There are so many highlights from this year's Oxegen Festival. From watching Black Eyed Peas boost a move to seeing Foo Fighters rock the entire site, there was so many perfect moments this year.
THE ACTS
I have to say my highlight of this year was seeing Beyonce perform and the amazing Coldplay follow her with a sensational set.
After performing earlier on Sunday at T4 in the park in London, Beyonce flew to Punchestown, Co. Kildare by Helicopter yesterday and wowed crowds with her sexy dancing and phenomenal voice.
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| Black Eyed Peas Headlined On Friday |
Although she only played for one hour and she played the exact same set list as Glastonbury (even saying the same quotes) she was still amazing to see, and had a great interaction with the audience.
Wearing a sexy see-through piece and her signature Afro curls, Beyonce began the show with 'Crazy In Love'. As well as playing a mix of the Destiny's Child hits, the singer also performed her new tune 'Girls (Who Run The World)'.
The wife of Jay-Z was great with the crowds and even went into the front row of the audience. One lucky fan got his five minutes and she gave him the microphone and let him sing a line of 'Halo'. She also took a flower hair band from a devoted fan and told the audience; "Ireland is one of my favourite places in the world to perform, cause ya'll got so much party."
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| Beyonce rocked the stage in front of 60,000 |
Ending with 'Halo' the graceful singer descended under the stage holding a flower head piece made by a fan in the audience.
But I have to say the performance of the entire weekend was from Coldplay. At 10.25pm last night tens of thousands of festival goers rushed to the main stage to cheer on the English band.
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| Photo via The Irish Times |
Unlike Beyonce they strayed from their Glastonbury set and Chris Martin seemed way more comfortable speaking to the audience. The husband of Gwenyth Paltrow opened the show speaking Irish "Cead Mile Failte," he screamed down his microphone. "Conas ata tu, how are you all?" he added.
Mixing newer tunes with old classics like Yellow and 'God Put A Smile On Your Face' Coldplay sealed the deal for me this weekend. They have been dubbed one of the best live bands in the world and I can definitely second that.
With a fireworks display and the releasing of massive balloons the band clearly wanted to make their mark on one of Europe's biggest music festivals.
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| Amanda Brunker played the main stage on Saturday. |
A gorgeous and extremely humble Chris thanked the audience for supporting the band. Saying "Beautiful Irish people out on a sunday."
Then after playing a sensational 'Everything's Not Lost' Chris was over the moon with the reaction from the crowds "All the shit we've been through as a band is worth it, when we hear 60,000 Irish people singing our song back to us."
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| Danny O'Donoghue of The Script jumped into the crowds on Friday night. |
My personal favourite was their performance of 'Polotik' as that is my number one favourite song. The band also played an old classic 'Shiver' and Chris revealed that was the first song they ever played in Ireland, over 11 years ago.
Chris Martin completely bypassed my expectations and I would see them again in a heartbeat. Overall Oxegen 2011 was amazing.
OTHER ENTERTAINMENT
As well as the musical entertainment Oxegen did well this year to add new forms of fun. Firstly the 2,000 square foot Pennys Pop Up Shop was a massive hit, with queues going out the door all weekend.
As well as that the Captain Morgans tent was debuted this year. Every half hour male and female dancers danced to the cheering crowds in front of the Captain himself. I have to see the choreography was outstanding, and it was nice to get away for a while and chill with a Captain Morgans.
VIP AREA
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| Daniella, Louise and Roz in the VIP area. |
I had a VIP Media pass so I spent some time in the VIP area. Celeb spotting was great in the private outdoor area. Irish stars such as Fade Street's Louise Johnston was spotted with Oxegen TV presenter Daniella Moyles and top model Roz Purcell.
Backstage celebs enjoyed playing fooseball, games of pool and played mini golf. VIP's also get a real bar (unlike the arena) where they could purchase any drink they wanted. And the most important thing about the VIP treatment is REAL toilets!
Also seen in the exclusive area as was model Caprice, Xpose stars Glenda Gilson and Lisa Cannon. My highlight of the VIP area was meeting MTV presenter Laura Whitmore. The Bray blonde looked gorgeous in person and was really nice to chat too.
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| Gorgeous Laura interviewing The Script |
Other celebs seen in the VIP section were Calvin Harris, Tinie Tempah, The Script and Example.
OVERALL
I honestly would say that this has been the best Oxegen festival yet.
For the first time in years there was no mud, puddles or constant rain. This year punters could relax in the sunshine, sit on the grass and listen to the great music the world is producing right now.
I cannot wait for Oxegen 2012!
