Move over Penélope and Scarlett - a struggling musician-turned-diva is the real feelgood story behind Woody Allen's new movie.

When British cinemagoers flock to Woody Allen's latest film Vicky Cristina Barcelona this week, they are likely to have been drawn by the triple attraction of Penélope Cruz, Scarlett Johansson and Javier Bardem, who star in the tale of a love triangle conducted in one of Europe's most charismatic cities. But in Catalonia the true hero of the film is an Italian busker who has never been anywhere near the studios of Hollywood.

The film has already garnered a Golden Globe and an Oscar nomination, but last week a less publicised award - a Catalan film festival award for best original music - went to Giulia Tellarini, whose "Barcelona" forms the opening soundtrack to the film and has already been adopted by the city's tourist board.

Tellarini and her band a...

[ Continued ]

A new coffee-table book for lovers of Venice Beach Street Performers has just been released.

In case you don't know, Venice Beach is the second most visited tourist area in Southern California with Disneyland being the first.

The writers of the book evidently found a guy who passed the 30 year mark. He was performing when most of today's self-proclaimed "king of the street performers" were still in diapers.

Also included is a humorous story from Mad Chad Taylor on how he first started juggling chainsaws thanks to some goofy commercial maker.

The book includes some killer photos...

Check it out

Almost 100 street performers and buskers auditioned for 3 minutes each for a spot in this summer's Grate Performances series in the Big Apple's Duffy square.

Billed as the "crossroads of the world", the Times Square Alliance events are scheduled to start May 28th.

Sadly, New York City performers are usually restricted to performing underground in the city's dark and dirty subway system. This time, however, they were allowed to perform in the sunshine and be viewed by the general public.

Revealing some fresh faces, there were some old familiar ones with even the Naked Cowboy "butting" in.

See a Daily News video here.

(CAMBRIDGE) - He's Brother Blue - the street performer who hoped to change the world one story at a time.But his wife of 60 years still recalls their first encounter, long before Hugh Morgan Hill became known as the father of modern storytelling.

Full story and video

(FLORIDA, USA) It seems the conservative state of Florida has become more liberal when it comes to cities finding and hiring buskers to compliment their downtown business districts.The island of Key West has always come first with it's Mallory Square street performers. Then, there's Pensacola and even Clearwater. Within the past few years, even Fort Lauderdale has jumped on the bandwagon. Now, the city of Gainsville is seeking input and promoting buskers out of it's coffers.

Follow the link below for more information.





...

[ Continued ]