Monkeys head line-up for summer festivals

THE Arctic Monkeys, Radiohead and Kings of Leon will headline this year's Reading and Leeds Festivals, organisers confirmed today.

Dance pioneers the Prodigy, whose latest album is titled Invaders Must Die, will also be on the main stage at both sites.

Other acts confirmed to join in the fun include Maximo Park, Ian Brown, Bloc Party, the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Vampire Weekend, Kaiser Chiefs and Placebo.

Gossip, Glasvegas, Florence and the Machine and White Lies will also feature on the Radio 1/NME stage.

The action will see 150 acts play over three days in August.

The Arctic Monkeys will headline in Leeds on Friday 28 August and the following day in Reading.

Radiohead, who last played Reading in 1994, will kick off in Leeds on Saturday 29 August and then play on Sunday August 30 in Reading.

American act Kings of Leon, fresh from their recent success at the Brits, are set to appear at the Leeds Festival on Sunday August 30 and the Reading Festival on Friday August 28.

Weekend tickets are £175 (which includes camping) plus booking fees, with day tickets priced at £70 plus booking fees. Tickets are on sale now.

For more information visit http://www.readingfestival.com and http://www.leedsfestival.com.

Fan strips off for Pete Doherty

AFTER Kate Moss, it looks like Pete Doherty can’t stop the ladies throwing themselves at him...

Security staff got their knickers in a twist when the crowd surged on stage at the Babyshambles singer’s gig at the Troxy on Commercial Road last night – but there was one lady who was definitely allowed to stay.

One gig-goer said: “Pete said last night was his first gig in years when no fans had invaded the stage.

"As soon as he spoke, there was a mass rush to get on stage.

“Security threw all the fans back down into the pit at the front, but when one girl got up wearing nothing but lingerie they let her stay so she could dance with Pete. He looked like he was really enjoying it.”

And who could blame him.

Sugababe Amelle's all alone

GORGEOUS Sugababe Amelle Berrabah enjoyed her first outing as a single gal last night. We spied her laughing and supping drinks with pals at Mayfair’s Whisky Mist.

Speaking for the first time about her split from Freddie Fuller, she told theBuzz: “Yes, I’m by myself tonight – it was my decision to break up with Freddie. I’m doing fine, thanks.”

Amelle, 24, called time on her relationship with Freddie, 26, once before in 2007, but later got back with him.

This time round though, the split seems final.

Chatting to us at the after party for the Teenage Cancer Trust’s Evening of Comedy at the Royal Albert Hall earlier, Amelle revealed she would keep in touch with Freddie, saying: “I don’t want any bad blood.”

Britney Spears to join Michael Jackson at O2?

MICHAEL Jackson is planning a thrilling surprise for fans going to his O2 gigs this summer.

The singer is in talks with pop stars including Britney Spears and Justin Timberlake about joining him on stage for several dates on the tour.

Jackson, who starts a mammoth 50-date run at The O2 Arena on 8 July, is said to be concerned that, with such a huge run, there’s a risk the shows could become stale.

So he has turned to some of the biggest stars in the world to help him keep up the “wow factor”.

An insider revealed: “Michael knows that stretching out all those shows and keeping it fresh is going to be hard, and one way to do this is to collaborate with some other big stars that he admires.

“The idea would be for them to do five dates each with him. As well as Britney and Justin, he’s in talks with producer Timbaland about doing some of the dates too.”

Madonna to adopt again?

MADONNA and (yet another) child - the Material Girl is trying to adopt another African baby.

The singer, 50, has filed papers over the adoption of a second child from the poverty-stricken African country of Malawi, officials have confirmed.

Reports suggest that she will travel to the region over the weekend with a possible court hearing coming as soon as Monday.

Madonna's spokeswoman Liz Rosenberg declined to comment on the issue, but officials in both the US and Malawi have said that an adoption bid is under way.

An official at the Malawian welfare department told the Associated Press that adoption documents had been filed by the singer.

Spandau Ballet announce reunion

SPANDAU Ballet have announced their comeback.

The 1980s New Romantic pioneers boarded the battleship HMS Belfast, moored by London's Tower Bridge, to make the announcement.

All five members of the 1980s synth pop band known for hits such as True and Gold united publicly for the first time in 20 years to announce the first dates of a world tour which will kick off by taking in UK and Irish arenas from October this year.

Smartly dressed, Tony Hadley, John Keeble, brothers Gary and Martin Kemp and Steve Norman made the announcement aboard the battleship, the scene of a notorious Spandau gig in 1980, from which they first set off on their global adventures.

Hadley said that the band had had a rehearsal which "sounded a million dollars".

Review: Mr Hudson at The Scala

The Scala, Kings Cross
***

Why are hip-hop's bigwigs currently fawning over an effete Oxford graduate who used to dress like David Bowie? 

After a debut album that only faintly blipped on the radar, Kanye West has made genre-hopping singer Ben Hudson his protege, producing and hyping his follow up, even designing an $800 Louis Vuitton shoe in his honour. A rumoured appearance on Jay Z' s next opus makes him the envy of just about everyone, but is he worthy?

After last night's show, it's still too close to call. While at least one audience member objected, shouting "You're a f**king disgrace" across the floor, it wasn't strictly fair. New song Supernova takes his mentor's beats and marries them with an anthemic Killers meets Phil Collins vibe that worked well with the crowd and had "hit" written all over it.

Amy Winehouse garden-hopping in Barnet

We thought St Lucia had done her good, but it seems Amy Winehouse is as wild as ever.

With a scowl and her beehive looking like Medusa’s snake hair, the singer stomped barefoot through the garden of her new home in High Barnet wearing stained tracksuit bottoms – just like the old days in Camden.

Yet Amy, 25, has made pals in her new pad – we spied her being helped over her garden railings by a neighbour.

Though theBuzz wonders if this chap was just trying to put her back on her own turf...

Geri Halliwell's ex-citing love life

IT’S RAINING MEN for Geri Halliwell...

After shocking us all by announcing her sudden engagement to Italian tycoon Fabrizio Politi – and then less surprisingly breaking it off – the 36-year-old Spice Girl is back in the arms of a former squeeze, Mahiki club owner Nick House.

One of theBuzz’s spies spotted the two together after she attended the premiere of The Boat That Rocked last night.  “Nick picked her up in his Aston Martin and drove her the Punch Bowl pub in Mayfair, where he introduced her to his pal Guy Ritchie,” he said.

“The pair got cosy in a corner of the pub and Geri asked friends to take ‘coupley’ pictures of them together.”

When the pub shut, Nick took Geri to his latest venture, the Tini bar in Chelsea, where they partied until 1am.

Agyness Deyn: loved-up no longer?

AGYNESS Deyn and rocker boyfriend Albert Hammond Jr – a match made in heaven?

Well, not according to pals of the normally loved-up pair, who have revealed the couple have split.

The once-inseparable duo have called time on their relationship, ­deciding to be “just friends” after ­dating for under a year.

Ironically, the split comes just weeks after the blonde model and The Strokes guitarist took part in a Valentine’s Day love spread for Vogue magazine.

Agy, 26, and Albert, 28, made their relationship official when they stepped out to attend the Songwriters Hall of Fame Awards together in New York last June.