Bad boys, bankers & Miss Universe contestants - Australian X Factor wraps up week one with a bang

Unlike it's British originator, down under the show airs on Monday, Tuesday & Wednesday nights and so far this week we've been met potential stars in the forms of 14 year old Vendulka Wichta and this year's first auditionee Bella Ferraro.

Last night's episode saw a motley crew of contestants hoping to make their way through to "super bootcamp". Matt Gresham has used a focus on music to turn around his life and - with a little help from Bob Marley - dazzled the judges with his unique style.



Former Miss Universe contestant Kristina & student Jo came together to form Good Question, and were eager to prove`they are far more than merely pretty faces.



Also choosing to choosing to mix things up with a number showcasing both his singing & rapping abilities was bank teller William Singe.



Closing out the shows for this week was factory working single dad Hayden Maurirere, with his performance of the Chris Cornell version of Michael Jackson's 'Billie Jean'.

Meet Bella Ferraro - First contestant on this year's Australian X Factor and already tipped to win

Her absolutely stunning rendition of Bon Iver's 'Skinny Love', patterned on the cover by Birdy, had judges Ronan Keating & Mel B predicting that she'll not only win the competition, but go on to equal the worldwide success of Adele.



It would be easy to dismiss such lavish praise on the basis of a single performance, but like many aspiring singers she's been showcasing her singing talents via YouTube, even if she's been doing so via a blank screen.



In the intervening year she seems to have grown in confidence enough to appear in front of the camera. Here she covers The Killers 'Mr Brightside' alongside her friend Morgan, whose X Factor audition airs later this week.

Dub Samba? Salsa Step? Whatever this unlikely fusion is called, I want more of it

I'm all for blurring the boundaries between genres and it seems I'm not the only one. Despite only having been released 24 hours previously, this infectiously catchy track from Sam and the Womp has shot straight to the top of the UK singles chart.

Chatroulette Me Maybe

Every time I think that the internet has finished with the covers and parodies of Carly Rae Jepsen's earworm, another one arrives and blow me away in spectacular fashion.

Julia Nunes is back!

The internet's favourite ukulele strummer has returned after a busy summer touring in support of her Kickstarter funded album "Settle Down" (at time of writing only $5 on Amazon.com).

George Formby was not the inventor of the electric grill, nor did he play the banjo

Not to be confused with nutritional heavyweight George Foreman, George Formby was a musician, actor and comedian who played the ukulele with the resonator (body) of a banjo, referred to as a banjo uke or banjolele.



His father, also George Formby, was a northern star pulling in phenomenal amounts of money as a comedian in the musical halls. In fact George Jnr.'s start in showbiz came after his father's death, as a George Formby tribute act.

It was during WWII that George reached the peak of his fame, having been rated 4F he travelled throughout Europe & Africa to entertain the troops.



While his films kept up morale on the home front.



He and his wife Beryll were known around the world and after WWII they toured the Commonwealth countries. In South Africa they refused to play to segregated crowds, cancelling the planned performances and instead touring the black townships, eventually being forcibly escorted from the country by the police.

There are a whole host of things I never knew about George Formby until I watched this documentary Frank Skinner made about him for the BBC.

Sigur Rós Celebrate Brooklyn

2012 marks the 34th year of Celebrate Brooklyn and amongst the numerous events taking place in Prospect Park was a performance by Icelandic band Sigur Rós.

They make some of the most beautiful music you will ever hear. Listen to the whole two hour performance here...



Or check out video of one of the highlights of the gig here.

Robots dance among us

There is no way this is an actual human.

How do you follow up "We are young"? With a music video full of beards and bayonets

How many of these iconic 90's hits do you remember?

You might recognise Benny "The Human Jukebox" as the under appreciated heart of the band Axis of Awesome, who I've previously featured when they showed us that Everything Sounds the Same.

Here Benny has left his band mates behind and is harnessing the mighty powers of the melodica, to bring you a selection of some of the greatest moments in musical history.



He was even kind enough to create a video playlist featuring the original tracks (click here).

"A fun and democratic way for street musicians to receive donations."

The ninth of cdza's musical experiments has hit the interwebz and this time they've taken it to the streets.

Foo Fighters get given the One Minute Mashup treatment

Chad Neidt races through as many of The Foo's greatest hits as he can in only sixty seconds

Why the hell is this in my YouTube feed? [NSFW]

So I'm on Youtube and I suddenly see this video at the top of my "Recommended" list:



After watching it several times, analysing certain moments frame by frame, I started thinking about why YouTube decided to recommend this to me when I didn't recognise the band and it's not even a genre of music I listen to.

A quick Google of the band's name brought up a link to their Wikipedia page. A link marked purple, meaning I had visited it before... what!?

Scrolling through the info it finally dawned on me. They were featured in a video made by YouTube legend Freddie Wong.



So that's my explanation for why YouTube decided to show me boobs.

80s Flashback Battle: Tiffany vs. Debbie Gibson

After seeing Debbie Gibson's cameo in Katy Perry's latest music video I was feeling nostalgic for the 80s and was reminiscing on the supposed rivalry between Debbie and Tiffany.

I was always a Tiffany fan myself but what about the rest of you? Here's a couple of videos to remind you of them in their heyday.





Of course the two girls have now grown up

as their respective Playboy shoots demonstrate

and all that rivalry is now behind them right? Perhaps not. Here they get physical in a fight scene from Mega Python vs Gatoroid that gets pretty hot and heavy (sNSFW wrestling while covered in food)



Debbie and Tiffany seem to have made up in time for this performance of Don't Stop Believin' (sadly Debbie's singing isn't at it's best)

Katy Perry's 'Last Friday Night (T.G.I.F.)' is all about the cameos

Check out the folks Katy has appearing in this thing:

• Rebecca Black (legally required to appear in all videos with Friday in the title)
• Darren Criss & Kevin McHale (Blaine & Artie from Glee)
• All 3 Hanson brothers
• 80's sexpot Debbie Gibson
• 80s saxpot Kenny G

and

• Corey freakin' Feldman!

What song are you listening to?

Here's what the people of New York had to say when asked what song they were listening to.

How the hell did Bruno Mars get Spock in his video?

It's an alternative video for his Lazy Song and it stars Leonard Nimoy as you've never seen him before.

Kids play fighting brought to life

One day a robot will attempt to do 'The Robot' better than a human, these twins will be there to defeat it

Via: Break

Meet the people of Walmart (WARNING: They're pretty freaky)

Via: Mashable