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Sing Review

Very Good

The quality of the animation in this musical comedy may not be up to Pixar standards, but the story and characters are thoroughly endearing. And the music is fabulous. As it follows a group of likeable animals through a variety of plots and adventures, there's plenty for everyone in the audience to connect with. So even if the climactic action mayhem gets a bit ridiculous, the movie keeps us laughing. And it also makes us want to get up on that stage and belt out a few numbers.

It's set in a city populated by animals. Buster (voiced by Matthew McConaughey) is a koala who has been obsessed with musical theatre since he saw the diva Nana (Jennifer Hudson then Jennifer Saunders) perform when he was a child. So he grew up and bought the theatre. Now with audiences waning, he stages a musical competition to save the theatre. In the auditions, he selects his finalists: anarchist porcupine Ash (Scarlett Johansson), jazzy mafioso mouse Mike (Seth MacFarlane) and silky voiced gorilla Johnny (Taron Egerton). He also teams up two pigs as a double-act: frazzled housewife Rosita (Reese Witherspoon) and German dancer Gunter (Nick Kroll). There's also golden-voiced elephant Meena (Tori Kelly), who's too shy to face the audience so takes a role backstage. Of course, nothing goes as planned.

The key conflict comes from Buster's frantic efforts to avoid bankruptcy, plus rather half-hearted action subplots involving a gang of bears and Johnny's criminally minded relatives. These generate quite a bit of tension that erupts into rather outrageously destructive slapstick along the way. More interesting are the personal journeys of the various contestants, especially as Ash, Meena and Johnny all discover their voices and Rosita finds inventive ways to balance her long-lost career with her role as a mother to 25 rambunctious piglets. Yes, the film is rather crowded with characters and storylines, and the animation looks plasticky, but everything comes together cleverly,

Continue reading: Sing Review

Tori Kelly seen on the red carpet at the 68th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards held at the Microsoft Theater Los Angeles, California, United States - Monday 19th September 2016

Tori Kelly seen on the red carpet at the 68th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards held at the Microsoft Theater Los Angeles, California, United States - Sunday 18th September 2016

Tori Kelly - Tori Kelly pictured arriving at the Radio 1 studio to appear as a guest on the Nick Grimshaw Breakfast Show. at BBC Portland Place - London, United Kingdom - Friday 26th February 2016

Sing Trailer

Buster Moon is one of the good guys, he's a koala who's lived his life for the theatre he loves. His sunny disposition is somewhat hindered at the thought of his once great and popular theatre being lost. In need of making money, Buster must come up with an idea to save his theatre - and if it can be helped, also encourage the animals of his home town also become enthusiastic about live entertainment.

Buster's secretary accidentally advertises a singing contest to the residents, the flyer explains that they're looking for a fantastic new talent and the winner of the competition will win 100,000 dollars! Buster finds his theatre is once again the centre of a bustling metropolis and goes ahead with the auditions.

There's a few standout performers including a mom who's life revolves around her 25 piglets, a gorilla who's trying to break away from a bad way of life and a small mouse who might be small but has all the wits and sneaky ambition of the other contestants combined!

Continue: Sing Trailer

Tori Kelly - 2015 Radio Disney Music Awards (RDMA) - Arrvials at Disney - Los Angeles, California, United States - Saturday 25th April 2015

Various Artists - The Giver: Music Collection Album Review

By Alex Carson in Music Reviews on 25 September 2014

As someone who's long been a fan of the book, to see 'The Giver' movie finally come to fruition has been quite the nostalgic trip. Headed and ended by OneRepublic and featuring rising stars such as Tori Kelly ('Silent'), Capital Cities ('One Minute More') and other solid up-and-comers in the music industry, 'The Giver: Music Collection' has a perfect mix of superstar power and the flair of still-indie but progressively more mainstream acts to inspire confidence in its pedigree. But is that confidence warranted?

The Giver: OST Music Collection Album Review

One Republic's first track 'Ordinary Human' has a pleasant synthetic backing and uplifting, optimistic lyrics that, with a certain "sci-fi" vibe, is reminiscent of Muse combined with the nouveau-disco feel common to contemporary popular music. 'One Minute More' plants the album more firmly in the territory of contemporary pop-rock with a light, airy and upbeat tone alongside, again, positive lyrics, and some interesting mid-paced synth. From there we go into the only female vocals on the album with Tori Kelly's 'Silent', which is a competent acoustic guitar song with a country twang. Where 'Silent' takes that distinct country flavor, 'Feel What's Good' by Jake Bugg brings in a dash of classic rock in some electric guitar. It's not strictly acoustic, of course, but it maintains a certain soulful element to its lyrics that resembles that of more acoustic and instrumental music. Bruno Major's 'Children' is more stripped down, its lyrics taking center-stage over a lightly strumming guitar.

Rixton's 'Whole', oddly enough, sounds more like a OneRepublic song than the actual OneRepublic. The music seems unnecessarily slow to the point of lethargy. However, Rixton give way to album highlight Aloe Blacc's 'Here Today'; the strong vibe of gospel and blues give it a certain dynamism and very inspirational quality. 'Shine My Way' by Sheppard has a lot of the same sound, and its more subdued lyrics carry all the richness that the swinging beat demands. The album departs with two more acoustic style songs - NEEDTOBREATHE's 'Difference' and OneRepublic's closer 'I Lived'. 'Difference' is slow and somber throughout, invoking the same vibe that made 'Children' work, while 'I Lived' picks up the pace around the time it gets to the bridge.