Remember Monday - The UK's Eurovision entry for 2025 will be the female country-pop trio Remember Monday, the BBC has announced. The group, who previously reached the quarter finals of The Voice, will head to Switzerland this May with a song called What The Hell Just Happened?
Calling themselves "pop girlies with a little bit of yeehaw", the band was formed by school friends Lauren Byrne, Holly-Anne Hull and Charlotte Steele in 2013. In a press release, they said: "We're going to be the first girlband to represent the UK since 1999, which feels like such a crazy honour. We're going to bring loads of fun, energy and hopefully do something that you won't have seen before on the Eurovision stage."
Citizens’ Return - A revival of Tennessee Williams’ The Glass Menagerie, a production of Douglas Maxwell’s award-winning play So Young, and a family adaptation of Beauty and the Beast will all run at the Citizens Theatre after it reopens later this year. The Glasgow venue, which has been undergoing a significant redevelopment since 2018, will also host a “homecoming festival” this summer, plus open its new 150-seat studio space with shows from its Young Company and Community Collective.
This activity is in addition to Small Acts of Love, a new work about the aftermath of the Lockerbie bombing from playwright Frances Poet and Deacon Blue frontman Ricky Ross, which will reopen the 650-seat main stage in September. Artistic director Dominic Hill said: “This is a very special moment as we start to unveil an exciting programme of shows and opportunities in the new theatre for the first time in seven years.”
Black Sound London - An exhibition celebrating 100 years of black British music aims to "empower" the ethnic communities it originates from. Black Sound London at the Barbican Music Library charts the music's journey from flourishing underground to emerging on to the main stage. It starts with the arrival of the Southern Syncopated Orchestra in London from the United States in 1919 and continues through to Fuse ODG's afrobeat answer to Do They Know It's Christmas? more than a century later.
The City of London-owned library will also offer people who have a memory of the capital's black music scene an opportunity to share their story and have it saved for future generations. This will be part of two special "heritage collection days" during which people will be able to be interviewed and have an item related to their memory 3D scanned.
Scott Leonard, who has curated the exhibition with author Lloyd Bradley, said: "Too often in this country, black cultural heritage is packaged presented to the people by those that weren't there, so this type of exhibition at Barbican Music Library and the 'heritage collecting' days reverse the lens.” The exhibition runs until 19 July.
On Cue - Snooker legend Steve Davis is to headline an arts festival with his electronic music group. The six-time world champion's band The Utopia Strong tops the bill at this year's Angel Field Festival in Liverpool from 20-27 March. They will play at the Capstone Theatre at Liverpool Hope University's creative campus on the Friday. Davis took the snooker world by storm in the 1980s and 1990s and, away from the game, has worked as a radio broadcaster club DJ and author on topics including snooker, chess, cooking and music.
Farewell - Influential soul, jazz and funk producer and composer Roy Ayers has died at the age of 84. In a statement posted on Facebook, his family said: "It is with great sadness that the family of legendary vibraphonist, composer, and producer Roy Ayers announce his passing which occurred on March 4 2025 in New York City after a long illness." They described him as "highly influential and sought after as a music collaborator." Ayers' own biggest hit was the mellow track Everybody Loves the Sunshine, which was covered by artists like D'Angelo and sampled by others including Mary J Blige and Tyler, the Creator.
(Jim Evans)
