December 30 2013

Pharrell Williams has climbed the UK singles chart to the top spot with Happy, his third UK number 1 single of 2013.

Michael Schumacher is in “critical condition” after he sustained a “severe” head injury whilst skiing in the French Alps yesterday (Dec 29).

Glee star Lea Michele has debuted her new single Battlefield, the second track from her debut album Louder which is due for release on Feb 28 2014:  

TOWIE’s Dan Osborne announced that his baby boy was born on Sunday (Dec 22).

Marvel’s Iron Man 3 is the most financially successful movie of 2013 having earned more than $1.2 billion at the worldwide box office chart ahead of Despicable Me 2 and Fast & Furious 6.

December 23 2013

An average of 11.5 million tuned in to BBC’s Strictly Come Dancing’s final last night to see Abbey Clancy take home the winner's trophy.

Homeland shocked viewers last night when Damian Lewis’ character Brody was killed on the show. Will the writers find a way to bring him back?

One Direction have been named MTV’s Stars of 2013, having gained 40.8 million votes worldwide in the #MTVstars social media campaign.

X Factor winner Sam Bailey has landed the 2013 Christmas number one with her single Skyscraper, beating Pharrell Williams and Leona Lewis. Profits from sales of the single will be split between Great Ormond Street Hospital Children’s Charity and Together For Short Lives. Meanwhile, Robbie Williams has beaten One Direction to the Christmas number one album with Swings Both Ways which is spending its third week at the top spot.

Universal Pictures have confirmed that Paul Walker will star in the seventh instalment of Fast & Furious, as writers have been trying to revise the script for the movie following his passing. The film will be released nine months later than originally scheduled, on April 10 2015.

December 20 2013

The Voice UK will return to BBC One on January 11 at 7pm, with new judge line up Tom Jones, Ricky Wilson, Kylie Minogue and will.i.am.

Mariah Carey’s All I Want For Christmas Is You has reached over 1 million sales in the UK, having sold 68,000 copies in 2013 so far.

December 19 2013

Bruno Mars, Rudimental and Bastille have been confirmed to perform at the Brit Awards 2014, joining the Arctic Monkeys and Katy Perry who were announced earlier this year. The ceremony takes place on February 19 next year at London’s o2.

Demi Lovato announced last night that she will be leaving The X Factor USA to focus on her music career.

Happy Days star Henry Winkler will feature in CBBC’s new children’s show Hank Zipzer.

December 18 2013

The long-awaited Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues hits all UK cinemas today! Check out our review here.

A fourth Girl with the Dragon Tattoo novel will be written. As the trilogy’s writer Stieg Larsson passed away in 2004, fellow Swedish writer David Lagercrantz will extend the fourth book he started writing, due for publication in August 2015.

Disney has announced plans to release new computer-animated film Moana in 2018, directed by John Musker and Ron Clements who were behind The Princess and the Frog, Aladdin and The Little Mermaid.

Man of Steel is the most searched for movie of 2013 on Google, followed by Iron Man 3, Django Unchained, Despicable Me 2 and The Great Gatsby.

Paddy McGuinness will host an OAP special of his hit dating show Take Me Out, for Text Santa this Christmas.

December 17 2013

 
Beyoncé's fifth self-titled album which she released without warning on Friday (Dec 13), has become the fastest-selling album ever worldwide on the iTunes Store after it sold 828,773 copies in three days. The album has also gone to number one on iTunes in 104 counties.

Emimen and Rihanna have released the music video for their track Monster:  

Singer Jay Sean has revealed that his wife Thara Natalie gave birth to a baby girl, Ayva, on Friday (Dec 13).

Leona Lewis has set a new UK chart record with her Christmas single One more Sleep which has shot straight to number three, making it her eighth Top Five Hit – more than any other British female solo artist in UK history.

Friends star Matthew Perry took part in a heated debate about drug addiction on a surprise appearance on Newsnight on Monday (Dec 16): 

December 16 2013

Sam Bailey won The X Factor last night with over 1 million votes, beating Scottish 17 year old Nicholas McDonald. Statistics show that Nicholas led the voting on the first Sunday of the live shows and both nights of weeks 2 and 6, whilst Sam came in on top on all other weeks.

Sam Bailey’s cover of Demi Lovato’s Skyscraper has shot straight to number one on the iTunes chart.

Lily Allen has scored a third week at number one with her cover of Keane’s Somewhere Only We Know, beating Avicii’s Hey Brother by 5,700 copies.

Brian Griffin returned to Family Guy in its Christmas special last night at the aid of a time travelling Stewie. Family Guy creator Seth MacFarlane tweeted: “And thus endeth our warm, fuzzy holiday lesson: Never take those you love for granted, for they can be gone in a flash. I mean, you didn't really think we'd kill off Brian, did you?”

The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug has knocked Frozen off the top spot at the US box office with $73.6m. 

After becoming the first British man to win Wimbledon since Fred Perry in 1936, Andy Murray has been awarded Sports Personality of the Year 2013.

Andre Villas-Boas has been sacked as Tottenham’s manager in the wake of Sunday's 5-0 Premier League thrashing by Liverpool. He took over at Tottenham in July 2012.

Lawrence of Arabia star Peter O’Toole passed away on Saturday, aged 81. Our thoughts are with his loved ones.

December 13 2013

Beyoncé shocked fans last night by releasing a surprise full album along with a massive 17 music videos. The self-titled album containing 14 tracks caused iTunes to temporarily crash as fans tried to download it.

BBC Radio 1 presenter Fearne Cotton announced her engagement to her boyfriend Jesse Wood on Twitter yesterday.

Cameron Diaz has announced plans to release her new self-help book, The Body Book.

‘Purple Rain’ singer Prince will reportedly make his first ever TV sitcom appearance in upcoming post-Super Bowl episode of New Girl. He has agreed to play himself, and will have some involvement with Jess (Zooey Deschanel) and Nick (Jake Johnson).

December 12 2013

Prison Break star Robert Knepper has joined the cast of The Hunger Games: Mockingjay as Antonius.

The X Factor final airs this Saturday. Sam will sing Dreamgirls’ And I Am Telling You with mentor Nicole Scherzinger, Nicholas will sing Westlife’s Flying Without Wings with the band’s frontman Shane Filan, and Luke will sing Anything Can Happen with Ellie Goulding.

James McAvoy has confirmed that he will return to the role of Charles Xavier in future X-Men films.

Boy George has announced his 2014 This Is What I Do, UK tour. Tickets go on sale on Dec 20 at 9am.

Sam Smith has been announced as the winner of the Brits Critics’ Choice Award 2014, beating Ella Eyre and Chloe Howl.

December 11 2013

Congrats to Kate Winslet and her husband Ned Rocknroll who welcomed their first child together on Saturday (December 7).

Beyoncé  has announced the UK and Ireland 2014 tour dates for her Mrs Carter Show World Tour. She will play ten gigs across February and March. Tickets go on sale Dec 14 on Beyonce.com and go on general sale on Dec 16 at 10am on www.gigsandtours.com and www.ticketmaster.co.uk.

Dancing on Ice: All-Stars will see 14 previous contestants compete in the final series of the show including winners Kyran Bracken, Suzanne Shaw, Ray Quinn, Hayley Tamaddon, Sam Attwater and Beth Tweddle.

Haim have been announced as special guests to Kings of Leon at their Milton Keynes Bowl gig on June 22 2014.

Rita Ora is supporing UNICEF’s campaign to help children affected by the ongoing conflict in Syria.

The first teaser trailer for Godzilla, starring Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Bryan Cranston and Elizabeth Olsen, has premiered online: 

The Wanted announced on Tuesday that they have cancelled all tour dates next year in mainland Europe due to ‘unforeseeable changes in our scheduling’. 

December 10 2013

Ben Whishaw will star as Freddie Mercury in the upcoming biopic based on the Queen star. He replaces Sacha Baron Cohen who quit the role this summer.

Slade’s Merry Xmas Everybody is predicted to be the biggest earning festive song this year. It has already earned over £520k in royalties this year which is expected to increase by Christmas 2013. Also this year, The Pogues’ Fairytale of New York has earned over £390k, Mariah Carey’s All I Want For Christmas Is You has earned over £350k and Wham!’s Last Christmas has earned over £300k in royalties.

December 9 2013

Westlife’s Kian Egan was crowned the King of I’m a Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here! last night, beating designer David Emanuel.

One Direction have landed the UK number 1 album for a second week running with Midnight Memories

It has been revealed that Kat and Alfie will discover they are expecting a baby in an upcoming EastEnders storyline.

Miley Cyrus is bringing her Bangerz tour to the UK next May, tickets go on sale this Friday Dec 13 at 9am.

Rita Ora has revealed that she has collaborated with Prince on her upcoming album.

Disney’s Frozen has knocked The Hunger Games: Catching Fire off the top spot at the US box office, earning $31.6m.

McBusted have announced they are headlining BST Hyde Park on Sunday 6th July with special guests including Backstreet Boys. Tickets go on sale Friday at 9am. 

December 6 2013

Tributes go out to the former president of South Africa, Nelson Mandela, who sadly passed away yesterday (Dec 5) at the age of 95.

Derren Brown: The Great Art Robbery will air next Friday Dec 13 at 9pm on Channel 4, where he will use a group of senior citizens to pull off an art theft. Brown will however, tell the owner of the artwork which piece will be stolen, when, and by who. 

Glee co-creator Ryan Murphy has announced that Dianna Agron will return to the hit show as Quinn Fabray for its 100^th episode.

December 5 2013

TOWIE’s Ferne McCann has launched her own collection for online fashion retailer Lasula.

The Rolling Stones have announced their 14 On Fire tour will kick off on February 21, 2014 in Abu Dhabi, with gigs across the Far East and Asia.

Friends star Courteney Cox, 49, has landed her first campaign with Pantene.

Myleene Klass and Samantha Cameron have launched Save The Children’s Woolly Wonderland campaign.

Universal have decided to shut down production indefinitely on Fast & Furious 7, following the passing of Paul Walker who played Brian O’Connor in the movie franchise. Production of the film was halfway through with the cast scheduled to travel to Abu Dhabi in January to film additional scenes.

Cheryl Cole has filmed a special sketch with Michelle Keegan in Coronation Street for Text Santa.

Gal Gadot has been cast as Wonder Woman in the upcoming Superman vs Batman movie which will see Henry Cavill star as Superman and Ben Affleck as Batman. 

December 4 2013

Forbes magazine has named Modern Family star Sofia Vergara as TV’s highest paid actor or actress for the second year in a row, having earned an estimated $30 million between June 2012 and 2013. She reportedly makes approximately $175,000 per episode on Modern Family. Ashton Kutcher came in second place with $24 million while his Two and a Half Men co-star Jon Cryer completes the top 3 with £21 million in the last year.

Marcia Gay Harden is the latest to be cast in Fifty Shades of Grey. She will play Christian Grey’s adoptive mother, a physician named Dr. Grace Trevelyan Grey.

Although it hasn’t hit cinemas yet, Jennifer Lawrence and Bradley Cooper’s latest movie American Hustle has already been branded one of the best films of the year by New York film critics. The New York Film Critics Circle voted the drama as Best Picture, and Jennifer Lawrence as Best Supporting Actress, at their annual awards ceremony yesterday.

Downton Abbey is heading to Buckingham Palace for Rose’s ‘coming out’ in its Christmas special on Christmas Day at 8.30pm on ITV. Paul Giamatti will also make his debut appearance as Harold, Cora’s brother.

Universal will donate a percentage of revenue from sales of Fast & Furious 6 to Paul Walker’s charity Reach Out Worldwide, after he passed away in California on Saturday (Nov 30) following a car crash.

UNICEF has appointed Katy Perry as their newest Goodwill Ambassador.

December 3 2013

Rita Ora has announced she has joined the cast of upcoming Fifty Shades of Grey movie as Christian Grey’s sister Mia.

Harry Styles won the British Style Award at the 2013 BFA’s yesterday. See the full list of winners here.

The British Comedy Awards, hosted by Jonathan Ross, will air live on Channel 4 on Dec 12. Alan Carr, Jack Whitehall and Miranda Hart are among the comedians nominated for awards.

The Big Reunion stars have recorded a version of I Wish It Could Be Christmas Everyday, with proceeds going to Text Santa. Atomic Kitten, 5ive, Blue, Liberty X, 911 and B*Witched all feature on the track which is released on Dec 15:

The ITV charity appeal Text Santa will air on Friday Dec 20, raising money and awareness for six UK based charities.

The Inbetweeners Movie 2 will start shooting this week on December 7 in Australia, before moving to the UK in January. 

December 2 2013

The Fast & the Furious actor Paul Walker passed away this weekend, age 40, in a car crash in Santa Clarita, California. Our thoughts are with his family and friends.

One Direction landed the number 1 spot on the UK chart this weekend with Midnight Memories, which is also the fastest-selling album of 2013 and of the group’s career to date. The record has beaten Daft Punk with Random Access Memories which came out in May. Gary Barlow’s first solo album in 14 years, Since I Saw You Last has debuted at number 2.

Elton John, The Killers, One Direction, Katy Perry and Tom Odell will appear at London’s Wembley Arena for this year’s X Factor final on December 14 and 15. Elton will join Gary Barlow on stage for a world exclusive performance of their duet Face to Face which will be the second release from Gary’s new album Since I Saw You Last.

Lacey Turner’s one-off episode Our Girl, which attracted 5.3 million viewers on BBC One earlier this year, has been picked up for a 5 part series.

Little Mix have announced their UK arena tour for Salute in 2014. Tickets go on sale this Friday, December 6.