Truer words were never spoken as Jennifer Lopez adds London to the list of cities she will be visiting as part of her Dance Again tour.

An acclaimed superstar, Lopez has made her mark on the public consciousness as an actress, producer and entrepreneur as well as a world-class singer. Her hit song ‘On the Floor’ hit the ground running and managed to attain number one status almost the world over. On 16 May Forbes magazine named Lopez as number one in their ‘Celebrity 100 List’, effectively naming her as the most powerful celebrity in the world.

Lopez is set to begin her tour in Panama City in June and will be playing dates in various locations across North and South America. Lopez will then be coming to London in her first ever arena show in the UK, exclusively at the O2 on 22 October. The star of films such as Maid in Manhattan and Monster-in-Law will be performing hits from her whole career, which includes seven studio albums and 18 UK Top 20 hits.

J-Lo fans take over Jubilee Line celebrating tour announcement

To celebrate the announcement, dozens of J-Lo fans took over the London Underground. Two carriages in a Jubilee Line tube were taken over by her UK fans while they wore Jennifer Lopez masks and waved to the cameras. The pictures can now be seen on Twitter and show just how many fans Lopez has here in the UK to greet her when she arrives later this year.

Tickets will be going on sale from Friday 25 May and can be purchased here. To see what we thought about her latest single ‘Dance Again’ click here for our Singles of the Week.

Co-hosted by one half of Ell & Nikki, the duo who brought victory to Azerbaijan in Düsseldorf last year, the semi-final is very strong indeed. Here’s the line-up for this evening;

1. Montenegro: ‘Euro Neuro’ – Rambo Amadeus

2. Iceland: ‘Never Forget’ – Gréta Salóme & Jónsi

3. Greece: ‘Aphrodisiac’ – Eleftheria Eleftheriou

4. Latvia: ‘Beautiful Song’ – Anmary

5. Albania: ‘Suus’ – Rona Nishliu

6. Romania: ‘Zaleilah’ – Mandinga

7. Switzerland: ‘Unbreakable’ – Sinplus

8. Belgium: ‘Would You?’ – Iris

9. Finland: ‘När jag blundar’ – Pernilla Karlsson

10. Israel: ‘Time’ – Izabo

11. San Marino: ‘The Social Network Song’ – Valentina Monetta

12. Cyprus: ‘La La Love’ – Ivi Adamou

13. Denmark: ‘Should’ve Known Better’ – Soluna Samay

14. Russia: ‘Party For Everybody’ – Buranovskiye Babushki

15. Hungary: ‘Sound Of Our Hearts’ – Compact Disco

16. Austria: ‘Woki mit deim Popo’ – Trackshittaz

17. Moldova: ‘Lāutar’ – Pasha Parfeny

18. Ireland: ‘Waterline’ – Jedward

Watch out for what promises to be another ‘lively’ performance from Irish twins and The X Factor alumni Jedward, returning after coming 8th last year. Iceland are tipped for success (and the male half is particularly appealing), as are Cyprus, Denmark and the grannies from Russia. We are loving the Albanian entry but it remains to be seen whether Europe’s juries and televoters will plump for a heart-wrenching ballad in Albanian.

Let us know what you think, both before and after the show. One thing is certain; there will be all kinds of camp. Another certainty is that we will report back tomorrow on which ten countries make it through to Saturday’s grand final. We can’t wait.

Semi-Final One of Eurovision Song Contest 2012 will be broadcast live on BBC3 at 8pm tonight.

Got Wood is the brainchild of environmental entrepreneur Anthony Abis who discovered the bamboo fabric in 2011. He says, ‘We have developed a luxurious range of underwear that feels like silk. The fabric outweighs cotton in sustainability and softness, has supreme functionality and is eco-friendly, making it perfect for pants.’

They promise that a sustainably produced boxer short that can still be both fun and practical. Sounding like a challenge to us we took them along with Aaron to the fabulously funky Bermondsey Square Hotel, an ideal venue for a stylish weekend in London.

We were in Lily – one of six plush loft suites are named after ladies from iconic 1960s songs (Lilly, Jude, Ruby and Lucy). Each has a punchy, decadent design and features Apple TVs to integrate with laptops and iPods, as well as an outdoor terrace – our room had a lovely view of Europe’s largest skyscraper – The Shard. Sister suite ‘Lucy’ even has an outdoor hot tub, recently seen being enjoyed by the beautiful Tom and Nicholas on BBC One’s The Apprentice.

Aaron reported the pants themselves as being very comfortable, although the bright red option may not be for everyone. They even held up to our hotel rooms rain effect shower! We certainly think he looks fabulous in them. Let us know what you think in the comments.

The range, priced at £15.99 per pair, is available to buy from the Got Wood website www.gotwood.co.uk - and if you want to see more of our model – you can find out where he’s performing his latest show, Quarter Life Crisis, on Aaron’s website. Photography by Rajan Wadhera.

In the occupied bastion of Winterfell, Theon’s treachery has earned him the ire of his own people, and while he seeks to control the ever destabilising situation he only manages to destroy what little power he may have been able to gather. Even when he reached out for support from his sister, Yara, he found no help, only pity. Alfie Alan has been spot on in his portrayal of the prince turned conqueror, and seeing him near the end of his arc, he is able to evoke a more quiet quality which reaches much further than his brash rages ever could. This shift in tone is surprisingly compelling and shows some talent that the young actor had not yet displayed.

In the far north Jon Snow and Qhorin Halfhand are in the captivity of the wildlings and being kept alive for their information and knowledge of the Night Watch’s movements. The oaths of fealty that Jon took are slowly put to the test as Qhorin prepares Jon for one final mission in order to preserve the safety of the Seven Kingdoms. Meanwhile, back in the south, Tywin’s forces are on the move for a battle against Robb Stark which leaves young Arya desperate to find her one ally Jaqen to provide his assistance in one more desperate plan, to escape Harrenhall and make there way towards Winterfell, and her supposed safety.

In King’s Landing the final preparations are under way for the great battle between the forces of Stannis Baratheon and the armies of Joffrey under the power of Tyrion Lannister. Stannis’ forces outnumber the city forces, which leads the imp to put together a new plan to turn the tide in the coming battle. He is also forced to contend with his conniving sister who will do anything she can to claim what little control she can, and protect her son from almost certain death. We have said before is that Cersei has become like a lioness herself, but her lack of control over events has made her more dangerous and reckless than ever before. Meanwhile in the East Daenerys goes to the House of the Undying, to claim back her stolen dragons from the warlocks of Qarth and once again reassert her power and status as the ‘mother of dragons’ and a conquerer in her own right.

The pacing in the story arcs was kicked into high gear this week as all the forces were moved into place for a final battle of epic proportions. Fan’s of the book series will know that next week’s penultimate episode will represent almost all of the developments that have come about thus far. This episode is brilliant in creating the much needed tension that will make the next episode all the sweeter, and with the fractures already beginning to show in each front, then the coming battle will threaten to blow apart every single character.

All the tension was absolutely delicious this week, and the stakes are higher than they ever were before. If next week’s installment is even near the quality of this episode then we will be satisfied. With a final twist which helped to reaffirm the cunning of the forces of the Starks, this episode felt as though it finished too soon, but with plenty of promise still to come.

In a brief – but to the point – video message, Beenie Man claims he has ‘nothing against no one and respects everyone’, mentioning in particular the gay community; obviously with regard to his infamously homophobic lyrics calling for death to the ‘batty man’. He cites is his youth as the main justification, stating that ‘no one in this world is the same as they were 20 years ago’, and that he didn’t understand that people outside of Jamaica could live their lives differently.

This isn’t the first time Beenie Man has made an apology about his hate-riddled lyrics - though back in 2004 it was dismissed as a publicity stunt, attempting to salvage his career following protests from the gay community which had prompted him to cancel a show in London. The message was also through his record label and its content was generally more vague.

In some ways this change of heart may not be as surprising as it first appears, particularly given his recent work with pro-LGBT rights artists such as Janet Jackson, Robyn and Mýa. He signs off the video with a simple ‘Love, peace, manners and music’, which is certainly an admirable suggestion. Fans will look to see if his contrition is such that he no longer performs the songs that include hate speech, or at the very least write new lyrics. So So Gay will be watching to see if Beenie Man manages to stay true to his words.

Handsome Max Milner and his never-moving or changing hat, started things off with a medley of ‘Black Horse And The Cherry Tree’ by KT Tunstall and ‘You Need Me, I Don’t Need You’ by Ed Sheeran and probably gave a better performance with better vocals than the two originals could put together. Then Cassius Henry managed to, surprisingly enough, pull off singing Adele’s ‘Turning Tables’ putting his own old-school soul man spin on it, despite looking like he was he about to swallow the microphone whole.

His love is our love: Public favourite Vince Kidd gets his reggae on to Whitney.

One of the public’s favourite contestants Bo Bruce continued her run of popularity as she took on Rihanna’s ‘Love The Way You Lie (Part II)’, and while she sang it with a heap of emotion, she couldn’t help sounding very similar to the original. Bleating sheep, anyone? Vince Kidd’s reggae twist on ‘My Love Is Your Love’ got the entire studio on their feet and he worked the stage and the crowd like a professional. Having already built up a rather large and loyal fanbase, the coaches were quick to agree with each other about his natural star quality.

One person however, who did get the coaches arguing in probably one of the first disputes of the show so far – they seem to be far less argumentative than their US counterparts – was Aleks Josh and his laid-back rendition of ‘Better Together’ by Jack Johnson, which is actually just as equally laid-back as the original. Danny was obviously proud of his own act, but the others were not so sure, thinking he was ‘too laid-back’ and was ‘taking it easy’. Just another way of saying he was boring and lacked excitement during his performance, but just how far can a cute face and cheeky smile get someone in the end?

Becky Hill, who unlike Aleks is not one for just standing around with a microphone, took it upon herself to once again strut around the stage (with a cordless mic this time) and even go up to the coaches as she performed ‘Seven Nation Army’ like the angsty teenage rock star that she is. Move over, Avril Lavigne! However, this young girl may know how to get the crowd going crazy, but vocally she is probably one of the weakest contestants left. David Julien was up next singing Maroon 5′s ‘She Will Be Loved’, pulling off the vocals better than Adam Levine himself can, even if the performance was rather bland. And last but not least was Toni Warne, who decided to go for something different this week after previous comments of her not singing a more emotional song; she opted for ‘Sorry Seems To Be Hardest Word’, milking every word and note like her life depended on it. But was it enough?

Gutted: Aleks Josh and David Julien did their best to hide their sadness.

On Sunday, the results show, which barely lasted more than 30 minutes (they’re really rushing it aren’t they?) began with a double vocal force to be reckoned with in the shape of Leanne and Ruth from Team Tom as they did their best to ousting each other (whilst at the same pretending not to), on ‘Shake It Off’ by Florence and the Machine. Was anyone else reminded of the battle round scenario? Soon after Team Will’s two semi-finalists Jaz and Tyler also duetted, singing a soulful version of The Police’s ’Roxanne’. The quirky Paloma Faith also performed her new single ‘Picking Up The Pieces’ in her silver tinfoil get-up.

No time was wasted in seeing who was through and whose fate would be left in the hands of their coach. Similar to last week, Bo Bruce and Vince Kidd were (unsurprisingly) automatically saved by the public, leaving Danny and Jessie left with tough decisions. Out of his three remaining guys, Danny chose to take Max through to the semi-finals, leaving a disappointed David and very sad Aleks (cue unhappy puppy dog face) to leave the show, while Jessie shocked a lot of people by choosing the weaker Becky over the far better Cassius and Toni. What did you think of the performances at the weekend and the decisions made?

‘Picking Up The Pieces’ by Paloma Faith (Rating: ****)

Reviewed by Damien Ryan

Almost three years since her debut release, Do You Want the Truth or Something Beautiful?, Paloma Faith has returned with a new tale of heartbreak, ‘Picking Up The Pieces’. Supremely cinematic, the single is a great example of Faith’s strengths as a singer-songwriter and shows that she can comfortably stand shoulder-to-shoulder with rising starlets of her ilk like Lana Del Rey and Emeli Sandé.

On first listen the song can be a bit overwhelming; a cacophony of sweeping-strings, pounding drums and powerful vocals. In under a minute the song sweeps into full flourish. It’s powerful, but it does feel a bit rushed. Her vocals are a little less smoky than you may remember and she belts out ‘Picking Up The Pieces’ with all her might. Luckily, ‘Pieces’ grows on each listen, quickly showing itself to be a truly powerful ballad. It’s hard to imagine that as flamboyant a character as Paloma can be overshadowed but here her love-interest can’t quite leave his ex behind him. ‘In her shadow is it me you see?’, Faith asks heartbreakingly.  She pleads with him to recognise her love for him; ’Cos she’s gone and I’m picking up the pieces / I want to cry but you don’t see that I’m the one by your side’.

Produced by Nellee Hooper, who has worked with everyone from Madonna to Björk to U2, ‘Picking Up The Pieces’ is a sharp and strong lead-in to her sophomore release, Fall To Grace. If Paloma can offer up some more mega-ballads like this with a few tracks that show off her quirkier side then we’re in for a real treat.

Download the single from Amazon or iTunes

‘Dance Again’ by Jennifer Lopez feat. Pitbull (Rating: ****)

Reviewed by Jon Hornbuckle

J.Lo seems to be following the rule of ‘it ain’t broke, don’t fix it’ on her latest offering, ‘Dance Again’. Following on from her 2011 ‘comeback hit’ ‘On The Floor’, Jennifer is once again reunited with Pitbull and RedOne. It’s a similar affair to ‘On The Floor’ – pulsating beats and plenty of synth drama create an anthem of a floor filler, though it is all becoming slightly formulaic.

The verses are nothing groundbreaking – Jennifer’s sultry vocals purr about how she wants to touch us tonight and that our lips taste like heaven. Jenny! You’re making us blush! For a woman who is approaching 43 years old, she has the sexual drive (and body) of a popstar half her age.

The chorus blows off like a box of dynamite speed dating a naked flame and it makes for a full on hands-in-the-air dancefloor euphoria moment, but then this isn’t exactly new territory for Jenny.

With rumours of a greatest hits tour approaching UK shores in the autumn, we can’t help but think this track could get lost amongst Jennifer’s stronger, more popular hits. Still, just enjoy the moment as it really is a super-catchy track.

Download the single from Amazon or iTunes.

‘Chasing the Sun’ by The Wanted (Rating: ***)

I shouldn’t like this song, really I shouldn’t. Not because it’s a bad song, but because it’s by a boy band. A boy band called The Wanted. Now I’m not anywhere near as cool as I like to think I am, but I like to think that, at nearly the wrong side of 30, I’m better than boy bands, especially boy bands called The Wanted.

The Thing About Men is a show that had a lot of good things going for it. There was a whacky yet endearingly sweet premise, a repertoire of good songs, and some comic moments which do genuinely have you reaching for the tissues. That said; the talent shown by the three main characters is decidedly lacklustre, which is a tragedy since you can see them all working so hard to deliver a better-than-average entertaining show.

The story behind the show is the stuff of West End gold – with an unfaithful husband, Tom, leaving his wife after he discovers her infidelity, and subsequently goes on to move in with his wife’s lover, Sebastian. The majority of the humour in the show comes from Tom trying to maintain his new double life, as he goes on a passive-aggressive campaign to destroy his new roommate. The narrative is then flipped on its head as both men form an unlikely bond of friendship which leads to Tom to doubt what he wants to accomplish anymore. It plays like a classic screwball-comedy and the actors have a lot of energy to carry this off. Unfortunately, the screwball elements begin to fall flat near the second half and fail to produce more than a titter from an audience – who appear to feel bored from what feels like the same joke over and over again.

The acting skills on hand are good, and manage to make you empaphise with their plights – from Sebastian’s desire for freedom to Tom’s hunger for revenge. The problem is that none of the characters feel particularly well rounded and lack any complexity; which makes their eventual paradigm shifts feel forced and therefore lack satisfactory conclusions. We should provide praise for Steven Webb and Lucyelle Cliffe, who play a variety of weird and wonderful characters that fill up the ensemble – managing to carry a tremendous amount of the comedy and energy between them. It’s fair to say that we found ourselves not looking forward to the main trio, but to these two great young players who helped save the show from becoming too much of a dirge.

The songs at the beginning of the show were amazing, and provided more hilarity than some of the spoken dialogue. For their part, the cast were accomplished at pulling of the big numbers in this little theatre. That being said, there are some cast members who appear to have forgotten that volume is not a substitute for quality – as they bellowed out their notes and caused us to squirm in our seats. In fairness, the quality of the music was hindered by the fact that it felt like the orchestra and vocalists seemed to be fighting to make themselves heard over each other. This led to some unpleasant moments where you could not hear the lyrics for the backing music, or the actors felt compelled to shriek their notes rather than sing them with elegance.

There is a lot to love about this show, and the cast are pretty good at pulling the audience along with the action. However, we could not help but feel that The Thing About Men needed a little more polish to make it a memorable fan favorite.

The Thing About Men is playing at the Landor Theatre until 9 June 2012

Having sold over 90 million albums and topped the charts all over the world, Carlisle really has earned her place in the spotlight. She’s undergone the somewhat obligatory drink and drugs battle, posed for Playboy and has undertaken a string of reunion tours. Carlisle is now in a spectacular place, she is looking incredible for someone in their early fifties, and her most recent album Viola - sung in French – is simply breath taking. 

The most famous and successful of The Go-Go’s, Belinda Carlisle has always been held in adoration by the gay community and she’s certainly given back, having played at Manchester Pride twice now and speaking up regularly (along with her gay activist son) in various campaigns for equal rights.

As a special treat for fans, Belinda is performing a ‘one-off’ intimate concert filmed for TV and DVD at London’s famous Metropolis Studios, where the likes of Queen, Paul Weller, Michael Jackson, Adele, Amy Winehouse have all recorded. Guests will be limited to a maximum of 120, all will receive free drinks all evening, a personalised lanyard and will have their names featured in the credits of the DVD. Better still, guests will have the opportunity to meet Belinda following the performance in the bar for a drink and a photo.

Tickets for this exciting performance on 27 May 2012 at 7pm are available online through the Metropolis Group.

The King’s Head is running an “Arnold Wesker at 80” season, celebrating the British playwright’s lesser performed works. Denial was written in 1997, but is now receiving its London premiere, while the opera Caritas was due to be performed alongside it, but has been postponed until “sometime before April 2013”, when The King’s Head will also be staging The Wesker Trilogy: Revisited (which is confusingly a stage adaptation of an unproduced film script which in turn is based on three of Wesker’s famous early plays). With Roots being performed at the Nottingham Playhouse and Chicken Soup with Barley receiving a fantastic revival at The Royal Court, they’re not alone in rediscovering a seminal playwright (who is still working, by the way).

Denial is based on true events; a family torn apart by accusations of child abuse. Jenny is a grown woman, her marriage has ended and she feels like her life is falling apart. After receiving some suspect therapy at the hands of Valerie Morgan, she uncovers what she thinks are repressed memories of sexual abuse. Jenny accuses her family, severing all ties, and leading her into a spiral of hatred, depression and isolation, which her therapist is happy to keep feeding. This is not a play about abuse, although it may seem that way at first, but subtle manipulation – a common theme in Wesker’s works.

The writing is polemical and light on dramatic action. The staging is frequently reduced to talking heads, which is only highlighted by the design (by takis): a small darkened stage, dim lighting, and all-black costume. It’s not easy to watch, and not just because of the subject matter. The underlit stage is also an odd choice of corrugated plastic that crunches underfoot in a way that removes you from the domestic setting. Director Adam Spreadbury-Maher allows the script to carry the burden, and while it’s intelligent, forcing the audience to consider their standpoint, it’s also quite heavyhanded and demands sensitive, subtle performances.

Clare Cameron as Jenny is simmering rage from beginning to end, which suits the character well, but is quite exhausting to empathise with, and one suspects that was exactly the intention. Sally Plumb as the sinister therapist makes a nice transition from warm Welsh mother-substitute, to cold manipulator, although she’s much more enjoyable and interesting in the former role, than the latter. The other actors have a tougher time as their characters revolve entirely around Jenny’s actions, meaning they drift in and out without any real impact. Collectively, it’s not the most complex set of portrayals I’ve seen, and doesn’t quite succeed in adding much needed dimension to a biased script.

The effect of this play largely comes down to your own personality. You’re probably much more likely to be conflicted about the issues if you’re the sort who avidly reads Daily Mail “paedo witch hunts”. But if you rely on science and law to maintain social order, then it will only reaffirm your belief that all crimes, including one as emotive as child abuse, should only be tried on evidence and that unproven accusations can destroy innocent lives. Denial is a thoughtful piece in a diluted theatre scene, but won’t win any converts to political theatre.

Denial runs until 9th June 2012 at King’s Head Theatre