They're supporting a unique partnership between Arts Council England and CLIC Sargent's Pratice-a-thon Music (PATM) campaign which encourages people of all ages and abilities to get sponsored to practice their musical instruments to help raise money for children and young people with cancer.

PATM has teamed up with Arts Council England's 'Take it away' scheme, which provides interest free loans for the purchase of musical instruments and tuition. Whether participants choose to practise for one week or a whole year, the important thing is to make more music, have fun and raise money for a great cause in the process.

At today's launch, Russell Watson said: "Making music has given me a focus, enormous enjoyment and has got me through some very dark times. I'm best known as a singer and consider the voice to be an instrument that requires plenty of practice, but I think it's fair to say that having tried to play guitar, that will certainly require a lot more practice for me! Roll on Practice-a-thon! I'm playing my part and I'm delighted to be raising money for children with cancer in the process."
http://www.ilikemusic.com/music_n....on-7763

The chart-topper's mother told me her stunning daughter was almost mute until she was six.
Mum Beverley said: "We were really worried about her when she was little.

"We thought something was wrong but it turned out she was just painfully shy.
"She didn't really start talking until she went to school. I thank her stage school Italia Conti for drawing her out of herself."

The Essex singer is set to land her second No 1 on Sunday with single Boys And Girls.
ROWLAND in the midweek chart.

Pixie was at her first GQ Awards on Tuesday night - where I saw more than a few lads giving her the eye.

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The night before MICKEY ROURKE, who was also at the bash, tried his luck.

She said: "He was lovely but he's old enough to be my dad.

"I don't have a fella but there are a couple of options.

"I really don't have time for a man, though. I'm too busy. If I did meet someone, it would be easier if they weren't famous."

MARVIN from JLS take heed.
http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol....ut.html

Gary Barlow is delighted Take That have reunited, but admits being in the band isn't easy.

Gary Barlow says Take That are "complicated".

The singer is thrilled the band - also comprising Mark Owen, Jason Orange and Howard Donald - decided to reform in 2005 without Robbie Williams and admits they have been through a great deal since they first met in 1989.

Gary said: "Our story is too complicated to sum up in a few lines. If we had tried to plan it like this it would never have happened."

Jason is convinced the band are more popular than ever because they have clung onto their modest upbringings and refused to get too carried away with fame.

He explained: "You can't spend too long qualifying it. We are good mates and that shows.

"People love the story, where we came from, how it all started. We have tried to mature and progress.

"And I think they like the fact that none of us have gone too far up our own a***s."

Mark stills feels excited about being a pop star because the band have managed to reinvent themselves with each new album.

He said: "There is a funny thing going on. Although we are quite an old band, it feels new - like we are just starting in some ways."
http://www.contactmusic.com/news.ns....1115810

Gary Barlow has vowed to improve Take That's live show after his mother told him she enjoyed Coldplay's concert more.

Gary Barlow's mother prefers Coldplay to Take That.

The 'Greatest Day' singer has revealed Marjorie loved his group's spectacular 'Circus' stadium tour - which they undertook earlier this year and which featured elaborate stunts, a 60 ft mechanical elephant and carnival performers - but has now told him they need to improve after watching the 'Viva La Vida' hitmakers' concert in London last week.

He said: "My mum was blown away by Coldplay. She thought we were brilliant but they were better - and wasn't afraid to tell me.

"So I'll have to up the ante for the next tour."

As well as planning a new live show, Gary - who has contributed tracks to Dame Shirley Bassey's new album - has set his sights on a new collaboration.

The singer wants to work with 'Holiday' star Dizzee Rascal on a single - believed to be for charity Children In Need - but has been shunned by the 'Bonkers' rapper so far.

Speaking at the London launch of Shirley's album 'The Performance', Gary added: "I want to work with Dizzee but he's not interested - he told me he wants Shirley.

"Can you imagine the two of them? It would be incredible. They should do something."

23 September 2009 10:06:37

http://www.contactmusic.com/news.ns....1116903

Stars including Gary Barlow and James Blunt have joined Lily Allen's campaign against music piracy amid a growing dispute among artists on the subject.

Allen has set up a new blog to post messages against unauthorised file-sharing from fellow musicians.

It comes after another group of performers, the Featured Artists' Coalition (FAC), said serial file-sharers should not be punished.

"I want to put my hand up in support of Lily Allen," Blunt wrote.

Describing Allen as "our leader", Blunt continued: "She's asking British musicians to galvanise over a serious crime: the death of a Great British industry - our music business.

"The world over, people are stealing music in its millions in the form of illegal file-sharing.

Taio Cruz with the Sugababes
File-sharing has had a very, very negative effect on my career, as it has on many others
Taio Cruz (second left)

"It's easy to do, and has become accepted by many, but we need people to know that it is destroying people's livelihoods and suffocating emerging new British artists."

The debate over what to do about file-sharing has been sparked by the government's suggestion that serial file-sharers could have their internet accounts suspended.

The Featured Artists' Coalition, whose board includes Radiohead guitarist Ed O'Brien, Blur drummer Dave Rowntree and Pink Floyd drummer Nick Mason, spoke out last week against the sanctions.

They joined forces with the British Academy of Songwriters, Composers and Authors and the Music Producers Guild to say they "vehemently oppose" the plans to punish file-sharers.

The FAC said it did not condone file-sharing, but that "heavy-handed" tactics may turn fans away from music for good. O'Brien told BBC News: "It's going to start a war which they'll never win."

HAVE YOUR SAY

Piracy is only going to get worse, with less money about for people to spend then the cheaper alternative is to obtain the music/video etc illegally

mufcnews, Stockport, UK
Send us your comments

In a message to fellow artists, Lily Allen said file-sharing was "having a damaging effect on British music".

She said it "eats away at opportunity for new artists" because there is less money for record labels to spend on signing and developing new artists.

"The majority of British artists are against file-sharing, because it will harm British music," she wrote.

"We can talk about all the legal means of accessing music out there and even come up with new ways to access music, but ultimately we need to establish that we think file-sharing is wrong."

Take That star Gary Barlow wrote in response: "I agree with every single sentence. I spend so much of my spare time helping up-and-coming artists find their way, so am fully aware of all the issues in your letter."

Keane
The most vital step at this moment is to ensure that 'the artists' present a united front
Tim Rice-Oxley (right)
Keane

In a video message, R&B star Taio Cruz, who is currently number one in the UK singles chart, said his debut album was almost scrapped because it was leaked three months before its release.

The leak was "substantially damaging" to eventual album sales, he said. "Both my label and myself were left in a very difficult position.

"I could have been dropped from my record deal because so much was spent and so much of my album was leaked and not paid for. But luckily my label had great belief in me. File-sharing has had a very, very negative effect on my career, as it has on many others."

He added: "I think it's very positive to see that other artists, along with the government, are coming together to defend the right to protect our art."

Spandau Ballet's Gary Kemp told Allen: "You have my support. Well done for making the effort and not just sitting on the fence like most people."

Keane songwriter Tim Rice-Oxley said: "I'll happily state that I support you in this movement and agree that we have to act now.

"I also feel strongly that the most vital step at this moment is to ensure that 'the artists', whether FAC-related or not, present a united front and a simple message."
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/8266287.stm

Поддерживаю!!!!

Gary surprises cancer fundraiser

Pop star Gary Barlow gives a brave 12-year-old boy the biggest surprise of his life when he tells him he's won a Pride of Britain award.

The Take That singer wanted to meet leukaemia survivor Jake Peach after he heard how his music helped him on the road to recovery following a month-long coma.

Gary surprised Jake at London's Great Ormond Street Hospital and told him he has won the award for his incredible fundraising efforts, on target to top more than £600,000.

Overwhelmed, Jake burst into tears as his hero hugged him and handed him a golden envelope - his ticket to the Daily Mirror's Pride of Britain Awards sponsored by The Co-operative.

The moment was extra special for Jake as he used to sing along to Take That's Patience after the coma.

His mum Karen said hearing him sing the song gave her hope that he was getting better. Jake, of Southend, Essex, is one of this year's inspirational winners who have all been chosen for their incredible acts of courage, selflessness and bravery.

The schoolboy is set to raise £500,000 for a new lung function unit at Great Ormond Street after helping them secure a sponsorship deal with Arsenal Football Club.

This is on top of £130,000 he has already raised for the hospital by giving speeches he writes himself at fundraising dinners.

While he was sick he also made a video diary of his treatment which is now used to guide other young cancer patients.

Jake, who is now in remission, said: "I can't believe people have nominated me for this award. Meeting Gary Barlow was amazing.

I couldn't believe it, he's a legend."

Gary said: "Pride of Britain is not about celebrities, it's about real people doing amazing things. When I heard about Jake I just had to come here and meet him."

More than 100 stars will be at Pride of Britain 2009 at London's Grosvenor House next Monday.

Pride of Britain will be shown on ITV1, Wednesday October 7, at 8pm.

http://www.mirror.co.uk/celebs....1708637

The 'Greatest Day' singer has revealed Marjorie loved his group's spectacular 'Circus' stadium tour - which they undertook earlier this year and which featured elaborate stunts, a 60 ft mechanical elephant and carnival performers - but has now told him they need to improve after watching the 'Viva La Vida' hitmakers' concert in London last week.

He said: "My mum was blown away by Coldplay. She thought we were brilliant but they were better - and wasn't afraid to tell me.

"So I'll have to up the ante for the next tour."

As well as planning a new live show, Gary - who has contributed tracks to Dame Shirley Bassey's new album - has set his sights on a new collaboration.

The singer wants to work with 'Holiday' star Dizzee Rascal on a single - believed to be for charity Children In Need - but has been shunned by the 'Bonkers' rapper so far.

Speaking at the London launch of Shirley's album 'The Performance', Gary added: "I want to work with Dizzee but he's not interested - he told me he wants Shirley.

"Can you imagine the two of them? It would be incredible. They should do something."
http://www.samsungdatacables.net/?p=146346

A schoolboy who beat leukaemia and helps raise thousands of pounds for charity has been chosen as the most courageous child in Britain.

Jake Peach, a pupil at Halstead’s Ramsey College, will receive the Child of Courage award at the Pride of Britain ceremony.

The football fan, who supports Arsenal FC, has been lauded by Arsene Wenger, Gunners manager, and Take That frontman Gary Barlow, who gave him a golden ticket to the Pride of Britain bash, which will be shown on ITV on Wednesday night.

Jake, of Mill Chase, Halstead, who sang Take That songs as he recovered from a coma was recently visited at London’s Great Ormond Street Hospital by Mr Barlow.

Brave Jake, who is now in remission, had no idea he was even in the running for the award, according to his mum, Karen Hunter.

“We were so surprised. I knew a couple of weeks before Jake and it was hard keeping it a secret,” she said.

“He is overwhelmed. He just sees what he does as a thank you to Great Ormond Street. It is such a fantastic place and he would not be here if it was not for them.”

Jake, 12, said: “I can’t believe people have nominated me for Pride of Britain and I am getting this award.

“Meeting Gary Barlow was amazing, I couldn’t believe it.”

“When I heard about Jake I just had to come and meet him. He is a very deserving winner,” Mr Barlow said.

Mr Wenger said: “When you meet Jake you get the impression straight away that you're meeting someone special.”
http://www.halsteadgazette.co.uk/news....Britain

His week the red-tops are getting scarlet with excitement at the news that Robbie Williams has been spied in a New York recording studio with his former Take That bandmates.

All five of the original gang have gathered in Manhattan for Mark Owen's stag do — but it's not the idea of the boys playing late-night drinking games that has everyone so het up. The real excitement lies around the tantalising possibility that Williams will again have songs written for him by the all-conquering Gary
Barlow.

Having brought their dazzling Circus tour to Wembley Stadium for four nights this summer, the current incarnation of Take That is hotter than ever, and there's no such thing as time off for their chief songwriter.

Barlow has written To Love Again, a barnstorming piano ballad, with Strictly Come Dancing judge Alesha Dixon for release as her latest single on 15 November. He's also composed This Time for a November comeback album by Shirley Bassey. “Gary is so good-looking and such a gentleman,” said the great dame recently.

Such is the breadth of his appeal that he's now writing for grime-pop teen favourites N-Dubz and the tabloids claim he's going to be working with the reformed Spandau Ballet. If he wrote a song for Gordon Brown, everything would probably be OK.

Then there's Barlow's record company. Future Records, a subsidiary of Take That's label Universal, has been put under Barlow's command as a reward for his band's renewed success. It is about to unveil its first signing. Camilla Kerslake, a 21-year-old from London via New Zealand, stalked Take That with a demo tape in hand until Barlow became convinced that her ghostly, operatic voice could conquer the lucrative classical crossover market. The first single, an Irish folk song entitled She Moved Through the Fair (released 2 November), has more than a bit of Enya about it. The subsequent album also features a cover of Take That's Rule the World, sung in Italian for extra classiness.

With Barlow behind her and a nation of mums in need of Christmas presents, she can't fail. “Gary's one of the biggest talents in the whole of the British music industry and an amazing mentor. How lucky am I?” she says.

It's a long way from the wilderness years after Take That's split. After his second solo album flopped in 1999, spending just one week at number 35 in the charts, Barlow never stopped working. He was in no position to be picky. While Robbie Williams was packing out stadiums, his songs found their way onto releases by Atomic Kitten, German girl group Monrose and X Factor disaster Michelle McManus. He also wrote most of two albums for Donny Osmond.

Did he go bad or were we just not paying attention? If the mark of truly great songwriters, like Dylan or Lennon and McCartney, is the song's ability to sound good in anyone's hands, does he flounder without his bandmates? Listening back to the music of those dark days — though it is difficult to describe as “dark” a period in which he wrote a song called Supersexy for boyband beefcakes Blue — it's clear that too often the songs became the property of inferior voices. A lack of composing confidence is sometimes detectable too. But dig deep and you realise he never lost it.

THE FORGOTTEN BALLADS

Gary Barlow's inspiration didn't dry up while he was in his wilderness years before Take That re-formed. Here are five gems he wrote for others that were overlooked at the time:

Butterfly
Performed by Delta Goodrem on Innocent Eyes (Epic, 2003)
Barlow co-wrote six songs on the teenage Australian soap star's debut album including this one, a fine tune that wouldn't disgrace his main band.

No Big Deal
Performed by Lara Fabian on
A Wonderful Life (Sony, 2004)
This Canada-based Celine Dion type is big in Francophone nations but didn't have much success with her second English-language album. One of Barlow's contributions was this almost rocky number with a typically memorable chorus.

Breeze on By
Performed by Donny Osmond on What I Meant to Say (Universal, 2004)
This smooth, summery single, centred on a lightly funky guitar lick and even featuring a flute solo, became a British top 10 hit for Osmond, his first since the early Seventies.

Easy Way Out
Performed by Charlotte Church on Tissues and Issues (Sony BMG, 2005)
Church's lone attempt at a pop album featured this impressive anthem, building from piano weepiness to a vast chorus loaded with strings.

For All That You Want
Performed by Gary Barlow on Twelve Months Eleven Days (BMG, 1999)
A Take That-style arm-swaying chorus that became Barlow's last solo single before he was dropped by his label. If only they'd known what was to come.

http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/music....rlow.do