Beckham's further fall from grace suggests he may no longer be indispensable as captain or player

THE GAY rights group Stonewall has apologised after Sir Elton John caused outrage by performing a dance act with male teenage strippers dressed as boy scouts at a benefit concert.

RIGHT, I'VE got this straight now: the programme about testicular cancer was part of a new series on Channel 4 called Embarrassing Illnesses. Small Potatoes (C4) was something entirely different: a sitcom - no, let's get the jargon right - a slackcom about "an underachieving video-shop assistant". That's as opposed to all the driven, focused video-shop assistants you come across.

So you want to throw your Millennium bash at the North Pole? `How are we getting there: planes and helicopter?' asks Alison Price, quite unfazed. She also provides some more down-to-earth advice for your next celebration.

RADIO 1 is to tighten controls on DJs who broadcast records in which they have a financial interest. The move follows an investigation by The Independent which revealed that millionaire DJ Pete Tong had played almost 250 tracks on his radio show in the past two years that were produced by a company of which he is a paid director.

PROVING THAT popularity and quality need not be close bedfellows, the American record industry yesterday announced a new category of award disc for record sales that outstrip both the gold and the platinum discs.

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If you want flowing locks like Gwyneth this summer but don't want the hassle of hair extensions, a wig could be the answer. Despite being given a bad name by Elton John over the years (his latest weave-in faring no better), wigs have become an accepted part of fashion culture.

Sir: How refreshing it was to read the comments by Sir Elton John which were reported in Glenn Moore's article (23 December). With further opportunities, I feel he could have a beneficial influence on the game.

IN THE secure, cosy carapace that is our modem existence we look to football to provide us with life on the edge. There is no football welfare state to protect the weak, the careless or the merely unfortunate. To the victor, all the spoils of conquest, to the defeated only despair, desperation and utter failure. Never were the highs or lows of the game felt more vividly than in just 23 minutes in the life of one player 40 seasons ago.

SIR ELTON JOHN yesterday launched an astonishing attack on Glenn Hoddle, accusing him of "resenting" David Beckham's fame, ability and relationship with Victoria Adams, Beckham's pop-singer girlfriend.

JOHN REID, the rock impresario who has parted company with his long-time client Sir Elton John, is to sell works of art estimated at pounds 2m from his homes in London, New York and St Tropez.

MICHAEL FLATLEY, the dancer, began his fight yesterday against a damages action for pounds 10m by his former manager, John Reid.

AFTER 25 productions, this is it. Declan Donnellan's Much Ado About Nothing, which arrives at the Playhouse, is Cheek by Jowl's last. A terrific way to go.