There is nothing, nothing, on earth that makes me happier than a spot of heavily choreographed silliness at the cinema.

'You meet people like Muhammad Ali and something touches you. I had that feeling with Paul'

Back in the Eighties she was the girl with the hairspray-stiff blonde hair and black cap who intrigued a generation of semi-alternative adolescents.

When rock stars reach the top of their game, they are prone to making extravagant purchases. And when they've come back down to earth, there's a place for them to dispose of the swag – art auctions. Next week, The Quest for the Holy Grail: the Achievement, a tapestry by Pre-Raphaelite artist Edward Burne-Jones, will go under the hammer at Sotheby's. The masterpiece is expected to fetch £1m and its vendor is none other than Jimmy Page, guitarist in the recently reformed Led Zeppelin.

SO PELE has been chosen as footballer of the century. The boy from Brazil was not bad at the beautiful game, it has to be said. But what about the player whose top- class career spanned 38 years, who survived an assassination attempt, two kidnappings, a terrorist explosion and an earthquake and who won 10 League championships, 10 FA Cups and two World Club Championships ? We are talking Roy of the Rovers stuff here, of course - quite literally.

THE AIR had a frosty nip as Chris Ruocco dived into water at 9C (48F), writes Oliver Gillie. Every morning, winter or summer, Mr Ruocco swims in Highgate pond, north London, along with other members of the Highgate Lifebuoys.

EDINBURGH REVIEWS: COMEDY

If Marla Maples Trump can go from bouffant to gamine, so can you. HERO BROWN lends a hand

THREE MEMBERS of the pop band Spandau Ballet failed in a High Court attempt yesterday to claim hundreds of thousands of pounds in royalties from the group's songwriter.

A new drama, starring and directed by Martin Clunes, looks back with affection on the era of A Flock of Seagulls

Robbie Williams, Oasis and Spandau Ballet are the latest pop stars to become embroiled in legal battles over money. The only real winners are the lawyers

LIFE MAY well imitate art but although Oasis have admitted their musical debt to the Beatles, no one expected them to mirror their lives quite so closely as well.

Lenny Beige (right), 49, is a showbiz legend. A veteran of cruise liners, he is currently preforming in the sixth season of his weekly cabaret evening, Regency Rooms, at the Talk of London in the West End. Divorced with two grown-up children, Lenny divides his time between his Green Park penthouse and his mansion on the East Anglian Riviera

TONY HADLEY, the former lead singer of the Eighties pop group Spandau Ballet, told the High Court in London yesterday of his "desperate" financial situation as his attempts to build a solo career crumbled.