Hassaan

They revealed it on the ITV2 show. :)

Also... Melvin Contostavlos incoming

Hopefully someone else gets to do this trial. I'm guessing Jane. Enjoyed the chats between GK and Richard.

Not being racist enough, probably. Probably the same people saying "you lost, get over it" after Brexit and that 2019 win.

That was my first thought too. It seems chopped up in places.

Dean still doing the trials is becoming annoying now. I think he's not helping matters as he's not bossed it yet. I think the whole thing with the chores is going to be very split down the middle. I don't think Danny & Barry had any ill intention, personally.

I think Take That had the formula right when they reformed - an album every two years (or more) and just focus on the touring aspect in between. Now, I'm not sure if that approach would have worked during their first run in the 90s but then they probably didn't know themselves then, never mind how to navigate the music industry. There's striking when the iron's hot and there's running yourself into the ground, and I do question if it would have made that much of a difference to One Direction's popularity (for example) had they released an album every two years and just focused on getting as much as they could out of each one, through touring and other stuff. East 17 are actually still going although with barely any of the original members. I guess they've carved out some kind of niche for themselves amongst the "legacy" circuit, like 5ive and to a lesser extent Blue (as they released an album of new material in 2022). It seems it's tricky for the older boybands to cut through with their new material but maybe that's applicable to most acts who had a lot of success in the pre-streaming age. Westlife and Take That's most recent releases of new material in 2021 and 2023 respectively both charted well (#2 and #1 respectively) although the singles released with the album didn't do much - #66 for Starlight (Westlife in 2021) and Windows (Take That in 2023) not making the top 100, though both performing well in the sales only charts. Touring wise, they're both capable of selling out arenas and stadiums whenever they do them, so they're very much in a cushy position.

I hope we see more of Melvin, Oti & Barry too. He said he needed his contacts, but you're not meant to sleep with them in, surely? Even then, it seemed to largely be a communication issue.

Does that make As It Was his biggest track?

I think Maura and Richard were brilliant in that challenge yesterday. I'm glad Danny is doing the trial today as at least someone else gets a go.

It was also interesting to hear about Tulisa's story. I was aware of it but didn't know much about it. Also, why is Dean mentioning the teabags knowing he's wearing a microphone and is being filmed?

Yeah, that seemed like an already difficult task that Dean made more difficult, and GK did her best but she was panicking therefore didn't take in enough deep breaths seemingly.

The funeral is today. A shame in a way that paparazzi are there but I don't think that was avoidable.

Robbie wrote an open letter to Nigel Martin-Smith: https://www.instagram.com/p/DCd76Fpu_FE/

I can't help feeling it would have done anyway. Public opinion on the whole thing seemed to have shifted somewhat.

I've caught the first two episodes and intend to catch up on the third after it has gone out on telly (cos I'm that much of a traditionalist :D). Very eye-opening. I knew of the Take That story already but not so much about the others. It always seems to be the way with journalists (particularly those of tabloids such as News of the World) who are asked to take part in things like this that they are pretty much not really looking at things through a different lens. You could say the same about the managers too but I guess they were also going with what they knew at the time. Two things can be right at the same time - these bands were very overworked and it wasn't sustainable but also a boyband (or any music act really) is a brand.

They've been touring all year so I can believe that they couldn't find the time.

America is broken. I don't understand why he was allowed to run again.

I obviously hope Kamala wins but I worry about what could happen to her if she does. We don't want a repeat of January 6th (and worse), yet I would not put it past him.

Are we considering "falling off" to be someone who's actively trying to recapture their previous success (big singles rollout, album, promo, interviews etc)? Or someone who is very much not aiming for chart success at all, and is just putting things out as they wish? I feel Jess Glynne would fall into the former category but Pixie Lott would fall into the latter.

The Best a Nan Can Get

I didn't realise until a few years ago that they were still going. Only one original member though but they seem to get gigs on the legacy circuit.

Bad Enoch. At least she doesn't really have any power. I'd be more worried if we still had a Tory government and someone who has been even more "woke bad" than recent PMs ends up there.

I was surprised that her latest album didn't chart but aside from it having been ten years, i don't think it was given much of a push. Plus the fact she didn't release much in the intervening years suggested to me that she didn't want the superstardom or the #1s anymore. The Voice Kids was a cushy gig but I believe she was also running a weekend drama school.

Finished the series, having watched at weekly pace. Jason Manford did a very good job. I didn't even see him as just that comedian I've seen on telly for years. It was frustrating, as someone who has been bullied, to see Billy not actively stand up to Schuey, and it feels like that hasn't been fully dealt with either. I'm glad they gave Libby some form of character development and the scenes with Luca were also nice. Ditto the scenes between Noel and Preston. I do imagine the sixth formers may be leaving the show now but it'll be interesting to see what they do. I wish they spoke a bit more about Steve's recklessness (like with Carla). I'm just glad the loose ends were all tied up. For some reason I didn't know if I could see Donte & Nicky lasting. It did feel like the cracks formed as soon as Steve came into the picture.