Emma Bunton was the only Spice Girl present, and said she was "a bit shocked" to beat such venerable rock acts as Led Zeppelin. The pop group's victory will raise eyebrows among rock fans, but Bunton told the BBC News website: "The thing is, when you go to a gig, you go for fun and entertainment and a night out. And that's exactly what we did and I think that's why people enjoyed it so much."
Theatre News - Up to 95 publicly-funded theatres across England are to offer free tickets to young adults as part of a £2.5m government-funded scheme. From next year until 2011, the theatres will offer free tickets - at least one day each week - to 18 to 26-year-olds on a first-come, first-served basis. Theatres including London's National Theatre and the Birmingham Rep will be eligible to apply for the scheme.
The scheme follows recommendations made in a recent government review about engaging young people. The Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) said that, after consulting with venues, the idea had been translated into "a long-term and sustainable opportunity to engage young people and build a new audience over a period of time.
Back in July, Doctor Who star Catherine Tate warned that costly tickets made theatre "elitist". "If you want more people to come to the theatre, don't put the prices at £50," she told the BBC ahead her West End spell in Under The Blue Sky at the Duke of York's Theatre, London.
Internet News - Opera fans will be able to watch the whole of Mozart's Don Giovanni online from next month after a major redesign of the Royal Opera House website. A performance of the work, filmed at London's Covent Garden earlier this month, will be put on the Royal Opera's new site on 5 October. The new multimedia website aims to make it easier for people to find out about opera and ballet. Archive material includes first night cast lists going back to 1946. The website also features trailers, interviews with artists and documentary footage. Other plans for the website include allowing readers to post audience reviews.
Festival News - The headliners for the next Glastonbury Festival are being finalised earlier than ever and will be confirmed "pretty soon", organisers have said. Three months after this year's event, Emily Eavis said they were talking to "a few" stars about headlining in 2009. She declined to name them, but did say: "It's not Coldplay, it's not U2 and it's not the Rolling Stones."Bookmaker Paddy Power is taking bets on who will headline the Saturday night at Glastonbury 2009. Radiohead are 4/1 favourites, with Coldplay, Oasis and Muse close behind.
Mobile statistics - London taxi passengers have left more than 60,000 hand-held devices in the back of black cabs during the past six months, a survey has found. Some 55,843 mobile phones and 6,193 other devices, such as laptops, were forgotten, Credant Technologies found. The data protection company, which surveyed 300 taxi drivers, warned users to password-protect equipment amid rising fears of identity theft.
(Jim Evans)
