Author Archives: thoughtsofjustafan

Alfie Boe’s Best Live Song 2019: Number Three

Only three songs left in this year’s chart to find your favourite Alfie Boe Live Song and we have the second song in a row to feature a Freddie Mercury song:

Barcelona, with Laura Wright, was performed at the Freddie for a Day party in 2013 and has been a firm fan favourite ever since. Alfie went on to record this with Katherine Jenkins but has not performed it live for a while. The first best live song poll featured this version, fell out of favour with voters and returned to the chart in 2018 at number nine. It’s obviously more popular now!

Barcelona was originally written by Freddie Mercury and Mike Moran and recorded by Mercury and the Spanish soprano, Montserrat Caballe in 1987.

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Susan Black’s Six Sensational Songs

Susan Black is a long time fan from Eastern England and these are her Six Sensational Songs.

Nessun Dorma, from Matt Lucas’ kitchen – Susan heard Alfie sing this and has never been the same since!

Run, at Hampton Court Palace, 2017.

Je Crois Entendre Encore at Thetford – apparently, according to Sue, you could “hear a pin drop”.

Bring Him Home – as if you didn’t know!

Dimming of the Day at the Royal Albert Hall with the lovely Emilia Mitiku.

My all time favourite!

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Emma and Jamie Cropper’s Six Sensational Songs

Although 2019 had a quiet start for Alfie, it’s about to get a whole lot busier, with An Evening with Alfie Boe starting in just a few weeks time. And then of course we have the excitement of Les Mis to look forward to. Before we get bowled over with new events, let’s pay a visit to our series of Six Sensational Songs, this time from Emma Cropper and her son, Jamie. Emma hails from Fleetwood and, as she says, “when I heard about this singer from the wood I just had to listen!” These are their songs.

If I can Dream is Emma’s favourite song – the lyrics get Emma every time – and “Alfie sings it better than anyone.”

Emma says that the Storyteller album is one of her favourites and that Bridge Over Troubled Water really helped her at a difficult time.

Blood Brothers is one of Emma’s favourite musicals, so Tell Me It’s Not True has to be in her top six. “It always provokes such memories of the stage show and a great way to escape.”

Emma’s son Jamie also loves Alfie’s music so when Emma asked him which songs he wanted to nominate, he instantly said You’ll Never Walk Alone. Being Liverpool fans, as is Alfie, they know how powerful and important this song is to so many people. 

The Willy Wonka song, otherwise known as Pure Imagination, is Jamie’s other choice of song, because it reminds him of chocolate!

Finally, Emma and Jamie’s joint choice is He Lives In You from The Lion King, because “that was the soundtrack to our Christmas past!”

Another two new songs to add to our list of Six Sensational Songs!

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Alfie Boe’s Best Live Song 2019: Number Four

Number four in our poll to find your favourite Alfie Boe Live Song 2019 is a new entry and a totally new song – I haven’t written anything about it before! Queen’s We Are The Champions was nominated by Roberta Kappus and is from Alfie Boe Rocks the Boston Pops in 2018:

We already knew what the music of Queen and Freddie Mercury means to Alfie, following his moving exploration of the music in the Perspectives documentary of 2014 and this orchestral reworking sounds just beautiful. No wonder it’s entered the charts at number four.

We Are The Champions first appeared on Queen’s 1977 album, News of the World (written by Freddie Mercury) and has gone on to be one of their most loved anthems – and there’s a lot of competition! In addition to this, it’s an obvious choice for sporting occasions and can be heard accompanying numerous triumphs in sport. Here is the original, with Queen at Live Aid:

Apparently, a 2011 scientific study concluded that this is the catchiest song ever – you try listening without singing along loudly. It’s impossible!

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John Owen- Jones Hit the Spotlight

Exciting times for Les Mis fans as not only will Alfie Boe be starring in the West End concert version later this year, but John Owen-Jones will be sharing the role with him! John remains the youngest actor to play Jean Valjean and most recently, took over from Alfie on Broadway. Speaking since the announcement, John said “It’s been nearly ten years since the last time I played Jean Valjean in Les Miserables in London. I’m really excited to be going back to the role in what will be such a special version of the show. I am also delighted to note that when I appear in this production at the Gielgud Theatre, I shall have appeared as Jean Valjean in every London theatre in which the show has played!” John also featured as part of Club 24601, which took place to mark the thirtieth birthday of Les Mis.

Aptly, John has today released his fifth studio album, Spotlight. The songs are mostly from the world of musical theatre and have clearly been chosen to form a coherent narrative throughout, beginning with From Now On and ending with Goodbye from the Broadway musical Catch Me If You Can and Rocky Horror Show’s I’m Going Home. Choosing some classic songs that join together with newer tracks, the result is sheer class.

Beauty and the Beast’s Evermore is a song that has begun to be recorded by several artists and no wonder; the beautiful melody perfectly suit the range and strength of John’s voice. The last note alone is worth the album price – John says it might be the longest note he’s ever recorded and it surely must be!

The Prayer is a duet made famous by Celine Dion and Andrea Bocelli but has been sung and recorded by many artists since it’s first appearance. On Spotlight, John duets with fellow Welsh singer, Lucie Jones and the result is magical. Lucie’s lovely voice blends exquisitely with John’s and leaves the listener wanting to hear from them both. Other highlights from the album include I Dreamed a Dream, a version which has been specially arranged to incorporate musical motifs reminiscent of Jean Valjean, rather than Fantine, for whom the Les Mis song is written. It is a very restrained performance and brought to mind the eloquence of John’s Bring Him Home.

Climb Every Mountain has a very dramatic opening, whilst I defy anyone to listen to Raise Me Up without standing up and singing along at the top of their voice! The inclusion of Spandau Ballet’s Through the Barricades is a surprise but a happy one – the track is nicely understated and as John says, would work in a musical. Ending with a toned down version of I’m Going Home, John first shows us Goodbye, from the short lived musical, Catch Me If You Can, based on the movie of the same name. Upbeat and catchy, t’s a perfect musical theatre song and good to hear something that a lot of the audience might not be familiar with.

Spotlight is available to order here.

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Alfie Boe Shares Some Love for Rays of Sunshine

Thanks everyone – happy to announce that we raised £225 for Rays of Sunshine! You are all amazing and I know that the charity are thrilled. The link is still open if anyone want to share the love with Rays of Charity – click here.

Valentine’s Day is almost here and to celebrate, thoughtsofjustafan is sharing the love by raising money for one of Alfie Boe’s charities, Rays of Sunshine. Share some love on behalf of Alfie and donate to the thoughtsofjustafan Just Giving page – click here. Here is Alfie asking us to share:

Alfie became involved after singing at the charity’s annual fund raising dinner in 2017, alongside Michael Ball. The pair then decided to record the song they sang that evening:

The Rays of Sunshine children’s choir were also featured and then made a simply unforgettable appearance on stage with Alfie and Michael in London. Excitingly, the choir might make a further appearance with Alfie at the Royal Albert Hall on his upcoming tour!

Rays of Sunshine was founded in 2003 to brighten the lives of seriously ill children and those with life limiting conditions and the work they do mainly consists of granting magical wishes. Every day, the charity gives these children and young people, aged three to eighteen, the chance to put their illness on hold and enjoy a moment of escape. Hospital wards can also benefit from magical wishes and have included decorating treatment rooms, purchasing equipment, funding sensory room and funding an indoor sensory garden. Another hospital centred activity are hospital activity days; every week of the year the team bring sunshine to children on the wards of hospitals across the country through entertainment such as Bollywood dancers and imaginative arts and crafts. These events provide distraction and reduce isolation for children receiving long term treatment in hospital.

This Valentine’s Day, Alfie is asking you, the fans, to ‘share some love’ and donate via the thoughtsofjustafan JustGiving page – click here.

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Alfie Boe’s Best Live Song 2019: Number Five

Midway through our quest to find your favourite Alfie Boe Live Song 2019 and we come to a song that has reached number one in the past and not been out of the chart since, also being popular on the Best Recorded Song chart:

Love Reign O’er Me from Classic Quadrophenia has been a firm favourite with Alfie and The Who fans alike since we first heard it at the world premiere in 2015. Judging by it’s assured place in our chart, people still love it as much as they did four years ago.

Looking back at the many times this song has featured in song charts or Six Sensational Songs (it’s second only to Bring Him Home in number of selections), the one thing everyone says about it is that Alfie’s voice is at it’s best when he sings it. And you don’t listen to this song, along with Alfie, you experience it.

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The Time Has Come…

I’ve been writing about and supporting Alfie Boe for almost six years now and I can honestly say that he changed my life…irrevocably and for the better. Because of Alfie I have made lifelong friends (those Boe Buddies know who they are), have changed careers, have had a bestselling eBook, have built up a professional reputation and also a new business.

Therefore, (and I can’t believe I’m writing this) the time has come for me to move on from thoughtsofjustafan. Alfie has a new management company who are amazing and will look after both him and his fans and this has made it possible for me to take the opportunity to spread my wings in new directions. Thoughtsofjustafan will stay online and will be carrying on as is for a few weeks yet – for a start, thoughtsofjustfan is helping Alfie raise money for one of his newer charities, Rays of Sunshine so keep an eye out for that. It’s my last one so please help me to share some love for them and donate.

I will always support Alfie and his music – not least from my new project, Angry Baby Music and I’ll always be grateful to have met so many wonderful people through the years. I’ll still be going to concerts so no doubt I’ll see you there!

Stay tuned for more news on what I’m doing next – and if you want to keep up with me in the future, check out my other ventures:

Angry Baby Music
Create A Fan Blog

Thank you all for a truly wonderful five and half years – we’ve had some ups and some downs but through it all, we’ve remembered that we came together through a love of one man and his music.

Last word for Alfie:

Alfie, you can have no idea how much your music has changed my life; thank you from the bottom of my heart for the support you have given me in my ventures over the years. It’s been a pleasure!

Alfie Boe Returns to Les Mis!

In news sure to electrify fans of both Alfie Boe and Michael Ball, it is today confirmed that both will return to the London stage of Les Miserables – albeit in a fully staged concert version. Scheduled to run for sixteen weeks at the Gielgud theatre from August 10, this solves the conundrum of what to do with the super musical while it’s current home, the Queen’s Theatre, is being refurbished this summer.

Alfie will reprise the role of Jean Valjean, whereas Ball will take the role of Javert – if we weren’t excited before, we are now! This is a super exciting cast announcement, especially given that Matt Lucas will return to play Thenardier and Fantine will be played by West End star Carrie Hope Fletcher. In addition, another wonderful Valjean, John Owen-Jones will be returning for three shows a week.

Earlier today, Alex Bellfield of Celebrity Radio shared a YouTube chat with Alfie:

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