are tabloids now booking the bands?

According to today's Sun, they're claiming that their campaign has led to Tony Christie being booked for V Festival.

They quote V Festival organiser Bob Angus as saying, "We are delighted to have Tony on the bill. We have begun talks with his management and hope to have a final answer for eager fans this week".

Ignoring the glaring contradiction in the above - with both claims of him already being booked, as well as starting talks but with no final agreement yet - eFestivals thinks this could be the start of a worrying trend.

Of course, with his profile at the moment, perhaps it is fitting that Tony Christie gets on the bill of a festival or two. The Comic Relief pushed single has been number one now for two weeks, and Tony's album hit number one yesterday, displacing the increasingly bland Stereophonics (with something just as bland?).

But where does it it end?

Donny Osmond for Download?
Gina G for Glastonbury?
Toploader for T in the Park? (actually, that one happened).
Westlife for Wireless?

Will Hello be getting in on the act too? Because we all know where that'll lead, and frankly, none of us want to ever hear Victoria Beckham sing again.

It's been obvious for decades that the average record-buying public don't have the best of taste ... otherwise, how can anyone explain Boyzone, the Cheeky Girls, and a thousand plus other bands guilty of the aural pollution heard daily on daytime radio.

We sincerely hope that the decision to book Tony Christie (if it's actually true - The Sun claimed last summer to confirm Coldplay as headliner for V his year) has been taken for the right creative reasons, and not due to pressure from a musically ignorant tabloid.

Click for the (so far) confirmed line-ups - including day and stage information - for Chelmsford or Staffordshire. More acts will be announced over the coming weeks - they'll be over 80 bands playing.

V Festival takes place at both Hylands Park, Chelmsford and Weston Park, Staffordshire over the weekend of Saturday 20th to Sunday 21 August. All tickets are sold out, but you may succeed in picking up an unwanted ticket at face value at Scarlet Mist.

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