Pop Buzz UK

I’m a big fan of The Apprentice, both the US and UK series actually. Donald Trump has his hairpiece, while Alan Sugar has a face more wrinkly than a bulldog’s backside.

The British version of the series which sees a collection of supposedly the best candidates in the country competing for a job with Sir Alan returned on Wednesday night, and it is already set to be an explosive year.

First we got to meet the sixteen new candidates, although some were so lacking in personality, I couldn’t tell you their name, where they were from, or what they contributed to the show.

They are all very good looking this year though, with the producers seeming to have started picking people as much for their dress sense and grooming as their business acumen.

The teams met Alan, and were then set their first task even before being shown the house they will be sharing for the next few months.

As is traditional, they were separated along gender lines to begin, although that will likely change in a few week’s time. The men called themselves Renaissance, while the ladies opted for Alpha.

The task was as simple as anything, at least in theory: The teams being given £600 worth of fresh fish and being told to sell them at a market for as much profit as possible.

Unfortunately, both teams went off half-cocked, with very little preparation meaning that pricing, and even labelling were all wrong.

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Gordon Brown became Prime Minister on June 27th of 2007 when Tony Blair retired from his position as head of the British government.

Since then, the economy has taken a jolt, and there have been numerous problems for the dour Scot to overcome. But would the Beckhams really do a better job?

According to a survey commissioned by Current TV, the British people, or at least the 2,000 odd who gave their views on Britishness. would rather see David and Victoria lead the country than Gordon Brown.

The responders were asked: Who would be the worst people to run the country?

Ex-Big Brother contestant Jade Goody topped the poll with 24% of the vote, while junkie singer Amy Winehouse wasn’t far behind on 16%. In third place was Ex-Atomic Kitten singer Kerry Katona, with current Prime Minister Gordon Brown in fourth place on 11%.

Peter Andre and Katie Price received 9% of the votes while 6% felt the Beckhams would be the worst leaders of the UK. So by default, we’d prefer to have an over the hill footballer and a woman who has made a career out of not being able to sing in charge of the country rather than Brown himself!

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Just a year after moving out to Los Angeles, it looks like the Beckhams American dream could be about to end, as rumours emerge of a desire to leave LA and head back to the UK.

Last January it was announced that David Beckham had signed for the LA Galaxy, ending his successful stint at Spain’s Real Madrid, and signalling a future in the States for the footballer and his untalented wife.

At the time, Beckham secured a five year contract worth £120,000 (about $250,000) a week, but seeing as he spent most of his first season “playing” at the club on the bench, I’m not sure that was such a good investment.

The celebrity couple were welcomed to LA by Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes, who threw a massive party for their new showbiz mates… although it didn’t work and Becks hasn’t signed up to become a Scientologist.

Now, according to a source speaking to OK! Magazine, Becks is eyeing a possible return to the UK, stating he would be happiest if someone bought out his contract with Galaxy, enabling him to play in England while still earning the same sort of money.

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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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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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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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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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Well okay, fourth favourite son after John Lennon, Paul McCartney and George Harrison, but still, it’s news.

Ringo Starr was born and brought up in Liverpool before joining The Beatles and seeing his whole world turned upside down. Obviously with money, came the opportunity to leave Liverpool, and head off in to the sunset, which of course, all four of them did.

But wait, what’s this I see? Ringo has a new album to promote and so all of a sudden starts playing on his Liverpool roots again, and even turns up to perform at the city’s Capital of Culture launch.

The whole of Liverpool, glad to see the return of one of their local heroes, obviously unfurled the red carpet for him, and gave him the kind of welcome Liverpool is renowned for, although I gather Ringo got to keep his wheels, and his teeth, intact.

While playing the gig at St. Georges Hall, he even went as far as telling the crowd that he was close to returning to live in the city, and wanted to return to his home town. Which went down great, except that he was lying though his teeth.

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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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I was absolutely gutted when Iain Lee quit his brilliant show on LBC Radio, and changed my schedule due to him no longer being on air 6 days a week.

This all happened at the end of November, and no-one really knew when he would be back on radio.

Luckily, it didn’t take long for Virgin Radio to snap him up, although he only secured one show a week, that of the 10pm - 1am slot on Sunday nights.

I can fully understand why Virgin chose that slot for him, and only gave him one show a week, because it’s a music station, whereas Iain specialises in talk radio. The good thing is he’s gone from local radio to national radio, which is a definite step up.

Iain started on the 6th January, and has now done two shows on the station, both of which I have listened to. So far, I’m quite impressed, although it’s obvious Iain is going to take a bit of time to settle in, and get a feel for both the station, and time slot.

Agent Chris, Iain’s producer and sidekick on LBC has unfortunately gone, and it’s now Dave or Dayyyyve in the assistant’s chair. I actually quite like him, but it’s obvious he’s not used to speech based radio. The chemistry between the two is gradually getting better, and as long as it continues to improve, I think it could work.

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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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Regular readers of Pop Buzz UK will be well aware of my hatred for Jeremy Kyle, his show on ITV, his guests, his smarmy attitude, and everything else which comes wrapped up with the cult of Kyle.

In the past I have laughed at Kyle as Jon Culshaw has done a brilliantly accurate yet scathing impression of him on Dead Ringers, and then gone to town on the hypocritical piece of work as his ex-wife sold her story, and called him a lying, gambling addict.

And now the news is even better, as The Jeremy Kyle Show has been named the worst programme the daytime television schedule has to offer… yes, it’s even worse than Loose Women!

And this isn’t just the worst programme on TV currently, oh no, even though that would be humiliation enough for the irritating cheeseball, it’s been named as the worst EVER.

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Tonight should have seen the launch of the latest series of Celebrity Big Brother, but due to the race rows which blighted last year, that has now been replaced by Big Brother: Celebrity Hijack.

The new format launches tonight at 9pm on E4, and features 12 housemates between the ages of 18 and 21.

The celebrity part comes from various celebrity guests who will play the part of Big Brother, and going on the most recent reports, also play an active role in the show itself.

I previewed the show in full a few weeks ago, but since then some new details have been revealed, and some definite changes have been made to the original format.

First of all we have the 12 housemates, all young, all gifted, and all chosen to argue and fight in the same way as every normal Big Brother housemate is.

We have seven boys, and five girls, which includes circus performers, a boxer, a beauty queen, an entrepreneur, a racing driver and a politician.

Some of the celebrities have also been revealed, with the show kicking off under the guidance of Little Britain star Matt Lucas. Others to be given a role include art critic Brian Sewell and comedians Jimmy Carr and Joan Rivers.

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