Sophie Ellis-bextor

Glastonbury organiser Emily Eavis has praised Ed Sheeran, Foo Fighters and Radiohead for donating their feed to a £2million charity pot.

Headliners of the iconic music festival miss out on huge performance fees in favour of allowing Emily and her dad, Glastonbury founder Michael Eavis, to make a whopping donation to good causes every year and she says it is the ''absolute, most paramount'' aspect of the music extravaganza.

Speaking to BBC Radio 6 music, she said: ''The charity thing is the absolute, most paramount thing of the biggest importance, really. The most important part of the festival is the fact that we can give that money to charity. It makes it all totally worthwhile. We try to give £2million per year, and on a wet year it's harder because it costs more, but we give as close to £2million as we can.''

Continue reading: Emily Eavis: Glastonbury Acts Like Ed Sheeran Help Raise '£2million Every Year' For Charity

Sophie Ellis-Bextor dances ''a lot'' more now when she is performing than she used to.

The 38-year-old musician has admitted she used to stay still when she was on stage with her first band because of her ''indie background''.

Speaking to the Metro newspaper, she said: ''I move around a lot. When I sang in my first band, which was at 16 or 17, I would stay really still. Then, when I did Groovejet, because I'd been from this indie background. I didn't want to dance. I just thought it was a bit too obvious, so I thought I'd just stand really still.''

Continue reading: Sophie Ellis-Bextor Dances 'a Lot' More When Performing Now

Sophie Ellis-Bextor has confirmed she is expecting her fourth child. The 36-year-old singer announced the news on Twitter on Wednesday (20th May). Rumours about the singer's pregnancy began earlier this week when she appeared at the Lorraine's High Street Fashion Awards. Although her dress was deliberately baggy, Bextor's baby bump was still evident for all to see. 

Sophie Ellis-Bextor at the Lorraine's High Street Fashion Awards.

See More Pictures From Lorraine's High Street Fashion Awards. 

Continue reading: Sophie Ellis-Bextor Confirms She Is Expecting Her Fourth Child

The return of Kent's Hop Farm Music Festival was an expectedly diverse affair, with day three (July 6th 2014) mixing it up with an array of genres from folk to hip hop.

For all the old school Hop Farm revellers, there was plenty to enjoy with the likes of rhythm and blues veteran Billy Ocean, rockney pioneers Chas & Dave, Soft Cell frontman Marc Almond and 2 Tone ska from Birmingham's The Beat. Also, Joy Division's Peter Hook returned to the festival with his latest project Peter Hook & The Light.

It wasn't just a local gig either: plenty of overseas acts hit the Farm on Sunday. They included Texas folk group Midlake and Atlanta collective Arrested Development, who turned the event irresistably into the Hip Hop Farm Festival (Sorry, folks). The alternative rap band were one of the biggest of their kind during their 90s reign; their debut album '3 Years, 5 Months & 2 Days in the Life Of...' going multi-Platinum on its release. And they're still going strong, dropping their last album 'Standing At The Crossroads' in 2012.

Continue reading: Arrested Development, Billy Ocean And The Dunwells Among The Diverse Line-Up For Hop Farm Festival 2014

Part of Glastonbury’s enduring reputation is its propensity for composing a line-up that is extensive that a wealth of acts will pass by unnoticed. We’ve sieved through the thousands of acts who will be making the trip to Worthy Farm to highlight ten acts whose inclusion in the festival bill may surprise many. Sifting through the lower rungs of the bill uncovers a slew of rising stars and forgotten flames, those who are on the ascension to the upper levels of cultural recognition as well as those whose days of glory are far behind them.

Metallica will be this years most controversial performers. Photo: Getty Images, Credit: Frazer Harrison

Beyond the endless stretch of humans eyeing up the pyramid stage with binoculars are copious tents and smaller stages which host a myriad of curiosities, from fading pop stars regurgitating their hit songs for the umpteenth time to all manner of odd theatrics, spoken word performances, comedians, circus performances and Happy Monday’s hype-man Bez, who has this year been granted his very own ‘Acid House’ stage. Here then, are ten acts who to varying degrees will surprise festival goers with their very presence at the culturally sacred Somerset site: 

Continue reading: 10 Acts You Had No Idea Were Playing Glastonbury

Sophie Ellis-Bextor is back in the charts, baring her teeth with her latest album Wanderlust as it fights for the throne in this week's UK number one. The 34 year-old diva is raring to steal the top perch from current charts hot-shot Ellie Goulding as well as race past current number two, Bruce Springsteen and his album High Hopes.

Sophie Ellis-Bextor Takes The Charts By Storm...Yet Again!

It won't be all plain sailing for Sophie, who famously denied Victoria Beckham a number one single in 2000 with her debut solo single 'Groovejet (If This Ain't Love), but with a further six more Top 10 singles and four Top 40 albums, she's pretty well-placed to do it all over again and blow the other acts out of the water.

Continue reading: Sophie Ellis-Bextor Fighting Warpaint, Ellie Goulding For UK Album Chart Number One

Abbey Clancy was named the winner of the BBC's Strictly Come Dancing on Saturday (21 Dec.) night, earning her and professional dancer Aljaz Skorjanec the glitter ball trophy. Clancy emerged victorious from an all-female final, beting actress Natalie Gumede, newsreader Susanna Reid and singer Sophie Ellis-Bextor to the grand prize.

Clancy and ex-Corrie star Natalie Gumede were the best performers on the night

BBC Breakfast presenter Reid had been the bookie's favourite to take home the award, but after a valiant display from Clancy in the final episode of the season, the viewers at home voted Mrs Peter Crouch to be the Dancing Queen, also preventing Reid from being the third BBC presenter to win the contest. Clancy later called Strictly "the most perfect experience I've had" and her professional partner Skorjanec, who made his debut on the series this season, said: "I can't believe this; it's just mad."

Continue reading: Abbey Clancy Crowned 'Strictly Come Dancing' 2013 Winner

With the semi-finals set to hit our screens in a couple of weeks, we look at our favourites among the 'Strictly Come Dancing' six remaining contestants.

Yesterday (December 1st 2013) saw 'Waterloo Road''s  get voted out of the competition in their tenth week after landing in the bottom two with Ashley Taylor Dawson and Ola Jordan following their lively 'Lion King' routine. They performed a samba to the popular Disney hit 'I Just Can't Wait To Be King' complete with lion inspired costumes and, alas, face paint.

Mark Benton and Iveta Lukosiute perform 'The Lion King' inspired dance

Continue reading: Who's Boogying Their Way Into The Final On 'Strictly Come Dancing'? [Pictures]