Charlotte by Hope Sandoval & the Warm Inventions

Hope has lovely, haunting vocals. But there’s a warm glow to the music, as the artist name suggests. Blissful dreamfolk.

Fireworks by Stina Nordenstam

More haunting goodness, though Stina is far more spare and there’s a sadness to it. It brings tears to my eyes.

Just wanted to share the lovely Kerli, playing as part of the Almost Alice concert. She’s possibly my favourite popstar in fashion right now, and ahhhhhh love the pandas!

Did someone mention ice dancing? It’s not nearly as exciting to watch as figure skating, however there’s quite a lot of amazing costumes and outfits.

I love her corset-like, pink-ribboned dress.

Showing off a bit of the hem.

The Canadian pair, she’s so pretty here.

It was hard to get a good shot of her dress, but up close it’s really detailed and frilly.

Their costumes were quite strange, but there was a certain doll-like quality about them that I liked.

I love this shot, she’s so adorable!

Rather than focusing on prostitution, the story revolves around Alicja (Ala for short) and her life and relationships. She’s very shy and awkward and unsure of herself (so much like me, I thought I could be watching myself). Her family is quite poor and doesn’t pay her much attention. She’s still very sheltered and innocent-ish.

Ala, alone and friendless, gets pulled into the world of three self-proclaimed high-life girls. They troll the mall in search of guys with money so that they can afford all of the expensive clothes they wear. This isn’t as shocking as it might seem on film, for most of ‘Mall Girls’ this part is only hinted at without the graphic images.

Ala tags along, trying to fit in as the seasoned girls hit clubs and snatch guys left and right while Ala hovers shyly in the corner. A friendship develops between Milena and Ala when Ala more than once sacrafices her happiness–even giving up persuing the boy she likes–for Milena’s sake. This I also related to a lot, feeling like you have to give up so much just to be liked and accepted.

One of my favourite scenes, Milena’s influence on Ala turns into a sort of destructive freedom from her painful home life as Ala walks fearlessly down the street with cars swerving around her.

All in all, ‘Mall Girls’ is well worth a watch, it’s an intricate character drama about the problems a lot of young girls face. 9/10

Save Me From Myself by Christina Aguilera
Katie’s episode brought a whole slew of harmless, sometimes-annoying bubblegum rock, but the saver here was Christina Aguilera’s ‘Save Me From Myself’, a melancholic, introspective piece and quite a lovely one at that.

Okay, so this is quite old, but still amazing. I’ve never cared too much for the technical elements, for me it’s all about the artistry and Johnny Weir does it best. He was by far my favourite in the 2010 Vancouver free skate despite landing a disappointing sixth. His performance, titled ‘Fallen Angel‘, is well worth watching.