Alaskan folkie and Matchbox Twenty frontman join forces Grammy-winning singer-songwriter Jewel will launch a summer tour with fellow label-mate and Matchbox Twenty frontman Rob Thomas, on May 23rd in Clearwater, Florida. The jaunt finds Thomas supporting his first solo effort, last year's platinum-selling chart-topper, . . . Something to Be. The Alaskan crooner will be supporting her new album, Goodbye Alice in Wonderland, due May 2nd.

Arctic Monkeys have been welcomed back to the UK with a jubilant homecoming gig.

The band were returning from the US, where they had received a mixed reception from fans and critics. They showed the experience had not fazed them, however, with a confident set at Nottingham’s Rock City on the first night of their UK tour.

“It’s awfully nice to see you lot again,” declared lead signer Alex Turner. After a couple of songs, as memories of his British fans returned, he added: “Ah, it’s the little things you miss. You’ve not changed a bit.”

Turner insisted the band had enjoyed their time abroad, too, commenting: “We’ve been away for a little while, seen some things, and it’s been fun.”

Their set included several tracks from new EP Who The **** Are Arctic Monkeys, due for release on April 24. It closed with the triumphant A Certain Romance, as bassist Andy Nicholson climb a onto a 20ft speaker-stack for the finale.

Peter Andre's ex-girlfriend Nirmala Burns is furious about claims made about her in Jordan's book.

The air hostess has been left hurt by Katie Price's suggestion that Andre only dated her to "get cheap flights". Although she was not named, the memoirs also accuse Burns of flirting with her ex when she met Jordan for the first time.

"Jordan is not getting away with this. She is insecure, bosses Pete around and made me look like a tart in that book," Nirmala said. "He did not go out with me because I got him cheap flights. It's not true and very hurtful.

"Peter would not do anything to hurt me. But I've not heard from him because she has taken his mobile. She is the boss and tells him what to do."

Actor Joaquin Phoenix, 31, walked through SoHo yesterday afternoon with a few friends and a pack of American Spirit cigarettes in his front pocket. He dropped by the Morrison Hotel Gallery, which sells fine art music photography, located at 124 Prince Street. Joaquin inquired about some Clash photographs by Bob Gruen that weren't in stock but said he'd return when they were.

Sienna Miller walked around Manhattan's meatingpacking district yesterday afternoon with her father, Ed Miller. The 24-year-old actress wore a braided straw hat, pink star-patterened tank, blue skinny jeans, navy flats and the classic ebony Ray-Ban Wayfarer sunglasses. Sienna and her father enjoyed lunch together at Pastis Restaurant, a French bistro located at 9 Ninth Avenue (corner of Little West 12th St). Hours after, Sienna was seen walking into a hotel with a mustache mystery man.

Actress Carmen Electra had to ditch her career with The Pussycat Dolls, because they couldn't afford to meet her financial needs.

The busty former Baywatch star performed with the burlesque troupe in Los Angeles and Las Vegas, Nevada, for two years, but left before the sex kittens turned their attention to the pop charts.

She says, "I was part of the Dolls for two years and did every show with them - including those we did with Gwen Stefani and Christina Aguilera which were such fun. But financially, I couldn't become part of their new music project. We parted ways and I continued with my movie career. It was a financial sacrifice I couldn't make.

Ashanti pulled out of a concert over the weekend after her cousin was killed by a 17-year-old drunken driver, authorities said.

Quinshae Snead, 20, was on her way to Ashanti's hotel to fetch something for the Grammy award-winning singer ahead of the concert Saturday when the car she was riding in was rear-ended, police said.

Snead was flung from the car as it rolled over and thrown into the path of another car in the opposite lane.

The 17-year-old unlicensed driver had stolen his mother's car, said Johannesburg metro police spokesman Chief Superintendent Wayne Minnaar.

"He was also under the influence of liquor," Minnaar told the South African Press Association.

The teenager was arrested for drunken driving and hospitalized. The driver of the car Snead was riding in also was injured and taken to hospital.

Ashanti's debut album garnered a Grammy Award in 2003 for best contemporary R&B album.

1. Scary Movie 4 $41,020,000
2. Ice Age 2 $20,000,000
3. The Benchwarmers $10,000,000
4. The Wild $9,559,000
5. Take the Lead $6,700,000

James Blunt's ex-girlfriend Camilla Boler has confirmed reports their two-year relationship has come to an end after the singer admitted having an affair with British socialite Tara Palmer-Tomkinson.

The Back To Bedlam phenomenon split with blonde singer Boler during a trans-Atlantic phonecall last week - after Palmer-Tomkinson openly admitted the fling.

Blunt has also been romantically linked to Czech supermodel Petra Nemcova and The Pussycat Dolls singer Jessica Sutta since embarking on a nine-month world tour, but Boler insisted their relationship was still strong.

Boler, who has now fled to Spain to escape the pain of the split, has labelled the singer a selfish "egomaniac" and admits it "breaks her heart" to hear his hit song You're Beautiful.

She says, "I'll walk out of a bar if it's on - it tears me apart. This is a bit of a sensitive matter and very personal. I'm between a rock and a hard place here. Coming to Spain is my attempt to get back to some sort of normality in my life. I don't want to do anything to degrade something important to me."

Tom Cruise has reportedly spent $255,000 on an in-home hospital in preparation for the birth of his first child with fiancee Katie Holmes.

The Mission: Impossible star believed it was a suitable compromise since the couple have been unable to agree on a home or hospital birth. The room at his Beverly Hills, California, mansion is fully kitted out with a fetal monitor, ultrasound machine, intravenous pump, delivery kit and infant warmer system.

A source reveals, "Tom thinks his delivery home is the best way of providing a quiet environment."

Cruise has also hired three Scientology medics, a midwife, a nurse and an obstetrics expert to assist Holmes.

Hollywood star ANTONIO BANDERAS has credited the fuller figure of wife MELANIE GRIFFITH for the longevity of their relationship. The MASK OF ZORRO star - who celebrates his 10-year wedding anniversary to the WORKING GIRL actress next month (MAY06) - adores his wife's body bulges because it gives him something extra to grab. He admits, "I like flesh on a woman. I do. It's good to have somewhere to hang."

24 star ELISHA CUTHBERT is painting up a storm in an effort to exhibit her art for the first time. The Canadian actress usually gives her artwork away to friends but they've all urged her to build up a portfolio for a proper show. She says, "This past New Year's I sort of made a resolution to myself that in my spare time I would work hard on putting enough together to showcase them - maybe at the end of the year. "It's a hobby, and I love it. And hopefully one day everyone can see them and appreciate them as much as I do."

A line from U2's 1992 hit One has been voted the UK's favourite song lyric.

The line "One life, with each other, sisters, brothers" came top of a poll of 13,000 people by music channel VH1.

The song reached number seven in the UK chart when it was originally released, but a new version featuring Mary J Blige recently went to number two.

A lyric from The Smiths' song How Soon is Now? came second in the poll, followed by a line from Nirvana's Smells Like Teen Spirit.

A call from Bob Marley to "free our minds" in his Redemption Song came fourth, with Coldplay's hit Yellow in fifth.

Memorable moments from Eminem, Robbie Williams, The Who, Radiohead and Marvin Gaye were also in the top 10.

John Lennon's Imagine did not feature in the top 20 despite coming top of a similar survey in 1999.

Pop star George Michael crashed into three cars while trying to park his SUV in London early Sunday, according to a report which quoted witnesses.

Police confirmed that three parked cars had been damaged and that the four-wheel-drive had been found but said the driver had not yet been identified.

The anonymous witnesses quoted by Monday's edition of the tabloid said they had recognized George Michael.

The paper said a representative of the singer had tried to contact the car owners later Sunday to reimburse them for the damage.

The 42-year-old former Wham! singer, whose hits include "Careless Whisper" and "Wake Me Up Before You Go Go", was taken into custody in central London in February on suspicion of possessing drugs after being found slumped at the wheel of a car.

He spent the night at a police station before being released, and said in a statement: "It is my own stupid fault, as usual."

A member of the veteran rock group Queen has implied that he may have been used by the producers of American Idol to undermine the chances of one of the contestants. Guitarist Brian May said Thursday that an encounter between him and contestant Ace Young shown on Tuesday night's show did not occur as represented.

He said that after his conversation with May was taped, "it was edited in such a way that it looked as if I was purely negative." May said that, as aired, it seemed that he was commenting on May's altered arrangement of "We Will Rock You" "after we had played together, which was not the way it happened, making me look like I was against the whole thing."

He said that the conversation actually took place when May played him a demo of what he had in mind. "We then discussed how we could improve his ideas and ... came up with a kind of mixture of his thoughts and ours, which was the basis for the arrangement that you saw the house band play on the night! It was actually pretty damn good, I thought."