2013: a year for the return of icons in music, regeneration of age old series in film, the end of some TV shows, and the birth of new, highly promising ones.
Cher and Celine Dion have both returned to recording after extended absences from the scene, with Cher releasing her first album in 12 years and Celine releasing her first English language album since 2007. Cher’s Closer To The Truth became her highest charting album ever across the pond and made the Top 5 in the UK, while Dion has received rave reviews for comeback single, ‘Loved Back To Life.’ However, these seasoned performers have been overshadowed by the on-going death match between two 21st Century titans: Katy Perry and Lady Gaga. ‘Roar’, Perry’s lead from her new album, also trounced ‘Applause’ in the head-to-head chart battle and has gone on to top charts globally, while ‘Applause’ has failed to reach the Top 3 in any major market. Perry’s Prism has also received almost uniform positive reception as opposed to the inconsistent response to Gaga’s own ARTPOP.
Man of Steel proved a high-point for film, marking a return (sort of…) for DC Comics to the cinema after Marvel’s almost unassailable run of films since 2008’s Iron Man. Though Man of Steel was by no means perfect – it was a little cold and clinical. But aside from this, it was a fabulous return to form and obliterated the horrific memory of Green Lantern burned into our brains by Ryan Reynolds’ appalling performance. With the lukewarm reception to recent release Thor: The Dark World and the announcement of Superman vs. Batman for 2015, the time could be ripe for DC to take advantage and drive forwards to assert itself as a viable cinema property again.
The end of 90210 was a weird one. The show was terrible. By the Fifth Season it was clear the writers had run out of ideas and were literally working on a week-to-week basis, but in the finale when they desperately flailed to crash all their storylines to conclusion, there was a little bit of sadness mixed in. Every generation has their show. The lucky sods of the early 00s got The OC and One Tree Hill. The next lot got glorious Gossip Girl. We had 90210 but we basked in how terrible it was, and for a time we were all quite bothered about them all…well about Naomi anyway…the rest of them were rubbish.