To say I dislike reality TV would be an understatement. To say I dislike the musical variety of reality TV, things such as X-Factor would be a massive understatement.  However recently I stumbled upon Orange unsignedAct on T4, and my god it's good!

The show pits unsigned bands against each other in a 'battle of the bands' style show where celebrity musicians judge their performances and decide who goes through to the next round. The difference with this show is that the bands are real - they sing live, they play their own instruments, write their own songs, and have even played gigs before being on the telly (who'd have thought it)! It's been pretty inspiring watching it - I've felt genuinely excited watching the show - something I can't say about any other 'reality TV' I've ever had the misfortune of watching.

Tommy Reilly is 19 years old and from Glasgow., Scotland He looks like he could be the bastard child of Elvis Costello and The Proclaimers, minus the glasses. He looks completely unremarkable, but when he popped up on the show during the auditions and started playing I jumped up out of bed with a start. After his initial performance with just his acoustic guitar, audition judge Jo 'Radio One' Whiley told him she didn't think he was ready for the competition and to try again next year. Tommy said "ok thanks" and toddled off - no tears or strops a la X-Factor , afterall he's a musician doing what he does, not some little wannabe who's determined to be the next Kerry Katona. Within seconds of the door closing Jo Whiley and the other judge began whispering on the sofa, and before long realised their mistake. To their credit, they called Tommy back in and told him they thought they'd made a mistake, and were putting him through into the next round.

The judges for the next round were Alex James (the bass player from Blur), Lauren Laverne (ex-Kenickiea nd all-round good egg muso presenter), Simon Gavin (the usual industry type), and rapper Leathal Bizzle. After watching Tommy's performance (click on the image above to watch the video) all four judges gave him their vote - making him the only person on the show to get all four votes.

I listened to Tommy's demos on his Orange unsignedAct profile and they're okay, but they nothing compared to hi no-nonsense live performance of 'Give Me A Call' - they don't do his songs justice - watch the video and decide for yourself.

I hope Tommy wins the competition so that someone talented and real can come out on top of one of these competitions, however part of me fears for him, as winners of this type of competition usually get chewed up and spat out by the industry within 12 months. Maybe he's be better off coming second, signing to an indie label, and releasing a couple of records before a major snaps him up - it would be a real shame to see the raw nervous energy he has 'polished' by an A&R man and producer.

Only time will tell how Tommy gets on - but right now he's definitely one for the future, good luck son!

24:Redemption is a 2 hour prequel movie to the long awaited and long overdue 7th Season of the best TV show ever, 24! The film bridges the gap between Season 6 and Season 7 (which starts in January 2009). I'm really looking forward to this!

The Blonde Kid will have his revenge. from James D Clarke on Vimeo. Check out the teaser trailer - full movie COMING SOON!

What I would have given to be at this show...The Who, Pearl Jam, Foo Fighters, Incubus, The Flaming Lips, Tenacious D and Adam Sandler all performing! Plus Kiefer Sutherland was spotted hanging around backstage - talk about the ultimate line up. Eddie and the boys did their heroes/friends proud - check out the video above!

The gig was great from start to finish with The Futureheads and Supergrass in support, before the Foos took to the stage playing 'in the round' with the stage in the middle of the pitch surrounded by thousands of rabid fans. The stage rotated 360 degrees so that everyone in the stadium got to see the band front-on, even those sitting behind the stage.

Everything was perfect - the band, the set-list, the stage, the lights, the special guests (Jimmy Page & John Paul Jones from Led Zeppelin!) the crowd, and even the fireworks at the end.

I was really glad we went, as judging by Dave's comments the band were in agreement that it was the highlight of their career, and I had a great day spent with some of my favourite people.

Where the Foo Fighters will go from here I'm not sure, but if they broke up tomorrow, I think I would be ok with that. On Tuesday we're going to re-live the show at our local cinema where the soon to be released DVD of the show is being screened in high-definition with 5.1 surround sound. It's not quite as good as being at the gig again, but it's the next best thing!

I was happily watching footage of a block of flats in Glasgow being demolished on the BBC News website when I decided to turn the volume of the embedded BBC iPlayer up, and to my joy discovered that the top volume on the iPlayer is indeed 'number 11'. Spinal Tap fans the world over will be rejoicing, I'm sure! Speaking of which, the National Geographic channel is airing a new documentary about Stonehenge and recently asked Spinal Tap guitarist Nigel Tufnel his thoughts on the subject, check out his responses.

PollThePeople.com is a site set up by Glenn Cooper (head of Digital at Island Records UK) and his wife Kirsty, after an argument they had. The site encourages users to add lists of their 'top 5' albums, films, and books.

The site plays on people's desire to list / tell everyone else their favourite things, and includes social elements that let you find similar lists, browse other user's lists, and invite your email contacts to view your lists.

Being a music geek, it took me no time to get signed up and post my top 5 albums. Although I did have to wrestle with myself over 5th place - it always causes me trouble. You see, picking number 5 always brings with it an amount of guilt, because there's more than one album worthy of such a position. Luckily you can log-in and change/update your lists whenever you feel like it, so such decisions don't have to be set in stone!

I've not added my top 5 films or books yet, mainly because I don't tend to watch films more than a couple of times (it's just not the same as listening to an album over and over), and I don't read enough/regularly to compile a list of favourites, but maybe I'll do this in the future.

The site also includes celebrity top 5 lists (including Nick Horby who coined the top 5 phrase in 'High Fidelity') and a 'suggest a future poll' section where you suggest your own poll, or vote for one of the most popular suggestions.

There's also a neat little widget that lets you post your top 5 lists on your blog, website, myspace profile etc. This site is a must for list makers, so check it out now.

My Top 5 Albums @ PollThePeople.com (in no particular order):

1	Outlandos d'Amour (The Police)
why?	"So Lonely", "Roxanne" and "Can't Stand Losing You" - name me another debut album that has 3 songs to rival those! Great lo-fi production too. My favourite Police album by far.
2	Yield (Pearl Jam)
why?	The perfect mix of Pearl Jam's many styles, great production and most definitely the finest drumming of Jack Irons' career. Highlights include "Given To Fly", "Faithful" and "In Hiding", but every track is great. Picking a favourite Pearl Jam album is like picking your favourite child...you just shouldn't do it!
3	Third Eye Blind (Third Eye Blind)
why?	Without a doubt one of the best debut albums of all time. Great songs, great playing, great production. Most people remember them only for "Semi-charmed Life", but this album has a whole lot more - they never stood a chance of topping it. Perfect. Stand out tracks include "Graduate", "The Background", "How's It Going To Be" and "Motorcycle Drive By" (not to be confused with "Motorcycle Emptiness" by the Manics!)
4	There Is Nothing Left to Lose (Foo Fighters)
why?	The only Foo Fighters album recorded as a three-piece and the first recorded in Dave Grohl's home studio, and boy it shows. Really warm production, the first album Taylor Hawkins ever recorded (until then he'd only played as a live session drummer) and the drumming is outstanding. I love the sound of this record - and once again the range of songs make it another perfect album. Narrowly beats "The Colour & The Shape" as my favourite Foos record. Every track is a highlight on this album.
5	The Used (The Used)
why?	Another band who created a brilliant debut album, and could never top it. Despite the slick production, I love the raw energy on this record, it really sounds like a hungry young band at their best. This was my favourite album of 2002/2003 and still remains in my top 5 several years later. Highlights include "The Taste Of Ink" and "Blue & Yellow". It's a shame they've gone downhill so rapidly since.

Laura just posted this on her blog and I felt compelled to re-post it. Whispering in adverts is one of my pet hates (it drives me mad), so I'm glad to see Skittles have given it a miss this time.

Doug Walker - Magic FM TV Ad

Doug Walker's song 'Obstacles' (which is set to be his next single) is currently being used on the new Magic FM TV advert 'Good Mood Films'. The short advert features a selection of Magic FM listener's photos with 'Obstacles' as the backing music and gives fans a taste of what is to come on Doug's debut album 'Fear Together' released on Warner Bros Records later this year.

'Obstacles' follows on from Doug's Chris Moyles endorsed debut single 'The Mystery' which charted at #36 in the UK singles chart in March.

Aussie biker Robbie Maddison breaks the world motorcycle jump record, flying 322 feet at 94mph in Las Vegas. Eat your heart out Evel Knievel!