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Tears on the Dancefloor is Steps’ first album of new material in 15 years
Not since Blur v Oasis has there been a pop battle this epic.
With the release of their new album, reunited pop group Steps valiantly challenged Ed Sheeran’s dominance of the album charts and, at the start of the week, it seemed they would win.
On Monday, Tears On The Dancefloor was 4,000 sales ahead of Ed’s Divide.
But Ed refused to say Sheerio, overtaking his competitors at the last minute and claiming the number one slot for the seventh week in a row.
Divide eventually finished 16,000 units ahead of the Steps album, beating H, Faye, Claire, Lisa and Lee in both the streaming and physical charts.
Image copyright Official Charts Company
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Ed Sheeran’s Divide is the biggest-selling album of the year so far
Steps did, however, have the most-downloaded album of the week.
Their comeback follows a bitter break-up in the early 2000s. Before that, the band clocked up three number one albums and 14 top 10 singles, including three chart toppers.
Top five albums (source: Official Charts Company)
Artist
Song
1) Ed Sheeran
Divide
2) Steps
Tears On The Dancefloor
3) Rag ‘N’ Bone Man
Human
4) Imelda May
Life Love Flesh Blood
5) Kendrick Lamar
Damn.
Other new entries in this week’s album chart came from Imelda May (at number five), Texas (six), Maximo Park (11) and Ray Davies (15).
David Bowie also scored two new entries thanks to Record Store Day. Cracked Actor, which features a rare live performance from the 1970s, debuted at 20; while Bowpromo, an early assembly of tracks from the Hunky Dory album, landed at 38.
Top five singles (source: Official Charts Company)
Artist
Song
1) Clean Bandit ft Zara Larsson
Symphony
2) Ed Sheeran
Shape of You
3) Ed Sheeran
Galway Girl
4) Harry Styles
Sign Of The Times
5) Drake
Passionfruit
In the singles chart, Clean Bandit succeeded where Steps failed – ousting Ed Sheeran’s Shape Of You from the pole position with their Zara Larsson-featuring dance hit Symphony.
The song enjoyed a slow, six-week journey to the top and becomes the band’s second consecutive number one, after Rockabye, which topped the Christmas countdown last year.
“We are all amazed,” said the band. “After everything that happened with Rockabye, we didn’t think it would be possible to replicate that but now we’re Number 1 again!
“We’ve been in the US the last few weeks touring with Zara Larsson and we got the chance to tell her it was Number 1. She was so excited!”
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Clean Bandit, who were formed at Cambridge University, have notched up three number ones in the last three years
Clean Bandit’s chart success means a British act has had the number one single for each of the last 30 weeks.
It is the first time this millennium that homegrown acts have dominated the top 40 for so long.
Other artists making waves in this week’s singles chart included Canadian star Shawn Mendes, whose new single There’s Nothing Holdin’ Me Back, climbed 136 places to number seven; and Lady Gaga, who scored her 17th top 20 hit with The Cure, a non-album track she premiered at the Coachella music festival.
Further down the chart, Paramore’s Hard Times debuted at 34, just ahead of Lana Del Rey’s new single Lust For Life at Number 38.
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May is just around the corner, and we are well on our way to summer! This month, we get our first taste of this year’s summer blockbusters, a tragic documentary and enough comedies to keep you laughing all month long. There are plenty of options to see with your mom for Mother’s Day, and even a few selects you’ll be able to enjoy from the comfort of your own home. That being said, we have a feeling you’ll be spending quite a bit of time at the theater this month (three words: Shirtless Zac Efron!). Read on for the pics we’re most excited to see.
“I’m just someone doing my job. Everyone this weekend is in uproar that Rylan has ‘axed The Chase’ to make way for my new show. That’s a lie, The Chase has a break every single year guys, calm down.”
Later that day, he took himself off Twitter as the unwanted comments continued.
“Getting a bit ridiculous now. Just doing my job. Enjoy the show. Coming off here for a while. Babushka stars on Monday 1st.”
Lily James
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James also starred in last year’s BBC adaptation of War and Peace
The Cinderella actress felt the social media heat when she starred in ITV period drama Downton Abbey.
Lily – who played Lady Rose MacClare in the series – admitted that she’d left Twitter after being targeted by trolls who mainly criticised her appearance.
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Fry has taken several breaks from Twitter over the years
Stephen has had a volatile on-off relationship with Twitter.
He has quit the social media platform several times, including last year when he left after receiving criticism for joking that costume designer Jenny Beavan looked like a “bag lady” at the Baftas.
Stephen said he had not “slammed the door” on Twitter but said the site had become a “stalking ground for the sanctimoniously self-righteous”.
The star left the social media site from February to May 2015 without giving reasons. He also pleaded for fans to stop sending him direct messages saying “it was impossible” for him to look at them if he wanted to have “anything close to a life.”
In 2014, Stephen quit the site saying it was “unsafe” for him to tweet, adding he was filming “in a place whence I’ve been advised it is safest not to tweet”.
And in 2009, he said he was going to leave after another user called his posts “boring”.
Stephen is currently back on Twitter.
Lily Allen
Image copyright Reuters
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Allen described herself as a “lightweight” after attending last year’s Notting Hill Carnival
The singer left Twitter in February after receiving abuse relating to her son, who died during childbirth in 2010.
Trolls questioned her version of the event but the star was back on Twitter the following month.
It’s not the first time Lily has left Twitter temporarily.
Last year, she told her followers she would “steer clear of Twitter for a bit” and that she was going “off grid”.
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Lucas has had a lot of support on Twitter as well as haters
Comedian Matt Lucas had a similarly unpleasant experience at the hand of Twitter trolls back in 2012.
His decision came shortly after another Twitter user tweeted an offensive joke about the suicide of Lucas’ ex-husband Kevin McGee, who killed himself in 2009.
Matt later rejoined but found himself a target again, telling his followers that he had contacted the police because of online homophobic abuse.
Ed Sheeran
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Ed Sheeran has a huge 18.3m followers on Twitter
Singer Ed Sheeran announced he was “taking a break” from social media in 2015 – not because of trolls but because he was “seeing the world through a screen and not my eyes”.
Writing on his Instagram account, the singer explained he was “taking the opportunity of not having to be anywhere… to travel the world”.
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Perkins is back on Twitter, describing herself as “mutton dressed as mutton”
Former Great British Bake Off star Sue was hounded off Twitter in 2015 after false rumours spread that she was replacing Jeremy Clarkson on Top Gear.
“I am off Twitter for a bit. Love and peace,” Sue wrote after being sent death threats.
She told her followers that one troll had said they would “like to see me burn to death” and that her timeline had been “full of blokes wishing me dead”.
Adele
Image copyright Reuters
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Is Adele a liability on Twitter?
Back in 2015 Adele told the BBC she doesn’t have direct access to her official Twitter account.
“I’m not a drinker any more, but when Twitter first came out I was, like, drunk tweeting, and nearly put my foot in it quite a few times,” she explained.
“So my management decided that you have to go through two people and then it has to be signed off by someone, but they’re all my tweets.
“No-one writes my tweets. They just post them for me.”
But on the Brisbane leg of the tour she revealed how she gets around it.
“I’m not allowed access to my own Twitter because I’m quite mouthy and I say the wrong thing a lot of the time. So they took that privilege away from me.”
JK Rowling
Image copyright Reuters
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Rowling is more than ready to respond to her online critics
The Harry Potter creator has turned the table on the trolls – she’s become famous for her Twitter takedowns.
Following her criticism of Donald Trump last year, one Twitter user said they would now “burn your books and movies, too”.
To which JK responded: “Well, the fumes from the DVDs might be toxic and I’ve still got your money, so by all means borrow my lighter.”
James Blunt
Image copyright Getty Images
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Blunt has never been afraid to poke fun at himself
Singer James Blunt is also a fan of the troll put-down.
One of his corkers pointed to the fact that while some may not like his music or appearance, he was sitting pretty on top of a very healthy bank balance.
Image copyright Twitter/Blunt
Along with this self-deprecating gem: “Yup, it’s called “Greatest Hit” in response to a tweet which asked: “There’s a “best of” James Blunt? Really?”
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Lord Sugar invested £250,000 in Joseph Valente’s business
Apprentice winner Joseph Valente has split from Lord Sugar two years after winning the show.
Lord Sugar invested £250,000 into Valente’s plumbing business in 2015.
They’ve now announced that Valente will take full control of ImpraGas – but they’re parting on friendly terms.
Lord Sugar said: “I’ll still be on hand to offer any help and advice required. I wish Joseph and ImpraGas all the very best for the future and will follow their progress with much affection.”
Lord Sugar will now divest himself of his interest in the company, with Valente acquiring his shareholding and taking full control of the business.
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Joseph Valente beat Vana Koutsomitis in the 2015 final of The Apprentice
Valente added: “I am so grateful for everything Lord Sugar has done for me and I could not have asked for a better partner in the early stages of my business career.
“I owe him a great deal. I am confident that with the winning business model we created together, I can continue to grow the business successfully.”
So how many Apprentice winners does that leave who are still working with Lord Sugar?
Glad you asked, let’s take a look:
Still with Lord Sugar
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L-R: Alana Spencer, Ricky Martin and Leah Tatton
Of the 12 winners of the UK series of The Apprentice, five are still working with Lord Sugar.
They are Tom Pellereau, Ricky Martin, Leah Totton, Mark Wright and Alana Spencer.
Interestingly, all five won the show after a format change which saw Lord Sugar invest £250,000 in a business idea, rather than offering the winner a job in his own company.
After his time on the show, Pelleraeu used the investment to invent and bring to market a curved nail file, which is now stocked by major supermarkets.
Martin runs a science and technology recruitment company while Totton now has two cosmetic clinics offering botox and wrinkle reduction.
Wright is still working with Lord Sugar on his company which uses digital marketing to help small businesses grow.
And Spencer, who won the most recent series, is in the process of launching her own bakery firm.
Parted company
Image copyright BBC / Getty
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L-R: Michelle Dewbury, Lee McQueen, Stella English
Seven of the 12 winners have since parted company with Lord Sugar – many on perfectly good terms… others less so.
The very first winner, Tim Campbell, worked for Lord Sugar for a year before leaving (with his boss’s blessing) to set up a male grooming business, and more recently a digital marketing agency.
Michelle Dewberry worked for Lord Sugar for 11 months but left to set up her own company and a media career, appearing regularly on news programmes such as Sky’s weekly discussion show The Pledge.
Simon Ambrose worked for Lord Sugar for three years but left to pursue his own ventures, while Lee McQueen also left after two-and-a-half years to start his own sales recruitment and training agency.
Yasmina Siadatan stayed in her job with Lord Sugar for a year but became pregnant while she was there and didn’t return after maternity leave. She later set up her own restaurant.
Stella English’s departure from her job with Lord Sugar was far less friendly – she unsuccessfully sued him for constructive dismissal.
But she went on to work as a TV presenter and management consultant.
Lord Sugar has previously called on the BBC to commission a new TV series to catch up with former contestants and find out where they are now.
If such a show ever came to fruition, it certainly wouldn’t be short of material.
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Hepworth Wakefield (top left), Sir John Soane’s Museum (centre), National Heritage Centre for Horse-racing (top right), Tate Modern (bottom right) and Lapworth Museum (bottom left)
Britain’s most popular contemporary art gallery and a new horseracing heritage centre are in the running to be named the UK’s Museum of the Year.
Tate Modern in London and The National Heritage Centre for Horseracing and Sporting Art in Newmarket, Suffolk, are both nominated for the £100,000 award.
They are joined in the contest by the Hepworth Wakefield gallery and the Lapworth Museum of Geology, Birmingham.
Sir John Soane’s Museum in London completes the five-strong shortlist.
The Lapworth Museum of Geology
Image copyright Marc Atkins
This museum, operated by the University of Birmingham, re-opened last June after a £2.7m redevelopment that was designed restore it to its 1920s grandeur and create three new galleries.
It holds 250,000 specimens, ranging from dinosaur skeletons to volcanic rocks.
The National Heritage Centre for Horseracing and Sporting Art
Image copyright Marc Atkins
Officially opened by the Queen in November, this complex is home to the National Horseracing Museum, the Fred Packard Museum and Galleries of British Sporting Art, and a yard for the Retraining of Racehorses charity.
It is also home to two of the Queen’s former racehorses and a virtual Clare Balding.
Sir John Soane’s Museum
Image copyright Marc Atkins
Housed in the former home of 19th Century architect Sir John Soane, this gallery and museum has completed a £7m restoration intended to open up “lost” areas and return it to how it looked when he died and left it to the nation in 1837.
That includes creating 33 per cent more space and putting 10 per cent more objects on display.
Tate Modern
Image copyright Marc Atkins
Seventeen years after it opened on London’s South Bank, Tate Modern had a record 5.8 million visitors in 2016.
That was partly down to the opening of a 10-storey extension, the Switch House, and exhibitions of photographs owned by Sir Elton John and artwork by Georgia O’Keeffe.
Hepworth Wakefield
Image copyright Marc Atkins
The West Yorkshire gallery celebrated its fifth birthday last year and saw a 21% rise in visitors.
It also launched a major new award for British sculpture and staged exhibitions by Martin Parr, Stanley Spencer and Anthea Hamilton.
The winner of the Art Fund Museum of the Year will be announced on 5 July.
Art Fund director Stephen Deuchar said: “Each of these museums has had a remarkable year, reaching – in a range of ways – new heights in their efforts to serve and inspire their visitors.
“Whether unveiling new buildings, galleries, displays or public programmes, all the finalists have shown a real commitment to innovation and experimentation, offering fresh perspectives and new ways of seeing and understanding their collections.”
Last year’s prize was won by the Victoria and Albert in London.
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