Oscars 2013: The Winners

Well after months of excitement, anticipation, predictions and a thousand other award ceremonies, last night the envelopes were finally opened and the names were revealed. We saw some surprise winners and some less surprising winners. Host Seth Macfarlane has received a lot of mixed reviews from the critics and twitter...ok so they're mostly negative reviews but who cares? I personally enjoyed him hosting; the musical numbers, the bad taste jokes...What did people expect from the man who created Family Guy? Anyway, lets take a look at who won and whether my predictions were right.

How Have They Not Won An Oscar?!

An Academy Award is seen by many as the pinnacle of acting, the holy grail for those performers who have made an unforgettable mark on pop culture and film history, yet many stars have an empty space on their mantelpiece where their Oscar should be. As you go down my list of actors and actresses who have not received an Academy Award, I defy you not to gasp and say "How have they not won an Oscar?!", pointing angrily at the screen and cursing the Academy for all eternity. With that in mind, here are the nominees for Best Actor or Actress in a Leading or Supporting Role who should have won a damn Oscar!

One Direction's Kiss You - Youtube Faceoff

Live Lounge is great and all but what I love most is trawling through Youtube to find the best cover versions of my favourite songs by unsigned or small-time artists. If you put the time in, you'll find so many different and innovative interpretations of the biggest hits right now... but who has the time for that I hear you say? Have no fear for that's what our Youtube Faceoff is all about. Previous posts have looked at artists as diverse as Macy Gray, Britney Spears, Adele and Kesha. Today it's One Direction's turn!

'Kiss You' is the third single from the boys 'Take Me Home' album and it's an  addictive little pop number that's been in my head non-stop now for the last two months. As One Direction are insanely popular at the moment, I figured it would be easy to find hundreds of awesome versions of 'Kiss You' but that certainly wasn't the case. Actually, it turns out that every fan out there thinks that they can do an amazing cover, no matter how terrible they are. Saying that though, I did find some brilliant interpretations of 'Kiss You'. It just took longer than usual! Reacquaint yourself with the original first by clicking here.

Kesha's Die Young - Youtube Faceoff

Live Lounge is great and all but what I love most is trawling through Youtube to find the best cover versions of my favourite songs by unsigned or small-time artists. If you put the time in, you'll find so many different and innovative interpretations of the biggest hits right now... but who has the time for that I hear you say? Have no fear for that's what our Youtube Faceoff is all about. Previous posts have looked at artists as diverse as Adele, Britney Spears, Macy Gray and Robyn. 

Some of the best covers are based on songs that seem shallow and trashy on the surface but are actually surprisingly good when sang differently. To day we're going to take a look at Kesha's 'Die Young', which is a perfect example of this. I've never been a huge fan of her sleazy image but dammit, some of Kesha's songs are just beyond catchy. Check out the original song below for a reminder of how good Kesha can be when she actually bothers to sing properly on a track and look! She's even washed her hair!

Wreck-It Ralph (2012) - Which Classic Video Game Characters Were Missing?

The release of 'Wreck-It Ralph' has everyone pining for classic video game characters and it was amazing to see some long forgotten favourites arrive on the big screen, including Q*Bert, Dig Dug and Neff from 'Altered Beast'. A whole host of retro heroes and villains appear in the films opening act but I was still disappointed to see some missing, so here are the childhood favourites of mine which I think should have made it into the final picture, copyright issues aside. 

New Video 'Disturbance' From K-Pop Legend Boa

The Queen of K-Pop has returned this week with a brand new track called 'Disturbance' that she wrote and composed herself. The song is a 90s style RnB ballad that has a similar vibe to Boa's 2012 hit 'Only One', but it flies in the face of pretty much everything else that's big in k-pop right now. While most other acts are cheesy and attention grabbing with their flashy dance routines, Boa continues to play it cool in the promo, with a classy demeanor that is subtly sexy rather than in your face.  Whether 'Disturbance' will appeal more to Korean or Western audiences though remains to be seen but you owe it to yourself to see what all the fuss is about by clicking below.

Five Underrated Teen Books You Have To Read!

Even with the rise in popularity of teen books like 'The Hunger Games' and 'Twilight', the YA genre is often criminally overlooked. Some of the best books I've ever read were written primarily for teenagers but that doesn't mean that they are dumbed down by any means. Sure there are a number of generic trashy YA novels out there which were written for an easy read but that's true for books targeted at any age range. Particular favourites of mine include Michael Grant's 'Gone' series and the 'Chaos Walking Trilogy' by Patrick Ness but these books are popular already. Today's post is all about those underrated teen books that deserve to be read by a wider audience. And if you're not a fan of YA fiction yet then I think at least one of these five selections might change your mind. Read on and give them a go.