Live act: Coldplay

The Brit Awards used to be exciting. For one of the pop-iest events in the music calendar, they were even a bit rock 'n' roll. No one young enough to fit the Brit's target audience will remember this, of course - there's a reason why they hold the ceremony during half term - and that's the saddest thing of all. They don't even know what they're missing.

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The Independent around the web
E-break Time
Independent Crossword

This week's wackiest web stories: Beer that's cheaper than water

Plus: Totally bus-ted, star-gazing bugs, Taiwan's new Barbie restaurant and if you Wannabe evicted (you better get with my friends)

From left: Lucy Phelps, Hannah John-Kamen, Dominique Provost- Chalkley and Siobhan Athwal

First night review: The Spice Girls' Viva Forever!, Piccadilly Theatre

Forget girl power, what you really, really want from this show is more silly moments

David Beckham joined LA Galaxy in 2007

Four directions home for Becks

When David Beckham announced that he's to leave the reigning MLS champions LA Galaxy for new climes, speculation was soon rife about the next stop in the Beckham roadshow. We thought we'd help Beckham with his decision with a compass point-friendly guide to potential new clubs. David, you're welcome:

Love: So Russell Brand, what DO you and the publicity-shy Geri Halliwell have in common?

Move on, definitely nothing to see here. If we all ignore them, they might just go away.

Bronze in mire over accounts

Black cabs fell into black holes today as Manganese Bronze — maker of the iconic London taxi — said it found accounting errors going back more than two years.

Cab maker Manganese in the mire

Black cabs fell into black holes yesterday as Manganese Bronze – maker of the well-known London taxi – said it had found accounting errors going back more than two years.

Melanie Brown, Melanie Chisolm, Geri Halliwell, Emma Bunton and Victoria Beckham at St Pancras yesterday

Spice Girls to perform at Olympics closing ceremony

The inventors of Girl Power are due to perform together for the first time in four years at the London 2012 Olympic closing ceremony.

Grace Dent: Don't be fooled by the 90s revival sdfghsdfgh

Alarm bells about the 90s revival went off for me when I was told last week that the Spice Girls actually made some important headway for feminism. Excuse me while I laugh up a lung. (Don't worry it's better off out anyway after all the damage I did it in the 90s smoking Marlboro Reds as it was cool.)

Geri Halliwell designs her own clothes

Geri Halliwell has always designed her own clothes.

Thompson gives the girls at her old school an English lesson

She has ingratiated herself with the nation's youth through her role as the somewhat unhinged Professor Sybil Trelawney in the Harry Potter films, but now actress Emma Thompson has had something of a swipe at the Muggle population of her own alma mater.

X Factor judging role for Spice Girl Geri Halliwell

Geri Halliwell is expected to add some extra spice to The X Factor by stepping in as a guest judge.

Pandora: Look away now! It's Brown, naked and angry

Batten down the hatches! After spin doctor Lance Price's account of Gordon Brown's agitated behaviour at No 10 which was serialised in The Independent, the Prime Minister has been nervously awaiting Andrew Rawnsley's book, The End of the Party, which documents the slow decline of New Labour since 2001.

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Special report: How my father's face turned up in Robert Capa's lost suitcase

Special report: How my father's face turned up in Robert Capa's lost suitcase

The great war photographer was not one person but two. Their pictures of Spain's civil war, lost for decades, tell a heroic tale
The unmade speech: An alternative draft of history

The unmade speech: An alternative draft of history

Someone, somewhere has to write speeches for world leaders to deliver in the event of disaster. They offer a chilling hint at what could have been
Funny business: Meet the women running comedy

Funny business: Meet the women running comedy

Think comedy’s a man's world? You must be stuck in the 1980s, says Holly Williams
Wilko Johnson: 'You have to live for the minute you're in'

Wilko Johnson: 'You have to live for the minute you're in'

The Dr Feelgood guitarist talks frankly about his terminal illness
Lure of the jingle: Entrepreneurs are giving vintage ice-cream vans a new lease of life

Lure of the jingle

Entrepreneurs are giving vintage ice-cream vans a new lease of life
Who stole the people's own culture?

DJ Taylor: Who stole the people's own culture?

True popular art drives up from the streets, but the commercial world wastes no time in cashing in
Guest List: The IoS Literary Editor suggests some books for your summer holiday

Guest List: IoS Literary Editor suggests some books for your summer holiday

Before you stuff your luggage with this year's Man Booker longlist titles, the case for some varied poolside reading alternatives
What if Edward Snowden had stayed to fight his corner?

Rupert Cornwell: What if Edward Snowden had stayed to fight his corner?

The CIA whistleblower struck a blow for us all, but his 1970s predecessor showed how to win
'A man walks into a bar': Comedian Seann Walsh on the dangers of mixing alcohol and stand-up

Comedian Seann Walsh on alcohol and stand-up

Comedy and booze go together, says Walsh. The trouble is stopping at just the one. So when do the hangovers stop being funny?
From Edinburgh to Hollywood (via the Home Counties): 10 comedic talents blowing up big

Edinburgh to Hollywood: 10 comedic talents blowing up big

Hugh Montgomery profiles the faces to watch, from the sitcom star to the surrealist
'Hello. I have cancer': When comedian Tig Notaro discovered she had a tumour she decided the show must go on

Comedian Tig Notaro: 'Hello. I have cancer'

When Notaro discovered she had a tumour she decided the show must go on
They think it's all ova: Bill Granger's Asia-influenced egg recipes

Bill Granger's Asia-influenced egg recipes

Our chef made his name cooking eggs, but he’s never stopped looking for new ways to serve them
The world wakes up to golf's female big hitters

The world wakes up to golf's female big hitters

With its own Tiger Woods - South Korea's Inbee Park - the women's game has a growing audience
10 athletes ready to take the world by storm in Moscow next week

10 athletes ready to take the world by storm in Moscow next week

Here are the potential stars of the World Championships which begin on Saturday
The Last Word: Luis Suarez and Gareth Bale's art of manipulation

The Last Word: Luis Suarez and Gareth Bale's art of manipulation

Briefings are off the record leading to transfer speculation which is merely a means to an end