Six 'interpretations' of Take That classics. Could it be magic? Probably not. Join Jack from 7.25 to find out

Join Heidi Stephens as the final six couples battle it out, and John Sergeant waltzes off into the sunset.

A prawn cocktail, culinary symbol of the 1970s. Photograph: Rex Features

While Jamie Oliver attempts to feed the nation on a minimal budget, Gordon Ramsay is more interested in producing slap-up three-course meals to deadline. That's why this week there's a Friday night liveblog special – while Heidi Stephens cooks along with Chef, I'll be chronicling her progress as well as keeping an eye on any Ramsay-incited televisual drama.

We're dedicated to utter authenticity, so we'll both be in our very best platforms and flares for the 70s-inspired menu of prawn cocktail, steak diane and mandarin cheesecake (with real tinned mandarins, mark you). If you fancy giving cooking a go, the ingredients list is here but otherwise join us on Friday from 8.30pm for the build-up! Continue reading...

The BBC Trust delivers a stinging rebuke on the Russell Brand scandal. Emily Bell and Maggie Brown join Matt Wells to discuss the implications

The X Factor and Strictly Come Dancing: a heady weekend of reality TV live blogging awaits ...

Organ Grinder: Another big weekend of reality TV beckons and Organ Grinder will be here to chart it all with two live blogs

One hundred and nineteen million people are being pushed below the poverty line because of rising food prices across the globe, says Sami Zeidan, of al-Jazeera English, as he opens the second day of the News Xchange 2008 conference in Valencia. Are international broadcasters reporting the crisis properly? Continue reading...

Last weekend, the Guardian reported that culture minister, Barbara Follett, is backing the idea that web providers must be embarrassed into dealing with offensive web content. In Sweden, this issue has become a hot potato lately, because of some controversial pictures on the filesharing site Pirate Bay. Continue reading...

Over the course of a fortnight, the Olympic games were shown in 168 countries, with 28 million minutes of coverage – that's more than 53 years of airtime. But did the world press do its job reporting the full story of China? Continue reading...

News Xchange 2008, the annual international broadcast news conference, starts this morning in Valencia, Spain, to look over a year in the broadcast industry. Continue reading...

John Sergeant with Kristina Rihanoff on Strictly Come Dancing. Photograph: PR

What! No more John Sergeant in Strictly? No more of him galumphing across the floor, stomping just about in time to the beat, proudly sticking out his spangled chest? Well, that's my Saturday evening telly watching ruined. RUINED I TELL YOU! Continue reading...

I've reached the conclusion that RadioCentre is not responsible for promoting the interests of commercial radio. It is instead charged with attempting a ham-fisted sleight of hand, rather like your child pointing at an imaginary monster outside while slyly sneaking a packet of crisps away.

RadioCentre's latest ruse is to dress Radio 1 up in a pied piper costume and accuse it of leading audiences astray.
Continue reading...

Nicola McLean and Joe Swash: the Page 3 girl beat the ex-Eastender in the first bushtucker trial. Photograph: Rex Features/ITV

Hands up who thought they would ever hear Brian Paddick and George Takei discuss their penises on prime-time television? Ex-Eastender Joe Swash got carried away and confessed to naming his "Alfie", to which Martina Navratilova replied: "I hear the only reason men name their penises is so that they don't have a total stranger making all the decisions for them." Give that woman her own show. Continue reading...

Journalist's 100th birthday issue

The magazine of the National Union of Journalists is celebrating its 100 birthday with a major overhaul. Continue reading...

"A strong independent media is a vital part of any democracy," said Hazel Blears, the minister for communities and local government when she launched the Communities in Control white paper recently.

And certainly, the role of local media has been much discussed of late. But for some local publications, the problem isn't the BBC's local online video plans — it's local councils which are using their huge publicly-funded advertising budgets to finance mini versions of Pravda.
Continue reading...

Heroes - series 3. Photograph: NBC

Just what is happening with Heroes? First ratings were 25% down for the series opener, then Entertainment Weekly ran a front page story with the headline "Fallen Heroes", which outlined ways to "save" the show, and finally earlier this month NBC took action, firing writers and co-executive producers Jesse Alexander and Jeph Loeb.
Continue reading...