Idris Elba Calls on U.K. Parliament to Ban ‘Zombie Knives and Machetes’: ‘It’s Not Too Late to End This Nightmare for Our Kids’

Bambie Thug will be representing Ireland in this year’s edition of the Eurovision Song Contest.Ireland held Eurosong, their annual contest to select their Eurovision entrant, last night (January 26). Bambie Thug triumphed with their song ‘Doomsday Blue’ after winning the most combined votes from a combined vote from viewers, and national and international juries.Speaking to Late Late Show host Patrick Kielty after winning, Bambie Thug said: “I don’t know how I feel – I feel incredible.“My words are gone – as a lyricist you’d think I’d have more to say but I’m speechless – I’m so excited and I promise I’m going to do you so proud.”The self-described “ouija pop” artist was born in Macroom, County Cork, and is now based in London.

Dennis Harvey Film Critic Joining a long line of filmmakers who’ve fictionalized their comings-of-age in one regional punk scene or another, veteran New Zealand writer-director Jonathan Ogilvie turns the clock back to 1979 Christchurch in “Head South.” Its protagonist is the classic shy but would-be rebellious teen boy dared into starting his own band, whose first gig naturally provides an underdogs-triumphant climax. Pleasant but awfully thin, feeling like a short insufficiently fleshed out to feature length, this modest nostalgic exercise provides a lightweight opener to this year’s Rotterdam fest.

Wave to Earth have announced the Asia and Europe legs of their upcoming 2024 ‘flaws and all’ world tour.Today (January 24), Wave to Earth revealed the the first 13 dates of their brand-new 2024 ‘flaws and all’ world tour. It will kick off in Asia on March 18 with a concert in Hong Kong, before the band head to Taipei and Tokyo in the same week.Thereafter, the trio will bring their 2024 ‘flaws and all’ world tour to Europe, starting with a show in Milan, Italy on March 28.

Previous claims that William and Kate aim to take on Prince Andrew’s home are “overpriced” according to reports.

Nadine Shah began a run of UK and European support slots with Depeche Mode last night (January 22), and has shared a new single called ‘Greatest Dancer’ – listen below.The singer-songwriter opened for the synth-pop duo at The O2 in London, which marked the first date of their ‘Memento Mori’ 2024 UK and Ireland tour.Per Setlist.FM, Shah treated the arena crowd to a six-track set that began with ‘Ladies For Babies (Goats For Love)’ from her 2020 album ‘Kitchen Sink’. She also played her 2023 single ‘Topless Mother’, which will appear on her upcoming fifth record ‘Filthy Underneath’.Shah performed ‘Trad’, ‘Fool’ and an unknown song too.

Depeche Mode kicked off the 2024 leg of their ‘Memento Mori’ tour at The O2 in London last night (Monday January 22). Check out photos, footage and the setlist below.Last night marked the first gig of the band’s lengthy run of arena shows in the UK, Ireland and Europe, touring in support of their 15th and most recent album ‘Memento Mori’ and marking their first date in the capital since their acclaimed show at London’s Twickenham Stadium last summer.Following a support slot from Nadine Shah, the band took to the stage to ‘Memento Mori’s atmospheric opener ‘My Cosmos Is Mine’ with an ambitious stage production repeating the light show and Anton Corbijn visuals from the stadium run.Frontman Dave Gahan, while animated in his dancing and showing off his white leather footwear during ‘Walking In My Shoes’, was sparing in his on-stage banter – aside from thanking London for their reception and paying tribute to the “angelic” vocals of bandmate Martin Gore who took the lead for a short acoustic segment.

Gurinder Chadha is forging an indie Christmas movie about an Indian Ebenezer Scrooge set in London, financed by Zygi Kamasa’s new UK distributor True Brit.

Love Island bosses have reportedly dished out a ‘flying ban’ to host Maya Jama while she films All Stars in South Africa. ITV was reportedly 'mortified' by how often Maya was flying between the UK and South Africa while filming the series last year.

A number of flights have been cancelled at the Manchester Airport as the country prepares for Storm Isha. Departures and arrivals from London, Scotland and Ireland have seen disruption ahead of the storm.

Björk and Philip Glass are among the musical guests that have been announced for the new album by US electronic producer Jlin.The eleven-track album is called ‘Akoma’ and will be released via Planet Mu Records on March 22. Jlin has also shared the first track from it, ‘The Precision of Infinity’, which features the legendary minimalist composer Glass.

Danny Brown has shared the music video for his recent track ‘Y.B.P.’ and announced a UK and European tour for 2024.‘Y.B.P.’ featuring Bruiser Wolf appeared on the US rapper and singer’s 2023 album ‘Quaranta’, his first full-length solo outing in four years.Brown and Bruiser Wolf star in the new music video as a claymation versions of themselves roaming around their home city, as they reflect on being “young, black and poor being raised in Detroit”.The video was created by UK-based directors and animators Edem Wornoo and Will Child. Check it out below.‘Quaranta’ was released digitally in November and will be available on vinyl from Friday (January 19) via Warp Records.Alongside the video drop, Brown has announced a 21-date tour of the UK and Europe in support of the new album, which follows the previously announced North American tour taking place in March.Brown will kick off the UK leg at John Dee in Oslo, Norway, before stopping off in Copenhagen, Berlin, Vienna, Prague and more.

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor Debbie Harry, lead singer of Blondie, will be among those taking part in on-stage talks at the International Film Festival Rotterdam, which runs Jan. 25 to Feb.

Scots drag star Lawrence Chaney has told how he had to spend Christmas away from his family for the first time after landing a dream job in Vegas.

A pair of TV scripts from hit US sitcom Friends, which were found in a bin 25 years ago, have sold at a UK auction for £22,000.

Saltburn star Barry Keoghan appears to have confirmed his split from girlfriend Alyson Kierans, with whom he shares a 15 month old son. The 31 year old Irish actor is reported to have split from Alyson in the summer of 2023, a year after they welcomed their son, Brando. In an interview with GQ magazine, Barry addressed reports of his split with Alyson, as he said: "She's done a great job, and she's an incredible mother," however, he didn't go into any more detail.

Barry Keoghan is opening up about his personal life.

Barry Keoghan is opening up about his personal life.

Actor and camapaigner Idris Elba appeared on The One Show tonight (Monday) to talk about his campaign against knife crime. Jermaine Jenas talked to the star about Don’t Stop Your Future.

PVRIS have announced a 2024 UK, US and EU tour set to kick off in April.The tour is in support of the band’s latest release ‘Evergreen’. Kicking off on April 24 in Hanover, the band – comprised of vocalist Lynn Gunn and bassist Brian MacDonald – will make stops in cities such as Hamburg, Berlin, Warsaw, Brussels, Prague, Vienna, Milan, Cologne, Paris, Manchester, Glasgow, and Birmingham.

Idris Elba has shared a new single, demanding the UK government to take more concrete action to ban ‘zombie knives’ and machetes.The new track, titled ‘Knives Down’, sees the actor put pressure on politicians in the UK to crack down on the number of knife-related crimes across the country, in a bid to reduce the number of young people losing their lives.Speaking with the BBC, he also accused politicians of not giving the issue “the focus it deserves”.Zombie knives are defined as weapons having “a cutting edge, a serrated edge and images or words suggesting they are used for violence”. They were added to a list of prohibited offensive weapons in 2016, but criticism still followed, as the sale of the knives still exists online.Featuring DB Maz and produced by Fraser T Smith and FaNaTiX, ‘Knives Down’ features hard-hitting lyrics which urge Parliament to take urgent action, more so than ever before.“My guy, you don’t look fly with the samurai and its blood dirty/ Eyes cry in the neighbourhood when the blood spills when they die early,” read the opening lyrics.