Films and TV

David Blaine has set a new world record by holding his breath for 17 minutes and four seconds on the Oprah Winfrey show in the USA.

Blaine said he had accomplished a life long dream as he was pulled from a water filled sphere. The previous record was 32 seconds short of his mark and was set in February.

Before the record attempt he inhaled pure oxygen to cleanse his blood. Blaine had previously failed in the attempt two years ago when he started to struggle two minutes before the nine minute mark.

Blaine has a habit of completing daring stunts, such as being buried alive in a coffin for a week and being encased in ice for 2 and a half days.

Coldplay officially revealed their new single today on BBC Radio 1.

The whole band were in the live lounge giving “violet hill” its first airplay.

According to singer Chris Martin, they want to make the album better than ever rather than bigger.
Quite a wise move as the last album wasn’t up to scratch.

The new single is available as a free download for a week. However the Coldplay website crashed shortly after its release.

Kris Marshall, best known for his role in My Family and more recently the BT adverts has been hospitalised after being hit by a car.

Kris was on a night out with friends in Bristol when the accident took place. He is at the Royal Infirmary in intensive care. His mother said that his condition is improving all the time.

Police have said the accident happened in St Augustine’s Parade in Bristol City Centre. They have spoken to the driver of the car involved. He stopped straight after the accident and he is not thought to be a drink driver.

Police are still looking in to how the accident happened.

Amy Winehouse has made the Sunday Times young music rich list in 2008 with an estimated fortune of £10m. She shares 10th place with Craig David and Will Young in the top 100 richest people in music under 30.

The gorgeous Charlotte Church is 9th with a nice £11m wedge and the equally lovely Joss Stone 8th.

George Harrison’s son Dhani has topped the list with a £160 fortune. Dhani is 29 and the only son of the former Beatle and he finished Harrisons’s last album after he passed away in 2001.

Vanessa-Mae Nicholson is in 2nd place with around £30m. In at 3rd are the Coldplay trio of Guy Berryman, Jonny Buckland and Will Champion. Chris Martin is too old to be included as he is over 30.

The full list can be seen in the Sunday Times funnily enough.

Shameless star Maggie O’Neill is set to join the cast of EastEnders in July this year. She will be playing the part of Suzy Branning who is Max and Jacks sister. Suzy who is described as “glamorous and independent” will eventually fall for the resident psychopath, Phil Mitchell.

Recently the Branning family has been the centre of attention, with Tanya attempting to bury her husband Max alive after their falling out over an affair Max had with Stacey Slater, possibly the most desirable lady in the square. She was also his eldest son’s wife. A spot of controversy there wouldn’t you agree.

Executive producer of the show, Diederick Santer, said that Maggie was another top drawer addition to the cast of EastEnders.

Also announced was the news of Emma Barton leaving the show, with her character Honey Mitchell being written out towards the end of the year.

The BAFTA awards ceremony took place on Sunday night and below you can see the winners from the evening. Of course there are some surprises thrown in too.

Best actor
Andrew Garfield - Boy A (Channel 4)

Best actress
Eileen Atkins - Cranford (BBC One)

Best entertainment performance
Harry Hill - Harry Hill’s TV Burp (ITV1)

Best comedy performance
James Corden - Gavin and Stacey (BBC Three)

Best single drama
The Mark Of Cain (Channel 4)

Best drama serial
Britz (Channel 4)

Best drama series
The Street (BBC One)

Best continuing drama
Holby City (BBC One)

Best factual series
The Tower: A Tale of Two Cities (BBC One)

Best entertainment programme
Harry Hill’s TV Burp (ITV1)

Best situation comedy
Peep Show (Channel 4)

Best comedy programme
Fonejacker (Channel 4)

Audience award
Gavin & Stacey (BBC Three)

Best single documentary
Lie of the Land (Channel 4)

Best feature
Ramsay’s Kitchen Nightmares (Channel 4)

Best international show
Heroes (BBC Two)

Best specialist factual
Andrew Marr’s History of Modern Britain (BBC Two)

Best current affairs
China’s Stolen Children - A Dispatches Special (Channel 4)

Best news coverage
Sky News - Glasgow Airport Attack (Sky News)

Best sport
ITV F1: Canadian Grand Prix Live (ITV1)

Best interactivity
Spooks Interactive (BBC One)

Leona Lewis who won the X Factor in 2006 has become the first British solo artist to go straight to number one in the US album chart.

Leona’s debut album Spirit went straight to the top weeks after her ballad Bleeding Love went to number one in the singles chart.

The album sold 205,000 copies in its first week, this was ahead of her nearest rival, George Strait, whose album, Troubadour sold 59,000 copies.

She is seen as the heir to Whitney Houston in the US.

Well they fucked up the Formula One so they were bound to fuck something else up.

And so they did.

Pushing Daisies is about to see its second episode dropped as ITV only have space in its schedule to show eight episodes rather that the actual nine that were originally shot.

I mean really this should be something that gets asked before you buy the rights. Idiots.
How must the writers of the show feel with their efforts simply deleted from existence, thanks to a cock up with ITV top brass.

After reporting last week about the health of Star Wars actor, Kenny Baker, we can reveal that he is feeling a lot better following his admission to hospital.

The 3ft 8in, 73 year old actor is still in hospital in Wythenshawe, Manchester but is out of bed and walking around according to his son Kevin.

Kevin suffered from pneumonia last year which doctors think may have affected him recently. He is currently using a nebulizer to help with his breathing.

Kevin’s other films include Flash Gordon, Time Bandits and The Elephant Man.

Star Wars actor, Kenny Baker, is in hospital after have complications with his asthma.

His son by the same name, Kevin said the asthma is a persistent problem and is nothing serious. He has urged his father to slow down his pace of life.

Currently he attends all Star Wars conventions and loves meeting his fans. Kevin hates turning down opportunities to appear and always makes the effort.

His son commented that he will get going as soon as he gets out of hospital. Kevin is expected home at the weekend.