Pop Buzz UK

Noooooooooo, please say it ain’t so! When I posted last week about the end of the marriage between Paul McCartney and Heather Mills with a high court judge awarding the one-legged model $48 million, I thought that would be it, end of the matter.

I was hoping beyond hope that I could avoid talking about the whole sorry mess ever again here on Pop Buzz UK. Unfortunately, my plan has come crashing down after just six days, and here we have another post on the topic.

It’s not my fault, it’s Heather Mills fault, as she just won’t shut up about it all. Instead she seems intent on keeping herself and her many tales of woe in the public eye for as long as she can.

According to The News Of The World, she is bitter about the divorce ruling, and only receiving $48 million, rather than the $250 million she was asking for. And so is hatching plans get revenge on Paul, his lawyer (who has already had a glass of water thrown over her) and the high court judge who branded her a liar.

She has allegedly told a friend:

“He’s a Beatles fan. His ruling was so one-sided. It just shows that when you’re a Beatle you’re untouchable. The ruling shows an element of Beatle worship. The judge is just another person who idolises Paul McCartney.”

Rubbish, the high court judge just gave his opinion. Just because it wasn’t an opinion in your favour doesn’t mean that it was wrong or for any other ludicrous reason.

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Well thank God, disguised in the form Judge Hugh Bennett, that that is all over! These divorce proceedings between Heather Mills and Paul McCartney have been going on for far too long, and got far too bitchy, but finally they are at an end.

The celebrity couple, well an ex-Beatle and a one legged ex-model at least. split up over two years ago, but it has taken this long for the pair to settle on a financial deal, and then only because a high court judge decided the outcome for them.

Mills has ended up with $48.6 million, which is broken down in to a lump sum of $33 million to add to the assets she already holds (basically, property, cars, furniture etc) which she already holds. On top of that, the couple’s 4-year-old daughter Beatrice will receive $70,000 per annum, as well as McCartney having to pay for the child’s nanny and school fees.

While McCartney retained his dignity (what little he had left after this charade) by remaining silent at the end of the court proceedings, Mills called an impromptu press conference to express her delight at the outcome.

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The X Factor Judges are at it again, trying to upstage the acts as usual, and this time, surprise surprise, it’s over money. For once Simon Cowell isn’t actually involved, as he’s sorted. He’s currently in the middle of a three year contract with ITV which sees him get paid £20 million. Nice work if you can get it.

The rest of the vultures though, Dannii Minogue, Sharon Osbourne & Louis Walsh, are after more money because they’ve been asked to work an extra day a week during the next series. Yes, that means 2 days a week instead of one… ah diddums.

Basically, because of the unexpected success of the BBC1 show, Strictly Come Dancing, the next series of The X Factor will run over two days a week instead of one, with the results show being moved from Saturday night to Sunday.

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The Spice Girls brought their comeback to a stuttering halt last month when they played their last concert together in Toronto, Canada, on February 26th. The tour was meant to carry on of course, but the girls had earlier announced that they were cutting the tour short.

There have been many arguments put forward as to why this happened. The Spice Girls official explanation was that “family and personal commitments” had forced the group to abandon the tour, despite having already promised to play places such as Beijing, Sydney, Cape Town and Buenos Aires. The fans in these places were expected to just accept that reason, but a lot didn’t.

What most people believe is that the girls just simply couldn’t stand to be together any longer than absolutely necessary, and stopped the tour at the earliest available opportunity, although Mel C has denied that any great rift happened to cause the group to split for the second time.

She told Rolling Stones magazine:

“All of us have really enjoyed getting closer again. The whole atmosphere on the tour [was] very fun and there hasn’t been time for any bickering or the fighting that’s always reported about the Spice Girls. It’s just like a big family. There’s been more laughing than anything else.”

“We’ve been through something so unique together that even if we don’t see each other for a few months, we get together and it’s been like no time has passed at all.”

There’s a reason these reports keep cropping up though, because there’s evidence to back them up, with sources close to the girls reporting constant arguments. There’s never any smoke without fire. Egos probably pay a huge factor in that, with each of the five girls thinking they are the bigger star.

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Last July I told you about JK Rowling’s plans for a possible eighth book in the hugely popular Harry Potter series.

Now before anyone gets their hopes up, we’re not talking a new fictional work to carry on the series where The Deathly Hallows left off, but rather an encyclopaedia full of fascinating facts and undiscovered details about the Harry Potter universe and the characters which reside within it.

Unfortunately it seems that someone has beaten her to it, and in an attempt to gain fame and fortune, is trying to publish an unofficial reference book about everything Harry Potter.

Writer Steve Vander Ark and publisher RDR Books have plans to release an encyclopaedia of their own, which is obviously being fought with legal action by Rowling. She said:

“I am very frustrated that a former fan has tried to co-opt my work for financial gain. I believe that RDR’s book constitutes a Harry Potter rip-off of the type I have spent years trying to prevent,”

“Both I, as the creator of this world, and fans of Harry Potter would be exploited by its publication.

“I feel intensely protective, firstly of the literary world I spent so long creating, and secondly, of the fans who bought my books in such large numbers.”

And of course the money that you’d lose if this book came out without your permission. Rowling is perfectly right though, because this book, titled Harry Potter Lexicon, would be using her work, and the characters she spent so long giving life to, without any guarantees of accuracy.

The book was due for release last November but publication was delayed after Rowling sought an injunction. A legal case will now follow, and a decision made as to whether the book is lawful or not.

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Almost a year to the day that there was speculation that Prince Harry would be going to Iraq to fight with his A Squadron of The Blues and Royals, part of the Household Cavalry Regiment, it has emerged that Charles and Diana’s son has been fighting in Afghanistan since before Christmas.

He is reported to have been working in Helmand province of the war torn country, as an Air Controller, responsible for covering front line troops. It has also been confirmed that he has been personally involved in clashes with the Taleban.

He is currently two and a half months in to a four month deployment, although now that the news is out, army chiefs have a tough decision to see if they can risk him staying out there, or whether he should be brought back prematurely.

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There I was merrily minding my own business last night when an earthquake hit Britain and made me feel like the house was about to collapse. Okay, it was only a minor earth tremor in the big scheme of things, but this is the UK, and earthquakes are not regular occurrences. In fact, this is the first one since 2001, and the first I have ever experienced.

I was actually sitting in the bath at the time, reading a book, and looking forward to bed when the earthquake hit at 12.56am. The bath was probably the worst place to be, as I could feel the water shaking around me, and actually thought the whole unit was going to rip apart and leave me on the floor in a puddle of water.

It’s a really weird experience as not being used to quakes in the UK, it’s not the first thing that goes through your mind. I thought the guy upstairs was banging about at first, and then when the tremor stopped, wondered what on earth could have caused it. Luckily my girlfriend explained, having been in the area when the 2001 one hit, and knowing the signs.

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Oh God, here we go again, the Paul ‘Gazza’ Gascoigne story has gone public again, this time with the former England footballer being sectioned under the mental health act, after being arrested at a hotel in Gateshead.

It seems not a few months can go by without some story or event happening in the life of Gazza, and drag his name, kicking and screaming, back in to the media.

For those that are too young to remember, Paul Gascoigne was one of the most talented soccer players England has ever known, and when he was on form, for both his various clubs, and country, he was up there with the best in the world.

Unfortunately, he was also very highly strung, and didn’t seem to be able to switch off between games. When he was injured just after signing for Lazio in a career making move to Italy, he descended in to a downward spiral of boozing which meant the second half of his career never matched up to the first. Basically, he had a touch of the George Bests.

This latest twist to the saga that is his life, started after he stayed at a hotel near his home town of Newcastle to recuperate from a hip operation.

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One of my favourite programmes on British television when I was growing up is being axed by the BBC after 30 years of being on air, simultaneously making me feel old, and rather sad at the demise of yet another British institution.

Grange Hill began on February 8th, 1978, less than a year after I was born, so it’s a programme which has been there nearly all of my life, whether I was actively watching it or not.

Although a children’s programme in essence, it’s hard hitting subject matter, and at time brilliantly acted plots made it a family favourite. I know myself that I watched it right up until I was about 21, when despite the story lines not being aimed at me any more, I found myself watching religiously in the same way I’d watch Eastenders and Coronation Street.

The BBC has now announced, in its infinite wisdom, that the series which will air later this year, will now be its last.

CBBC controller Anne Gilchrist paid tribute to the show and said:

“[It is] sad to say goodbye to such a much-loved institution. The lives of children have changed a great deal since Grange Hill began and we owe it to our audience to reflect this.”

The show’s axing has been announced as part of a wider shake up of the Children’s BBC programming schedule, but is definitely the biggest news to come out of the whole re imagining of what today’s kids want to watch on television.

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I’m as much a fan of the Carry On series of films as the next man, having grown up with the repeats of them every Sunday evening on television, but I’m not sure how I feel about the possible return of the series, and who is being lined up to appear in it.

It seems that a new film is being planned, called ‘Carry On To The Next Round’, and comedian Russell Brand, along with Girls Aloud singer Sarah Harding are just two of the big names being lined up to star in it.

For those who don’t know, the Carry On films were bawdy, rude, and slapstick movies which basically revolved around trying to fit as much sexual innuendo in to a 90 minute film as possible.

The series did very well during the 1960s and 1970s, with the ever present cast of people like Sid James, Hattie Jacques, Charles Hawtrey, Kenneth Williams and Barbara Windsor. Although they were low budget parodies, us Brits used to love them… simple times.

The 1980s brought with it a whole new generation of people, and with Margaret Thatcher leading the country, and yuppies ruining it, the clamour for cheap and cheerful laughs came to an end, and so did the series.

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Jeremy Beadle, the man best known for being a notorious television prankster, has sadly died of pneumonia in hospital at the age of 59. Beadle had previously battled cancer of the kidney, and then leukaemia, both of which he fought and beat, but died in hospital after contracting pneumonia and being admitted to hospital earlier this week.

The TV funnyman leaves behind wife Sue, daughters Cassie and Bonnie, and stepchildren Leo and Claire.

Beadle was born in Hackney, east London in 1948. He had an unsettled childhood, having to spend multiple times in hospital being treated for a rare genetic disorder called Poland syndrome. This condition stunted growth in his right hand, a disability for which he was mocked in later life.

He started a writing career after a number of different jobs came to nothing, and a career on radio and television beckoned. When he was young, he provided material for stars such as Terry Wogan, Noel Edmonds and Kenny Everett.

He became a well known celebrity in his own right after becoming a presenter on Game for a Laugh, where alongside Matthew Kelly, Henry Kelly and Sarah Kennedy, he would set members of the public up in small pranks.

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The first, and probably last series of Big Brother: Celebrity Hijack came to an end last night, and no-one either watched or cared. Apart from me obviously, as I am addicted to the show, in whatever format it takes.

Celebrity Hijack was conceived to replace the normal unmissable Celebrity Big Brother. That was canned by nervous Channel 4 bosses after last year’s Shilpa Shetty and Jade Goody race row, which almost sparked an international incident.

Instead of celebrities entering, and living in the house as contestants, they now took the role of Big Brother over, and controlled the lives of 12 young and gifted people. The format worked, and I actually enjoyed tuning in every night, but it wasn’t unmissable, and was clearly lacking some drama.

John Loughton, current voluntary youth worker, and future politician ended up as the winner of the show and the £50,000 prize money. He got 54% of the vote, and it was a good result, with the nice guy winning, and someone who you know won’t piss the money up the wall.

If I’d have been a betting man, I would have put my money on Amy to win, but maybe that’s just because her smile makes her look angelic. How Emilia came second, I’ll never know, as although I quite liked her, the crowd didn’t, and she even got booed on her way out of the door.

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Daniel Radcliffe is the star of Harry Potter, no hang on, he IS Harry Potter, and so is one of the most eligible bachelors in the UK right now.

In fact, Prince William himself is probably the only young man more in demand. So there’ll be cheers around the world to the news that Radcliffe has split up from long term girlfriend Laura O’Toole.

Radcliffe is 18, and worth about £20 million at least, with the promise of a further £25 million from the final two (or could it be three) Harry Potter films, so as well as being a good looking guy, he’s minted in to the bargain. Quite a catch then.

Unfortunately, it seems him and O’Toole just couldn’t make it work between them.

The couple met during the West End production of Equus at the beginning of last year. Radcliffe was playing the lead role of Alan Strang, while O’Toole was the understudy for the part of Alan’s girlfriend in the play.

Despite Laura being four years older than Radcliffe at 22, or maybe because of it, they fell for each other quickly, and started seeing each other. The play ended in May, but the pair were spotted enjoying each others company for at least six months afterwards.

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Not down together again, no that just be a bit too weird at this late stage in the game. No, it finally looks like Paul ‘Macca’ McCartney and Heather Mills (formerly McCartney) may be ready to talk about an out of court divorce settlement, and therefore do away with the need for a lengthy, drawn out, expensive and media frenzied High Court battle.

The former Beatles singer is rumoured to have made several phone calls to his former, estranged wife, and had conversations ahead of their five day hearing in February.

Macca is thought to be more keen on an out of court settlement now that Mills is thought to be representing herself. She split with her lawyers from legal firm Mishcon de Reya last year.

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Anyone who regularly reads Pop Buzz UK will know I’m a massive fan of the current incarnation of Doctor Who. Not only do I try and write about the big news on the show, I read, comment, and link to Watching Doctor Who whenever possible.

So today’s news/announcement is virtual music to my ears, and ensures I will have some reason to turn the television on for the next few years at least.

Russell T Davies, the head honcho and chief writer behind the new Doctor Who, has reportedly promised fans that the series will be around for years to come.

He said:

“I reckon the long-term future of Doctor Who is safer now than any other drama on telly.”

“A secret history of phone calls, dinners and face-to-face conversations had led me to feel sure of its place on British TV.”

“For Doctor Who, there are many New Years to come. And that’s a promise.”

That’s quite a promise, and great news for the legions of Doctor Who fans who have been worried by the constant and unyielding rumours over the last few months that the sci-fi show may be canned for the second time in its history.

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