Talking Pints: Usher Mania, World Cup Final, New Openings

Usher is in town this weekend - read our interview with the man here - and Beijing's gone just a little bit mad. The guys at Street Hustle, who are promoting this Sunday's gig at Wukesong Arena, have had bar owners creating Usher-themed cocktails. Or rather, themed on his song OMG. Fubar, Apothecary and Twilight are among the bars competing - vote for your favorite at clubzone.cn. But do try them out first. Beijing Boyce gives you a taster of Apothecary's OMG cocktail here.

A few Usher-related parties going on this weekend. First up is Touch's Usher Pre-Party in the Westin Chaoyang on Saturday night. There'll be Usher tunes and maybe even an appearance by members of his stage team. You can win tickets to watch him rehearse on Sunday morning, so if you're into behind-the-scenes thrills and spills, go along to Touch. Tickets and info at 5922 8880.

Street Hustle's Usher Pre-Party is also on Saturday night, at Bling in Solana. Don't miss it if you're a fan of Mr. Raymond IV. Party starts at 9pm and it's free entry.

And then it's the man himself - Usher at Wukesong on Sunday night. 8pm kick-off, tickets RMB 280-2,000. Tickets are still available at 159 0120 1771, 152 1018 3020 or at www.piao.com.cn.

If you're not a mad Usher fan - and maybe even if you are - then the biggest event of the weekend is going to be the World Cup Final, which kicks off at 2.30am on Sunday night/Monday morning. Most of us have written this month off, let's face it. Late nights spent in bars, living on less sleep than Maggie Thatcher when she ran Britain - that's four hours a night, in case you don't know, coming home at 5am and passing the old geriatric that lives in your building as he hobbles out for his morning hobble, enduring irritating ads for Chinese beer, discovering that quiet girl in the office actually knows a thing or two about the Beautiful Game, those Irish guys selling T-shirts all over town, Shakira's "Waka Waka" and Bob Sinclar's "Love Generation" on repeat ... It's been great, hasn't it? Almost makes up for the football.

But it all comes to a head this Sunday as Spain face the Netherlands. Where to watch it then? The Dutch will likely be congregating in Kokomo and the Pavillion, and a massive Spanish crowd will invade Paddy O'Shea's, where you can drink beer from the in-house vuvuzela and win more beer, or blow on the world's most underrated musical instrument to win a free bucket of beer at half-time. Luga's Villa, 1F, The Den and Park Side (kitchen open until 4.30am, so get your food ordered before it goes to penalties) will probably all be pretty busy.

ChinaDoll promises the most glamorous World Cup Final party in town, starting from as early as 6pm. There's BBQ, the game on the big screen eventually, and more. Bookings at 136 0138 2267 or 138 1108 1896.

12SQM is offering itself up for hire for the World Cup Final. Given that it's actually about 3 or 4 times that size nowadays and has a fine beer and whisky selection, including some hard-to-find Irish whiskeys, that's not a bad option if you're a group of around 20-30. Call boss Joseph on 6402 1554 to see if someone's already beaten you to it.

I stopped off at Eudora Station in Lido to watch the first half of Holland vs. Brazil last week - if you want to watch the World Cup Final outside, their garden terrace is a fair option - and covered over in case of rain. If you want to hear singer Gregg Carroll put some of the finest vocal chords in Beijing to the test against some classic funk, rock and blues before the game, Eudora is unmissable. His rendition of "Waka Waka" was unconfirmed on the set list at the time of publishing.

In other news - a really strange-looking bar by the name of La Fite British Exotic Bar has opened in the last remaining nooks of the old Sanlitun South Bar Street. Beijing Boyce has the story here. The chap in the photo with his shirt off, standing in the doorway, is the owner. He does look a bit like a Brit on holiday in Tenerife.

We're waiting on checking out a new place called Hold 'Em Stars in Ritan Highlife, which is apparently a poker-themed restaurant and bar. Wonder how they got that past the license-givers. Anyway, sounds like it's worth a look, so expect a writeup here sometime in the coming weeks.

Club Du, a new restaurant-bar serving Japanese food upstairs and cocktails downstairs, opens in World City, next to the Place, tonight. Look out for a review in the August issue of the Beijinger.

Another opening party tonight - The House, the new bar next door to Mix and run by the same group, has its grand opening. Acupuncture's DJ Weng Weng - the elder statesman of Beijing techno - will make an appearance on the decks, and if it stops raining you ought to make an appearance on the natty roof deck, which has a rather stunning view of the Workers' Stadium.

Alright, enough of this for now. The Beijinger's office octopus says that Spain will win the World Cup 2-1 and that 4 legitimate goals will be disallowed Lampard-style. He thinks that Usher will probably not get canceled. He also thinks you've probably stopped reading by now. Waka Waka hey hey.