TV pick of the week: Freddie Mercury - The Great Pretender: An Imagine Special

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Nevin's Notes: 08/05/2010

An alternative take on the election

Sport on TV: Put your shirt on Mourinho and he'll strip you of your dignity

The atmosphere inside the Nou Camp was febrile. The 91,000 Barcelona fans could not have made more noise if Montserrat Caballe and Freddie Mercury had been in the stands. As the Champions' League semi-final second leg (ITV1, Wednesday) kicked off in more ways than one, with the Catalans needing to score twice against Jose Mourinho's parsimonious Internazionale, Clive Tyldesley informed us that "after their league game here they wore T-shirts promising they would quite literally play out of their skins". We've heard of shirts versus skins, but shirts versus flesh, tendons and nerve endings – shredded ones in this case? The next thing you know, they would be literally on fire.

Album: Mika, The Boy Who Knew Too Much (Island)

According to Mika, the songs on his second album deal with his teenage years – which presumably means that the multi-million-selling Life In Cartoon Motion dealt with his early childhood, which would explain why it sounded like the musical equivalent of a dressing-up box being ransacked.

One-click Wonder: Forgettable reunions

Eighties popsters Spandau Ballet have confirmed they’re putting differences aside to embark on a comeback world tour. With the whiff of cash-strapped desperation in the air, here we recall some other dodgy musical reunions...

My Fantasy Band - Dappy, N-Dubz

'Uncle B was my dad; we named our debut album after him, as he died just before we got our latest record deal.'

One Minute With: Pauline McLynn

My secret life: Zandra Rhodes

Fashion designer, age 68

Questionnaire: Are you sexually liberated?

We may celebrate living in a politically correct society, but there's one realm that still holds out against the sociocultural dictats of liberalism, one last arena unconquered by what the Pope calls the "dictatorship of relativism". Yes, it's the private head space of the human mind. You can pay all the lip service you like to the multicultural and metrosexual ideal, but in your heart of hearts do you still harbour the taboos and prejudices of yesteryear? Answer these questions as honestly as you can. Tick ONE answer per question.

Bizarre life of a fantasist caught in the wrong place at the wrong time

He was the "local nutter", the loner who stalked women, had a personality disorder, convictions for sex offences, an obsession with guns and an equally unhealthy fixation with celebrities.

Barry George was fantasist who kept pictures of TV stars, retrial told

The man accused of killing Jill Dando was an obsessive fantasist who kept photos of other television presenters including Anthea Turner and Emma Freud in his flat, a court heard.

Jill Dando 'killed by celebrity-obsessed stalker'

Television presenter Jill Dando was killed by a celebrity-obsessed loner who stalked women, the Old Bailey heard today.

The Feeling, Porchester Hall, London

It's second-album time for The Feeling. Over the past two years, the band have made breezy, happy, shiny, early Eighties-style pop ubiquitous again, and become something of a consensus act for teenage girls. That Mika and The Hoosiers have followed in their slipstream probably indicates that Dan Gillespie Sells and his four band mates had their finger on the pulse of popular culture. To the iPod generation, everything, be it Fleetwood Mac or Glen Campbell, is ripe for recycling.

Nick Townsend: Oval wash-out would not cheapen England's victory

The rains fell once more and England's expectations rose. It had been England's downpour, maybe Australia's downfall

Obituary: Malcolm Hardee

Comedian and club-owner dubbed `a south London Rabelais'
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