I like this little comment from The Guardian's columnist Barbara Ellen.

 

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/20...y-adrian-chiles

 

What a shame that William Hague decided to handle the internet rumours in such a pompous, heavy-handed manner. It doesn't matter that the rumours have been following him since Oxford University: who, these days, would be so silly and thin-skinned as to be genuinely upset by a gay smear? Or so naive as to admit they are?

 

Making the underqualified Christopher Myers his aide is one thing, but the pair sharing a hotel room could have been handled easily and lightly – Hague joking that he's a Yorkshireman, too tight to pay for two rooms. As for the "True Bromance" pictures of them walking along the street in sunglasses, Hague in a baseball cap and tucked-in top, Alastair Campbell observed drily: "Most politicians are poor at casual clothes." An understatement, but there was no real harm in the photo. It was just so hilariously camp.

 

Dining with a friend, I was told how she'd once spotted Andy Bell, the fabulous singer from Erasure, on New York's Gay Street, wearing a bum-bag. She mentally filed it away as the campest thing she'd ever seen. "But the Hague photo is camper!" Crucially, neither of us thought any of this (funny photos, ill-judged room sharing) had anything to do with Hague being homosexual. Why, then, did Hague feel compelled to react in such a po-faced, dramatic way?

 

Hague should have laughed it off. Sure, there's the whiff of gay Salem around Westminster at times. Right now, we seem to be tripping over politicians coming out or having dramas about their sexuality. However, these people are gay. Merely being accused of being gay isn't the same thing. In fact, it appears to be practically a blooding for a certain stripe of workaholic politician, part of the Westminster territory.

 

For Hague suddenly to barge around, making public statements, dragging his wife Ffion's miscarriages into it, hints at a worrying dearth of emotional intelligence. Miscarriages are incredibly sad, but they aren't proof of a man's sexuality. Nor is having children, nor is even a 20-year marriage, as Crispin Blunt recently demonstrated.

 

However, that's beside the point. Hague seems to be a decent man and an experienced international statesman. Why, then, would he embark on a course of action that sends out the toxic message that, if it is not actually shameful to be gay, it is an outright insult to be accused of it?

 

This is what Hague has done and, in a way, that presumes politicians are uniquely targeted. Far from it. Even at my low level, I regularly receive missives from people asking charmingly, and sometimes not so charmingly, whether I might secretly be one for the ladies. It's inaccurate; I sometimes feel that I should be checking my desk diary in case I did black out and spend a month or so dating Ellen DeGeneres. However, it's not remotely distressing or insulting.

 

Irrelevant? I've not been splashed all over the papers, nor whispered about for years. No, but others have. Take That's new video for "Shame" features Robbie Williams and Gary Barlow parodying the gay movie Brokeback Mountain, making light of the homosexual rumours that have followed the band since the start of their career. Surely if fluffy boyband members can cope with elegance and humour with this kind of thing, a foreign secretary should have breezed it.

 

This is the point. If Hague can't cope with bromance rumours, however incessant and irritating, then how can we trust him with issues that really matter, such as Afghanistan or Iran? Arguably, all this pouting and stropping has made Hague seem a million times camper. However, none of us has any right to care a damn whether William Hague is gay or straight. What is significant, and troubling, is that our foreign secretary dealt with gay rumours markedly less maturely than a boyband.

 

 

 

 

Kath

Edited September 5, 201014 yr by Kathyp

Radio Airplay Top 50

 

TW LW Wks Artist/Title

 

01 03 5 Taio Cruz Dynamite 1868 19.82 53.28 14.68

02 16 2 Robbie Williams & Gary Barlow Shame 1844 117.45 52.36 65.49

03 01 8 The Saturdays Missing You 2568 -8.25 50.76 -14

04 05 9 Eminem Feat. Rihanna Love The Way You Lie 1698 -3.58 46.09 2.29

05 13 4 The Script For The First Time (Times Are Hard) 1963 12.56 44.53 32.93

06 12 5 Olly Murs Please Don't Let Me Go 2733 22.01 41.76 23.15

07 06 16 Katy Perry Feat. Snoop Dogg California Gurls 2682 -8.09 41.51 -6.26

08 02 6 Brandon Flowers Crossfire 1394 47.51 40.34 -26.43

09 08 9 Flo-rida feat. David Guetta Club Can't Handle Me 1798 1.58 37.81 -3.08

10 11 10 The Wanted All Time Low 2407 -8.16 35.53 -0.56

 

Radio Airplay Top 50

 

TW LW Wks Artist/Title

 

02 16 2 Robbie Williams & Gary Barlow Shame 1844 117.45 52.36 65.49

 

This is getting annoying now. It was on the radio in the car today and I started singing along to it. I know ... I should be disgusted with myself ... I am!!!

 

Kath

 

I don't mind the song tbh, think it's quite catchy ^_^

This is getting annoying now. It was on the radio in the car today and I started singing along to it. I know ... I should be disgusted with myself ... I am!!!

 

Kath

 

 

Well, at least you've heard the song....me, living in the US, haven't heard it yet.....you may be disgusted with yourself, Kath, but, I'm not....I luvs ya, anyhoo.... :D :D

Its a real grower and its a very simple song (in a good way) i can see this doing very well.

I still don't like it. :puke2:

 

I like the Eminem song though :huh:

I've watched again. It's just not happening for me. :(

I thought they sang it well tonight ... their voices do blend very well. Live too ... they were perhaps the most tuneful act of the night. Does anyone else think though ... that this was the wrong place to 'showcase' this song? The concert all of a sudden changed from being about the heroes to being about Gary and Rob's Bromance. That's what I thought anyway.

 

Kath

I thought they sang it well tonight ... their voices do blend very well. Live too ... they were perhaps the most tuneful act of the night. Does anyone else think though ... that this was the wrong place to 'showcase' this song? The concert all of a sudden changed from being about the heroes to being about Gary and Rob's Bromance. That's what I thought anyway.

 

Kath

 

I agree - to promote it for the first time at this event was perhaps not the best move. But I suppose Gary wouldve wanted to be apart of it and there would be little point in doing an old TT song with just the two of them when they actually have a duet now. I still find it very odd that the song is still not out yet - what is it another two weeks to go? Far too long a gap but I am sure between them Gaz and Rob's management know what they are doing :lol:

I agree - to promote it for the first time at this event was perhaps not the best move. But I suppose Gary wouldve wanted to be apart of it and there would be little point in doing an old TT song with just the two of them when they actually have a duet now. I still find it very odd that the song is still not out yet - what is it another two weeks to go? Far too long a gap but I am sure between them Gaz and Rob's management know what they are doing :lol:

 

Have you heard the snippet of 'Heart and I'? I think you'll be pleased. I am ... even though it is just Rob singing it. When they get together these two can come up with something decent. It's on youtube but I've put a link in the TT section here. Although not a Lennonesque classic ... the 30 second clip indicates a much, much better song than Shame.

 

Back to the concert ... I really did think that Rob looked a bit naff at times ... very out of breath and relying too much on his backing singers to get him by. Maybe he needs his time out with TT - the more energetic members (Howard and Jay) can take a bit of stress from him. Believe me ... after seeing The Circus ... Rob is going to have to get 110% fit to cope.

 

Kath

 

God, Rob's voice was terribly rough. :mellow: And I just realised Shame is very tough to sing live, both struggled to follow the tune! Robbie doesn't seem tired or out of breath but he seems out of... voice! I wish he could take care of his throat from time to time. Shame has grown on me but not enough to believe it is a really good song.

 

And yes I too believe their voices blend well but the duet was not suitable for the occasion (a stupid occasion imo anyway <_< ). People will start to get tired of it now with all the radio and fuzz. I guess it will have one or two weeks of impressive sales and will then drop like a stone. For some reasons chart-people have started to believe it won't get to no1.(wishful thinking I'd say but mirrors the fact it has started to get dull)

 

30 sec of 'Heart and I' were enough to convince me it is better than 'shame' :o (such a shame what a shame pitiful shame real shame)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kcewhDDhrG8

 

Edit: Is it just me or Rob's 'entertaining' still makes Gary feel awkward after all these years... he just stands there and smiles in a shy way, totally speechless...

Edited September 15, 201014 yr by 7heDreamer

Edit: Is it just me or Rob's 'entertaining' still makes Gary feel awkward after all these years... he just stands there and smiles in a shy way, totally speechless...

 

 

I'd feel a bit awkward and embarrassed if I was stood up there on stage with Rob behaving like that. And what was the kicking of the legs bit? 110% cringeworthy.

 

By the way ... I do now realise that the fluffing of lines and the silly moves and faces are what the Rob fans love about him ... which is why I see what you mean ... he should stay solo.

 

I was thinking of going to see the tour ... I think I'll save my money now.

 

Kath

Edited September 15, 201014 yr by Kathyp

I'd feel a bit awkward and embarrassed if I was stood up there on stage with Rob behaving like that. And what was the kicking of the legs bit? 110% cringeworthy.

 

By the way ... I do now realise that the fluffing of lines and the silly moves and faces are what the Rob fans love about him ... which is why I see what you mean ... he should stay solo.

 

I was thinking of going to see the tour ... I think I'll save my money now.

 

Kath

 

Thought you said a while back that seeing TT live is not for you anymore, did you change your mind again?

 

I wonder how many Robbie/TT fans do actually go and see them when they first said they wouldnt.

Perhaps everyone will all go in secret without admitting it :lol:

 

and yeah, I like the " moves, and faces that Robbie does, and as for forgetting the lines now and then, he's human!

just think of how many songs he has to his name and how many lyrics he has to try and remember, can't be easy.

I thought they sounded good together. Still hate the song though. <_<

 

As a side issue, I was glad Gary arrived to stand beside Robbie. Those baggy trousers Robbie was wearing made him look like a 4ft 2 inch midget. Then Gary arrived and Robbie was tons taller and I was reassured he hadn't shrunk in the wash. ^_^

The baggy trousers were awful, but I guess they gave him alot of room to................

 

 

 

be able to jump around in :P

I thought they sounded good together. Still hate the song though. <_<

 

As a side issue, I was glad Gary arrived to stand beside Robbie. Those baggy trousers Robbie was wearing made him look like a 4ft 2 inch midget. Then Gary arrived and Robbie was tons taller and I was reassured he hadn't shrunk in the wash. ^_^

 

 

:lol:

When does Shame actually get released? Do we think it will get to No1?

 

Personally I'd be very surprised. But I'm permanently surprised at the UK No1s these days so no change there. <_<

I think it'll get to number 1, probably won't stay there for very long

 

Haven't a clue when it's realeased

I dont know, dont care & will not be buying it <_< but I do love Robbie :wub: