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New Moon is nothing if not an international advertisement for the hungry virtues of virginity and young people can’t get enough of it
The Twilight Saga: New Moon
Theatre
A smart, prickly and rewarding view of sexual and emotional confusion
Cock
Restaurants
Kitchen W8 is a bargain for this area, if such sophistication is what you crave
Kitchen W8
Too long and drawn out but very entertaining with excellent special effects
This is a peculiar play and does not work for me. Some of it is very funny but there are real flaws
Alex has a strong powerful voice and was faultless, she is far better now than she was on the X-Factor
London,
Squeaky clean: but Natasha Bedingfield's new album delivers
There was a chorus of groans when it was announced that the UK's dullest pop star Daniel Bedingfield had a kid sister about to capitalise on his brief flare of success back in 2004.
Yet Natasha Bedingfield not only surpassed her brother's success (he's currently recording an album in the hope that it will re-ignite his fading career - don't hold your breath) but became a genuine, deserving superstar.
Her debut album has sold 6.5 million copies worldwide. Her second single, These Words, was a British No1; a subsequent single, Unwritten, not only reached No1 in America but was the most played track on American radio in 2006. She has played with Prince at a private party at his home and she will spearhead Bono's latest Red campaign.
Not bad for a goody two-shoes Pentecostal Christian white-bread south London girl who refuses to swear on record and is as likely to throw a diva strop or hoover up a line of coke as Pete Doherty is to be the Government's new anti-drugs tsar.
The thing is, squeaky-clean pop stars shouldn't make pop music as good as Bedingfield's. These Words was one of the best pop songs of 2004, a rare vintage, and the lead single from N.B., I Wanna Have Your Babies, is already one of the most joyful sounds of 2007. Given the song's title it should make you want to punch a granny.
And it's a song that proudly wears a great big cheesy grin, something that hasn't worked since Las Ketchup's The Ketchup Song (honestly, it did work).
What does make it work is Bedingfield's winning blend of an old school hip-hop groove allied to wonky British pop eccentricity. There may not actually be a kazoo in the mix but it sure as hell sounds like there is. And the lyric works, too.
Much like Dido, Bedingfield addresses a fairly precise demographic - twenty- and thirtysomething females - but she doesn't patronise it.
I Wanna Have Your Babies is a witty contemplation of fighting the urge to settle down in case you scare off your partner ("Gotta button my lip, so the truth don't slip, gotta beep out what I really wanna shout"). It's also a bloody brilliant pop song.
Bedingfield's certainly more comfortable on the uptempo songs on N.B. How Do You Do? is like I Wanna Have Your Babies' less hyperactive sibling, although it does share that song's quirkiness. Wheezy oompah synths chug along while Bedingfield's smoky contralto weaves in and out of their wake, while Not Givin' Up is a jet-streamed beauty, all Girls Aloud dynamics and Bedingfield's trademark yodel.
Unfortunately, there are far too many ballads on N.B. And some of them are truly gruesome, the worst offender being the screamathon that is Smell The Roses, a power ballad so awful it would surely make even Celine Dion gag.
The fact that her vocals sometimes resemble Michael Jackson singing Ben doesn't help either. There's some fantastic pop music on N.B., but tread carefully.
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