London welcomed the new year in with style on December 31st with major parties taking place at all of the top London clubs to celebrate the start of 2010.
The eastern influenced nightclub Chinawhite, which reopened this year at a new location on Winsley Street - off Oxford Street, held a ‘Forget the Year Party’ which was attended by a very fashionable London crowd.
funkybuddha - based on Berkley Street, and popular with diners visitingLondon restaurant Nobu - invited guests to enjoy all the house drinks (spirits, wine and beer) they wanted at their New Year’s Eve party.
HEYJOCLUB, owned by multi-millionaire libertarian Dave West, held a dinner and dance for it’s VIP members with guests enjoying fine Russian food, Champagne and cocktails at the bar.
New Year’s Eve in London is the biggest night of the year with millions of people flocking to the centre of the capital to enjoy the nightlife and the top night clubs hosting their most extravagant celebrity parties.
Although 2009 has been much publicised as a bad year for the economy the best London clubs are still pulling out all the stops with VIPs expected to be arriving in limousines and enjoying the events, popping Champagne bottles, as they normally would during the festive season.
These are clubs regularly frequented by A-list celebrity clubbers such as P.Diddy, JLS, Girls Aloud, Jay Z, Kate Moss and Beyonce where entry is controlled by strict guest lists and the crowd is mostly made up of elite clubbers more used to gracing the pages of Tattler than The Sun.
James WJ Wilson, Director of Forbidden London Clubs, one of the leading promotion companies in London’s club-land believes the top bars and clubs have everything to look forward to as he forecasts a great Christmas and New Year in the West End.
“London is the most fashionable city in the world and despite Gordon Brown’s best attempts to derail the economy, the nightlife – bars, night clubs and restaurants – particularly at the top end of the market, are still performing well.”
“People are perhaps not spending at the same level as they were two years ago, maybe we’ve seen the last of the bankers splurging £30,000 on bottles of Cristal Champagne for now, but overall most of our clients are wealthy and still want to enjoy themselves. In my opinion there is no better place to do that than at the best events in London which are hosted by the top clubs and promoters.”
Lord Dave West, owner of the HEYJOCLUB in St James’s is well known publicly thanks to his Cherie Blair assisted battle against the smoking ban and his penchant for bright pink suits; he echoed this view.
“I own one of the top clubs (HEYJOCLUB) and one of the best restaurants (Abracadabra Russian Restaurant) in Central London and we are finding that the high-end customers we entertain are still enjoying spending their money on fine food and fine wines”
“Many of our best clients are Russian and the government has not managed to ruin everyone’s fun yet, they’re still spending.”
With Christmas and New Year’s Eve just round the corner and most companies still planning on rewarding their staff for what could be considered a difficult year, things are looking bright for the glamorous London clubs the VIPs and celebrities love.
The former Pulp star played a live soundtrack to gyrating students at the first day of a three-day art exhibition he was hosting in East London.
Cocker and his band played for hours, backing anything from graffiti sessions to pole dancing classes. He also mixed with the common people as he invited passers-by to jam with him at Shoreditch’s Village Underground. The event echoed a similar stunt which he set up in Paris earlier this year, playing for hours on end for free to anyone in the area.
As the hours ticked by, the musician and recently appointed BBC 6 Music radio presenter tackled a variety of instruments to create his ambient backing tracks.
This week he will be also be accompanying a yoga session, a hula hoop workshop and burlesque dancing lessons…
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Above all applicants must be dedicated to achieving success in the music industry.
Enthusiasm is vital, experience less so; practiced singing and dancing skills would be a definite advantage.
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Simon Cowell, Stella McCartney and Dizzee Rascal were today named among the 20 most influential people in London. They joined Boris Johnson and Met Commissioner Sir Paul Stephenson in London paper the Evening Standard’s annual list of the most powerful figures in the capital which some have dubbed ‘bonkers’.
The London Mayor topped the list, with Business Secretary Peter Mandelson in second place, leaving Gordon Brown in third, just ahead of Tory leader David Cameron.
A panel of experts and journalists compile the top 20, from Standard’s ‘The 1,000′, an annual survey of the most influential people in the capital from politics and the City to sport and the arts.
Top 20
Boris Johnson, Mayor of London
Lord Mandelson, Business Secretary
Gordon Brown, Prime Minister
David Cameron, Conservative Leader
Mervyn King, Bank of England Governor
Sir Paul Stephenson, Metropolitan Police Commissioner
Sir Philip Green, Bhs and Arcadia boss
James Murdoch, News Corporation Europe chief executive
Sir Martin Sorrell, WPP boss
Sir Nicholas Serota, Director of the Tate
Simon Cowell, pop impresario
David Campbell, AEG Europe chief executive
Lord Coe, London Olympic Organising Committee chairman
The middle of the week - or as the our New York cousins like to call it, ‘Hump Day’ - will never be the same again as one of the top VIP nightclubs in London, Vendome - based on Piccadilly in Mayfair, launches Vendome Wednesday this week.
There will be live music from former Libertine and Babyshambles frontman Pete Doherty (the ex-boyfriend of model Kate Moss) and no stranger to rehab. Clubbers can also expect the best tracks from the London club chart from top DJs Kitt Proudfoot, Ollie Collins and Rich Stone.
If that wasn’t enough, there will be complimentary cocktails all night courtesy of Belvedere IX super premium vodka and no doubt plenty of bottles of fine champagne from the bar being popped and poured.
Directed by Andrew Steggall of The Motion Group, the production brings together a cast of actors and celebrities fresh from box office smash hits, to enact Vivienne’s call for a more cultured society, delivered by 25 characters from literature, art and history including Pinocchio, Aristotle and Alice from Wonderland.
Prior to the performance you are invited to view a special exhibition of unforgettable art inspired by the manifesto, curated by highly acclaimed underground artist Sanja Sakic. Immediately after the performance there will be a short Q&A session with Vivienne Westwood, followed by a champagne reception and an exquisite three course dinner accompanied by live music.
Climate change futurologist James Lovelock, author of The Vanishing Face of Gaia, will also be attending to share his thoughts on what the future holds for the human race - a concern very close to Vivienne’s heart. Guests will have the opportunity to show their support for positive change by learning more about the Prince’s Rainforest Project and the COP 15 conference on climate change.
The evening will conclude with a star-studded VIP afterparty at the HEYJOCLUB in Mayfair, where Vivienne, the star of the night, will be joining us.
A once in a lifetime evening not to be missed.
VENUE: The Bloomsbury Ballroom, Bloomsbury Square, London,
WC1B 4DA
DRESS CODE: BLACK TIE / SPIFFY CASUAL
TICKET PRICE: £250 + VAT PER PERSON; TABLES £2,050 + VAT (10 PEOPLE)INCLUDES ART EXHIBITION, PERFORMANCE, CHAMPAGNE RECEPTION, THREE COURSE DINNER AND FINE WINESPRIVATE TABLES AVAILABLE FOR PARTIES OF EIGHT OR MORE
Active Resistance Art Exhibition Tickets - £10 + VAT PER PERSON
Active Resistance Art Exhibition and Performance Tickets - £60 + VAT PER PERSON
Active Resistance VIP After-party Tickets - £30 + VAT PER PERSON
Girls Aloud singer and notorious hellraiser Sarah Harding - who is never out of the celebrity gossip magazines - is launching her own London club with the assistance of one of London’s top promoters.
Pop star Sarah and boyfriendDJ Tom Crane - a regular in DJ in the top London night clubs - have teamed up with Nick House and Piers Adam, owners of clubs Mahiki and Whisky Mist and club promoters London Parties, to open Kanaloa in the City of London which is the financial district of the English capital.
A life-sized throne, a crown and a rocket ship are amongst the collection of personal effects belonging to the late King of Pop Michael Jackson currently making their world premiere at an exhibition held at top London venue the O2 which started last Wednesday.
The exhibition also includes an oil painting of the star dressed as a king and a triptych of canvases of the celebrity singer showing him being crowned, knighted and holding a magical sword.
Beneath it stands Jackson’s car, a classic 1967 Rolls-Royce Phantom, which was used by the singer and his close friend Dame Elizabeth Taylor to go for spins around Los Angeles during his life.
If you are a Jackson fan - and let’s face it who isn’t - take a break from London nightlife and check out how one of the richest entertainers the world has ever seen spent his cash.
‘Michael Jackson, The Official Exhibition’ opened to the public on Wednesday at the O2 Bubble in Peninsula Square for a limited run - just yards from where the singer announced his ill-fated comeback ‘This Is It’ concerts earlier in 2009.
Peter Andre let his hair down on Tuesday night enjoying the famous London nightlife when he went for dinner at a London restaurant, with pals Chantelle Houghton and pregnant Nicola McLean, before visiting the Funky Buddha Club in Mayfair.
Former Celebrity Big Brother winner, model and Paris Hilton lookalike Chantelle particularly seemed to be enjoying herself laughing loudly at recently single Peter Andre’s jokes - what a mysterious girl?!
