In a sign of growing international pressure, the UN has released its starkest statement to date upon the growing crisis in Syria. Talking to assembled members of the international press Ban Ki Moon, everyone’s second favourite Secretary General ever, said:

“We were totally blindsided by this crisis. Since the days of Ataturk we have been able to spot a dictator by their facial hair. Hitler, Hussein, Charles de Gaulle all followed the same pattern.

“While President Assad does have a moustache, it took many months for this fact to come to our attention. We have been exercising restrain, but now the time has come the time to put words into action.”

Dr Peter Strand, Professor of Modern History at All Souls College Oxford, advised that the UN had embarrassingly found themselves in a “Pinochet situation” – “When his moustache went a bit grey in the 90s, it sort of blended into his face leaving the UN to question their initial findings regarding torture allegations. As such they just left him in limbo in the UK until he died or used Just for Men.”

If Katy Perry has one major achievement beyond her music, it must certainly be putting women at ease, on a global scale, for wearing tonnes of makeup. We first came across it with her bright (dare we say gaudy) nails on her The One of The Boys artwork (to get some Katy Perry style inspiration though check out this showcase of nail art – and while you’re at it this site also has a good collection of updos) which seemed to put her foundation in context. Soon enough we forgot that she’s hiding behind half an inch of war paint.

Then we were suddenly snapped out of it when Russell Brand posted the quickly deleted photo of her in her natural state.

Her recent appearance on X Factor too gave us a bit of a shock. Her pink hair couldn’t take away from the overdone foundation even by the standards of the Saturday night preening fest. The thing is though, she does it so bloody ruddy well. Perhaps if you saw her in a club you might be surprised when the lights came up at the end of the night, but this is showbiz and we reckon she consistently pulls it out the bag.

So here’s out top ten list of who overdoes the makeup to perfection in pop:

1. Katy Perry
2. Lady Gaga – and we’re not talking about her costumes, we mean when she’s looking ‘natural’.
3. JLS – these boys don’t mind being touched up.
4. Gwen Steffani – she’s been rocking the same make up since the early 90s.
5. Rihanna – check out the Shy Ronnie video to see how it should be done.
6. JLO – She’s like Dorain Gray.
7. Cher Lloyd – OK we’re not sure this is a good look, but we’ve become accustomed to her face.
8. Nicola Roberts – She’s always on any list we do.
9. Avril Lavigne – A pioneer of the faux emo look.
10. Christina Aguilera – Have you seen Burlesque?

If you have any further suggestions then let us know.

Picture Courtesy of José Goulão

Two Door Cinema Club, Kaiser Chiefs and Cold War Kids are among the roster of acts who will be showcased on the site in a series of nine episodes known as OFF Shows, which will run until the end of the year.

Part of Universal’s OFF TV, the OFF Shows offer exclusive music content and intimate access to the featured artists.

The site also offers Black XS fans and rock addicts the chance to win concert tickets, backstage passes and free downloads, along with functionality which enables the user to experience being a rockstar for themselves in a totally unique online experience.

Check out some photos of the launch at the famed Paris venue La Maroquinerie. Things got a little crazy with stage-diving, guitars getting smashed all over the place and ill-advised tattoos. (Non-permanent, kids, let’s not get too crazy.)

Find everything at www.bearockstar.com You can also check the Off Shows out on Black XS YouTube channel – www.off.tv.

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Ok So how does it work. Well you need to follow these steps

1) Click through to be in the right place to use your code —–> CLICK HERE
2) When prompted at the checkout enter code SWDISCOUNT5

We’ve just bagged ourselves a fiver off the Isle of Wight extravaganza (press tickets only stretch so far and there should be agang of us heading down this year).

There’s been some interesting talk about the use of these ticket exchanges, for example This is Money have been vocal in expressing their dismay. We have to say though we don’t totally agree (and it’s nothing to do with the aforementioned publication being party of the Daily Mail Group).

Firstly, Seatwave.com is giving out these discount codes….and we’re cheap.

Secondly, they also importantly offer a guarantee to their customers that they will get genuine tickets or their money back. This isn’t a perfect world solution, but it’s as good as we’re going to get in the foreseeable future.

Ticket touting is always an issue, and unless we go to non transferable picture ID models we’re not going to stamp it out. While this could work I’m not really sure we want to be taking our passports to festivals (about a hundred thousand will go missing at Glasto) or to see hundred of girls crying to the O2 each month because they forgot their provisional driving licences.

As always we’d like to join in with the bashing, but Seatwave have been putting in too much to their campaign to stamp out touting. So get using that promotional code and finish your 2011 summer in style!

Like politics, dogs and Cher, Time seems to affect The Music Industry differently to how it affects normal human beings. A year in human terms is like a decade in the music world; sounds, styles and genres continually boom in and out of fashion, while an endless litter of new artists bounce eagerly onto the scene to nip at the ankles of established acts. Artists who take a year out to write a new album soon feel like they’ve been gone forever *COUGH* La Roux *COUGH*, while Lady Gaga’s almost continuous presence in the charts since her debut in 2009 makes it feel like she’s been knocking around far longer than her relatively short two years.

For an artist to be celebrating ten years in the industry is therefore quite a big deal- the kind of big deal where your Nan puts Corrie on mute for twenty minutes and gets out the fondant fancies and Babysham. When that artist is a TV talent show winner who managed to maintain a career during a decade which saw the industry morph into something almost unrecognisable from its pre millennium incarnation, AND do it with the same record label he first signed to, AND still be achieving platinum album sales, it’s nothing short of amazing.

Yes, prepare to feel old- this month marks exactly ten years since an unknown Will Young first ambled politely into a Pop idol audition and sang ‘Blame It On The Boogie’ in front of an equally unknown Simon Cowell. Young went on to win Pop Idol in February 2002, and while the careers of most of his talent show contemporaries soon went to that Big Karaoke Bar in the sky, Young’s distinctive style and sound soon garnered a loyal fan base who appeared to stick by him as social networking saw the industry fragment into a series of smaller sub genres with smaller sales. During his ten years in the industry he’s managed to sell eight million albums worldwide, and while his last few single sales have been disappointingly low (representing a wider trend in the industry as a whole), his album sales have continued to perform well– each one achieving platinum status.

So what do you do if you’re Will Young and want to celebrate your tenth birthday in the music biz? Down your own weight in WKD and end up sprawled in your own vomit outside a cash point while singing Swagger Jagger to alarmed bystanders?? OF COURSE NOT. This is Will Young, and he’s been very sensibly writing his new album ‘Echoes’, along with producer Richard X and a team of co writers which reads like a modern pop fans wet dream: Sound of Arrows, Groove Armada and Fred Falke to name but a few.

The first single to be released from the album is ‘Jealousy’- a beautiful ‘tears on the dance floor’ electro ballad about unrequited love and the slightly creepy stalker tendencies it can induce. The departure from Young’s usual sound is striking; dance edged and synth heavy, ‘Jealousy’ is Young’s mission statement for the next phase of his career- having the confidence to make music which he genuinely loves while still maintaining a commercial edge. Having written or co-written every song on Echoes it also feels like this could be his most personal album to date, and while a change in direction is always a risk, now feels like the right time for him to take it.

‘Jealousy’ is available to buy from 21^st August

‘Echoes’ is available to buy from 22^nd August

Where? The Pyramid stage, Glastonbury Festival 2011

The Saturday night headliners selected a rather random yet brilliant, well for me any way, entrance tune as they casually strolled on stage to the Back to the Future theme tune. Could this have represented the fact that this is the greedy bands headlining slot for the third time in nine years? Perhaps, yet I saw this as a good sign and hoped that I would not be disappointed and regret my decision for choosing them over The Chemical Brothers who were now playing on the Other stage. And I am more than happy to say that I was not disappointed, they knew what we wanted and they delivered: creating a moving and uplifting atmosphere which only increased throughout their performance. Chris Martin’s recognisable voice carried far across the fan infested crowd only drowned out when well known favourites such as ‘The Scientist’ and ‘Politik’ were played. Their songs were no doubt accompanied with an impressive laser show, added strength and power to their meaningful songs or there just to literally represent the lyrics: such as ‘Yellow’ unsurprisingly spurring on a mass of yellow lighting radiating over the crowd.

Even though their passionate performance was consistent, I felt like something was missing. Perhaps a surprise guest or an unexpected cover was needed just to give it that extra edge and transform their commendable performance into an unforgettable one. However towards the end of their set the band acknowledged the crowd and the legendary location to the tune of Louis Armstrong’s ‘What a wonderful world’ causing cheers to spread through the never ending crowd. ‘Clocks’ and ‘Fix You’ were the highlights of the night; with not one person in sight standing still: showing us that Coldplay were indeed worthy of headlining once again.

Picture Courtesy of Beacon Radio