The world's oldest boyband, Take That, have the number one single and album! Well done, pop purchasers of the UK (let's just brush over the stifling mediocrity of the whole enterprise for now, shall we?)

While you're back in the mood for buying fantastic records by proper pop stars, let's not forget that Jamelia has a new single out today and it is flumping brilliant.



Buy it here and do it quickly, before this dribbling shit of a song takes over the world.

Labels: jamelia, Music, pop, singles, take that

Some articles I have been reading today:

What does Beyoncé look like without her hair weave? Like this.

Extensions or not, Jamelia isn't pleased with Beyoncé at all: "I heard Beyonce recorded B-Day in two weeks," she moans. "When you write an album you need to take breaks to re-connect with your self. I'd have liked it if she'd have been more adventurous... The album is good. It's just not great."

Presumably, Jamelia is pissed off that Beyoncé has managed to release two albums in a year and didn't put her career on halt to have a baby in the meantime. These modern women, eh? They'll be wanting the vote next.

Blur bassist Alex James finds something to do while he waits for Damian Albarn to remember his former band. "The more I think about cheese, the more I like it and the more I want some. That's why I'm taking matters into my own hands." He sounds like a man after my own heart...
Read more at nme.com

Microsoft admits the initial batches of its XBox 360 console were faulty and offers to repair them out of warranty.

Gwen Stefani's range of fashion dolls are unveiled.

How to write a book for dummies, for dummies.

Details of Kylie's new single, White Diamonds (rumoured to be produced by the Scissor Sisters) appear in Australia's Daily Telegraph. "It's such an important part of recovery to get on and do what you do and be who you are. I'm finally starting to come out of that haze," she says. Good for her.

Labels: Beyoncé, jamelia, kylie, links

Is Jamelia Britain's only bona fide R&B star? That would certainly seem to be the case, but you'd never have predicted that turn of events in 2000. Back then, she'd had just one 'proper' hit with the underwhelming Destiny's Child rip-off, Money (featuring celebrity homophobe Beenie Man). Her next single, Call Me, was unremarkable in tune and chart performance, and Jamelia seemed destined for dumperdom.

Things didn't improve with her second album, either. The lead single, Bout, disappeared without trace, largely because it was a tuneless mess. So what happened next was something of a shock...

Superstar - a much poppier track than Jamelia had ever released - entered the charts at number eight. And then it began to climb, and climb, and climb. Seven weeks later it was number two. And justifiably so. The song is a superlative slice of pop, with one of those tricksy choruses that seems unremarkable until you realise you've been whistling it in your sleep.

Jamelia's album was hastily repackaged to include a Chris Martin-penned ballad, and Jamelia was rebranded as a silky pop soulstress. It was a transformation equal to David Bowie killing off Ziggy Stardust. Or, perhaps more pertinently, when Robbie reversed his headfirst freefall into the dumper by releasing Angels.

But then - oh no! - Jamelia got pregnant. What is it with British soul singers and getting knocked up? Ms Dynamite, Monie Love, Neneh Cherry - they've all managed to stall a promising career by allowing a boy to put his man-gherkin in their private lady place. You wouldn't get that sort of behaviour from Beyoncé.

Praise be, then, that Jamelia is back from the maternity ward with a nanny (Leanne) and a truly excellent single. Something About You is a classy little love song reminiscent of Kelly Clarkson's Since U Been Gone. You can tell it’s a top priority for record company Parlophone because they've spent money on the video (Jamelia wears four separate outfits, which is a key indicator of cash being splashed around like papery water).



PS Wouldn't it be great to see Jamelia do a duet with Lemar? A big old Marvin Gaye / Tammi Tyrell love song would be ideal. Perhaps we could petition the Mobos people and get them to do something about that.

Labels: Beyoncé, jamelia, Music

Drew Barrymore and Penelope Cruz mesh faces.
No tongue, though.

Urgh! Why on earth did Prince Charles post a slice of cake to Jamelia?

We all know the USA has become an increasingly tough market for foreign recording artists. But launch.com have perhaps got the wrong end of the stick when they insist that "Coldplay have become only the second British band to have a new entry in the US singles chart."

Has Paula Abdul been doing the dirty with an American Idol contestant? Will Fox axe her from the show? And why is it so important to rival network, ABC, to make this public? Ratings envy, anyone?

From the "I want one of those" department:
Hayden Christensen's Sith Happens T-shirt

Labels: coldplay, drew barrymore, hayden christensen, jamelia, Paula Abdul, penelope cruz