The Songs of Hope Online Auction is happening now for Charity Folks from today until Tuesday, December 5 at 6:00 pm EST.

Proceeds benefit City of Hope Cancer Research and Treatment Hospital.

Click here to start your bidding now [thanks umark]

A pair of Chris Martin’s black and white Adidas trainers, signed and worn on the Twisted Logic tour 2005/2006, go on sale on internet site eBay at 12 noon today (Tuesday 28th November 2006) in a charity auction to raise money for MAG (Mines Advisory Group).

Shoes have been donated by 60 high-profile male and female celebrities, from the world of pop, film, TV, sport and the arts.

MAG employs more than 2,500 people worldwide to help provide safer futures for lives affected by conflict in countries such as Lebanon, Angola, Afghanistan and Cambodia. MAG has cleared millions of landmines and unexploded bombs across the world and saved millions of lives and limbs with its programme of conflict recovery.

The MAG auction can be seen on eBay at ebay.co.uk and magclearsmines.org. It will last for ten days until 8th December 2006.

Please bid generously! [thanks Sterling]

The acoustic set is traditionally regarded as the litmus test of a pop artist, a host of whom have, for the past week, been unplugging to play short sets at the Union Chapel to raise money for the charity Mencap.

Unbilled but making a surprise last-night appearance, Chris Martin is accompanied by a single violinist as he strums through two Dylan numbers, I Will Be Released and Buckets of Rain, and the Killers' When You Were Young. He then switches to piano for a song he wrote the night before ("So it might be shit"). Martin improvises Noel Gallagher-themed lyrics to the Nick Cave-lite track before abandoning the whole exercise after just two minutes.

Few clues there, then, to Coldplay's next musical direction.

Martin's warm reception palls next to that received by local girl Lily Allen. "My mum and dad got married in this chapel," the scarlet-clad singer tells the crowd, the majority of whom appear to be related to her. "It didn't last long, obviously." It's easy to resent Allen's current media ubiquity, but she is an engaging performer and her lightweight anthems work well in this context. Smile and the lilting white reggae of LDN suggest a street-sharp Minnie Ripperton, and she has the grace to look abashed when she forgets the lyrics to Everything's Just Wonderful, until someone runs backstage to Google them for her.

The Automatic apologise for the lack of mastery in their acoustic art, lurching through their Kaiser Chiefs-like summer hit Monster and a breathtakingly bad version of Kanye West's Gold Digger. White soul boy James Morrison rounds off the night and is its biggest disappointment. Possessed of a great Motown-esque voice, Morrison wastes it on trite pseudo-confessionals and sub-Simply Red musical trifles. The over-emoting of The Letter is as grotesque as any X Factor hopeful. Morrison fails the acoustic test Martin and Allen pass: he needs to go away and get real.

Source: http://music.guardian.co.uk

Coldplay frontman Chris Martin has a crush on British pop star Lily Allen.

The singer, who is married to actress Gwyneth Paltrow, announced his feelings after making an unexpected appearance at Mencap's Little Noise charity concert, at London's Union Chapel, on Monday night (27.11.06).

Martin played a short acoustic set which included new Coldplay song "Buckets of Rain" and cover versions of The Killers' recent hit "When You Were Young" and Bob Dylan's "Buckets of Rain," which he dedicated to Lily. He said: "This is for Lily Allen. She's gorgeous, she's sweet. And if I wasn't married."

Allen later took to the stage herself and during her set performed a cover of The Kooks song "Naive."

Chris Martin makes surprise appearence at Mencap show

Coldplay's Chris Martin covered The Killers at a surprise gig last night (November 27) at London's Union Chapel. Martin played a surprise four-song set with a violin player as part of Mencap's Little Noise Sessions. He opened with a version of The Band's 'I Shall Be Released', which he joked was written by Gareth Gates. He commented : "You shouldn't cover songs in an acoustic fashion in front of Lily Allen fans!"

Martin then played an acoustic version of The Killers 'When You Were Young' and said afterwards : "What a great band The Killers are."

Playing a new Coldplay song 'Bucket For A Crown' on the piano, Martin said that he had written it the night before. "If it's shit," he said "We'll give it to The Killers and if it's good, we'll keep it."

The track, which sounded like 'The Scientist', saw Martin adding a line in about Oasis. "I want to listen to the session by Noel Gallagher," he sang, in reference to Sunday's (November 26) session by the Oasis songwriter.

Martin finished his short set with a version of Bob Dylan's 'Buckets Of Rain', which he dedicated to Lily Allen. He said : "This is for Lily Allen. She's gorgeous, she's sweet. And if I wasn't married..."

Later, Allen played a five-song set and noted about The Union Chapel : "This is where my parents got married, about 25 years ago. It didn't last very long though, did it?"

As well as stripped down versions of 'LDN', 'Smile' and current single 'The Littlest Things', Allen played a version of The Kooks 'Naive'. The Automatic's five-song set saw Pennie remark about the acoustic set up: "This is really strange for us!"

The band played 'Gold Digger' by Kanye West as well as their massive hit 'Monster'. The evening was rounded off with a performance from James Morrison.

Are you as excited as Chris that Christmas is only one month away? I'm sure that most of you can't wait for this wonderful time of the year either - not because of all the money YOU have to spend to get your friends and family members nice presents. No, of course because of all the money THEY spend on YOUR presents.

And what better gift to get you than something that has to do with Coldplay?

Browse through the ultimate Coldplay Christmas List here [thanks Flying Sparks]

Two pictures of Chris Martin have been printed in the official Record of the Day Awards journal.

You can download it here [thanks Alex]

The latest edition of the Coldplay.com Ezine has arrived, you can download your copy here.

Issue 18 is packed with all the latest on the band, plus an exclusive in-depth interview. This time round you can enjoy news on Chris Martin's collaborations with both Jay Z and Ricky Gervais, an X&Y World Tour round up, a fantastic Make Trade Fair competition and a superbly interesting Q&A with Coldplay Tour Photographer Penny Howle.

There is also word on an end of year Christmas present from the band...keep checking the official site for more info very soon.

It is one of the more interesting musical meetings we've heard of this year.

We can reveal that Coldplay's Chris Martin is set to join Lily Allen on stage for a charity gig on Monday.

James Morrison and The Automatic are also in the bill for the week-long Mencap's Little Noise sessions at the Union Chapel in Islington, London. Our mole says: "Chris was the surprise guest this Wednesday but pulled out because he was ill. He can't wait to meet Lily as he is a massive fan. Hope she's gentle with him!"

More on this here

A host of stars have contributed their shoes to be auctioned off for the charity MAG (Mines Advisory Group).

Coldplay, David Bowie, Ringo Starr and Lily Allen are just some of the artists who have signed their footwear for the auction. They will be joined by Johnny Marr, Editors' Tom Smith, Keane's Tim-Rice Oxley and Nina Persson from The Cardigans.

The executive director of MAG, Lou McGrath, said: "The support from celebrities for the shoe auction has been fantastic and resulted in an impressive collection of footwear. The money raised will play a vital role in clearing the remnants of conflict, preventing injuries and deaths and regenerating communities. The money is especially needed for our work in Lebanon, where the UN estimates there are around 100,000 unexploded bombs at 359 separate sites."

Bids will continue until 8th December. For more information visit www.magclearsmines.org. More on this story here

Auction link: http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Signed-Coldplay-Chris-Martin-Rush-of-Blood-T-Shirt

As reported earlier, Coldplay are among the celebrities donating gifts for an auction in aid of charity, Cancer Active. The rock group have given items including a signed t-shirt that Chris Martin wore on the Rush of Blood tour.

Other gifts include an exclusive handcrafted Julien MacDonald evening gown (below) worth £4,000, which the London designer has promised to tailor to fit the winning bidder. Sporting heroes Seb Coe and Will Carling have also contributed to the auction.

Olympic chairman Coe has put a T-shirt he wore while running Sports Relief with Tony Blair up for auction and Carling has given a signed England Rugby shirt. The auction will run for ten days on eBay through Auctioning4u.co.uk from November 14.

It is part of Cancer Prevention Fortnight which aims to increase awareness of how to prevent cancer. For live links and updates check www.auctioning4u.co.uk/canceractive

Auction link: http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Signed-Coldplay-Chris-Martin-Rush-of-Blood-T-Shirt

As reported earlier, Coldplay are among the celebrities donating gifts for an auction in aid of charity, Cancer Active. The rock group have given items including a signed t-shirt that Chris Martin wore on the Rush of Blood tour.

Other gifts include an exclusive handcrafted Julien MacDonald evening gown (below) worth £4,000, which the London designer has promised to tailor to fit the winning bidder. Sporting heroes Seb Coe and Will Carling have also contributed to the auction.

Olympic chairman Coe has put a T-shirt he wore while running Sports Relief with Tony Blair up for auction and Carling has given a signed England Rugby shirt. The auction will run for ten days on eBay through Auctioning4u.co.uk from November 14.

It is part of Cancer Prevention Fortnight which aims to increase awareness of how to prevent cancer. For live links and updates check www.auctioning4u.co.uk/canceractive

Coldplay front man Chris Martin went unnoticed for 15 minutes when he arrived at the Record of the Day Awards last night.

“He turned up in a hoodie and a shaved head and I think the doorman was expecting him to have big curly hair”, said a Record of the Day spokesperson. “It was only when he introduced himself that he was ushered downstairs”, revealed our source. He then hung around at the bar for 15 minutes before anyone realised who he was. The singer was there to present an award to renowned music photographer Tom Sheehan, who has supported the band from their early days. “Chris was extremely humble and when we asked him what his demands were, his reply was ‘nothing’”, the source added.

The awards show, which was put on to honour the cream of the PR and music journalism world, took place at Oxford Street’s 100 Club, and finished with a colourful session of punk rock karaoke. Winners included NME, The Sun, Toast Press, and Uncut magazine editor Allan Jones, who walked away with a lifetime achievement award for services to journalism.

More on this story here

Graduation will be the third major label album release from Roc-A-Fella/DefJam hip hop artist/producer Kanye West. There is currently no official release date, but Kanye stated at the Brit Awards that it would be released in December 2006, though in May 2006 he said he was now unsure of a release date.

It is thought that the album will include the song 'Bittersweet' - West's collaboration with John Mayer. The song was originally set to be on his second album Late Registration, but did not make the final tracklisting. Kanye said that this was because he felt that the song didn't fit in with the rest of the album.

The album is also set to feature the song recorded with Chris Martin during a spontaneous "jamming session" with the Coldplay frontman. The song, recorded in February 2006, in London, England, is titled 'Homecoming' It has been given praise by several people that have claimed to hear the song.

Read the full article here

It's very rare to see Chris, Gwyneth and Apple together - but relatives of MySpace user Morgan (posted on Matthew's MySpace) have snapped them in Houston, back in February 2006.

Gwyneth was pregnant with Moses back then, and it's unclear what the family was doing in Houston.

[Thanks Séverinne & Flying Sparks]

Coldplay fans have been petitioning in their droves for Coldplaying.com's petition to revive the Toronto DVD from the EMI grave.

You have given your thoughts on how it has been revealed that the already planned and scheduled Coldplay live in Toronto Twisted Logic Tour DVD won't be released after all. 1,250 (and counting) signatures and comments have been registered.

You can sign the petition anonymously. Every signature helps - add to the petition here.

Maybe all you want is an explanation? Will a televised event do for you? Discuss your choices here

I am deeply disappointed that the dvd of the Toronto concert was scrapped. I was at the concert and it was almost a spiritual experience. I have never been to a concert that so full of emotion not only from the band but from the crowd. It was something, okay the only thing I wanted for Christmas. Something to share with my girls and spark discussion on the many facets of how the concert and message moved me. [thanks Maria Fitzgerald]

I am a Coldplay and concert DVD junkie, and have been excited for this DVD since I heard they were going to film the toronto concert (back in March). It is disappointing to find out that this won't be happening, does EMI not like money? [thanks John Earley]

they better release this shit. [thanks austin]

On 20 November, Universal Music will release ‘Rhythms Del Mundo‘, an exciting collaborative album, which fuses the hot Afro-Cuban sounds of The Buena Vista Social Club Musicians” with tracks from some of the buzziest bands, including The Arctic Monkeys, Franz Ferdinand, Coldplay, The Kaiser Chiefs, Jack Johnson and many others.

It also features the amazing vocals from famed Cuban vocalists, Omara Portuonda, and the last ever recording of the much beloved Ibrahim Ferrer. The album is in aid of Artists Project Earth (APE), which lends support for natural disaster relief and climate change awareness.

Rhythms Del Mundo is an electrifying album that fuses music of different cultures and comes up with a melting pot of rare sounds. Arranged by Demetrio Muniz, Miguel Patterson and Kenito, the main recording sessions took place in Havana at Abdala Studios from the April 2005 to June 2006.

While the majority of the vocals remain the same, The Buena Vista Social Club musicians took the original orchestration from each song and created something utterly unique casting their trademark mastery over each track. Their noted and exceptional musicianship seduced even the notoriously protective Arctic Monkeys into handing over their track. As a rule, the band has never licensed their music for compilation albums, but were so enamoured with the result that they were happy for it to be included on the album. As well as The Arctic Monkeys’ track ‘Dancing Shoes’, Rhythms Del Mundo included reworked tracks such as Clocks by Coldplay, Better Together by Jack Johnson, She Will be Loved by Maroon 5, High and Dry by Radiohead and others.

Rhythms Del Mundo also includes music by famed Cuban singers Omara Portuondo and the last vocal recording of Afro-Cuban bolero singer, Ibrahim Ferrer, who died tragically in 2005. The other Cuban musicians from The Buena Vista Social Club who perform on this album are as follows: Barbarito Torres, Amandito Valdes, Virgilio Valdes, Angel Terri Domech, Manuel ‘Guajiro’ Mirabal, Orlando Lopez ‘Cachaito’ and Demetrio Muniz.

“We need a law, we need to have the Government put climate change in its’ place. If you leave industry to sort it out on a voluntary basis that’s never going to happen. So everybody if they’ve got any concerns about climate change has to register that concern with their Government officials because it’s the only way to go.” -Thom Yorke

Kenny Young, producer and Founder/Trustee of APE, explains how the project emerged: “The project was sparked off by the devastating Tsunami of Xmas 2005. The idea came in to do a project with The Buena Vista Social Club. To fuse their Latin sounds with Western artists and their familiar popular songs. The project evolved when more environmental disasters struck - the Asian Earthquakes and Hurricane Katrina. But the big picture was climate change. You can call these natural disasters but after all the research and scientific data, we know that we’re at least partly to blame for some of these disasters. Global warming is now in the news daily. If we don’t act in the time frame our experts give us, our grandchildren will curse us eternally.’

The artists on this album fully support the record as a show of commitment to the music and to the cause that it endorses. Thom Yorke comments, ‘We need a law, we need to have the Government put climate change in its’ place. If you leave industry to sort it out on a voluntary basis that’s never going to happen. So everybody if they’ve got any concerns about climate change has to register that concern with their Government officials because it’s the only way to go.’ (For a full list of quotes from the musicians involved, see attached document.)

“The incredibly obvious and real signs of global warming are all around us now. This is not an inevitable or irreversible situation yet. There is still time for each one of us to make the right choices and change the outcome.But time is definitely running out. This is not somebody else’s problem. If you live in this world it’s your responsibility to protect it’s future” -Dido

The packaging for the album is carbon neutral.

‘Rhythms Del Mundo’ is released on 20 November through Universal Music.

For more information on Artists Project Earth and how the proceeds from this album will benefit the charity, go to www. Apeuk.org

www.rhythmsdelmundo.com / www.apeuk.org

Track listing - (Listen to a few clips of the album.)

1. Clocks - Coldplay

2. Better Together - Jack Johnson

3. Dancing Shoes - Arctic Monkeys

4. One Step Too Far - Dido & faithless

5. As Time Goes By - Ibrahim Ferrer

6. I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For - Coco & U2

7. She Will Be Loved - Maroon 5

8. Modern Way - Kaiser Chiefs

9. Killing Me Softly - Omara Portuondo

10. Ai No Corrida - Vanya &Quincy

11. Fragilidad - Sting

12. Don’t Know Why - Vanya

13. Hotel Buena Vista - Aquila Rose & Idana

14. The Dark of the Matinee - Coco & Franz Ferdinand

15. High and Dry - Lele & Radiohead Bonus track

16. Casablanca - Ibrahim & Omara

Auction link: http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Signed-Coldplay-Chris-Martin-Rush-of-Blood-T-Shirt

As reported earlier, Coldplay are among the celebrities donating gifts for an auction in aid of charity, Cancer Active. The rock group have given items including a signed t-shirt that Chris Martin wore on the Rush of Blood tour.

Other gifts include an exclusive handcrafted Julien MacDonald evening gown (below) worth £4,000, which the London designer has promised to tailor to fit the winning bidder. Sporting heroes Seb Coe and Will Carling have also contributed to the auction.

Olympic chairman Coe has put a T-shirt he wore while running Sports Relief with Tony Blair up for auction and Carling has given a signed England Rugby shirt. The auction will run for ten days on eBay through Auctioning4u.co.uk from November 14.

It is part of Cancer Prevention Fortnight which aims to increase awareness of how to prevent cancer. For live links and updates check www.auctioning4u.co.uk/canceractive

Connoisseurs may frown upon compilation albums, but popularity with the music buying public tells a different story.

Queen's Greatest Hits will today be unveiled as the best selling album in the UK of all time, with almost 5.5 million copies sold. Sales figures for albums dating back the last 50 years have been used to compile an official chart of the 100 top sellers. Queen beat Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band by the Beatles, which has sold just over 4.8 million copies, into second place.

Oasis' What's The Story Morning Glory, which has shifted 4.3 million copies, takes third place.

Among the Welsh entries are two albums by the Stereophonics - Just Enough Education To Perform, which is at number 92 after selling 1,731,863 copies, and Performance And Cocktails, which has sold 1,710,522 to take 96th place.

Solva-raised David Gray makes the Top 20 after selling 2.8 million copies of White Ladder. And Kylie Minogue, whose mother is from Maesteg, is at number 56 for selling 2.1 million copies of Kylie - The Album and at number 99 for selling 1,682,387 copies of Fever.

Chart-topping band Coldplay, whose lead guitarist Jonny Buckland was brought up in Mold, has a hat-trick of entries - they make number 29 with A Rush Of Blood To The Head, X&Y is at number 41 and Parachutes at number 45.

Digital channel VH1 teamed up with the Official UK Charts Company to compile the definitive list. But Welsh record producer Rhys Mwyn warned greatest selling should not be interpreted as greatest quality album of all time.

"There's a huge difference between volume of sale and great art," he said. "Some of the best records ever made have not had particularly high sales. For example, Colossal Youth by Cardiff-based band Young Marble Giants, which was released on Rough Trade in 1979 was a seminal record but in terms of volume of sales it wouldn't make the Top 100. This doesn't stop it being a great record. Those in the top 10 are all backed by major record companies who have the marketing strength to bulldoze every chain store."

He said he was a little surprised by the number one album as it is a compilation. "I would have expected an original classical album to have sold more copies," he said. "Something like Tubular Bells by Mike Oldfield is an entity in itself."

The chart was compiled after going through the archives of the Official UK Charts Company, which supplies BBC Radio 1 with figures for its weekly charts.

During the past 50 years, the charts have been compiled using everything from till receipts in the early days through to bar coding and the latest measures which include downloading from the internet.

Surprisingly, music luminaries such as Rolling Stones, Sting, The Sex Pistols and Bob Dylan do not have a single album in the top 100 and have been pipped to the post by artists such as Jason Donovan and Robson & Jerome.

Nation's Favourite Album will be broadcast by VH1 on Saturday

The UK's 100 best selling albums

The UK's 100 best selling albums

1 Greatest Hits - Queen

2 Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band - Beatles

3 What's The Story Morning Glory - Oasis

4 Brothers In Arms - Dire Straits

5 Gold: Greatest Hits - Abba

6 The Dark Side Of The Moon - Pink Floyd

7 Greatest Hits II - Queen

8 Thriller - Michael Jackson

9 Bad - Michael Jackson

10 Immaculate Collection - Madonna

11 Stars - Simply Red

12 Come On Over - Shania Twain

13 Rumours - Fleetwood Mac

14 Urban Hymns - Verve

15 No Angel - Dido

16 Bridge Over Troubled Water - Simon & Garfunkel

17 Talk On Corners - Corrs

18 Spice - Spice Girls

19 Back To Bedlam - James Blunt

20 White Ladder - David Gray

21 Bat Out Of Hell - Meat Loaf

22 Life For Rent - Dido

23 But Seriously - Phil Collins

24 1 - Beatles

25 The Man Who - Travis

26 The Joshua Tree - U2

27 Greatest Hits - Abba

28 Tubular Bells - Mike Oldfield

29 A Rush Of Blood To The Head - Coldplay

30 I've Been Expecting You - Robbie Williams

31 Jagged Little Pill - Alanis Morissette

32 Scissor Sisters - Scissor Sisters

33 Legend - Bob Marley & The Wailers

34 Hopes And Fears - Keane

35 War Of The Worlds - Jeff Wayne's Musical Version

36 The Sound Of Music - Original Soundtrack

37 Dirty Dancing - Original Soundtrack

38 Ladies & Gentlemen: The Best Of - George Michael

39 Grease - Original Soundtrack

40 Come Away With Me - Norah Jones

41 X&Y - Coldplay

42 Tracy Chapman - Tracy Chapman

43 Robson & Jerome - Robson & Jerome

44 Tango In The Night - Fleetwood Mac

45 Parachutes - Coldplay

46 Automatic For The People - REM

47 Whitney - Whitney Houston

48 The Marshall Mathers LP - Eminem

49 Swing When You're Winning - Robbie Williams

50 Graceland - Paul Simon

51 Sing When You're Winning - Robbie Williams

52 Saturday Night Fever - Original Soundtrack

53 The Bodyguard - Original Soundtrack

54 The Very Best Of - Elton John

55 Simply The Best - Tina Turner

56 Kylie: The Album - Kylie Minogue

57 Falling Into You - Celine Dion

58 Life Thru A Lens - Robbie Williams

59 Greatest Hits - Eurythmics

60 Escapology - Robbie Williams

61 Greatest Hits - Robbie Williams

62 Let's Talk About Love - Celine Dion

63 Dangerous - Michael Jackson

64 True Blue - Madonna

65 Appetite For Destruction - Guns 'n' Roses

66 No Jacket Required - Phil Collins

67 Abbey Road - Beatles

68 A New Flame - Simply Red

69 By The Way - Red Hot Chili Peppers

70 Can't Slow Down _ Lionel Richie

71 Songs About Jane - Maroon 5

72 Cross Road: The Best Of - Bon Jovi

73 Stripped - Christina Aguilera

74 Greatest Hits - Simon & Garfunkel

75 Carry On Up The Charts: The Best Of - Beautiful South

76 Play - Moby

77 The Colour Of My Love - Celine Dion

78 Born To Do It - Craig David

79 The Greatest Hits - Texas

80 Nevermind - Nirvana

81 South Pacific - Original Soundtrack

82 Justified - Justin Timberlake

83 American Idiot - Green Day

84 Be Here Now - Oasis

85 Back To Front - Lionel Richie

86 Out Of Time - REM

87 Call Off The Search - Katie Melua

88 Employment - Kaiser Chiefs

89 By Request - Boyzone

90 Bat Out Of Hell II - Meat Loaf

91 Definitely Maybe - Oasis

92 Just Enough Education To Perform - Stereophonics

93 Introducing The Hardline According To... - Terence Trent D'arby

94 Missundaztood - Pink

95 Let Go - Avril Lavigne

96 Performance And Cocktails - Stereophonics

97 Older - George Michael

98 Parallel Lines - Blondie

99 Fever - Kylie Minogue

100 10 Good Reasons - Jason Donovan

Singer James Blunt has won two gongs at the World Music awards which were held in London. The 32-year-old picked up the title for the best new artist and was also named best-selling British artist.

Michael Jackson, who performed despite saying he was not going to, was given a Tribute award for selling over 100 million albums throughout his career. Madonna, Nelly Furtado and Beyonce were among the other winners at the event, which was hosted by Lindsay Lohan. The Queen of pop, Madonna, who has recently been criticised for adopting a child from Malawi was not at the ceremony at Earls Court.

Paris Hilton who presented and collected the award on behalf of the singer told the audience the star wanted to "thank her fans." The best R&B artist went to Beyonce for her single, Deja-Vu, which she opened the show with. Rapper Kanye West picked up the gong for best rap/hip-hop artist and Nelly Furtado took home the award for pop/rock artist.

Rock band Nickelback beat Coldplay and the Red Hot Chili Peppers to the best rock group.

Colombian pop star Shakira won best Latin artist, Bob Sinclar took the gong for the best DJ and Enya was awarded with the title of best-selling Irish artist.

Nelly Furtado, Faithless and Katie Melua were among the other acts who performed at the event. Destiny's Child were named the world's best pop group at last year's event, held at the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood. The prizes are awarded to artists based on international record sales. The ceremony will be shown on Channel 4 on 23 November.

Source: http://news.bbc.co.uk

##Auction link to follow##

As reported earlier, Coldplay are among the celebrities donating gifts for an auction in aid of charity, Cancer Active. The rock group have given items including a signed t-shirt that Chris Martin wore on the Rush of Blood tour.

Other gifts include an exclusive handcrafted Julien MacDonald evening gown (below) worth £4,000, which the London designer has promised to tailor to fit the winning bidder. Sporting heroes Seb Coe and Will Carling have also contributed to the auction.

Olympic chairman Coe has put a T-shirt he wore while running Sports Relief with Tony Blair up for auction and Carling has given a signed England Rugby shirt. The auction will run for ten days on eBay through Auctioning4u.co.uk from November 14.

It is part of Cancer Prevention Fortnight which aims to increase awareness of how to prevent cancer. For live links and updates check www.auctioning4u.co.uk/canceractive

'Rhythms Del Mundo' Cuba Released on November 14, 2006 Through Hip-O Records/Universal Music Enterprises

On November 14, Hip-O Records/Universal Music Enterprises will release "Rhythms Del Mundo," an exciting collaborative album, which fuses the hot Afro-Cuban sounds of The Buena Vista Social Club with tracks from today's biggest artists such as U2, Coldplay, Sting, Jack Johnson and Maroon 5 as well as some of the buzziest bands, including The Arctic Monkeys, Franz Ferdinand, The Kaiser Chiefs and many others.

It also features the amazing vocals from famed Cuban vocalists, Omara Portuonda, and the last ever recording of the much beloved Ibrahim Ferrer. The album is in aid of Artists Project Earth (APE), which lends support for natural disaster relief and climate change awareness. Universal Music Enterprises will donate a portion of its proceeds from sales of the album in the United States to the Music Rising campaign, an instrument replacement fund for musicians of the Gulf Coast."Rhythms Del Mundo" is an electrifying album that fuses music of different cultures and comes up with a melting pot of rare sounds. Arranged by Demitrio Muniz, the main recording sessions took place in Havana at Abdala Studios from April 2005 to June 2006.

While the majority of the vocals remain the same, The Buena Vista Social Club took the original orchestration from each song and created something utterly unique casting their trademark mastery over each track. Their noted and exceptional musicianship seduced even the notoriously protective Arctic Monkeys into handing over their track.

As a rule, the band has never licensed their music for compilation albums, but were so enamoured with the result that they were happy for it to be included on the album. As well as The Arctic Monkeys' track "Dancing Shoes," "Rhythms Del Mundo" includes reworked tracks such as "Clocks" by Coldplay, "Better Together" by Jack Johnson, "She Will be Loved" by Maroon 5, "High and Dry" by Radiohead and others.

The hunt for the next big music star is on!

Bosses at Dagenham's renowned sound studio MusicTek have launched an X Factor-style contest in a bid to unearth the next Justin Timberlake, Chris Martin or Gwen Stefani.

With the chance to headline a festival and record an album, organisers are expecting competition to be fierce. Contestants will be given top-drawer vocal coaching and - if they make it through an audition - will get the chance to perform in front of audiences with a band as the numbers are whittled down week by week to a final group.

For more details, see this week's Barking and Dagenham Recorder.

Nelly Furtado gets a little help from her friends for her hot new single. All Good Things released through Geffen Records on November 27th.

Coldplay’s Chris Martin co-wrote the hypnotic ‘All Good Things’ with Nelly after he turned up at the same studio Nelly was working in with Timbaland in Miami. As a long term fan of Coldplay, Nelly jumped at the chance of working with Chris. The single was once again produced by uber-producer Timbaland.

“Chris was totally at home in the studio and was a great experience writing with him. He is one of the most artistically creative people I have worked with to date and he gives the Nelly sound a slightly different flavour” said Nelly on writing with Coldplay’s, Chris Martin.

The 12″ version of the single will be backed up with ‘No Hay Igual’, Nelly teams up with reggaeton newcomer Calle 13 for a new version of her infectious club jam ‘No Hay Igual’. The track sees Nelly rapping with Calle in Spanish. The track came about after Pharrell introduced Nelly to reggaeton when Nelly was recording her album. Nelly fell in love with the sound straight away

Both tracks are taken from Nelly’s smash album ‘Loose’ which has already gone platinum in both the UK and US and is looking set, to become one of the critics choice albums of the year.

2006 looks sure to be unforgettable for Nelly Furtado. She was nominated for 3 awards at the MTV European Awards where she performed.

Source: http://www.ilikemusic.com/

Coldplay fans have been petitioning in their droves for Coldplaying.com's petition to revive the Toronto DVD from the EMI grave.

You have given your thoughts on how it has been revealed that the already planned and scheduled Coldplay live in Toronto Twisted Logic Tour DVD won't be released after all. Over 1,000 (and counting) signatures and comments have been registered.

You can sign the petition anonymously. Every signature helps - add to the petition here.

Maybe all you want is an explanation? Will a televised event do for you? Discuss your choices here

It just doesnt make any sense at all. This DVD was so anticipated by so many fans and then they take it away from us...say it aint so guys...take control of your band and allow your fans the pleasure of a live dvd from the twisted logic tour, quite possibly the best live show ive ever seen!! [thanks David]

Having seen Coldplay Live at Earls Court December 05 I was eagerly awaiting a live dvd from the tour - it was absolutely fantastic. The band are amazing live and a dvd is a must nowadays - not only a great money spinner for the band but will give all fans a chance to see them live and own a copy. Making it a tv event only will no doubt lead to pirate copies being sold on e-bay. [Anon.]

I saw three shows during the twisted logic tour, and there is no reason why you shouldn't allow me to keep it with me forever....Plus, Coldplay will be making money as well....everyone wants it, so let's release it, or at least send it to youtube or something, because if there is never a twisted logic DVD, then what does it matter if you stream it over the internet [thanks Robbie Merriman]