Muammar Gaddafi has lost many friends in recent days, but yesterday Nelly Furtado became the first to give up $1m to disown him.

The Dizzee and Lily Show is becoming one of the staple double acts of the modern British music scene. First they became the standout male and female solo artists of their generation – garnering critical and commercial success in equal measure. Then this year, they made off with his-and-hers-matching Brits before embarking on a series of dual headline concerts together. Now they look set to dominate yet another prestigious music awards ceremony, this time for songwriting, after being nominated yesterday in four categories for the 55th annual Ivor Novello Awards.

Like fellow Anglo-Latin crossover stars Shakira and Christina Aguilera, Furtado knows the value of keeping all her demographics happy.

The Annual House of Lords vs House of Commons Tug of War, sponsored by Macmillan Cancer support, has been part of the English season for 22 years but this time the humorous potential was huge. In the College Garden of Westminster Abbey on Tuesday night, wits speculated about how many of the Commons team would later claim for the rope. Well-heeled charitable type wondered if the Commons Fees Office would allow expense claims for sweat bandanas and accidental hernias.

We have a date with destiny but Will Oldham is walking out of his central London hotel just as I'm going in. "Gonna get a better cup of coffee than they serve here and I'll be right back," he says, strolling out on to Tottenham Court Road. Twenty-five minutes later, Oldham returns. He is not, it seems, a man to take his beverages lightly.

Almost 10 years ago, as everyone was gearing themselves up for a new millennium, magazines and newspapers were falling over themselves to produce the end-of-year list to beat all end-of-year lists.

American singer Lady GaGa has spent a second week at the top of the pop singles charts with "Just Dance," the Official Charts Company said yesterday.