Christmas is still months away (though not on Tooting High Street, south London, where - disgracefully - lamp posts are already decked in boughs of tinsel), but next year's music awards ceremonies are almost ready to roll. The date of the 2004 Brit Awards has been revealed to be February 17. Do we really need to know this now? It's not until next bloody Easter! A new category, best British rock act, has been added. You can thank the success of The Darkness for that one, and since they have absolutely no viable competition, they're probably rehearsing their acceptance mumbles as we speak.
Next, the Mobos (a mere 11 months off) are in talks with the organisers of the Asian Music Awards about the possibility of consolidating the two. This might represent something of a retrograde step for the AMAs, now that artists like Rishi Rich and Panjabi MC are giving Asian music its highest profile since, er, the last time a load of London media twits decided bhangra was the next big thing. But in the more immediate future - or not, as the case may be - the two biggest pop ceremonies, the Smash Hits and Top of the Pops Awards, which were scheduled for December, have been scrapped. It seems Smash Hits couldn't line up the American stars it relies on to make the event glamorous enough for television. Whatsamadda, Liberty X don't toot your flute? TOTP, on the other hand, has chosen to plough what it would have spent on staging the awards into relaunching the 40-year-old pop programme.
Mobos
Brit Awards
Smash Hits
TOTP
· Fancy being part of some flashmob frolics courtesy of Jane's Addiction? Register your mobile number on their official website and receive texts alerting you to spontaneous Jane's events like parties and small gigs. This is the brainchild of screech-fuhrer Perry Farrell, who's been much taken with the recent flashmob fad, in which upwards of 200 people gather at an appointed place to execute some pointless task. (Add your own punchline here...) And catch the Jane live this week; a seven-date tour starts at Hammersmith Apollo on October 31.
Jane's Addiction
· The royal couple of beigepop Chris Martin and Gwyneth Paltrow turned up to see Martin's brother's band, Milktooth, at On the Rocks in east London on Friday. Martin junior is following in his sibling's tastefully emotive footsteps, but was no match for headliners Blofeld, who brought their own raucous fan club. These Slough-based beatnik punks are tipped for big, messy things.
Coldplay
On The Rocks
· On the Record is confident she isn't alone in longing to know what the Posh Spice hip hop album is like. Alas, we may never find out. The CD she's been recording with 'rap entrepreneur' Damon Dash is said to be so, uh, ahead of its time that her record company, Telstar, have postponed its release to next spring at the earliest.
Damon Dash
Victoria Beckham
· And finally, Shed Seven: a moment of bemused silence, please, for York's contribution to the golden age of Cool Britannia - are splitting up at the end of their current tour. Lower the union Jack to half-mast and don the ceremonial Hush Puppies; the "Sheddos", as their fans would have them, join Cast, the Boo Radleys and other Britpop used-to-bes who've found the 21st century tough going.
Shed Seven
This week's top three singles
1. Fatman Scoop feat. Crooklyn Clan - Be Faithful
2. Blue - Guilty
3. Kevin Lyttle - Turn Me On
This week's top three albums
1. Life For Rent - Dido
2. Room on Fire - The Strokes
3. The Very Best Of ... Sheryl Crow
Data from the BBC 'Official UK charts'
