BRIT Awards announce Rising Star shortlist for 2024

Olly Alexander has been announced as the UK’s Eurovision entry for 2024.The Years & Years singer will represent the country next year in Malmö, Sweden, the hometown of this year’s winner Loreen. He will succeed the UK’s previous contestant Mae Muller, who finished second to last in the 2023 competition.On socials, Alexander said it was “very difficult to keep quiet”, but that he has “wanted to do this for a long time.”“It feels like the right moment to start releasing music under my own name”, he added.

Noel Gallagher has announced an intimate show in Portsmouth for next year – you can find all the details below.The former Oasis musician will take to the stage with his High Flying Birds at the 2,500-capacity Guildhall venue in the Hampshire port city on Wednesday, March 20. He’ll be joined by some yet-to-be-confirmed “special guests”.Tickets are due to go on general sale at 9am GMT tomorrow (December 15) – you’ll be able to buy yours here.Check out the official gig poster in the announcement post here:A post shared by Noel Gallagher’s HFB (@themightyi)The news comes ahead of Gallagher kicking off his 2023 UK arena tour tonight (December 14) at the OVO Arena Wembley in London.

The Last Dinner Party have hit out at “lads” for posting “weird shit” on Twitter/X in a new post on the social media platform.The band – comprised of Abigail Morris, Lizzie Mayland, Emily Roberts, Georgia Davies and Aurora Nishevci – shared their views on the site yesterday (December 11) calling out the users who posted inappropriate content about them.They wrote: “Need lads on here to know we see the weird shit you post about us and are highly unimpressed,” they wrote, before adding: “have some fucking decorum.”You can see the tweet here:Need lads on here to know we see the weird shit you post about us and are highly unimpressed! Have some fucking decorum— The Last Dinner Party (@lastdinnerparty) December 11, 2023The band were recently announced as the winners of the prestigious BRITs Rising Star award supported by BBC Radio 1.The Rising Star prize recognises British artists who had not achieved a top 20 album, or more than one top 20 single by October 31 of this year. It is voted by an industry-wide panel.

Oti Mabuse has given a glimpse inside her incredible townhouse as she prepares to welcome her first child with husband Marius Iepure. The former Strictly Come Dancing star, 33, took to Instagram in August to reveal the exciting news that they were expecting their first baby.

mental health services over the past two years.The charity, which supports professional musicians in the UK, has warned of a growing mental health crisis in the industry, reporting a 200 per cent increase in people engaging with their services.Help Musicians has a dedicated mental health service called Music Minds Matter, a free, 24/7 service which was launched last year and allows musicians access to counsellors who offer emotional support, advice and information.According to the charity, the burgeoning mental health crisis is connected to financial issues, compounded by the COVID-19 pandemic which temporarily brought touring to a halt.“Music is a serious career,” head of Help Musicians Joe Hastings told the BBC. “People creating music work incredibly hard and have very difficult schedules.“It’s a very competitive industry, lots of late nights and time away from home.”He added: “People need to be respected for their abilities and skills, which needs to be reflected in what they earn and the level of skill involved.”One Bristol-based performer said the charity paid for 10 sessions of therapy.

Cinema professionals from across Europe are gathered in Berlin this evening for the 36th European Film Awards.

Billy Joel has announced details of a huge upcoming gig in Cardiff – his only show in Europe set for 2024. Find ticket details below.Announced today (December 8), the show will mark the first time that the iconic singer, songwriter and pianist has performed in the Welsh city, and is set to be the only show he will play in the UK and Europe next year.Taking place on August 9, the mammoth live show will see the Piano Man take to the stage at the Principality Stadium and feature support from Chris Isaak.It also marks Joel’s first gig in the UK since his slot at the 2023 edition of the BST Hyde Park concert series in London.

The Last Dinner Party have been announced as the winners of the prestigious BRITs Rising Star award supported by BBC Radio 1.The band – comprised of Abigail Morris, Lizzie Mayland, Emily Roberts, Georgia Davies and Aurora Nishevci – were revealed as the winner of the award by Clara Amfo on her BBC Radio 1 Future Sounds show.The Rising Star prize recognises British artists who had not achieved a top 20 album, or more than one top 20 single by October 31 of this year. It is voted by an industry-wide panel.

The Killers have announced a handful of extra dates and their opening support act for their ‘Rebel Diamonds‘ greatest hits UK and Ireland arena tour.Ahead of the release of their ‘best of’ album, ‘Rebel Diamonds’, The Killers have added four extra dates in Dublin, Manchester, Glasgow and London to their celebratory 2024 tour due to exceptional demand during early ticket pre-sales.Brandon Flowers and Co. have also shared that the Glaswegian band Travis will be serving as opening support for the tour.The ‘Rebel Diamonds’ tour will mark the first time The Killers play arena shows in the UK since 2017’s ‘Wonderful Wonderful’ tour, and will see their return after the band’s most recent stadium tour, which saw them play to 400,000 fans at sold-out shows, and their acclaimed headline appearances at Reading & Leeds 2022.Tickets for the tour are set to go on sale tomorrow, December 8 at 9:30am local time.

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor London-based international documentary sales and production outfit Dogwoof has boarded world sales for Shiori Ito’s feature documentary, “Black Box Diaries,” which will receive its world premiere in the World Cinema Documentary Competition at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival. The film follows director and journalist Ito’s courageous investigation of her own sexual assault in an improbable attempt to prosecute her high-profile offender.

Electric Castle has announced the first acts for its 2024 festival – check out the line-up so far below.The event is set to host its 10th anniversary edition at Bánffy Castle in Transylvania, Romania between July 17-21. Tickets are on general sale now – you can buy yours here.Today (December 6), it’s been confirmed that Massive Attack, Bring Me The Horizon and Queens Of The Stone Age will headline Electric Castle next summer.They’re joined on the bill by Chase & Status (live), Khruangbin, Sleaford Mods, Bonobo (DJ set), Nina Kraviz, Eats Everything, Jayda G and more.

YouTube has revealed the UK’s top 10 most-watched music videos of 2023.Earning the Number One spot on the annual list is Miley Cyrus‘ Grammy-nominated track ‘Flowers’. The video has 644 million views.‘Flowers’ debuted at Number One on the UK Singles chart as well as the Billboard Hot 100, becoming Cyrus’ second Number One song toping the chart since 2013’s ‘Wrecking Ball’. It also debuted at number one on the Billboard Global 200 chart and stayed on top for thirteen non-consecutive weeks.The song was also the highest-earning song on Spotify in 2023.Following ‘Flowers’ is Central Cee and Dave’s hit ‘Sprinter’.

Elbow have announced the support act for their UK arena tour next year.The Mercury-winning Manchester indie veterans will be hitting the road for a run of arena dates next May, while also promising the follow-up to their 2021 album ‘Flying Dream 1’.Opening for them will be The WAEVE, the duo made up of Blur‘s Graham Coxon and former Pipettes member-turned-Mark Ronson collaborator and singer-songwriter Rose Elinor Dougall.The WAEVE first emerged as a new project last year with the track ‘Something Pretty‘, before playing a debut London show and appearing at The Great Escape. They released their debut album earlier this year.You can see the full list of tour dates below and buy your tickets here.MAY 2024Tuesday 7 – Brighton CentreThursday 9 – London’s The O2Friday 10 – Birmingham Resorts World ArenaSaturday 11 – Glasgow’s OVO HydroSunday 12 – Leeds First Direct ArenaTuesday 14 – Manchester Co-op LiveWednesday 15 – Nottingham Motorpoint ArenaIn October, frontman Guy Garvey told NME what to expect from the “big fat record,” which he promised to have “some dirt under its fingernails for sure”.“It deals with some pretty inky stuff,” he said of the lyrics on the upcoming 10th album.

Fatboy Slim and Snow Patrol will be co-headlining the Friday night of the festival, with Jamie T and Biffy Clyro topping the bill on the Saturday and Sunday, respectively.Fatboy Slim’s appearance at the festival had previously been teased with a sign that had appeared on the Southsea seafront, which read ‘Praise You’ in reference to his hit of the same name.They will be joined by acts including Wet Leg, Becky Hill, Pixies, Courteeners, IDLES, Jess Glynne, Arlo Parks, Louis Tomlinson and Natasha Bedingfield.Also set to perform are Soft Play, the Lightning Seeds, Maximo Park, The Snuts, Yard Act, The Lottery Winners, The Pigeon Detectives, Holly Humberstone, The Amazons, The Lathums, Red Rum Club, Brooke Combe, Personal Trainer, Sea Power, Peace, The Murder Capital, Do Nothing and more.Early bird weekend camping tickets are now on sale from £180, while day tickets are priced at £65 each – you can buy yours here.‘‘This is the first year we’ve released all our headliners at once and we’re thrilled to be able to announce the acts after months of planning,” Victorious’ lead booker Andy Marsh said in a press release. “Victorious 2024 is going to be bigger than ever and it’s not just the headliners people need to look out for, we have booked hundreds of acts across the weekend spanning multiple genres.

Amber Liu, a member of K-pop girl group f(x), has announced new dates for her upcoming 2024 ‘No More Sad Songs’ world tour.Today (December 5), Amber Liu revealed the new Asia, Australia and New Zealand legs of her upcoming 2024 tour. It’ll feature four shows in Asia – in Japan, Malaysia, Hong Kong and Singapore – alongside two Aussie concerts and one New Zealand performance in February and March.In addition, the f(x) singer also announced that indie pop singer-songwriter Marielle Kraft will join her on the North American leg of the tour, which features eight shows across January 2024.

Ellie Goulding has announced an orchestral show at London’s Royal Albert Hall with the Royal Philharmonic Concert Orchestra. The multi-platinum singer will take over the Royal Albert Hall with the orchestra on April 11, 2024, to perform classical rearrangements of tracks from her back catalogue, including cuts from her latest album, ‘Higher Than Heaven’, which she released in April.

Potter Payper has announced that he will tour the UK and Europe next year in support of his debut album ‘Real Back In Style’. See full dates and tickets below.The Barking-raised star announced on his Instagram that he will be going on a 14-stop tour next year, promising fans that the shows are “going to be a crazy experience like you’ve never seen before.”It will start in Dublin on February 25 before hitting cities such as Birmingham, Manchester and his hometown of London.

Sky Arts have revealed the UK’s favourite guitar riff in a brand new three part documentary series, titled, Greatest Guitar Riffs, which aired on November 24.A poll of 2000 music fans votes was carried out to find out the nation’s favourite riff, and included in the top 40 were Sam Fender’s ‘Seventeen Going Under’, Arctic Moneys’ ‘Do I Wanna Know’ and Pharrell William’s ‘Happy’.But the top choice was revealed as ‘Sweet Child O’ Mine’ by Guns N’ Roses. The track, which was released in June 1988, quickly topped the US Billboard Hot 100 chart, becoming the rock band’s only US Number One single.It came in at number 88th on Rolling Stone’s The 500 Greatest Songs Of All Time list in 2021, and is clearly still a favourite of the UK public.‘Purple Rain’ by Prince was the runner-up, with ‘Sultans Of Swing’ by British rock band, Dire Straits, coming in at third place.Director of Sky Arts, Phil Edgar-Jones, spoke on the series saying: “Whether its’ the late, great Jimi Hendrix, the stalwarts such as Iron Maiden and Led Zeppelin, or the new artists coming through, rock n’roll will never die.”“There’s new talent coming through constantly.

Jordan Banjo and his wife Naomi have unveiled their stunning Christmas home makeover, with a Grinch-themed sustainable door display that they hope will "spread festive joy". The couple might have gone for Grinch decorations for their three children, but they proved there is nothing Grinch-like about their Christmas spirit as they cheered up their fans with a view of their new festive door display.

Girls Aloud fans have another chance to get their hands on tickets for the band's highly-anticipated reunion tour today (Friday December 1).