Sunday 7 December 2008 Chat

The screenplay for Warhead, a James Bond film that was never made, has fetched almost £47,000 at auction.
The script, written by Sir Sean Connery, Len Deighton and Kevin McClory in 1976 had been expected to fetch some £3,000 when it was sold this week as part of Christie's Entertainment Memorabilia sale in London.
In the story James Bond battles robot sharks attempting to plant a nuclear bomb in the sewers beneath New York.
Ironically, the story has appeared just as the big fish above those sewers are creating global meltdown for real.
You know, you're cleverer than you look, Mr Bond.

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Graham Norton is taking over from Sir Terry Wogan as the BBC presenter and commentator of the Eurovision Song Contest.
Wogan, 70, has made no secret of his disappointment over bloc voting, saying the competition was "no longer a music contest".
Norton will take over for the 2009 contest, to be held in Moscow.
Stepping down, Wogan said he'll be sad to leave it all behind;
"From my first...it's been nothing but laughter and fun...the silly songs, the spectacle, the grandiose foolishness of it all."
"The real highlight was Abba and Waterloo, that was 1974 in Brighton. And Riverdance, which made the small hairs stand up on the back of everyone's neck. But that was an interval act and it's the interval acts I remember. Particularly those acts that didn't work on radio, like the clowns."
Norton said, "Sir Terry is a legend and an impossible act to follow, but somebody must and I just couldn't say no".
"I can't wait to get to Moscow. With a combination of cheap vodka and a language barrier what could possibly go wrong?"
But Wogan had the last word; when asked if there was any rumour that he'd left because he himself wanted to perform in 2009, he replied,
"There is no truth in the rumour that I've been dismissed as commentator because myself and Aled Jones are going to sing Little Drummer Boy/Peace on Earth at the Eurovision Song Contest. Musical standards are not that high, but come on, how far down do we have to go?"

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A good number of British acts are included in the shortlist for this year's Grammy Awards.
Better still, as far as I'm concerned, the list includes several albums, songs and acts that have been featured on my radio show over past months.
It's particularly good to know Raising Sand, the excellent album by Robert Plant and Alison Krauss and produced by T Bone Burnett, is up for several awards.
These include album of the year, together with Coldplay (Viva la vida), Lil Wayne (Tha Carter III), Ne-Yo (Year of the Gentleman) and Radiohead (In rainbows).
Raising Sand is also a contender for record of the year with Please read the letter, against Adele (Chasing pavements), Coldplay (Viva la vida), Leona Lewis (Bleeding love) and M.I.A. (Paper planes).
Altogether The Recording Academy will be presenting 110 Awards at the Grammy ceremony in February next year.