TALK OF THE TOWN: Jacquetta Wheeler holes up in Chilham Castle

The pan-European organisation for the independent music community – IMPALA – has announced a new programme called 100 Artists To Watch, which will put the spotlight each spring on independent artists making music across Europe. The new scheme – supported by YouTube – replaces IMPALA’s previous album of the year award.The first 100 Artists To Watch list features music-makers from 30 different countries and more than 30 different genres, and includes UK artists like AJ Tracey, Arlo Parks and Little Simz, plus Kojaque, Noga Erez, Brodka and Whispering Sons. You can check the full list on the IMPALA website here.Launching the new programme, IMPALA Executive Chair Helen Smith says: “IMPALA’s remit is to boost diversity across Europe, so it’s great to be introducing this new programme with YouTube.

Producer, composer and artist Mira Calix has died, her label Warp has confirmed. She was 52.“We are devastated to learn about the death of our dear Mira Calix”, said the label.

Elsa Keslassy International CorrespondentBanijay has acquired Tooco, the production banner behind the non-scripted hit “Guess My Age,” to further bolster its French outpost. Under the pact, Tooco will be part of the Banijay France brand and will focus on originating concepts for the French and international markets.Tooco, spearheaded by Aurélien Lipiansky and Mikaël Moreau, has been delivering popular French formats, such as Le club des invincibles, produced with Banijay’s Air Production; and Guess My Age which has so far travelled to 22 countries, including Italy, Spain, and Germany.

There are some beauty products that just take you back to another time when you think of them. Sun-in spray, Dream Matte Mousse foundation, Juicy Tubes, hair mascara – those were the days.

Glass Animals have matched the Spice Girls’ best performance on the Billboard Hot 100 Chart in the US after their single ‘Heat Waves’ topped the chart for a fourth week.The Oxford four-piece are continuing to bask in the success of their 2020 single, which originally featured on their third studio album ‘Dreamland’.‘Heat Waves’ made it to the top of the Hot 100 earlier this month after completing a record 59-week climb to Number One, and the track is now four weeks into its reign at the top of the US singles chart.As Billboard notes, Glass Animals’ four consecutive weeks at US Number One is the longest period spent at the top of the Hot 100 by a British group since the Spice Girls spent four weeks at Number One in 1997 with ‘Wannabe’.The likes of Pink Floyd (‘Another Brick in the Wall (Part II)’), Queen (‘Crazy Little Thing Called Love’) and The Rolling Stones (‘Honky Tonk Women’ and ‘(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction’) have also respectively spent four weeks at the top of the Hot 100.The current all-time record for a song by a British group staying at the top of the US singles chart is held by The Beatles, who spent nine weeks at Number One in 1968 with ‘Hey Jude’. Speaking to NME at last month’s BRIT Awards, Glass Animals frontman Dave Bayley said of ‘Heat Waves’ success: “There’s something in it.

Yungblud performed his latest single ‘The Funeral’ during last night’s episode of The Late Late Show in the US – you can watch the singer’s energetic performance, during which he kissed host James Corden, below.The Doncaster artist released the track earlier this month before sharing its official video, which features a cameo from Ozzy and Sharon Osbourne.Yungblud performed ‘The Funeral’ on the Corden-hosted Late Late Show last night (March 28) with his live band, who paid tribute to the late Foo Fighters drummer Taylor Hawkins, who died last week, with the message ‘4 Taylor’ on their bass drum skin.During the performance, Yungblud left the stage and ran over to Corden’s desk, where he planted a series of kisses on the host’s face before running back to rejoin his band to finish the song.Yungblud later ended the performance by highlighting his band’s drum tribute to Hawkins, which Corden also acknowledged – you can watch the performance of ‘The Funeral’ above.‘The Funeral’ is expected to feature on the follow-up to Yungblud’s 2020 album ‘weird!’. In an interview earlier this year, he said the new record would contain “the most personal music I’ve ever written”.

Glass Animals have equalled a long-held US chart record with their mega-hit Heat Waves. 

Slipknot drummer Jay Weinberg has said that the band “turned up the dials on experimentation” while making their forthcoming seventh album.Frontman Corey Taylor confirmed last month that the masked metal titans had completed work on their “killer” new record, which will follow 2019’s ‘We Are Not Your Kind’. A release date is not yet known.Earlier this month, Slipknot DJ Sid Wilson gave further insight into what fans could expect from the band’s next full-length effort, explaining that his “sound selection was a little more off-planet than normal” following an extensive period of touring.Speaking in a recent interview with the US radio station WZOR (via Metal Injection), Weinberg teased the “exciting” and “really interesting” elements that feature on Slipknot’s new album.“I would say we kind of turned up the dials on experimentation,” Weinberg said.

Justice League star Ezra Miller has been arrested and charged with disorderly conduct and harrassment, Hawaii police have confirmed.The actor, best known for playing The Flash in the DC franchise, was reportedly arrested in Hilo on Monday (March 28) after an alleged incident in a bar in Hawaii on Sunday night.According to a public statement obtained by The Guardian, Hawaii police allege Miller had become “agitated” and began “yelling obscenities” at other people in the bar singing karaoke.The actor reportedly then “grabbed the microphone from a 23-year-old woman singing karaoke and later lunged at a 32-year-old man playing darts. The bar owner asked Miller to calm down several times to no avail”.Ezra Miller was reportedly released on bail on Monday, according to the police.

Mick Jagger has announced that a new solo track called ‘Strange Game’ is coming this week.The upcoming song serves as the theme tune to the new Apple Original series Slow Horses, the first two episodes of which land on Apple TV+ this Friday (April 1). The Rolling Stones frontman co-wrote the single alongside Academy Award-nominated film composer Daniel Pemberton.Teasing the collaboration yesterday (March 28), Jagger tweeted: “I’ve been working on a fun project with the composer Daniel Pemberton… look out for it coming soon!”Pemberton said in a statement: “Working with Mick Jagger has been one of the most exciting collaborations of my professional career.

EXCLUSIVE: An influx of U.S. studios and streamers heading to next week’s Mip TV should mitigate the loss of some of the bigger European distributors, according to Lucy Smith, who runs the annual market.

APPOINTMENTSCopyright hub ICE has recruited Govinda Fichtner as CTO. He joins from web hosting company IONOS.

After glorious weather and highs of 19C in Greater Manchester last week, the weather is changing drastically. Temperatures are expected to plummet, dropping as low as -1C in some parts of the region this week.

Manchester United's David de Gea distribution is the worst among goalkeepers in Europe's top five leagues.

Greater Manchester will formally oppose the latest high-speed railway plans in Parliament which have been described as 'severely suboptimal' and 'deficient'. The current HS2 proposal would see a 52-mile extension of the high-speed rail network from Crewe to Manchester with stations at Piccadilly and the airport.

Fostering a child can transform many lives – from the young person you take into your home, to your own life and that of your family. This was one of the key messages from those involved in fostering – both as carers and staff workers – during a Facebook Live Q&A on the Manchester Evening News Facebook page.

Plans which would make it possible to recycle plastic pots, tubs and trays in household bins across nine Greater Manchester councils are being prepared.

A self-confessed 'shameless' clubber has gone to extreme lengths to avoid painful high heels 'ruining' her work night out - by covering her feet in NUMBING CREAM so she doesn't feel a thing.

Chris Rock was reportedly left "shaken and bewildered" after Will Smith slapped him across the face at the 2022 Oscars making headlines around the world.The comedian, 57, reportedly went straight to his dressing room following his speech on stage, before promptly leaving the building. Moments before he was struck, Chris had made a joke about Will's wife Jada Pinkett-Smith, comparing her shaven head to Demi Moore in GI Joe. Jada revealed in 2018 that she has alopecia, a condition that causes hair loss.

Princess Beatrice and Eugenie have been seen making their way into Westminster Abbey to show their support to the Queen for Prince Philip's memorial service. Beatrice, 33, was seen wearing a black ensemble as she was accompanied by her husband Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi, 38, while her sister Eugenie, 32, donned a black floral dress as husband Jack Brooksbank, 35, stood close by.The couples walked their way into the venue with small smiles across their faces as they geared up to pay their tributes to their grandfather, Philip, who died on 9 April in 2021.

Big Brother star Nikki Grahame's mum has said she "heard her daughter's final breaths over the phone".