Alesha Dixon - The Entertainer

I'm genuinely excited to say The Entertainer from Alesha Dixon is due for a release date of November 29th, 2010. You can already buy it on iTunes ready for when it's released, and there are two versions to choose from - the standard 12-track album or the 16-track deluxe version. It's not being listed as a deluxe version, but it includes the videos to Drummer Boy and Radio, along with a couple of extra tracks, so I'd say it's fairly deluxe compared to the regular album.

This is being touted as Alesha's second album in some reviews - but it's not, it's her third. Before The Alesha Show there was Fired Up, which ended up being released in Japan and not in the UK. The latter has the unique honour of being the priciest album I've ever bought on import, and was well worth every penny. But that was back in the Mis-Teeq days - Alesha's all grown up now and has her own very distinctive sound.

DVD & Blu-ray Round Up: Toy Story 3

There's only one possible place to start this week, and that's with the release of the extraordinary final instalment in the Toy Story saga. Let me take you back for a moment to 1995: Colin Firth is winning ladies' hearts as Mr Darcy, Robbie Williams is breaking them by leaving Take That, and Sony are taking the world by storm with the release of the PlayStation. And a little known animation studio by the name of Pixar team up with Disney to release Toy Story, the first movie made entirely using computer-generated imagery. This 80-minute masterpiece was not only a big hit with the critics, but it went on to be a huge commercial success, spending 18 weeks in the movie charts, spawning an entirely new genre of film in the process.

The releases that have followed from Pixar, and it's main CGI competitor Dreamworks, have been some of the funniest, most entertaining, and most popular films in the intervening 15 years. From the early efforts like Antz and Shrek, to Pixar's mid noughties golden era of Finding Nemo and The Incredibles, or latter day greats like WALL-E and Up, they all owe a debt to the ground that was broken by Toy Story.

So for Toy Story 3, bringing the stories of Buzz, Woody, Jessie, the Potato Heads, and that pig thing to and end is quite a responsibility. Get the tone wrong and a 15 year, 2 film legacy could be ruined, get it right, and you've just completed one of the greatest film trilogies of all time. Thankfully Toy Story 3 comes in much, much closer to the latter; superbly written and beautifully animated, with a truly touching dénouement.

The X Factor Live Show, Saturday November 20th

It seems a little like The X Factor have shot themselves in the foot this week. It's The Beatles week, but the official X Factor website's in a deal with Ovi. Which means all their download links are to cover versions. Luckily, the whole world now knows the Beatles are on iTunes, so you can get the proper versions below.

The X Factor 2010 Winner's Song (Pre-order)

Performances by category:

The Boys

Matt Cardle - Come Together
The Beatles
Matt Cardle

Paije Richardson - Let It Be
The Beatles
Paije Richardson

The Girls

Rebecca Ferguson - Yesterday
The Beatles
Rebecca Ferguson

Katie Waissel - Help!
The Beatles
Katie Waissel

Cher Lloyd - Imagine
John Lennon
Cher Lloyd

The Group

One Direction - All You Need Is Love
The Beatles
One Direction

The Over-28s

Mary Byrne - Something
The Beatles
Mary Byrne

Wagner Carillho - Get Back, Hippy Hippy Shake, Hey Jude
Get Back
Hippy Hippy Shake
Hey Jude
Wagner Carillho

BBC Children in Need - November 19th 2010

On Children In Need night I tend to take my lead from Terry Wogan's Eurovision experience: screen in front of me and a bottle of fun juice to the left. My only deviance is that instead of broadcasting to the whole of the UK via microphone, this year I have a blog to write and Twitter to keep me company. Please accept my apologies in advance as I write and drink as I watch. I have no idea what state either myself or the written word will be in by the time the final total spins.

Katie Waissel - Ray of Light

Long, long ago (well, four years), The X Factor finalist Katie Waissel had dark hair and a different surname. The moniker Katie Vogel was an homage to her grandfather, one of Katie's inspirations from an early age but who passed away when she was still very young. Perhaps it's fitting that her childhood inspiration provided the name under which she released 2006's Ray of Light, which was adopted by BullyingUK as its anthem for the year.

It's a strange thing, too, that four years later Katie is a perfect example of the undeserved hatred directed at people. Twitter (or, at least, fans of The X Factor who are on there) is genuinely divided into Waissel Warriors and Vogel Villifiers. It's real hatred, too - there have been death threats. To paraphrase one tweet, "We're not bullying you - we'll stop as soon as you quit the show." Anyway, that's a different matter...

The Beatles are on iTunes

So Apple's big exciting announcement was that The Beatles can now be found on iTunes. It is kind of exciting, but not for the reasons they meant it to be. It's exciting because it means there's a very real likelihood that The Beatles will be in the top ten this week. Possibly at number one. If you really fancy it, William Hill are offering 100/1 on The Beatles filling the entire UK Top 40 Singles Chart in any one week in 2011. They're also 25/1 to have the Christmas number one. So, you've got to ask yourself one question: "Do I feel lucky?" Well, do you...?

Rihanna - Loud

Robyn Rihanna Fenty has been pretty much omnipresent throughout the western hemisphere these past three years. There was a very real danger on the back of her uber-successful 2007 chart-topper Umbrella that she could become over-exposed, and no lads I don't mean in the good way. On a personal level I'd have to say that fear was realised; Rihanna is never going to be right up my street as an artist, but she isn't going anywhere, so I'd better get used to her.

What I can say for her is that she clearly has a good ear for a hit, and a fresh and fierce personality that makes her one of the more intersting celebrities on the scene. If I have to have an RnB diva forced on me for the next three years, well, better her than the next one off the production line.

So what of her latest effort, Loud? Is it any good, and am I any closer to being a Rihanna fan?

The Trip

A little gem, hidden away at 10pm on BBC2, The Trip is a crossover of truth and fiction from Rob Brydon and Steve Coogan.

Steve has been commissioned to review a number of restaurants in the North of England and plans to spend the time with his girlfriend, mixing business with pleasure. His plan falls through when she decides to go to America so Steve calls up old mate Rob to accompany him on his road trip.

Over six meals (six hotels, six episodes) they discuss the meaning of life with bizarre twists such as a Michael Caine impression competition between themselves or how to tilt your head and clench your jaw for the perfect head-and-shoulders shot.

When's It On?

The Trip, Mondays, 10pm, BBC Two

I'm A Celebrity, Get Me Out Of Here!

Popsiculture hasn't covered I'm A Celebrity, Get Me Out Of Here! before, so we'll have a little recap of the first two days.

The Premise

Five male and five female out-of-work celebrities were deposited into the purpose-built jungle camps and immediately pitted against each other in the very predicably named 'Camp Bruce' and 'Camp Sheila'.

Camp Bruce

Nigel Havers (posh actor)
Shaun Ryder (music legend)
Linford Christie (ex-athlete)
Lembit Opik (ex-MP, ex-Cheeky Girl boyfriend)
Aggro Santos (no idea. I think he may have won a competition to appear on the show)

Camp Sheila

Britt Ekland (old actress)
Sheryl Gascoine (ex-wife of fishing-rod owner and lover of fried chicken, Paul Gascoine)
Gillian McKeith (fake doctor, poo poker)
Stacey Solomon (X-Factor loser)
Kayla Collins (Gail Porter's replacement, Playboy 'model')

DVD & Blu-ray Round Up: Avatar Extended Collector's Edition

Avatar, James Cameron's 12-years-in-the-making sci-fi epic, with it's beautifully drawn alien world, and it's broadly drawn characters hits the shelves today in an all new Extended Collector's Edition, offering the viewer an additional 16 minutes of immersive action on Pandora.

There can't be anyone left who hasn't seen Avatar by now, so I'll rattle through the plot as quickly as I can: It's 2154, humans are mining on an alien moon called Pandora where they use 'avatars' to interact with the native Na'vi race. The Na'vi are a peaceful bunch whose homeland is threatened by the nasty colonial humans, one of whom is Jake Sully, a paraplegic former Marine sent undercover using his avatar to persuade the Na'vi to abandon their spiritual home at Hometree. Naturally he has a change of heart, and 'goes native' leading a heroic fightback against the humans.