And for those who are already missing the TV hit show, X Factor Live 2010 is coming to an arena near you.

The series of pop concert dates for X Factor Live 2010 tour begins in Liverpool on Monday 15th February  in February before visiting Birmingham, London, Cardiff, Brighton, Nottingham, Aberdeen, Glasgow, Newcastle, Belfast, Sheffield, Manchester and finishing at SECC in Glasgow on Sunday 4th April.

The X Factor Live 2010 Tour Dates

February 2010
Mon 15th Liverpool Arena
Tue 16th  Liverpool Arena
Wed 17th Birmingham Arena
Thur 18th Birmingham Arena
Fri 19th  Birmingham Arena
Sat 20th London Wembley Arena
Sat 20th London Wembley Arena
Sun 21st  London Wembley Arena
Tue 23rd  Cardiff International Arena
Wed 24th Cardiff International Arena
Thu 25th Cardiff International Arena
Fri 26th Cardiff International Arena
Sat 27th  Brighton Centre
Sun 28th  Brighton Centre

March 2010
Mon 1st Nottingham Arena
Tue 2nd Nottingham Arena
Thu 4th Aberdeen ECC
Fri 5th  Aberdeen ECC
Sat 6th  Aberdeen ECC
Sun 7th Aberdeen ECC
Sun 7th Aberdeen ECC
Mon 8th Glasgow SECC
Tue 9th Glasgow SECC
Wed 10th  Newcastle Arena
Thu 11th  Sheffield Arena
Fri 12th Sheffield Arena
Sat 13th Manchester Arena
Sat 13th Manchester Arena
Sun 14th  Manchester Arena
Tue 16th  Dublin The 02
Wed 17th  Belfast Odyssey Arena
Thu 18th  Belfast Odyssey Arena
Sat 20th  London The 02
Sun 21st London The O2
Sun 21st London The O2
Mon 22nd Cardiff International Arena
Tue 23rd Cardiff International Arena
Wed 24th Cardiff International Arena
Thur 25th Cardiff International Arena
Fri 26th Newcastle Arena
Sat 27th Newcastle Arena – 2:30pm
Sat 27th Newcastle Arena
Mon 29th Belfast Odyssey Arena
Tue 30th Dublin The 02
Wed 31st Dublin The O2
Wed 31st Dublin The O2

April 2010
Thu 1st Belfast Odyssey Arena
Sat 3rd Glasgow SECC
Sat 3rd Glasgow SECC
Sun 4th Glasgow SECC

All date start times: 7.30pm
Except: 2.30pm & 7.30pm London, Brighton, Aberdeen, Glasgow & Manchester

X Factor Live Tickets
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Tony Banks: The Secret Millionaire

Care homes millionaire and ex-Para, Tony Banks is returning to Liverpool for the filming of the next Secret Millionaire for Channel 4, which will be shown in on UK TV in March.

In the last series, the Secret Millionaire producers were forced to pull him out of the rundown Anfield estate when violence flared and he was targeted by yobs.

The care home entrepreneur was the first Secret Millionaire they’ve been forced to move for safety reasons.Tony had a terrifying ordeal as youths set fire to cars and houses and threw bricks at the building he was staying in.

Tony described the area as being ’like Beirut’. After spending a week undercover, the Falklands veteran donated £126,000 to the area on his visit, to numerous deserving charities and individuals in one of Liverpool’s poorest areas.

“A lot of good people live amongst the chaos,“ said Banks.

He hopes to see the positive effect that the money has had when he returns.

Perfect!

A new Reality TV show is coming to our screens to be called ‘Celebrity Quitters’ where celebrities will quit smoking over the course of five shows, how exciting does that sound!

The programme will include Chloe Madeley , 22, the daughter of Richard & Judy, who was earlier this year given a driving ban for being almost twice over the drink driving limit after hitting a parked car.

Paul Danan,  21, the former Hollyoaks actor who in June 2008 was involved in a row with organisers at a beauty contest for being drunk and rude to the contestants with the police being called, although Danan denies it happened.

John Burton Race, the bankrupt restaurateur who just last week was banned from driving for 14 months when he failed to give a breath test after being stopped by police before wrestling them to the ground.  Do you see a bit of a pattern following here, and they are all there to give up smoking!

Also in the series is the Birds Of A Feather actress Linda Robson, who has just started smoking again after giving-up for 17-years and the  final contestant, the psychic Derek Acorah, who is said to smoke between 40-50 cigarettes a day, well you’d have thought he could see whats going to happen to him in the future!

The new programme is due to begin on the 18th January on Five and will run for two-weeks, showing the contestants all the background on what smoking is doing to them before they must decide to quit for good or carry on the challenge, can’t wait!

simon middleton

A new series coming to Virgin 1 in the new year, features  Dragon’s Den star Duncan Bannatyne making an effort to change the flagging fortunes of some of the UK’s most popular seaside towns.

The show will start in the Suffolk town of Felixstowe, with the aim of promoting Britain’s seaside towns as perfect holiday destinations during the recession.

Bannatyne is joined in the first episode by TV style guru Simon Middleton, a University of East Anglia Fellow who has advised on branding for the likes of British Airways and Aviva (formerly Norwich Union), who has been asked to re-invent the tarnished image of Felixstowe and change the public perception of it.

Felixstowe has seen a sharp downturn in visitors in recent times and was considered as an ideal starting place for the series. Middleton says;

‘Realising they needed to rebrand was a very sophisticated analysis of the situation on their part, and they were very open to changing the town’s brand. It’s about trying to find another angle, if you have sun, sea and sand and the weather is always gorgeous, you don’t need to try very hard but in Britain we need to try harder. You just need a story and it doesn’t have to be complicated.’

The Great British Holiday Show will be shown on Virgin 1 in January 2010.

Top Of The Pops

The line-up for the Christmas and New year Top Of The Pops specials have now been announced and will be hosted by Fearne Cotton and Reggie Yates.

The Christmas day episode to be broadcast on the BBC at 2pm, and is to include Dizzee Rascal, Kasabian, La Roux, Sugarbabes, Lily Allen, Florence & The Machine, Muse, Diversity, JLS and Alexandra Burke.

The New Years Eve edition will be shown on BBC at 6pm and will feature performances from Robbie Williams, Shakira, Tinchy Styder, N-Dubz and Calvin Harris with the programme also taking a look back over the 2009 songs and artists.

louis walsh bio

The UK premiere of In My Life, a documentary about X Factor judge and Music Manager Louis Walsh will be shown tomorrow night, Tuesday 8th December at 9pm on Bio (The Biography Channel).

The documentary includes candid and personal contributions from other X Factor judges, Simon Cowell and Sharon Osbourne as well as fair input from Louis himself!

Bio delves deep into Walsh’s life from his early days starting out managing Johnny Logan to Eurovision success to Boyzone and their disastrous performance on The Late Late Show through to major achievements with Westlife as well as Boyzone.

In his life time Walsh has masterminded the careers of some of pop musics favourite artists, as well as Johnny Logan, Boyzone and Westlife, the canny Irishman was also behind the successful careers of Girls Aloud, Samantha Mumba and Shayne Ward as well of course as the solo career of Boyzone’s Ronan Keating.

Accompanying Louis Walsh are personal accounts from some of the biggest stars from the UK music scene including Simon Cowell, Sharon Osbourne, Lulu, Westlife, Sinitta and Ronan Keating alongside footage from and behind the scenes of X Factor, on the publicity trail with Westlife and Boyzone; up until the death of Louis’ friend Stephen Gateley in 2009.

Louis Walsh: In My Life  December 8th 2009 on the Bio channel

Catherine Tate

Catherine Tate is going to be back on our screens this Christmas with her annual festive offering in ‘A Christmas Carol’ on BBC 1.

Tate will be playing the feisty nan who takes-on the part of Scrooge and even her dead husband is supposed to make his TV debut on the one-off special.

Grandson Jamie will of course be played by the talented Matthew Horne along with guest stars Roger Lloyd Pack who played the part of Trigger in ‘Only Fools and Horses as the ghost of Christmas Future, David Tennant as the ghost of Christmas Present and Ben Miller as the ghost of Christmas Past.

After being away from our screens for the past two-years, the 2009 Christmas special looks to be a real treat for all the family as nan gets a taste of her own medicine and the hope that she will mend her ways, if that’s likely, I don’t think so!

Now On BBC 1

The third series of Gavin & Stacey starts tonight and have now been promoted to BBC 1 with their hilarious sitcom written by actors James Corden and Ruth Jones.

If the second series is anything to go by, for which they won eight major awards, this one looks to be continuing the laughter as Gavin and Stacey return to live in Barry island with her new son.

Will Smithy realise that he and Stacey are made for each other and give everything up to be with her, and his best mate of course, or will Gavin and Stacey give married life a try?

animated all star band-children in need 2009

Peter Kay’s latest charity single was a massive hit on the BBC Children in Need charity broadcast on Friday 20th November, a stroke of genius from the comedian brought together an endless list of children’s favourites, through the medium of animation, in a performance that Bob Gelfdof would have been proud of.

Whether you like the track or not it is impossible not to be impressed by the brilliant video, that brings together over 100 famous icons from children’s TV over several generations.

From Muffin the Mule to Andy Pandy, Rainbow to Thomas the Tank Engine and Teletubbies to Bob the Builder, the video is crammed full of memories for the child in us all.

The single includes a medley of popular songs for all generations to enjoy; Can You Feel It (originally by The Jacksons), Don’t Stop (originally by Fleetwood Mac), Jai Ho (originally by Pussycat Dolls), Tubthumping (originally by Chumbawamba), Never Forget (originally by Take That), Hey Jude (originally by The Beatles), and One Day Like This (originally by Elbow).

Peter Kay, Executive Producer comments, “Children, parents, grandparents – in fact everybody is going to enjoy this. I can’t believe it’s come together and I’m extremely proud of all the work and time everybody has given to the project.”

The single will be available for download following its exclusive world premier on BBC Children in Need. Pre-orders can be bought as a bundle from itunes on Friday 20th November. Excited fans can then buy it on CD and DVD from Monday 23rd November in all key retailers across the country.

Children in Need – Peter Kays Animated All Star Band

For more information visit the BBC Children in Need site.

massa returns to racing

The 5th International Challenge of the Stars takes place on the Kartodromo dos Ingleses track in Florianopolis in Brazil, hosted by Ferrari’s Formula 1 driver Felipe Massa.

The International Challenge of the Stars is an annual charity karting event which was first organised by Massa in 2005, he has continued to host the event through the years and won the challenge himself in 2006.

Other winners of the karting challenge are Daniel Serra (2005),  Michael Schumacher (2007) and last years champion Rubens Barichello.

The event attracts many of Brazil’s top drivers from all levels of motorsport as well as drivers from North America’s Formula Indy and of course some of Formula one’s top stars.

This year Rubens Barichello will be in his home country to defend the title he picked up in 2008, but will have to be at his best once again to fend off former team mates Felipe Massa and Michael Schumacher who will also be competing at the event.

Race organiser Massa is still recovering from the skull fracture that ended his F1 season in July and will not return to the sport fulltime until next year. This international event will see Massa’s first competitive racing since his injury.

The event can be seen ‘live’ on British Eurosport 2 on November 28/29:

Saturday 28th November
1800-1845 Sat 28 Nov LIVE on British Eurosport 2

Sunday 29th November
1300-1345 Sun 29 Nov LIVE on British Eurosport 2