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P. DIDDY STAR STRUCK BY BONO IN FRANCE

By Andrea Clarke

RAP star P. Diddy was stopped in his tracks in St Tropez this week by Irish rocker Bono.
The music mogul, who’s hits include I’ll Be mIssing You and Come To Me, was star stuck when he met the U2 frontman in a hot nightspot in the French resort.
Diddy, real name Sean Combs, saw Bono, who was partying with Hollywood actress Penelope Cruz, and immediately introduced himself.
A clubber said: "Diddy came over to their table and asked Penelope to take his picture with Bono.
“She ended up taking about five because Diddy kept asking her to take another one until he got one he liked”.
The hip-hop star is sailing in the French Riviera with rapper Dr. Dre after splitting from long-term girlfriend Kim Porter.

www.myspace.com/diddy

www.myspace.com/u2

Brian to play Strabane

By Ryan Kennedy
Photo by Fabrizio Belluschi

BELFAST singer Brian Kennedy has been announced as just one of the major acts to play the Alley Arts and Conference Centre, Strabane.
The award winning arts centre, supported by RE/MAX will play host to the likes of singer Dominic Kirwin and comedian Colin Murphy as well as the Belfast-born Kennedy, who will be playing as part of his five month UK tour.
Chairman of the Strabane Borough Council Gerard Foley has welcomed the new season of entertainment as a major pull for a UK-wide audience to the Strabane area.
He said: “The award-winning theatre, art gallery and tourism information centre has made an incredible impact on the Tyrone and Donegal area since it opened its doors in March, introducing a whole new audience to performing and visual art, in addition to welcoming visitors from across the UK, Ireland and overseas to Strabane.”
The Alley Theatre is sponsored by a number of local businesses, which has helped local artists and art projects to work alongside the world-renowned names the centre has come to attract.
Gerard Foley said: “Strabane District Council is delighted to hear we will have visiting performers and artists including Brian Kennedy, Neil Delamere, Belfast Circus, Young-Cohoon Park, Ballet Ireland, The Panto Company with Robinson Crusoe, Colin Murphy and Nuala McKeever this autumn.
“We are extremely happy to see the venue being used to its maximum capacity by local and national businesses, community groups, and charities.”
Further information on the new autumn line-up can be found at

www.strabanedc.org.uk/events , or by contacting the Box Office on 028 71 384 444.

Andrea Corr: "I don't download"

By Tina Calder
Photo by Fabrizio Belluschi

SEXY singer Andrea Corr has revealed she hates the downloading culture.
And the former lead singer of The Corrs says her hate is specifically of the iPod.
The pint-sized songstress says she hates the MP3 generation and feels the iPod “ruins” music.
She said: “I have an iPod but I barely use it, I can’t stand the sound quality of them”.
Andrea is currently promoting her debut solo album Ten Feet High and believes MP3 players like the iPod are damaging artists’ reputations.
She added: "I don't download - I can't get my iPod to get the volume the way I'd like it and when you're a musician you spend so much time making a quality record and it gets compressed to sound like it does on an iPod.
“There's nothing like the physicality of going out and buying an album."

www.myspace.com/andreacorrofficial

FORMER BOYZONE STAR TAKES ROLE IN MUSICAL AND ENDS RUMOURS OF POSSIBLE REUNION IN 2007

EXCLUSIVE
By Tina Calder

FORMER Boyzone star Stephen Gately has finally put rest to rumours that the Irish pop band will reform this year.
The singer was in Sunderland this week to promote his new role in Godspell at the Empire Theatre in the area.
Stephen will play the role of Jesus in the hit musical, which opens in October, and says he’s looking forward to opening night.
He said: “It’s a new production of the musical and I’m really please to be involved.
“Godspell has some amazing songs in it and it’s a great high energy production which is what I like about it.
“I’m playing Jesus, I’m moving up in the world – I’ve already played Joseph so I see this as a kind of step up”.
And while promoting the forthcoming production Stephen also said he was “incredibly pleased” to be involved.
He added that stage production was very different from touring with Boyzone but that both career paths had their benefits.
“I love to portray different characters on stage and with musicals I get both singing and acting which I love.
“It’s very different to being in a pop band, you have to project more, breathe right and generally take much better care of your voice – so you can’t go partying every night after gigs”.
But despite rumours that Boyzone had postponed their reunion tour following the announcement that the Spice Girls are returning to the stage, Stephen was keeping tight-lipped about the uncertain future of the band.
He said: “Nothing has been signed or agreed yet, if a reunion is right we will wait until the time is right to do it, until then I’m going to carry on working on other projects”.

www.stephengately.co.uk

NADINE COYLE & GIRLS ALOUD HAVE DECIDED TO GROW UP FOR NEXT ALBUM

By Tina Calder
Photo by Fabrizio Belluschi

DERRY popstar Nadine Coyle is to join her bandmates in an attempt to “grow up”.
While Girls Aloud are still riding high on the success of achieving 15 top ten singles and two number one’s since their formation in December 2002, Nadine and the ‘girls’ have decided to give their fans more mature music.
According to Nadine’s bandmate Kimberley Walsh the band are “pursuing an older sound” for their forthcoming album.
The new record will be their fourth studio offering since Sound Of The Underground went to number 2 in January 2003, followed by What Will The Neighbours Say in December 2004 and Chemistry in December 2005.
Kimberley added the group, also consisting of Sarah Harding, Nicola Roberts and Cheryl Tweedy, will work exclusively with long-term collaborators Brian Higgins and Xenomania - the production team behind 14 of their 15 hit singles.
"It should be out before Christmas. I'm not sure what the date is - it depends what time it gets finished. We're still working on it at the minute” she said, adding: "It's kind of like it's still Girls Aloud, but obviously progressed.
“We're obviously getting older and we always, you know, like to try and push things forward. It's Girls Aloud, but older."
And according to bandmate Nicola they will be getting involved in all aspects of the production.
She said: "We're really excited to get back in (the studio) writing and singing and everything. It's really good."
The band have even joked that they should maybe change their name to Women Aloud to coincide with the change.

www.girlsaloud.co.uk

©INK WELL PEOPLE

WESTLIFE Vs SPICE GIRLS – THE BATTLE IS BACK!

By Tina Calder - Photo by Fabrizio Belluschi

IT’S a battle of girl-power against the extreme might of Irish boyband Westlife.
According to insiders in the Westlife camp the band plan to release their new album on the same day as the Spice Girls.
It will be the Spice Girls’ first release since Forever in November 2000 when Shane Filan, Nicky Byrne, Kian Egan, Mark Feehil and Brian McFadden who was still in the band at the time stole the number one spot with their album Coast To Coast.
Geri Halliwell, Victoria Beckham, Emma Bunton, Mel B and Mel C announced their long anticipated come-back earlier this month but are said to “devastated” that Westlife could steal their thunder once more.
A source close to Westlife said: “The boys have pencilled in a release date for later this year but will move it depending on what the girls do.
"They think it will be a good marketing ploy to recreate the great battle of 2000 and are sure they will get the Number One spot."
Westlife are currently on holiday but will be returning early next month to work on new material.
A spokesman for the band added: “The Westlife boys will be heading into the studio in the next few weeks to begin working on their new album”.

www.myspace.com/westlife

www.thespicegirls.com