The Helping Haiti version of Everybody Hurts has gone straight in at number one in the UK music charts, racking up 453,000 dales in just six days. This makes it the most successful charity single of the century, despite it not actually being very good.

I have mixed feelings on charity records. They raise money for good causes, which is great, yet a lot of them rely solely on that factor to sell, not actually being any good. And they always sell well, regardless of quality.

The annual Brit Awards are with us again. The ceremony will take place at London’s Earls Court on February 16, but the nominations have now been revealed in order to allow time for the winners to be voted for by you, the great British public.

Lady Gaga, JLS, Lily Allen, Pixie Lott, and Florence & The Machine have all been nominated for three or more awards. Lady Gaga is up in every category she is eligible for, those being the international awards.
Robbie Williams will be honored for his ‘Outstanding Contribution to Music’, while two new awards have been added as a …read more

Rumors flew around the InterWebs last month that Lady Gaga, that freaky lady who is most definitely a little gaga, is either a man or a hermaphrodite (someone born with the genitalia of both sexes).
The speculation started after Gaga herself made a joke about it, and then footage of her performing at the Glastonbury Festival (video embedded below) surfaced which showed a suspect package in her pants.

However, Lady Gaga has denied the claims, and now her close friend Mika has backed her up. He told Heat magazine:
“She doesn’t have a penis. She came to my house in her underwear …read more

The UK music charts may mean less now than they used to but they’re still an indicator of what’s hot on the popular British music scene right now. This week’s Top 10 singles and Top 10 albums are listed below.

The singles chart sees Pixie Lott hit the top spot with Boys and Girls, giving her two consecutive number ones. Last week’s number one, Run This Town by Jay-Z, Rihanna, and Kanye West, falls to number three. Mika’s We Are Golden debuts at number 4, while Muse make the top 10 with Uprising. Not bad for an albums band.
The albums …read more

Wow. One watch of this video is enough to declare Mika is back with a vengeance, more camp, extravagant, and out there than ever. Whether Mika’s return is a good thing depends on whether you’re one of the people who loves him or whether you’re one of the people who hates him. Because this is a man who splits opinion right down the center.

I’m personally split on Mika myself because I’ve liked a lot of his stuff while hating certain tracks, mainly because they were played too often upon release. Maybe a little of the novelty factor has now worn …read more

It seems like ages has passed since Mika took the world by storm with his debut album Life In Cartoon Motion, and to be fair it has been two years since it was released. 2007 was a huge year for Mika, with success on both sides of the Atlantic and beyond, but then it all came to an abrupt end when the last single from the album, the double A-side of Relax, Take It Easy/Lollipop, was released in December of that year.

Since then, Mika has been very quiet. But now he’s back, and preparing to release his as-yet-untitled second album. …read more

Some of the bloggers here on the b5 music channel decided to record our Soundtrack For A Day yesterday. This could take different forms, be it all the songs you listened to on that day, a selection from certain moments, or a particular album.
I decided to stick my media player on random and note down the first 50 songs it played, and here is the result.
As a full time blogger who works from home, music is very important to me as it can change the mood of my day. Pressing the random button is therefore a bit of a gamble …read more

8pm – Mika opens the show with his distinct brand of high pitched camp goodness. There’s no flashy backgrounds or staging, with the focus seeming to be on his actual singing, and stage presence instead. Which is a refreshing change.
Beth Ditto arrives on stage, and the two of them embark on a duet combining Love Today and Standing In The Way Of Control. Once she’s disappeared behind the curtain, Mika goes in to a bit of Grace Kelly.
Already I can see that the crowd is the combination of enthusiastic fans, and industry types who are just there to get drunk …read more

The nominations for this year’s Brit awards have been revealed, and the wealth of nominees prove conclusively what a great year for British music 2007 was.
The Brit awards ceremony will be held at Earl’s Court in London on February 20th, and be hosted by Ozzy and Sharon Osbourne.
The front runners for awards this year are Leona Lewis, Mika, and Take That, all of whom are up for four awards each.
Arctic Monkeys, Kaiser Chiefs, Kate Nash and Mark Ronson are all up for three awards each, while Mercury Music Prize winners Klaxons will be fighting for two.

The Vodafone Live awards are one of those small awards ceremonies that is quickly getting bigger and getting more attention. They’re still not on the scale of The Brits or anything, but it ended up being a good show, and the list of winners ticks virtually every box for me. Here are the full list…
Best Live Male: Mika
Best Live Female: Amy Winehouse
Live Impact 2007: Gossip
Best Show Production: Kylie Minogue
Best Live Return: The Police
Best Live Music DVD: Oasis: ‘Morning Glory – A Classic Album’
Best Live Music Venue: Wembley Stadium
XFM Live Breakthrough Act: Klaxons
Channel 4 Festival of the Year: Glastonbury
Kerrang! Live Unsigned …read more