In the days after the atrocity, which left 22 dead and many more injured, the One Last Time singer visited injured fans.
And ever since, she mades a special effort at Christmas to brighten the days of young patients.
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Ariana Grande with Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital staff. Credit: Twitter, @rmchcharityAriana Grande visiting patients in 2017. Credit: Instagram, @arianagrande
The Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital Charity confirmed that, once again, there were presents under the tree this year thanks to Ariana.
They said that the pile of gifts was distributed to babies, children and teenagers across local hospitals including Trafford Hospital and Wythenshawe Hospital.
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They wrote: “Thank you Ariana! We were so excited to receive Christmas gifts for young patients across our hospitals from Ariana Grande.
“The presents were distributed to babies, children and teenagers at @RMCHosp, @TraffordHosp, @WythenshaweHosp and @NorthMcrGH_NHS.”
We are extremely grateful to @ArianaGrande for thinking of our young patients this Christmas. It means so much to us that the hospital is close to Ariana’s heart and that she has chosen to spread festive cheer by donating vouchers, toys and gifts for our patients 😊💚 pic.twitter.com/TrANSBoFmp
Back on Christmas Eve in 2020 – again after receiving a mountain of gifts for the kids – the charity Tweeted: “We are extremely grateful to @ArianaGrande for thinking of our young patients this Christmas.
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“It means so much to us that the hospital is close to Ariana’s heart and that she has chosen to spread festive cheer by donating vouchers, toys and gifts for our patients.”
Fans have been overjoyed to see that she has continued the tradition.
One wrote: “She is an angel hope all the kids are happy.”
Another said: “What a truly wonderful woman Ariana is.”
Someone else tweeted: “She really has a heart made of gold, i love her so much.”
Featured image: Wikimedia Commons / RMCH Charity
TV & Showbiz
‘The world’s biggest Eurovision festival’ and celebration is coming to Manchester
Danny Jones
An absolutely massive Eurovision festival and all-around celebration is coming to Manchester this year ahead of the Finals in Switzerland this May – in fact, it claiming to be the biggest in the world.
Taking place in our city for the first time ever, the official ‘MancHagen Eurovision Party’ is heading to 0161 for the annual festival’s 20th anniversary and it’s promising a huge programme of events, live music, entertainment and, most importantly, it’s all for a good cause.
Kicking off one of the best weekends of the year on Thursday, 10 April, MancHagen has partnered with the Gay Village district and some Canal Street favourites to offer a safe and exciting destination for all eventgoers to meet up.
You can expect live cabaret and singing, drag performers and DJ sets, as well as non-stop partying until the early hours. We cannot wait.
Credit: Silvester Belt via AP Media (supplied)/The Manc Group
The Canal St venues making up ‘Eurovision Village’ include EVA, Iconic Bar, New York New York, The Eagle and Cruz 101, all of which host an exclusive series of Eurovision programming and parties.
For instance, MancHagen’s Official Festival Euroclub opening party will be housed at Cruz 101, with eclectic sets from veteran Eurovision DJ David Horton and friends, followed by a weekend of performances from the likes of Choriza May (RuPaul’s Drag Race) in collaboration with Lady Olé.
Then, on the following Friday (11 April), the first half of the two-day All Stars Concertwill take place at Manchester Arcade Arena, our premier immersive augmented reality venue, from 6pm onwards.
Hosted by the UK’s 2001 Eurovision entrant Lindsay Dracassand Leeds‘ very own ‘Quality Street Queen’, Mamma Bear,the night will showcase Manchester’s leading cultural icons and look back at the thrilling history of the iconic song contest.
With show-stopping performances from the 2025 cohort, previous contestants and more, such as Eurovision 1993 winner, Niamh Kavanagh, Canal St queen Tonya Kneez; Beverly Tight-Lipps, Hera Björk and others, there’s plenty of reason to be excited about MancHagen.
Our interview with Danny BeardCanal Street in full swing during Pride 2024There’ll be plenty of watch parties around Greater Manchester, but a Eurovision Festival warm-up is even better (The Manc Group)
The celebration continues into Saturday (12 April), with an all-day programme at Depot Mayfield, a much-loved multiuse venue and home to The Warehouse Project as well as Europe’s largest indoor LGBTQIA+ celebration, Homobloc.
An exclusiveArtist Yellow Carpet Parade will then spotlight some of the UK’s leading Queer and creative pioneers, including appearances from Manchester’s own Drag icon and MancHagen ambassador Banksie, North West drag icon Danny Beard and more.
And that’s just the day-time: come nightfall, The Depot will transform into a wonderland of fashion, music and performance as the cast of RuPaul’s Drag Race UK will take over the room for a never-before-seen competition dubbed ‘Drag-A-Vision 2025’, with the likes of Marmalade, Rilesea Slaves, Alexis Saint-Pete; Charra Tea, Actavia and Chanel O Connor taking to the stage.
Oh, and of course there’s all the after-party action that Gay Village does so well – it is the part of the city that never sleeps, after all…
Besides the obvious excitement and fanfare surrounding this huge Eurovision festival, it is not only a welcome space for people from all walks of life but, above all else, being held for some vital charities.
Working alongside the Ukrainian Cultural Organization and United For You to host this year’s event, donations from each ticket sold will go towards Ukrainian Children and the George House Trust, as well as LGBTQIA+ groups like Sahir House, Manchester Pride and FSTB Danish Children.
The MancHagen co-founders say: “Our team is proud to announce the biggest celebration of Eurovision countries, cultures, fashion, music, dance and the diverse communities together in joy through music…
“There is nowhere more suited to host such an event than the UK’s inclusive capital of Manchester and capital of the North.” Dubbing itself the biggest party celebrating the annual event aside from the competition itself, if you’re a fan of the famous song contest, you don’t want to miss this.
Packages start at just £45, with VIP add-ons, affordable family tickets and VIP Backstage also available. Find out more about the ground-breaking Eurovision Festival and grab tickets for the Manchester celebration right HERE.
Featured Images — Silvester Belt via AP Media (supplied)/The Manc Group
TV & Showbiz
Eurosport is shutting down all of its channels in the UK
Danny Jones
It’s the end of an era for one veteran broadcaster as Eurosport is set to switch off all its current channels after shutting down UK operations.
The veteran sports channel has been available on tellies in Britain for over 35 years but not for much longer as the European broadcaster – headquartered in Issy-les-Moulineaux, France and owned by Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) – is set for a key restructure.
Known for showing everything from football, tennis, snooker and rugby, to cycling, touring cars; motorcycle racing, MMA and more, it’s provided some of the most well-rounded sports coverage on the planet for a generation and then some.
It’ll feel weird not seeing it on the TV guide anymore but fear not, because their programming isn’t disappearing completely – here’s why…
Sorry to see Eurosport will be no more in our part of the world from next month. Been watching since the early 90s and they did so much so well, including tons of football, athletics, tennis and winter sports that couldn’t be seen anywhere else. It was invaluable. pic.twitter.com/8iBieQ6aJ6
Although Eurosport is set to shut down next month, their existing coverage will be moving over to TNT Sports in the UK and Ireland.
Given that they’re also part of Warner Bros.’ global Discovery arm, TNT’s wide range of sports offerings just keeps getting bigger and better, having landed more and more Premier League fixtures, as well an increased number of European football and rugby fixtures, not to mention some major boxing matches.
While TNT used to have the Formula 1 too back when it was still BT Sport, they’ve also boasted exclusive MotoGP coverage since 2014, having the British Superbikes and World Superbike Championship also follow suit and join one big homogeneous roster does make sense.
However, it’s safe to say the decision hasn’t proved popular with everyone, mainly because of the uplift UK viewers will now have to shell out if they want to access the same content they were paying just £7 a month for.
As many long-standing Eurosport viewers were paying what was generally considered a reasonable fee to enjoy a handful of their sports, if they want to continue accessing those chosen favourites they will now have to pay more than four times the price for the privilege.
For decades, Eurosport has been providing a great service for fans of minority sports. And it was affordable. Now these Americans are closing it and hiding everything behind a much higher paywall. From £3.99/month to £30.99/month, an increase of 777%. Brilliant. pic.twitter.com/YVCVvjR37J
So, while Eurosport as we know it might be bidding farewell to one of its biggest and most loyal audiences, it isn’t gone forever for the brand and, to the truth, it isn’t really a goodbye as such – at least not for everyone.
The big question is, will you be one of those willing to pay for a new subscription in order to carry on watching watch Eurosport delivered for so many years?
Daisy Jackson -
27th December 2022 
