I own a fairly small DVD collection. This is because I personally believe that if I own DVDs they should be the best films around. These are 15 DVDs I firmly believe any household shouldn’t be without.

15)      Rain Man [Certificate 15]
A heart-warming story about an angry young man and his ability to grow and connect with his autistic brother. It has all the hallmarks of a perfect emotive film but lacks a kick at the very end that would have perhaps brought the audience to tears. In hindsight though, director Barry Levinson probably took a more realistic view of the situation and ended it in less dramatic style because of it.

14)      I, Robot [Certificate 15]
Another film created on the back of breaking Asimov’s three laws of robotics:

1. A robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm.
2. A robot must obey the orders given to it by human beings, except where such orders would conflict with the First Law.
3. A robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Laws.

A thrilling film. Worth the watch and if you can’t see the plot for the amusement of Will Smith chasing a bald mechanical man, then you can at least appreciate its entertainment value.

13)      Trainspotting [Certificate 18]
A dark film with edgy humour showcases the dingy lives of heroin addicts and whilst the film doesn’t seem to have a plot for the first hour or so, the realism portrayed by the brashness of the characters is immense. The first person narrative is insightful and amusing and the film itself is extremely engaging. Although, the film doesn’t have anything to do with trainspotting and has only mild references to trains throughout. A good adaptation.

12)      Bruce Almighty [Certificate 12]

Genuinely the only comedy I have watched that has reduced me to tears because of the humour. A few horror films have in my time, but Bruce Almighty is one of a kind. The idea is creative, the execution is exceptional, the character casting, perfect and the humour is hilarious. Even when I watch it now, the one anchor news room scene usually still has me gasping for breath. Stay away from Evan Almighty though.

11)       City of God [Certificate 18]
The first of three world films in my top fifteen, City of God is about a boy photographer and the story of his home town and its demise to war. A film full of convincing characters and thrilling storylines, gang culture and drug culture feature heavily in a heart-in-mouth action film with an actual plot. City of God has it all, even a romantic interest.

10)      Spirited Away [Certificate PG]
The second world film in my collection, Spirited Away is an anime film about a girl who has to earn a living in a wash-house when her greedy parents ate a lot of food that did not belong to them and turned into pigs. Allowing yourself into this world brings about lots of strange characters that you can instantly fall in love with or despise. It’s a perfect kids film as well, removing the anxiety of predictability you get in kids films. A complete work of art, Spirited Away still lives on as one of the most popular anime films created.

09)      Where The Wild Things Are [Certificate PG]

A CGI adaptation of the cartoon version from 1973, Where The Wild Things Are shows the creative world of Max and his moral comeuppance in his own little world. This is definitely a film for the tissues which is what shocked me in realisation of its PG rating, but created a perfect blend of immaturity, morals, friendship and loneliness. The saddest children’s film I’ve ever seen, but I would sit through it a thousand more times for its genuine beauty alone.

08)      One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest [Certificate 18]
A seemingly cheerful film about patients in a mental institution taking on a much disliked nurse, who sees herself doing the right thing. The chilling and surprising movement this film takes is enough to harden the hearts and bring tears to the eyes of even the hardest of men. A truly shocking film full of camaraderie and close shaves, although most of this takes place inside the institution, a fabulous film is made of it.

07)      A Beautiful Mind [Certificate 12]
A Beautiful Mind is a beautiful film. Without revealing anything, the lead character, an incredibly intelligent mathematician and social recluse helps with work at the pentagon and life suddenly takes a turn for the worst. With yet another film you should prepare the tissues for, A Beautiful Mind drags you through one man’s hell and back. The scary part? The majority of this film is completely true.

06)      Hard Candy [Certificate 18]

Whilst anyone that knows me will know to what an extent I dislike Juno and her completely unnecessary role in Inception, Ellen Page pulls off a cracking performance in quite a grotesque film where she plays the role of a teenage vigilante, luring a thirty-two year old photographer she suspects to be a child molester in to a trap with the intention of exposing him. Not one to watch while eating dinner, but one for the mind to consider long and hard about. Not a huge amount of action, but the dominance, the though-provoking dialogue and acting makes for one of the best psychological thrillers I know.

05)      Artificial Intelligence: AI [Certificate 12]
Without a doubt the saddest film I own. I don’t want to go into detail with the plot but you follow the character of a young artificially created boy in search of his “mother’s” love. Packed to the brim with sucker-punch tear-inducing moments, I’m welling up even thinking about it. Beautifully, chillingly, perfect.

04)      Let The Right One In [Certificate 15]
The best of the three world films, this Swedish film made it around critic circles like wildfire. Small production, excellent acting and a thrilling story that turns the tide on the normal path a “boy meets girl” film takes. Subtitles are needed for one of the greatest inventive romantic horrors ever, but if you’re not a fan of subtitles, American re-make “Let Me In” starring Chloe Mortez is also an excellent adaptation.

03)      Fight Club [Certificate 18]
I get more and more out of this film every single time I watch it. There are lots of clues throughout the film pointing to the inevitable twist towards the end, but you understand the film more every time you click play. The almost poetic narrative leads you through the life of a man whose name you don’t ever get to find out and remains one of the greatest ground-breaking cinema performances ever.

02)      Donnie Darko [Certificate 15]
A classic and a favourite of most, Donnie Darko is the perfect psychological thriller. Donnie’s character is performed perfectly and if/when you finally understand the film, it blows you away. The incredible impossibility of it all makes perfect sense and though you will probably understand it more each time you watch it, it’s engaging enough the first time to see it through again and again. This was for a long time my favourite film, until I watched the film finding itself placed at number one.

01)      Pulp Fiction [Certificate 18]
And here it is. Pulp Fiction. My number one suggestion for all you film buffs planning on watching the greatest films of all time. Pulp Fiction has the perfect blend of entertainment and shock to see you through the night, cut up in a way unique only to Quentin Tarintino. So many famous lines come from the greatest film on the planet and when you finally watch it in full, you realise why. Pulp Fiction is the perfect film. It has everything a film could need plus surplus. If you haven’t watched this, I suggest, nay, demand, you go and find this film immediately.

He may not have pursued a career in becoming a regular artist – instead he has achieved his biggest dream of becoming a music artist. Winner of X Factor 2010 -Matt Cardle, scooped the top spot after singing the winner’s song ‘When We Collide’ in the finals against Rebecca Ferguson.

Prior to his music career, Matt painted and decorated for his friend’s Dad’s house in his home town of Essex. He has gone from wanting to make quick money so he could get into a recording studio, to becoming a triumphing success with his winning song – ‘When We Collide’. It reached number one on the UK Singles Chart and turned out to be the Christmas number 1 and remained there for three consecutive weeks.

The person who gave rise to Matt’s fame was his Ex Girlfriend’s friend of a friend who encouraged him to go onto X Factor. A video was taken of him singing in his local pub called ‘Whispers’ and was sent to the online video audition – unaware of course that it would result in him grabbing the winning title.

He achieved a slot in the show and Matt’s nerves were brewing when he found out he’d be taking on the experience at X factor. He said, “I was really nervous. I didn’t know what to expect and I wasn’t really sure if I was ready for it or up for it”. That skepticism was overcome, as he has proved to himself and along with many others.

While the star was on X Factor, he secretly developed one skill in particular – which was how not to swear on live TV. He admits he’s a bit of a swearer and that although he tried to refrain, it didn’t quite work – since he managed to shout “f…ing hell!” out of excitement, during his final performance. Matt had no idea whatsoever that he’d win and his reaction when the host Dermot O’leary announced the winner, as Matt put it, was “just shock! And thanks! I didn’t know what to feel really!”

During the rapid fire round of questions, Matt revealed some interesting facts for his fans:

Which artist would you do a collaboration with?
“Erm, I’d love to collaborate with Chris Martin”

Do you have any interests or hobbies?
“Yeah! I mean I’ve been skating, skate boarding, since I was about 14 years old. And I’ve been snow boarding as well since I was about 16.

Any funny secrets you haven’t revealed to the public yet that your fans might want to know?
“I’ve got blue and black lucky socks – they stink!”

If we were to look through your iPod, what music would we find on there at the moment?
“You’d find, Rihanna, Michael Jackson, B Gabriel, Paul Simon, Adelle and Nirvana – yeah quite a good range”.

Okay you’re a fly, whose wall would you like to be on?
“Erm, I have no idea! (laughs) Erm, Rihanna!

Do you fancy her?
“Oh yes!”

The music industry is difficult to break into, how did you find it?
“I found it impossible to get in, you get all these sort of vague opportunities and stuff people never want, you know, it never happened to me, but yeah, I got my fame from the X Factor!”

If you weren’t competing in X Factor last year, who would you have voted for?
“Either Rebecca or, oh Aiden I suppose. I would have voted for Aiden Grimshaw.”

What is your favourite thing about touring?
“Just being able to play gig after gig after gig. I mean, before the X Factor, I’d only have a gig every weekend or sometimes just bad gigs during the week. The gigs that I did with my band with my original music – was once a week, or once every two weeks and now you know, playing a show is the best feeling ever, you know, coming on stage and knowing you get to do that all over again the next night is incredible.”

Are you hoping to become as big a star to have a place at Madame Tussauds?
“(laughs) Erm, now that would be fun wouldn’t it, I don’t know – obviously you have to do so well to get there and obviously yeah! I want to do that well, yeah of course I do. I’ll have to write a lot of music as I possibly can and you know, sell as many records as I can and make sure people enjoy my music as much as possible.”

He recalls the first moment when he discovered he wanted to become a musician, which was when he was listening to ‘Bad’, by Michael Jackson – who is also his most inspiring artist. And at just the age of 8 he thought to himself “why can’t I do that?!”

He said “It’s been hard; I’ve always wanted to be signed to a record label since the age of 11. It took me a lot of time, until I was 27 years old!” He said his Mum would always catch him making a lot of noise around the house and on the guitar – very in tune. A born star perhaps?

Matt’s a very inspiring man who has come from such a simple life in Essex, to achieving his musical dream. Matt ends by giving a bit of advice to his fans, “if you want something, don’t give up. Within reason though, if you want to become President of the USA and you’re British, it just won’t happen”.

From Pop to Rock to Acoustic, Charlie Simpson really does have a wide range of styles. Starting back in 2001, he’s had a decade full of experience and has worked hard to get where he is today. Starting off in Busted, before leading a double life and working alongside the other members of Fightstar, he decided that rock was the path he wanted to take and dropped all the fame and fortune of the pop band to be a part of something he truly enjoyed. Since then, nothing has stopped Simpson pursuing everything he ever wanted!

Almost straight away, Fightstar began to receive positive reactions towards their music with their debut EP being a critical success. Since then they have gone on to produce 3 studio albums and receive Kerrang! Award nominations for ‘Best British Newcomer’ as well as ‘Best British Band’. Since 2010 the band have been on an extended hiatus and have gone separate ways to concentrate on other projects, they are expected to regroup in 2012. This has given Charlie Simpson the perfect opportunity to pursue a solo album full of his own personal acoustic music.

On August 15th, ‘Young Pilgrim’ hit the shelves, despite there being an arson fire at the distribution centre, exactly a week before its release, which ruined 30,000 copies of the then upcoming album. Since then he has released 3 singles which include the BBC Radio 1’s Record of the Week ‘Down Down Down’, the very meaningful ‘Parachutes’ and ‘Cemetery’ which was released on Halloween. It has reached number 6 on the UK Album Charts and #5 on the UK Download Chart. The critical response from magazines and newspapers has been overwhelming and has received such feedback as 4 out of 5 stars and an 8/10, with these scores not being the only outstanding ones and better yet. Each and every song was written and composed by the artist himself and he even played all instruments, except the drums, for the album. Which shows his talent doesn’t just stop at singing!

Charlie Simpson really has experienced it all and by listening to the album, you can tell how much thought has gone in to each of the songs. He’s achieved a lot in the past 10 years and I’m pretty sure he isn’t stopping there as he still has some upcoming tour dates set as well as some for March 2012, his band Fightstar are also set to regroup in 2012 and begin writing new material as well as working on their own movie, and from the success of Charlie’s debut album, this surely can’t be the last we’ll hear of his acoustic melodies.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Charlie Simpson, you truly are a master of your work, with this album behind you, you have summarized your own album in the words of your own song ‘Riverbanks’- “Something beautiful is happening” and your work and words are most definitely beautiful.

Edward ‘Ed’ Sheeran. The young man who was hardly known not so long ago has recently blown the music industry to bits with his new album going straight in at number one on the UK’s big top 40. The 20 year old singer song writer became known when he released his first mainstream song ‘The A Team’ which was unleashed in June 2011, since then he has grown tremendously.

Before his chart domination, he desperately tried to get noticed playing over 300 gigs before being signed by his record company. He has been linked to many well known artists such as Wretch 32, Example and James Morrison. Ed rose to fame over the last few years after supporting Example on tour and also became friends with Elton John.

His latest single, Lego House, is another fantastic video staring the famous Harry Potter film star Rupert Grint, claiming that he was recommended to Ed by fellow friend and actor Tom Felton due to their obvious resemblance. Ed is known for his renowned videos, claiming that ‘The A-Team’ was made with only £20 and another featuring Rizzle Kicks which was translated into sign language.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Ed’s talent is showcased in his new album ‘+’ showing of his distinguished talent, he has a compilation of songs and whatever style it is he never fails to make it his own. He is one of the fresh new upcoming artists, who have worked hard to be where he is now, and I am sure that all of his fans will agree that we will be expecting big things from him in the future!

Ed Sheeran’s Birmingham Concert 11/10/11 – by Jessica Greaney

I had the privilege of going along to one of Ed Sheeran’s concerts after the release of his new album ‘+’. May I say that the 11^th October was thoroughly one of the most enjoyable nights of my life. After his two support acts, ‘Ethan Ash’, who also was amazing, dedicating special songs to close friends, and supplying the audience with Jelly Babies, which was different and fun, and ‘Laid Black’ who were also really enjoyable.

Ed Sheeran was greeted with a loud hello as the audience screamed his name, clapping and cheering. After that, the audience were unable to be quiet, until the moment when Ed Sheeran made the audience silent to put more emphasis on his slower songs. There was an amazing atmosphere in the room, and Ed performed with his voice, his guitar and loop pedal only – much different to many other concerts. Ed sounded exactly the same live to how he did on radio and singles.

He performed almost every song on his album, such as ‘Drunk’, ‘The A Team’- with special guest Mikill Pane, who was amazing and got the audience involved easily – and the finale, ‘You need me’, where he split the audience and got everyone singing along. He went off stage while still singing and the audience were thirsty for more. I will definitely be seeing Ed again as soon as he is back in Birmingham. After the concert, Ethan Ash and Mikill Pane were outside and many fans, myself included, got pictures with them, and I even got a phone case off Mikill Pane! Definitely a night to remember! I suggest that if Ed Sheeran, Laid Black, Ethan Ash and Mikill Pane come to your local area, you get a ticket straight away.

Full name: Roberto Stuart da Cunha Lima
Birthday: 26^th December 1990
Hometown: Brighton
Occupation: Singer-Songwriter
Origin: Brazil/Portuguese descent
Instruments: Acoustic guitar, piano
Main influences: Rihanna, Noel Gallagher, Justin Timberlake, John Mayer

YouTube page: http://www.youtube.com/HobbieStuartMusic

Written by Kat Ijaz

Over a year ago, Hobbie Stuart was virtually unknown but had hopes of being the next big thing in music. Now for the 20 year old Brighton boy-turned-YouTube-sensation it’s all becoming a reality, having successfully covered the likes of Katy Perry, Jessie J and Justin Timberlake. He started off uploading live covers, just him and his guitar, with the first one being Rihanna’s Only Girl in the World. He then went on to cover big hits such as Ellie Goulding’s Your Song and Adele classics Someone Like You (which is to date his most popular, receiving over 700,000 views!!) and Rolling in the Deep.

With almost 30,000 subscribers and well over 3 and a half million views under his belt in just a year, this boy is really going places! He’s also kept very busy as he’s been doing headline shows in his hometown of Brighton, London (The Garage and Bush Hall) and Manchester since August, with even more coming up at the end of November!

After signing with Sony, he’s already been to LA to start recording for his debut album and came back tweeting “I’m happy to tell you the trip was a success we got 6 new songs written for the album. 2 of them are absolute smashes swear down!!” In addition to that he’s already been out to dinner with Natasha Bedingfield, met the man who wrote Cheryl Cole’s smash hit Fight For This Love and has managed to bag free tickets to a Noel Gallagher gig, with a signed album! Not bad for a day’s work!

Click here to view the embedded video.

But what makes him different from other up and coming singers? His looks, the song choices, the fact that he plays acoustic songs beautifully? Or is it his fantastic voice?! As soon as he starts you can get a sense of how distinct his voice is (with an underlying British accent!) and it’s so easy to recognise how different it is to many mainstream voices. Having already uploaded two original songs to his YouTube channel called Flying by the Sun and more recently How We Lived, he’s definitely bringing something new to the music scene and has received a mass of support and good response from his 7 thousand Twitter followers and 20,000 Facebook fans. Supporters are all eager to hear new material and hopefully sometime next year, his very own album!

By Abu Syddek

Firstly, I’d like to thank Voice 21 for giving me the opportunity by selecting me as an individual, who had the privilege to undertake, a one day work experience placement with the police. Read on and find, exactly how and what I did throughout the day.

It was an early morning start at 7.50am sharp! It wasn’t really hard to wake up and I did make it on time which I was pleased about. We all arrived at the brand new police station building in West Bromwich and I must say it’s something worth talking about. It was all thanks to Tesco who had built this master piece fully furnished at no charge. Tesco wanted to buy the old police stations land and they offered the police a deal, informing them that they would build them a new station and the result speaks for itself. Apparently Tesco are planning to build the biggest store in the whole of Europe!

At about 8am the four young people including myself had a tour of the new build which lasted approximately an hour. It consists of three floors with long corridors and I mean long! One thing is for sure, it’s hard to find the door to exit the building and even the officers themselves find that challenging.

At 9.00am we were honoured to sit in the ‘daily management meeting’ and this relates to crimes and incidents which have taken place in the past 24 hours. There were a few interesting cases and something which drew my attention was the resident with cannabis in his own house. Six people had broken in to his home while he was upstairs and had stolen cannabis. However, the thieves managed to escape, but the owner of the property was arrested because he had the drug in his own house which was illegal. The meeting took place until 9.30am and happens three times a week: Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.

From 9.35am till 10.30am I was talking with the communications officer about promoting health and safety. Also crimes and cases which have taken place which are published in the Express and Star newspaper and on their Facebook page.

At 10.35am I was off out with PC Gerry in his nice long car to a house – but that’s not all. It was remembrance Friday on the 11^thhour, of the 11^th day, of the 11^th month and the 11^th year. (11.11.11) this date only comes once in a century! Me and PC Gerry had sat in his car with the radio on and when Big Ben in London had struck, the two minute silence had started. But before that had taken place, the host on the radio had said it’s been 90 years since the two minute silence has been first commemorated.

Back to work…

So the resident we visited had a leaflet through his letter box from a company who carry out gardening work. This person thought that he’d have his drive-way polished level and as he was looking for someone to carry out this work, he phoned this company. This was in the area of West Bromwich and the man had paid £2,700 for a job which was unfinished! In other words, their land had been ruined by cowboy builders.

They wanted tarmac laid and walls build, but the image above suggests nothing like this was done in the first place. Two neighbours: Ron handed over £1,400 and Ken who gave £1,350. If they had paid by cheque then they would’ve had the power to withdraw this.

It was quite moving, as Ron was in tears and he explained to us, that he’d worked very hard all his life and now he’s a pensioner. For people to do this to him, he just said that he’d been cheated with his money. His wife is diabetic and she’s in shock herself. Let’s hope that their problem is resolved very soon.

11.50am –12.30pm I was reporting back to the communications officer and I was telling her about what had happened and the house that I’d been to. She was impressed with my feedback. We were then talking about me and my future ambition and I said, “I want to be someone who helps others in society and also someone big in society, like a councillor or MP”. I then added “if this isn’t successful then, I’d like a career related with law or I.T”.

We were given our lunch break from 12.35pm-1.30pm.

When everyone got back at 1.35pm, it was time for the photographs. We had photos taken of all the young people with a few officers. This lasted for about 15 minutes.

Now for the most exciting part of the whole day, according to the officers working there! The Tasers! Costing £998 and it takes only two shots – one in the chest and one on the leg to put someone down. They’re very small in size and are costly. The presentation was very interesting.

At 2.20pm it was the final session where a police officer asked us questions on how the day went? It was nice and relaxing as we were in a room to ourselves which was big. He did mention that we’d been through a lot today and it will be difficult to process it all through our brains.

It was a fantastic day and valuable experience gained. I’d like to thank both the police and Voice 21 for organising this one day exclusive work experience placement. I hope to work with the police in the near future.

Horse riding has been one of my hobbies for around 6 years now and before coming to Seechem I went to a horse stables called Woodgate Valley.                                                                             

The Pony Club is a international organisation of riders and is the largest in the world with over 110,000 memberships. These two pictures are of four girls that go to Seechem; it is when they entered a Pony Club international competition.

Seechem Pony Club Centre currently has over 50 members who enjoy events like:  annual 3 day camping trips, regular weekend Pony Club days and rallies, dressage days and contests, cross country days and shows and show jumping training. Trips to the Horse of the Year Show, mounted games competitions and stable management coaching also happen at Seechem in Alvechurch.

The Pony Club members work towards awards and badges; the badges are either equestrian or countryside themed. This summer Chloe Abuteir and Ellie Pilkington, two of the members at Seechem, got their gold award for achieving over 23 badges.

Here are three of the horses that I ride frequently:

Jordan is a palomino mare and is a retired show jumper. She is very nice to ride but can sometimes be a little speedy.

Tom is a young black cob gelding! He is one of my favourites as he is really funny sometimes and is also really endearing. Tom is a wonderful character and is a great jumper when outside.

William is a perfect horse as he is great show jumper, excellent dressage horse and is also a good horse for Pony Club days and cross country events.

If you are into horse riding I would definitely recommend Seechem as it provides excellent facilities, wonderful instructing and at the end of the day you get a lot of enjoyment out of the experience with you friend and the horses.

One Direction are a British-Irish boyband, consisting of members Niall Horan, Zayn Malik, Liam Payne, Harry Styles and Louis Tomlinson. They finished third on the seventh series of The X Factor. Following the show, the group signed a £2million record contract with Simon Cowell’s label, Syco.

Each group member applied as solo candidates to the competition, but failed to qualify for the ‘Boys’ category. After a suggestion by guest judge Nicole Scherzinger, they were put in to a band, therefore qualifying for the ‘Groups’ category. They finished third behind runner-up Rebecca Ferguson and winner Matt Cardle. Immediately after the series finished, their song ‘Forever Young’, which would have been released if they had have won, was leaked on to the internet.

The first licensed One Direction book, titled ‘Forever Young (Our Official X Factor Story)’. The book, published by Harper Collins, contains personal snaps, unseen photographs and backstage footage from The X factor and the X Factor Live Tour, as well as written accounts of every member of the band. The book reached the number one spot on the Sunday Times Bestseller list. One Direction: The Official Annual 2012 was published on September 1^st 2011. The book includes exclusive interviews, up to the minute news and information, and never seen before photos of the band. On September 15^th 2011, One Direction released Dare to Dream: Life as One Direction. Like the other books, it contains exclusive unseen photographs of the band on and off stage, along with private captured moments. Dare to Dream was also able to secure the top spot on the Sunday Times Non Fiction Hardback Bestseller list. 

Meet the boys

Niall Horan was born on September 13^th 1993, 18, from Mullingar, Westmeath, Ireland. He is a student at Colaiste Mhuire, Mullingar.

Zayn Malik was born on January 12, 1993, 18 from West Lane Balidon, Bradford a student at Tong High School. He is of Pakistani descent. His audition was initially not shown, but was shown after the series had ended on spin-off show The Xtra Factor. Malik was noticed for becoming nervous in bootcamp, and when he was told he had to dance, he decided to remain backstage, effectively running the risk of elimination. Cowell noticed Malik missing from the dance routine and went backstage and convinced him to return.

Liam Payne, born on August 29, 1993, 18, from Wolverhampton, West Midlands, England. He is a music technology student at City of Wolverhampton College. Payne auditioned in 2008 to the fifth series of The X Factor when he was 14 and reached Judges’ Houses, but Simon Cowell thought he was not ready for the competition and asked him to come back in two years. This time, he auditioned singing ‘Cry Me a River’ and received a standing ovation from the audience and Simon Cowell.

Harry Styles was born on February 1^, 1994, 17, from Holmes Chapel, Cheshire, England. He is a student at Holmes Chapel Comprehensive School. He was the lead singer in the band White Eskimo with band members and lead guitarist Haydn Morris, bass guitarist Nick Clough and drummer Will Sweeney. He auditioned with ‘Isn’t She Lovely’ and received positive comments from two of the three judges present at his audition, with Louis Walsh having doubts on whether he was ready to progress in the competition. At bootcamp, he sang ‘Stop Crying Your Heart Out’ before being rejected and put in to One Direction.

Louis Tomlinson, born on December 24, 1991, age 19, from Doncaster, South Yorkshire, England, was a student at Hall Cross School.

Debut Album

They developed their debut album with Savan Kotecha and released their debut single “What Makes You Beautiful” on 11 September 2011. It entered the UK singles chart at #1 with first-week sales of 153,965, the highest of the year. The band is set to release their second single, “Gotta Be You” on November 13, 2011.  The single will be followed by their debut studio album, Up All Night on November 21, 2011. The album features songs written by Kelly Clarkson and Ed Sheeran.

Recently, One Direction announced their debut headline UK tour, set for December 2011 and January 2012.

This is one of the most dangerous times to join the British Army, with nearly 380 British soldiers killed in Afghanistan and over 1,700 seriously injured, and yet thousands of young men from all over the country still want to join.

This series charts the lives of four new recruits and their families on their journey from day one basic training through to frontline combat in Helmand.

As A company deploy to Afghanistan for their six-month tour of duty, the training is finally over for Darren and Andrew and they are about to get their first taste of combat. But it’s a violent start to the tour, as the company faces sniper attacks, the deadly threat of IEDs and an ever-growing casualty list. Will fighting in a war zone live up to Darren and Andrew’s expectations? And if they make it home in one piece, will they still want to be soldiers in the British Army?

Episode 1: The Shock of Capture!

Small and pale, Ashley barely looks old enough to still be in school, let alone to lay down his life for the Queen and country. Worried about the weight of his kit compared to his skinny shoulders he folds up his mum’s sanitary towels and puts them underneath the straps of his Bergen. Your heart goes out to Ashley and all the other nervous recruits as they struggle out of bed at 5am, homesick and relying on each other, can they cope doing this in Helmand?

Click here to view the embedded video.

Episode 2: Should I Stay, Or Should I Go?

“Kill! Kill! Kill!” scream the new recruits, plunging their bayonets into dummies. Officers whip up the aggression the lads will need on the battlefield. But behind smears of camouflage, are they really as strong as they seem?

Almost a third fails to complete basic training, which includes dodging real bullets and being exposed to CS gas. Perhaps the toughest of all is finding out who will be taken to Afghanistan first. Even if – like one unimpressed farther – you think these strong brave men are foolish for putting their lives on the line, not only for themselves but for there Queen and Country. It’s impossible not to admire their courage and feel for their distraught families.

Episode 3: Countdown to Afghanistan! 

Darren Meads and Andrew Forti have now graduated as British soldiers and are preparing to join their new battalion, 1 Rifles, in a six-month countdown to their deployment to Afghanistan.

Their company Commander, Major Carl Boswell, aka Chuckles, has to prepare Meads, Forti and the rest of the 110 men of ‘A’ company, for frontline combat against the brutal Taliban and scare of IEDs.

As the deployment date gets closer, the sharp reality of deploying to such a dangerous war zone starts to hit home for all the soldiers and their families as this may be the last time they see each other.

Episode 4: The Theatre of War!

All four of the British Soldiers that have been graduated are all shipped to Afghanistan, while leaving there families behind, As we follow Andrew Forti and Darren Meads as they become face to face with the majestic enemy, Soldiers are starting to realise what is actually going on, and many have named there legs “just in-case we loose them”.

On a warm busy night of Helmand, Afghanistan, signals over the radios are shouting ‘Man Down! Man Down! This means there is a soldier missing! All soldiers and spare helicopters must look for the lost solider. This daunted all, until night came, the solider Scott McLaren was found, but unfortunately, not alive; with bullet wounds after going missing from his post.

Work experience at Sky TV – Marketing Department

 By Nikita Gaur

Luckily I got out of school for one week and received an amazing opportunity to work at Sky! My aunty currently works as a PA to the supply chain field director and she pushed to get me the experience, to which I am extremely grateful.

Day One:

The first day built up a lot of anxiety as I had no idea what was going to happen, but I was soon greeted by friendly faces and felt very welcome. My first task of the day was to type out all notes from a meeting into a table, just to make the work look more organised. Next I was told all the roles of everyone within the company and all the different branches, there are loads! I then created the rotors for the next two months for all the staff under the supply chain field, that was confusing but once I got used to it, it became a lot easier.

After completing that I went to lunch and was so surprised with the canteen! Any food you could think of was present; they even have their own sweet shop! If my school canteen was like that, I would never leave! After lunch I was told that a cottage needed to be booked for a conference coming up and I was to find a cottage available on a certain date. This took hours and hours as all were either booked or were not big enough, however, this was sorted out the next day as a location had been found. I was then informed that a meal was to take place and could I find a suitable restaurant for everyone to eat at. After looking at many different restaurants I found a lovely French restaurant called Coté. After that my first day at SKY was complete.

Day Two:

The second day was much more productive and busier than the first day. The first task that had to be completed was the display in the canteen of pictures taken from a Stomp challenge the team took part in. The challenge was to each carry a gnome around the UK and get sponsored in order to raise money for the WWF charity (World Wildlife Fund). Pictures had to be selected on which were most presentable and then put onto A1, A2 or A3 paper. I then waited until the restaurant I found the previous day was open and booked it for the correct date, time and amount of people. Another member of staff was sending through emails to confirm what hotels were booked for different conferences, I then had to make a list of all hotel bookings, the number of rooms needed and times to then tick off which hotels had been booked, therefore making sure all were booked. More hotels that needed booking were sent through so I then had to contact the member of staff dealing with that issue and report the hotel name, date needed, times and rooms needed to be booked.

After lunch and a cheeky Krispie Kream doughnut I got back to work. I designed a ‘Hot Desk’ information booklet for each desk within the office; this entails all the information needed to know for guests/ visitors, staff when using computers, etc. Then came up my biggest project of the day! I was given the task of marking all the sky stores across the UK on a map by using stickers and writing the names of the shopping centres on the stickers, all 309 of them! This had to be carried on the next day as it was too long!

Day three:

Today, thank God, was a much more relaxed day and also extremely exciting! I started the day by finishing off marking all the Sky stores within the UK and by the end of the day I only got up to 200 or more, 100 more to go! Next I helped out with hotel confirmations by making sure all the dates, times and rooms were right and then helped with signing the contracts off. I was then invited to join a conference call in which different members of staff from different regions of the country talked about planning the next big conference. By listening to this I learnt how communication is made through different regions and how the staff’s feelings are extremely important within conference and much more.

Then came the best and extremely exciting part of the day, seeing all the sky studios! I managed to have a sneak peak at the Cricket Am set and most importantly the news studios where sky news is filmed live. It was amazingly weird seeing the presenter live and then on a separate television watching it live where the whole world sees it! I also got to catch a glimpse of the Apprentice 2010 winner Stella English talking on OK TV! What was more important to me was seeing where all the journalist’s and editors were situated and I also found out that the editor’s don’t get breaks! Constantly working without moving from your seat all day? I think I might just be able to hack that. So that was an amazing end to an amazing day.

Day Four:

Day four was very interesting as were all the other days, but this one in particular as I got the chance to shadow a different part of the company. This was the technical part of the company where they test the products, check the safety, think of new ways to help the customer when they have issues, quality etc. During this time I sat in two conferences in which I learnt how others communicate and work together, I also learnt how big some of the projects are and the amount of people involved! I shadowed one of the members of staff within the technical part, Helen, she was undertaking a graduate course and I got the privilege of getting information on that and what it entails, which was really important as I might just take that up in the future. Furthermore, I got to visit the training centre, this is where they train all the new engineers on how to use the equipment, install sky boxes and so on. My favourite part was testing out the brand new 3D televisions which were fabulous!

Day Five:

Today I was in for a treat as I was to go on a trip with a VIP engineer! This would show me how engineers detect certain problems and how they fix them. So I got to travel around in a big sky van we all see around, however, because I was with a VIP engineer (Nick) we were in a plain blue sky van as certain members that are VIP’s at sky do not wish for people to know what is happening at their house. Nick (the engineer) went through all the stages he must go through and the gadgets he must use to detect the problem. You would never imagine the amount of safety stages engineers must go through when on ladders! But it’s all to keep them safe and it seems to work.

After the problem was fixed we went back to Sky and back into the office so I could finish off my shopping centre’s project! And in a few minutes I was all finished and pretty proud of myself! After lunch and a cheeky Krispie Kreme doughnut I went off to shadow Judith who manages the engineers. Through this I learnt how the engineers are contacted, which engineer will receive which job and why, all the different jobs the engineers do.

My last day came to an end and I was surprised to receive a few gifts from the team. One being a hard hat that the engineers wear that was signed by everyone I had met during this amazing experience, another was a thank you card with little messages inside which meant a lot to me and lastly, a £50 gift card for Next which I did not expect as I was there to help. I have to say I enjoyed every minute there and hope to be back in the future!

Special thanks to: Veena, Helen, Judith, Rav, Tony, Nick and Marelina for making my work experience extra special.