Archive for December, 2010

Rihanna “grateful” for ‘Umbrella’ song

Friday, December 31st, 2010
Rihanna

Rihanna has revealed that she is “grateful” to have recorded her hit record ‘Umbrella’.

The singer, whose song topped the UK chart for ten weeks, admitted that the song helped boost her music career, as well as landing her a huge endorsement deal.

“I did have a deal with an umbrella company and they had a range of very good umbrellas,”she told Q magazine.

“This is kind of weird because I grew up in Barbados and there’s not a great culture of umbrellas like there is in the UK and Europe. I guess we have the occasional storm or maybe the Caribbean is more known for its hurricanes and an umbrella isn’t going to get you very far in a situation like that.

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Britney Spears single to debut next week

Thursday, December 30th, 2010
Britney Spears

The new single by Britney Spears will premiere on US radio next week, it has been confirmed.

Entertainment Weekly reports that ‘Hold It Against Me’, the lead single from the star’s as-yet-untitled seventh album, will receive its first radio play on January 7.

Sharon Dastur, programme director at New York’s Z100 station and one of the few people to have heard the comeback track, stated: “It’s produced by Dr Luke and Max Martin, and the beat that they give her is really unique compared to other artists – this infectious bass beat beneath the song.”

The song’s alleged lyrics circulated around the internet earlier this week, but were later dismissed by producer Dr Luke as fake.

‘Fockers’ tops UK Christmas box office

Thursday, December 30th, 2010
Robert De Niro and Ben Stiller in Little Fockers

Ben Stiller and Robert De Niro’s Little Fockers has topped the UK box office over the Christmas weekend.

The comedy sequel pulls in more than £3 million to chart ahead of blockbusters The Voyage Of The Dawn Treader and Tron: Legacy. Fockers‘ opening haul is more than the £2.2 million made by Meet The Parents in 2000, but less than the £7.9 million grossed by its follow-up Meet The Fockers in January 2005.

Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows: Part 1, which has now made more than £46 million at the UK box office, falls a place to number four. Bollywood film Tees Maar Khan opens strongly in fifth place with £319,870.

Elsewhere, The Tourist experiences a sharp fall to number seven where it charts ahead of animated movie Animals United and new release Arthur And The Great Adventure.

Christina Aguilera and Cher’s Burlesque completes the top ten.

The UK box office top ten in full:
1. (-) Little Fockers – £3,035,717
2. (2) The Chronicles Of Narnia: The Voyage Of The Dawn Treader – £929,958
3. (1) Tron: Legacy – £486,065
4. (3) Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows: Part 1 – £416,556
5. (-) Tees Maar Khan – £319,870
6. (5) Megamind – £303,861
7. (4) The Tourist – £164,836
8. (7) Animals United – £157,858
9. (-) Arthur And The Great Adventure – £83,875
10. (6) Burlesque – £81,574

Official Charts Company admits error

Wednesday, December 29th, 2010
The X Factor finalists 'Heroes'

The Official Charts Company has revealed that an “error” was made when calculating last week’s music charts.

The official top 40 singles and album charts, which are announced on BBC Radio 1 between 4pm and 7pm, were reported inaccurate for the week ending December 26 by market researchers Millward Brown after faulty software affected the chart position of a number of songs.

A message posted on Radio 1’s website reads: “Last night, Millward Brown, the market research company currently contracted by the Official Charts Company to collect sales data, discovered a bug in the weighting software used to compile the charts, which has affected a number of positions in the charts published on Sunday December 26.

“As a result, the OCC has decided to re-run all of this week’s Official Charts. In relation to the Top 40 Singles and Albums Charts, the errors are minimal.”

The updated chart has since been published, with the X Factor finalists’ single ‘Heroes’ dropping four places from 18 to 22.

Matt Cardle retains singles chart No. 1

Monday, December 27th, 2010
Matt Cardle 'When We Collide'

Matt Cardle has stayed at the top of the UK singles chart with his X Factor winner’s single ‘When We Collide’.

The single has now sold 738,000 copies after selling 300,000 more units in the past week. It was also announced as the second biggest-selling single of the year so far, behind Eminem and Rihanna’s duet ‘Love the Way You Lie’.

Rihanna also stayed at this week’s number two with ‘What’s My Name?’, her duet with rapper Drake. The Black Eyed Peas’ former number one ‘The Time (Dirty Bit)’ climbed back to number three.

Katy B scored her second Top 10 hit with ‘Lights On’ – featuring Ms. Dynamite – at number four, with Ellie Goulding’s ‘Your Song’ completing the Top 5.

Katy Perry’s ‘Firework’ and Far East Movement’s ‘Like a G6’ both returned to the Top 10, with Rihanna climbing back to number six with ‘Only Girl (In the World)’. Take That fell one place to seven with ‘The Flood’, while Willow Smith stayed at nine with ‘Whip My Hair’.

Elsewhere, Tine Tempah’s ‘Invincible’ – featuring Kelly Rowland – climbed 17 places to number 15, while N-Dubz rose 16 spots with ‘Girls’ at number 19, and Jessie J climbed from number 34 to 22 with ‘Do It Like a Dude’.

There were new entries in the Top 40 for Cheryl Cole’s ‘The Flood’ at 26, and Chris De Burgh’s duet with brothers Ben and Jamie Hazleby at 36 with an updated version of De Burgh’s ‘Lonely Sky’.

Meanwhile, The Trashmen’s ‘Surfin’ Bird’ fell out of the Top 40 entirely after scoring a number three hit last week.

The top ten in full:
1. (1) Matt Cardle: ‘When We Collide’
2. (2) Rihanna ft. Drake: ‘What’s My Name?’
3. (4) Black Eyed Peas: ‘The Time (Dirty Bit)’
4. (-) Katy B ft. Ms. Dynamite: ‘Lights On’
5. (5) Ellie Goulding: ‘Your Song’
6. (7) Rihanna: ‘Only Girl (In the World)
7. (6) Take That: ‘The Flood’
8. (12) Katy Perry: ‘Firework’
9. (9) Willow: ‘Whip My Hair’
10. (11) Far East Movement: ‘Like a G6’

Source: Official Charts Company

Ricky Tomlinson – Christmas My Arse

Friday, December 24th, 2010

‘Tron: Legacy’ lights up UK box office

Tuesday, December 21st, 2010
Jeff Bridges in Tron Legacy

Tron: Legacy has topped the UK box office on its first weekend on release.

The Disney film, a follow-up to Jeff Bridges’ 1982 cult favourite, pulled in £1.9 million in box office receipts to end the latest Narnia film’s short reign at the top of the chart.

Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows: Part 1, now entering its second month on release, is in third place. The sequel has so far banked £44 million in the UK. The Tourist and Megamind round out the top five.

Despite the star power of Cher and Christina Aguilera, Burlesque can only manage sixth spot on its opening weekend. The musical charts ahead of two other new releases, Animals United and Fred: The Movie.

Action movie Unstoppable and comedy Due Date complete the top ten.

The UK box office top ten in full:
1. (-) Tron: Legacy – £1,970,692
2. (1) The Chronicles Of Narnia: The Voyage Of The Dawn Treader – £1,231,568
3. (2) Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows: Part 1 – £875,898
4. (3) The Tourist – £721,397
5. (4) Megamind – £574,205
6. (-) Burlesque – £425,931
7. (-) Animals United – £307,409
8. (-) Fred: The Movie – £257,133
9. (5) Unstoppable – £158,869
10. (6) Due Date – £75,953

Matt Cardle crowned 2010 Christmas No. 1

Sunday, December 19th, 2010
Matt Cardle 'When We Collide'

X Factor star Matt Cardle has been declared as this year’s Christmas number one with his winner’s single ‘When We Collide’.

The ex-painter and decorator sold a total of 439,000 copies in the six days since his victory on the ITV talent show, putting him ahead of this week’s runner-up Rihanna and ‘What’s My Name?’ by more than 300,000 copies.

Cardle – who has also secured the fastest-selling non-charity single of the year – stated: “I can’t believe it, as if winning wasn’t enough. I honestly didn’t think I’d even make it on to the live shows, let alone win and now be the Christmas number one. I can’t even begin to describe how it feels. It’s nuts, crackers and crazy.

“To think that many people have supported me and bought the record is absolutely mindblowing. Thank you so much to everyone. I’m going to have one or two beers to celebrate!”

In third place this week is 1963 classic ‘Surfin’ Bird’ by The Trashmen, which clocked up just under 70,000 sales following a Facebook campaign to avoid having an X Factor star as the Christmas number one for the fifth time in six years.

The new arrivals and risers at the peak of the chart send previous runner-up Willow Smith and ‘Whip My Hair’ tumbling down the rankings to nine, just a few places behind a massive climber in the shape of Take That’s ‘The Flood’, at six from last week’s 15.

Although Facebook users failed to dictate this year’s Christmas number one, as they did in 2009 with Rage Against The Machine and ‘Killing In The Name Of’, several other singles endorsed on the site have made a substantial impact on 2010’s Yuletide chart. The most successful of these alternative tracks are Biffy Clyro’s original version of Cardle’s cover – entitled ‘Many Of Horror’ – at eight, and Cage Against The Machine’s silent 1952 piece ‘4:33’ at 21.

Meanwhile, several other X Factor-related artists slide out of the top ten for the first time, namely last year’s runner-up Olly Murs with ‘Thinking Of Me’ at 14, the 2010 finalists and their charity single ‘Heroes’ at 15 and guest judge Nicole Scherzinger’s ‘Poison’, which drops eight places to 18.

By contrast, festive classic ‘Fairytale Of New York’ by The Pogues and the late Kirsty MacColl glides to 19 from last week’s 26. The 1987 tune has appeared on the chart during December every year since 2005 and peaked at 12 last Christmas.

The top ten in full:
1. (-) Matt Cardle: ‘When We Collide’
2. (4) Rihanna ft. Drake: ‘What’s My Name?’
3. (-) The Trashmen: ‘Surfin’ Bird’
4. (1) Black Eyed Peas: ‘The Time (Dirty Bit)’
5. (3) Ellie Goulding: ‘Your Song’
6. (15) Take That: ‘The Flood’
7. (5) Rihanna: ‘Only Girl (In The World)’
8. (-) Biffy Clyro: ‘Many Of Horror’
9. (2) Willow Smith: ‘Whip My Hair’
10. (11) Michael Jackson ft. Akon: ‘Hold My Hand’

Source: Official Charts Company

Shyamalan unaware of “bender” slang use

Thursday, December 16th, 2010
M. Night Shyamalan

M. Night Shyamalan has admitted that he was unaware of how the term “bender” is used as slang in the UK.

Discussing the use of the term in The Last Airbender, Shyamalan told Metro that he did not consider changing the title.

When it was suggested that ‘some immature cinema-goers found dialogue such as, “look out he’s a bender” hilarious’, the director said: “I thought you guys used bender as a term for getting drunk, like, ‘I’m going on a bender’.

“I wasn’t aware of that term. It was just the title of the cartoon show.”

He added: “Sometimes the title gets changed for particular territories. The title of my film The Happening was changed in some countries because happening meant party.”

‘Narnia’ topples ‘Potter’ at UK box office

Wednesday, December 15th, 2010
The Chronicles of Narnia: Voyage Of The Dawn Treader

The Chronicles Of Narnia: The Voyage Of The Dawn Treader has ended Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows: Part 1‘s three-week stint at the UK box office summit.

The fantasy film, starring Ben Barnes, Liam Neeson and Skandar Keynes, makes £2.4 million on its first weekend on release to nudge Deathly Hallows into second place. Johnny Depp and Angelina Jolie’s The Tourist lands at number three, while Megamind and Unstoppable round out the top five.

Elsewhere, Sofia Coppola’s latest film Somewhere opens in eighth spot ahead of Bollywood production No Problem.

Narnia and Potter will face further competition for chart supremacy next week when Tron: Legacy and Christina Aguilera’s Burlesque roll out in cinemas.

The UK box office top ten in full:
1. (-) The Chronicles Of Narnia: The Voyage Of The Dawn Treader – £2,460,118
2. (1) Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows: Part 1 – £1,905,368
3. (-) The Tourist – £1,341,143
4. (2) Megamind – £1,205,320
5. (3) Unstoppable – £406,882
6. (4) Due Date – £192,311
7. (5) Monsters – £154,743
8. (-) Somewhere – £125,581
9. (-) No Problem – £114,652
10. (6) The American – £109,084