical short route between San Francisco and what is now Marin County was by boat across a section of San Francisco Bay. 

Ferry service began as early as 1820, with regularly scheduled service beginning in the 1840s for purposes of transporting water to San Francisco.

Construction began on January 5, 1933. The project cost more than $35 million, completing ahead of schedule (by April 1937) and $1.3 million under budget. The Golden Gate Bridge construction project was carried out by the McClintic-Marshall Construction Co., a subsidiary of Bethlehem Steel Corporation.

Joseph Strauss was chief engineer in charge of overall design and construction of the bridge project.

Irving Morrow designed the overall shape of the bridge towers, the lighting scheme, and Art Deco elements such as the tower decorations, streetlights, railing, and walkways. 

Senior engineer Charles Alton Ellis was the principal engineer of the project.

Ellis was also tasked with designing a "bridge within a bridge" in the southern abutment, to avoid the need to demolish Fort Point, a pre-Civil War masonry fortification. 

He penned a graceful steel arch spanning the fort and carrying the roadway to the bridge's southern anchorage.

In May 2007, the Golden Gate Bridge District decided to give Ellis major credit for the design of the bridge.

The famous International Orange color was originally used as a sealant for the bridge. The US Navy had wanted it to be painted with black and yellow stripes to ensure visibility by passing ships. 

The bridge-opening celebration began on May 27, 1937 and lasted for one week. 

The day before vehicle traffic was allowed, 200,000 people crossed by foot and roller skates. 

On opening day, Mayor Angelo Rossiand other officials rode the ferry to Marin, then crossed the bridge in a motorcade past three ceremonial "barriers", the last a blockade of beauty queens who required Joseph Strauss to present the bridge to the Highway District before allowing him to pass. 

An official song, "There's a Silver Moon on the Golden Gate", was chosen to commemorate the event. Strauss wrote a poem that is now on the Golden Gate Bridge entitled "The Mighty Task is Done." 

The next day, President Roosevelt pushed a button in Washington, D.C. signaling the official start of vehicle traffic over the Bridge at noon.

For more information and guidelines visit The Golden Gate Bridge official website.

Information credit: Wikipedia. Old pictures credit: ILTWMT website.

The rest of the bridge pictures taken by me.

xo K

The Voice UK: Kylie Minogue & Will.i.am On BBC's The One Show (Video)

Kylie & Will.i.am visited BBC studio and gave an interview about The Voice UK on The One show.
p.s. pay attention to the super performance at the end ;)



Another BBC video interview from the red carpet HERE.
Will and Kylie have given a couple more very interesting interviews, which you can find HERE.

The Voice UK premieres on Saturday, January 11th on BBC at 7p.m.

xo K

ATP Tennis: Season 2014 Begins With Nadal, Wawrinka And Hewitt Triumph

A new tennis season began and first titles are taken as we step into the Australian Open season.

Rafael Nadal wins Qatar Open in Doha:

World number one claims his first title of the new season and his 61st career title with a 6-1 6-7(5) 6-2 win over Gial Monfils at Qatar Open in Doha.

This victory helped Nadal overcome Andre Agassi and he is now placed 8th on the all-time list of ATP Tour title winners.

He also extended his lead at the top of the world rankings over Novak Djokovic who did not participate in any warm-up tournament prior to the Australian Open.

Stanislas Wawrinka wins in Chennai:

World number eight and the top seed at the tournament, beat Edouard Roger-Vasselin in two sets, 7-5 6-2 at ATP Chennai to win the title for the second time.

The victory brought the swiss his 5th career title.

Lleyton Hewitt wins Brisbane International:

Australia's Lleyton Hewitt triumphed at his home-country event, Brisbane International, with a tight three-set victory over Swiss top seed Roger Federer: 6-1 4-6 6-3.

The Swiss committed 22 unforced errors and was broken three times in the first set. World number six looked remarkably better in the second set, taking it 6-4, although missing seven break opportunities in the third cost him the match.

The victory at the tournament brought him his first ATP title since Halle in 2010.

For more Tennis News visit Eurosport.com

xo K

The Voice UK: Kylie Minogue: "All you can do is be yourself" (Interviews)

Other INTERESTING INTERVIEWS with Kylie:

Lisa McGarry for Unrealitytv.co.uk

Nick Carvell for GQ Magazine UK

The Pop Princess says the real her is about to be revealed on the BBC1 talent show after will.i.am convinced her to join him.

Marc Jefferies for Mirror.co.uk:

Pop princess Kylie Minogue is no stranger to Spinning Around, but 14 years after the release of that hit, the singer is doing it all over again.

This time, however, it is from the comfort of an executive chair rather than in tiny gold hotpants.

She is one of two new judges on talent show The Voice, which returns on Saturday, but getting the 5ft Aussie to actually hit her buzzer and spin her chair around in approval might be tougher than the wannabes would hope.

Chatting backstage at the BBC studios in Salford, Greater Manchester, Kylie admits she cannot make decisions, which, she points out, makes judging tricky.

She giggles: “I don’t like decisions at the best of times, this is constant decision-making, so it’s just having to go with that gut reaction.”

But, after years of singing and acting, Kylie thinks – or possibly fears – the real her is about to be revealed. She laughs: “I know I’m a dork, that much I know, but now everyone will be reminded. All you can do is be yourself.”

Kylie has never been one to let criticism stand in her way and she has shrugged off snobbishness about her Neighbours roots and cheesy pop career to become an honorary national treasure here. 

At 45 she is still a pin-up, and has rocketed to worldwide fame, with more than 70 million record sales around the globe, seven UK number ones and a string of awards.

But despite her wealth of experience, the decision over whether to take the judging role was tricky.

Kylie was close to signing up in 2012 when The Voice was first launched, but she wavered. There were ­allegedly rows about money, but she insists it was the prospect of showing her emotions in front of the camera that terrified her most and made her stall until now.

She says: “It mustn’t have been the right time because I literally lost sleep back then. I really felt a lot of pressure and I didn’t know what the right decision was.

“You know it’s a big opportunity. My record company were really keen for me to do it. But I went with what I felt and that was the right decision because this feels great, it really feels like it’s the right time.

"I watched the show, I was a fan. It’s a great platform. Something clicked in me.”

Kylie joins US star will.i.am, Tom Jones and surprise newbie, Kaiser Chiefs’ Ricky Wilson, on the panel.

But she admits she still took some coaxing from will.i.am, who hijacked her meeting with executive producer Moira Ross in LA.

She says: “I had a meeting and Mr will.i.am bombed it. I just had one question really, after hearing about stats from the show and whatever. My question to Will was ‘how was the experience?’ I wanted to know, what does it feel like?

“He said he loved the experience, he learnt a lot about himself. So long story short, I thought OK, that’s cool. Yes, I haven’t had an experience like this before.”

The show will give viewers a new experience, too, as normally bubbly Kylie finally shows her emotions.

She is rarely seen without a smile – even during her tough 2005 battle with breast cancer. 

But during the new series’ pre-recorded Battle rounds, normally composed Kylie is seen with tears in her eyes – allowing fans to see a softer side to the star. 

Now bosses hope Kylie’s arrival will revamp the show.

The final last year pulled in 7.2 million viewers – but earlier episodes struggled to get more than five million. And will.i.am, 38, candidly admits that he would not have signed up for the third series without Kylie joining.

In a thinly veiled dig at ex-judge Jessie J, who quit along with The Script’s Danny O’Donoghue, Will suggests Kylie will raise the bar.

He says: “It was hard to decide if I was going to do season three. We knew how things worked, so to imagine it with two people gone it was like, ‘Oh, we really had a thing going’.

"To then gel with two new people in front of all the UK with people judging how they gel, that is very daunting.

“And then when they told me the people they were suggesting. I was like, ‘Kylie would be amazing’ and Ricky, ‘whoa, that’s different’.

“I was thinking about the singers – there are a bunch of singers that need to have perspective on how to become a pop icon, no matter if you’re a freakin’ vocal gymnast or you sing pop songs galore.

“Each one wants to possess what Kylie’s accomplished and no one on the panel last year could provide that to the singers. So I was thinking, ‘Wow, Kylie would actually be awesome because she’s the only person in contemporary music that has that experience’.

“So, I was like, ‘let me see if Kylie does it. If she says yes, then I’ll say yes’.”

 

(Kylie Minogue film a new video on January 4th for her new single, Into The Blue)

Judge Tom Jones, 73, warns winning does not mean instant success, after last year’s champ Andrea Begley and 2012’s Leanne Mitchell struggled to make a mark on the charts.

He says: “Even when you get a record contract, it doesn’t guarantee a hit. You know, it’s still another step. Until you actually get a hit record, then it becomes bigger. So it’s a step, we try to tell them that as well.

“Even when you win, you’re going to get a record contract, yes. But, you know, you’ve still got to wait.”

And despite her enormously successful career, Kylie has seen an element of that herself.

No matter what happens, one thing is for sure. Nothing stops our Kylie – not even the fact she needed special steps wheeled in to help her climb in to her judge’s chair.

• The Voice is launched on BBC1 on Saturday at 7pm

xo K