Anyone who hasn’t been living under a rock for the past month will have heard of the UK’s latest singing sensation - a 48-year-old Scottish virgin by the name of Susan Boyle. You may also have heard of a female singer called Lily Allen, even though she’s probably less well-known.

Boyle was discovered on Britain’s Got Talent, when she walked on stage as a frumpy, middle-aged nobody and left as a superstar and Internet phenomenon. She’s also the odds-on favorite to win the show outright.

We’re currently in the middle of the four semi-finals of the show, with the live final on Saturday night. Boyle has got through alongside four other acts. There are just two places left for grabs and then we’ll see if she can pull it off.

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Lily Allen has her critics. And it’s not really surprising because here is a young girl with a big mouth who says what she thinks about anything and anyone. Thankfully, she also makes excellent music with inspired backing tracks and clever lyrics.

In February I reviewed Lily Allen’s new album, It’s Not Me, It’s You. The album is a veritable smörgåsbord of styles, influences, and inspirations. The Fear was the brilliant first single to be released from this second album. And now the follow-up, Not Fair, has arrived.

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Lily Allen, the gorgeous and talented British singer-songwriter, and Perez Hilton, the fat, publicity-seeking, celeb-obsessed blogger have never been what I’d exactly call friends. But their long-running feud has just taken a turn for the worst on Twitter.

For the uninitiated amongst you, Twitter is a micro-blogging social network that allows to to keep in touch with friends and strangers alike, all by using updates of 140 characters or less. It’s also becoming increasingly popular amongst celebrities.

The Twitter fight between Lily Allen and Perez Hilton began when Hilton tweeted:

Is casting the music video for her next single, which she’s shooting in LA. Tell her U think she should have Perez in it!

Allen replied:

oh , I’m sorry , we’ve already cast the jealous and bitter lonely old queen role. Next time eh ?

And then the bitchiness from both sides went into overdrive.

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Lily Allen’s new album, It’s Not You, It’s Me, is now out on both sides of the Atlantic. So I thought a review would be rather fitting, especially as I’m a huge fan myself. The album is streaming on Allen’s MySpace page so you can listen along and see if you agree with my assessment.

01. Everyone’s at It

The first song on the album draws you in and tells you exactly what to expect from the rest of the tracks. Clever lyrics, as is usual for Allen, a catchy chorus, and a very addictive bassline.

02. The Fear

We’ve all heard this song by now, with it being the first single to be released from the album. It made sense to release this because it kind of sums up the album - kooky lyrics which have dual meanings, and a little more thought than previous Allen material.

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Lily Allen has never been one of those artists who has struggled to come to terms with new technology or the way the music business is evolving. In fact, you could argue that MySpace made Allen famous. The social networking site at least helped her build a massive fan base.

Now, a week before it’s released in the UK, Allen has put her new album, It’s Not Me, It’s You, on MySpace. Anyone visiting her profile page can stream the full album, made up of 12 tracks, completely for free.

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Lily Allen has never been backwards at coming forwards. A certain amount of it is definitely for show, with her sometimes controversial comments clearly getting her press coverage she otherwise wouldn’t get. But most of it is what she actually believes, and actually has a ring of truth about it.

Allen has recently invoked controversy and a certain amount of vitriol aimed in her direction due to comments she recently made concerning drugs and people who use drugs.

In an interview with The Word magazine, she said:

“The only [newspaper] story is that drugs are bad and they will kill you - I know lots of people that take cocaine three nights a week and get up and go to work every day, no problem. But we never hear that side of the story.”

Now personally I don’t find that comment very offensive. She isn’t defending drug use, or promoting it in any way, but merely pointing out that there’s another side to the story than the one blithely reported by the national newspapers.

But as The NME reports, that didn’t stop groups such as the National Drugs Prevention Alliance and Addaction getting on her case and arguing that the comments are unhelpful and misguided.

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2009 is approaching fast and so it’s time to look back at 2008. Here we’ll see the high and lowlights of the first three months of the year, with a selection of stories we covered between January and March.

January

The month began with Queen being named as the best British band of all time, beating The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Take That, and Oasis. Sad news in the middle of the month when Lily Allen suffered a miscarriage. She later split with boyfriend Ed Simons.

Geri Halliwell claimed that the Spice Girls wouldn’t make a penny from their huge world tour despite it selling out everywhere. She was later proved a liar when it was revealed the girls had made $20 million apiece. Then the once-great girl group canceled the tour and split up again.

The Cribs took Johnny Marr, formerly of The Smiths, on as a fourth member, while Amy Winehouse finally entered rehab.

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Lily Allen is well and truly back after a couple of years out doing a chat show and shit (or should that be a shit chat show). While she may not have cut it as a TV presenter, in my humble opinion, she’s once again proving she’s a very talented singer and songwriter.

Her new song, the first to be released from the forthcoming album, It’s Not Me, It’s You, is a terrific slice of pop called The Fear. And as usual, Allen isn’t content with merely following the herd and has instead turned the idea of celebrity culture on its head.

Music video and review after the cut.

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What do you buy the man who has everything? OK, Barack Obama may not have everything but becoming the first ever black President of the United States is sure to have made most of his dreams come true. He’s also got a beautiful wife, and lovely kids. So what to get him?

David Cameron, the leader of the Conservative party opposition to Gordon Brown’s Labour Government, thinks he knows. The New Statesman reports that Cameron gave Obama the gift of British music when the pair met up in July, passing on albums by The Smiths, Radiohead, Gorillaz, and Lily Allen.

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Elton John and Lily Allen co-hosted the GQ Men Of The Year Awards in London on Tuesday evening. While most people could have spotted trouble a mile off, what with having two of the most outspoken and spoiled pop stars alive sharing a stage, the organisers clearly didn’t see it coming.

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