Are you ready for the long awaited BAFTA-winning British teen drama?

Well thankfully the wait is over, Skins is back for a fifth series with a clean slate of an all new cast. Famous for the sex, drugs and rock and roll Skins returns to our screens this week, Thu 27 Jan, 10PM on E4.

As we all know Skins follows a group of teenagers on their journey through sixth form. This third generation of Skins includes the characters Grace, Matty, Franky, Mini, Nick, Rich, Liv and Alo.  The characters are played by Dakota Blue Richards, Alexander Arnold, Sean Teale, Sebastian De Souza, Will Merrick, Laya Lewis, Freya Mavor, and Jessica Sula, five of which were chosen from a group of seven thousand hopefuls at last year’s open auditions.

Other than the controversial plot lines Skins brings the viewers cutting edge fashion all put together by one inspiring stylist Edward K Gibbon. Check out how he creates his diverse looks at the links below:

http://www.e4.com/skins/style/series5/style-intro.html

http://www.e4.com/skins/style/edwards-edge.html

Missing the old cast? Well other than the television series Skins have revealed on the E4 website that there will be a film which is currently in pre-production as we speak. The film will be based on the second generation of Skins but the first and third generation will make appearances.

If you can’t get enough of skins why not check out the Skins Tour with artist such as Mona, Morning Parade, Pulled Apart by Horses and The Wombats, you’d be crazy to miss out. To find out more check out the official website below:

http://skinstour.fatsoma.com/home.php

WORDS: Laura McPherson

Excited, as I am sure all her fans are, Kylie has already started working on various concepts of the show, she says “The reaction to ‘Aphrodite’ has been absolutely incredible and has inspired me and my creative team to develop a new show that will take all of us on a euphoric journey of joy, excitement and glamour. I can’t wait to get on the road and see all my fans in 2011.” Plus as special thanks to her fans in the UK there will be no booking fees for any tickets purchased from official outlets (listed below) for Aphrodite – Les Folies Tour 2011.

Supporting Kylie on her upcoming tour is The Ultra Girls, a four piece all singing all dancing girl band from Leeds. Lucy, Lauren, Amy and Laura are former X factor hopefuls from 2009 and made it all the way to Louis Walsh’s house. They have been the best of friends for four years now and describe themselves as sisters. The girls are taking all things girl power and transferring it into the 21^st century.  Keep your eyes opened for The Ultra Girls in the near future!

The UK Tour dates are:

FRIDAY 25-Mar-11                CARDIFF International Arena
MONDAY 28-Mar-11             GLASGOW SECC
TUESDAY 29-Mar-11            GLASGOW SECC
WEDNESDAY 30-Mar-11      GLASGOW SECC
FRIDAY 1-Apr-11                   MANCHESTER Evening News Arena
SATURDAY 2-Apr-11            MANCHESTER Evening News Arena
MONDAY 4-Apr-11                MANCHESTER Evening News Arena
TUESDAY 5-Apr-11               MANCHESTER Evening News Arena
THURSDAY 7-Apr-11            LONDON O2 Arena
FRIDAY 8-Apr-11                   LONDON O2 Arena
SATURDAY 9-Apr-11            LONDON O2 Arena
MONDAY 11-Apr-11              LONDON O2 Arena
TUESDAY 12-Apr-11             LONDON O2 Arena

You can purchase your tickets for Kylie Minogue’s latest tour through any of the websites listed below. Quick before they are all gone! :

www.artistticket.com

www.seetickets.com

www.kylie.com

Words: Laura McPherson

EOT Agent, Kate Gray, has a great rant about this year’s most talked about X Factor show yet! Read on and let us know what you think of this year’s X Factor scandals…

This seasons X Factor has been surrounded with more controversy than any previous series and Dermot’s revelations that last week’s vote was rigged is the latest scandal to hit the hugely popular ITV show.

Dermot O’Leary angered viewers when he didn’t return to Cheryl Cole after she opted out of voting for one her acts but insisted she would take the vote to deadlock after the other judges cast their votes.  As a result the vote did not go to deadlock and Treyc was knocked out the show while public hate figure Katie was saved. 1200 viewers have complained to ITV and Ofcom after Sunday night’s eviction show but a spokesperson for the X Factor claimed they have done nothing wrong as ‘There are no official rules on X Factor.’

Since there are no official rules on X Factor you have to wonder why everyone has been creating such a fuss about the decisions made this year? Both girls have been in the bottom two twice before and judging from past seasons of the show I would say this is a pretty clear indication that neither girl will win the show. There is no denying that Treyc has an amazing voice but in my opinion she doesn’t have the star quality – or press coverage –that the other contestants possess. The X Factor is essentially a singing competition but it is also a TV show, the judges have to choose their acts based not only on singing talent but also who they believe has the ability to make great TV. Katie may divide public opinion but she has also been plastered across every magazine in the country since the show started and as they say – all press is good press. It seems the contestants even realise this with Matt Cardle telling Heat magazine this week: ‘It’s just a f*****g tv show. It’s like being on Big Brother.’ It is a sad fact but it’s the truth – is there any other reason Wagner is still in the competition!?

I don’t believe the show is completely rigged however there is no question that the ‘powers that be’ in the X Factor camp rely on these scandals to ensure their viewing figures are higher than ever this year. It may be that the X Factor recognise they have more to gain by keeping Katie on the show than Treyc (have you seen Treyc on the front cover of Heat?) It does seem unfair that the show cannot be based solely on singing anymore but it is completely down to the public to decide who ends up in the bottom two and I wonder out of those 1200 people who complained to Ofcom how many actually picked up the phone and voted for Treyc? The public may be getting all up in arms about Treyc leaving the competition but in all seriousness if they cared so much they could have picked up the phone and saved her from this fate!

It seems this year that controversy surrounding the judges and contestants has overtaken what the X Factor essentially is. Is it just me or should everyone stop taking things so seriously and try to accept the X Factor for what it is – a truly entertaining show which makes those cold, depressing winter nights far more bearable!

Tom, Max, Nathan, Jay and Shiva will be coming to a town near you! The Wanted have announced their first nationwide UK tour, check out where they are playing…

March 2011
Tuesday 29th                Manchester O2 Apollo                                0844 477 7677
Wednesday 30th          Newcastle City Hall                                      0191 261 2606
April 2011
Friday 1st                      Brighton Centre                                               0844 847 1515
Saturday 2nd                Nottingham Royal Concert Hall              0115 989 5555
Sunday 3rd                   Cardiff Arena                                                    0292 022 4488
Tuesday 5th                  Plymouth Pavilions                                      0845 146 1460
Wednesday 6th            London HMV Hammersmith Apollo     0844 844 4748
Saturday 9th                 Bournemouth Windsor Hall                      0844 576 3000
Sunday 10th                 Sheffield City Hall                                           0114 278 9789
Monday 11th               Wolverhampton Civic Hall                          0870 320 7000
Wednesday 13th          Glasgow Clyde Auditorium                       08444 999 990

Tickets go on sale on the 13^th November 2010 at 10am – Save the date to avoid disappointment!

www.ticketmaster.co.uk
www.gigsinscotland.com
www.gigsandtours.com

Are you looking forward to your UK tour?

Yeah man, I’m really looking forward to it, it’s been a while since we’ve been on the road so it’s great to get back out and play.

What venue are you most looking forward to playing in?

We’re really looking forward to playing everywhere, like the QMU in Glasgow and stuff. And some other places we’ve been before,  we’ve had some really good gigs at the Tunbridge Wells Forums.

Are you playing any of your new songs from the album on tour?

Yes, we play about five or six, it depends on how the gigs run; we may play more than that to try out the new material. That’s what we’re looking forward to the most, seeing the reaction to the stuff we’ve been working on.

What is the most embarrassing thing that has happened to you as a group?

Well, now we’re talking like, we got caught sneaking a carry out into the Mercury awards once, that was pretty embarrassing!

Have you had any crazy fans, and what have they done to get themselves called crazy fans?

We’ve got a few fans that have got tattoos, I always found that quite crazy. And then we’ve got the Japanese fans that do crazy stuff, like painting the album cover on their fingernails and showing up at the hotel with presents and stuff like that. The whole time you’re there you have to keep coming to the reception cause they keep buying you stuff!

Who is the most annoying member of the band?

It just depends what day it is, it could be anybody.

What would you say is your greatest achievement to date and why?

I don’t know, maybe just the fact that we managed to get some music recorded and out there. I just find that an achievement in itself, just to be able to record music.  Part of it is just getting into the market and where we are, just being able to do that is probably the best achievement.

Apart from yourselves, who is your favourite artist this year?

There’s been a lot of new music out this year that I’ve liked, but probably my favourite would be Ne-Yo.

What is the most embarrassing thing that you’ve had on your iPod?

I dunno, some of our recordings and….. Take That?!

Out of all your songs, what is your favourite?

I dunno, probably some of our singles like Superstar Tradesmen because of the memories of that time, when everything was new and fresh. It was just like a good time in my life and it’s just before we were stars.

End of term would like to thank Kieren for taking part in the interview and for giving up his time to answer all our questions.

Take That have announced that they will be doing a summer tour of the UK. The tour, Progress Live 2011, is Take That’s biggest tour yet and is the first time that all five members, Gary, Mark, Howard, Jason and Robbie have toured together since 1995. The tour will celebrate the band’s biggest hits over the last two decades and will also contain some of band member, Robbie’s, songs from during his solo career. Tickets for this legendary tour go on sale from Ticketmaster, www.ticketmaster.co.uk/takethat, on Friday 29 October 2010 at 9.00am.

Words: Grace Harle

They feel that he was brought on as the joker of the contestants, the one who we will have a laugh at.

One of the groups says “Let’s face it, he’s not going to win on talent, it’s not as if he will ever be an international star. I just don’t think any of us can see him winning without a little hand.”

They feel that after all the scandal with the auditions; putting through people who are already in the music industry, the judges not giving certain people a place and certain contestants messing up their auditions and still getting a place; that it is payback time.  “We need to show Simon and co who the judges really are – us.”

Ex-contestant John Adeleye is shocked and angry that Wagner is still in, “Wagner was the only person who I could have put on my list for that bottom spot, he never nailed it until the final show, he’s just there for entertainment value.” England’s football captain, Rio Ferdinand, wrote online “The public needs to get one mahoosive slap for this.”

For the rest of us viewers, we have to just wait and see how next Saturday night’s show and Sunday’s results pan out.

Let us know what you think of this latest X Factor scandal.

Words: Grace Harle

Picture copyright: ITV

This week on X Factor, many people were shocked that contestant, John Adeleye, was voted out of the competition. After performing the well known song, ‘One Night Only’ by Jennifer Hudson, the judges decided to save Treyc Cohen.

Why was the choice between these two brilliant singers when there are contestants like Wagner still in the competition? Why are people voting for the worst singers over actual talent? These are the sort of questions floating around about the X Factor and its voting system,  a system that allows acts like Wagner and last year’s Jedward to continue on in the competition over better, brighter stars like John Adeleye and Lucie Jones (Series 6).

Leave us a comment and let us know what you think of this years X Factor!

Words: Grace Harle

It appears there seems to be additional scandal between Katie and Matt Cardle – and is it just us or did anyone else pick up on Simon’s question to Wagner about Mary?

To read more on this story: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-1321707/X-FACTOR-2010-Cher-Lloyd-Katie-Waissel-play-nice-cameras.html?ito=feeds-newsxml