Hello January. The award fever is hitting me, hard. Tomorrow, the People’s Choice Awards are here. So, it’s not as prestigious as the Oscars, but it still has more credibility than the Teen Choice Awards (*thank you so much, this surfboard – it means everything to me!*). If you know me well you’ll know why I’m overexcited about tomorrow. Of course the dashing star couple of the ever-so-amazing Twilight films will be attending, hopefully hand-in-hand on the *blue* carpet. Mr. Lautner is also there, but, ahem, whatever. If you’ve been keeping up with PCA buzz, you’ll understand that Mr. Pattinson was the last of the three to confirm his attendance – an announcement that sent many fans over the moon! The show itself looks quite promising, I’ll have my tape ready.

Speaking of RPattz, he’ll be presenting an award at the Golden Globes, set to air on January 16th. Hopefully Miss. Stewart is able to join him on the carpet for this too…however she’ll need to be nominated for an award or selected to present, none of which have taken place – much to my disappointment. But she HAS been confirmed to present the award for Orange Rising Star at the BAFTAS later this year, having won it at last year’s show.

The Academy Awards are also on their way, Oscar nominations being announced on Jan 25th…Natalie Portman and Colin Firth will no doubt be chosen for certain categories, I can’t wait! Anna Hathaway and James Franco will definitely dazzle the event as hosts, the Oscars are going to be epic.

Just trying to get my award fever out of the way. But after typing all of that, I don’t think it’s going to go away just yet.

It was November 27th, 2009, that I was given the ultimate privilege to witness the amazing Britney Spears in Concert. The Circus Starring: Britney Spears, was definitely a highlight of 2009. My best friend in the whole world invited me to come with him to the last night of her tour in Melbourne, Australia and boy, they were incredible seats (a big thank you, you’re awesome!).

The excitement didn’t hit me till I was actually there. I mean, this is BRITNEY SPEARS. No WAY was I going to see her! I bought badges, a program and a necklace chain with her name engraved on the back. Merchandise FTW.

The opening acts – DJ Havana Brown (she was okay I guess, but I was too excited to pay attention) and an actual circus act who performed for us – they were pretty fantastic, but where was Britney??? My bestie, who’d gone to the three performances before today (LUCKY) was probably laughing at me because I had a permanent smile on my face.

AND THEN the opening video played and the countdown to the circus began! I was counting loudly….5! 4! 3! 2! 1! Then…it was her. It was BRITNEY SPEARS. She had a wig on, but it was HER! Her gorgeous face! Memories rushed through my head, I remembered myself at 4 years old rocking out to Baby One More Time…, I just couldn’t believe this was really her. After everything she’s been through, all the negative portrayals by the media, she looked fierce and ready to give 100%. Throughout the concert I began to feel proud of her, for getting back on tour and for trying to get her life back together. I was pretty new to some of her tracks (give me a break, I’m stuck on Oops I Did It Again), but nevertheless I enjoyed every minute! Highlights for me were Circus, Toxic, If U Seek Amy, Everytime and Womanizer. I have to say my heart skipped a beat when I heard the intro for Baby One More Time (I’m a sucker for 90′s music)…

I love love LOVED the costumes and the magic tricks! She often appeared out of nowhere and I often spent the next 10 minutes after each trick going “How did they do that? Where did she go? Where did she come from? OMG!” For some of the dance tracks Britney mouthed the wrong thing (yeah, I caught her haha) but I didn’t care. I mean this is BRITNEY!! Her dancers – even though really “provocative” – were really good. The only annoying thing was that the stage was completely round which meant that sometimes I just saw her back. I guess it would have been hard to entertain every corner of the stage! It worked really well for the whole “circus theme” though.

But hey, I’m 16 now. Even though it’s probably not entirely true, I know who I am and I’m not going to let her influence the way I act or dress. I just like her music. Is that a problem? It shouldn’t be. Lately I’ve been listening to a lot of alternative music and country music. Very different, I know, but amazing in their own way. TPR tracks are so good to listen to on a bad day. ‘Just Tonight’ is almost hitting its 50th play on iTunes. I love their first single, Make Me Wanna Die – oddly enough it doesn’t make me want to die, it just inspires me to expand my horizons in music. ‘Nothing Left  To Lose’ and ‘You’ are just pure rock. Love them. I guess Taylor is very brave for getting back at the media the way she does, even though she’s a bit extreme. But she is troubled, you can hear it in her music. She expresses anger toward her parents for ‘selling’ her to the media when she was just a baby, I think this impacted greatly on her view of life. I’m happy that the music is saving her at least, like Joan Jett. Joan Jett is one of Taylor’s role models too, which makes sense. WHICH brings me to one of my many unanswered questions about life:

WHY DIDN’T SHE PLAY CHERIE CURRIE IN THE RUNAWAYS?

The Runaways is one of my favourite movies of all time, not only because Kristen Stewart is fantastic in it, but also because it’s generally a great movie. HOWEVER, I personally think it would have been a lot more fitting for Taylor Momsen to have played the role of Cherie. Dakota Fanning did a B+ job, but come on, Taylor sings, acts AND is going down that path anyway!! Don’t people want REALISM in cinema anymore? Apart from that, Kris and T Mom would have had amazing chemistry on screen, not to mention gorgeous faces. I wonder why Dakota was just ‘given’ the part, I mean I know Cherie and Joan were 15 when they started but HELLO: Taylor was 16 when they filmed it! She would have made the transtion from good Cherie to rebellious Cherie a lot smoother unlike Dakota who looked like an innocent young girl from start to finish. OKAY I’m sorry about being so harsh to Dakota, I do admire how grounded she is and she’s a fantastic young actress, but NOT in The Runaways. I just wish Taylor was in it. *tear*

Overall, I just hope Taylor Momsen continues to make music, stays happy and doesn’t go down a tragic rock n’ roll path. She can be pretty reckless.

WOW is all I can think right now. Last night I was fortunate enough to go to the official stage production of Hairspray in Melbourne at the Princess Theatre. So honestly, WOW. Just WOW.

The entire production set was played out on three huge LED screens, not kidding here. The animated computer graphics were amazing but also fitting for this quirky, fun-loving musical. The best part was, the cast was very interactive with it as well. They would touch something on one of the screens and it would move (whoever controlled it was a true professional! Step aside, PowerPoint.

I guess this type of animation would only work for Hairspray though. But anyway, the cast was brilliant and the band was brilliant. The whole thing was just FANTASTIC! I’m totally speechless yet I keep talking. The dancing was impressive. Jack Chambers as LINK LARKIN – oh my goodness. Breath-taking. And he sings. Aaaah. Link is my favourite broadway character of all time (*cough* Zac Efron *cough). Jaz Flowers as TRACY TURNBLAD – she was so cute and the chemistry between her and Link was just fab. I love it. I love Hairspray. Trevor Ashley as EDNA TURNBLAD was just perfect – he cracked me up the whole show. Esther Hannaford as PENNY PINGLETON was hilarious. I would love to play that role.

The entire cast was fabulous. Oh and FYI I also met half of them at the stage door too!!! Will post pictures soon.

*runs off to nearest Priceline to buy multiple cans of hairspray*

YOU CAN’T STOP THE BEAT.

Oh my goodness. The third film in the widely successful Twilight Saga franchise did NOT disappoint.

On July the 2nd (forgive my lateness) I skipped off to Village Cinemas to watch The Twilight Saga: Eclipse and may I just say that it was one of the best days of my life. I begun the day dressing up – as I usually do – and getting ready for this exciting movie. Everything had to be perfect, drawing the scar on my right arm, the moonstone ring…..yeah. I was buzzing up and down and it was still only 3:00pm! I waited and waited and waited till it was time go and I was off! Grinning like an idiot, of course.

Once we got to Village, I was like the second person in line! Which didn’t really matter because the tickets were allocated. My mother, sister and I bought popcorn, drinks (Eclipse editions, duh) and blah blah blah…ANYWAY what really bugged me was that no one checked our tickets! We pretty much entered the theatre ourselves, which means I wasted time booking it online and everything. BUT I do not regret purchasing them because I am proud to support such an amazing saga. Moving on, a bunch of trailers came up and I was too hyped to understand what they were trying to tell me. THEN the lights dimmed and I squealed in my head because the opening scene was rain pelting on a glass window and the you saw RILEY before he was a vampire and I was hysterical after that! The movie moved at such a fast pace but it was SO FANTASTIC – David Slade, I give you props. Robert and Kristen were just perfection on screen but I must say Taylor did a flawless job (sorry to Team Jacob though, but y’all lost) also. There is just too much to say about this movie that all I can recommend is that you watch it yourself!

ECLIPSE IS AMAZING. ’nuff said.

I may not know much about it yet, but I really enjoy it. It’s probably embarrassing to say this but I think the first one I watched was Napoleon Dynamite. Nevertheless, it is a greatly enjoyable film.

One of many reasons that I love ‘indie’ film is because it targets a non-mainstream audience. Small important stories – fiction or non-fiction – have the chance to be shared. One of my wishes in life is to be a part of the Cannes Film Festival or the Sundance Film Festival, at least. The first time I heard about Cannes was through Avril Lavigne (odd, I know, but she is my all-time favourite artist) – in 2006, she was in two films that premiered at Cannes: Fast Food Nation (a drama giving sad insight into the fast food industry) and Over The Hedge (an animated film). From then, my interest in film festivals grew; the fact that my older sister – also a movie buff – studied media all her life contributed to this.

I’ve seen Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Amelie and Paris J’Taime just to name a few, but there’s a world of independent film I’ve yet to explore. French film is absolutely beautiful as is Australian film (Amy, The Black Balloon and Love’s Brother – this is one of my favourites). I’m getting to that age where I can appreciate the art of film, rather than waste a good two hours laughing over one of those slapstick comedies that aren’t even funny anymore.

Moving on, another reason for me getting into independent filmmaking is because of Kristen Stewart. Sure, she plays the highly critiqued protagonist Bella Swan in each of the Twilight films, but there are many other films (mostly independent) that I’ve seen and appreciate her in. At just 13 years old, she played an abused teenager in 2004′s Speak, based on the novel by Laurie Halse Anderson, a performance I believed and enjoyed. I’ve seen many of her films, many of which have become favourites of mine. Into The Wild especially, struck a chord. While Kristen only had about 12 minutes of screentime, the story overall was saddening and captivating, recounting the real life of Christopher McCandless, a man who dropped everything to be one with nature. Emile Hirsch portayed this almost perfectly.

Speaking of moving performances, Kristen Stewart also played a young girl diagnosed with Friedreich’s ataxia – a muscular disorder – in Mary Stuart Masterson’s The Cake Eaters (2007), another brave performance I believed in. Quite a different performance from her portrayal of Em (short for Emily) in Adventureland, an 80′s dramedy, released in 2009.

So I’ve gone off on a Kristen Stewart tangent, but if it wasn’t for her I would have never been exposed to the wonderful world of independent film. It’s quite interesting how even Robert Pattinson (Twilight’s Edward Cullen, but also did a stellar performance as Tyler Hawkins in 2010′s Remember Me), having come from doing small films, initially thought Twilight was an independent film. I guess the fans ruin everything.

Anyway, the reason for this post was to tell you all that mainstream film doesn’t offer me the same satisfaction it did when I was younger. I really believe that independent film has come such a long way and I want to be a part of it before I miss out.

What I’m looking forward to: On The Road, Water For Elephants, Welcome To The Rileys, Bel Ami, The Runaways, Little Ashes

(p.s. If you see some kind of pattern developing, well let’s just say some things are better left unsaid)

There is a downside to VCE: mid-years.

I do not remember anything I learned in February. How do they expect us to? Once an outcome has passed, we throw away all the drafts. Don’t they know that? I may not survive this week.

But I have to do it. I just HAVE to do it. Because after it, I have the sweetest week: Queen’s birthday holiday and early dismissals.

I simply cannot endure the time between now and the holidays.

STUDY STUDY STUDY STUDY STUDY <- exactly what I wrote in my diary. Exactly what I’m NOT following.

I HATE EXAMS!

Okay, I may be a little biased as my birthday falls on the 30th of April.

But honestly, I love the month of April.

It is in the middle of Autumn, my favourite season, and usually, good things happen to me. Or maybe I’m just happy no matter what happens because I know that soon I’ll be another year older and wiser. So this year, I’m especially excited because I’m turning the big 1 6.

It’s weird, I don’t really want anything as much as I did the other years. Hopefully I’m maturing in some way. Perhaps I’m finding a greater thrill in purchasing things for myself (the New Moon DVD in 6 days, *tsk tsk).

I don’t feel like I’m getting old though. I’m certainly not getting any taller. But I’m still excited.