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Pick at the pops
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Our weekly round-up of the weird and wonderful world of pop music...
The music industry and its paymasters, the humble punters, were at V Festival in Stafford and Chelmsford over the weekend, allowing Shakira to steal yet another week at the top of the charts. The diminutive Colombian octave-jumper caught everyone unawares and shows no sign of sparing us further pain.
But it wasn’t all gloom for the festivalgoers. They enjoyed a grudging greatest hits set from cheeky troubadours Radiohead and, if that was too much fun, they could’ve nipped over to the other main stage to catch Kasabian who were "equally as good" according to, er, Kasabian. Other headliners included Morrissey and Razorlight. I take it back. It was all gloom for the festivalgoers.
Mind you, they were lucky to see bands at all. It’s been a week of gig cancellations, with Keane ditching three through "exhaustion" - polite balladeering can be very draining - and Mick Jagger losing his voice. Good for his bandmates, no doubt, but bad for the fans. Less startling no-shows have come from the pregnant Beth Orton and the ever-reliable Babyshambles.
One tour still on the cards is Beyonce’s European adventure, scheduled for 2007. She’s been telling all and sundry that she’ll be accompanied by an all-female band. Very Addicted To Love. Will Big Brother’s Susie be playing? We’ll keep you abreast of developments.
And speaking of blinged-up global superstars (Beyonce, I mean, not Susie), shy and retiring P Diddy was in town last week to promote his uncharacteristically decent new album Press Play. At least, he was reported to be in town. It was impossible to be sure with his massive, po-faced, sunglass-sporting entourage in the way. They could’ve smuggled 15 Shakiras to the No.1 spot.
Matthew Horton
