Once described (by himself over on popsquire) as “clacking, sweaty and chaotic and to have no clarity” - and known once as the new Barry Manilow – ahem, really? - The controversial character of Boy George is one who will no doubt always fascinate.

Talking about all things from music to fashion, he is most excited about the state of American politics, and the potential of this election - “I tapped into that whole Obama thing, because I think his message is a lot more optimistic than that we’re used too!

Also expanding on his thoughts re the music industry, mainstream artists and why creative popstars find it so hard these days, follow this link to see his full chat with ITV, and find out why it feels “such a good time for doing all this again” according to George.

Of course, the main question should be… Is he wearing a silly hat in the interview? You bet your life he is!

I spent much of the weekend at Guilfest, hanging out backstage like with all the rest of the journos and hangers-on.

I really love this festival - just a week after Glastonbury, the events couldn’t be more different. For a start, Guilfest is held in a town centre park, and despite some heavy showers, the mud was almost non-existent.

As for the line-up, Guilfest trawls the back catalogues of rock history for headline acts, so we were treated to a wonderful set by Blondie (left) on Saturday night, followed by The Damned (above left) on Sunday afternoon.

Both bands sounded fantastic onstage, despite both suffering from the loss of some original members since their punk/NewWave heyday.

On the other hand, I felt very uncomfortable watching Woking’s own From The Jam perform on Sunday evening.

This band is basically The Jam - minus Paul Weller. They play some fantastic pop songs from the Jam archive with the assistance of two extra musicians, one of whom makes a fair stab at imitating the gruff Weller vocal on some of The Modfather’s greatest hits. So why was I so uncomfortable watching them?

Okay, they have to make a living, and while Paul Weller has creamed off most of the songwriting royalties from the Jam days, the Other Two have to keep gigging to make ends meet. But the sight of a soundalike belting out “When you’re young”, 30 years after I saw the actual Jam play this live and blow me away, gave me the creeps. Was this an updated Jam or a tribute band? I’m still not really sure.

I suppose the moral of the story is: if a band keeps the same singer, they can get away with other changes over the years. If the frontperson goes, then they’re in trouble…

Any comments on this?

Why? well the cost of getting the ferry across for starters. Not for nothing is the Solent named as the most expensive ferry route in the world, mile for mile. And once we get there, a place in the campervan field costs a steep £250 on top of the ticket price - yikes! But I always fancied a trip to this festival, as the line-up never fails to impress.

Well, having secured media tickets and cunningly found a free parking space for the camper just off-site, nothing could stop us this year, and although I was working, thought it would be a good idea to bring the family along too (hubby and five year old son).

Casey says below that it didn’t feel like work, interviewing bands and other celebs who were hanging out in the VIP area. In a way she’s right, but at four months pregnant, I certainly knew I’d been working by the end of each day. My head barely touched the pillow on the rock-and-roll bed in the camper, and I’d be asleep till morning, when it all started again…

We were presented with a steady stream of bands and solo performers to interview, and in-between I tried to catch performances so I’d know what to ask them. Once I found myself face-to-face to a young rock band The Gundogs, who I knew absolutely nothing about. I had no choice to admit this in my first question and asked them to describe the music in ten words or less. They didn’t seem to mind and were just happy to be part of the bill.

One surprise visitor was Mike Rutherford of Genesis who turned up on Sunday afternoon and gave us a short interview. He didn’t divulge whether Genesis were hoping to headline next year, but I’m told that casing a festival one year is a good indicator of a willingness to play the next…

As festivals go, this was one of the best organised I’ve ever been to (and I’ve been to so many I’ve actually written a book about them!).

We’ve got several more coming up in the region over the summer - Guilfest, Reading, the Bestivals and more. So expect more festival updates from your increasingly pregnant news editor as the summer progresses!

I have to admit I was slightly dubious about venturing to my first festival this weekend. I’d heard the horror stories about mud, mad rockers and worst of all, chemical toilets! But I packed my wellies, my ITV Local brolly, and a camera and hopped aboard the FastCat ready to face whatever the weekend threw at me.

As soon as I stepped through the festival entrance I knew I’d been anxious for nothing. The buzz in Seaclose park was incredible. The place was heaving, but it was packed with some of the most friendly, happy, welcoming people I’ve come across. From the headliners to the campers, everyone was there to have a good time. And most of them were willing to tell us
about it!

We met the Zutons, the Sugababes, the Cribs, Newton Faulker and many more – you can see all the interviews in full on our IOW festival page. We also met lots of groups promoting awareness of good causes - for example the sunflower-sellers raising money for the Earl Mountbatten hospice in local Newport; and the Taste of Wight team who are aiming to cater for the festival purely from Isle of Wight produce next year.

Going to the festival as press was a unique experience, as we were never quite sure whether we were really working – it seemed like too much fun! One minute we were inches away from the bands chatting to them about their own festival experiences and what we could expect from their sets, and the next they were tiny dots on a huge stage with a crowd of 50,000 between us and them. And yet I was still craning to see them and screaming when I got a glimpse!

The best part for me was soaring up above the park in the festival eye and seeing the Kooks step on stage just as we reached the pinnacle. And the food – fast yes, foul no! Delicious portions of almost every cuisine you could imagine, all ready in moments (once you’d battled the queues). I even coped with the notorious loos!

So I’ve become a festival convert. I’ve decided you just can’t beat the festival vibe and the solidarity you feel when surrounded by swarms of other unwashed and uninhibited revellers. I’ve already booked up for Bestival, the Isle of Wight’s other big music event, and may well camp out on the South Downs for the Beachdown festival. I’ve got the wellies now so I might as well use them!

See all our festival best bits here.
And see all the big stage highlights and full interviews on the dedicated IOW festival page.

Whether you’ve got tickets or not the big topic of the moment is Radio 1’s Big Weekend in Maidstone, Kent. I’m sure there are plenty of happy people packing their bags and readying themselves for Madonna and more but there are also a lot of angry residents.

Ticket allocation, policing prices and parking gridlock have left a lot of locals disappointed over the past week.

Mote Park, the venue for this year’s concert, is just around the corner from our Meridian East base at the Maidstone Studios. We got our reporter Theresa Longbottom down there this morning to see how the preparations were going and to meet residents near by to see how they were feeling about the event. Early signs suggests not well. Many are disgruntled about the possible traffic gridlock on the way – others about having their public park closed on what could be the hottest weekend of the year.

And what about the price of policing? Recently Maidstone had to cancel its popular River Festival as organisers couldn’t afford the policing costs. So is Maidstone Council fitting the bill this weekend? If so is it right for the council to pick and choose the event it funds?

Well, we will try and answer all these questions and more on tonight’s programme at 6pm. But don’t let that stop you giving us your comments – what do you think? Will the concert bring Maidstone some needed press and tourist attention? Or is it disorganised and unfair?

Have your say here.

Ever seen a dog twirl and dance? Well now’s your chance!

One of the UK’s leading ‘freestyle handlers’ has uploaded a funny video of one of his ‘pupils’ Disco the dog. Richard Curtis’ bizarre video appeared on YourNews after it has some good coverage on You Tube. It’s certainly got people talking in the newsroom; the main point of debate being the skinny legs Disco dances around on. So nimble and fast-footed! The dog and owner certainly seem to be enjoying the boogie…

Want to share your wacky videos? Upload to YourNews.