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Want to see what's top of the charts? Well go straight to www.worldpop.com and you can find out what's top of the UK singles and album charts as well as the world wide chart, by clicking on "Charts" on the menu bar at the top. This website is also fantastic for catching up on all the latest news and rumours.

 

5^th Atomic Kitten - Eternal Flame

12^th So Solid Crew - 21 Seconds

New Albums Out Now/Soon

O-Town - O-Town (Single: Liquid Dreams, All Or Nothing)

*NSync - Celebrity (Single: Pop)

Five - King Size (Single: Let's Dance)

Steps - Steps Greatest Hits (Single: Chain Reaction)

 Singles Out Soon

You've probably heard that N Sync and Britney Spears wanted to make a sequel to the first two Grease films, starring Britney as Sandy and her real-life boyfriend Justin Timberlake from N Sync as Danny. What you might not have heard is that all their plans were destroyed when Paramount, the company who made the first two films, and John Travolta himself (he was Danny originally) have both told them they don't have the rights to make it! Oh no! And I was so looking forward to it! Good news is that Britney will still star in a film, but the concept and title of the film are both secrets. The rumour is that it will be about a girl (Britney) who travels across America to get to a talent contest.

As you probably know, the biggest event in the pop music year has just gone by. Yes, it's what you had all been waiting for, The Smash Hits Poll Winners Party, and I went!! It was held at London Arena at 3pm on Sunday 10^th December 2000, and featured performances from Five, Billie, A1, Samantha Mumba, Westlife, Sonique, Ronan, Kylie, S Club 7, All Saints, Steps, Savage Garden, Texas and more - I couldn't wait! The awards given out included Best Band On Planet Pop 2000 and new awards such as Best Rapper and Best New Male/Female Singers. Tickets cost £22.50, but if you couldn't get one you would have to settle for the TV broadcast on BBC 1.

Here are the results:

Best new band: Atomic Kitten

Best new female solo artist: Samantha Mumba

Best new male solo artist: Craig David

Best British band: Five

Best female solo artist: Britney Spears

Most fanciable female: Britney Spears

Best dancer in pop: Britney Spears

Best dressed female: Britney Spears

Best video: Take On Me by A1

Best new tour act: Reel

Best haircut: Kian Westlife

Best international band: Westlife

Most fanciable male: Shane Westlife

Best song: My Love by Westlife

Best album: Coast To Coast by Westlife

Best band on Planet Pop 2000: Westlife

Best TV show: Eastenders

Best TV actor: Jack Ryder

Best TV actress: Natalie Cassidy

Hero of 2000: Steve Redgrave

Funniest person in pop: H from Steps

More Awards

Thursday 16^th November was the date of the biggest awards show in Europe. Backstreet Boys (best Group), Jennifer Lopez (best r'n'b), Ricky Martin (best male), All Saints (best pop), Westlife (best UK/Ireland), Robbie Williams (best song for Rock DJ) and Moby (best video for Natural Blues) each won one award and Madonna (best dance and female) and Eminem (Best album and hip hop) both won two. To see the full list of winners and nominees, go to www.mtv.co.uk. There were stunning performances from U2, All Saints, Madonna, Moby, Jennifer Lopez, Robbie and Kylie, Ronan Keating, Backstreet Boys and Ricky Martin. The award for best entrance would have to go to Jennifer Lopez, who arrived on stage in a small jet plane! The award for wildest outfit would be split between Kylie's sparkly dress and Madonna's home-made Kylie Minogue top. The award for wildest hair would have to go to AJ from the Backstreet Boys, who had died his purple for the occasion!

Top TV

One fantastic TV programme I've thoroughly enjoyed is the repeat of Making The Band, every weekday at 11.00PM, on Channel 4. It is all about a new boyband, called O-Town (left), which has been made by Lou Pearlman, who gave us the Backstreet Boys and N Sync. One member (Paul) has already dropped out on his own will, but now two more have had to be dropped. They are Bryan and Mike (commiserations), which means the final five are: Ikaika, Jacob, Eric, Ashley and Trevor - well done, boys! But soon after the final group was chosen, Ikaika dropped out. Luckily the remaining members knew exactly who they wanted as a replacement, and Dan Miller was invited to join. Dan is much better than annoying Ikaika, so I don't know why he didn't get picked in the first place. The series is now coming to an end (boo) but it has been confirmed that there will be a new series soon (Wa-hey!). If you want more O-Town, please visit their website: www.o-town.com, and buy their amazing single, Liquid Dreams, out on April 16^th. Their next single, All Or Nothing, will be out in August, as will their album, O-Town.

If you liked Making The Band (Or even if you didn't), you will have loved ITV's show, Popstars. It was on every Wednesday at 8.00PM, and had the same idea as Making The Band, except this programme was about the forming of a new British group. You were able to watch everything from the auditions, to singing lessons, to recording the first track. You can visit the Popstars website at www.itv.co.uk/popstars. Popstars is actually the UK version of a programme that was amazingly popular in Australia, and launched the career of girl group Bardot (right), who have now had no. 1 singles and a no. 1 album in Australia. If you want to find out more about Bardot, see their website, www.au.bardot.com. They released a debut single here recently, which only made it to number forty-five, but they have a new song, A.S.A.P out soon.

Samantha Mumba and her brother Omero have both landed rolls in the new film The Time Machine. Britney Spears is putting the finishing touches to What Friends Are For.

S Club 7 are preparing to film their own movie in 2002.

Justin from N*Sync is rumoured to have a part in a hip-hop version of The Wizard Of Oz.

 Britney Spears - Singer, Actress And Now A Novelist!

As well as making a film, Britney Spears recently wrote her first novel, A Mother's Gift, available now. The book has had mixed reviews from it's teenage readers. Some say it's unoriginal, while others are full of praise for the book, which is available to order from www.amazon.co.uk or can be bought from any good book store, for example Waterstones, WHSmith or Borders.

The latest toys on the shelves are the Popstars dolls and they are the latest in a long line of bands that have dolls on sale. The list includes S Club 7, Britney Spears, Steps, Five, Christina Aguillera and Westlife. Most of them don't look anything like the pop stars they are meant to be. You can view the S Club 7 dolls at www.musicsclub7.fsnet.co.uk.

It certainly is for Bryan Westlife and Kerry Atomic Kitten, who are getting married soon. They have also revealed that Kerry is pregnant! There are pics at www.ukpop.co.uk, in the Westlife news file.

Lisa Steps has revealed that she has a boyfriend - Johnny from new band, Boom!, and they are engaged. They met two years ago, when Johnny auditioned to be a dancer with Steps on tour. Faye has also admitted that the rumours about her getting married to her boyfriend Jasper are true! Claire says she also has a boyfriend, but is not ready to tell people about it yet.

Love is also in the air for Jo S Club 7, who is engaged to her long-term boyfriend, and Nicole Appleton and Liam Gallagher, who have revealed they are expecting a baby! Scott from Five and his girlfriend Kerry are also expecting a baby.

At www.gopophits.com, there's a fun way to catch up on the latest gossip - shoot down the spaceships and they will each reveal a piece of juicy pop gossip.

If you want more UK news and gossip, then try www.worldpop.com or www.dotmusic.com

If you want to catch up on USA stories, then I recommend www.alloy.com or www.j14.com.