Cowell tops charts of books most left behind in hotel rooms

By Amanda MacMillan

SIMON Cowell, Ant and Dec and Vince Cable have topped the chart of the books that are most readily discarded in UK hotel rooms.

The annual ‘books left behind index’ by hotel chain Travelodge has revealed, that ‘The Unauthorised Biography’ of music mogul millionaire and TV talent judge Simon Cowell topped the 2010 charts.

In second place is the biography ‘Ooh! What a lovely pair’ by Britain’s most successful television duo Anthony McPartlin and Declan Donnelly – better known as Ant & Dec.

Vince Cable made third place  with his best seller ‘The Storm: The World Economic Crisis and What It Means’.

TV FESTIVAL SPECIAL: Ant & Dec: We’re not to blame for Boyle breakdown

By Rory Reynolds

@ the MediaGuardian Edinburgh International Television Festival

Britain’s Got Talent hosts Ant and Dec leapt to the defence of the show after it was slammed for its treatment of Scots singing sensation Susan Boyle.

Blackburn-born Boyle, 48, ended up in The Priory after becoming an overnight global sensation in the wake of her performance on the ITV show.

But the Geordie duo said that singers such as Boyle should not be barred from competing in TV talent shows.

And the pair said that the show is not to blame for her well-documented breakdown.

Speaking at the Edinburgh International Television Festival, Ant, 33, said: “She performed three times – that’s all the show asked of her to do.

“The show didn’t camp paparazzi outside her house, the show didn’t put it in the newspapers.

“It’s difficult to turn around and say it’s the show’s fault.

Britain’s Got Talent world record attempt is back on

By ALEXANDER LAWRIE

A SCOT who was booed off the stage during last week’s Britain’s Got Talent is being given a second chance – because a presenter on the show stuffed him full of sweets before the show began.

James Boyd, 33, from Dunfermline, Fife, attempted to impress the talent show’s judges by breaking the world record for eating Ferrora Rocher chocolates.

But he left the stage humiliated after the 2,500-strong crowd at Glasgow’s Clyde Auditorium booed his efforts and judge Simon Cowell claimed “nobody wants to see that again”.

To make things worse, the show’s presenter Ant McPartlin managed to beat James’ attempt and eat five of the posh sweets offstage.

Britain’s Got Talent Star Susan Boyle On Song For Blackburn

By Cara Sulieman

PROUD neighbours said they always knew Susan Boyle was going to be a star, and often hear her singing through the walls.

They spoke about her with a combination of humour and fondness, and it is clear the entire community is right behind the singing sensation who’s favourite bar tipple is a simple glass of lemonade.

And they’ve already been enjoying her racy stories of threatening to fight Ant and Dec in her red knickers.

Blackburn's Got Talent: Susan

On a narrow street in a council estate, her home on Yule Terrace is a dark brown pebble-dashed end terrace house.

A battered green gate attached to a broken brown fence leads up an uneven slabbed path to a chipped white wooden door.

It is here that the next big thing lives, in a friendly and welcoming community that is clearly proud of what she has achieved.