Ratings are at their lowest - one reason could be that panto villain Simon Cowell hasn't been on the judging panel

As ever with the ever-grinding X Factor rumour mill, talk is rife that lead judge Gary Barlow is quitting the line up.

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E-break Time
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Zola Jesus' new track is at once melancholy and warm

The Playlist: Temples / Beck / Phoenix

The songs that are hot on our playlist this week

Album: Miles Kane, Don't Forget Who You Are (Columbia)

It's not happening.

Ivor Novello 2013 winners list in full

Following is a full list of winners:

Frankie Boyle performing at Give It Up for Comic Relief

Comic Relief apologises for Frankie Boyle's dead Queen jokes at charity gig

Comic Relief has apologised to its supporters after Frankie Boyle caused controversy at a charity gig with a string of gags about the Queen.

Russell Brand

Russell Brand, Duchess Theatre, London

You know when Russell Brand is in town. Outside the Duchess Theatre in London’s Theatreland are trucks and trailers denoting that this is no ordinary event.

Jake Bugg to headline hometown festival

Jake Bugg will headline a festival in his hometown Nottingham this summer.

Johnny Marr will be awarded NME's Godlike Genius title

NME to award The Smiths Johnny Marr its annual Godlike Genius award

Former Smiths guitarist Johnny Marr is to receive a top honorary prize at this year's NME Awards - the annual Godlike Genius title.

'We lost perspective of reality': Russell Brand and Jonathan Ross speak together for first time about Sachsgate regret

Russell Brand and Jonathan Ross have told of their regret and embarrassment about sparking the Sachsgate scandal which engulfed the BBC as they discussed the incident together on TV for the first time.

Do you want to know a secret? The Beatles gave their opinion on Elvis in an interview with a DJ in 1965, a tape of which is being auctioned

New book of poetry celebrates The Beatles' impact

It is one of the most quoted gobbets of British poetry: “Sexual intercourse began/ In nineteen sixty-three/(which was rather late for me) –/Between the end of the Chatterley ban/And the Beatles’ first LP.”

Calvin Harris and Florence Welch score second Number 1 with 'Sweet Nothing'

Calvin Harris and Florence Welch have secured their second collaborative number one single in three months as "Sweet Nothing" topped the official UK singles chart.

T in the Park, Balado, Near Kinross

When Glastonbury takes a year off, smaller festivals have a chance to mark out for themselves as much of the massive void left behind as possible.

Isle of Wight Festival, Seaclose Park, Newport

“Anyway, the weather,” muses Suggs. “What an important part of our culture it is. In Spain they have sun, sand, sex...” And at the Isle of Wight festival, there is early chaos in the partly flooded campsite and car-park, and relentless rain on Saturday night. But by festival standards, the main arena is hardly muddy, and ends in summer perfection, permitting concentration on an unbeatable trio of headlining Americans: Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, Pearl Jam and Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band.

Michael Morpurgo is investigating the state of child literacy

The Barlow-Morgenstern Method, Radio 4, Saturday
Reading Between the Lines, Radio 4, Tuesday

A whiter shade of plagiarism? Notes on a musical scandal

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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
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Funny business: Meet the women running comedy

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

The Dr Feelgood guitarist talks frankly about his terminal illness
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Lure of the jingle

Entrepreneurs are giving vintage ice-cream vans a new lease of life
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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

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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