Soap posts: Hollyoaks lights up the screen

Once again teen soap Hollyoaks has dragged me back. With the soap being on a quite unexpected and steep fall from grace since the turn of the year I was unsure whether to bother watching the climax to this week's episodes on Friday night.

But I was certainly not disappointed as I tuned in to witness The Loft inferno and demise of bad boy Warren Fox. The return of local super villain Clare Bates saw The Loft nightclub ravaged by fire as she looked for revenge on Justin Burton. But when Justin's girlfriend Hannah turned up at the scene of the crime looking for Justin she was unwittingly dragged into the drama as Clare held nemesis Warren captive.

As fire destroyed The Loft Justin saved Hannah and left Warren to meet his grisly end, all that was left of Clare was a single red shoe (surely a sign of her return as she yet again as she escapes another near death experience - think back to when her car plunged into a lake for her to drag herself out and walk off into the distance)

Hollyoaks may not be known for it's top notch acting but it can certainly delivers spectacular scenes. Once or twice a year Hollyoaks creates an episode that keeps me hooked, back in 2008 the dramatic death of newly wed Max Cunningham and revenge of long lost son Niall Rafferty were good examples.

This week's fire scene was dramatic and impressive, although the lack of fire engines and police to the scene until it was too late was a questionable plot device. All actors and characters involved played their parts well, with Warren Fox getting the dramatic send off his character deserved.

He has been a integral part of the show over recent years, involved in the majority of criminal activity that has besieged the village during his time. But as a murderer (of both old nemesis Sean Kennedy and wife Louise Summers) Warren was always going to get his comeuppance. He may have been a bad boy that viewers loved to hate but Jamie Lomas' character had run his course.

Whether Hollyoaks can hold my interest long enough to keep me watching is another thing but yet again they have delivered on high paced spectacular scenes and dramatic deaths.

Picture from WhatsonTV

Eurovision 2009

So it wasn't quite her, or the UK's time, as sung by our entry Jade Ewen, 21, last night in Moscow but finishing fifth in the Eurovision Song Contest is an achievement after years of being stuck rooted to the bottom of the leader board.

Ewen, with Andrew Lloyd Webber gave a powerful performance of Its My Time and she fully deserved to finish were she did, if not higher. Graham Norton, and myself included, was even getting annoyed when the UK was awarded only one point, something we would have taken as a monumental victory in previous years.

The top spot went to Norway's Alexander Rybak, 23, with his annoyingly catchy folk pop tune Fairytale, who achieved a record 387 points. The singer, who looks like a squeaky clean extra from High School Musical, seemed destined to win after his first twelve points.

New host Graham Norton had claimed there was a chance of a landslide victory and he was correct. But I must admit that the song, though annoying and cheesy, was extremely catchy and Rybak backed up his solid vocal performance whilst playing on the violin. As the twelve points started to roll in no one else really had a chance.

But even though Jade didn't quite manage to clinch the crown for the United Kingdom she can be proud to finish fifth with 173 points, Britain's highest finish since 2002. And the United Kingdom actually doing well was not the only new element at the 54th Eurovision Song Contest as Graham Norton took over from Terry Wogan as host. The Irish comedian and TV presenter delivered some of tongue in cheek humour whilst watching over the song contest; the worries of a Eurovision without Wogan can now be forgotten.

The spectacular contest held in Moscow was far more enjoyable to watch than previous years, with the majority of songs less trashy and the voting a lot less predictable. Finishing fifth is a commendable achievement and long may it continue as the Eurovision rolls into Norway for 2010.

Picture from popsugar

British Soap Awards 2009

The British Soap Awards (or the BSAs) are the soap genre's Oscars; an evening dedicated to rewarding those who work within soap and as I soap fan, it is a enjoyable evening where we get to see the stars of the small screen come together and celebrate soaps.

Even though I enjoy watching and remembering the highlights of the past year the BSAs lack the suspense of The Oscars or Golden Globes because with the ceremony recorded the Saturday before, I end up knowing exactly who is going to win what before it is broadcasted on the following Wednesday. This is obviously my choice to see who wins beforehand but I must admit it does slightly spoil the surprise.

Presented by Phillip Schofield (a perfectly enjoyable host minus the flat jokes), this year's ceremony started off with the novelty awards for sexiest male and female, ones which each year seem to be presented to actors and actresses or clearly seem very annoyed and slightly embarrassed to be rewarded for their looks rather than acting ability. The winners this year were Scott Maslen (Jack Branning in EastEnders) and Michelle Keegan (Tina McIntyre in Coronation Street).

We then moved onto the serious awards (well serious for the soap awards anyway). Some of the more notable awards on the night were Babara Windsor's acceptance of the Lifetime Achievement award. A worthy winner after providing years of drama, laughter and ties as the head of the Mitchell family. I was also pleased to see the Masoods being celebrated with Nina Wadia (Zainab Masood in EastEnders) collecting Best comedy performance and Best on-screen partnership with Nitin Ganatra (Masood Ahmed in EastEnders).

As a fan of EastEnders I was happy to see the London based soap collecting seven awards on the night, including the highly coverted Best soap. As an avid viewer of soaps, EastEnders is the only one that has managed to keep me hooked throughout the year.

Although some of the awards were rightly received in my opinion I still have to disagree with some of the decisions. Katherine Kelly (Becky Grainger in Coronation Street) was a unexpected victor in the Best Actress category. Although I am always entertained by Becky when I watch Coronation Street her performance seemed more at home in the Best comedy performance category. I would have preferred the Best actress award to go to Jo Joyner (Tanya Branning in EastEnders), Samantha Janus (Ronnie Mitchell in EastEnders) or Carly Stenson (Steph Cunningham in Hollyoaks).

I don't want to seem completely biased towards EastEnders so I will add that I feel Hollyoaks deserved some recognition for a good year up until Christmas. Although the soap has dropped dramatically since then, storylines like Max's death and Niall's revenge were extremely enjoyable and deserved award success.

The BSAs may not have the glamour, glitz or talent of The Oscars, Golden Globes or BAFTAs but it is an entertaining night's viewing, where the public and a panel of judges can recognise and reward those in the world of soap.

For a full list of winners

Picture from gm.tv