Thousands of twitter followers have joined in an outpouring of grief and condolences to the recently deceased film star Tony Curtis, who has died at the age of 85.

Hollywood start Tony Curtis was best remembered for his oscar nominated performances in hit films such as ‘Some Like It Hot’, opposite Marilyn Monroe and ‘The Defiant Ones, starring Sydney Poitier, for which the star received an Oscar in 1959.

The star passed away peacefully following a heart attack, at his home in Nevada in the small hours of Wednesday morning.

Curtis began his career, more renowned as a pin-up but soon became a respected actor after his harrowing performance in the 1957 film, Sweet Smell of Success’. Later success followed both in Films and various TV series in the 60s and 70s.

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Video has failed to kill the radio star. Radio is currently riding on the crest of a wave in the UK with the latest listening figures showing an all time high take up for radio stations.

Despite the increasing access to Broadband Internet, multiple digital television stations; and the popularity of handheld smart-phones and other portable technology formats, more and more people are choosing radio, including digital radio.

The recent figures from the Radio Joint Audience Research Limited – Rajar, show that radio listening numbers have broken records in the second quarter of 2010 to reach an all time high of 46.8 million listeners.

Radio listening in the UK has broken the previous record, set in the first quarter of 2010, to reach its all time high of 46.8 million adults, a staggering 90.6 per cent of the UK population, aged fifteen and above who are tuning in to their favourite radio stations each week, it has been revealed.

This figure is up a year on year by almost half a million listeners: previously, 46.3 million tuning in, in the second quarter of 2009 and also up nearly 300,000 listeners by quarter on quarter. Previously it was 46.5 million radio listeners for the first quarter of 2010.

TalkSport, the UK’s dedicated sports radio station, was one of the main commercial players, achieving its best audiences in history with listening figures of 2.5 million in the second quarter, partly as a result of its World Cup coverage.

BBC radio also scored some big hits including BBC Radio 4 and BBC Radio 5 Live which recorded their biggest ever audiences during the General Election, with the flagship Today programme also attracting a record number of listeners.

During the measurement period from 29 March to 27 June 2010, Radio 4 reached a record 10.4 million people every week, from 10 million last year with the Today programme bringing in 6.98 million weekly listeners – both records.

Radio 5 Live had 6.76 million listeners per week: also a record.

Director of BBC Audio and Music Tim Davie said:

“This is another good set of figures for the radio industry. I’m delighted to see our speech networks attracting record audiences, fuelled by interest in the General Election and illustrating the public’s enduring demand for high quality news, analysis and discussion on radio.”

BBC stations, which dominate the airwaves, had good figures generally right across the board.

BBC Radio had a weekly reach of 34.59 million, up from 34.1 million last year and 34.88 million last quarter.

And for instance, BBC Radio 1 enjoyed 11.81 million listeners per week, up from last quarter.

Digital-only services also continued to grow, 6 Music passing last quarter’s 1.02 million listeners to a record 1.19 million listeners – doubling its audience from last year’s 595,000.

Digital radio listening across all stations was generally up as well, with a share up of 17 per cent year on year. UK radio digital radio listening weekly reach was up 11 per cent year on year. DAB ownership was also up 7.6 per cent year on year to over 18 million adults.

The new listening figures show the highest weekly reach for radio to be recorded since new research methodology was introduced in January 1999.

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Lily Allen is pregnant with her first child and has announced the good news on Twitter.

The British singer first announced the news on Twitter telling fans she and her boyfriend Sam Cooper could not be happier about impending parenthood than they are.

“It goes without saying we are both absolutely delighted,” said the star known for hit single Smile and others.

A spokesperson for Lily Allen, 25, later confirmed the news to People magazine.

Lily Allen and Sam Cooper have been dating for just over a year. Allen has previously been involved with a string of suitors including the Chemical Brothers electronic duo maestro Ed Simmons, whom the singer was pregnant by but sadly suffered a miscarriage.

Allen has spoken in the UK press about how happy she feels with Sam Cooper, who runs a painting and decorating and building firm and has no involvement with showbiz.

The pair were long term friends before they became an item.

Lily Allen, who as well as singing the praises of Cooper in the press, has talked in the past about wanting to have a family and also take some time out of the celebrity limelight.

“Sam treats me differently. He’s told me he will look after me forever. That is what I have always wanted, someone to look after me.”

The star, the daughter of hell-raising actor Keith Allen, has also revealed that she has never had a single argument with her lover and there is nothing about him whatsoever that annoys her.

The fact that her boyfriend is not involved in show-business and is not particularly star struck has also been reported as a positive factor in the relationship.

Lily Allen, full name Lily Rose Beatrice Allen, signed to Regal Recordings in 2006 partly as a result of the success of her songs published on MySpace.

Her first mainstream single Smile reached number one in the UK singles charts and the singer has remained popular ever since, especially in Europe.

Her first album Alright, Still sold more than 2.6 million copies. The singer has been nominated for Grammy Awards, BRIT Awards and MTV Video Music Awards.

Her second album It’s Not Me, It’s You debuted at number one on the UK Albums Chart and included the hit single The Fear.

Since then Lily Allen, a famous celebrity Fulham FC fan, has talked repeatedly about taking a break following 2010 and that is obviously more likely now.

The singer recently turned designer and has announced plans to open a vintage clothing store: Lucy in Disguise, which she intends to manage with her sister.

This latest break into the fashion industry follows her successful dress range portfolio for fashion store New Look and her branded jewellery range at Argos.

The singer is reportedly three months pregnant and she and her boyfriend are expecting their child early next year.

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Controversial TV star Jonathan Ross is heading to ITV to front a new chat show.

In news that will be welcomed by his fans, the popular presenter who has hosted a Friday night chat show for a number of years on the Beeb will be given a chance to revive his career and present a new format on the BBC’s arch rival channel.

ITV have agreed a deal with Jonathan Ross for the new chat show for ITV1, to be broadcast in late 2011 and early 2012.

The new series, commissioned by ITV’s Director of Entertainment and Comedy, Elaine Bedell will air in a peak time slot on ITV1, allowing a break for Ross, who has also been in negotiations with Channel 4.

The presenter who has made a career out of his enthusiasm for film and entertainment has seen his star status questioned in the last couple of years since the Sachsgate Affair, in which Ross and Russell Brand left lewd messages on the answer phone of Fawlty Towers actor Andrew Sachs.

The incident which occurred on an advance-recorded Radio 2 episode of The Russell Brand Show on 18 October 2008 involved references to Brand’s relationship with the elderly Sachs’ granddaughter Georgina Baillie. Ross was suspended for three months over the fall out from the affair. The offending programme had been approved for broadcast by BBC managers.

Speaking of his new move, Jonathan Ross said: “I am thrilled and excited that after a short break I will be rolling up my sleeves and creating a brand new show for ITV1.

“I have worked successfully with most of the key figures at the network in the past and cannot wait to get back on screen with a fast, funny, and unpredictable new talk show. I do have a little spare time at the beginning of 2011 though, so if England needs a temporary new manager I will consider the post seriously. Thank you.”

Earlier this year Jonathan Ross announced he would not be renewing his contract with the BBC and also his long running Radio 2 show will come to an end soon.

Jonathan Ross’s final BBC chat show airs a week on Friday with a line-up featuring football icon David Beckham and action star Jackie Chan.

Many people feel Jonathan Ross has been made a scapegoat by the BBC for the decision of the public broadcaster to pay him a reported £18 million three year deal.

Ross began presenting the BBC One Friday Night With Jonathan Ross show in 2001 for which he won three BAFTA awards for Best Entertainment Performance.

ITV Director of Television Peter Fincham said: “From Hollywood stars through to British politicians Jonathan Ross has interviewed them all and has long established himself as the pre-eminent chat show host of his generation.

“ITV1 has established itself as a home for the UK’s top television stars and I am delighted that the channel will now be working with Jonathan on this exciting new show.”

Other high profile presenter signings for ITV of late have included Adrian Chiles and Christine Bleakley. The former One Show hosts will be reunited on the GMTV sofa later this year.

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Outrageous singer Lady Gaga has become the first living person to have more than 10 million fans on Facebook with her total standing currently at 10,952,276, a sign of the star and Facebook’s increasing popularity.

The singer recently overtook Barack Obama to claim the number one spot, who currently dawdles behind at a mere (lol) 9,949,816 friends.

Well he is only the President of the United States.

Meanwhile, our own political leaders show how they are dwarfed by Barack Obama’s Facebook friends list.

David Cameron – he’s the British Prime Minister, by the way – can amass only 72,672 friends on his Facebook page. Get with it you Conservative party members! The Internet – it’s the latest new fangled technology.

Joking aside, the rise of the Lady Gaga Facebook phenomena is as much a testament to the popularity of Facebook as it is to Lady Gaga.

Despite setting the new record for Facebook friends for a living human being, she’s still only in sixth place overall behind various non living entities including Facebook itself: 11,652,835 and Michael Jackson on a whopping 15,037,630, all current up-to-date figures at the time of writing.

Daniel Dearlove from Famecount, who is interested in such things, says: “Lady Gaga has seen her fan base across Facebook more than double this year and is currently the fastest growing star.

“Achieving 10 million fans is a remarkable testament both to her stardom and to Facebook’s extraordinary reach.”

The huge amount of Facebook friends not only indicates the popularity of Lady Gaga and perhaps her audience which is a Facebook generation internet savvy one, maybe in the way that David Cameron’s isn’t; but also the extraordinary ongoing popularity of Facebook which despite controversy after controversy continues to show no signs of going away.

Facebook has also recently encouraged the building of the friends network among its users, especially among new users. When new people join the site, they now see a list of pages that other people in a similar demographic to them also commonly like, and are encouraged to get networking. Obviously pop stars and politicians and many other Facebook users are very keen to have as many friends as possible, to confirm their popularity, so there is always someone out there who will have you as a Facebook friend if you go searching.

”If you’re new to Facebook, you don’t have a lot of friends to help surface those suggestions. That makes it harder to connect with all of the interests and people you care about so you can receive updates from them,” says Facebook. Quite. And let’s get that share price on the up.

Clearly, some people will only have Facebook friends if they know them in person while others enjoy the game of collecting as many as possible. It’s a matter of choice at the end of the day.

Facebook’s incredible popularity continues though not without some negative headlines, by far the most serious cases in the spotlight having been high profile incidents involving sex predators online. Other issues have involved the hacking of accounts for mischief. With so many users it has to be said though, that such incidents have been relatively few and it’s clear the company takes all security issues very seriously.

Overall, Facebook continues to attract attention and opinion and whatever you think of it – the pros, the cons, the questions it raises about online networking – one thing’s for sure Facebook is an amazing online phenomenon that looks set to expand. Just ask Lady Gaga.

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Kylie Minogue graced the famous Pyramid stage of Glastonbury at the weekend, five years after her battle with cancer forced her to pull out of the line up. The pint size songstress joined American group, Scissor Sisters to sing Any Which Way. The star had been rumoured to be making an appearance, which she confirmed on Friday Night with Jonathon Ross, when the TV presenter quizzed her on the subject.

Many fans were hoping the pop star was going to be offered the headlining spot when U2 had to withdraw. Sadly, that wasn’t to be. However the performance really gave the fans something to rave about.

One fan, Lynne Dobson from Coventry said, “In 2005 we really wanted to see Kylie but obviously she was not on. When we heard a rumour that she would be performing we couldn’t believe it. I love Scissor Sisters as well so it was the perfect combination.”

Kylie is known for her flamboyant and extravagant shows that always get the crowd on their feet, singing and dancing along. One fan that watched the performance said, “That short appearance was the highlight so far for me. She gets everyone singing and dancing. It was crackers near the front when she came on.”

The singer is planning her next tour for 2011, where fans will undoubtedly be treated to a host of fabulous costumes and amazing dance routines. The forty two year old singer is certainly not hanging up her microphone just yet. It would seem that her battle with breast cancer has given her a new lease on her already focused and happy outlook on life. Good for you Kylie!

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