Top Christmas Playlist: The Best Christmas Songs

We love Christmas: eating, drinking, presents, family, friends, and, of course, Christmas songs. It is a magical time of year so we have put together a Christmas playlist to get you in the mood. Merry Christmas! Have a good one.

christmas, christmas songs, christmas playlist, xmas

Bing Crosby – White Christmas

Slade – Merry Christmas Everyone

The Pogues – Fairy tale of New York

Judy Garland – Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas

Band Aid – Do They Know It’s Christmas?

Eartha Kitt – Santa Baby

Chris Rea – Driving Home For Christmas

Mel and Kim – Rockin’ Around The Christmas Tree

John Lennon – Happy Xmas (War Is Over)

Jon Bon Jovi – Please Come Home For Christmas

Paul McCartney – Wonderful Christmas Time

The Ronettes – I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus

Nat King Cole – The Christmas Song

Mariah Carey – All I Want for Christmas Is You

Wham – Last Christmas

Mud – Lonely This Christmas

Bruce Springsteen – Santa Claus Is Coming To Town

Bing Crosby & David Bowie – The Little Drummer Boy / Peace On Earth

Pre Cannes Festival 2013 | Social Diary

May 2nd saw the Pre Cannes Festival. The press release said, “With the very special participation of celebrity guests Carol Cleveland (Monthy Pythons), Patricia Inder (John Lennon’s & Lemmy of Motorhead’s). And Jonathan Hansler (Axed the movie, Cadbury ads), British actress and writer Catherine Balavage, Zoe Griffin author of the book “Get Rich Blogging”, Andrea Iervolino the youngest and most successful Italian producer all the way from Italy.”
Yes, yours truly was honoured to be presented for my acting work. I was quite thrown when Paola Berta told me I would be presented at the event. Lots of thanks to her and congratulations on the event. I was interviewed by Fashion TV amongst others and I had a wonderful time.
Catherine Balavage being interviewed by Fashion TV.

Catherine Balavage being interviewed by Fashion TV.

The event was held at No 5, 5 Cavendish square. It is a beautiful and classy venue. I mingled with Zoe and actor Jonathan Hansler while Fabio Tedde & Paul Wiffen played piano.
Pointing out the Frost logo. We have sponsored the event for the past two years.

Pointing out the Frost logo. We have sponsored the event for the past two years.

I bumped into the vivacious and beautiful Zoe Griffin, author of “Get Rich Blogging” and owner of excellent blog Live Like a VIP, who were kind enough to mention me in the coverage of the event.
I also had a great chat with the makers of new energy drink Think Drink, an energy drink that is natural and tastes great. We also chatted with Delights of Italy who make amazing cupcakes and entirely edible flowers. They were beautiful and delicious.
We also saw some great films from the Cannes Short Corner Official Selections.
SOMEBODY TO LOVE by Braine Hownd FilmsCAVIAR 2 by Beluga Films

COLONEL BADD by Tiger Dreams

UNSPOKEN by Oakman Films

KIR ROYALE by Beluga Films

edibleofflowers frostmagazine

There were also great talks from marketing specialist Kathy Ennis, LA producer and entrepreneur CHRISTIE HSIAO of SERENITY  MEDIA GROUP, British actress and theatre producer VICKY MCKELLER, Gentiane Piovanacci, editor of MAMARAZZI news magazine, popular french artist LADYKAT and from Spain, Mac Chakaveh, president of the MARBELLA FILM FESTIVAL.

 

Keep an eye out for more photos from the event.

A Very Grim Fairy tale

“Is it a good song? Well of course it is- don’t be stupid!”

That was me and me having our annual Christmas argument about a song that is both rousing and poetically written, and that takes a different look at a holiday that’s normally so delicious, wobbly and sugar-coated it could pass for an M&S crème brulee.

I realize that the story of the less fortunate is one we all love at this time of year and it’s been wrung dry by every Christmas movie from ‘It’s a Wonderful Life’ to ‘Groundhog Day’ but I don’t want it in my Christmas playlist and I certainly don’t want it voted the best festive song of all time.

Firstly, I’m English. It’s no big deal and I’m not going to shave my head about it but I really don’t want a song by an Irish group about two dossers living in New York to dominate my cozy little English Crimbletime.

Why should I care what the hell the boys in the NYPD Choir are singing about? The fact is that most ‘Irish-Americans’, in spite of dropping the word ‘Irish’ into half of all sentences, couldn’t find Europe on an atlas, let alone Ireland. They probably couldn’t find Galway Bay on a map of fucking Galway but they carry on, Peter Griffins to a man, and the Pogues expect me, thousands of miles away in England, to give a shit.

“Well at least the Pogues are genuinely Irish!” I hear me say… Yeah, great. I’ve only seen Shane Mcgowan perform twice- both on TV, and both times he was wasted, but that’s punk for you. There’s nothing wrong with a bit of punk in the right place but I don’t want to have the ‘Vs’ flicked at me by a man with a henge for a mouth when I’m tucking into my third kilo of dinner and preparing for Morecombe and Wise. Besides which, I didn’t ask for anything ‘Irish’ in the first place. If I want an Irish Christmas I’ll just go there- same applies to New Bloody York.

My Christmas is here, in England, with Cliff singing ‘follow the Mazda’ and Slade doing what they do best.

And let’s not forget the carols. The only time I even entertain the tiniest element of religion is for Christmas carols. Admittedly I have to blur the religious references when I catch myself singing them, but I’d still rather sit around the table singing, ‘Oh come grab a face full’ and ‘Born is the kid from Dingly Dell’ than turning to my wife’s gran and calling her ‘an old slut on junk’.

It’s bad enough being conned into singing an anti-war message by John Lennon when you think you’re just wishing everyone a merry Christmas. You lean over to plant a hopeful wet one on the cheek of Andrea from accounts as she passes below the mistletoe and find yourself whispering, ‘the war is over’ in her ear like an extra from ‘Allo Allo’!

The whole song just depresses me. I know it’s romantic and I get the sentiment- I really do, but I don’t want to marvel at how the spirit of Christmas can flicker even in the harshest of lives- not now, not at Christmas.

I appreciate that this makes me a soulless, shallow buffoon but hey, I’m on holiday so bah humbug and pass me the iPod. I’ve a hankering for Bing and just enough room left for a little crème brulee.

Merry Christmas.