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Pick at the pops

Our weekly round-up of the weird and wonderful world of pop music...

The pop week has of course been dominated by the Nationwide Mercury Prize, honouring cool and unpopular UK music since 1992. It used to be the Mercury Music Prize, I’m sure, with the winner receiving a complimentary vest, moustache and large false gnashers, but Queen are now out of vogue. Someone tell Muse.

Anyway, striking a blow for albums that people actually like, the trophy this year went to Arctic Monkeys whose parents weren’t even born when Primal Scream took the inaugural prize. Other shortlisters had longer memories - Scritti Politti were claiming their pop pension back in 1992, and Richard Hawley lurked with Pulp at an early ceremony. Hawley looks like the big winner this year, enjoying a huge increase in album sales this week. Not tricky to improve on zero, mind.

At the more glamorous end of the pop spectrum, well-to-do disco dame Sophie-Ellis Bextor is the new wide face of fashion retailer Monsoon, telling the world that she’s still getting used to seeing her face all over the show. It’s tough for us all, Soph. Nah, good to have the real Posh Spice back, with more impeccably mannered discopop tunes expected in the new year.

A further blow for the nation’s girlfriends came with the news that Girls Aloud’s blonde bombshell Sarah Harding has signed a bra-modelling contract with Ultimo. It should keep her happy until the band’s inevitable Mercury win in 2007.

Finally, let’s all spare a thought for man of the people P. Diddy, who has been forced to tuck his ‘Diddy’ away. The great man has settled out of court with British DJ/Producer Richard ‘Diddy’ Dearlove. That’s a lot of gold chains requiring rebranding and £100,000 to be paid out in legal costs. Dearlove would’ve gone for more, but he didn’t want to take the P.

Matthew Horton 

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• 14/08/2006: Natasha Bedingfield's Rocky return >>
• 07/08/2006: The heavyweight return of Meat Loaf >>