Throng

The Hollywood Reporter is claiming sources have just confirmed that Ashton Kutcher will be replacing Charlie Sheen on Two and a Half Men.

The actor is the latest to be linked to the role in the media but the HR is claiming Kutcher is the man who will be joining the sitcom.

Kutcher is reportedly putting the final touches on a deal that is all but signed.

Source: Hollywood Reporter

Lily Allen has ruled herself out of any future X Factor discussions, sayings he has no intention of judging on the series.

Allen joked that unless Simon Cowell “forces” her to do it, she will not take part.

The singer tweeted her response to questions about being a judge: “No, I’m not, I’m really, really not.”

When pressed further she joked:  ”Not unless Simon Cowell becomes an evil dictator and forces me to do it against my will or threatens to hang, draw and quarter me, which is actually not too far beyond the realms of possibility. So maybe.”

Allen was approached earlier this year to be a judge on the show and held talks with producers.

Source: Digital Spy

Over 100,000 people have applied for Simon Cowell’s new gameshow Red or Black.

Launched officially last week, the ITV series asked for contestants to take part for a chance to win the £1 million cash prize.

Ant & Dec will take up hosting duties on the new show, which will premiere on ITV1 later in the year.

“We can’t wait to get started on Red or Black? and to get the whole country involved, it’s guaranteed to be real edge of your seat stuff,” Ant says. “Seven people could become millionaires in front of our eyes, purely by luck”.

Dec adds: “It’s an exciting mix of spectacular events, thrilling challenges and millions of pounds. No skill, no talent, just luck, all you have to do is go to www.itv.com and enter. It’s going to be like nothing you’ve ever seen before”.

Source: Unrealitytv

BBC Two and BBC Four today announce a series of celebratory and investigative music programming for May and June. Over the two months, the channels will highlight Queen, Bob Dylan and Carlos Santana, delve into the world of Easy Listening and explore songwriting with a three-part mini-series.

Jan Younghusband, TV Commissioning Editor, BBC Music and Events, says: “BBC Two and BBC Four continue to take the viewer inside the world of great musicians and their music, with unique access documentaries and performance. With previously unseen footage of Freddie Mercury and Queen, a dedicated Dylan programme and a unique new interview with Carlos Santana, as well as Guy Chambers letting us into his studio to see how great songs are made, all these films go behind the scenes into the real world of music-making.”

BBC Two explores the process of songwriting in new three-part series, Secrets Of The Pop Song, which follows the pen to paper to first public performance. Each episode sees songwriter, producer and musician Guy Chambers, collaborating with an artist to write a new song each week – a ballad, an anthem and a breakthrough single, with a variety of celebrated musical contributors divulging the secrets of the trade along the way.

Acclaimed singer-songwriter Rufus Wainwright joins Guy to write a ballad, The Noisettes link up with him in the studio for the anthem programme and music producer Mark Ronson works alongside him to create a breakthrough single. The series hears from songwriting big-hitters throughout, including Sting, Brian May, Boy George, Neil Tennant, Jessie J and Diane Warren.

In 1971 four university students got together to form the band Queen and 40 years later, they have released 26 albums and sold over 300 million records worldwide. BBC Two presents an in-depth two-part documentary, A Certain Band Called Queen.

The popularity of Freddie Mercury, Brian May, Roger Taylor and John Deacon is at an all time high and this BBC Two documentary explores the remarkable story of these individuals, looking into the early struggles, huge obstacles, success, arguments, breakups, triumph, tragedy and an enduring legacy – all against a backdrop of brilliant music and stunning live performances. With an extensive archive of unseen footage, the documentary is the band’s story in their own words – a compelling journey told with intelligence, wit, plenty of humour and painful honesty.

BBC Four highlights the legendary talents of Carlos Santana with The Santana Story: Angels And Demons. The great Mexican-American guitarist and songwriter reveals his turbulent life story with astonishing intimacy and insight, accompanied by rare and unseen archive performances of many of his best-known tunes.

Spanning from his formative years in Mexico through to his successful Supernatural album of the late Nineties, the documentary explores the days of The Santana Band, the Woodstock Festival and his second rise to fame. Featuring contributions from Clive Davis and John McLaughlin, among others, the honest and sincere programme also reveals the pain of sexual abuse that the artist experienced before leaving his family and the experience and emotions during extensive touring.

BBC Four also celebrates The Joy Of Easy Listening with a feature-length programme and a series of concerts and documentaries dedicated to the genre.

The feature-length film looks at easy listening’s architects and practitioners; its dangers and delights; and the mark it has left on modern life, from its emergence in the Fifties to its heyday in the Sixties, through its survival in the Seventies and Eighties and its revival in the Nineties and beyond.

With contributions from Richard Carpenter, Herb Alpert, Engelbert Humperdinck this documentary traces the hidden history of a music that has reflected society every bit as much as pop and rock – just in a more relaxed way.

BBC Four also shines the spotlight on legendary singer-songwriter Bob Dylan from a different perspective, with Tangled Up With Dylan: The Ballad Of AJ Weberman.

The feature-length documentary follows the life, times and crimes of the notorious Bob Dylan obsessive and Garbology inventor, AJ Weberman. It’s an irreverent and witty exploration into one man’s obsessions, a bohemian life lived on the New York fringes and a uniquely twisted take on the American dream.

At times hilarious, at other times disturbing, this film is not only a great companion piece to Scorsese’s No Direction Home, but also an interesting observation on our unbalanced desires to know more about celebrities and how far we are willing to go to get that information or even become a part of their lives.

Taggart has been axed by ITV after 28 years on the screen.

The Scottish crime series has been cancelled by the network after ratings began to slip for the last season.

An ITV spokesperson has confirmed that the money freed up from Taggart will be spent on new drama for the network.

“Since it was first broadcast in 1983, Taggart has been one of ITV’s most enduring dramas,” ITV said. “But, reflecting the demands of our audience and as part of the ongoing creative renewal of the ITV1 schedule, our priority is to invest in new and original drama on the channel.”

However, Taggart could still be revived should the production be picked up by another channel.

The series still rates well in Scotland for STV and chief executive Rob Woodward confident about its future.

 ”Now ITV has come to a landing, it’s up to us to decide how to take it forward. The latest series sold extremely well internationally, including in new territories like France and Germany. We’re talking to other broadcasters and reviewing what the options are.”

Source: Digital Spy

Bookmakers have installed Razy Gogonea and Ronan Parke as the current favourites to take out the 2011 Britain’s Got Talent title.

Paddy Power has 12-year-old Parke as 2/1 favourite for the ITV series after he stunned judges Amanda Walsh, Michael McIntyre and Louis Walsh at the auditions.

Dancer Razy Gogonea is also tipped for success at odds of 7/2.

Others who are proving popular with punters include dancer Michael Moral at 8/1, ballet dancer James Hobley at 10/1 and singer Michael Collings at 11/1.

Source: Digital Spy

Jedward have scored a spot in the finals of Eurovision.

The former X Factor duo will represent Ireland in the competition finals this weekend in Dusseldorf.

Jedward and Ireland were among ten nations to book a spot in the final through tonight’s second semi-final, with the others being: Estonia, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Austria, Ukraine, Moldova, Sweden, Slovenia, Romania and Denmark.

 In the first semi-final, Russia, Georgia, Switzerland, Finland, Serbia, Hungary, Iceland, Lithuania, Azerbaijan and Greece all booked their spots.

The United Kingdom, Germany, Italy, France and Spain have all automatically qualified for the competition.

The Eurovision final airs live from 8pm Saturday on BBC One.

Source: Digital Spy

ITV have announced the line-up for this year’s Popstar to Operastar, and the contestants are…

Andy Bell, Cheryl Baker, Claire Richards, Jocelyn Brown, Joe McElderry, Joe Washbourn, Midge Ure, Melody Thornton.

Myleene Klass and Alan Titchmarsh will return to host the show, but the judging panel is yet to be confirmed.

You can click here to visit ITV’s Popstar to Operastar site.

What’s On TV have been talking to Suranne Jones about her starring role as Idris in Doctor Who.

We’ll see Suranne guest starring in ‘The Doctor’s Wife’ on Saturday, 14 May, and the lady herself reckons she looks “like a crazy bag lady” in the episode!

Here’s Suranne’s chat with WOTV in full…

What has filming been like?

“Karen and Matt and Arthur are completely adorable and as a visitor to that world it has just been brilliant because they made me feel at home. The three of them are just so into it and they are such good friends. Karen, in particular, is really funny and very sweet, everyone adores her and I think she is a real talent.” How would you describe Idris?

“I can’t reveal too much, but she is dirty and like a crazy bag lady. She lives in this strange junkyard place with people called Auntie and Uncle, who are made up of other bodies put together. Idris still has her own body, but maybe if she had been hanging around there a bit longer she might have had someone else’s arm or leg too.”

How does the Doctor react to her?

“She bites him. I can’t tell you where, but not on the bum! I think they get on all right, though. She is intriguing to him for lots of reasons because of things she says and the way that she is acting. When you meet her she is about to die and then she doesn’t, she just goes really bonkers instead. She says lots of things that she doesn’t understand and she doesn’t really know why she is saying them, so she is not quite making sense to herself let alone anyone else.” Was that hard to do?

“Yes, because when it all makes sense it is more easy to learn, but this script had to be fragmented and disjointed so it was a lot of effort to keep my mind focused on all that. Doctor Who people always say lots of things that are really hard to say though and what was lovely was listening to Matt and Karen and Arthur trying to figure out what their lines meant. I said, ‘Seriously, you don’t know?’ and they said, ‘No, we haven’t got a clue what it means.’”

Fantasy writer Neil Gaiman wrote this episode. How did that feel?

“I knew Stardust and Beowulf, but I didn’t know that people in the Who world were so excited about him. The script is one of the best I have read in probably the last four years; it is essentially a children’s television programme and sci-fi, but it has real emotion in it and beautiful layering.”

Did you get to see the TARDIS?

“Yes, and it was brilliant. There are so many Whovians who know everything about that world and I am completely baffled, but filming in the TARDIS was really exciting and the child in you just appears out of nowhere. We were filming in a quarry and I suddenly said, ‘Oh my God there it is’. Then Matt said, ‘Yeah, I know – cool eh?’ To him it’s like his car.”

Did you get to do any stunts?

“Well, I was told I was good at ‘shaky shaky’ acting – whatever that is – but Matt was impressed. Karen apparently is good at ‘windy windy’ acting – there is lots of wind involved in Doctor Who when they put a wind machine on you. I think you have got to be fearless with it, because if it is green screen and you can’t actually see what you are acting with, you can’t do it half-heartedly because it just looks like a bit wet.”

Would you like to return to Doctor Who?

“When I left I made sure they took lots of pictures of me around set to put up in make-up and I said to Matt, ‘Can you just keep mentioning that I would like to come back at some point?’ I don’t think I can, but who knows? You can do anything in Doctor Who and if there was a chance to come back in the future I would love to.”

How have your family and friends reacted to you being in Doctor Who?

“When I told them I was on it, I got text after text after text with lists of kids’ names to get autographs. I was so embarrassed and I went to Matt and Karen and said, ‘I’m really sorry,’ but they gave me this thick envelope back with them all signed so I am a very popular auntie and godmother. That has never happened before though except with David Tennant when I did Single Father, but it’s the Doctor Who thing again.”

What’s next?

“I am in ITV1’s new crime drama Scott & Bailey later this month with Lesley Sharp and it is like Cagney and Lacey in Manchester. It is based around a murder team and I did police training, which was brilliant, and worked with a lady who was on the murder squad in Manchester as part of my research.”

Claudia Winkleman

King of… is a fresh and feisty Channel 4 comedy talk show hosted by Claudia Winkleman – everything from musicals to newsreaders, from supermodels to household pets, from artists to takeaways will be deliberated and debated to find the definitive, the top, the crème de la crème – in short, the king of just about everything.

And where better to find the wittiest of chat than in the twittersphere. On air, Claudia will encourage viewers on Twitter, to follow @C4Kingof and join in and continue discussing the topics by using the #kingof hashtag. @C4Kingof will then retweet the sharpest, silliest or most entertaining comments, based on the show’s topics.

At the end of the show just one ubër-funny tweeter will then be pronounced the King Of Tweets. That is until a new King Of is crowned next week.

Multi-platform Commissioner for Entertainment, Jody Smith said: “Twitter can be mesmerising in the way funny and feisty chat unfolds and is perfectly matched for Claudia’s new style of show. We want to recognise this genius and reward the best of the best by encouraging everyone to follow them.”

King Of…is commissioned by Entertainment Commissioning Editor, Darren Smith and executive produced by Kenton Allen for Big Talk and Jeremy Salsby for Salt Beef.

The series producer is Ruth Wallace (Mock The Week) and the Producers are Chris Little (League of Their Own) and Kate Staples (Would I Lie To You.)

Digital strategy agency, Holler were commissioned to conceive and run the King Of…. multi-platform idea.

© Courtesy of Channel 4 Television

by entertainmentnews