The Music Page

-  "At first I thought it sounded horrible, but the reports I've seen have been really good, so there must be something good in it. I'm just worried that they're better than us." – Take That's Gary Barlow, talking to BBC News about the Take That-based musical 'Never Forget'.

- "Oh yeah, the football…how amazing was that? I've never seen anything like it. I…kept changing my mind about who I wanted to win. I felt bad for Terry and Lampard; I guess the right team won but I would have loved it if United had lost cause it would have been Ronaldo's fault and I hate Ronaldo. Well, I don't hate him, but after the whole winking incident I don't like him so much." – Lily Allen, writing about the Champion's League final in a post on her blog.

- "He made me cry. I've never told that to anybody! I was in a sensitive mood, I was singing and I didn't understand the rhythm that he wanted me to sing in, and he was kind of giving me a hard time and I was sort of taken aback by the way he was talking to me, so I said 'You know what? We need to talk', so we went upstairs and I'm like 'You can't talk to me that way!' and then I just burst into tears and he was like 'Oh my god, Madonna has a heart!', and I was like 'What?!' and I started crying even more, and we had it out. Now I love him and we make great music together, but I think we had to go through that." – Madonna, during an interview with ABC's 'Nightline' TV show, revealing that Pharrell Williams reduced her to tears while they were working on her latest album 'Hard Candy'.

VIBE

'Khwabon Ke Rishtey' by Najam Sheraz

Anita Saleem: The video starts with the words 'Love, Trust and Hope' flashing from a book. It also shows three girls lost deep in their thoughts. The entire video is based on the tales of these girls. The first account is of a young girl who discovers that her boyfriend is cheating on her. Heartbroken and forlorn she cries to herself. The second story shows an eighteen year old who finds out that he a man was merely playing around with her, and never genuinely loved her. Deceived and emotionally wrecked, she weeps copiously. The last story is about a 14-year-old schoolgirl whose stepfather attempts to molest her. She runs away as she learns of his intentions and sobs whilst tightly embracing her biological father's picture. At the end, the three ladies come together to a Najam Shiraz's concert. This was rather abrupt and didn't settle in with the rest of the video. The ending could have been molded in a better way, but perhaps the vocalist wanted to prove that his gigs can also have a healing effect! Nevertheless, the video is a wonderful effort and it sustains one's interest throughout. Najam Shiraz has touched very bold topics. These are issues that need to be addressed in today's world. The video is a very daring step from Najam Shiraz and we must commend him for that.

Lagan

Hira Sohail: Believing in nothing but themselves and showing true dedication towards the soul of balladic pop music that Pakistani audiences have always bowed to, Lagan the band has made it through waves of ever-changing trends of music in Pakistan over the past four years. Starting off in Peshawar, the band has gone through many phases, but always made an impact due to their melodic musical content topped off with emotional lyrics. After conquering the local Peshawar pop scene, the band moved to Islamabad to give a proper channel to their talent, which eventually led them to the competitive Lahori music scene. The proof of their talent can be seen in the fact that two of their melodies 'Pal' and 'Meri Jaana' were taken by Mr. Shoaib Mansoor for the famed 'Khuda Kay Liye' as a melody for the songs 'Janie Janie' and 'Humaray Hain' respectively. Lagan has also had two of their videos - 'Udasi' and 'Yaad Aaonga' – played excessively on all Pakistani music channels, as they were a hit.

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