Star Sparkle Blog

Time for another instalment in my semi-regular series C-pop Saturday! It's been 6 months since my  last one (and the only post of the year so far), but never mind, lol.   B CRUSH- Crush On First up is Crush On by B CRUSH.  They are a mixed gender Taiwanese Mandopop group which consists of 4 members- ZAI, YAN, Rebaecca and WEI. I can't find much info about them but will update this if I do find more. :) B CRUSH made their debut last October with the single Crush On, which appears to be their only single so far. I came across the video a while ago and thought I'd save it to feature in a post sometime, especially because it's fitting for summer. Crush On is an upbeat pop song with a mix of Chinese (Mandarin) and English lyrics, about a summer encounter on the beach that sparks instant attraction. It has a suitably summery music video. Click "Subtitles/closed captions" on YouTube for English subtitles! The lyrics are on screen but not translated into English. :) ...

Today's video is Massacre from the new Bollywood film ALPHA . It stars Alia Bhatt  (part of the famous Bhatt family ) as Sita, an assassin who was raised in isolation from a baby by rogue commander Fateh Singh Lakhwat (played by Bobby Deol , one of my favourite Bollywood actors!).   Fateh trained  Sita to be a super soldier but when she finds out that he's hidden the truth of her family background from her, she teams up with her long lost sister Durga ( Sharvari ) to stop him and his mission. Random fact:  Alia Bhatt is a British citizen , due to her mum, actress and director Soni Razdan being British (Soni's mum is British with German heritage and her dad is Indian (Kashmiri Pandit). Alia's dad is former film director, producer and screenwriter  Mahesh Bhatt . ALPHA (which also stars Anil Kapoor ) was released on 3rd July. It's part of the YRF Spy Universe film series (the 7th instalment) and the first female led movie. The others include Ek Tha Tiger...

This summer has been a hot one in the UK so far! Last month I wrote a post sharing  Dance in Public videos with summer themes . Now as we move into late summer, I thought I'd carry on the theme. :)  I've written quite a few summer themed posts on the blog over the years and I've also done a couple of posts rounding them up. You can see them below: Summer Songs Round-up:  https://starsparklex.blogspot.com/2020/06/summer-songs-round-up.html Summer Songs Round-up 2020-2021: https://starsparklex.blogspot.com/2021/07/summer-songs-round-up-2020-2021.html   My last round-up was in 2021, so today I'm featuring the summer posts since then, plus a few new songs. :)    Summer Vibes!: https://starsparklex.blogspot.com/2022/07/summer-vibes.html More Summer Vibes!: https://starsparklex.blogspot.com/2023/07/more-summer-vibes.html Vibes for Your Summer!:  https://starsparklex.blogspot.com/2024/07/vibes-for-your-summer.html Island Vibes!:  https://starsparklex.bl...

Today's video is VEQ TI by Kosovo Albanian singer  Era Istrefi  and Kosovo Albanian rapper and singer  Ledri Vula . It was released on 19th July It's Era's latest single (her last release was MOVE ON in March) and a recent one for Ledri (preceding his single JETA IME with Greek Albanian producer and singer  Claydee , which came out on 27th July). This is the second time that Era and Ledri have worked together, having previously collaborated on the single T'LO in June last year. VEQ TI is an Albanian language pop and rap song (with some English lyrics) and Era describes it as  "your sound of the summer" . The title translates as "Only You" in English. The music video also has summery vibes!     For more music by Era check out this post: Music video for MOVE ON  (released in March), plus links to more music:  https://starsparklex.blogspot.com/2026/03/weekly-music-video_25.html    And for more on Ledri visit these links:  Music v...

Sorry the 2nd post is later again this week. I normally post on Fridays or Saturdays (most often Saturdays) but sometimes I don't manage to get a post finished in time. I had a busy day yesterday, so didn't get this finished. :) Korean group KARD have just released their 1st album Where To Now? (Part.2): NOWHERE. Sadly it will also be their last album (or at least there are no current plans for more) since they are disbanding after over 9 years together. However, as fans have pointed out, the group may not be permanently disbanding. The contract with their agency has expired and they aren't renewing it. The members have said that they plan to concentrate on solo careers but haven't ruled out reuniting as a group in the future. KARD is made up of 4 members- SOMIN, BM, JIWOO and J.seph. As one of the few co-ed/mixed gender groups in K-pop (an industry dominated by girl groups and boy bands  when it comes to group music) they stand out. I've followed them since thei...

Today's video is Seema by Romaine Willis . She is a Sri Lankan singer/songwriter from Colombo. Romaine had a passion for music from a young age and started out by performing in local talent events.  She released her debut single Milk & Sugar during the pandemic (August 2021). Later singles Pem Kekula with DJ MASS and Tharunai with APZI and DJ MASS) from Sri Lankan romantic comedy film Yaaluwoda Yaaluida (released in November 2021 and March 2023 respectively) were hits on streaming platforms. In 2022, Romaine released the remix album Mel Peththak Mashup Vol 1. Her other singles include Jealous, Delawan Banda with Sri Lankan rappers Randhir and APZI, Thani Manasaka, Dan with DJ MASS and Seema. In addition to original songs, she does covers. Romaine’s music is a mix of R'n'B and other genres, including pop and jazz. She has been called Sri Lanka's version of South African singer Tyla by fans!  Seema is Romaine's most recent single. It was released last Novembe...