From 'Wham' to 'Glamorous': T Magazine picks of the week

Here's what to watch, play and listen to this week

WATCH: Wham!

Featuring extensive first-person narration from Andrew Ridgeley, and thanks to tons of archival recordings, the late George Michael, this hour-long documentary is colourful, fun, even a tad thoughtful, and ultimately ephemeral. With press clippings, glossy shots from teen magazines, carefully marked dates and descriptions of each stop on Wham!’s 1983 world takeover, it traces the pop duo’s brief four-year arc of celebrity, when they were young, gorgeous and carefree. It also captures the life, culture, and Wake Me Up, Club Tropicana and Careless Whisper vibe of the early 1980s.

LISTEN: Vampire by Olivia Rodrigo

In the lead single from her second album Guts, Olivia Rodrigo boils with anger as she chastises an older ex for his superficiality and manipulative behaviour. The song begins with melancholic Beatles-type piano keys. Rodrigo reunites with producer Dan Nigro, to flaunt their undeniable songwriting chemistry and theatrical flair. She balances rage and disappointment in the ex and herself. Six years post-#MeToo, Vampire resonates deeply with a generation alert to abuses of power, as the dynamics are still prevalent currently and make content for some delicious revenge songs.

BINGE: Glamorous

The magnetic performance of actor/singer/songwriter/YouTuber Miss Benny lights up the series created by Jordon Nardino, and directed by Todd Strauss-Schulson. Borrowing bits from Glee, Gossip Girl, The Devil Wears Prada, and A Star Is Born, the 10 episodes have a frothy, fluffy vibe and plenty of glam and glitz, but the five-time Emmy nominee, and the unforgettable SATC diva Kim Cattrall who returns to the screen with Glamorous, deserved a plucky, meaty role instead of one where she plays an insipid, slowly fading makeup mogul clutching at her legacy.

READ: Spare by Prince Harry 

Spare’s 400 pages are a chaotic swirl, spiralling from the death of Harry’s mother, Princess Diana, in 1997, across his laddish adolescence, through his army days, his marriage to Markle, and up to the point that he decided to step down as a senior member of the British royal family in 2020. Harry tells his story through his ghostwriter J.R. Moehringer, chronicling his journey with raw and unflinching honesty. The book is full of insight, revelation, self-examination, and hard-won wisdom about the eternal power of love over grief.

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