Pop Buzz UK

We all know Robbie Williams has had his problems in the past, with drink, drugs, and food. He seems to be addicted to everything, including sex. But it seems he may be about to get another problem in to the problem - Gillian McKeith wants to help him deal with his issues. I wouldn’t wish that on anyone, even my worst enemy.

McKeith is the nutritionist and dietician, who has made her fortune telling people You Are What You Eat and rifling through their shit. Although she certainly knows her stuff, and offers sensible, healthy advice about eating, the way she does it is to act like a stern headmistress, talking down to grown adults as if they are twelve years old. I can’t see the free-spirited Williams taking kindly to that.

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I’ll tell you right here and now that I am not a journalist. I am a freelance writer, and a professional blogger, and some of my work comes close to be what you’d describe as journalism, but still I would never assume to call myself a journalist. I don’t earn enough from what I do for starters.

However, I am more of a journalist than Coleen McLoughlin ever will be, which makes it slightly absurd to learn that is what she has entered as her occupation on the wedding banns for her forthcoming marriage to England footballer Wayne Rooney.

This is a joke right? Coleen McLoughlin is a WAG, nothing more, nothing less. Good on her for bagging a young footballer who went on to become a great player for Manchester United and England, but I think its time for a reality check.

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The BAFTA Television Awards took place tonight at the London Palladium, and the ceremony was full of surprises, as a series of unexpected winners took home the trophies.

The ceremony is an annual back slapping for the cream of British television, with actors, directors and programmes being awarded for the last twelve months.

The big winners were the cast and crew of Gavin and Stacey, a little sitcom which has built a cult following on BBC Three over the past two years.

The show, currently on its second series, won programme of the year, while its star, and co-writer James Corden, who is rumoured to be dating songstress Lily Allen, won the award for best comedy performance.

The series beat The Apprentice, Strictly Come Dancing and Britain’s Got Talent to the title, while Corden beat such illustrious names as Stephen Merchant (Extras) and David Mitchell (Peep Show).

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The story of Mark Speight and his fiancée has taken a terrible final twist today after his body was found hanged at London Paddington train station.

Mark Speight was the TV presenter of children’s programmes such as SMart, Scratchy & Co. and History Buster, who in January, found his fiancée’s body in the bath of the North London flat they shared together.

At first he was arrested on suspicion of murder and supplying Class A drugs. He later admitted the pair had been partying all night, but was cleared of murder, and released on bail.

The BBC then cancelled SMart for the foreseeable future, and Speight quit as presenter.

An inquest, which was opened in January, records Collins’ death as one by misadventure after high levels of cocaine and sleeping pills were found in her blood. The results were made public on April 2nd, by which time Speight is said to be depressed.

On April 7th, Speight was reported missing after failing to meet Collins’ mother for lunch. Today, six days after he disappeared, his body was discovered hanged at Paddington station in London.

This is an absolutely unbelievable ending to a tragedy which has ended up taking two lives away, and affecting many others.

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Britain’s Got Talent started very ropily last year, but was saved when Paul Potts came on stage and blew everyone away. This mild mannered mobile phone salesman got over his crippling lack of confidence to win the final by singing opera like an Italian tenor.

Since then Potts has gone on to have a best selling album and is playing venues around the world. But that was last year, and we need another winner of his calibre. Unfortunately, based on the first episode which has just aired on ITV, that ultra talented individual is going to take a bit of searching.

Don’t get me wrong, there were some good performers on show tonight. The dog was talented, the Christina Aguilera-alikes were nice in their own right, the electric string quartet called Scala were brilliant, and beautiful too. And last but not least there was the Pie Jesu singing 13 year old bully victim.

They were all very good, and the latter even made the hairs on the back of my neck tingle in the same way that Potts managed 12 months ago. However, his voice will break, and then he’ll just become another average singer who Simon Cowell will abuse till kingdom come.

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With the first news on the next UK Big Brother just being revealed, it appears that Poland is just about to dose of Big Brother 3, after programme makers Endemol sold the series lock, stock and barrel to the Polish broadcaster TVN.

While we in the UK are looking forward to the ninth series of the biggest and best reality television show, Polish people are just about to experience what is rightly considered the best ever series.

If you need a reminder, BB3 was the one where Jade Goody, the most successful Big Brother contestant ever, appeared, and showed off her flabby body for all to see in a late night drunken game.

She didn’t end up winning it though, with Kate Lawler proving to be the most popular house mate at the end of the 12 week series.

Endemol has until now just sold the rights to the show’s format rather than a whole series in its entirety, so this is an unusual move on their part.

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Regular readers of Pop Buzz UK will already know of my love for Big Brother, the granddaddy of all reality television shows. This is about the time of year when the rumours start flying about the next series, with fuzzy shots of the house, and countless false unveilings of the new contestants.

There’s not been much of that so far this year, but there are some concrete facts that have now been revealed, making it prime time we had our first preview of the forthcoming series, Big Brother 9.

The biggest news is that for the first time ever the series won’t begin its summer run in May, having had its start date put back to Thursday June 5th.

This is a clever move on the part of Channel 4 bosses, as it prevents it from overlapping with the second series of Britain’s Got Talent, the Simon Cowell led talent show which got huge ratings last year when amateur opera singer Paul Potts finally emerged victorious.

Davina McCall will once again be back to do the main presenting duties, which will please and anger a fairly equal amount of people I guess. She’s not the best interviewer in the world, but Big Brother just wouldn’t be the same without her, and she is at least also a huge fan of the show.

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The new series of Doctor Who begins on British television this coming Saturday, with the first episode showing at 6.20pm on BBC One.

There’s been debate over whether the BBC have done the right thing in moving the cult series from its 7pm timeslot. I personally think it’s a bad move, especially when you consider it’s only been done to allow the God awful reality show I’d Do Anything to nab the prime time slot instead.

Regardless of when it’s on however, I and millions of others will be glued to our screens week after week for the next few months, so here is a short preview of the upcoming series.

David Tennant once again returns as the Doctor, although he does have a new assistant in the form of Donna Noble, played by Catherine Tate.

I wasn’t too keen on her character, and performance in the Christmas special but having seen previews of her in the new series at the cinema over the last few weeks, I think she’s upped her game, and become more of a traditional assistant.

Martha Jones, the Doctor’s last full-time assistant will also be making an appearance in a few episodes, as will Rose, played by Billie Piper, after she somehow manages to bypass the previously closed void between her and the Doctor.

Also returning for brief appearances will be Captain Jack, and Sarah Jane Smith, as well as Rose’s mother Jackie Tyler, and the lovable Mickey Smith.

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This week saw Leona Lewis hit number one on the US Billboard charts with Bleeding Love, becoming the first solo British female music artist to do so in 21 years, and only the fourth ever. Not bad for a winner of a reality television show!

Londoner Lewis won The X-Factor back in 2006, beating Ray Quinn in a final which was pretty much already decided before it even began. Where is Quinn now? I’m guessing on a cruise ship somewhere impressing old ladies with blue rinses with his generic brand of Rat Pack style swing music.

Leona meanwhile is on the cusp of a brilliant career, which with this success in the States will probably see her earn a huge pile of cash, although it’s not yet enough to buy a house in her home town of Hackney.

The Americans may be a bit slow on the uptake with how good Lewis is, as before hitting the top spot in the US, she’s already done it in many other countries around the world, including of course, the UK, where she spent 7 weeks at the top at the end of last year, and bagged the best selling single of 2007 in to the bargain.

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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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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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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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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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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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