Pop Music

MICHELLE Heaton has opened up about her surprise feud with a rival noughties pop star.

The Liberty X singer held back tears as she discussed the band’s battle with Hear’Say – the winners of ITV‘s Popstars.

Shortly after finishing as runner-ups on the 2001 reality series, Michelle and her bandmates Tony Lundon, Kevin Simm, Jessica Taylor and Kelli Young, were were formed into a new group.

However, despite being friends during filming, Michelle says: “There was a war from the get-go

“We were constantly pitted against each other in a world we were trying to navigate.”

It saw the breakdown of Michelle’s close friendship with Suzanne Shaw.

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Opening up to Paul Brunson on his podcast We Need To Talk, Michelle said: “It was evident they wanted us to fail. Not just Hear’Say as a team, but the people around them.

“And so that would have then stirred up the pot with the Hear’Say members in order to add fuel to the fire when they did interviews about how they were bigger and better and we were not so… and that we were running on their coattails.

“It felt really harsh. We didn’t know how to navigate it. It felt like it wasn’t the five people that we met in the audition process.

“And alongside all of this, all I kind of wanted to do was reach out to Suzanne because that’s like one of the people that I got really close to.. and be like, ‘how is it? What’s it like?’

“I really wanted to share that with her. And at no point did I see what we were doing as hanging on their coattails.”

Thankfully, years on from the height of their fame, the pair reconnected.

Proving their bond back in 2016, Michelle wrote in her OK! Magazine column: “Massive congrats to my friend Suzanne who announced her pregnancy in what has to be the sweetest way possible.

“The video she made made me cry and her son Corey’s response was priceless. I loved the video and I love Suzanne. I’m so happy for her little family.”

FOR almost four decades, Kylie Minogue has soundtracked our lives with anthems of love, joy and heartbreak.

While her own personal life has seen both stellar highs and crushing lows — including failed romances, and cancer — she has kept calm and carried on, and on, then on some more.

As for those gold hotpants from her 2000 video for disco belter Spinning Around, they brightened up all our lives, to the point they are now under lock and key in a museum.

But as Kylie, 57, sits down with me for her only newspaper chat ahead of her self-titled Netflix docuseries that airs on Wednesday, she insists she is just like the rest of us when heartbroken.

In the TV tell-all, she recalls her devastating 1991 split from the late INXS frontman, Aussie Michael Hutchence, after a passionate two-year romance — and how she slept on a pal’s sofa in Paris while unable to face the couple’s old stomping grounds in Oz and the UK.

She had previously also dated Aussie actor-singer Jason Donovan — and when I ask if she’s ever “gone full Bridget Jones”, liked the unlucky-in-love soul of movie fame, she swiftly replies: “Oh, 100 per cent.

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“I’ve had different relationships that all shaped me. Of course, I talk about Michael. I’ve also got Jason Donovan, who speaks so amazingly in the documentary.”

During the Netflix special, Kylie recalls how she struggled post-Hutchence — and tells viewers: “I didn’t know where to go or what to do. I knew I didn’t want to be in London and I didn’t want to be in Australia, so I went to Paris.

“I remember having a tiny English to-French dictionary. I didn’t know anyone, but had two numbers on a bit of paper. One of those was a friend of a friend of a friend of a friend of mine.

“She lived with a girl called Kat, who is now my oldest, best girlfriend. I moved into her apartment, got a sleeping bag and slept on the sofa. I was feeling heartbroken.”

Keen not to sugarcoat her life for Netflix, Kylie let director Michael Harte retain total creative control, even when she may have liked some bits left on the cutting-room floor.

In one episode, her former Neighbours co-star Jason remembers the moment Kylie left him for rocker Michael — explaining how they met him after an INXS gig before Jason watched the pair disappear into a hotel bathroom together.

Jason admits: “He wasn’t interested in me. I could sniff that a mile away. And she disappeared with him into the bathroom, which is fine. You know, we’re grown-ups.”

Reflecting on that evening, Kylie adds: “After the gig, Jason and I were invited back to the after-party. I would have been a bit like, ‘How did we get here?’ We were just talking about singer stuff.”

Kylie has been single since splitting from GQ magazine boss Paul Solomons in 2023, and insists she does not need a man to feel complete.

When I ask if she is happy, All The Lovers singer Kylie replies with a smile: “I’m super-happy, yeah.”

She told the Sunday Times’ Style magazine yesterday: “I don’t have a boyfriend. I was in a relationship, and when that ended, I realised I was OK on my own. I’m getting pickier. Narcissists . . . I’ve dated one and I’m grateful I now have that knowledge. That’s my red-hot ‘no’.”

Similarly, when Kylie and I last chatted, in October 2024, the I Should Be So Lucky singer told me: “There’s no one significant in my life and I feel content. I feel like this is my destiny right now.”

But she STILL fiercely believes in love — and enjoys watching it bloom for others.

We first met in 2023 while she was promoting 16th album Tension. I was shamelessly chasing a boy and, on my way to her Claridge’s hotel suite, bought a bottle of Kylie Prosecco for her to sign for him.

After our chat, she agreed, writing his name on the bottle and wishing me luck in my romantic pursuit. The next summer, he was my boyfriend.

During a brief meeting in 2024, at the British Summer Time festival in London’s Hyde Park, I thanked her for the part she had played. “See, I’ve still got it!” she happily told her team, punching the air.

But by the time we crossed paths in May 2025, outside her dressing room as she played London’s 02 Arena for her Tension world tour, I was single once more.

I mentioned I was seeing her show again the next night and bringing my ex. “Ooh, what’s the goss?” Kylie asked. Laughing awkwardly, I admitted I wished we were still together.

Meanwhile, in episode two of her Netflix series Kylie wells up as she admits she has been searching for a love like she shared with Michael ever since their 1991 breakup.

Kylie says to camera: “I haven’t quite got it. I’ve probably been looking for something like that ever since.

“He was a first for so many things and one was heartbreak. I was devastated. He was a rock star, which doesn’t just mean that he needs many women in his life, but he needed to go where he needed to go. But I know from people in his circle that he talked of me and thought of me. We were good together.”

Shrugging off the emotion, Kylie adds: “Shoulda, woulda, coulda  — whatever. But it was an amazing time. The memories make me feel good, even if I’m getting teary. It was good to have someone, to feel like you were a good team. I’m fortunate. The emotion and the memories I have with that time — I just felt protected, nurtured, valued, and believed in.”

Recalling Michael’s funeral in 1997 in Sydney, after he died at just 37, Kylie says: “At the church it was overwhelming, the outpouring of love for him. I felt him saying, ‘It’s OK. It will be OK’. I always feel he’s with me.”

But as we chat, Kylie wishes she had “stressed less” over the course of her career, and she admits she sometimes “didn’t manage it well”.

I am also relieved that — like me when love’s course goes awry — this global superstar so indentifies with Bridget Jones, as played in the films by Renee Zellweger.

In the series’ first film, Bridget Jones’s Diary, in 2001, the pyjama-clad protagonist has break-up blues as she clutches a bottle of wine and belts out power ballad All By Myself.

I doubt Kylie’s go-to heartbreak fixes are the same as my budget pairing — a £4.99 supermarket Pinot Grigio and Cadbury popping-candy chocolate bar. But I do recommend them, Kylie.

Of course, the other bombshell in Kylie’s life came at just 36 when, in 2005, she was diagnosed with early-stage breast cancer.

She had to pull out of a Glastonbury set and part of her Showgirl: The Greatest Hits Tour to undergo a lumpectomy as well as chemotherapy.
The next year she was in remission and given the all-clear.

But Kylie tells Netflix viewers: “I felt removed from my body. I was so scared of what was ahead of me.” Her singer sister Dannii adds: “We didn’t know, if she was ever going to be well again.”

It is hard to believe, though, how she has kept much of her off-stage life little known about.

When I put this to her, she nods and says: “It’s like, is there a monster under the bed? You build up this fear of telling.”

But she adds: “There’s enough behind me, and in front of me, that now has made it a good time. And what am I so scared of? It’s been a good exercise to have a look back at life, and find acceptance.”

In the docuseries, Kylie admits she was “riddled with self-doubt and anxiety” — and that those feelings still rear their head.

Kylie, who wrapped up her 66-date Tension tour last year, tells me: “I still have anxiety and self-doubt. No, not all the time, but a healthy amount is good.

“I know what I’m doing more now, which is satisfying. There’s definitely moments but that doesn’t permeate through.”

Although Kylie is now a superstar, she got there through steadfast resilience — proving critics wrong time and time again.

Her decision to quit Aussie soap Neighbours at the height of its success — when 24 million daily viewers was commonplace — was deemed by many as crazy.

Indeed, so popular was the soap that when Princess Diana missed just two episodes, she called up the BBC to ask after recordings.

Kylie’s sixth studio album, 1997’s Impossible Princess, was savaged so brutally by critics that radio stations refused to play her singles. A billboard even told the world Kylie was “over”.

Yet nearly three decades later, the 5ft powerhouse has never been more beloved. In December, she landed her eighth UK No1 single, ,and her first festive chart-topper, with Xmas.

A seasoned pro with interviews, Kylie usually has a slick answer ready for any question. But when I ask what she would say to her younger self, she takes her time before replying: “I still don’t know what’s ahead of me now — but I especially didn’t at 16.”

During the Netflix series, Kylie hits back at a suggestion she might be ready to slow down soon.

“Tell that to Cher and Barbra [Streisand]” she quips.

Both are plenty older than her — Cher recently turned 79 and Barbra 84 — and Cher, in particular, is still dusting off her suspenders and stockings for performances.

So, can we expect to see Kylie still doing The Locco-Motion at 80?

Beaming, she replies: “With all my heart, I hope so, yes.

“But how I’ve done this is, I am not a planner, I like to be fluid. I have a loose idea, I know what I want to do — but, yeah, maybe next week or this month.”

But while Kylie may still be up on stage in 2049, her famed gold hotpants will not. They are in a museum in Melbourne, Australia — but Kylie beams at my idea they belong in the Louvre museum in Paris, with the Mona Lisa painting.

Kylie says of the hotpants: “That would be amazing. But I bought them for 50p — my girlfriend found them in a secondhand store. I wore them quite rigorously so they’re fragile and the museum have said they have got to stay flat. They are in preservation mode.”

I also ask if “Kylie the pop star” ever feels like “Kylie the person” is forgotten.

But she feels fans want her to be both, adding of time on stage: “It’s a place for me to harness everything I’ve worked for and that I feel, and be expressive.”

The word “icon” is overused, but when I tell Kylie she is one, she replies simply: “I try.”

HIS love life has been almost as varied as his incredible songwriting catalogue.

Sir Paul McCartney endured the tragedy of losing first wife Linda to cancer and a catastrophic £24million divorce from Heather Mills before finally finding happiness again with American businesswoman Nancy Shevell.

But today The Sun can reveal the identity of the secret childhood crush who became Sir Paul’s “one that got away” — a pretty neighbour whose striking good looks inspired the opening track to his new album, which tells the story of his childhood in Liverpool.

The record was unveiled at a preview event in London this month, where the legendary Beatles songwriter recalled memories of a pretty neighbour called Jasmine, who lived close to his home.

Today, it has emerged she is retired mum-of-three Jasmine Howe, who left the area and resettled in Hertfordshire before retiring to the New Forest in Hampshire.

And the now 83-year-old’s ­family were stunned to learn of the £800million rock legend’s youthful infatuation — revealing she had “absolutely no idea” about his fondness for her.

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They explained: “It’s a cute story, she lived nearby and knew who he was, but she never got close to him — meanwhile, he obviously felt very differently!

“It’s an amazing story — a very long time ago now, but we’ve chatted as a family in the past about how Jasmine grew up close to Paul McCartney.
Goosebumps

“She just knew him as one of the boys in the local area. It’s enough to give you goosebumps!”

The Boys Of Dungeon Lane is Sir Paul’s first solo album in five years, and critics say it is his “most personal to date”.

The title is taken from Days We Left Behind, a wistful acoustic track that references Dungeon Lane, near the River Mersey, where McCartney played as a boy, as well as a “secret code” and mysterious promise made to John Lennon at the time, which he insists “will never be broken”.

At a special event, held at the iconic Abbey Road studios in London where the Fab Four ­produced their biggest hits, Sir Paul played tracks from the new record and explained their ­origins — beginning with opening song As You Lie There.

The lyrics recall: “Do I ever cross your mind as you lie there? As you lie across your bed, am I there inside your head?”

Revealing the inspiration to a small invited audience, Sir Paul explained: “Up in one of the ­windows, there was a girl I ­fancied called Jasmine.

“But I didn’t know how to approach her — I never spoke to her.

“The joke was, she did show up later that year and knocked on the door. I was indisposed — I was on the toilet — so I missed Jasmine!”

Turning to his wife Nancy, who he married in 2011, he grinned and quipped: “Sorry, Nancy.”

Prior to meeting his third wife, Macca famously had quite a ­colourful love life.

His first serious romance was with Dorothy ‘Dot’ Rhone, who he met at the Casbah Coffee Club in Liverpool in 1959.

The pair dated for more than two years and even got engaged, but split just before Beatlemania exploded.

In 1963, Paul met actress and model Jane Asher backstage at one of the band’s concerts.

The relationship would last five years and Paul even moved into the family home on London’s Wimpole Street.

Jane was his muse and introduced him to the avant-garde arts and classical music scene, which would inspire some of his most famous songs.

Despite being charmed by Jane’s cultured family and domestic life, Paul had secret flings with model Maggie McGivern and US writer Francie Schwartz — betrayals that ultimately shattered one of the Sixties’ most iconic romances.

He met his second wife, model and amputee activist Heather Mills, at a charity event in 1999, marrying her three years later.

Their daughter Beatrice was born the following year. However, the pair split acrimoniously three years later with a very publicly played-out divorce — one that cost the star £24million.

However, the singer enjoyed real happiness with his first wife, American photographer Linda.

They married in 1969, raised four children together, and were ­inseparable until her death from breast cancer in 1998.

Growing up, Sir Paul lived with his parents at 20 Forthlin Road in Allerton, Liverpool, while Jasmine lived with her family on the corner of neighbouring Hurstlyn Road, just 20 yards away.

Both properties still stand in the south Liverpool suburb, nestled in a series of brick-built terraces — though Sir Paul’s is now owned and maintained by The National Trust as a museum.

The Trust operates tours around Sir Paul’s home and also John Lennon’s childhood home nearby.

Inside, the three-bed property has been meticulously preserved as a snapshot of 1960s Liverpool, including some of the family’s original decor — and a blue plaque outside commemorates “The Birthplace of The Beatles” as Paul and pal John would meet there to compose their earliest songs.

Jasmine later married her boyfriend Charles, known to the family by his middle name, ­Christopher, and they had three sons — Philip, Matthew and, amusingly, Paul.

A photograph of Jasmine posted online by a family member shows her looking elegant in a navy blazer at a relative’s wedding, with carefully cropped blonde hair beneath a wide-brimmed hat.

The relative explained: “She is 83 now and lives quietly. She wouldn’t want it to become any more of a story than it is — she had no idea that Sir Paul liked her, but she’s happy to leave it as that.

“It’s a good story for our family.”

The album, released on May 29, returns the world’s greatest living songwriter to many of his early memories and experiences, with Sir Paul going on to explain more about his 18th solo collection.

He said: “This was a lot of memories of Liverpool for me, but also any days we’ve left behind.

“Everyone’s got them, school, old mates  . . . It has memories of John in the middle — that’s lovely to go back to. Someone asked: ‘What’s the secret code?’ I’m not telling.

“You make up a lot of stuff when you write songs.”

And that admission may chime with Jasmine’s family, who later jokingly insisted: “She never ­actually knocked on his door.”

On another track, Salesman Saint, Sir Paul turns to his parents. “I was born in 1942, in the war. I was too young to appreciate that, but my parents weren’t.

“My dad was a fireman, putting out fires from the bombs. My mum was a nurse and midwife. But they carried on, because they had to.

“Like people in Ukraine, Gaza and elsewhere now.”

Meanwhile, Down South, one of the album’s most nostalgic tracks, recalls a story of hitchhiking with Lennon and fellow pal and later Beatles bandmate George Harrison.

The lyrics explain: “It was a good way to get to know you before we learned Twist & Shout.”

And reminiscing about the trip, Sir Paul reveals how he and George climbed on to a milk float.

He says: “There was the driver’s seat, a battery and a passenger seat. George got the battery. His jeans had a zip on the back and it connected with the battery. Later, he showed me the big zip burn.”

The new record was unveiled in Liverpool with a series of cryptic posters around the city.

Artwork for the project was designed by Sir Paul’s nephew, Josh.

It features cameos from Ringo Starr, The Pretenders singer Chrissie Hynde and Texas frontwoman Sharlene Spiteri.

And its release coincides with a series of major Beatles retrospectives — including Peter Jackson’s seminal Get Back documentary put together from restored archive footage that details the creation of their final album, Let It Be, and the band’s break-up.

But still to come is a major new dramatisation of the band’s rise to fame directed by Sam Mendes and with Paul Mescal as Macca.

The blockbuster will be released simultaneously as a quadrilogy in 2028, with each movie focused on one of the Fab Four’s formative years, charting their coming together as the world’s greatest musical group.

Filming with Mescal as Paul, Harris Dickinson as John, Barry Keoghan as Ringo and Joseph Quinn as George has already begun.

A NINETIES chart topper, 55 has barely aged a day as she performed in hotpants and a corset, 25 years after her smash hit – but can you guess who she is?

The singer appeared in a TikTok video where she was filmed dancing and singing on stage by her daughter.

The R&B star looked incredible on stage in thigh boots, corset and matching hot pants as she belted out her famous tune.

Previously, she appeared in a television commercial with legendary jazz singer Ella Fitzgerald for KFC when she was just nine years old.

At the age of just 11-years-old, she competed in the hit US talent series Star Search which helped to launch the careers of huge stars like Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera, Usher and Destiny’s Child.

The singer released her first album, Discovery in 1987, produced when she was just 14-years-old, and it gave her two top 10 R&B hits.

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She later signed with the famous Motown records in 1991, where she achieved mainstream success.

She’s best known for the hit song, I Love Your Smile which went to the top five in 12 territories worldwide and made the top 10 in 22 countries.

If you haven’t guessed already – it is pop legend Shanice – and her daughter Imani lovingly posted the video clip.

She captioned the video: “Watching my mom perform never gets old.”

Fans flocked to comment and one wrote: “My favourite song ever!”

Another said: “Shanice I love Your smile hits harder because I do Love Her Smile.”

A third added: “Soundtrack to my childhood.”

While a fourth said: “I freaking love your mom!!! I’m 52 and she’s been on my Playlist for 32 of those years!!! She’s amazing!!! So cool she’s your mom!!”

Shanice’s 1993 song Saving Forever for You reached number four on the US Billboard Hot 100 Chart.

In 1999 she went onto release When I Close My Eyes which peaked at number 12 on the Billboard hot 100.

Her voice has also been heard on several iconic film soundtracks including Eddie Murphy‘s Boomerang, The Meteor Man as well as Disney’s 1995 classic Pocahontas.

Her voice can also be heard in the backing vocals of Toni Braxton‘s smash hit, Un-Break My Heart.

Shanice married actor and comedian Flex Alexander in February 2000.

As well as sharing their daughter, Imani, the couple also have a son called Elijah Alexander Knox.

LOOK Mum No Computer is competing for the UK at the iconic Eurovision Song Contest tonight.

As one of Eurovision’s “Big Four” (formerly “Big Five”), the UK gets an automatic place in this Saturday’s final.

But the competition gets real this evening for Sam Battle, who is representing the UK with his single Eins, Zwei, Drei, because there can only be one winner.

Speaking about Eurovision in a press conference ahead of the final, the artist said: “It has been a lot of work, especially as I have just become a new dad at the same time as prepping for Eurovision.”

Who is Look Mum No Computer?

Sam Battle, widely known as Look Mum No Computer, is an English musician and electronics enthusiast from Peterborough, Cambridgeshire.

On his YouTube channel with more than 700k subscribers, he posts videos about making pro audio gear and synthesizers, as well as original music tracks.

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Battle is known for playing unusual musical devices made from vintage technology, such as a classic Raleigh Chopper bicycle and a Game Boy.

The YouTuber also runs This Museum Is Not Obsolete, a museum in Ramsgate, Kent, showcasing vintage devices repurposed for comic uses.

Sam has been curious about mechanics since early childhood, when he spent much of his time building rockets and robots.

After starting a university course in chemistry, he realised that he “was really not cut out for that” and switched to a music tech course instead.

However, he still quit his studies halfway through to join a music band in London for three years.

Stuck with an album that wasn’t being released and no gigs, Sam used this time to learn electronics.

He worked in numerous jobs, from fixing bicycles at Halfords to cooking in a restaurant, before before setting up indie-rock group ZIBRA with his three friends.

They performed at the Glastonbury Festival in 2015 as the final act on the BBC Introducing stage.

The musician launched his YouTube channel in 2013, primarily posting content for the the band — until its end in 2016 when he switched to his solo music project.

His younger sister Jodie Bartle, who appears in the music clip for Eins, Zwei, Drei by Look Mum No Computer, plays football for Wrexham.

In 2025, Sam developed a video game in collaboration with German indie studio The Bitfather and publisher Headup Games.

The game, called Look Mum No Computer, was nominated for the German Developer Award for Best Audio Design.

Who is Look Mum No Computer’s wife Melanie?

Sam Battle has been married to his wife Melanie for more than a decade.

On her Instagram, Melanie shared that she met Sam after “nicking a piece of plastic from outside of [his] house”.

The couple tied the knot in 2012 and have three children together.

Dr Melanie King is an awarded artist and curator based in Ramsgate who specialises in astronomy, alternative and analogue photography.

She works as a co-director of Lumen Studios, an art collective exploring the themes of astronomy and light, and super/collider, an independent agency that “celebrates and champions the connections between science, creativity and culture”.

In 2013, Melanie founded the London Alternative Photography Collective, which has grown from a small group of analogue and alternative photography practitioners to a collective producing large-scale symposiums, exhibitions and workshops.

Recently completing her PhD in Fine Art at the Royal College of Art, the mum-of-three also teaches Photography at Canterbury Christ Church University.

The couple welcomed their baby boy Max in April 2026, as Sam had been working hard on his performance in the iconic song contest.

On his Instagram page, the musician has recently posted more photos of the baby, adding: “Not long till he (Max) will be holding a soldering iron and helping!”

GERMANY is pinning its Eurovision hopes on one of the country’s best-known entertainers.

Sarah Engels will fly the flag for the nation in the Grand Final with her empowerment anthem Fire.

Who is Germany’s Eurovision entrant Sarah Engels?

Sarah Engels, 33, is a German singer and TV personality of Italian descent who has been a household name in her homeland for more than a decade.

She first burst onto the scene in 2011 when she finished as runner-up on the eighth season of Deutschland sucht den Superstar (DSDS) – Germany’s equivalent of The X Factor.

Her debut single Call My Name reached number two in the German charts and earned her an Echo Award nomination.

Engels, who was previously known by her married name Sarah Lombardi, has carved out an incredibly successful career on German reality TV.

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She finished second on Let’s Dance – Germany’s answer to Strictly Come Dancing.

The multi-talented star went on to lift the trophy on Das große Promibacken – the German version of The Great Celebrity Bake Off – as well as The Masked Singer Germany and Dancing on Ice.

She also works as a presenter, actress and voice artist.

Since November 2025, Sarah has been playing the lead role of Satine in the Cologne production of hit musical Moulin Rouge!

In her personal life, Sarah married fellow DSDS star Pietro Lombardi – who won the show the same year she came second – in March 2013.

The couple welcomed son Alessio in 2015, but split a year later.

She later tied the knot with former footballer Julian Büscher in May 2021, with the groom taking her surname.

Their daughter Solea was born later that year.

What is her Eurovision song ‘Fire’ about?

On February 28, Sarah was crowned Germany’s Eurovision pick after winning the national final Berlin.

She pipped wavvyboi’s Black Glitter and Molly Sue’s Optimist (Ha Ha Ha), with 38.3% of the public vote.

Fire was written by Sarah alongside Dario Schürmann, Luisa Heinemann, Raphael Lott and Valentin Boes.

On the surface, it is a punchy synth-pop banger about a lying, two-faced ex.

In the lyrics, Sarah brands a former flame a “vampire” who only comes out at night, telling him to stop denying his deceit and saying: “Boy, I’m out of your league”.

But the song’s deeper message is one of empowerment, solidarity and self-determination.

These themes are close to Sarah’s heart thanks to her foundation Stiftung Starke Mädchen, or Strong Girls, which she set up to inspire young women.

Sarah said taking part in Eurovision was a chance to share her message, “which comes deep from my heart”.

She added: “My motto for Vienna is: I’m on fire. I truly have no fear at all – I’m just incredibly excited.”

As one of Eurovision’s Big Four, Germany has automatic qualification to Saturday’s Grand Final at Vienna’s Wiener Stadthalle.

The country has won the contest twice – in 1982 with Nicole’s Ein bißchen Frieden, and also in 2010 with Lena’s Satellite.

THE 2026 Eurovision Song Contest final is officially here, as Brits prepare themselves for the inevitable ‘null points.’

Over the years, many A-list celebrities have had a go at the world’s most famous singing competition, with some of them more unexpected than others.

Olivia Newton-John

Before her Sandy days, Grease star Olivia Newton-John represented the United Kingdom at Eurovision.

Singing “Long Live Love” back in 1974, Olivia managed to secure joint 4th place behind winners, ABBA.

Celine Dion

A 20-year-old Celine Dion competed in Eurovision back in 1988, singing “Ne partez pas sans moi” for Switzerland.

The Titanic star quickly transformed from a French-language star to a global icon, winning the competition by just one point.

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Blue

British boyband Blue proudly represented the UK in 2011, singing “I Can” to audiences in Düsseldorf.

The band, comprising of Simon Webbe, Duncan James, Antony Costa and Lee Ryan, scored a respectable 100 points, finishing 11th in the competition.

Bonnie Tyler

Beloved Welsh icon Bonnie Tyler represented the United Kingdom in 2013, singing “Believe in Me.”

Bonnie should have been Holding Out for a Hero during the competition, scoring only 23 points and coming 19th.

Cascada

Dance and electronic act Cascada represented Germany in 2013 with the song “Glorious”

The Evacuate the Dancefloor and Everytime We Touch singer finished in a disappointing 21st place in the competition.

Flo Rida

American rapper and singer Flo Rida made one of the most unexpected appearances in Eurovision.

Representing San Marino in 2021, Flo Rida teamed up with singer Senhit to rap a verse of her song, “Adrenaline.”

ABBA

The most famous entry of all, ABBA’s debut at Eurovision catapulted them to global superstardom.

Singing iconic hit “Waterloo” for Sweden back in 1974, their winning performance in Brighton became the start of their legendary careers.

EUROVISION gets underway tonight in Vienna, as fans celebrate the 70th edition of the iconic music competition.

Here’s all you need to know about what time the competition starts and what to expect.

What time does Eurovision start tonight?

The Eurovision Grand Final gets underway at 8pm on BBC 1.

The final is taking place at Wiener Stadthalle in Vienna, Austria.

Austria are hosting this years edition after winning the 2025 contest in Switzerland.

What is the Eurovision 2026 running order?

The running order for tonight’s Eurovision 2026 Grand Final was confirmed after the conclusion of the second semi-final on Thursday.

The running order for tonight is as follows:

1. Denmark: Søren Torpegaard Lund – Før Vi Går Hjem
2. Germany: Sarah Engels – Fire
3. Israel: Noam Bettan – Michelle
4. Belgium: ESSYLA – Dancing on the Ice
5. Albania: Alis – Nân
6. Greece: Akylas – Ferto
7. Ukraine: LELÉKA – Ridnym
8. Australia: Delta Goodrem – Eclipse
9. Serbia: LAVINA – Kraj Mene
10. Malta: AIDAN – Bella
11. Czechia: Daniel Zizka – CROSSROADS
12. Bulgaria: DARA – Bangaranga
13. Croatia: LELEK – Andromeda
14. United Kingdom: LOOK MUM NO COMPUTER – Eins, Zwei, Drei
15. France: Monroe – Regarde !
16. Moldova: Satoshi – Viva, Moldova!
17. Finland: Linda Lampenius x Pete Parkkonen – Liekinheitin
18. Poland: ALICJA – Pray
19. Lithuania: Lion Ceccah – Sólo Quiero Más
20. Sweden: FELICIA – My System
21. Cyprus: Antigoni – JALLA
22. Italy: Sal Da Vinci – Per Sempre Sì
23. Norway: JONAS LOVV – YA YA YA
24. Romania: Alexandra Căpitănescu – Choke Me
25. Austria: COSMÓ – Tanzschein

How can I watch Eurovision 2026?

Coverage will start in the UK on the BBC and BBC iPlayer at 8pm, with Graham Norton returning to his regular commentary role.

The show will last for almost three hours, coverage ending at 11.50pm, when the BBC will switch to the news.

Who is UK entrant Look Mum No Computer?

Look Mum No Computer is the alias of Sam Battle, originating from the name of his YouTube channel dedicated to creative audio electronics projects.

The artist also uses it as his stage name when performing as a musician.

The name is inspired by the phrase “look mum, no hands”, used by kids when they are learning to cycle.

It highlights the artist’s bold, anti-digital approach to making music where he builds his own synthesizers and hardware, such as his famous Furby organ.

POP star Sabrina Carpenter pips it in the fashion stakes in a lemon yellow frock.

The Espresso singer, 27, donned a transparent Dior gown which showed off her white underwear.

And she clutched a ­yellow Dior handbag as the French fashion house showcased its new collection in Los Angeles.

Carpenter had also worn a Dior dress at the annual New York Met Gala, which paid homage to Audrey Hepburn’s 1954 film Sabrina.

She was joined at the Dior show by The Queen’s Gambit actress Anya Taylor-Joy, 30, who was in a black cut-out frock.

This comes off the back of Sabrina’s sensational headline concerts at Coachella last month.

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The singer delivered a set dubbed “Sabrinawood” with a Hollywood-themed set across two weekends on April 10 and 17.

Her shows featured some very iconic cameos from the likes of Madonna, Susan Sarandon, Will Ferrell, and Sam Elliott.

The setlist highlighted her most recent album Man’s Best Friend.

But it also included some of her biggest hits like Espresso and Feather.

IN the weeks before we lost The Beach Boys’ Brian Wilson on June 11 last year, he had two special visitors. 

They were the group’s surviving founder members, his first cousin Mike Love, and his best friend from college, Al Jardine. 

It was their chance to say goodbye to the man who, above anyone, brought “good vibrations” to the world and created their 1966 magnum opus Pet Sounds. 

First to venture up the drive at Brian’s Beverly Hills mansion for one last time was Jardine.  

“I last saw him at the very end,” he says. “I came up to the house and he just pointed at me. 

“He said, ‘You started the band’, and I went, ‘Wait, come on, Brian, I’m sure you had a little something to do with it!’ 

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“He was very direct at times — he could be very unfiltered — but I think our friendship meant a lot to him. 

“He was always my best friend, right from when we started out.” 

Despite Brian’s well-documented struggles with mental health, Jardine insists that his old buddy never lost his passion for music. 

“His reputation remains solid,” he adds, before supplying an answer to his own question: “What’s the term? Legend.  

“His work will be appreciated for centuries to come. He had his own style. Just listen to his arrangements and his chord changes — they’re just so unusual.  

“His brother Dennis actually said it first, ‘Brian is The Beach Boys’. He created our sound and, as Mike Love would say, he heard things we couldn’t hear.” 

Of his last visit to Brian, Love says: “A couple of weeks before he passed away, I was able to go and see him. 

“We had a great time. We sang together, actually, which was a lot of fun.” 

Love leads the latest incarnation of The Beach Boys, keeping their songs alive in concert, including Pet Sounds classics God Only Knows, Wouldn’t It Be Nice and Sloop John B.  

“Brian’s still with us every night in that music,” he affirms 

If Brian, younger brothers Carl and Dennis, Mike and Al started out by singing about surfing, girls and open-top cars in the California sun, it was the elder Wilson sibling who took things to the next level with Pet Sounds. 

A themed song cycle employing pioneering production techniques, sublime harmonies, divine melodies and darker, soul-searching lyrics, it is regarded as Brian’s masterpiece.

He had been impressed with The Beatles’ sonic adventures on Rubber Soul — now he was pushing The Beach Boys to raise the bar higher, in turn inspiring their chart rivals to make Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band. 

Paul McCartney maintains that God Only Knows is his favourite song and that Pet Sounds is among his top three albums.  

He once enthused: “The musical invention on that is, like, ‘Wow!’  

“I just thought, ‘Oh dear me, this is THE album of all time, what the hell are we gonna do?’” 

To mark its 60th anniversary, The Pet Sounds Sessions — including demos, alternate takes and outtakes — are receiving digital, CD and vinyl editions. They feature a host of a cappella tracks shining the spotlight on the breathtaking harmonies.  

Which is why I’m speaking to Brian’s bandmates via video calls that seem entirely appropriate for singers who epitomise California’s sunny beach vibes.  

As we’re connected, Love, 85, reports that he’s “driving down the Pacific Coast Highway outside of Malibu”. 

In a separate call, Jardine, 83, is sitting in his solarium under clear blue skies in Monterey, gateway to the rugged Big Sur coastal region. 

First, Love gives me insights into his Beach Boys journey, leading up to the groundbreaking Pet Sounds.  

His mother Glee was the sister of Murry Wilson, father of Brian, Carl and Dennis, “so every holiday — Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year’s, Fourth of July — and birthday was celebrated with music. 

“When Brian and I were teens, we’d get together and sing or listen to the radio, hearing groups like The Everly Brothers.” 

When they formed The Beach Boys, the clean-cut image involving surfing, sun and girls was, he says, “environmental because we lived a few miles from the sea”. 

Love continues: “We would often go to the beach for family outings. There, you’d find people who dressed a certain way, talked a certain way and had a certain attitude.  

“They were the surfers who inspired our first song, Surfin’ [released in 1961].” 

As to whether The Beach Boys joined the craze, he adds: “Dennis, Al and I had surfboards but we weren’t the greatest athletes. We appreciated it though, and we gave it a shot. 

“I’m not sure Brian ever tried it. He could only hear out of one ear and didn’t have much balance. You need all the balance you can get when you’re surfing.” 

Love recalls how he would “sit down at the piano with Brian while he figured out chord progressions, tempos and melodies.  

“I felt it was up to me to come up with lyrics and sing lead on songs we were working on together such as Surfin’ USA, I Get Around and Fun Fun Fun.” 

Jardine, who currently fronts The Pet Sounds Band of ace Brian Wilson associates, also casts his mind back to the early days but is interrupted by “actual pet sounds”. 

“Hang on a second, we have a little dog outside and he’s barking — I gotta shut him up,” he reports.  

When calm returns, I ask Jardine how he came to form a band with three brothers and their cousin in 1961.  

He answers: “Well, Brian and I were classmates in high school but didn’t really know each other. 

“We were on the football team — he was quarterback and I was full back. He would call the plays, either pitching the ball to me or somebody else. 

“But we didn’t interact until we went to college. I’d heard him in concert and, in our second year, I bumped into him on campus and said, ‘We gotta start a band’.  

“We walked over to the music room and started playing music for each other.  

“I’d already been in a folk group and, when he heard me sing, he realised I had a gift. 

“Then he said, ‘I’ve got my little brothers and my cousin, Mike. I’ll introduce you to them. I rented instruments from a local music store but we didn’t know how to express ourselves at first, so we just sang a cappella. 

“Once we finally got around the piano, we were off and running. 

“I soon realised that Brian was a fine-tuned instrument. He had a great voice, a great knack for composition and already had a duet thing going on with Mike.” 

As for the surfer image, Jardine credits Dennis Wilson, the family rebel who played the drums. He says: “Dennis was a surfer and the rest of us were land lovers. He taught me how to surf but I sank like a stone. 

“But surfing was the craze so we put lyrics to our first song and called it Surfin’.” 

In 1964, Brian dropped the bombshell that he was stepping back from touring to concentrate on studio work.  

Love provides this insight into his cousin’s state of mind: “Brian wasn’t comfortable on the road — he got nervous and unhappy. He missed home and he missed the studio. 

“It was a drag to see him leave the live group but it was in his best interests.” 

Afforded fewer distractions, Brian applied himself to Pet Sounds and, in tandem with it, the sophisticated sonic miracle Good Vibrations — a standalone hit deemed not a good fit for the album. 

This period coincided with his experiments with LSD and marijuana.  

He once stated that drugs helped him achieve a deeper level of creativity but later expressed regrets over the damage to his mental health. 

Because of the complexity, Brian needed longer than usual to finish Pet Sounds so The Beach Boys released a stopgap party album, yielding one of their biggest hits, Barbara Ann. 

Then, after a tour of Japan in January 1966, with Bruce Johnston taking Brian’s place, Carl, Dennis, Mike, Al and Bruce returned for the momentous sessions.  

In their absence, Brian had employed lyricist Tony Asher and crack session musicians the Wrecking Crew, including, among many, Glen Campbell on guitar and banjo. 

Love says: “The tracks Brian had done were completely amazing. Our main job was to finish them vocally and we worked very hard.” 

One of the songs was God Only Knows, which he says was “sung so beautifully by my cousin Carl”. 

“We lost him many years ago to lung cancer. For concerts these days, my son Christian sings lead.” 

So what was Carl like? “He was our musical director on stage and the most proficient musician in the group,” replies Love. 

Jardine adds: “Carl could knock it out of the park. He was right in the centre of our harmonies with Mike’s baritone below and me higher, with Brian higher still.” 

And what about Dennis, who had a wild reputation and later befriended cult leader and killer Charles Manson? 

Love says: “He lived a dangerous life because of the alcohol and drugs he got involved with. He died [from drowning] in 1983.” 

Jardine adds: “Dennis was our Keith Moon. Oh boy, all he had to do was just stand up on stage and the crowd would go nuts.” 

It was self-confessed folkie Jardine who brought Bahamian sea shanty Sloop John B to Brian. He says: “I was a Kingston Trio fan. They were big Capitol Records guys, same label as us, and they wore striped shirts.  

“Learning all their songs was my musical training. When the time came to start The Beach Boys, I went out and bought striped shirts for us. 

“Sloop John B was my idea. I said, ‘Brian, if we add one major and one minor chord, it’ll sound like us instead of The Kingston Trio’. 

“He put it to good use. It became Pet Sounds’ lead single. Capitol always wanted a hit to sell an album.” 

Recalling the sessions, Jardine says that Brian’s abilities had been “growing exponentially” while they’d been away. 

“In spite of our jet lag, we were in the studio the day after we got home from Japan. We were extremely impressed with Brian’s arrangements. 

“People forget that he was a masterful producer. He knew the language. He could go into a studio and the studio became an instrument for him.” 

That said, it wasn’t all plain sailing, as Jardine explains: “Mike didn’t like the lyrics on some songs so he insisted on changing a couple around.  

“He thought a song called Hang On To Your Ego was too sophisticated for our crowd so he changed it to I Know There’s An Answer.” 

The story of Pet Sounds wouldn’t be complete without mention of the album title and cover shot of the boys among the goats at San Diego Zoo. Love says: “Brian didn’t know what to call the album.

“At the end [of final track Caroline, No], you hear a train going by and dogs are barking.  

“Those were Brian and [first wife] Marilyn’s dogs. So I said, ‘Why don’t we call it Pet Sounds? It was a double entendre, of course — and it stuck.” 

Jardine picks up the story of the photo shoot: “It was a total mystery to me.  

“We had to drive to San Diego, which was 200 miles away. We had our own zoo in Los Angeles, for God’s sake!” 

The resulting album cover has a quaint charm but it’s not exactly up there with Sgt Pepper’s iconic Peter Blake design. 

Love smiles at the memory and says: “I was in India at the Maharishi’s place when Paul McCartney and I had a conversation one night. 

“He was saying, ‘Mike, you ought to take more care with your album covers’. 

“So I told him, ‘Paul, you’re absolutely right.

We should’. 

“But we always felt that what went into the sleeve was more important than the cover itself.” 

And speaking of goats, to many including Macca, Pet Sounds is the GOAT. 

THE BEACH BOYS 

The Pet Sounds Session Highlights 

★★★★★

EUROVISION fans have picked their first ten finalists after the 70th edition of the iconic song contest kicked off in Vienna.

The BBC aired the first semi-final of the 2026 Eurovision Song Contest at 8pm on Tuesday, May 12, 2026.

Austria is hosting the world’s biggest music competition for the third time after JJ stormed to victory in Basel last year with Wasted Love.

Victoria Swarovski and Michael Ostrowski are hosting the show, with Emily Busvine looking after the Green Room.

Rylan and Angela Scanlon are providing commentary from the Wiener Stadthalle.

What happened in the first Eurovision semi-final?

A total of 15 countries competed for 10 Grand Final spots on Tuesday night.

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Pre-qualified Italy and Germany were slotted in after the sixth and 10th songs respectively.

Both nations were performing and voting, but not competing for a place in the final.

After all acts had performed, it was down to Eurovision fans to vote for who they want to see in Saturday’s final.

Just ten countries were picked and they were:

• Moldova – Satoshi, Viva, Moldova!
• Sweden – Felicia, My System
• Croatia – Lelek, Andromeda
• Greece – Akylas, Ferto
• Finland – Linda Lampenius and Pete Parkkonen, Liekinheitin
• Israel – Noam Bettan, Michelle
• Belgium – Essyla, Dancing on the Ice
• Lithuania – Lion Ceccah, Sólo quiero más
• Poland – Alicja, Pray
• Serbia – Lavina, Kraj mene

Viewers in the UK were not able to vote during the first semi-final, but things are going to change tonight.

What is the Eurovision semi-final 2 running order?

The second Eurovision semi-final follows at 8pm on Thursday, May 14, live on BBC One and iPlayer.

Another 15 countries will battle it out for the remaining 10 places.

Pre-qualified France, Austria and the UK will slot in after the fifth, eighth and 12th songs respectively.

These countries are performing and voting, but not competing for a place in the final.

The order for the second semi is as follows:

• Bulgaria – Dara, Bangaranga
• Azerbaijan – JIVA, Just Go
• Romania – Alexandra Căpitănescu, Choke Me
• Luxembourg – Eva Marija, Mother Nature
• Czechia – Daniel Žižka, Crossroads
• France (non-competing) – Monroe, Regarde !
• Armenia – Simón, Paloma Rumba
• Switzerland – Veronica Fusaro, Alice
• Cyprus – Antigoni, Jalla
• Austria (non-competing) – Cosmó, Tanzschein
• Latvia – Atvara, Ēnā
• Denmark – Søren Torpegaard Lund, Før vi går hjem
• Australia – Delta Goodrem, Eclipse
• Ukraine – Leléka, Ridnym
• United Kingdom (non-competing) – Look Mum No Computer, Eins, Zwei, Drei
• Albania – Alis, Nân
• Malta – Aidan, Bella
• Norway – Jonas Lovv, Ya Ya Ya

This is the show where UK fans can pick up the phone and vote.

When is the Eurovision Grand Final?

The Eurovision 2026 Grand Final takes place on Saturday, May 16, with the show getting underway at 8pm on BBC One, iPlayer, BBC Radio 2 and BBC Sounds.

A whopping 25 acts will perform – the top 10 countries from each semi-final, alongside hosts Austria and the Big Four of Germany, France, Italy and the UK.

The full Grand Final running order won’t be locked in until after the second semi-final.

A draw will decide if each of the qualifying nations is slotted into the first or second half of the show.

Another draw has already determined that Austria are the closing act, meaning the host country is set to be the 25th and final performance of the night.

Graham Norton is back behind the mic for the BBC’s live coverage, with former Drag Race winner Tia Kofi heading up the broadcaster’s backstage and digital coverage.

TONIGHT, Delta Goodrem is hoping to turn Australia’s Eurovision fortunes around.

The Born To Try singer is banking on her track Eclipse to get her country into Saturday’s grand final for the first time in three years.

She will compete in the second Eurovision Semi-Final live in Vienna alongside the UK’s entry Look Mum No Computer and former Love Island
star Antigoni Buxton .

The reality star is representing Cyprus with her song Jalla.

Australia, who have competed in the contest since 2015, has failed to make it past the semi-finals since 2023, when Voyager’s track Promise saw them finish in ninth place in Liverpool.

Speaking to Bizarre, Delta revealed she has put just as much effort into the production of her performance as she has the song itself.

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Delta said: “I have definitely been learning on the job.

“This is my first ever Eurovision. The staging is just as important as the song.

“When I was working on the track, I wanted to make sure there was a lyric that lends itself to a journey in the production.

“I wrote it thinking about what the staging looks like and what exactly we are saying in the song.”

Admitting she was like a kid in a candy store when choosing her stage
effects, Delta added: “You can do all sorts of things.

“They give you a long list.. honestly, what an amazing opportunity.

“You can have fire, wind, you name it. I felt like I was going shopping.”

Last year’s 2025 contest in Basel, Switzerland, was watched by a
staggering 166 million people.

However, Delta insists she isn’t fazed by the massive global audience
set to watch her tonight.

She said: “It doesn’t matter if it’s Hackney, the Commonwealth Games,
Eurovision, or my outdoor pop-up in Camden earlier this year, I care
just as much about every single performance.

“My game plan is simple, stay true to myself and bring it.”

While Delta is determined to make her country proud, she isn’t taking
things too seriously.

In fact, she says bonding with fellow contestants has been a highlight.

Delta said: “Eurovision is completely its own world. I met a lot of artists in Oslo earlier this year and you naturally find your friends. Denmark’s Soren Torpegaar came up to me and told me how he went to one of my shows the last time I was in Denmark. It was really sweet.

“Honestly, the whole process has been amazing.”

JOHN Lennon’s son Julian has revealed his devastating health diagnosis while sending a warning to his fans.

The son of the iconic singer from The Beatles has opened up about being diagnosed with coronary heart disease and pre-diabetes.

The 63-year-old musician, who followed in his father’s footsteps and had the hit Too Late For Goodbyes, opened up in a recent social media post.

Taking to social media, Julian said in a post: “After being diagnosed with Coronary Heart Disease & a Pre-Diabetic, I urge you all to get checked out sooner rather than later.

“You never know what hidden health issues you may have, even after exercising and eating as much ‘good/healthy’ food as possible.

“Nip it in the bud! As they say…

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“Even with these ailments, I’ve managed to catch them early enough, to be able to reverse some of the damage and will hopefully be able to live a healthy long life!

“Please get checked out, before you’re checked out…

“And last but not least, thanks to all the Doctors who have helped and guided me on this new journey so far… Truly.”

Fans rushed to support Julian amid his health woes.

“Be well Julian! I’m on the same journey,” said one fan.

“Dear Julian, You are very thoughtful to share this, especially for our benefit. Good luck with your new healthier journey. Please keep us updated,” added a second.

“Good advice. Trying to be better at it now. Take good care,” penned a third.

This isn’t Julian’s first health concern.

In 2020, the musician revealed he had to undergo an emergency operation to remove a cancerous growth from his head.

The singer had visited his dermatologist, who noticed a lump on his head which he had had all his life “looked and felt a little different”.

After having a biopsy, the results showed that the mole was cancerous and Julian got it removed immediately. 

Writing on social media at the time, he said: “She urged me to have a Biopsy 2 days ago, which I obliged…

“Only to learn, 24 hrs later, that it was malignant/cancerous, and that her recommendation was to get it removed immediately, which is what happened today…

“Hopefully we managed to remove all that was cancerous, but the mole is being sent off again, for a further/deeper analysis, and I’ll have those results next week.”

Julian is the son of John Lennon and his first wife Cynthia, who sadly died in April 2015.

AN X Factor star has mysteriously pulled out of a major festival gig for “unforeseen” reasons.

The 30-year-old shot to fame on The X Factor in 2012 and went on to enjoy huge success as a musician.

The In It Together festival, which takes place this month in Wales, has announced that X Factor star Ella Henderson will not be appearing this year.

Taking to social media they said: “We’re very sorry to share that Ella Henderson has unfortunately been forced to cancel some of her upcoming appearances due to unforeseen circumstances, and as a result will no longer be appearing at In It Together Festival this year.

“We completely understand and support Ella’s decision, and we want to send our love and very best wishes to Ella and her entire team at this time.

“We sincerely hope to welcome Ella to In It Together in the near future.”

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The statement continued: “While we know many of you will be disappointed, we’ve worked tirelessly behind the scenes at the last minute to secure a huge replacement artist and someone you absolutely do not want to miss.

“Join us on Sunday at 2PM on the Together Stage for the official reveal. Trust us… this is BIG.”

Ella found fame on the ITV talent show in 2012 aged 16 where she wowed judges with her rendition of Cher’s Believe before reaching the live finals.

But she finished in sixth place behind winner James Arthur.

Following her stint on the show, Ella went on to sign with Simon Cowell’s label Syco Music and released her first studio album, Chapter One, with the music mogul in 2014.

During her time with label, Ella scored several hits with her single Ghost, which she wrote with the American writer producer Ryan Tedder, and emotional ballad Yours.

She went on a four-year hiatus in 2015, and released her second studio album, Everything I Didn’t Say, in 2022. It became her second top 10 album in the UK.

Ella has received the Brit Billion Award, and nominations for four Brit Awards and an Ivor Novello Award.