Star Sparkle Blog

Back in May during the time of the Eurovision Song Contest , I heard that an Asian version was launching. I was excited because I'm a fan of both Eurovision and Asian music ! Now it's getting closer because the first edition of Eurovision Song Contest Asia  will take place next month.  Visit my Countdown to Eurovision 2026! post for more about the contest (scroll down): https://starsparklex.blogspot.com/2026/05/countdown-to-eurovision-2026.html There is now more information since I first wrote about it. The Grand Final will be held in Bangkok , Thailand on Saturday 14th November and 11 countries are competing. In addition to the TV broadcasts in the 11 countries, it will also be shown live on YouTube and there will be a Rest of the World vote (which was introduced to the main ESC in recent years). I hope to watch and vote but will have to check the time difference.  The contestants have been chosen through national selection shows. 8 countries have been confirmed so far-...

I'd had this post in my drafts for ages (a year or more!) but just didn't feel inspired to write it. So last year (April 2025) I wrote a post called Teen Thrillers instead. You can see it here: https://starsparklex.blogspot.com/2025/04/teen-thrillers.html Now it's over a year since I did that post and I'm feeling more inspired. So here are my Top 10 thriller films! :)  Please note that the post contains spoilers.  Trigger warning: Some of the films mention sensitive themes.   Note: Sorry for the different text! It got messed up and I'm trying to sort it out. :)     1. Disclosure (1994) Disclosure is based on the book by Michael Crichton (probably best known for Jurassic Park ) ,. Computer  specialist Tom Sanders ( Michael Douglas ) works for the company Digicom. He's married to Susan Hendler (played by British actress Caroline Goodall ) and they have two kids. They're planning to merge with a larger company but there are problems with the CD-...

Occasionally I share live performances on the blog. Apart from one about Asian girl groups  earlier this year, my last general post was in October . So today I'm featuring some newer performances from 2025 into 2026. :)   Coco Jones - On Sight (Live Performance) First up is a live performance from American singer Coco Jones . It was the 5th single from her debut album Why Not More?, originally released in April 2025, with the digital special edition Why Not More? (MORE!) following last August.  On Sight was also released in April last year. This live performance (which took place in October) sees Coco accompanied by backing singers and musicians. It gives the smooth R'n'B song a slightly more mellow vibe, although it's already pretty chilled!  The video was directed by cinematographer and producer Joshua Libertine . Please note that the song contains mild swearing. :)      Watch the music video for On Sight here:  https://starsparklex.blogspot.co...

The Grand Final of the Eurovision Song Contest is tonight, so it's time for my second Eurovision post of the year! You can see the first one here: https://starsparklex.blogspot.com/2026/05/countdown-to-eurovision-2026.html Similarly to last year , I saw the second semi-final (the one the UK could vote in) and some of the first one. I don't always watch them both because then I've heard all the songs beforehand (I listen to the ones that didn't get through later). Here are my favourites from this year's contest. :)    Sarah Engels- Fire (Germany) Sarah Engels is representing Germany with the song Fire. As part of the "Big 5" (the countries which contribute the most financially to Eurovision), Germany automatically qualify for the final, along with us (the UK), France, Spain and Italy. However, it's the Big 4 in 2026, since Spain is  one of 5 countries not competing due to objections over Israel's participation in the contest.  Sarah first became ...

Eurovision season is here once again! The 2026 Grand Final will be on Saturday 16th May. In 2026 it is the 70th Eurovision Song Contest , so a landmark year! It will be held in Vienna, Austria, after the 2025 contest was won by JJ with his song Wasted Love . The UK's entry is  LOOK MUM NO COMPUTER with Eins, Zwei, Drei .  I normally write two posts in the lead-up to Eurovision (occasionally a couple of "mini countdown" posts too). Here are my posts from last year:  Countdown to Eurovision 2025!: https://starsparklex.blogspot.com/2025/05/countdown-to-eurovision-2025.html   Eurovision Favourites 2025: https://starsparklex.blogspot.com/2025/05/eurovision-2025-favourites.html   And here is the first one of 2026! Today I'm taking a look at Eurovision spin-off contests. :)  Update 10/5/26: I've updated this post to include the Junior version of ESC! :)     American Song Contest  An American spin-off of ESC called the  American Song Con...

Yesterday was Star Sparkle's 15th birthday! I started the blog on 17th April 2011. You can see my first ever post here: https://starsparklex.blogspot.com/2011/04/welcome-to-star-sparkle-blog.html I've previously written two birthday posts- in 2018 for the 7th "blogiversary" and in 2021 for the 10th. (I didn't mark the 5th but I had celebrated the birthday of my blog Falling Petals that year, so decided to do one here too). You can see them at the links below: 7th bday:  https://starsparklex.blogspot.com/2018/04/star-sparkles-birthday-fave-posts.html 10th bday: https://starsparklex.blogspot.com/2021/04/star-sparkles-10th-birthday-fave-posts.html Back in 2021, I wrote that it seemed strange that I'd been blogging for 10 years. Now it's been 15 years, so even more time has gone by! Star Sparkle is my main blog about entertainment.  As I've previously said, starting it gave me the confidence to branch out into other areas and I went on to start two more bl...

Halloween (or Hallowe'en,  the alternative spelling which I like) is coming round again, so it's time for my annual post! :) It's next Friday (31st October). I also celebrate the pagan festival Samhain on the same day.  I've previously written two round-ups featuring past spooky things and past posts on the blog. The first one was in 2016 and the second in 2020. You can see them at the links below: Hallowe'en Faves + Round-up:  https://starsparklex.blogspot.com/2016/10/halloween-faves-round-up.html Hallowe'en Round-up 2: https://starsparklex.blogspot.com/2020/10/halloween-round-up-2.html So since it's been 5 years since my last one, this year I'm doing another round-up of the Halloween posts after 2020, plus featuring some new things.   First, here are the posts from 2021 onwards:  Spooky Videos for Hallowe'en!: https://starsparklex.blogspot.com/2021/10/spooky-videos-for-halloween.html Selection of Hallowe'en Treats!: https://starsparklex.blogsp...