There's a reality show for everything!

Tonight is the final of 'The Exclusives'. The first advert caused much controversy, causing all the journalists I follow on twitter to burst into ridiculing the candidates and the whole idea of a reality TV show for this particular industry. The aim of the show to find the next young star to work for, arguably one of the most powerful Magazine groups, Bauer publications. The chance of a job at one of these magazines obviously appeals to me, (my absolute dream job is being the next Polly Vernon writing about feminist issues each week in Grazia), however, I completely agreed with the viewpoints of journalists like Grace Dent who wrote a review of the first episode for the Independent summarising the absurdity of reality TV and this show's glamorisation of working in the media industry with the sarcastic comment: "ITV2 put the kids up in the luxury apartment as a fair representation of where one can hope to abide in London on an unpaid editorial-assistant travel-expense wage" I've come to learn since looking to be a journalist that it's not easy. I've been told so many times by working journalists, journalism lecturers, journalism students and just about everyone  that it's going to be a life of lots of work for little pay, so there is something a little un-realistic about 'The Exclusives'. The competition that has been running for viewers throughout the show seems to sum up the producer's representation of journalism to me, saying that the Camera, Dictaphone, Laptop, Headphones, Magazine subscription, Mobile phone and Cash prize, was "everything you need to become a top reporter yourself"!

I have been asked by various people if I would ever apply for a show like 'The Exclusives' and at first I replied with a definite no. I saw it as ruining your credibility and career before it's even been established. There seems to be an unwritten rule in this career that you must remain independent and asking for help is a sign of weakness and the more I've watched 'The Exclusives' the more I've considered if that rule is outdated. We live in a world now, where there is a reality TV show for everything and although it's annoying, it does, to a certain extent, give everyone a chance to do something with their life, albeit quite high profile and often criticised. I would still say now that I wouldn't be interested in appearing on a show like 'The Exclusives but I can't deny that these candidates, particularly Ellie who I am most definitely rooting for in tonight's final, are passionate about journalism and are willing to work hard to get to the top. The show will give them contacts and as they say, 'It's who you know not what you know".

I've enjoyed watching the series and as much as I sit and criticise them, they're out doing what they want to do. The mentors and judges on the show which include Hannah Fernando and Lucie Cave from 'Heat!' have been constantly reinforcing the value of good writing, which I was pleased to see. I honestly don't know what my writing is like, but to me, without good writing and a strong viewpoint you don't have a journalist! 

'The Exclusives' final is on ITV2 at 9pm tonight (28th June) featuring finalists Ellie, Stuart and Felix. 

I'm getting old!

I keep finding myself saying the phrase “I sound so old”.

Obviously I’m not old, I’m actually quite young but I don’t think I’m the only 18 year old who’s feeling like this now and again. The idea of turning 18 felt a little bit scary to me and the idea of leaving home and having to look after yourself is even worse.  It’s the idea of being ‘officially’ an adult and having to grow up! I still feel like I'm about two and I still act like I am most of the time. I'm going to Disneyland Paris as part of the school music tour in July and despite being one of the oldest students going, I can guarantee that I will be the most excited one there, running around trying to get pictures with all the characters while dressed as a princess! 

I'm sure this is bound to embarrass one of my friends who'll be there with me. Me and my best friend have made it our mission to embarrass this girl at school. She's in year 9 so we like to make her look as uncool as possible! I shout at her in the corridor, tell her to correct her uniform and tell her off for being cheeky to teachers. I'm just as embarrassing to my brother who's in the same year but he has the power to embarrass me back. 

Both of them make me feel very old on a regular occasion. Often by using slang words that are now being said by EVERYONE their age but mean a completely different thing. The most recent word that I came across was when my friend told me she wouldn't be at Orchestra because "I'm going to a party because I'm MAINSTREAM". I thought that Mainstream was the opposite of Hipster. That you were a bit of a sheep, following the crowd, listening to chart music and wearing Chinos and Hollister hoodies. I questioned her use of the word to which she said "do you even understand what Mainstream means?" I was shocked and told her yes  to which she said "well I don't know, I thought you might be too old". 

After conferring with my brother over the word, I've found out that to 14 year olds now, the word mainstream means cool which doesn't make much sense to me. I hate the idea of patronising people younger than me but I do often refer to them as 'about 12' and laugh at year 9s in particular. I was ridiculous in year 9, so it's not exclusive to today's 14 year olds. I don't mean to be patronising but I'm going to be, we all are though. The latest thing that has allowed sixth formers to laugh at the year 9s in my school is the uniform protest, against a change in uniform policy...that hasn't changed anything. 

We laugh at them, but life was definitely much easier in year 9 and I'd probably rather be sitting on the field moaning about not being able to wear skinny trousers and fake eyelashes to school than stuck inside doing A  level practice papers. 

I'm embracing being boring!

Getting the perfect balance between having a social life and working hard to pass your exams seems to be almost impossible.

I've always thought that I'm quite good at prioritising things in my life. I work hard and do well enough at school, spend time with my friends on a regular basis and still find time to read Grazia, paint my nails and update my blog (albeit not as much as I'd like to). The problem is I don't have enough time or energy to do everything.

One of my pet peeves is when people moan about how busy they are as if no one else could possibly have more to do than them, this kind of ties in with another pet peeve of mine which is the phrase "you think GCSEs are hard, wait until you try A levels". Everything is difficult for someone at some point and no one should be made to feel as though they don't have the right to moan. I don't know a single person who has never felt overwhelmed by the amount of revision they have to do or how many concerts they have that week and how they're going to fit in time to see their friends and actually talk to their family. More often than not it gets to the point where you just want to go to sleep and wake up when you don't have anything to stress about. But let's be honest that day will never come. People seemed to be programmed to moan and although it feels a little ironic that we spend so much time complaining about complaining, it's a fact of life.

While I was doing my GCSEs I became a bit of a recluse. I'd caught the much feared Swine Flu in October of year 11 which gave a bit of a hit to my immune system and I spent the rest of the academic year feeling just a little bit weird. Parties were becoming and more and more popular and I didn't really drink so I wasn't too interested in going out a lot. I blamed my growing unsociability on "feeling ill" most of the time, which was never really a lie but truthfully I just wanted to stay in and revise. I didn't stress out too much about GCSEs but I felt like I needed to be spending as much time as possible working for them which was probably true as I still just got "good" results, no A*s. I was really happy with them but I was no where near the top.

As my A levels are approaching I have a slightly different attitude but the principle is still there. I've never been naturally intelligent. I'm definitely not stupid but in school I've always been just slightly above average, which isn't a real problem for me, it just means I have to work hard. I think on first impression, people either think I'm really stupid because I'm loud and chatty or really intelligent because I'm often the opposite in the classroom. I need a B in Media Studies to get into my first choice university and the others can be 3 Ds. That seems pretty achievable to me but I don't want that. Getting a D grade at A level is perfectly fine, in fact it's good but everyone has personal goals and if I don't get the grades that I want it won't be a problem for me as long as I know I did everything I could.

That's why I chose not to go out tonight. I would love to be dancing away to mama do the hump in Chicagos with my best friends drinking jager bombs until the early hours of the morning but I have my A level music recital on Friday and my brain cells can't cope with the damage right now. So I've spent my evening teaching violin pupils, practising, doing some homework, revising music, watching TOWIE and now writing this blog. Every time I tell my friends that I can't go out because I'm practising or revising or doing whatever, I always feel like they think I'm really boring because they have exactly the same problems as I do and I'm sure their results will be as good as mine, if not better, even with the nights out but if I didn't give up a bit of socialising just for these next couple of months I'd always be thinking that I could have done better in my A levels. The difference between now and year 11 is that I'm (hopefully) not going to become a complete recluse and leave my friends wondering if I've fallen off the face of the earth, I'm just going to 'take it easy'.

So, to all my friends: Fun Katy will be back after my last exam on the 19th June, grab me a vodka and coke and get ready for a summer without stress!

Everything Happens for a Reason

I'm a strong believer in fate and you'll often hear me telling people that 'Everything happens for a reason'. I'm also a massive hypocrite and often struggle to take my own advice...

Back in November, one of my best friends was rejected from her first choice university and was absolutely devastated. I gave her a big talk about how it was probably for the best, she obviously wasn't meant to go there and she'd end up wherever she's supposed to be. A few weeks later I was rejected from my first choice university and absolutely fell apart. It just so happened that I made the fatal mistake of checking UCAS track just before a concert so was in the company of many people during what I'm going to call 'The Rejection breakdown'. While I was bawling uncontrollably in front of a nearly full audience, one of my music teachers gave me the same advice I'd given to my friend just a few weeks earlier, "You'll end up where you're supposed to be" and although I found it difficult to see how that could be true when I'd just been rejected from what I thought was 'the' place where journalists were made, I've come to learn that that is the phrase to constantly keep in your mind when going through the university application process.

I have now completely changed my mind on where I want to go to university and I couldn't be more pleased about it. I don't think my new first choice and my old first choice could be much more different. The university which rejected me because I was unlikely to meet the grade boundaries seems to have quite old school values with a course run by an extremely right wing individual. I am happy to work with people with different political beliefs to me however I think I would have found it quite difficult to be taught by someone who I often see on Newsnight arguing points which make me roll my eyes numerous amounts of times.

After reading an article written by this professor's star student I am feeling ecstatic that I received a rejection! I'm not claiming to be a fantastic journalist, right now I'm a complete amateur but I hope that by my third year of studying the subject at university I'll be able to check through an article I've written and make sure I haven't contradicted myself throughout whilst verbally attacking a large group of people.

http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/sara-malm-going-on-strike-is-disgraceful-selfish-and-quite-frankly-pass-7643118.html

I am thrilled to hopefully be starting in September at a university where the Vice Chancellor is pictured making the Queen giggle and tweets a million times a day, the professors have a sense of humour and the students have fun and I don't care if it makes the difference between whether I work at a local paper or for the independent, there's more to life than what is going to look best on your CV!


Thank god I'm not intelligent!

The highlight of my year! The BRIT awards!

We can't exactly call this live blogging but I had a concert so we'll have to deal with 'half an hour late blogging'. I could just not do this and miss watching the brits but it's the highlight of my year so that's not going to happen!

At this point, the way they've structured this show is feeling incredibly awkward, I love James Corden but he's not being funny enough yet to make this feel comfortable and the very short clips followed by short autocue following introductions is not very entertaining.

I wish I liked Florence and the Machine but I'm not really a fan. My best friend bought me her album for my 16th birhtday and I have it on my ipod and I listen to it now and again and I can't say I hate it but I'm just not a fan of her voice. I do like her dress though...

British Female solo artist.

This might become more of a blog about dresses than the show but I want to look like Kylie and own that dress!

Adele
Laura Marling
Kate Bush
Jessie J
Florence and the Machine

WINNER: Adele

I just had a heart attack. Majorly fan girling and wanting to be Jessie J. I think I need to do a blog informing the world of my love for Jack Whitehall but I don't want to risk sounding too unintelligent and I can't control myself when talking about that beautiful man!

International Male solo artist

David Guetta
Aloe Blacc
Ryan Adams
Bon Iver
Bruno Mars

WINNER : Bruno Mars

This doesn't surprise me at all, I bought Bruno's album and I'm a big fan but Aloe Blacc is one of the best acts I've seen live so I'd choose him over lots of people.

I'm definitely over the O2 experience and already wanting to see him again. Don't judge him on this performance though, he seems extremely nervous and his voice sounds quite weak. I'm always an Olly fan and will support him no matter what but he can sing much better than that.

Critics choice award

Emeli Sandé - how awkward was that? no real congratulations just a tiny clip then an interview with Jessie J.

I'm going to take this opportunity to rant. I don't understand how any one can criticise Ed Sheeran for anything. He stood on a stage tonight and performed completely alone. He sang note perfect and played his own instrument. Who else does that? This is probably the biggest gig he's ever played and he is without a doubt the best musician in the charts at the moment. I would very much like to see Rhianna, Bruno Mars, Jessie J or even Adele perform on such a big occasion with only a Guitar, a loop pedal and a microphone to keep you company. It just wouldn't happen so all of you NME readers should really stop moaning about how 'mainstream' because he likes Nandos and has a large fanbase and actually listen to his music and give the man some credit!



Best British single

Someone like You - Adele
Heart Skips a Beat - Olly Murs
Changed the Way you kisssed me - Example
Glad you came - The Wanted
She makes me wanna - JLS
Price Tag - Jessie J ft B.O.B
The A team - Ed Sheeran
Wherever you are - Military Wives ft Gareth Malone
All about tonight - Pixie Lott
What makes you beautiful - One Direction

WINNER = What makes you beautiful - One Direction

One Direction are currently my phone wallpaper. I love Louis Tomlinson and I'm not ashamed to say it and WMYB is a very good song but it has nothing on The A team. Viewer voted though so not really surprising.

International female solo artist

Beyonce
Rihanna
Feist
Bjork
Lady Gaga

WINNER = Rihanna

It makes me very sad that Rihanna is successful. She can't really sing very well but she can dance and look sexy. The feminist inside me crys a little bit everytime she gets on stage. She is not

British Male Solo Artist

James Blake
Ed Sheeran
Noel Gallagher's high flying birds
Professor Green
James Morrison

WINNER = Ed Sheeran

There is no way he doesn't deserve this. Remember, what I said in the BAFTAs blog about how important it is for a celebrity to be likeable, Eddy boy is definitely likeable. Plus, he looks really cute in his suit.

British group

Coldplay
Chase and Status
Kasabian
Arctic Monkeys
Elbow

WINNER = Coldplay

not a massive fan of coldplay but the question I'd like answered is why is British group voted for by the public when the solo artist awards are industry awarded? doesn't seem very fair.

Is it just me or has Chris Martin all of a sudden got very good looking? I'm not sure if I should be ashamed that I'm starting to fancy him a little bit...

I love Adele, I can't call myself a super fan but I want her to be my friend and I want to listen to her lots and lots. I don't have any of her albums though so I can't really call myself any fan at all. Maybe this show will inspire me to buy lots of albums like the BAFTAs inspired me to watch lots of films. I also want her hair and her dress and her eyes...

International group

Jay Z and Kanye West
Foo Fighters
Fleet Foxes
Lady Antebellum
Maroon 5

WINNER = Foo Fighters

Does it say something about a group if they aren't there to collect the award and then have only one member of the band leave a message?

British Breakthrough act

The Vaccines
Anna Calvi
Emeli Sandé
Ed Sheeran
Jessie J

WINNER = Ed Sheeran

I'm hoping he tweets what he means by telling his manager that he needs a sofa...

International Breakthrough act

I cannot think of a better pairing than Rob Brydon and Will.I.Am. That needs to be

Lana del Ray
Aloe Blacc
Bon Iver
Nicki Minaj

WINNER = Lana del Ray

I think she may be the most annoying artist around, I quite like her songs actually but that lip and her 'oh I'm so helpless' act makes me want to give her a massive slap with that brit award.

I hear and see whining and wiggling, looks like Rihanna is performing. If you are thinking about going to see Rihanna and like people being able to sing in tune I would recommend rethinking your plans. Rihanna is one of the worst acts I've seen live, probably just ahead of Lonsdale boys club and Plan B. It did look fun being on that stage though, I wouldn't mind partying with Rihanna, as long as her music wasn't played...

Mastercard British album of the year

How drunk is George Michael? slurring his words!

Let England Shake - PJ Harvey -
+ - Ed Sheeran
21 - Adele
Mylo xyloto - Coldplay
Ceremonials - Florence & the machine

Why is Ricky from Eastenders sitting with Adele? I'd love for them to be friends!

Controversial opinion coming here and I understand why people are annoyed that they cut Adele off in her acceptance speech but these shows run to a tight schedule and it would be completely unfair to restrict the time blur get to play for. I know lots of people my age don't really appreciate blur but if they've rehearsed a 15 minute set then they should get to play it. It's not really hurting Adele to lose a few minutes of her thank you speech, she's had lots of them before and I have no doubt that there'll be plenty more opportunities, there was definitely no need for her to look as if James Corden had told her they'd read out the wrong name. I love blur and would much rather listen to 15 minutes of them than a bit more of Adele thanking people so I'm a little bias but I thought their performance was a great end to the show. Can I see them next please?

I wonder who we'll be watching pick up awards next year and whether the host will be allowed to actually talk and make any witty comments. This is definitely not the best BRIT awards so hopefully next year will be better when I'll hopefully be able to watch it from a University flat somewhere in the country!

The British Academy film awards

I think I've always wanted to be a Journalist, I just didn't realise that it was a real job. I used to make notes on every award show, my favourite is the Brits but I love every single one. I never understand why people think they're boring because there is nothing I love more than making my predictions and finding out who has won! I'm pretty sure that is Journalism.

So now that I know what it is and I'm trying to play an active part in it, I thought it might be good to actually do something with my notes for once, so I'll be live blogging the Baftas tonight and also the Brits on the 21st February. For each category I'll list the nominations (with my prediction in bold) and winners, possibly accompanied by a witty comment but I can't promise anything.

Tom Jones' tribute to 50 years of Bond films has made me incredibly excited for the release of skyfall, we're studying Quantum of Solace in media and I've definitely become a Bond fan!Stephen Fry is also something I'm a fan of. His humour should make even the biggest awards show hater enjoy this show, he's not afraid to laugh at himself and I definitely believe that is the most important quality for a celebrity to have. Stephen asked Brad Pitt to blow a kiss to the camera, and he was incredibly reluctant to take part in that small joke for the audience, which I definitely think meant that he didn't come accross well.

Special Effects

War Horse
Harry Potter and the deathy hallows part 2
Tin Tin
rise of the planet of the apes
Hugo

WINNER - Harry Potter and the deathy hallows part 2

This was definitely well deserved, I've never been a fan of 3D. The cinema gives me a headache anyway and the glasses makes it a thousand times worse but I found the 3D in this film a pleasure to watch and I really feel that it enhanced the film greatly.

Outstanding Debut by a British director, writer or producer

Joe Cornish - Attack the Block
Paddy Considine - Tyrannosaur
Ralph Fiennes - Coriolanus
Will Sharpe, Tom Kingsley, Sarah Brocklehurst - Black Pond
Richard Ayoade - Submarine

WINNER = Paddy Considine - Tyrannosaur

Sadly, I haven't seen any of these films so I can't really make a good judgement but Paddy Consadine was in the fantastic film Dead Man's shoes, which I definitely reccomend and I like him so I was happy he won. The other write said that he was 'proud to count Paddy as a friend' which I would definitely describe as CUTE!


Set production
Tinker, tailor, soldier, spy
Hugo
War Horse
The Artist
Harry Potter and the deathly hallows part 2

WINNER = Hugo

This was really awkward... an old drunk looking stereotypical italian woman with too much plastic surgery to move her face who I believe was not even the real winner took far too long to walk down, especcially as there was not a lot of applause. She even left behind the bafta...

Supporting Actor

This award was presented by Helena Bonham Carter and Stephen Fry's introduction welcoming her to the stage and praising her fantastic acting talents was absolutely perfect. She astounds me in every single film and guess what? she comes across really well!

Christopher Plummer - Beginners
Philip Seymour Hoffman - The ides of march
Jim Broadbent - The Iron Lady,
Jonah Hill - Moneyball
Kenneth Branagh - My week with Marylin.

Winner = Christopher Plummer - Beginners.

Outstanding British Film

Tinker tailor soldier spy
Senna
Shame
We need to talk about Kevin
My week with Marylin


WINNER = Tinker tailor soldier spy

Best Supporting Actress

Jessica Chastain - The Help,
Judi Dench - My week with Marilyn,
Carey Mulligan - Drive
Octavia Spencer - The Help
Melissa McCarthy - Bridesmaids

WINNER = Octavia Spencer

Original Screenplay
The Iron Lady,
Midnight in Paris
The Guard
The Artist
Bridesmaids

WINNER = The Artist

Michel Hazanavicius went to kiss who I thought was his girlfriend but am now thinking is just one of the actresses, however she was having none of it, funny.

Orange Wednesday's Rising star
Eddie Raymayne
Adam Deacon
Tom Hiddleston
Chris Hemsworth
Chris O'Dowd

WINNER = Adam Deacon

Adam Deacon described this as a "win for the underdog". He is very right, I don't neccessarily dispute the award although Tom Hiddleston was fantastic in War Horse and Chris O'Dowd never fails to make me snort with laughter but Adam Deacon would have definitely not won if this award was voted for by the normal panel. I can't imagine them appreciating the scenes of Anuvahood, especcially the one starring Aisleyne from Big Brother... Exactly the same thing happened with The Only Way is Essex winning the youtube audience award last year so I think it is definitely true to say that these types of people can only win categories voted by audience.

Documentary

George Harrison: living in the instrumental world,
Project Nim,
Senna

WINNER = Senna

The man wearing trainers with his tuxedo was clearly not expecting to win but I'm very glad he did.

Adapted Screenplay -

The Descendants
The Help
The Ides of March
Tinker, tailor, soldier, spy
Moneyball

WINNER = Tinker, tailor, soldier, spy

I definitely need to see this film, have heard raving reviews and the people behind it seem lovely. The winner of this award made a very witty comment saying "I'd just like to thank the artist for not being adapted from a book", he's right though, he wouldn't have one if he was up against The Artist, I have no doubt that will win best film! I was sad to hear this writer's wife had died but it is lovely that he won this award in her honour for her writing. contribution.

Director

Mr Brad Pitt presented this award and with the time to communicate his true personality, did he win me over? the answer is no, he came across as miserable, he was the only person to present award who didn't seem to smile once. If he wasn't such a fantastic actor I wouldn't watch any of his films again, but luckily he is (if you don't agree then watch Burn after reading!)

Nicholas Winding Yefen - Drive
Tomas Alfredson - Tinker, tailor, soldier, spy
Lynne Ramsey - We need to talk about Kevin
Michel Hazanavicius - The Artist
Martin Scorcese - Hugo

WINNER = Michel Hazanavicius - The Artist

Leading Actress

Michelle Williams - My week with Marylin
Viola Davis - The help
Meryl Streep - The Iron Lady
Bérénice Bejo - The Artist
Tilda Swinton - We need to talk about Kevin

WINNER = Meryl Streep - The Iron Lady.

Everyone knows that no one beats Meryl but she still seemed genuinely shocked and extremely grateful. She's one of the most famous and respected actresses in the world but she's still not afraid to laugh at herself! She lost a shoe while walking up the stars but just carried on without it until Colin Firth picked it up and brought to her accompanied by a loving kiss on the cheek.


Leading Actor

Michael Fassbender - Shame
Gary Oldman - Tinker, tailor, soldier, spy
Jean Dujardin - The Artist
Brad Pitt - Moneyball
George Clooney - The Descendants

WINNER = Jean Dujardin - The Artist

Best Film

This award was presented by Hugh Jackman and Russell Crowe bringing some very funny humour, playing on Australian and English stereotypes, once again not afraid to laugh at themselves or anyone else. Take note Brad Pitt.

Drive
The Descendants
The Help
Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy
The Artist

WINNER = The Artist

If there is one film I need to watch after seeing this award show it is definitely the Artist. It won pretty much everything and it seems like something a media student should watch even if you have to google how to spell Michel Whatsisface's name.

The fellowship award went to Martin Scorcese and I can't imagine anyone disputing that, even if you don't personally like his films, you wouldn't be able to deny the impact he has had on cinema during his career. He's not exactly an unknown name.

I love these shows and am always disappointed when it gets to the end. Part of me wishes that the other awards shown at the end of the show were also shown in full but I'm sure that would only give award show haters more to complain about.

The Big O2 Sleepover!

It has been a week since me and 4 of my best friends found ourselves stranded at the O2 Arena in London and it has taken me this long to fully recover!

We had been to see Olly Murs and after a day of exploring M&M world, enthusing over the Gruffalo puppet show in Hamleys and a long trying on session in H&M followed by lots of dancing to a great show from the cheeky Essex boy, it's fair to say we were already feeling a little drained.

We'd been warned to leave the gig ASAP and get straight on a train because of the forecast snow for that evening and that's what we did, well tried to do. There's always a queue into the station after a concert at the O2 but when no one is going in, calling it a queue seems like an understatement! I've been told many times that snow doesn't settle in London, which is apparently due to the large amount of pollution in the air. I'm awful at geography and can't tell you how factual that justification is but I can verify, speaking from first hand experience, that it is definitely possible for snow to settle in London.

Even after being herded like cattle and discovering that the jubilee line had been suspended due to connection problems I did not feel worried. We were waiting for a bus to Stratford, assuming that from there we'd be able to get a train to Chelmsford and get picked up from there no problem. Of course this wasn't the case! the whole situation started to remind me of the Titanic, obviously the situation was nothing compared to that but there were thousands of people crammed together all trying to get on some very small buses, not really sure of what is going on. Eventually it became clear that we were not going to be one of the people to get on a bus and I was becoming increasingly more aggravated by some girls of a similar age to me, wearing short dresses and heels, shouting at the police man "we're only girls, let us on, it's not fair if these men get on before us', I was very close to giving them a rant about feminism and how girls are a lot stronger than men most of the time and the fact they were cold was nothing to do with their gender but much more to do with the little amount of clothes they were wearing in February! I was feeling very sorry for the police who were trying to control the impatient crowds, I was rapidly losing my faith in the human race. We spoke to a very lovely police woman who confirmed we would have missed the last train and were unlikely to get on a bus any time soon, she advised us to go into the O2 where there was free hot drinks and to just wait.

I'm often referred to as one of the Mums of the group with the name 'Mummy Trina' and I was feeling a huge amount of sympathy for the real mums taking care of their children in this situation as I was panicking about the fact we had to stay the night in London but trying to stay calm for my friends, with one unable to contact her mum, one being screamed at on the phone by her uncle, one who is prone to fainting and another worrying about a morning shift at McDonalds! Luckily, we're great friends and the night turned out to be more of a great story to tell rather than a living nightmare. A few of us slept under a table, others had far more sugars than are healthy and I broke a chair. Yes, I can now say that I've broken a chair in the VIP lounge of the O2. I'm not proud, it was extremely embarrassing.

From this experience I've discovered that I have a very flexible neck, which my friends think is probably because I play the violin but I'd fallen asleep on a chair (not the broken one) and my friends were forced to wake me up at 6 due to a fear that I'd broken my neck. I'm not very good without sleep and I was very very grumpy, snapping at everyone and thinking it would much more beneficial to stay and sleep more. Thankfully, no one listened to me and we were on a bus by half 6 and then on a train back to Billericay at half 8 and home by half 10!

Olly Murs is very good live and I had a great day in London with my best friends so honestly, if I went back in time and was told what would happen after seeing Olly Murs I would still go and do everything in the same way!