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September Programme Information

³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Proms in the Park returns to Belfast

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³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Proms in the Park is back in Belfast on Saturday 10 September.

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For the fourth year running, ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Northern Ireland and Belfast City Council team up with the Ulster Orchestra on a grand scale to present a night of popular classics in the spectacular surroundings of Belfast's City Hall.

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International stars, picnic hampers, big screens and lighting displays are all part of a three-hour classical party enjoyed by promenaders from all over Northern Ireland.

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The show begins at 7.45pm and is presented by ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Northern Ireland's Noel Thompson on stage with Kim Lenaghan in the audience and Marie Louise Muir presenting live from the concert site on ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Radio Ulster.

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Once again, the event is being staged in cities across the United Kingdom as part of the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ's Last Night of the Proms.

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Belfast-born conductor Kenneth Montgomery, recently appointed Principal Guest Conductor of the Ulster Orchestra, arrives fresh from the Santa Fe Opera to conduct a night of some of classical music's best-known works.

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Internationally acclaimed percussionist Evelyn Glennie will dazzle audiences with music ranging from Vivaldi to Rimsky- Korsakov, while the stars of Operatunity, Denise Leigh and Jane Gilchrist, sing famous duets such as The Flower Duet by Delibes.

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Local guests include Downpatrick-born harpist Cliona Doris and Codetta with the City of Derry Youth Choir, performing in a live link-up with the Royal Albert Hall.

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³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Proms in the Park will be broadcast live on ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Radio Ulster and will be shown on ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Northern Ireland television at Christmas.

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Janet's blind ambition

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The inspirational story of blind water-skiing world champion Janet Gray

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³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Sport Northern Ireland's Jackie Fullerton presents the inspirational story of Dr Janet Gray MBE, blind Triple Water-Ski World Champion, as she recovers from a near fatal training accident last year in Florida and strives to defy the odds to regain her fitness and her sporting crown.

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With exclusive personal access, Blind Ambition follows Janet's rehabilitation and road to recovery as she bids to return to the sport she loves.

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The programme traces the triumphs, trials and tribulations along the way, joining Janet at home, at physiotherapy, in surgery, in training and in her many public roles.

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It follows her progress through early faltering steps to major strides before hitting the inevitable wall as endless surgery and recurrent trauma threaten to daunt her spirits.

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Janet speaks movingly about her early life and the trauma of losing her sight to a rare form of glaucoma which also blinded her father and brother.

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The programme shows Janet on her 'return to water', with footage of the world champion demonstrating her remarkable talent in training and competitive action.

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Most crucially of all, the film crew accompanied Janet and husband Paul on an emotional return to Tampa, exactly a year after the accident, to meet the hospital staff who saved Janet's life – a trip that would mark the end of one chapter and herald another new dawn for our intrepid heroine.

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Blind Ambition is produced by About-Face Media and is due to be broadcast in September.

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Facing fears for a gay old time

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'Man's man' Stevie gets glimpse into gay life

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Imagine leaving your 'comfort zone' for a week, to confront some of your worst fears and live in the midst of the things that make you most uncomfortable.

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Ultimate 'straight guy' Stevie Ferguson, a 24-year-old from Belfast, accepts the challenge to delve into the gay scene, mixing with people he thinks of as 'poofs', 'woofters', 'queer' and 'perverts'.

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"It's a great time to be gay," say some of them, yet homophobia abounds in Northern Ireland and recent homophobic attacks have been widely publicised.

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In It's a Queer Life for the Straight Guy, on ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ ONE NI on Wednesday 7 September at 10.35pm, Stevie examines this contradiction.

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Stevie also talks to a sex therapist, meets the parent of a gay teenager, confronts gay snogging in a nightclub, and finds out what the Bible really says about homosexuals.

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Visiting both Belfast and Londonderry, Stevie's 'queer life' brings him face to face with homosexuals, transsexuals, drag queens - and his own prejudice.

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It has been produced by Green Inc. Productions.

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Back to the Drawing Board

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Remarkable quest of discovery into the past

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In the summer of 1970 a young medical student, Ann Doherty, got involved in a holiday project which brought Catholic boys from the trouble spots of the Lower Falls to Portaferry.

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Ann spent much of her time sketching their portraits, intending to present the sketches to the children on the final day of their holiday.

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Over the years, Ann forgot all about the group of young boys, until she found herself in the attic of the family home, clearing out the accumulated history of her mother's life and her own childhood.

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There, she uncovered an old sketchbook hidden beneath her recently deceased mother's bed. Her find inspired her to track the boys and to capture their portraits once more.

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"Finding the sketchbook that my mother had hidden under the bed for all those years triggered the whole thing off," says Ann, now a GP and mother of four.

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"It was almost as if she had done it with a purpose in mind, as if she wanted me to find these people – to find out if they were all still alive."

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Ann's search for the 17 children is told in the hour-long documentary Drawing on the Past, on ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ ONE Northern Ireland on Monday 5 September at 10.35pm.

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Drawing on the Past has been produced by Westway Films.

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Lobby Lives

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A fascinating look behind the revolving doors of Belfast's Europa Hotel

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Sitting proud on the Belfast skyline, the Europa Hotel is one of the most famous hotels in the world.

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For some 30 years, it was at the epicentre of a city fraught with trouble.

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Nowadays, after a glossy makeover, it is a symbol of a thriving European city, facing a bright, optimistic future.

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Former United States President Bill Clinton stayed there during his 1995 visit to Ireland and throughout the years politicians and celebrities, local people and foreign visitors have enjoyed the Europa's warm, distinctive hospitality.

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Over a period of four months, Waddell Media was given exclusive access to the hotel by the Hastings Hotel Group. This is the first time that cameras have been allowed behind its revolving glass doors to record the hectic round of colourful life inside.

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The 15-part series follows charismatic General Manager James McGinn and his staff as they organise a non-stop schedule of special events, celebrity visits and functions – Valentine's Night, Chinese New Year, the Hairdressing Awards, Singles' Night - all of them carrying huge potential for drama and crisis.

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Englebert Humperdinck, Ronan Keating, Dermot O'Leary, Paul Gascoigne and Belfast's favourite dame, May McFettridge, check in to add a touch of star quality.

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The series is due to be shown from September.

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