Meet the secret winner of The X Factor

The winner of Britain's biggest singing contest will be announced tonight in front of an estimated 20 million viewers, and the resulting single from Rebecca Ferguson, Matt Cardle or boyband One Direction will become, instantly, one of the biggest-selling songs of the year. And Cher Lloyd, who was voted out last night, is also likely to get the chance of a On...- 12/12/2010, Profiles

New music videos of the week: Coldplay, Bruce Springsteen, Cee-Lo Green

New this week, Coldplay gets festive with a new Christmas song while Bruce Springsteen goes retro in a clip featuring footage from the 1970s. Meanwhile, Cee-Lo Green pines for his exes in his video for "It's Ok." - 07/12/2010, Music

David Lister: Sondheim's attack on musical legends strikes the wrong chord

One of the stages of life that Shakespeare missed out in his Seven Ages of Man is that moment when one decides that one is terribly good at one's job and everyone else is hopeless.- 27/11/2010, David Lister

Reality Bitesize: The TV catch-up

The X Factor The story so far... A bumper year this time round with the inclusion of "wild cards" (roughly translated that's the people who the public really liked but who the judges thought were too fat). With the live shows lasting two-and-a-half hours and 14 finalists to purge ourselves of, Sat Still, The X Factor grinds on like Or...- 27/11/2010, Features

The Diary: Alan Partridge; Jesse Eisenberg; Nick Relph; Wonderland; Christian Marclay's The Clock

"Corporate whores, morons, illiterates". So Stewart Lee branded those involved in the Foster's Edinburgh Comedy God poll back in July. The "banal" (Lee's word) survey was an inauspicious start for the lager brand's comedy sponsorship programme but now Foster's has pulled off an undeniable coup, securing the new series of A...- 12/11/2010, Features

Diary: A vile campaign targeting high-minded public figures

Will this vile persecution of Andy Coulson never cease? Time and again I have stated here that this Dreyfus du jour knew nothing of the naughtiness committed during his News of the World editorship. He ran the show in the laissez-faire style of his hero Peregrine Worsthorne at The Sunday Telegraph, and was as shocked (shocked!) as anyone by these allegati- 08/11/2010, Diary

Anatomy of a backlash: Why Cheryl Cole and Wayne Rooney are just repeating ancient history

A well-known scene has just played out on televisions across the country. A much-loved parent was made to choose which of their three children to exalt. Two offered honeyed words and matchless sentiment in what were ultimately flawed performances; the third attempted to get by on honesty, natural talent and the genuine demureness that comes with good, old Bu...- 22/10/2010, News

John Walsh: Simon Cowell, the Booker awaits you

I went to the Man Booker Prize dinner at the Guildhall on Tuesday and bags of fun it was: the crush of 500-plus literary titans, agents, publishers and alternative-investment managers from the Man Group, the hot frocks of the ladies (the top three were wrapped around Amanda Ross of the TV Book Club, Mariella Frostrup and the poet and gossip writer Olivia - 15/10/2010, John Walsh

Mother's bullying fears for X Factor's Katie Waissel

Katie Waissel's mother says the X Factor star is being bullied and has told of her fears that her daughter will be pushed off the show. The 24-year-old received flak after getting through to the live finals at the expense of Gamu Nhengu, who is facing deportation. She was surrounded by more controversy when judges decided to save the quirky ...- 12/10/2010, News

Katie Waissel escapes first X Factor axe

Katie Waissel scraped through to the next round of The X Factor after judges voted to save the controversial singer. Quirky Katie breathed a sign of relief when judge Louis Walsh voted to keep her on the show despite saying she was "more style than substance". Dreams of pop stardom ended for Nicolo Festa last night when the Italian was ...- 11/10/2010, News

X Factor: Pressure mounts to give Gamu another go

Claims that X Factor reject Gamu Nhengu was kicked off the show because of worries over her immigration status were rubbished today as the clamour for her to be re-instated grew. Around 90,000 more people signed up overnight to a Facebook group called 'Gamu should have got through, which today had more than 130,000 members. Cheryl Cole told Nhe...- 05/10/2010, News

Yasmin Alibhai-Brown: What now for the centre left?

I was in Dublin the whole of last week, working with the British Council and Forum on Migration and Communications (FOMACS), partners in a bold and creative initiative to create genuine empathy between immigrants to that country and its citizens, as both adjust to severe financial hardship and collapse of confidence. Hostility to the outsider is never pur- 27/09/2010, Yasmin Alibhai-Brown

X Factor bosses consider showing axed contestant's footage

TV bosses will decide today whether to show axed X factor contestant Shirlena's last performance after she was dropped because of concerns over her mental health. It was confirmed yesterday the single mother from east London would not continue on the hit ITV1 talent show but she has already recorded a performance at the show's Boot Camp stage. ...- 25/08/2010, TV & Radio

Cheryl Cole and Simon Cowell clash as X Factor returns

Sparks fly between X Factor judges Cheryl Cole and Simon Cowell when he brands her a "brat" in the new series which starts tomorrow. At one point Cowell even puts out a saucer of milk for his "catty" colleague. After Cole tells one disappointed group they should consider a career in children's television, Cowell sarcastically d...- 20/08/2010, News

Geri Halliwell fills in as X Factor returns

The X Factor is back with its trademark mixture of the tone-deaf and the genuinely talented. The seventh series of the reality talent show hits TV screens on Saturday and first up to try and impress the judges were would-be stars in Glasgow and London. With Dannii Minogue on maternity leave after the birth of her son, Simon Cowell, Louis Wal...- 19/08/2010, News