| CMU Daily - on the inside Friday 7th March |
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In today's CMU Daily:
- Take That top ticket resale charts
- Norman 'Hurricane' Smith dies
- Fabric launch petition for Grooverider's release
- Remy Ma trial: jury selection begins
- Ok Go release charity EP for New Orleans
- Monkey/Rascal track appears online
- Sigur Ros take over YouTube
- Danger Mouse producing Beck
- Police to rock Stormont
- Boyzone to open Terfel thingy
- Daydream Festival orientated towards Radiohead
- Winehouse, Pogues for Oxegen
- Dinosaur Jr announce London show
- More Camp Bestival line up stuff
- Tellier gig
- Simple Minds dates
- Is MySpace Universal deal getting closer?
- AEG make new appointement in Middle East
- Koch and V2 do distribution deal
- Classical Brits appointments
- MAMA buy Edinburgh venue
- Hudson to PR for magazine firm
- Staff changes at Maxim?
- Louis Walsh says rock show lacks drama
- Kelly Rowland admits to boob job
- Gallagher is shootist
- Lily Allen sorry for Cheryl
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TOP BIT RECOMMENDED
Hurrah, the next CMU Recommended Twisted Licks is tonight. Normally I'd do this in the Club Tip spot, but thought I'd elevate it to the Top Bit where it truly belongs!
As previously mentioned, this month the rather fine Joe Lean And The Jing Jang Jong are headlining, and if you haven't seen these guys live yet, well, do so, they're great. Along side Mr Lean and Co you'll also get live sets from The Alones and Christopher D Ashley, plus Guy from Fierce Panda will join Slim Jim on the decks.
Doors open 8.30pm, it goes on till 3am and you can get a pint for a mere £1.50 before 10pm. Tickets are six quid before 10pm or in advance from http://www.ticketweb.co.uk, £8 after 10pm. More info at www.myspace.com/twistedlicks. Info of the press variety from Leyline.
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JOBS N STUFF
JUNIOR PUBLISHING ASSISTANT VACANCY - FABRIC PUBLISHING
Fabric Publishing, Fabric's music publishing business, is looking for a young, enthusiastic, hard working person with excellent administration and organisational skills to fill a junior publishing assistant vacancy. The job will require the successful candidate to maintain and manage the extensive publishing database, compile monthly royalty tracking reports, liaise with sub publishers, deal with MCPS/PRS song registration, liaise with writers/artists, manage the music library and provide general help with day to day running of publishing company. The successful candidate must have experience in using excel, filemaker pro and have general data basing skills. Please note this is a purely admin role and an in depth knowledge of electronic and alternative music is not required. Please state salary expectations on application.
Please email CV to [email protected] Closing date: Friday 14th March 2008.
http://www.fabricpublishing.com - http://www.fabriclondon.com
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BOSTER GROUP - PA AND OFFICE MANAGER - £20K (London, W1)
Do you have a passion for arts, culture and luxury brands? Boster Group is a unique strategic arts consultancy with a blue chip client list. We are looking for a PA to work with our Managing Director. You will enjoy real variety and be responsible for diary management and drafting correspondence, along with managing the office and assisting with events. You must be bright, articulate and well presented with excellent attention to detail, a real interest in the arts and a positive attitude. Previous administration experience would be an advantage. To apply, please send your CV and covering letter to [email protected] quoting ref: SS13
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LIVE EVENTS - PRODUCTION & DEVELOPMENT MANAGER
We are an innovative events and marketing company who identify and broker music and cultural partnerships, and develop and deliver experiential brand programmes. We have two high profile retail theatre productions currently in development, in partnership with major brands and are pursuing other exciting opportunities in this growing market.
We need an enthusiastic, organised and conscientious manager to join our team to:
- coordinate the production and logistics of our up coming events
- to identify and capitalise on additional commercial opportunities presented by these activities
- to identify and pursue new partnership and event opportunities
The right candidate will have experience in planning and managing large scale music and/or event projects, and will be brimming with both commercial and creative ideas. Some new business or business development experience will be an advantage, as will language skills, especially French. It may suit someone who has worked in recorded music looking to branch into the live arena, or someone working in the live sector interested in the potential of creating and delivering spectacular Live Brand Experiences with and for prestigious brand partners.
If you are interested email a CV to [email protected]
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CMU CLASSIFIEDS
DESK SPACE IN CAMDEN
Backstreet International Merchandise have desk space available for creative/music/media types looking for affordable workspace in central Camden. For enquiries please contact Steve Faye on 0207 428 1107 or email [email protected]
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GO ONLINE WITH CMU...
Ben from O Fracas on his band's immediate and long term plans: "Fame and glory, but of course! Perhaps not... 'Brouhaha' is plainly a pre-conceived and contrived promotional tool to drum up some much needed critical interest, and whet the appetite of the consuming public, in anticipation of our debut full length 'Fits And Starts'. Or something equally irreverent. As for the future though, as Alice once discovered, if you don't know where you're going, any road will get you there. I'd like to think we operate according to a similar maxim. I don't know whether any of that's true or not, but it's pretty ambitious in its impudence".
O Fracas answers CMU's Same Six Questions online this week - www.cmumusicnetwork.co.uk
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CMU RECOMMENDED
REMIX ALL-NIGHTER - PLUS SPECIAL OFFER FOR STUDENTS
The next CMU recommended Remix All-Nighter takes over the seOne Club at London Bridge next month for a brilliant pre-Easter party.
There'll be three rooms of fun. In the Remix room you'll get live sets from The Whip and Vitalic, plus Remix chief Eddy TM on the decks and VJ Fay Buzzard doing visual stuff. Next up will be a room hosted by Orbital co-founder and general dance music pioneer Phil Hartnoll, named for and showcasing his new venture Long Range. And then, to top off all that, there will be a whole room of all things Ninja Tune, featuring no less than DJ Food & DK, Coldcut (Jon Moore DJ Set), Bonobo, Daedelus, The Qemists and VJ Mox. Oh, and they've just added Busy P (Ed Banger) to the bill too. This night is going to be storming.
It all takes place on 20 Mar. Full info from: http://www.myspace.com/theremix
SPREAD THE WORD! SPECIAL STUDENT DISCOUNT FROM CMU
CMU and Remix All-nighter promoters have teamed up to offer students a special price for the night of just £7. To get the discount you need a special code for when you order your tickets, and you can get the code by emailing your name and university name to [email protected] But do it quick - there are a limited number of discounted tickets available.
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VIGSY'S CLUB TIP: Robert Owens Launch Party at The End's AKA Bar
OK, so it's starting to look like I'm on the payroll for The End - but hey, they keep putting on cool stuff and it's a pretty cool place to boot. Next Wednesday it's the Robert Owens album launch party - where he will be joined on the decks by Charles Webster, the rather good Mr Iveson, aka Atjazz, and Simbad. For those of you who don't know, our Rob, has been on the house scene for over two decades as a vocalist, and is behind gems such as 'I'll Be Your Friend' and 'Tears' and has, more lately, worked with Coldcut on 'Mile In My Shoes' and on Photek's rather good 'Solaris' "house" album. Owens' new long player - which we'll run a full review on next week, promise - sees Owens collaborate with a who's who of cutting edge electronic producers including Kirk Degiorgio, Ian Pooley, Atjazz, Simbad, Jimpster and Wahoo to name a few. It's a great project and deserves a brilliant launch - which this is. Go see.
Wednesday 12 Mar, AKA bar, at The End, 16A West Central Street, London, WC1A, 10pm-am, free before 9pm £5 before midnight £8 after, info at http://www.akalondon.com, press info from Gin at The End Promotions or the lovely Sophie at RocketScienceMedia.
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TAKE THAT TOP TICKET RESALE CHARTS
Whether Take That or Led Zeppelin will be glad to know that their tickets were the most in-demand on ticket auction websites last year I'm not sure. It's nice to be wanted, of course, but the promoters of Take That's tour and the much hyped Led Zepp reunion show won't be happy that online touts have been benefiting so much from the demand for tickets, especially as the latter was a charity concert.
According to research firm Tixdaq, 'second-hand' tickets to Take That concerts being sold on the 25 biggest resale websites generated £12.8 million last year. Led Zepp, meanwhile, enjoyed the highest average resale ticket price for their much in-demand one off show at London's The O2, with tickets reselling for £707.97.
Other highly priced resale tickets included two Paul McCartney shows - tickets for his relatively intimate (for him) gig at the BBC's Electric Proms had an average resale ticket price of £498.14 while his show at The Liverpool Sound had an average resale price of £330.
Tixdaq's Will Muirhead said that their research of online ticket touting demonstrated what a big deal secondary ticketing had become, adding: "No wonder artists are concerned that they do not generally share in the proceeds".
As much previously reported, various music industry types, most notably tour promoters, artist managers and some politicians, have expressed concern at punters profiting so highly from ticket resales and, perhaps more importantly, from the auction websites profiting by taking a commission. As also previously reported, the topic will be discussed at the next MusicTank Think Tank event in London on 18 Mar, follow this URL for more information on that:
http://www.musictank.co.uk/events/ticket-touting-going-going-gone
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NORMAN 'HURRICANE' SMITH DIES
Beatles collaborator Norman Smith has died at the age of 85. The producer and musician was the sound engineer for all the Fab Four's recordings up until 1965, working on 180 tracks in total, whilst in the late sixties was producer on Pink Floyd's earliest works. Smith was also a recording artist in his own right, achieving a transatlantic hit as Hurricane Smith with 'Oh Babe, What Would You Say' in 1972. His final album, 'From Me To You', featuring some liner notes by Paul McCartney, was released in 2004.
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FABRIC LAUNCH PETITION FOR GROOVERIDER'S RELEASE
London club Fabric has launched a petition calling for DJ Grooverider to be released - as previously reported, the drum & bass DJ was jailed for four years after being caught taking a small quantity of cannabis into Dubai last year. The United Arab Emirates have notoriously strict drug laws.
10,000 people have already signed the petition, which calls the sentence "ridiculously excessive". The venue stresses that it recognises it doesn't exist to "offer social or cultural commentary on another country's values systems", but says that it hopes their petition "might help challenge this sentence and proceed in the very least to having Grooverider deported home as soon as possible".
You can check and sign the petition at http://www.petitiononline.com/gr00v3. Whether any campaigning here will have any effect on authorities in Dubai remains to be seen. As previously reported, leniency in this domain isn't unprecedented. In 2006 Grammy award winning music producer Dallas Austin was prosecuted for taking cocaine into Dubai, and also faced four years inside, but he was pardoned by the emirate's Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum.
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REMY MA TRIAL: JURY SELECTION BEGINS
Jury selection has begun in the much previously reported Remy Ma case. As previously reported, rapper Ma is accused of shooting a woman twice in a dispute over money last summer. She has entered a not guilty plea. It's unclear how quick a jury will be recruited, or when the trial will actually get under way proper.
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OK GO RELEASE CHARITY EP FOR NEW ORLEANS
CMU favourites OK Go have launched a five track EP on iTunes which will benefit members of the New Orleans music community still rebuilding their lives after the destruction of Hurricane Katrina back in 2005.
The band spent some time in the city around the second anniversary of the hurricane, doing some recording with New Orleans based funk and soul trombone outfit Bonerama, and the five tracks that appear on the EP - three reworks of existing OK Go songs and two covers - were recorded during those sessions.
Commenting on the project, OK Go's Damian Kulash told CMU: "New Orleans is one of the last places in America where music is truly a fundamental part of everyday life. People get together on the weekends and parade through the streets just playing songs; 12-year-old-kids learn funk on the tuba; everyone dances. Life elsewhere in the world simply isn't as celebratory. If we allow the culture of New Orleans to die by leaving its musicians marooned around the country, America will have lost one of its great treasures".
Not only will the band pass on all their revenues from the tracks to charity, so will iTunes and digital distribution firm IODA, who are distributing and promoting the release. So go on, go search it down via your iTunes and download away.
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MONKEY/RASCAL TRACK APPEARS ONLINE
A track resulting from the collaboration of Arctic Monkey Alex Turner and Miles Kane out of The Rascals has appeared online. The duo, who go by the name of The Last Shadow Puppets, are streaming a promo of the song 'The Age Of Understatement', at http://www.theageoftheunderstatement.com. The single is released on 14 Apr, followed by an album of the same name on 21 Apr.
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SIGUR ROS TAKE OVER YOUTUBE
Go to YouTube today and you'll notice it has something of a Sigur Ros theme. That's because the rather fine Icelandic music makers are taking over the video sharing website for the day to celebrate the fact that all 97 minutes of the band's feature length music DVD 'Heima' has become available via the video service, something of an innovation for the usually mini-vid based website. The site will also be streaming the winning videos from the band's 'Minn Heima' competition which gave Sigur Ros fans the opportunity to make their own 'Heima' video using a selction of audio and video clips.
Confirming the tie up with Sigur Ros, YouTube Music Community Manager Michele Flannery told CMU: "What's great about the 'Minn Heima' contest is that fans were able to connect with the band on a whole new level, sharing their creativity through mini-films that are then judged and selected by the Sigur Rós members themselves. This event breaks down the walls between fans and musicians as they are able to directly participate in the creative process".
The bands Georg Holm added: "Like all Icelanders we are intensely proud of our mighty homeland in the far North Atlantic. It is in our Viking blood to want to conquer nations and peoples, but our longboat was in the repair shop having the barnacles removed, so we just made a film to send out into the world on our behalf instead. It turned out all right in the end, and lots of people have already enjoyed it. Now it's your turn. And a special thanks to everyone who entered the Minn Heima competition".
You can access all this via the YouTube home page right now.
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DANGER MOUSE PRODUCING BECK
Danger Mouse is apparently in the early stages of producing Beck's new album. The Gnarls Barkley star's publicist has confirmed the collaboration is taking place, so it must be true.
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POLICE TO ROCK STORMONT
The Police are to make what's being referred to as their final Irish appearance at an open air gig in the grounds of the Stormont Estate on Belfast on 20 June. They follow the likes of Pavarotti, Elton John and Rod Stewart in playing at the venue during the last decade. The late Mo Mowlam started the series of concerts during her time as Northern Ireland secretary, but there have been no concerts in the last couple of years due to financial reasons.
The concert has cross party political support, which is nice. Responding to the news, Ian Paisley said: "This is a fantastic coup for Northern Ireland. An event of this magnitude has a sizeable benefit for the economy, not least our tourism industry. The beautiful grounds of the Stormont Estate are a fantastic venue for this event and it is fitting that they should be used by the public in this way".
Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness comments: "This concert will send a message to the world that not only is the North open for business but that it is also a vibrant and exciting place to be. It is hoped that we will be able to accommodate some 35,000 fans at Stormont for the concert. I look forward to attending what I am sure will be an enjoyable show".
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BOYZONE TO OPEN TERFEL THINGY
Boyzone have announced that they are to open Bryn Terfel's annual four day Faenol festival, which takes place near Caernarfon on 22 Aug. The band, who have recently reunited, follow stars such as Girls Aloud, Andrea Bocelli and Shirley Bassey in appearing at the event, widely known as 'Bryn-fest'.
Terfel says of the booking: "I know that fans will turn out in droves to welcome them. It's a real coup for us, as their tour dates are limited". More details of this year's event are to be released shortly.
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DAYDREAM FESTIVAL ORIENTATED TOWARDS RADIOHEAD
According to Gigwise, Barcelona's Daydream Festival, which has confirmed Radiohead as its headlining act, say the rest of the event will be "very unique", and "orientated towards Radiohead" in the sense that the rest of the bill will feature acts that have influenced Radiohead, and bands that have in turn been influenced by Radiohead, which is a nice idea, especially if you're a big fan of Radiohead, bands that influenced Radiohead, and bands that Radiohead influenced. Alright already, enough Radiohead and influences. The names of the other acts are being kept secret, however. Tickets for the event on 12 Jun cost 65 euros, and are available right now.
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WINEHOUSE, POGUES FOR OXEGEN
Amy Winehouse and The Pogues are amongst the latest acts confirmed for this year's Oxegen festival. They join the likes of REM, Kings Of Leon and Rage Against The Machine on the bill for the event, which, as previously reported, takes place at Ireland's Punchestown Racecourse from 11-13 Jul.
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DINOSAUR JR ANNOUNCE LONDON SHOW
Dinosaur Jr have announced a one-off London gig ahead of their appearance at the All Tomorrow's Parties curated by Explosions In The Sky. The band are set to appear at Koko on 1 May, tickets on sale now.
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MORE CAMP BESTIVAL LINE UP STUFF
More info on that there Camp Bestival for you - this being the new earlier in the year festival from the Bestival crowd featuring even more of that quirky fun stuff that makes the main Bestival so special. As previously reported, it all takes place at Lulworth Castle in Dorset from 18-20 Jul.
We already knew that Flaming Lips and Chuck Berry are set to play the Camp, and now we also know that Kate Nash will headline the Sunday night. Other line up additions on the music side include DJ Yoda, Dub Pistols, Kid Carpet and Emiliana Torrini.
But this one is about more than just the music, and there's a brilliant line up of comedy, spoken word and literature types too. On the comedy side we're talking fine funny peopel like Ida Barr/Tina C, Phil Nichol, Glenn Wool, Craig Campbell, Adam Bloom and the always brill Andrew Maxwell and his Full Mooners. Oh, and Roy Walker's Catchphrase, which sounds fun.
Doing the spoken word thing will be Polar Bear, Poem Inbetween People, Peggy Sue & The Pirates, Gideon Conn, Kate Tempest, Matt Lloyd, AF Harold and your host Scroobius Pip. And from the literary (and poetic) world, you get Howard Marks, Richard Milward, Marie Phillips, Ed Larrikin & Larrikin Love, Joel Stickley and our good friend Luke Wright.
Frankly it's all sounding too good to be true, and I am expecting to wake up at any minute and find out it was all a dream. Assuming it's not, then go here to get more info: http://www.campbestival.net/
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TELLIER GIG
Talking of fine stuff, the very fine Sebastien Tellier will play London's Scala on 28 Apr to coincide with the release of his new single 'Divine'. Don't go saying we didn't tell you.
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SIMPLE MINDS DATES
Simple Minds are to celebrate their thirtieth year with a series of six UK gigs, set to take place in November and December. The band, presently working on a new album, will perform their millions-selling 1982 album 'New Gold Dream' in its entirety, as well as performing hits and favourites from all their other albums.
The band's Jim Kerr says this: "We are delighted to announce these six rare UK concerts. The concerts will reflect our entire musical journey from day one to the current phase of creativity and without doubt will also conjure up all the energy, atmosphere and passion that for many is symbolic of Simple Minds shows over the last 30 years".
Info from Noble PR, here are the dates:
27 Nov: Manchester MEN Arena
28 Nov: Birmingham NEC
29 Nov: London Wembley Arena
1 Dec: Sheffield Arena Tuesday
2 Dec: Cardiff Arena
4 Dec: Glasgow SECC
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IS MYSPACE UNIVERSAL DEAL GETTING CLOSER?
Universal are reportedly close to reaching a deal with MySpace which would [a] bring to an end the major's legal challenge against the social networking website regarding the ease with which music fans can post unlicensed music on their MySpace pages and [b] pave the way for the sale of Universal music via MySpace's planned download platform.
Digital Music News cites a source as saying that an announcement from the two companies is now imminent, though that the behind doors dealing is still a little precarious so the whole thing could as yet fall through. Those rumours this week that Facebook are also planning a download platform are reportedly making MySpace eager to get going with their digital music offer asap, which will play to Universal's advantage at the negotiating table.
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AEG MAKE NEW APPOINTEMENT IN MIDDLE EAST
AEG Live has announced the appointment of Thomas Ovesen to run its Middle Eastern operations. It's an appointment that should give AEG a real boost in the region, because he is the former GM of Mirage Promotions, and in that job was behind a string of high profile concerts in the Middle East featuring Western artists. The live music major will also hope Ovesen will enable them to take on main rival Live Nation in the region - they recently expanded their influence in the Middle East by taking a stake in Mirage.
Confirming his new AEG job, and the increasing importance of the region he will oversee, Ovesen told Billboard: "Whilst the region was, until a few years back, pretty insignificant regarding touring live entertainment, and mainly catered for foreign expats living in Bahrain, Qatar, UAE and Oman, there is now a more sophisticated trend emerging, in particular for events going in to Dubai. I believe the future is here".
AEG Live top man Randy Phillips adds: "Having a presence in that region is very important to us in terms of growth and finance opportunities. What we do is invest in people. We try to hire the best people. This company was built in investing in individual and giving them the tools and resources to grow the business. In Thomas we saw someone who was ready to leave that Mirage womb and branch out and build his own business".
So, expect lots more Western artists to be adding Middle East dates on their tour schedules in the coming years. Let's just hope they're all aware of those UAE drugs laws that Grooverider fell foul of.
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KOCH AND V2 DO DISTRIBUTION DEAL
Koch Entertainment and V2 Records North America (which, as you may remember, is owned by Sheridan Square Entertainment and is nothing to do with Universal Music owned V2 UK) have confirmed a deal which will see the former distribute the latter's catalogue, which includes music from the likes of Moby, Underworld and Black Crowes. The deal will also cover Sheridan's other labels, including Sheridan Square Records, Triloka, Ropeadope, Spitfire, Light, Intersound, and Tone Cool. As previously reported, Sheridan made it very clear when they bought V2 US that they were interested in its catalogue rather than using the indie as a new signings label.
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CLASSICAL BRITS APPOINTMENTS
The MD of Universals Classics & Jazz, Dickon Stainer, and the MD of EMI Classics UK, Thomas Kaurich, have been appointed as co-Chairs of the Classical Brit Awards committee. The next Classical Brits will take place at the Royal Albert Hall on 8 May and will be hosted by that Myleene Klass chick.
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MAMA BUY EDINBURGH VENUE
Yet another bit of MAMA Group expansion, we're going to have to give these guys a regular slot if they keep expanding at this rate. The Barfly owners have announced they have acquired the freehold title (a bit of jargon for all your property types there) on a central Edinburgh venue called The Gig - a West End venue that was once a credible gig set up called the Caley Palais, though more recently the slightly less credible cheesy clubbing hub that was Century 2000/Revolution. MAMA plan to return the venue to its glorious past as a vibrant medium size gig venue - something the Scottish capital really needs.
Confirming the purchases, MAMA bosses Adam Driscoll and Dean James, Co-Chief Executive Officers of MAMA commented: "We are delighted to have enhanced our mid sized live music venue portfolio with the acquisition of this landmark venue. The Gig is in a unique location; ideal for live music and live entertainment. This announcement follows closely behind details of our acquisition of a similar sized venue in Birmingham. These two properties represent significant additions to our growing network of live music venues in the important Edinburgh and Birmingham markets. Our venue portfolio is now 20 strong and there remains exciting potential for further development".
Welcoming the revamp of the venue, local promoter Mark Mackie of Regular Music told CMU: "Edinburgh, the Festival City could be accused of resting on its laurels over the years and the refurbishment and re-opening of this great performance space in shadow of the castle couldn't be more central and will help Edinburgh to rock well into the future".
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HUDSON TO PR FOR MAGAZINE FIRM
Music PR firm Hudson PR have announced an expansion into the media domain, having been appointed to do the PR for magazine publishing company EMP, a specialist publishing outfit that publish a range of consumer and business titles, including the official magazine for the BBC's 'The Apprentice'.
Confirming the new business, Hudson PR MD Clare Hudson told CMU: "Music and entertainment will remain at the core of our business, but we think all clients benefit from an agency with a range of clients in a range of sectors. Publishing PR allows us the benefit of having an even closer relationship with the magazines under the EMP umbrella, the team's involved and the company objectives, this can only enhance our service for all of our other clients and result in quality coverage. One of the strengths of working with EMP is that they are an established publishing agency and yet remain innovative in their titles. This year will see a big push for them on their magazine website front which is becoming hugely influential for readers and advertisers".
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STAFF CHANGES AT MAXIM?
US media gossip website Gawker has been speculating about staff changes at Maxim magazine post the whole Black Crowes made up review debacle. They have reported that AJ Baime, seemingly second in command at the lad mag, has returned to his previous employer Playboy. Whether that move is due to the publication of star rated music reviews for Black Crowes and Nas releases that hadn't even been sent to the media (or even finished in Nas' case), or the magazine's reportedly declining sales, or just something that was always planned, I don't know. Gawker also reported that Deputy Editor Chris Wilson had departed the mag, but they have now reported that he has denied that.
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LOUIS WALSH SAYS ROCK SHOW LACKS DRAMA
Louis Walsh has said that new ITV drama series 'Rock Rivals' - which has a behind-the-scenes at an X-Factor style talent show theme to it - is nowhere near as interesting as it is behind the scenes at the actual X-Factor, and that they should have come to him for advice.
Walsh told The Mirror: "There's far more drama on The X Factor in any week than there's likely to be in this whole series. I was so excited when I sat down to watch it. I expected it to be great. I had spent a whole day on set doing a cameo and they cut me. I was annoyed, but now I've seen it I'm glad that I ended up on the cutting room floor. It could have been so funny and real but it isn't. With the real thing you have more action, more drama and a lot more talent. They didn't capture the tension and the drama on the show between the judges and the contestants - especially the judges".
He added: "The research on this show was so poor. They should have called us".
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KELLY ROWLAND ADMITS TO BOOB JOB
Kelly Rowland has admitted that she's had breast enhancement surgery, but that she's not gone too far, just up a cup, and no more, from an A to a B. Explaining the rationale for her decision, the former Child Of Destiny says: "I didn't want to have double Ds and be a little bitty size two - that would look nuts!"
"I was sick of not fitting into my tops," she continues. "There was this one really hot House of Dereon top - I just wanted to fill that out! I put it on and I looked so good! I'm so happy. I feel complete."
Fitting in to a top, eh? Yeah, sounds like a great reason to undergo major surgery.
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GALLAGHER IS SHOOTIST
According to the Mirror, Noel Gallagher's new hobby is shooting. I was kind of thinking of clay pigeons when I started writing this, but as I've gone on I've realised it probably means the kind of shooting where things actually get killed and so I'm feeling a bit queasy about it. That being the case, I'll just hand over to a quote from Kasabian's Tom Meighan who says of the Oasis star: "He sent me a text about going shooting in America, and about how scared he was of shooting himself. I've not heard from Noel in a while, so as soon as he's finished recording in LA it would be nice to meet up and find out what happened. He was going to get some guns and rifles I think. It was supposed to be a leisurely day out or hobby to get stuck into".
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LILY ALLEN SORRY FOR CHERYL
Lily Allen appears to be wanting to end her feud with Girl Aloud Cheryl Cole, saying that she feels sorry about the singer's recent marital troubles with husband Ashley Cole. According to reports she told the audience at a recording of her TV show: "A couple of years ago if I had read the stuff about Cheryl Cole, about her and Ashley, I'd probably have had a little laugh to myself. But now I actually feel really sorry for her. She's beautiful. That's why I hated her so much. I've seen her in real life but I haven't spoken to her because she'd probably punch me".
Well, I can't really comment. But she might not be wrong about that.