It might all be in the genes, but second-generation stars often struggle to live up to expectations and match their parents' success. Not so Liza Minnelli. A celebrity for all of her 62 years, the daughter of The Wizard Of Oz star Judy Garland and the director Vincente Minnelli has done a better job than most, even if she owes more of her current notoriety to the antics of fourth husband David Gest than the fact that, in 1989, she made the best Hi-NRG record of all time.

Comedy and music mix as well as oil and water, but Flight of the Conchords – the Grammy-winning New Zealand duo of Radio 4/HBO fame – are one of the rare and precious exceptions.

The Pet Shop Boys' stock has been gently sinking for 15 years. Since perfecting their English art-disco with Very, the consistency of the sleekly subversive pop singles that made them dance culture's Kinks has been lost. How much Neil Tennant confirming he was gay also contributed to their commercial slide is a matter for their audience's consciences. But in Heaven, the often gay nightclub, the Pet Shop Boys' enduring quality and meaning becomes movingly clear.

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.

THIS WEEK BLUR

The Beastie Boys `The Sounds of Science' (Grand Royal/Capitol)

Michael Bracewell sees integrity and irony entwined as the Pet Shop Boys launch their new show in New York

From chocolate to needle-free syringes, each Millennium Product encapsulates a specific aspect of innovative British design. By Nonie Niesewand

BLUR ELECTRIC BALLROOM, LONDON

IT WAS billed as one of the great national shared experiences of the century. And once upon a time the BBC might have wheeled out a Dimbleby or two, or at least some of the best scientific names in the land. Yet its coverage of Wednesday's eclipse was regarded by many critics as dismally banal, left to the talents of children's presenter Jamie Theakston and the breathy Philippa Forrester, with help from the Pet Shop Boys and the Radio 1 Roadshow. No wonder the anchorman Michael Buerk seemed embarrassed at moments like these:

Janet Street-Porter, the new editor of this paper, answers her critics and says what's in store

NEIL TENNANT, of the Pet Shop Boys, reached into another era yesterday for the adjective which summed up precisely what made Dusty Springfield special. "Dusty was special," he said, "because Dusty was fab". Laughter rippled through St Mary's Church in Henley-on- Thames at the funeral of the finest female soul singer Britain ever produced who, with her beehive hair and panda eyes, personified "fabness".

DUSTY SPRINGFIELD was one of the finest singers to emerge from the froth and bubble of the Swinging Sixties. In many ways she epitomised the sound and style of the era. Yet her unique voice, powerful, sensual and rich in passion, had a timeless quality that has proved appealing to new generations of fans.

DUSTY SPRINGFIELD died at her home in Henley-on-Thames on Tuesday night after a long battle with cancer.