Also on the bill are US rock legends Blondie, fronted by Debbie Harry, Jarvis Cocker’s Pulp, Tom Jones and festival stalwarts The Manic Street Preachers and Ocean Colour Scene.

After several years dominated by pop and indie acts including Lady Gaga and Snow Patrol, rock music is back in force at Balado with Weezer, Blink 182, Pendulum, My Chemical Romance and Jimmy Eat World all set to bring the noise at T in the Park 2011.

Fans of dance and electronica will be treated to Crystal Castles and Deadmau5, while familiar names will be present in new guises, with Brandon Flowers of The Killers performing as a solo artist and Liam Gallagher, formerly of Oasis, set to make his T in the Park debut with new band Beady Eye.

With over 200 artists expected to play over the course of the festival, many acts are yet to be announced and the organisers have advised that music fans may be in for a few surprises yet before the final billing is revealed.

Tickets for the three day festival go on sale on Friday 25 February at 9am and are expected to sell out in minutes, despite the £175 price tag – or £185 including camping.

T in the Park takes place at Balado, Kinross from 8-10 July 2011.

The full list of artists announced so far is:

Arctic Monkeys

Beady Eye

Blink-182

Blondie

Bloody Beetroots

Brandon Flowers

Bright Eyes

Cast

Chase and Status

Coldplay

Crystal Castles

Deadmau5

Diplo

Eels

Foo Fighters

House Of Pain

Hurts

Imelda May

Jessie J

Jimmy Eat World

Josh Wink

KT Tunstall

Manic Street Preachers

Miles Kane

My Chemical Romance

Noah & The Whale

Ocean Colour Scene

Pendulum

Plan B

Pulp

Slam

The Saturdays

The Script

The Streets

Stornoway

The Vaccines

The View

Tinie Tempah

Tom Jones

Vitalic

Weezer

White Lies

You Me At Six

List courtesy of The Skinny.

I’ve already seen the headline “Who is Laura Marling” on the Daily Mail’s site and on Heatworld, and to be honest I’m shocked. It’s not as if Miss Marling is even new on the scene, considering her first album came out in 2008.

Both her albums, “Alas, I Cannot Swim” (2008) and “I Speak Because I Can” (2010) were nominated for the Mercury Music Award and went gold in the UK. While her singles haven’t been as popular (her highest charting single in number 97 with “Devil’s Spoke”), “I Speak Because I Can” went to number 4 in the UK charts.

If you don’t know her from her own work you may have heard her singing on the Mystery Jet’s song “Young Love” or she’s the girl singing on Noah and the Whale’s first album.

The comment on a lot of the news sites are along the lines off “oh I don’t know who she is, how did SHE win!?” To be honest, I don’t that’s a very good attitude to be taking. Just because you don’t know who someone is doesn’t mean they aren’t good, and I’m sure Rumer would have been getting the same hassle if she had won.

I recommend listening to Miss Marling as she is amazing, and her single “Ghosts” from her first album is hands down one of my favourite songs of all time.

The Foals are up for 9 awards this year (to be honest I could tell you one song by them and that’s it), so if you haven’t heard of them, I wouldn’t even bother this year. In fact, a lot of the same bands seem to repeat over and over again, so clearly the NME know what they like and they don’t want to change it.

They also mention Hayley Williams from Paramore for being stylish, hot and having a Twitter, but her band don’t actually receive any award nominations. Nice guys, really nice.

Their worst album list features last year’s huge sellers such as Cheryl Cole and Katy Perry, so clearly they didn’t pick properly awful albums, they just went for really popular ones that they don’t personally like. Because if you’re indie, you can’t like pop music.

So here are the nominations for this year’s awards and if you feel like voting you can head over to the website and do so.

Best British Band:
Arctic Monkeys.
Biffy Clyro.
Foals.
Kasabian.
Muse.

Best International Band:
Arcade Fire.
Kings of Leon.
My Chemical Romance.
The Drums.
Vampire Weekend.

Best Solo Artist:
Florence + The Machine.
Frank Turner.
Kanye West.
Laura Marling.
Paul Weller.

Best New Band:
Beady Eye.
Everything Everything.
Hurts.
The Drums.
Two Door Cinema Club.

Best Live Band:
Arcade Fire.
Biffy Clyro.
Foals.
Kasabian.
Muse.

Best Album:
Crystal Castles – Crystal Castles II.
Foals – Total Life Forever.
My Chemical Romance: Danger Days: The True Lives of the Fabulous Killjoys.
Arcade Fire – The Suburbs.
Two Door Cinema Club – Tourist History

Best Track:
Cee Lo Green – F**k You.
Foals – Spanish Sahara.
Gorillaz – Stylo.
Janelle Monae ft. Big Boi – Tightrope.
Mark Ronson & The Business Int – Bang Bang Bang.

Best Video:
Arcade Fire – We Used To Wait.
Brandon Flowers – Crossfire.
Chase & Status – Let You Go.
Gorillaz – Stylo.
My Chemical Romance – Na Na Na (Na Na Na Na Na Na Na Na Na Na).

Best Festival:
Download.
Glastonbury.
Reading and Leeds Festivals.
T in the Park.
V Festival.

Best Dancefloor Filler:
Crystal Castles – Baptism.
Kele – Tenderoni.
Plan B – Stay Too Long.
Professor Green – Jungle.
Tinie Tempah – Pass Out.

Best TV Show:
Misfits.
Never Mind the Buzzcocks.
Peep Show.
Skins.
The Inbetweeners.

Best Film:
Get Him to the Greek.
Inception.
Kick-Ass.
Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World.
The Social Network.

Hero of the Year:
Gerard Way.
Julian Assange.
Lady Gaga.
Matt Bellamy.
Kanye West.

Villain of the Year:
Axl Rose.
David Cameron.
Justin Bieber.
Nick Clegg.
Simon Cowell.

Most Stylish:
Brandon Flowers.
Hayley Williams.
Lady Gaga.
Liam Gallagher.
Noel Fielding.

Least Stylish:
Cheryl Cole.
Justin Bieber.
Ke$ha.
Lady Gaga.
Liam Gallagher.

Worst Album:
Cheryl Cole – Messy Little Raindrops.
Justin Bieber – My World.
Katy Perry – Teenage Dream.
Kings of Leon – Come Around Sundown.
My Chemical Romance – Danger Days: The True Lives of the Fabulous Killjoys.

Worst Band:
30 Seconds to Mars.
JLS.
Jonas Brothers.
Kings of Leon.
Tokio Hotel.

Hottest Man:
Alex Turner.
Billie Joe Armstrong.
Dominic Howard.
Jared Leto.
Matt Bellamy.

Hottest Woman:
Alison Mosshart.
Emily Haines.
Hayley Williams.
Lady Gaga.
Shakira.

Best Album Artwork:
Foals – Total Life Forever.
Gorillaz – Plastic Beach.
Klaxons – Surfing the Void.
MGMT – Congratulations.
My Chemical Romance – Danger Days: The True Lives of the Fabulous Killjoys.

Best Band Blog or Twitter:
Frank Turner.
Hayley Williams.
Kanye West.
Lily Allen.
Theo Hutchcraft.

Best Book:
Carl Barat – Threepenny Memoir.
Jay-Z – Decoded.
John Lyon – Mr Rotten’s Scrapbook.
Keith Richards – Life.
Russell Brand – My Booky Wooky 2.

Best Small Festival (50,000 capacity or lower):
Bestival.
Kendal Calling.
Latitude.
RockNess.
Underage Festival.

This comes just after the news that the Farro brothers (who were two of the original members) from Paramore have left the band because they weren’t happy. While the rest of the band say that they are continuing to move forward as Paramore, things like this don’t always go well. Take That tried to go on without Robbie, but it didn’t feel right so they split up. I fear this happening to my beloved Paramore.

Things went a bit wrong for Panic! at the Disco when two of their members left, and while they are scheduled to release a new album next year, I can’t help but wonder if it will be as good without Ryan Ross. They did release a song for the movie Jennifer’s Body with just the two of them, but it didn’t have the same chaotic feel that we’re used to from this band.

Finally, my favourite band ever, Fall Out Boy. These pesky boys managed to slip into hiatus without me even knowing about it, which was not good. With their last album being not so good, and the release of their greatest hits last Christmas, they have basically decided that Fall Out Boy is no more.

Other bands such as Cute is What We Aim For, Yellowcard and Blink 182 (even though they are now back together) have split up in recent years too.

Clearly people seem to get too “big” for the band, and decide they want to leave to find something better. But to be honest, I can’t see the Farro brothers doing anything better than Paramore. Maybe if I moved away from like 12 year-old girl emo music, my bands would have a longer shelf life.

Well this week the  X Factor bosses had a few tricks up their sleves, and decided to host a double eviction. Rumours are that the plan was to make sure that Wagner was booted out, and it worked.

The public vote got rid of Katie straight away (finally) and left Mary and Wagner in the sing off. While Mary isn’t as good as a lot of the acts left in the competition, she is a hell of a lot better than Wagner, and when it came to the judges everyone decided to spare the Irish Tesco worker and send Wagner home.

This restored my faith in the British public just a little bit, because clearly when it comes to the crunch, they will keep the really talented people in over the more novelty acts.

So hopefully in two weeks someone who can actually sing will be crowned the winner. Not that I care too much, as I want Surfing Bird to be number one. Haven’t you heard?

Image via Unreality Shout.com

Justin has so far released the albums My World and My World 2.0 (I can see a pattern forming), and has sang on songs which huge acts such as Ludacris, Sean Kingston and Usher. And just to prove he’s not a flash in the pan type act, he recently won four American Music Awards from four nominations.

Bieber won artist of the year, best pop album, best pop male and breakthrough artist. That stack of awards is pretty amazing, and considering he beat off Katy Perry, Eminem, Usher and Lady Gaga to win artist of the year, it is even more impressive.

Bieber latest album My World 2.0 has sold around 2 million copies.

While Bieber does seem to get a lot of hate on the internet (I mean people voted to send him to North Korea on his tour, so they can’t like him that much), it does seem a lot more people have Bieber fever and actually like his music…or his looks (but only if you’re a teenager, otherwise it’s weird).

Image via BBC

One big thing that iTunes was missing was the music of The Beatles. As one of the biggest bands ever, it does seem surprising that their music wasn’t already on iTunes, but there you go. Apple and EMI have been in talk for some time now about getting the albums online, and it looks like it’s finally happened. The delay is said to have been due to the fact that Apple Corps were having a bit of a trademark dispute with Apple computers, but this was finally settled in 2007.

Apple Chief executive Steve Jobs is said to have said it has “been a long and winding road to get here”. Really? Someone actually let him make that bad pun as his comment on the situation? Ok…

Apparently Sir Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr are also very happy that their music is finally online and can be enjoyed by a whole new generation of fans.

However, not everyone is so happy, as blogger Mark Mulligan said iTunes should be getting new music products instead of just re-selling us the same old stuff.

To be honest it does all seem like another way to make money to me, considering The Beatles haven’t done anything new in years. I worked in a music shop when the re-release of all The Beatles’ albums happened a couple of years ago, and fans did go crazy for them just because they were slightly different to the versions they already owned, despite not really having anything new on them. I think it is a good way to get super fans to spend even more money just to get every version that’s out there, but I think if you really love The Beatles, chances are you already have the albums.

And with albums costing between £10.99 and £17.99, they aren’t exactly cheaper than the actual CD.

Image via Be Jacks Friend.com

The group, who are estimated to have sold over 200 million albums worldwide, last performed together at London’s Live 8 concert in 2005, and Mason hinted that the group would be interested in doing similar work together in the future.

“I think all of us would like the idea of repeating the Live 8 concept,” he said. “Something that’s not necessarily for us, but do something for the right reasons and enjoy doing it. That’s what I’d like, and I think the others might well see eye to eye.”

Famously, two of the group’s creative visionaries, Roger Waters and David Gilmour, had a huge falling out in the 1980s. However, charity recently brought the pair of them together for the first time since Live 8, when they performed three Pink Floyd classics in July for the benefit of the Hoping Foundation, which aims to help Palestinian children.

After the gig, Waters cryptically wrote that he thought the performance was: “Great. End of story. Or possibly beginning.”

The news is certainly going to be welcomed by the band’s army of fans, who will be encouraged by the latest developments. Mason added:

“I think it would be a very nice way for a band to gently move towards retirement, by doing shows absolutely for charity rather than for more income.

“In a way the best thing would be to do a number of shows and have some sort of foundation. We all individually have pet projects and what we did at Earls Court (in 1994) was we pooled the money and each of us decided which particular things they would like some of the money to go towards, which was brilliant. That’s the way to do it.”

Waters had previously indicated in May that he would be up for a one-off gig for charity, saying: “A one off thing, for some kind of charity event, I could see that happening again. I guess three (original members – the band’s keyboardist Richard Wright died in 2008) is enough. I would be up for it, for sure.”



Both of Liu Wei’s arms had to be amputated when he suffered a severe electrical shock at the age of 10. After discovering that he could use his feet to dress, eat, brush his teeth and use his computer, he decided to have a go at music, and found that he could play the piano using only his feet. And despite the fact that one, rather mean spirited piano teacher told him he’d never succeed, he got pretty good. And by good, we mean really good.

When he first auditioned, he gave a rather brave speech, telling judges:

“For people like me, there were only two options. One was to abandon all dreams, which would lead to a quick, hopeless death. The other was to struggle without arms to live an outstanding life.”

Throughout the show, the judges continually praised Wei’s determination, and urged him to continue pursuing his dreams. The Beijing native was gracious in his victory, and joked that “At least I have a pair of perfect legs.”

Modest bugger.

China’s Got Talent has been a huge hit since it began in July, and is, of course, part of Simon Cowell’s Got Talent franchise, which, for those keeping score, now has versions broadcasting in more than 30 countries, including Georgia, Serbia and the Ukraine.  In all seriousness, whilst the shows have regularly thrown up sob stories in the hope of garnering sympathy for contestants, this really was a contestant that had suffered and persevered, and who is now receiving his just rewards.

Here he is performing…

However, not all bands are willing to take breaks, and just continue to churn out bad albums and singles, which can be upsetting to original fans. Is it better to split up than to fade away? Do a Take That and break up while you’re still popular, rather than have your fans booing you off stage.

Well one Weezer fan has already got to the booing stage, and just wants them to go away. James Burns has started an online petition to try and convince the band to retire by offering them $10 million. Now, I bet you’re thinking what I’m thinking. Where has someone who spends his time making totally worthwhile online petitions going to get $10 million from? Well, he wants fellow fed-up fans, or just flat-out Weezer haters, to donate money to his cause and get rid of them once and for all.

According to Burns, the band have been going downhill since their 1996 Pinkerton album, which was only their second album by the way, so he can’t be that much of a super-fan. With every new release he has grown to hate them more (even the one with the Muppets! I know, it’s shocking) and so this, apparently, is his only option.

Burns has worked out that if everyone who bought Pinkerton (which was 852,000 people) donated $12, then he would reach his goal. Of course, he’s not really taking into account the number of people who bought Pinkerton and still like Weezer. There has to be someone still buying their music.

So far Burns has the grand total of $12, and I suspect he donated that himself.

Image via Muppet Wiki