Details for forthcoming Medway Summer Party announced

The Medway Campus Summer Party will return to Coopers this year with a promise that it will be “bigger and better”, The Medwire can exclusively reveal.

Last year’s event was held at Coopers and featured live music, food and plenty of sunshine.

It was also widely heralded asa success by students from all three universities on the Medway Campus.

Looking to succeed on last year’s event, Coopers manager Gareth Gay, music student and Kent Union Vice President (Activities) candidate Jack McDonnell and Activities Officer Clarissa Place will be organising the festivities.

Talking about the plans for this year’s party, Clarissa Place said: “We are hoping to make the event bigger and better than the previous year, hopefully with more societies able to take part.

“The event is for students from all the universities on campus to celebrate the end of term and hopefully they’ll come down whatever the weather.”

The summer party is expected to take place on Saturday, May 18 and will include 12 hours of live bands and DJs throughout the day.

The theme is set to be “Exam Buster”to celebrate the end of exams.New additions to the party this year will include a planned marquee allowing for bands to play outside, as well as various showcases and displays from the campus’societies.

The popular Coopers BBQ and cocktail bar will also return, with a range of drinks deals to be revealed closer to the event.

Coopers will also be hoping to provide a range of summer themed refreshments, including ice cream.

A motion to charge students to go to the event has, however been scrapped, The Medwire understands.

A consultation meeting for the Summer Party is scheduled to take place later this month, with more details to be released in the coming weeks.

Article written by Kieran Watkins for The Medwire

Is The Voice on course to flop?

It all started so well for Britain's newest reality TV contest.

With a mass media operation exciting fans and drumming up support from the public, The Voice - the singing contest from Holland - launched to a ratings high of 10 million, the highest launch ever for a reality TV concept in the UK.

The concept is fresh, the judges are legends and the singers are VERY talented. So how come ratings have nearly halved in just a few weeks? Why can't The Voice, ironically, find it's voice with the UK audience?

It seems, to many, that the concept is just a little bit boring. OK, the Blind Auditions were fantastic. Genuinely great singers featured from the onset, and it was great to see the 'coaches' judging purely on The Voice. We saw singers from all age groups and all backgrounds performing and getting through to the Battle Rounds.

But it was the Battle Rounds where things hit a snag. You see, the unique concept of The Voice is the Blind Auditions. Now that they're over - they finished rather quickly, in my opinion - the whole idea of the spinning chairs and just focusing on The Voice is gone. It just turns into another music contest.

I personally liked the Battle Rounds, but sadly a lot of people disagreed. Ratings started to slip as some of the fan favourites, including Jessica Hammond who performed 'Price Tag' to critical acclaim, headed home. The problem was, a lot of the good acts were put against each other, meaning some great singers got through, but quite a few left too. The live shows then brought forward a mix of 'good' singers and some who, well, just don't really cut it.

And it seems the audience agrees with me. The most recent live show saw viewing figures drop to under 6 million, nearly half from the opening weekend. Many people I have spoken to have said it's boring now, the singers are dull and there's no chemistry between the judges.

And they're right. The judges/ coaches (or whatever you call them) do lack chemistry. Will.I.Am is very amusing, but his comments are too nice, the same with Danny and Tom. Tom is too old to know anything about the current music industry, and Danny is too unknown to really excite viewers. Plus, he stands up all the time (just sit down for once, please!) Jessie J on the other hand is an oddball; occasionally, she makes constructive criticism and she's usually right, but a lot of the time she comes across as a spoilt brat who is overshadowed by the three men.

The programme ideally sees itself as the 'nice guy' in the music world, but in reality, this never happens. We need a nasty record producer in there, and dare I say it, the show is missing the buzz and excitement surrounded by someone like Simon Cowell.

Although you'll never hear me admitting to liking the X Factor or Britain's Got Talent (both are terrible shows which exploit their own artists for a few laughs), you have to applaud them for being successful. Sadly, if The Voice can't pick itself up and raise viewing figures, ratings will fall flat. And no one likes a flat voice now do they?!

Pictures Courtesy of Wikipedia