Footballers Wives

Top Tat TV show Footballers Wive$ returns for a new series tonight. Show bitch, Tanya Laslett (ex-Turner), is back and about to give birth, whilst not knowing who the father is. Potential father, team captain Conrad is also expecting a baby with his ex-wife Amber.

Teen footie sensation Harley is back with dozy wife Shannon, plus a new couple.

New Doctor Who

Well, one episode has been aired of the new series, but Christopher Eccleston who is playing The Doctor is not coming back for a second series, as he does not want to be typecast.

The Apprentice: Episode Seven

This week’s task was to organise lots for a celebrity fundraising auction. Due to the altercations between Paul and Saira, Sir Alan split them up to choose their own team – Saira chose James, Raj and Sebastian. Paul chose Ben, Tim and Miriam.

The two teams each chose five celebs from a list and approached them to try and get donations for the rebuilt Hackney Empire.

Ben headed up one team and James the other. In my opinion James’s team had the worst selection of celebs and had a hard time in getting donations from Eamon Holmes and Mel Smith. Ben’s team were more assertive and asked the people from Chicago show for 50 tickets, in comparison James’s team asked for four tickets to Mel Smith’s new show. Ben (and all the team) got Michael Winner to give a meal at The Ivy restaurant and they even persuaded TV gardener Diamund Gavin to donate his motorbike.

Before the auction, James’s team sat in the seats of their box, whilst Ben’s team networked and told people about their auctions. In the end, James’s team got £10,000 approx, whilst Ben’s got £18,000 and were the winners.

James said he did not think Saira should go into the boardroom, as she had worked the hardest of all. He took Raj and Sebastian in with him. Both were weak in the boardroom, Raj bumbled and Sebastian talked a bit of bollocks. In the end Sebastian was fired ‘with regret’ as it was felt he did not have the killer instinct.

Official Download Chart

1 Tony Christie feat Peter Kay - (Is This The Way To) Amarillo
2 McFly - All About You
3 Sunset Strippers - Falling Stars
4 Stereophonics - Dakota
5 Jem - They
6 Gwen Stefani Feat. Eve - Rich Girl
7 50 Cent - Candy Shop
8 Phantom Planet - California
9 Basement Jaxx - Oh My Gosh
10 Mario - Let Me Love You

The Runaway Jury

Based on a John Grisham novel, with a change to the story, this courtroom drama has promise. The lead actors include megawatt Gene Hackman, Dustin Hoffmann and John Cusack. A widow of a man killed through gun crime hires Hoffman's character Wendell Rohr to help her sue the gun manufacturer's for not being responsible where their guns are sold (i.e the black market). Gene Hackman in the jury expert for the defense and Cusack plays a juror with an agenda of his own.

For a while you wonder where it is going and quite how Cusack's character Nick and his cohort Marlee (Rachel Weisz) really pull it off, or even quite what they want to pull off.

However, this is a more than adequate way to while away an afternoon, which is what we did.

6.5/10

Strictly Dance Fever

The new dance show presented by Graham Norton debuted on Saturday. This was a final audition show where ten couples from the North (including Scotland and Northern Ireland) competed for three places in the main show. They were only allowed to where home made costumes and some of them were dire.

The judges, who included Strictly Come Dancing's Arlene Phillips, chose one couple from each pair of couples (who danced different genres) to go through. The public then voted for three out of the five to go to the proper show in three weeks.

The first genre was Swing and both couples were quite good, but the first, which featured a fabulous plump girl got through. Next was Disco, again the first couple, with the most hi-energy routine went through. Next was Line Dancing (which was nothing like an line dancing I had ever seen), followed by Ballroom (with a Latin flavour) and Freestyle. Freestyle was the most fun to watch and the couple that went through were fabulous, but there were concerns that they would struggle with the other genres.

The final three were Swing couple Clare and James; freestylers Sadie and Joseph and Line Dancers Jodie and Danny.

Doctor Who?

Well, it is back, the long awaited new series of Doctor Who starring Christopher Eccleston as the new doctor and Billie Piper as his assistant. I was never a huge fan of the original but I gave this one a go, and for the most part I enjoyed it. I won't bust a gut to watch it, but if I am in I will probably make the effort for the time being.

The new show was due to go head to head with Ant & Dec's Saturday Night Takeaway, and by all accounts blasted it away.

Audioscrobbler Update

My Top Artists as of March 27th are:

1. Stonebridge - 26
2. Wet Wet Wet - 16
3. G4 - 13
4. Kylie Minogue - 10
4. Madonna - 10
6. Erasure - 6
6. George Michael - 6
6. Phil Collins - 6
6. Abba - 6
10. Queen - 5
10. Elton John - 5
10. the Beatles - 5
10. Will Young - 5

Top Ten iTunes

To date, the top ten tracks that have been played on iTunes since I downloaded it last June.

1. Paul Weller - You Do Something To Me
2. Supergrass - Moving
3. Lightning Seeds - Marvellous
4. Snow Patrol - Crazy in Love
5. Wet Wet Wet - If I Never See You Again
6. Justin Timberlake - Rock Your Body
7. Survivor - Eye of the Tiger
8. Sugababes - Killer
9. Skunk Anansie - Hedonism
10. The Lightning Seeds - What If...

The Sims 2

As a committed fan of the original Sims games I was obviously looking forward to this game, the reason it took me so long to write this review is a tribute to how much I'd rather be playing it.

As well as the usual 'needs' you need to meet for your Sim, such as bladder and hunger, this time you have to meet their 'wants' and try and avoid their 'fears' (unless you're feeling sadistic). Typical wants include skill increases, relationship interaction with certain Sims and the acquirement of certain objects. Fears include rejection by certain Sims, wetting themselves and death of a 'loved' one. Each want/fear has a positive or negative points affect on the Sims aspiration meter which makes your Sim a lot happier. For each Sim you get to choose from one of Aspiration - Romance, Family, Knowledge, popularity or Fortune, which dictates most of their wants. Successful aspiration scores mean access to aspiration rewards such as money trees and other quirky things.

The main difference between the games (apart from much improved graphics) is that your Sim can age and has several life spans of baby/toddler/child/teen/adult and elder after which they die. They can also die through illness or lack of food or neglect. Sims also become pregnant and it can be hard work keeping pregnant Sims happy as well as meeting the needs of new babies. New interactions include 'Woo Hoo' (nudge, nudge, wink, wink) and 'Try For A Baby' and it is a lot easier to get your Sims to marry than in the original.

There are ten careers paths in this game and it needs some more. The premise is as before - the Sim needs certain skills and/or a certain number of friends to be promoted. You occasionally get to make work based decisions on behalf of your Sim which can result in a skill increase or an emotion. There are also career rewards accessible once certain criteria have been met.

The wardrobe is limited at the moment in my opinion, but I expect that will increase with expansion packs. There is a lot of scope with facial features and Sims now carry DNA that means that their children can have a resemblance. They can also have twins!

There is also scope for Community Lots though they will seem limited to those who had all the original expansion packs in the original. For example, there are no restaurants or bars. There are however ready built (or the facilities to build) parks, grocery shops (the fridge no longer stocks itself) as well as clothing and gadgetry shops (Sims can 'Woo Hoo' in changing rooms) and swimming pools. Sim houses have much more flexibility now and can be as many floors as you would like, and have basements and patios too.

As usual there are quirky things that are available such as alien abduction. Male Sims will come back pregnant and give birth to a cute green baby which will grow up in your town as a regular Sim. You can get Logic skills from newspaper crosswords, hire a nanny, learn cooking skills from the TV, complete assault courses etc etc.

The Sims 2 - Strategy Guide

I found this book very necessary when trying to get to grips with the new gameplay and unique objects in The Sims 2. It gives a helpful career guide and helps understand relationship interactions and their outcomes. It has proved invaluable in helping me find out how to send Sims to Private School, how to build foundations for your houses and what the different objects do. It doesn't have an index though, so I often wonder if I have missed something when I am searching for specifics. To get the best out of it you probably should read it from cover to cover but it is too big a book. However, I feel I have got more out of the game because I have it as there is a lot more detail to this game than the originals and I had many questions before I bought it, most of which were answered by this book.

EG of the dump

Today we cleared out the garage. Well, not cleared it completely, just took emptied it and put a lot of stuff back in. We still had two car lots for the local dump though - a portable TV (with remote), an old video recorder, an old stereo, two car radio/cassette players, a couple of PC monitors and various packaging and odd bits of crap. All the electrical items work and it seems criminal to throw them out but they are so dated in their size and ability that we have upgraded and just do not have the room to keep (and why keep when you are not going to use it again?) so we had to throw them out. Not even the blokes who worked at the dump (and officially have first dibs on anything left there) wanted them.

I guess we live in a highly disposable society these days. Technological advances mean that many electronic/electrical products become obsolete, or at least, easily outdated in a matter of years and there is no purpose to keeping bulky stuff for no reason.

The Apprentice: Episode Six

This week the two teams had to prepare an advertising campaign for the latest Amstrad 10 CD changer. Miriam headed up First Forte and Paul took Impact.

From the first Miriam's team worked well together and came up with the snazzy tag of 'The Jukebox is back' whilst Paul's team laboured and eventually came up with 'Get You Own'.

First Forte did an OK TV advert in the time available and a good press campaign and gave a confident presentation and the team were all committed to the idea. James voiced some doubts on camera, away from the team, but he need not worry. Paul made his TV commercial his baby and it was a weak 6th form project type attempt. He left Saira and Rachel to do the press and prepare the presentation. They could not agree in what direction to take so Rachel left Saira to do the press ad whilst she did a storyboard for the presentation. Rachel's mood board looked like the average five year old's collage and was embarassing to watch. Saira meanwhile left the 'Mac man' (or 'Mac person' as she preferred to call him) to his own devices and gave him very little brief whilst she re-arranged the meeting room. There was no communication between the two branches of Impact, like there was with First Forte.

It was no surprise that First Forte won the task and a set of bespoke tailoring. Paul chose Saira and Rachel to go back into the boardroom. Thisi was no surprise because (a) He has proved to be a mysoginist who is not happy with women in business; and (b) they were not working directly with him and thus it was easy for him to apportion blame. It was a tough call as all three had screwed up to some degree. Paul, because he had been a poor leader on this task, had been vague with his brief and failed to manage the team members when they were away with them. Saira, because she had badly prioritised her time, and had not been actively with the Mac Man on the press campaign. Rachel, becasue she had some advertising experience on her CV, yet failed to capitalise that and wasted her time on a kiddy style mood board. In the end he fired Rachel. Saira and Paul were close to being fired and I thought either of them could go initially. At the end Saira broke down and gave us the first tears of the series.

Official Top Ten Download Chart

1 McFly - All About You
2 Stereophonics - Dakota
3 Tony Christie feat Peter Kay - (Is This the Way to) Amarillo
4 50 Cent - Candy Shop
5 Gwen Stefani Feat. Eve - Rich Girl
6 Phantom Planet - California
7 Sunset Strippers - Falling Stars
8 Jem - They
9 Natalie Imbruglia - Shiver
10 Nelly Feat. Tim McGraw - Over And Over

The Urbz: Sims in the City (GBA)

I loved The Sims:Bustin’ Out on GBA so was looking forward to this game. There is a bigger area to explore (but restricted until you do the appropriate tasks), more interactions and some fun mini-games. The premise is that to be the hip Urb about town you must have strong relationships with as many other characters as you can to earn rep points and get Xizzle beads which can be exchanged for skills or mood enhancements. There are numerous levels with lots of goals to complete and often there are ones you can struggle on. The game is very multi-dimensional in that there are so many things you can do in one ‘urb day’ such as earn money, hone skills, find things, get up relationship scores etc that you run out of time to do everything. This is not a game for a quick dip in and out of, you can get sucked into it, which means I don’t play it as much as I would like, as I know I can’t spend hours at a time on it.

Strictly US

BBC hit show Strictly Come Dancing has been sold to the US, there will be some slight changes including a name change, but it looks like the show has global dominance!

Man on Fire

I quite enjoyed this action flick which stars Denzel Washington. Washington is, of course, a class actor, and in this film he is alongside Christopher Walken and some excellent Latin American actors. The film is set in Mexico where the wealthy and elite face risks from kidnapping to the extent that they have insurance against it, which requires them to have a bodyguard. In financial difficulties Samuel Ramos (Marc Antoine aka Mr J. Lopez), hires Creasy (Washington) to be responsible for his daughter, Pita and his American wife, Lisa. Creasy has an impeccable resume but has a drinking problem which Ramos is aware of but asks that it is kept from Lisa. Emotionless Creasy eventually warms to the daughter and gets involved in her life. He tries to head off a kidnap attempt (killing two corrupt Police officers involved) , but Pita is too scared to run when she sees that he has been shot and is snatched.

The film gets fast paced as Creasy takes revenge on the kidnappers and all those who stood to profit from it. At points you need to suspend your disbelief at the actions of this one man superhero, but the setting of Mexico City and the corruption makes for fascinating viewing.

6.5/10

Cause Celeb - Helen Fielding

This book was written before Bridget Jones and has since been republished. Fielding writes well when she writes about girls in publishing, when our heroine Rosie, goes to Africa on a promotional trip her priorities change and she realises how shallow her life was in London, thus giving her the strength to walk away from her relationship to go and help in a refugee camp. Four years on and there is a potential crisis. The camps need food urgently and bureaucracy is getting in the way so Rosie takes matters in her own hands and uses her contacts to get a media appeal up and running.

I don't want to go into anymore details but the book is lovely, though it is emotional. Rosie's original London character is a bit pathetic, but she comes out the other side. The book is griping and entertaining but not particularly challenging, although the subject matter is a bit different to most books in the chick lit genre.

Audioscrobbler Update

Most popular artists played to date, no real change form last week as I have not been around much.

1 Wet Wet Wet - 15
2 G4 - 13
3 Kylie Minogue - 10
4 Madonna - 9
5 George Michael - 6
5 Phil Collins - 6
7 Erasure - 5
7 Queen - 5
7 Abba - 5
7 Elton John - 5
7 The Beatles - 5
7 Will Young - 5

Strictly Dance Fever

The BBC have a new show starting on the 2nd April - Strictly Dance Fever - presented by Graham Norton and building on the success of Strictly Come Dancing. This time the general public get to take part and are trained by professionals in different dance genres such as Salsa or Disco (not the same genres at Strictly Come Dancing).

The Apprentice: Episode Five

This week was an Art Gallery task. The apprentices had to choose and artist and sell the most amount of art at a gallery. Rachel headed up Impact and Sebastian did First Forte. As a credit to both team leaders neither leader caused conflict amongst their team and had their support. To even up the team members First Forte were allowed to choose someone from Impact, and they chose James.

The teams saw several artists and both teams had the same favourite so were invited to pitch to the artists. Saira went for Impact but they preferred James's pitch, as they felt they had connected better with James and Miriam when they had been to visit them earlier in the day, rather than Saira and Raj who were a bit corporate (though they thought it was because they were not public school enough).

Both teams worked hard getting the gallery ready although Matthew got in a bit of an argument where he accused First Forte of stealing Impact's share of the leaflets. It took a while for both teams to get a sale in the gallery but in the end Impact sold approx £6,000 against First Forte's £19,000.

Rachel took Matthew (because of his attitude) and Paul (because he didn't make much effort) back into the boardroom with her. Whilst Rachel saw Raj and Saira back to the lift, Paul ranted to Matthew about what happens when you have women in charge. I had thought Paul to have a lot of potential in this contest, but he showed himself to be a bad loser as well as a petty misogynist. However, because of Matthew's lack of social skills he was fired, which he expected. Paul still appeared to be bitter about being selected and from an disagreement he had with Saira. He could prove to be a problem in later tasks if he carries on bearing a grudge.

Official UK Download Chart

1 Stereophonics - Dakota
2 Kaiser Chiefs - Oh My God
3 Jennifer Lopez - Get Right
4 Nelly Ft Tim Mcgraw - Over And Over
5 Gwen Stefani & Eve - Rich Girl
6 Chemical Brothers - Galvanize
7 Phantom Planet -California
8 Mario - Let Me Love You
9 Athlete - Wires
10 Uniting Nations - Out Of Touch

Essexgirl's Polish Exploits

Last weekend Ratboy and I went to Krakow. We found a two night hotel and flight deal on lastminute.com and off we went. We flew from Stansted early on Friday with Sky Europe and stayed at the Hotel Chopin which was only two tram stops from the heart of the city.

Upon arrival we took a tram into the city and visited St Mary's Basilica which has a famous alter and some impressive stained glass windows. The internal decoration was very 'bling'!. Next we went down to Wawel Hill. The castle and museum had shut early but we had a look around the grounds. As it was getting quite cold we headed back to the hotel via the Cloth Hall in the main square of Rynek Glowney where Ratboy bought some Russian dolls. It was more a craft market than a cloth market. Back at the hotel we each had three drinks in the bar. The total bill was the equivalent of just over £10. That evening we thought we would head to Kamiriez district as we had heard it was good for bars and restaurants. There were a few bars, but nothing took our fancy for food, so we headed back to the town centre. There was plenty of choice and we ended up in Plaisir des Fondues where I had a cheese fondue and Ratboy a Polish meat one. It seemed to be quite an expensive restaurant by Polish standards as our mains were the equivalent of about £6.00. After that we went to an Irish bar we found in the guide book, but we were disappointed with it, and headed back to the hotel after one drink.

The next morning we went on a tour to Auschwitz and Birkenau that we had booked online from home. We had a good few hours at Auschwitz with an official guide who was very knowledgeable. We saw the piles of spectacles, shoes and belongings that the Nazis had taken from those that were killed, the living quarters and areas where prisoners were tortured. At Birkenau we saw more living quarters and latrines. We got a feel for how cold and bleak it must have been, as it was very cold and windy with snow on the ground.

Upon return to the city, we had a late lunch and an abortive attempt to find Schindler's factory, so headed back to the hotel to thaw out and relax. Later we ate at El Paso Mexican restaurant. It was very good although the vegetarian burrito started had a brussel sprout in it and was served the shredded cabbage and coleslaw. We then headed off to another Irish bar where we stayed for a few more drinks before heading back.

We flew back on Sunday.

Krakow is an excellent city to visit for a city break, although I would recommend staying for three nights rather than two. The flight time is about two hours. There is plenty to do including communist tours and museums. The food is very good and vegetarians are well catered for.

Audioscrobbler Update

Current Artist Chart:

1 Wet Wet Wet - 14
2 G4 - 13
3 Madonna - 8
4 Kylie Minogue - 7
5 Phil Collins - 6
6 Erasure - 5
6 George Michael - 5
6 Queen - 5
6 Abba - 5
10 All Saints - 4
10 Elton John - 4
10 The Beatles - 4
10 The Style Council - 4
10 Will Young - 4

Celeb Fame Academy: The Final

Friday was Red Nose Day and thus the Final of Celeb Fame Academy. Edith sang first with Bridge Over Troubled Waters, unfortunately the sound in the studio was not very good, but she seemed to do well. Ade sang Can't Take My Eyes Off Of You and managed to be consistently wacky and entertaining. Judge Craig said he looked a bit 'desperate' like someone who 'would drop his trousers just to get a laugh'. Always happy to oblige, Adrian then mooned the judges. He got a laugh too. Kim then sang Something and made the best performance. At the end, Kim and Edith got through for a sing-off backed by Jools Holland's band.

Edith sang Champagne Supernova and did OK, but I didn't think it was all that insipid of all the rave reviews she got from the judges. Kim, however, did Somewhere Over the Rainbow and was phenomenal.

When the results were announced the winner was Edith. The show raised well over a million pounds for Comic Relief.

Celeb Fame Academy: Episode ten

All students are tired now and their voices are toiling. Kim kicked off with You Keep Me Hanging On which was excellent. Reggie sang Would I Lie To You? which he did well for him, but poor by the standards that the rest of the students can attain. Ade performed Should I Stay or Should I Go? with one half of his fave painted red. Edith then sand The Carpenter's Yesterday Once more which is something different for her, but not her best performance.

Duetwise Kim and Adrian's version of You the One That I Want was off-key, attributed to the noise by the audience blocking out the backing tape. Edith and Reggie sang It Takes Two, which was OK as well. At the end of the first show all the old students came out onto the stage.

In the second half each student performed their best number and a group number with McFly. The student guaranteed a place in tomorrow's final was Kim. The judges saved Edith and all the past students combined to vote Ade through over Reggie.

The Apprentice: Episode Four

This week's task was to take over some floor space in Harrods and sell the most. First Forte's project manager was Tim (who has already lost) and Impact's leader was James. First Forte spent a lot of time discussing stuff and then went round the store selecting products with an hour to spare - they chose lots of demonstration toys and Harrods gifts. Impact were more prepared initially but selected a lot of soft toys and not so many crowd pullers. However maths (by Paul) let the team down as they had too much of one product than they were allowed.

On the Saturday when they were to do the selling First Forte got off to a flying start and sold well, whilst Impact stood and watched. Realising they had to do something they borrowed some more demonstrators from the toy department and got Paul to dress up as a bear and hug children and give them toys that their parents could then buy. At the 4pm check Impact were ahead by £400. First Forte had started well and were consistent but the Harrods staff who were helping them out had trouble with Adele and her attitude.

The last few hours were furious selling and the teams used their petty cash to buy vouchers to use as incentives.

In the end Impact won by less than £100. Tim and his team - Ben, Adele, Miriam and Sebastian went back in the boardroom. The team could not come up with specific reasons why they lost as they had worked hard, sold well and then lost by a small margin. Adele complained that the Harrods staff did not help them enough . Sir Alan was furious about her treatment of the staff. He mentioned that he knew she had personal problems (she was homesick and her grandmother was ill). Adele said she was going to make his job, and Tim's job easier and resign. Sir Alan butted in and said her attitude made her the perfect candidate to be fired. Then told the rest of the team they were lucky.

Top 10 download chart

As at 9th March:

1 Stereophonics - Dakota
2 Kaiser Chiefs - Oh My God
3 Jennifer Lopez - Get Right
4 Nelly Ft Tim Mcgraw - Over And Over
5 Gwen Stefani & Eve - Rich Girl
6 Chemical Brothers - Galvanize
7 Phantom Planet - California
8 Mario - Let Me Love You
9 Athlete - Wires
10 Uniting Nations - Out Of Touch

Celeb Fame Academy: Episode Nine

Debra kicked off with Stop, which Lesley loved and Richard didn't and caused a ruck. I thought it was OK, and only OK. Edith sang Trouble it was not brilliant. She sang well but the song did nothing for her. She could struggle again to stay out of the bottom three. Reggie (a guarantee for the bottom three) sang Zoom, which is one of my favourite songs ever. He did not do it justice. Craig described him as 'excrutiating' thus Reggie and Carrie laid into him.

Kim then sang Born To Try, a song I don't like, but she sang it consistently well and the judges raved. Jokes abounded that it should be called Born To Cry as she had been having a wobbly say. Ade went on and performed Fame in a straight jacket. The performance was typically wacky and he is impossible to watch without smiling or laughing. His voice is shot to bits with the wine and spicy foods.

Kim, Debra and Reggie performed A Little Bit More the Liberty X song. They did quite a good version, Kim didn't seem to enjoy herself, but Reggie and Debra had fun with it. Edith and Adrian performed I Got You Babe lying in a double bed in a nightdress and pajamas respectively. It was a good comedy performance from both of them.

Come the end of the night only two were safe - Edith and Kim. Reggie, Debra and Ade were in the bottom three, the judges saved Ade, and the students (surprisingly) saved Reggie again, so Debra left.

Celeb Fame Academy: Episode Eight

Edith kicked off the show with Sweet Dreams (are made of this) which she sang really well and the judges raved about her. Reggie then sang This Old Heart of Mine which was an average performance, Craig said it wasn't good enough and caused a row with tutor David, who thought it was. I don't think it will be.

Dawn sang What I am which looked good in rehearsal, vocally she didn't seem to good on the show, but her routine was good, and the judges were uninspired. Adrian performed It Must be Love in a funny contraption that meant he could lean over in all directions without falling, his voice was weak and croakey, but his performance was good. Kim then performed Perfect and gave a perfect performance. Debra sang Anyone Who Had a Heart which she did very well.

For the group numbers, Ade, Reggie, Dawn and Edith sang Ain't What You Do (It's the Way that you do it) which was very good, complete with dance routines. Debra and Kim sang Only Want To Be With You and again did it very well. The judges were pleased with both performances.

The bottom three tonight were Dawn, Reggie and Edith (the latter a big surprise as she was a favourite in the betting). The judges voted to save Edith. After the students voted, Reggie and Dawn had two votes apiece. Thus the decision went to the public vote - whoever had got the least would be evicted. In this case it was Dawn, and thus Reggie was saved again.

Audioscrobbler Update

Took a while for this week's charts to be updated on the website, but my Weekly Artist Chart is as follows:

1 G4 - 13
2 Wet Wet Wet - 8
3 Madonna - 6
4 George Michael - 4
5 Abba - 3
5 David Bowie - 3
7 Fleetwood Mac - 2
7 Lenny Kravitz - 2
7 Anastacia - 2
7 Phil Collins - 2

Overall Artist Chart:

1 G4 - 13
2 Wet Wet Wet - 12
3 Madonna - 8
4 George Michael - 5
4 Kylie Minogue - 5
6 Erasure - 4
6 All Saints - 4
6 Queen - 4
6 Phil Collins - 4
6 Abba - 4

No great difference, but then it is only the second week that I have been using this programme.

Celeb Fame Academy: Episode Seven

Tonight Nick went first, he sang Left Outside Alone, it was not as good as last night vocally, though his tight sleeveless T-shirt and tattoo worked well! Edith went second and sang Bridge Over Troubled Water, it seems uncharacteristic of Edith to get emotional over a song, but she was so emotional during rehearsal, she had a box of tissues on the stage for her performance. She sang very well and did not blub fortunately.

Reggie, during a visit by Tottenham striker Jemain Defoe, claimed no one would get a goal past his except maybe Jemain. The others took him up on the bet, and dance teacher Kevin and Edith both got goals past him. Reggie agreed to a forfeit and Kim suggested he died his hair red. True to his word, Reggie performed Dancing on the Ceiling with his hair dyed red. His performance was still not as good as some of the others, but good for Reggie. Dawn went next with Don't It Make My Brown Eyes Blue, which did her no favours. She is still bland, but the judges liked her.

Adrian was not confident, he felt his previous night's performance was good, but felt he was winging it with tonight's song, The Osmond's Crazy Horses. It was a typically energetic performance for him, though his voice was croaky. Debra sang Kylie's I Believe in You but her voice struggled with the high parts, this was definitely her worst performance.

Kim sang Come Away With Me, and was another one who got emotional in rehearsals, but fortunately managed to pull it off for the show.

In the second show, a former Fame Academy student proper came for a visit - Lemar. Inspite of coming third in his series he has easily been the most successful graduate. He performed Let's Stay Together with the girls.

The bottom three were Adrian, Debra and Nick, which was no surprise. The judges saved Adrian on a two to one vote, leaving Debra and Nick to face the student vote, unsuprisingly they voted for proper singer Debra by three to two.

G4 Take album No 1

G4's debut album has gone straight into Number One in the album chart. It will be interesting to see if/when the album by winner of X Factor Steve Brookstein will be as successful. With the Number 2 spot going to a similar 'popera' group Il Divo, it has definitley been the popular choice (and good marketing move) for Mother's Day.

More here.

Celeb Fame Academy: Episode Six

It has been an emotional time for the students, they are starting to feel the pressure and getting homesick.

Tonight's show had a theme - Swing Night. The boys got out their tuxedos and the ladies had evening frocks. Edith kicked off with Fly Me To the Moon, which I thought was her weakest performance, though she got a very good response (and now apparently has overtake Kim as favourite to win). Nick went next (he seems to like going second) and sang The Lady is a Tramp and did it very well, a lot better than last night. Debra was up next with Cry me A River, another good performance from her, but nothing spectacular. Ade did an original version of You're Just To Good To Be True, where he leapt around in his typical punk style in the middle and try to 'serenaded' Lesley on the judges panel by clambering over Richard. Dawn went next with Close To You, it was good, but she is still bland. Kim gave the best performance in my opinion with Fever which she was a bit apprehensive about as her teachers wanted her to sing sexily, though she seemed to pull it off. Reggie sang Just The Way You Are, not the greatest performance (possibly the weakest in all) but still an improvement on his earlier performances (with the exception of yesterday's). Gina finished with an acceptable version of My Baby Don't Care For Me.

In the second episode, for the second night, group numbers were performed. The girls performed Everytime We Say Goodbye, which was quite good. Debra and Kim's voices work very well together. The three boys sang Beyond the Sea which they sand quiet well, especially of you consider they are weaker than the girls vocally. They even attempted a mini dance routine as they pretended to be Sammy, Dean and Frank.

After the telephone votes were counted, the bottom three were Debra, Reggie and Gina. All three had to sing again for the judges and students. Debra and Reggie's second performances seemed weaker to me. The judges voted for Debra which was expected as the 'proper' singer in the bottom three. The students voted for Reggie with four votes to two.

Celeb Fame Academy: Episode Five

The students are now feeling tired from late nights and early starts and the intensity of the Academy.

Dawn went up first and sang Brass in Pocket, generally I find her bland, but this was her best performance in spite of the silver mini and black tights combo. Nick went up second and there was a lot of talk about him having had a pop at the judges last night. He sang Ain't No Sunshine, he was OK but his voice was not up to such a ballad really. Ade did a typical wild full-on performance of Ever Fallen in Love? and Gina sang Macy Gray's I Try and did it well as her singing voice (with work) has turned out to be quite similar to Macy's gravelly style.

Chris sang Lenny Kravitz's Fly Away, and he was the weakest of the night. He seems to do a dancing performance and hope the voice comes with it, all though he has a better voice sometimes than some of other students it didn't seem to fall into place, though the song seemed a popular choice. Kim sang How Do I Live? typically well and throaty Edith did No More Tears (Enough is Enough) which I thought was done very well, though she did get some criticisms from Craig in the fact that she didn't move around so much.

Reggie did his best performance of the series when he sang You Can Get It If You Really Want To inspite of it not being a song he was comfy with and requiring him to sing rather than rap and wriggle. Debra closed the show with If there is any Justice and did an OK version, and got an OK response.

For me the weakest of the evening were Nick and Chris, as the other acts have either vocal talent (including Reggie last night) or did a comedy performance and entertained the viewers/audience. On any other night Reggie would have been weakest. The viewers voted to save Nick and Reggie, leaving Chris in the bottom three with Dawn and Gina. Dawn was saved by the judges as she is a proper singer, the students saved Gina over Chris, which I think was the right decision.

Loyalties now must play a factor in the voting. Dawn is best known for her role in drama series Monarch of the Glen, I've not seen it myself, but I don't think she is known for anything else. The public don't know who she is and her quiet personality means that she is possibly 'forgotten' in the voting unlike less talented Nick, who has a popular following in DIY SOS and is a bit of a dish. Also there is a tendency for women to vote in these things rather than men, so good looking men can do a lot better than women.

Celeb Fame Academy: Episode Four

The housemates are settling in nicely and bonding well.

Tonight Debra went first, she was concerned that she would come over all emotional during her performance of Get Here, fortunately she didn't. She put in a good performance that was well received by the audience and by the judges for the most part though they wanted her to stretch herself and try something new. Reggie followed up with U Can't Touch This, he did a good version and had all the moves, again he mostly got judge support for his effort and general performance though his singing still needed ( a lot of) work.

Kim performed No Doubt and was criticised for her inability to be a rock chick. This caused a row between 'headmaster' Richard and vocal teacher David, as Davis accused the judges of encouraging students to try new stuff and them jumping on the when they did. I thought she did a reasonable performance of it, as Gwen Stefani is a hard act to follow. Nick, in a suit, did a pretty good version of Kiss, which suited him no end. He then had a row with Richard whom he accused of picking on the girls.

Dawn sang I Don't Wanna Talk About It which was good, but I found her a bit bland. She was another one who thought she was coming over all emotional *yawn*. Chris did an excellent performance of This Love, his best performance since Hey Ya! on the first night. Jon sang God Put a Smile on my Face and did it well, he has definitely improved over the last week.

Gina actually attempted to sing rather than shout and did a passable version of Celebration, for now her exuberant and full-on performances are cancelling out her non-singing voice. Ade then did a wacky and entertaining performance of Born to be Wild cementing his reputation as a natural entertainer and performer. Edith closed the show with Sing it Back, her performance was raved about although a cough and sore throat noticeably hindered her performance.

The final three after the audience vote were Gina, Reggie and Jon. Again, Gina was saved by the judges. In the student vote, Reggie beat Jon by six votes to two.

Celeb Fame Academy: Episode Three

The celebs spent Wednesday night in the house, drinking until 3am and partying, so felt the worse for wear for their first full day in the Academy. Nick got to go up first and performed A Little Help From My Friends in the gravelly Joe Cocker style. Then it was Edith who tried a ballad You Make Me Feel (Like a natural Woman), not my favourite song, but the judges liked it and she did do it well.

Reggie made an improvement and Dawn did quite well with Ironic. Gina did a fab hammed up version of Vertigo and John did an acceptable rendition of From Russia With Love. Kim tried disco and performed Jump, it was still one of the best songs of the night even though she was (as she admitted) 'out of the comfort zone'. Debra gave her a run for her money with Sister Sledge's Thinking of You, Konnie massacred Kids in America and Adrian did a comical Turning Japanese.

After the phone votes, Chris, Konnie and Gina were left. The judges saved Gina and the students saved Chris. A nation was relieved that Konnie will no longer inflict her voice on them any longer.

The Aviator

I saw this last night and for the most part enjoyed it, though it was very long and could have taken some editing.

Leonardo DiCaprio was excellent as Howard Hughes, the movie mogul and aviation fanatic, who descends into madness when his Obsessive Compulsive Disorder takes over. There are some impressive flying sequences, if you are into that kind of thing. Cate Blanchett also excels as Katherine Hepburn, Hughes' one time girlfriend. Kate Beckinsale also appears as another girlfriend - Ava Gardner.

The story follows Hughes from his obsessive labour of love in making the film Hells Angels over a period of years, to meeting Katherine Hepburn and the development of speed planes, spy planes and the Hercules, whilst making movies such as The Outlaw with it's risque footage of 'mammaries'.

Any film depicting the life of a figure such as Hughes is going to be long, and in danger of not having a 'story' more a sequence of events. By focusing primarily on Hughes' Aviation passion the film is perhaps 'tighter' than a regular biopic, and the director (Martin Scorcese) had the opportunity to go into more detail in Hughes' life, but judging by the length of the film (just under three hours) perhaps a little less detail would be better.

8/10

Celeb Fame Academy: Episode Two

The celebrities last night were competing to move into the Academy having had a short time with the instructors to practice their new numbers. For this show, the judges were joined by Lenny Henry as a special guest.

Adrian Edmonson was up first and performed the Elvis number A Little Less Conversation, which he did very well and got a positive feedback from a loud audience and the judges. Edith then performed Shout and again got rave reviews. Again I was impressed with her, as she does not have the stage school training that some of the actresses have had. Debra (an actress) then sang One Day I'll Fly Away which she sang beautifully, but was criticised as her voice is 'light' and that she did some Mariah Carey style warbles at the end.

Chris was up next and had decided to do a ballad - Wherever I Lay my hat - which the judges quite liked, but I thought was poor, his voice was just not good enough. I thought Gina would struggle to live up to her performance of Saturday night but she did a very good version of R.E.S.P.E.C.T, keeping it lively without sending it up. Jon, who I thought was the weakest on Saturday sang I Guess That is Why They Call It The Blues, he was better, but not much. Jenny showed little or no improvement with her rendition of All That Jazz.

Reggie tried to sing The First, My Last, My Everything, it wasn't good and he was told to try some new moves and was described as the Sardine of Soul (as opposed to the Walrus of Love). Kim gave the night's best performance with The Beatles' Something, and was raved about by the judges. Konnie than massacred Whole Again, and was accused of not taking it seriously. I think she was just embarrassed by how bad she was. Nick went next (wearing a kilt to raise more money for Comic Relief) he sang Hit Me Baby One more Time, it wasn't a great performance, he was uncomfy with the song (or the kilt?) but he managed to inject a bit of comedy into it. The show closed with Dawn singing Torn quite pleasantly, though Lesley thought she had the best voice overall.

In the results show, the bottom three were Chris, Jenny and Reggie. The judges voted to save Chris (though Richard thought Jenny should be saved) thus Reggie and Jenny faced the student/peer vote. It was close but with six votes to four, Reggie got the last place in the Academy and Jenny was to go home, claiming to be opening in the West End in Chicago tomorrow night.

The Apprentice: Episode Three

After the girls' team First Forte had taken a hammering two weeks in a row, Sir Alan had a plan. He nominated the team leaders: Matthew and Adele, and then asked them to pick from the other side to even up the teams to six each. Adele had Miriam, Miranda, Ben, Sebastian and Tim. Matthew had Saira, Paul, Rachel, James and Raj. The task this week was a buying and negotiating one, the teams had to split up and buy certain items around London - a mattress, jellied eels, a diamond, a bowler hat, a freeview box and a bottle of champagne.

Both teams did well, and in fact Matthew's team did not get the bowler hat and thus were fined £80, but still they won as the Asian team mates managed to negotiate with an Asian shopkeeper to get the free-view box for free.

First Forte (Adele's team) went back to the boardroom and it was apparent that no one particularly was a weak link, Adele chose Ben and Miranda to come back and face the music with her. Ben,Adele thought, was lazy but that accusation did not really stick, and was lost in the bickering between Adele and Miranda. Adele accused her of being disruptive and unsupportive. Miranda complained of no structure and clarification and no strong leadership. As Sir Alan had reviewed the footage, he though Miranda was disruptive and she was fired. It appears to me that Adele could be on borrowed time, as she appears to have personality conflicts with a lot of her team members (particularly the women).

The Official UK Download Chart

1 'Dakota' - Stereophonics
2 'Over and Over' - Nelly feat. Tim McGraw
3 'Get Right' - Jennifer Lopez
4 'Rich Girl' - Gwen Stefani & Eve
5 'Galvanize' - Chemical Brothers & Eve
6 'Let Me Love You' - Mario
7 'Out of Touch' - Uniting Nations
8 'Hush' - LL Cool J feat. 7 Aurelius
9 'Wires' - Athlete
10 'Sometimes You Can't Make It On Your Own' - U2

Kissing in Manhattan by David Schinkler

This small book is made up of small stories about people who live or are connected to people who live in a certain Manhattan apartment block. There are one or two that don't fit in with a bigger picture, but most stories have overlapping characters or events with another story. There are several restaurants and bars that crop up throughout the book making you feel like you know the neighbourhood. A few of the stories are a bit odd and slow but mainly they are enjoyable, and the length of this book means it is an easy enough read to pick up between mammoth tomes if need be.

G4 - G4

Yesterday was the release date of G4's (from X-Factor) debut album. The tracks listed on it are a mix of the contemporary and the classical. The classical tracks are fairly mainstream as to not alienate fans (especially young ones) who loved their interpretations of contemporary tracks.

After a preview on iTunes, I downloaded the album for £7.99 (bargain it is £8.49/£8.99) in most other places I have seen it.

Here, as I listen for the first time in full, I will give you my opinions.

The album kicks off with Bohemian Rhapsody, a number that was so successful for them on the show. It is a six minute version remixed by Graham Stack and Brian Rawling (whoever they maybe) and although slightly different from the version they performed live, it is still a very good version and suits them well. It is due to be the new single, so I imagine will be getting some airplay on the radio soon. Next is Nessun Dorma, the operatic track that is best known as the song from the World Cup 1990 that Puccini's opera Turandot (not that I have seen it, I googled it).

Their version of Everybody Hurts is also very good, I struggle with this song, as I don't really like it anyway - not one of REM's best - but G4 did as good a version as anybody.

The album version of Circle of Life, for me, was better than when performed in the studio on The X-Factor, as again, it is not a favourite song of mine normally.

One of the best tracks on the album was Creep a cover of Radiohead which gives some of the other lads other than Jonathan to shine. This is followed by To Where You Are, which I am not familiar with, and an excellent version of Life on Mars.

Back to the classical for the Flower Duet from Madame Butterfly which is better known as the track from the British Airways ads and a ballad called Broken Vow which is probably the weakest track on the album. It is quite bland inspite of the harmonies, though it could yet grow on me. The next track is the hymn Jerusalem and again some of the other guys get a look in, and Jonathan doesn't dominate the whole thing.

The last two tracks are pretty safe stuff :You'll Never Walk Alone -which is done well, but has never been the most upbeat of tracks, and My Way which was performed on the final of the TV show. They have recorded a very good version to finish on, sung as all four together, with no instruments for the first half, leaving us in no doubt that love them or hate them they did it their way.

Sheila O'Flanagan - Far From Over

This is the second of three O'Flanagan books I bought. Although the stories are different they are very much average chick lit, all a bit proper and none too racy.

In this book ex-wife Gemma Garvey has to come to terms with her ex-husband David remarrying a young 'bimbo' called Orla. Orla has to live up to the formidable reputation of Gemma as a housewife. That is about it really. There are much better books in the chick lit genre out there than this, but by all accounts O'Flanagan has her fans of her tame romances.