SpongeBob SquarePants: The Cosmic Shake | Accolades Trailer | THQ Nordic

SpongeBob SquarePants: The Cosmic Shake | Accolades Trailer | THQ Nordic

If you believe in yourself, with a tiny pinch of magic all your dreams can come true. For THQ Nordic, they certainly did when they read all your comments and reviews for SpongeBob SquarePants: The Cosmic Shake!

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More Nick: Nickelodeon's 'SpongeBob SquarePants' Universe Expands Again with Four New Movies!

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A Review Of The First Episode Of Nickelodeon UK's Brand New Nicktoon, "The Legend of Korra", Called "Welcome to Republic City"

Remember to watch the very first episode of the brand new Nicktoon "The Legend of Korra" TODAY at 9am (repeated at 10am on Nickelodeon+1) and at 4.30pm (replayed at 5.30pm on Nick+1), only on Nickelodeon UK and Ireland!

To celebrate and promote Nickelodeon UK and Ireland and Nickelodeon HD UK starting to premiere and show Nickelodeon's brand new original animated series "The Legend of Korra" from Sunday, 7th July 2013 at 9:00am (repeated at 10:00am on Nick UK's plus-one timeshift channel, Nick+1), the animation news website Toonzone has written a special article about what Nick UK fans and viewers can expect from the first episode of "Legend of Korra", titled "Welcome to Republic City", which you can read below!:

Review: “The Legend of Korra – Welcome to Republic City” UK Premiere

The prospect of making a sequel for a creator must be equal parts ecstatic and terrifying. People love that first story you told so much that both they and your sponsors have allowed you to have a chance to expand on it, to revisit the world you envisioned and extend it with new ideas. At the same time you’re at risk of soiling your reputation and the audience's memories if you make a mistake such as taking the story in a direction that’s so different it gets rejected. Worse, play it too safe and you'll be accused of making a rehash.

With all this potential stress, it’s all the more impressive that Avatar the Last Airbender creators Michael DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko have produced such a fitting sequel in the form of The Legend of Korra.

A generation has passed since the adventures seen in Avatar the Last Airbender, with the trials of Aang and his friends now legends as much as they are history. Working together, Aang and Zuko managed to found Republic City as the centrepiece of a common vision to unite the nations. After Aang's passing, a new Avatar was born into the world in the form of Korra, a girl from the Southern Water Tribe.

From the opening moments, it's clear that this isn't the status quo the previous series ended with, though it certainly feels like a logical advancement for the Avatar world freed from war and steered by the pioneering of Aang and his allies. Although Korra’s Water Tribe village would feel at home in the previous series, the enormity hits home when the location switches to Republic City, with a feel of a steampunk driven 1930′s New York. It’s a bold change, but one that feels consistent both with the technology seen in the previous show and real world advancement (just look at how far things advanced in the last 100 years).

Rather than simply throw viewers into this new standing, there are a few reassuring anchors from the previous show, the biggest of which is an extended cameo from Katara. Now Aang’s widow, she has a hand in Korra’s training that shows she’s not forgotten the trials she went through on her own adventure. It’s a welcome return and hearing her briefly discuss the fates of her friends is sure to get you choked up.

Korra herself is really one of the lynchpins of this project. Aang’s story was about how he rejected the call to be a destined hero, and needed to partially atone for the world that was created in his absence. Korra takes a different path, though one that carries over influence. Whereas Aang effectively had to use guerrilla tactics, Korra is kept under the watchful eye of a network designed to train and support the Avatar. The result is that she finds herself stifling under a group that expects her to embody their vision of the role rather than grant her the freedom to personally discover what it means to be the Avatar and her role in the wider world. As a character, she’s a lot of fun. Being 17 as opposed to Aang’s 12, it’d be easy to write her as a cliché moody teenage girl, but the script is better than that. There’s discontent and rebellion in her heart but it’s borne out of a genuine desire to help people. Not to say she’s perfect, since her first day in Republic City is a comedy of errors. Janet Varney provides Korra with the perfect voice, sounding fresh to the world but not a country hick.

A key inverse of the two characters is that whilst Aang was "The Last Airbender," Korra has managed to grasp the other three more physical elements of Water, Earth, and Fire, but the spiritual Airbending eludes her. This leads her to train with Tenzin, Aang and Katara’s son who has inherited his father’s role as master of the Air Temple. Tenzin is voiced by J.K. Simmons, who most will recognise as the bombastic J. Jonah Jameson in the Sam Raimi Spider-Man films. His performance as Tenzin is more reserved, helping to paint the character as a wise master who still has his own quirks and challenges. Part of this comes from being a family man with a wife and three children (with a fourth on the way). The actual theme of family is well communicated in the short run time of this premiere. There’s an amusing sequence where Tenzin's wife Pema wishes she could have one child who didn't practice airbending, and prior to that a short sequence with Korra's parents manages to sell them as rich individuals in their own right. It’s pretty impressive that this descendant of Avatar can sell a recognisable heart to a character in seconds, while some series can fail to imbue characterisation after episodes of screen time.

Although the episode is primarily focussed on introducing the cast and the character conflicts, we do get seeds of something bigger. Primarily it seems the utopian vision of benders and non-benders in harmony may have gone off the rails somewhat, with benders using their powers to bully those without. This in turn leads to scattered mentions of revolutionaries opposed to the current system: an angle sure to be explored as the season goes on.

The animation is as full of life as it always has been including a high volume of hilarious facial expressions. A lot of shows today have really stiff animation, but with Avatar you can tell the storyboarders and animators are having a ball. Several moments are beautiful to look at, especially the sweeps of Republic City.

Of course we can’t forget the action which is also well animated and choreographed. The worst thing a fight scene can do is be telegraphed, making the motions so obvious it becomes boring. The action in Korra is much better thought out with a clever and surprising rhythm that is a joy to watch. A bending battle pursuit across the city is the premiere episode’s action highlight.

As the premiere of a new chapter in the saga of Avatar the Last Airbender, 'Welcome to Republic City' does a good job of both welcoming back old fans and creating an easy jump on point for new ones. You’ll probably get a bit more out of this episode if you’re a returning fan but everything is communicated well enough for anyone to grasp, with the era of Aang being treated much like the history of Roku was in the previous show. Fans have been waiting patiently for the series to arrive in the UK and at last it’s here.

She’s the Avatar. You gotta deal with it!

The Legend of Korra premieres on Nickelodeon UK 9:00am Sunday 7th July 2013.

FILED UNDER: CHANNELS, FOR KIDS, FRONT PAGE, INDUSTRY, INTERNATIONAL, NEWS, SUPERHEROES, TELEVISION, TOONS TAGGED WITH: AANG, BENDING, KATARA, LEGEND OF KORRA, NICKELODEON UK, REPUBLIC CITY, TENZIN, THE LEGEND OF KORRA

A Review Of Nickelodeon's "Dora The Explorer LIVE! Search For The City Of Lost Toys" Musical Stage Show At The Lyceum Theatre, Sheffield

To celebrate Nick Jr. megastar "Dora the Explorer" bringing her live musical stage show, "Dora The Explorer LIVE! Search For The City Of Lost Toys", to the Lyceum Theatre in Sheffield, England, UK during the recent May half term school holidays (2013), where Nickelodeon's preschool superstar held performances of her live musical stage show as part of the entertainment complex's Spring 2013 season of entertainment, the local British newspaper The Star, Sheffield, sent along a family to review the show. You can read the family's verdict and review of "Dora The Explorer LIVE!" here on NickALive! below!:

Star family reviewers enjoy exploring with Dora


Kerry and Jez Kemp and their twins Molly and Oliver Kemp, aged five, from Killamarsh, went to see Nickelodeon’s Dora the Explorer Live! at Sheffield's Lyceum Theatre...

This week’s Star family reviewers are Kerry and Jez Kemp and their twins Molly and Oliver Kemp, aged five, who live in Killamarsh. They went to see Nickelodeon’s Dora the Explorer LIVE! at Sheffield’s Lyceum Theatre. This is what they thought.

Molly's view

Dora is my favourite character on TV so when my mummy told me that we were going to see Dora Live! I was so excited.

I joined in with Dora and Boots as they tried to get Dora’s teddy Osito back from the City of Lost Toys. I loved the whole show especially the singing and dancing and I was able to join in which was brilliant. We were given some blue stars which we had to wave in the air when Dora asked us to and at the end of the show loads of bubbles fell from the ceiling. It was FAB

Oliver's view

I thought that Dora Live! was really good. My favourite character was Boots the Monkey he was very funny and was a good dancer and singer. I liked it when Diego came on the stage he told us about some different animals in the jungle and the noises that they make. He did a song and dance and taught us the moves. Baby Jaguar came on the stage, he was sad as he had lost his squeaky toy so Dora told him that she would get it back from the City Of Lost Toys. I loved the ending when we popped lots of bubbles.

Kerry's view

Dora Live! was an excellent show, the format is very true to the TV series so all of the children and most of the adults in the audience could sing along with the songs throughout. The show consisted of two 30-minute parts with a 20-minute interval which I thought was just the right length to hold the children’s interest.

All characters from the show appear and are life size rather that a performer holding a puppet which seemed to be a big hit with the kids. It was quite interactive, all the children were given stars as they entered the theatre and were asked to wave them during the show.

Even though the theatre wasn’t full the atmosphere was lovely, the show ended with bubbles falling from the ceiling and a big song from Dora and gang.

I would say for any Dora fan the show was magical.

A Review Of Nickelodeon's Brand New Original TV Movie "A Fairly Odd Christmas"

Below is a review of the brand new live-action/CGI Nickelodeon original television movie "A Fairly Odd Christmas", which is based on the popular animated original Nickelodeon show ("Nicktoon") "Fairly Odd Parents", and stars Nickelodeon Star Drake Bell ("The Amanda Show", "Drake & Josh", "A Fairly Odd Movie: Grow Up, Timmy Turner!") as 'Timmy Turner' and Nickelodeon Star Daniella Monet ("Victorious", "Fred 2: Night of the Living Fred", "Fred 3: Camp Fred", "A Fairly Odd Movie: Grow Up, Timmy Turner!") as 'Tootie', the sister of 'Vicky', which Nickelodeon USA will premiere and show on Thursday 29th November 2012 at 7.00pm (ET/PT) and Nickelodeon UK and Ireland and Nickelodeon HD UK will premiere and show on Saturday 1st December 2012 at 8.00am (repeated at 9.00am on Nick UK's plus-one (+1) timeshift channel, Nickelodeon +1), with an encore at 4.00pm (replayed at 5.00pm on Nick+1), as part of "December on Nickelodeon 2012" and "Christmas On Nickelodeon 2012", from the Los Angeles Times:

Television review: 'A Fairly Odd Christmas' offers cheer to show fans

Nickelodeon's TV movie will make more sense to the audience of the network's 'The Fairly OddParents' but is still watchable as holiday shows about saving Christmas go. It stars Drake Bell, Daran Norris and Susanne Blakeslee.

Timmy (Drake Bell) sits on Santa's (Donavon Stinson) lap in "A Fairly Odd Christmas." (Ed Araquel, Nickelodeon / November 29, 2012)
By Robert Lloyd, Los Angeles Times Television Critic

"A Fairly Odd Christmas," which premieres Thursday on Nickelodeon, is the second (mostly) live-action TV movie to be sprung from the network's long-running cartoon series "The Fairly OddParents" (ninth season coming! 2013!). Though its appeal will be primarily to fans of the show, and its details confusing to everybody else, it should be diverting enough to anyone wanting to consume a few holiday tropes prepared with a pinch of attitude.

Written by "OddParents" creator Butch Hartman, and directed, as was last year's "A Fairly Odd Movie: Grow Up, Timmy Turner!," by Savage Steve Holland ("Big Time Rush," "Ned's Declassified School Survival Guide"), it stars Drake Bell, who grew up on the Nick sitcom "Drake and Josh," as an adult, which is not to say mature, version of the titular Timmy (who is 10 in the cartoon, where Bell is 26, in the world we call real).

Pursuant to new rules set down at the end of the previous film, he has been allowed to keep his fairy godparents (Daran Norris voicing Cosmo, Susanne Blakeslee as Wanda, with baby Poof now onboard) as long as he does not make wishes for himself. And so they rocket around the world in a flying van, hearing and granting wishes willy-nilly, heedless of their unintended consequences.

His territory encroached upon, Santa Claus summons the crew, also including Timmy's girlfriend Tootie (Daniella Monet), to the North Pole. (Mr. Crocker, the Lionel Barrymore of the piece, stows away to get his name off the naughty list. "What's that? Some kind of blog?" he asks when he learns of its existence.) All heck breaks loose, naturally — it turns out that elves and fairies have an ancient beef, and Timmy and Cosmo are habitual well-intentioned creators of chaos — occasioning a Christmas Must Be Saved story and a journey across authentic Vancouver, Canada, snowscapes to save it.

There are riled-up gingerbread men along the way and — a thing you have never seen before — a rickety rope bridge across a yawning chasm. (Boiling eggnog flows below.)

No one here is trying very hard to convey anything like a deep or subtle human emotion. Rather, they endeavor to honor their animated originals, and do a nice job of it. Bell is an appealing performer whose agent really ought to be looking past Nickelodeon already, while David Lewis as Crocker and Mark Gibbon as fairy king Jorgen Von Strangle (the looks of Dolph Lundgren, the voice of Arnold Schwarzenegger) offer convincing impersonations of their animated originals.

The fairies are rendered in CGI, and blend well with their human co-stars.

Reviews About Nickelodeon's Brand New "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" Animated Television Series

Below is a selection of reviews about Nickelodeon's brand new "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" animated television series, which premiered on Nickelodeon USA and YTV in Canada on Saturday 29th September 2012 and will premiere on Nickelodeon UK and Ireland and Nickelodeon HD UK on Monday 1st October 2012 at 5pm. I'll be posting more reviews as I find them. Feel free to let NickALive! know what you think of Nickelodeon's brand new "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" series on Twitter at @DailyNickNews!

Please Note - This NickALive! blog post featuring reviews about Nickelodeon's brand new "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" animated TV show contains spoilers which some NickALive! readers may wish to avoid. Please scroll down the page if you wish to continue.



NickALive!'s "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Reviews" blogpost starts with a review from the animation news website Toonzone:

Review: “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles”: Back Again To Raise Some Shell

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles is a property I have definite nostalgia for. In nursery and into my formative years of school I have strong memories of watching the original animated series on afternoon kids TV, Christmases where my mother had tracked down such treasures as the Turtle Blimp and Party Wagon toys, and even sampling oddities such as the cylinder shaped Turtle Shell bread loaves. This of course means that I’ll view newer incarnations of the brand more intently then some. It’s been a mixed ride, with the likes of the live action movies and their comedic ‘Next Mutation’ TV spin off, and most recently a series by 4Kids that stuck closer to the original Mirage comic books. We’re now on the eve of a brand new revival of the four brothers, helmed by Nickelodeon.

At its core, this is the Turtle story that many will be familiar with. In the sewers of New York a mysterious mutagen transforms four baby turtles into anthropomorphised mutants and likewise turns their human care-giver into a mutant rat. Hiding under the city streets, the rat (who assumes the name Splinter) trains his adopted sons in the ninja tradition of his homeland of Japan. On their fifteenth birthday the brothers request to be allowed to finally visit the surface at night, which Splinter begrudgingly allows. Once there, it doesn’t take long for trouble to find them.

One of the most striking factors of this new series is the focus on character and humour. We’re first introduced to the Turtles as they engage in one-on-one sparring matches, each showing clear personality and quirks. It’d be a lie to say different personalities hadn’t existed in previous incarnations, but I feel they've never been this intentionally pronounced. A perfect example of this is the conflict between Leonardo and Raphael, something that has played out in many past Turtles stories. Many of these opted to make Leo clearly superior, with Raph blinded by his anger and ego. Here, although they still butt heads, they seem to be on more equal footing, and it suggests we might get some interesting exploration of who is truly fit to lead. Indeed, Leo nurses some bad ideas himself about the role of a leader.

The comedy is equally distinctive. The patron saint of this element is Michelangelo. It's pretty common to depict Mikey as the most light hearted of the brothers, but here he’s really carrying a lot of the gags due to having a boundless energy. Although sometimes this makes him come off as an idiot (he needs certain things explained to him that are obvious to the other three), it’s usually the result of his sheer enthusiasm or a well-timed comment that had me laughing. For instance when Raph complains he’s tired of them sitting around 'with our thumbs up our noses', Mikey's response is to compare digit to nostril and comment “I don’t think they’ll fit”.
 Most uniquely, the comedy duties are not left solely to Mikey. The producers have commented they were inspired by the sight gags of the Teen Titans animated series, and this means everyone gets in on the action to some degree. One memorable sequence involves the brothers' first tasting of 'pizah' [pizza] after decades of sewer algae.
I can also see this version of Splinter going memetic enough to compete with the My Little Pony fan’s 'Trollestia'.

One plotline that crosses both characterisation and comedic is Donatello's smitten affection for April. Falling for her instantly, he becomes desperate to protect and impress her as her family becomes a target for the forces of darkness. April herself doesn't really get much to do in this opener. The decision to make her a teenage girl instead of a 20-something has raised a few eyebrows, and admittedly we don’t see too much here to make her a unique character. Independent young girls in 'boys' action shows seem to be on the rise, and hopefully April will go on to be vindicated as a strong and enjoyable character rather then an executive misstep (I'm looking at you, Miko Nakadai).
 It's fun to see Donny swoon over her (we’ve all done it to someone) but it’s the story opportunities offered that most intrigue me.

This first episode clearly acts as the opener for an ongoing story, with situations left unresolved and the clear promise of even more exciting ones to come. I’ve seen plenty of action cartoon pilots which use all their most thrilling ideas in the first episode and then get bogged down in filler until the season finale, but the new TMNT looks to be offering a more structured pacing. There’s enough going on here to draw viewers in but not too much to be daunting.

Most importantly, I think this is a show that kids will love. TMNT has often gone out its way to acknowledge the now twenty- to thirty-year-old fans who remember it from their childhood. While the new series remains aware of this loyalty, it’s primarily and correctly putting a new generation of fans first. In the last decade there have been numerous attempts to reboot 80s animation icons, and I think many of them failed because they targeted too much the imaginations of older fans. Nickelodeon's TMNT is going for an approach that respects the history but is trying to make these characters relevant to kids today. They’re fun and engaging in all the ways a show for the next generation should be.
 One of the most obvious signs of development to come is that the turtles aren’t yet amazing fighters. Many adaptations opt to have their public debut be a showcase for how skilled they are, but here the brothers completely fail to work as a team, colliding with one another as they attempt to rescue April. We do of course get to see some great action later, but the show appears to be making good on the producer’s claims that the initial story arc will be about the Turtles' journey to becoming heroes.

The voice acting is another sai in the show's belt. When I first heard that so many big names had been cast I was doubtful they’d work in the roles but everyone shines. Legend Rob Paulsen will likely receive a lot of attention for having been one of the stars of the original show, switching out Raph for Don. I'm perhaps too male to use the phrase 'adorkable' but if anyone could make the team nerd into this it's Paulsen. Greg Cipes delivers a brilliantly frantic performance as Mikey, a welcome return to the likes of Beast Boy as opposed to Kevin Levin from the melodramatic Ben 10 sequels. After getting used to his Samwise in The Lord of the Rings I was really surprised how well Sean Astin embodied Raph, portraying everyone's favourite hot-headed proud New Yorker with just a bit less of the antisocial rage seen in the movie adaptations. Jason Biggs manages to imbue Leo with the presence of someone who might just be a leader once he resolves his aspirations with reality.

Although I enjoyed this premiere, not everything sat well with me. There are some parts of both the writing and animation that felt poor and sometimes overlapped.
The show’s animation brings to mind two of the network’s other shows: Kung-Fu Panda: Legends of Awesomeness and Fanboy & Chum Chum, using a mix of CGI and 2D animation for flashbacks. The Turtles themselves are well done and beautifully expressive, both when being comedic and when fighting (in a wonderful touch, their eyes go pure white like the old Playmates toys during their most badass fights). However, human characters come off as noticeably less impressive in a way that crosses into issues I’ve discussed with titles such as Transformers: Prime and Planzet. Maybe this can be excused as intentional for the robo-human bodies of the Kraang, but characters such as April’s father look really dated and awkward. The CGI issues extend to locales. New York is surprisingly empty for such a bustling city and the Kraang’s base has a bold metallic sheen to it that makes it look like an unfinished render. 
The overlap occurs when one locale is suspiciously arranged so that an element is noticeably present in a distracting way and is ultimately only there to allow for one character’s fate. The resulting situation does later allow for some wonderful meta humour at the expense of the audience, but the prior staging seems very uninspired, especially for a professionally made CGI show in 2012.

Along the same lines, this version of the mutagen accident that creates the main cast might be the most awkward I’ve heard, with the writers seemingly settling on ‘It has to happen somehow, doesn’t really matter much’.
 It’s also worth noting that the Kraang’s speech style is a joke that stops being funny after its first use. They have a drawn out and redundant speech pattern which makes Mojo Jojo seem brisk. I’m sure kids will have great fun mimicking it but it’s more annoying then amusing.

An audio treat however is the new theme tune. Much like likewise legacy property Power Rangers Samurai, the show opts to make the theme tune an updating of the original. It's not quite as catchy but it’s great to hear ‘Heroes in a half shell!’ back on the box.

So, is it worth a watch? I’d say so. There are some missteps, but I think much like the Turtles themselves are shown here it’s early days and as this incarnation builds up steam it’ll only get better. It’s not taking itself far too seriously and the characters are key. I’m looking forward to this becoming one of the most entertaining and developed incarnations. After all, teenagers mature.

Kidz Cool It Offers Early Review Of Nickelodeon's Brand New CGI-Animated "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" TV Series; NVCP To Release First Wave Of "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" Merchandise In The UK In December 2012!

To celebrate and promote Nickelodeon UK premiering and showing Nickelodeon's brand new CGI-animated "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" television series from Monday 1st October 2012 at 5.00pm (BST (GMT+1)), starting with a very special one-hour television event, as part of "October on Nickelodeon UK", "Kidz Cool It" has posted a early review about Nickelodeon's brand new "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" TV show on their official website, Kidzcoolit.com! What do the 'Kidz Cool It' reporters think about Nickelodeon's reincarnation of the popular "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" series? Find out by reading their review here on Kidzcoolit.com!

As part of Kidz Cool It's review of Nickelodeon's new "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" TV show, Kidz Cool It have also posted a few exclusive photographs from one of Nickelodeon UK's earlier "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" events, including photographs of Kevin Eastman, the co-creator of "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles", Nickelodeon's exclusive "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" themed bottles of water, Nickelodeon's "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" Press Badges/Lanyard's (featuring a exclusive TMNT sketch by Kevin Eastman), how the look of "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" action figure product lines have changed over the years since the 1980's (as a timeline), and a sneak peek of Nickelodeon And Viacom Consumer Products UK's upcoming "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" merchandise/toy ranges, which will be released in UK and Ireland retailers in December 2012 in time for Christmas!

TheCelebrityCafe.com Reviews Big Time Rush's Second Album "Elevate"

From TheCelebrityCafe.com:

Big Time Rush's 'Elevate' Album Review

Big Time Rush’s Elevate features a song called "Show Me" which states, “The track begins, you pull me in.” And that is exactly what happens with every track on this album.

2011’s Elevate is packed with feel-good dance music, infectious pop hooks, and breathtaking ballads. From kindergartners to college students, there is something for everyone to enjoy.

Big Time Rush first became popular on their Nickelodeon TV show of the same name. While their debut album featured songs written specifically for the series, this sophomore album allowed the boys more involvement in the creative process. For the first time, Kendall Schmidt, James Maslow, Logan Henderson, and Carlos Pena had the opportunity to write their own lyrics. They expressed appreciation for their fans, the importance of believing in your dreams, and having an optimistic outlook on life and love. They also reminded listeners to stay true to themselves and to have fun while doing so!

Throughout the album, BTR's passion for their music shines through.

“Music Sounds Better With U” is an instant hit which hooks you with its playful lyrics and optimistic perspective. Big Time Rush's upcoming Better With You Tour is named after this track.

There should be more songs in the world like “Cover Girl”, a self confidence anthem for women everywhere. With lyrics like: “I love you just the way you’re made”, “It’s what’s underneath your skin, the beauty that shines within”, and “You’ve got a heart of gold, a perfect original", the song places value on the characteristics that make each person special and unique. In a time full of distorted media messages about beauty, Big Time Rush’s assurance is both welcome and refreshing.

My favorite track was “Love Me Love Me”, a head bopping, jump-up-and-down, raise-your-hands-up-in-the-air type of song with clever rhymes and techno-influenced beats. In the same realm was "If I Ruled The World", an imaginative, upbeat song about what you would do if you were in charge for a day. I couldn’t help but get up and dance!

“You’re Not Alone” featured honest and heartfelt lyrics about being there for someone when they need you most. It showed that the boys of Big Time Rush are not just a bunch of pretty faces. They are musicians with talent, good heads on their shoulders, and respectable role models for all.

At the end of the CD I was shouting the words to the title track “Elevate” with the utmost enthusiasm and excitement: “Elevate a little higher, let’s throw a party in the sky and celebrate!”

Music definitely sounds better with BTR in the mix. Go take a listen!

Below is the video for their hit "Music Sounds Better With U":



And here is "If I Ruled the World" which features clips of their devoted fanbase (called "Rushers") and their summer touring highlights [not available to be viewed from within the the UK.]