The Queen's Birthay Parade

The Queen's birthay is on 21 April, but the public celebration in London is in June.. when the weather is good! The birthday paradefor the Queens is called Trooping the Colour. The military gives a royal salute and the Queen inspects her troops. Military bands play music too.. but not "Happy Birthay"!

BRUNO MARS

2012 was a busy year for Bruno Mars. The singer from Hawaii became an international star and played concerts around the world. Bruno realeased his first album, Doo-Wops & Holigans, in 2010. Bruno is a talented musician: he grew up in a musical family and plays drums, guitar, keyboard, bass, piano and harmonica. HIs second album, Unorthodox Jukebox, is sure to be a hit!

PSY A "Gagnam Style" singer

People love to laugh at Psy's "Gagnam Style" vide. But in his home country, South Korea, Psy is a national hero. 

Go to YouTube and look for "Gagnam Style"... you'll see that more than 999 millions people have watched the video by singer Psy. But a lot of them can't understand the lyrics: Psy sings in Korean.

There is nobody like Psy

Psy's musical style is 100% original. It is often called "K-pop", but this term is misleading (see box top right) as Psy mixes lots of styles. The vido "Gagnam Style" mixes rap and martial arts with dance moves that look like Psy is on a horse!

From South Korea to the USA

Psy grew up in Gagnam District, a rich district in Seoul, South Korea. After leaving school he went to the USA to study business administration. Psy's father is in  charge of a big company and Psy was going to take over one day. 

Psy discovers his vocation

 But Psy soon realized that he preferred the music world to the business world. He used the monew for his business education to buy musical equipment and started studying music instead. With his experience of the USA and its music in his mind, he returned to South Korea with a clear idea: to become  famous singer. 

"Gagnam Style changed my whole life and my whole plan. I didn't expect anything like this. So what can I say?" 

Jennifer Lawrence

Jennifer Lawrence

Rolling Stone magazine has called her "the most talented young actress in America" and it is hard not to agree. Thanks to her role in the film Winter's Bone, Lawrence was nominated for a Best Actress Oscar at the age of 20 (the second youngest ever). And thanks to Hunger Games, the 22-year-old actres holds the record as the most successful action heroine of all time.
None of this came without effort. Determined to become an actress, Lawrence graduated from high school two years early, and persuaded her parents to take her to New York in search of an agent. Now one of the hottest actresses in america, she has the rare ability to move  between roles in serious dramas and in action films. Probably the only other actress who does that is Angelina Jolie, the actress Lawrence has just replaced as the star of a new historical drama, Serena, out in October 2013.

SOMETHING OF MAGAZINE: THE SIMS

Life in a video game: 150 milion people around the world have a version of the sims video game. Will it be top of your Christmas list this year?

 The father of The SIMS is a man called Will Wright. In 1989, he created a game called SimCity. In the game, players could build and control an entire city. Two years later, he had another idea. This time, his game was abuot people. This "simulation" of life was called THE SIMS.

A SIMple idea

Will Wright's inspiration for The Sims came when a fire destroyed his home in 1991. He had to start his life again with no possessions. "What do you buy first" Will says. "You get a toothbrush and underwear, then a place to stay, later a new car..."
In Wright's new game, THE SIMS, it was possible for players to make their own houses and fill them with cool possessions like televisions and swimming pools. Wright called it his digital dollhouse".

What is the SIMS secret?

When The Sims first came out in 2000, it sold ten million copies in its first week! Today it is sold in 60 countries and in 22 languages.
The sims' secret ingredient is that it is based on reality. Players control their Sims and make them do all the things that we do: eat, drink, go to the toilet, sleep, get jobs and have families.