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Following on from Mulley’s post and Anthony’s follow up, I wondered what I am an ambassador for. I’m not sure if I’d call it being an ambassador but I certainly rant about much of the following:

Musicals

Too many guys today are afraid to either admit to enjoying musicals, or afraid to let themselves like musicals. I’m not! I love them and have done so for many many years. A love of musicals is one of the first things my girlfriend and I had in common. Probably the earliest musical I fell in love with was, rather unusually, Little Shop of Horrors. I think I empathised with the beleaguered Seymour desperately hoping for a way to get out of Skid Row……or maybe I just loved the songs. From Rocky Horror to Jesus Christ Superstar, from Blood Brothers to Rent, no other medium can constantly give me shivers of joy as much as when I fall into the worlds created by songs and good storytelling. But am I an ambassador for Musicals? I think so. I’m an ambassador for being proud of enjoying them. I try to introduce people to shows with varying successes.

Movies

I had a brief twitter with Mulley a few nights ago about Grosse Pointe Blank. Whenever someone asks me my favourite movie, I always try to break it down, wondering what’s the most cinematic, most uplifting, most technically impressive, most thought provoking. But if I’m truly honest, my favourite movie must be Grosse Pointe Blank. I laugh out loud everytime I watch it. I love the world and the characters that inhabit it. The music is fantastic and the dialogue is brilliantly witty. Everyone should see this movie, John Cusack’s Best, and while it won’t be to everyone’s taste, I can’t imagine anyone walking away from it saying they didn’t enjoy it.

Music

When we first moved to Dublin, 7½ years ago, we went out a lot. For some reason we always had a lot of disposable money (possibly due to the cheap hole we were living in). Whenever possible, we would go to gigs and we would make special efforts to see Jack L and Juliet Turner. Jack’s voice should be declared a national treasure and Turner’s quirky sense of humour added so much to the already astounding music at her concerts. Over the years we have converted a good few people to fans of the pair. At one of Juliet Turner’s gigs about five years ago, an odd act, called Duke Special, was her support. His stage presense and eclectic tunes made us immediate fans. While we shouted his praise for years, it’s bittersweet to see him have so much success now. It’s hard not being part of a group of devoted fans, when the group is in the hundreds of thousands. That said, I’m delighted for him and his band – they deserve every bit of success the get. (I’m putting together a post on Jack L which will be up later or tomorrow)

People

There’s a group of people which I would like to consider myself an ambassador for and that is the bullied, especially kids. No child (and no person) deserves to be victimised and abused. It’s a subject that is close to my heart and while I would be an ambassador, a megaphone for the persecuted, I have not yet found my voice. But I will.

Places

We moved to Greystones almost three years ago and immediately fell in love with the town. It’s more a home to me than anywhere else I’ve lived. And I am happy to rave about the place. It’s beatiful and quiet, but within easy reach of Dublin; it has great community spirit, as illustrated by Gingerpixel; it can grow outwards without losing any of its inner charm. That last point may be argued by some of the older residents, and while I can understan their viewpoint, the growth of Greystones own subburbs can only bring more amenities and oportunities to the town. Without growth comes stagnation. The people, for the most part, are very friendly, something which I have struggled to find elsewhere along Ireland’s east coast. It’s a great town and I would invite people to visit, to stay a while, to move here – they won’t be disappointed.

Vodafone’s Bright New Sounds gig is on Thursday night. As Jim Carroll points out, Vodafone’s New Sounds website doesn’t make it very clear what the Bright New Sounds promotion is for exactly, but the less cynical among us can infer that it’s to encourage new, young acts and to give a footing to bands who would otherwise struggle to be heard in the mainstream.

Bright New Sounds was launched at the start of February and was open to acts of all genres. Interested acts had to upload their tracks to www.brightnewsounds.ie, where the best 20 submissions, as decided by a panel, were made available for Irish Vodafone customers to download. The top five most downloaded acts would then be invited to perform in Dublin’s Tripod April 3, where one will be declared Vodafone’s Bright New Sound of 2008.

The winning act will get a prize package from Vodafone and Universal Music. They’ll record their new single in Windmill Lane, which will then be released as part of their recording deal with Universal Music, they will receive a professional photo shoot and launch gig with supporting promotional activity – including extensive coverage in the pages of Hot Press.

Now, it’s clear from Jim Carroll’s post that this is not all it’s cracked up to be, but from a layman’s p.o.v., I’m just looking forward to hearing the acts on Thursday. Having already listened to many of the tracks, including Chaplin’s The Story Goes, Christine Deady’s Don’t Rescue Me and The Kinetiks’ Shuffle Your Feet, it should be a good show.

Even if the Vodafone event is nothing more than an overblown marketing stunt, anything that raises the profile of some overlooked acts must be a good thing. Viva la Indie Music!

[youtube:http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=WJm9tLsRLXw]

Update: The five finalists have been announced!