Keeping it simple on DIY favourite

It’s been a whole Olympiad since we last saw Mitre 10 Dream Home or Simon Barnett on our screens. But while the latter no longer has Stars in His Eyes, he’s excited about fronting a new version of the perennially popular home renovation competition, especially as it has been set in his home province of Canterbury (Kaiapoi’s new Sovereign Palms subdivision, to be exact).

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Denmark wins Eurovision contest

Denmark’s Emmelie de Forest has won this year’s Eurovision Song Contest with her ethno-inspired flute and drum tune Only Teardrops, despite tough competition from spectacular stage shows by performers from Azerbaijan and Ukraine. Juries and television viewers across Europe awarded the barefoot, hippie-chic 20-year-old for the catchy love song that is driven by her deep, Shakira-like voice

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The Secret Diaries of … The judges of The X-Factor

MEL BLATT OK, so this morning I walked into this cafe, right, and I give my order to the waitress, who I thought looked like a right little cow, and next thing you know she plonks a bowl on the table, and I said to her, I said, “What do you frickin’ call this Because I’ll tell you one thing, sister, I wouldn’t touch it with a bargepole.

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M*A*S*H actor Allan Arbus dies

Actor Allan Arbus, best known for his role as Army psychiatrist Sidney Freedman on the 1970s hit television series “M*A*S*H” and as the husband of the late photographer Diane Arbus, has died at the age of 95. Arbus, who gave up his photography for acting, passed away from congestive heart failure at his home in Los Angeles on Friday, his second wife Mariclare Costello Arbus told Reuters.

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Album review: Sing To The Moon – Laura Mvula

SING TO THE MOON Laura Mvula (Sony) UK soul siren might not have anything particularly unique to say – let’s face it we’ve all heard about a love that didn’t belong – but there is something unique about the way she says (or rather, sings it. Her debut album is full of beautiful phrasing, gospel choir leanings that make for unusual arrangements and a voice that’s pure and resonant in the way that fans of Jill Scott or, dare one say it Nina Simone, might relate too.

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