SO today is apparently Black Friday and since I know practically nothing about this annual day of madness other than the pictures and videos I've seen online, which are at points utterly hilarious, I thought I'd do a little research into this now global phenomenon.

Black Friday is the day following Thanksgiving Day in America which is usually the fourth Thursday of November. Since 1932, it has been regarded as the beginning of the Christmas shopping season in the States and most major retailers open at midnight offering massive discounts on popular goods and promotional sales so it's easy to see, dear reader, where the madness I mentioned earlier comes into play.

The UK has only really jumped on the Black Friday bandwagon over the past few years with the likes of Amazon, Currys and PC World starting the trend this side of the pond.

Other retailers such as Asda and John Lewis soon followed and that's when this star spangled banner of a traditional really kicked off.

Does it actually live up to the hype though? Do consumers actually get a bargain or is it just a crafty case of shifting the old stock by sticking a shiny big sales sticker on it in order to make it seem like a good old bargain worth scrapping over?

Of course Black Friday does have its critics and quite rightly so as it's been well documented that things can turn nasty between shoppers, even violent in some cases.

Since 2006, there have been seven reported deaths and 98 injuries throughout the United States alone which is just bonkers considering we are talking about shopping here.

It’s so competitive that it's actually common practice for prospective shoppers to camp out overnight in an effort to secure a place at the very front of the queue to ensure the best possible chance at getting their desired items when the sirens sound at the stroke of twelve and the doors fly open.

Sorry, but this is my idea of hell on earth. I'd rather be locked in a room and forced to watch the X Factor contestants group song on a Sunday night over and over again. Why, just why?

Shopping and gift giving is a big part of Christmas and retailers know it which is why they spend so much money on Christmas advertising.

Thanks to John Lewis’ magical adverts over the past few years the bar has been set pretty high but, for me, there is only one clear winner this year and that's Amazon.

Their advert is just beautiful. There's no dialogue, only the gorgeous Ludovico Einaudi’s I Giorni can be heard playing throughout the advert which starts with two old friends, a minister and an Imam, chatting away over a cup of tea about their sore knees.

It leads to them both purchasing the same gift of a knee support for each other, using, of course Amazon online, and ends with them both kneeling in their church and Mosque praying.

It's such a beautiful, heartwarming advert that actually doesn't mention Christmas at all, funnily enough, but just sends out such a positive interfaith message.

Definitely my winner for this years Christmas Advert although M&S did come in a close second with their Mrs Claus to the rescue advert.

I loved it that much I went out and bought the red coat she was wearing. I'm just waiting patiently for the letters to come in now so I can jump in my helicopter I keep out the back close for just such emergencies.

I'm delighted to say I'll be on Radio Scotland for the next week sitting in for the lovely Bryan Burnett each night at 6.30pm to host Get It On.

I'll also be out and about in South Lanarkshire this weekend turning on the Christmas lights tonight in Carluke, tomorrow in Rutherglen and Cambuslang on Sunday. Hope to see you all there.

If you're looking for a great night out in between Christmas and New Year I'm so excited to say that I'll be joining the legendary Robert and May Miller on the 28th & 29th December in the East Kilbride Village Theatre.

Robert and May are quite simply superstars and it's an honour for me to perform alongside them in this beautiful theatre.

It will be an evening of fantastic music and storytelling over the festive period with an electric party atmosphere. Tickets are selling fast so you’ll need to be extremely quick if you want to come along. You can book direct with the box office on 01355 248669 or log onto https://www.sllcboxoffice.co.uk