To the uninitiated, the four Australian middle-aged men in rollneck sweaters do not look like multimillionaire performers with the capacity to sell out Madison Square Garden 12 nights in a row.

i Newspaper
 
TheIPaper
The Independent around the web
E-break Time
Independent Crossword

The Wiggles to hand over to next generation

Greg, Jeff and Murray - who along with Anthony are better known by millions of children around the world as The Wiggles - will hand over their colourful tops to younger replacements, including a woman, the group announced today.

The Impossible Cool: Hollywood icons in pictures

Before green screens, CGI and 3D blockbusters, Hollywood made its impact with people – and faces that came to define a generation.

Great Works: Brighton Pierrots 1915 (64x76 cm), Walter Sickert

Tate Britain, London

Album: Alesha, The Entertainer (Asylum/Atlantic)

Alesha may be able to dance, and she can jump through the hoops of contemporary R&B vocal cliche with some alacrity, but the mere ability to sing and dance competently is in itself no guarantee of entertainment, a quality in somewhat short supply on The Entertainer.

Holiday parks firm seeking 150 entertainers

A recruitment drive is to be launched next week for singers, dancers and presenters at holiday parks, creating 150 jobs.

Y Lôn Wen/The White Lane, By Kate Roberts trs Gillian Clarke

A parallel translation in Welsh and English, this is a deeply felt, lyrical account of Kate Roberts' childhood in the virtually monoglot community that earned its living from the slate quarries of North Wales at the end of the 19th century. The English translation by the poet Gillian Clarke, with its litany of Welshisms, demands to be read in a Welsh accent.

Ian Burrell: The new voice of The Sun

Asked if he will be getting Rebekah Wade to take part in his new “interactive online audio service” SunTalk, Jon Gaunt is uniequivocal. “She’s not an entertainer, what would she be coming on for? That’s not her role.” Harsh, given how well Rebekah went down when delivering the Cudlipp Lecture recently.

Barrymore pool death: 'Somebody knows exactly what happened'

Police today said they remained convinced that "somebody knows exactly what happened" to Stuart Lubbock at the home of entertainer Michael Barrymore.

By George, By Wesley Stace

The premise of Wesley Stace's anarchic and funny second novel may come across as a bit of a mouthful, but it's a virtuoso performance. The book concerns the histories of two Georges – one is an 11-year-old public schoolboy, the other his ventriloquist grandfather's dummy. The dummy relates his life story from his pre-war beginnings to his rise to fame as the forces' favourite.

Count Arthur Strong: The Man Behind The Smile, Assembly@George Street, Edinburgh

I have mixed feelings about plundering a bygone era of light entertainment for comic material, and yet two Fringe performers do this immensely well, Justin Edwards as the alcoholic children's entertainer, Jeremy Lion and Steve Delaney as another sozzled old has-been, Count Arthur Strong. There's a bittersweet feeling to watching these fictional, and very similar, performers of yesteryear variety bumble their way through their shows. I would liken the experience to that of watching Paul Whitehouse's Rowley Birkin QC in The Fast Show, for a more widely-known reference point, but with more jokes and levity.

CSS, Astoria, London

After almost two years of non-stop touring, you'd think that Cansei de Ser Sexy really would be tired of being so sexy. Having seen the Sao Paulo electro-rock sextet (whose name translates, of course, as "I'm tired of being sexy") several times before, I doubted that the band would have the usual sugar-rush enthusiasm to pull out the stops. But at their headline NME show in London, CSS showed no signs of letting up.

Turning Japanese: the first foreign geisha

She comes from Australia and her real name is Fiona Graham, but to her customers she is Sayuki and her aim is to educate the world in a unique national tradition. David McNeill met her

First Night: Nietzsche meets uber-entertainer

`The League Against Tedium' Lyric Theatre Hammersmith, London

Comedy: Johnny Vegas

Johnny Vegas (below) first made his mark as the comedian who spawned the phrase "pottery is the new rock'n'roll". But beyond the gimmick of bringing a potter's wheel on stage, this man-mountain in a Kevin Keegan circa 1977 hairdo, battered brown leather jacket and silver-seamed flares is bizarrely charismatic. Playing the part of a fading, drunken entertainer, he sounds off about the way the world has mistreated him. Despite the ranting and the slurring, he is an electrifying live presence. He presents a new show, Swingin', at The Talk of London this week.
Career Services

Day In a Page

Next in line – but public just can't warm to idea of Charles in charge

Next in line – but public just can't warm to idea of Charles in charge

'Independent' poll finds less that half want him to take throne as ministers moan of interference
Nothing's sacred: the illegal trade in India's holy cows

Nothing's sacred: the illegal trade in India's holy cows

Andrew Buncombe reports from Kaharpara on a bloody war between rustlers and border guards
Mogul grounded: Desmond gives up his jet deal

Mogul grounded: Desmond gives up his jet deal

Media tycoon's company pays £1m to cancel his order for a £36m private jet after drop in profits
How Ai Weiwei built a pavilion in London – by remote control

How Ai Weiwei built a pavilion in London – by remote control

The artist tells Clifford Coonan how he used Skype to escape confinement in Beijing
Nature, nurture... or neither? The new twist in an age-old argument

Nature, nurture... or neither?

The new twist in an age-old argument
Radio 4 to shed its cosy image with a 'sexy' Ulysses drama

Radio 4 to shed its cosy image with a 'sexy' Ulysses drama

New station controller wants to reflect the current period of 'turmoil and uncertainity'
Alcohol: I drink therefore I am

Alcohol: I drink therefore I am

New guidelines warn Britons to drastically reduce their boozing. But is a life without liquor worth living? Hell no, says John Walsh
The Cable News Nightmare: CNN (and Piers Morgan) in audience crisis

The Cable News Nightmare

CNN (and Piers Morgan) in audience crisis
Like a barbie, but better: The Big Green Egg can griddle, roast, and smoke food - and even make pizza

The Big Green Egg: Like a barbie, but better

It can griddle, roast, and smoke food - and even make pizza...
The 10 Best chopping boards

The 10 Best chopping boards

Whether you want to dice veg, chop meat, or just slice up a salad, there’s a surface here to suit every culinary need.
Flat and fabulous: From wraps to foccacias, our appetite for new and exotic breads knows no limits

Flat and fabulous: Exotic breads

Lucy McDonald visits the bakeries of Tel Aviv to to find out what we'll be eating next.
Brendan Rodgers: Just like Mourinho... only different

Brendan Rodgers: Just like Mourinho... only different

Obsessive, ambitious, eager to learn and with no playing career; can the Northern Irishman be Liverpool's Special One?
Gary Lewin: Players need winter break

Gary Lewin: Players need winter break

The England physio tells Patrick Barclay that this spate of injuries is due to the non-stop demands of the Premier League

Countdown's rudest ever moments

Yesterday a contestant spelt the word 'minge'.
Special report: Tamil asylum-seekers to be forcibly deported

Special report

Tamil asylum-seekers to be forcibly deported