Madonna has failed to sell out the first night of her British tour.

The singer is performing at Cardiff's Millennium Stadium on July 30, and although most of the cheaper £55 and £70 tickets have been sold, organisers are having trouble selling the more expensive £150 seats.

A tour insider said, "Madonna should be the hottest ticket of the year, but for many of her loyal fans think the prices are outrageous."

The star is charging more than many other big names touring this year, with tickets for the Rolling Stones starting at £40 and Robbie Williams offering seats for £45.

In 2004, Madonna was slammed by Elton John over the quality and cost of her Reinvention Tour. He complained, "Madonna - best f***ing live act? Since when does lip-synching count as live? Anyone who lip-synchs at a show which you pay £75 a ticket to see should be shot."

The tour's promoters have refused to comment on the story.

Producers of Zoe Lucker's Army drama Bombshell fear that it may never air in the UK.

Filming for the six-part series ended eighteen months ago, but ITV still have no plans to air the show, which stars the Footballers' Wives actress as Captain Jenna Marston.

A spokesperson for the programme's makers Shed Productions told The Sun, "The ITV network centre doesn't seem to know what to do with it so we have no idea when it will be shown. It is being shown in New Zealand but we don't know when it will come off the shelves in this country."

Similarities to Ross Kemp's Ultimate Force have been blamed for the delay.

Charlotte Church has asked for her mother's help as she tries to give up drinking.

Maria Church has told doormen at Charlotte's favourite Cardiff pub that the star isn't to be allowed entry in future.

A source revealed: "Charlotte's whole family is supporting her. She's done really well recently, cutting her drinking down. And they know she can quit completely if they're there for her."

Church believes that alcohol may be responsible for her recent mood swings and voice problems.

"When I'm sober, I'm laid back, but if I have a drink I can't control my temper," Charlotte explained. "So I've cut my drinking down to once a fortnight plus I've given up smoking. And alcohol has started to ruin my voice. Now I want to see if I can go without completely."

Elton John invited Scissor Sisters stars Jack Shears and Babydaddy to stay with him this week.

The singers, who were visiting London to play a secret gig, were surprised when Elton insisted that his friends shouldn't have to pay for pricey hotels and offered them a room each.

A source said, "Elton features on the new Scissor Sisters album and has been a long-time admirer and friend of the band. He is especially close to Jake and Babydaddy.

"Elton and his partner David Furnish love having guests so when they knew the band would be in town they were told to forget booking a Park Lane suite but to take their suitcases direct to Elton's."

Nelly Furtado has revealed that she has more self-confidence than ever since having a baby.

The singer gave birth to daughter Nevis nearly three years ago, and admits that she finds being a mother "empowering".

"I like my body so much more now since having my baby," she said. "It's just kind of empowering when you become a mother. You just get overwhelmed with this new confidence and you feel really in control of your life. It's been beautiful. I celebrate my body."

Furtado's single Maneater recently topped the UK charts.

Cat Deeley has revealed that she isn't missing life in the UK.

The presenter is currently staying in the US to host reality talent competition So You Think You Can Dance, and is thrilled to finally be living the high life.

"I moved about six weeks ago and I'm completely enthralled. I'm having a great time!" Deeley told chat show host Craig Ferguson. "It's really, really good. I wake up in the morning and it's sunshine and palm trees, which is what I signed up for.

"I've got a house and I've got a pool. I go outside and I've got my coffee and I can see Los Angeles down in front of me and to the left is the Hollywood sign and I'm like: 'I can't believe I'm so lucky!'

"Everybody said to me: 'You're going to get homesick and you're going to miss beans on toast' and all that kind of stuff. Like hell I do!"

We just got the word: Joaquin Phoenix is in negotiations to star in a film adaptation of "Reservation Road," the novel by John Burnham Schwartz. Directed by "Hotel Rwanda" writer/director Terry George, it marks the Oscar-nominated George's first project since "Rwanda." (George wrote and was to have directed the Denzel Washington drama, "American Gangster" but dropped out of the project after Universal lost interest in its escalating budget.)

The film, like the novel, explores the emotional aftermath following the hit-and-run killing of a college professor's 10-year-old son, and his subsequent desperate hunt for the murderer.

The pairing of the Oscar-nominated Phoenix ("Walk the Line") and George ("Hotel Rwanda") is clearly Oscar-bait, but as usual, it's the indies that will have to carry that water: No studio is yet attached to the project as a distributor, but our spies tell us the New York millionaire Dean Lovett is financing the film with the hopes that a studio will snap it up for an easy, pre-fab entry to Academy Awards season.

Phoenix is currently filming "The Yards" director James Gray's "We Own the Night" a film about a night club owner trying to save his brother from Russian mobsters. "We Own the Night," like "Reservation Road," is being produced by Nick Wechsler, who most recently produced "North Country" - a film that received Best Actress Oscar nominations for its stars, Charlize Theron and Frances McDormand.

Liz Hurley will soon bid us au revoir because shes quitting Britain to move to France. The 40-year-old is splashing out on a £10 million 18th century mansion in Montmartre, Paris.

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Girls Aloud beauty Nadine Coyle, 21, now a blonde, must feel shes California Dreaming. She looks like the cat thats got the cream now shes frequenting Hollywood haunts with lover Jesse Metcalfe, 27.

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Ex Destinys Child singer Beyonce says he auditions for a new girlband are going so well she has struggled to narrow down the talent.

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Kate Winslet is desperate to become a mum again she revealed yesterday. Kate, 30, reopened Southmead Hospitals £1.2 million baby unit and said: "I'd love to have more but I don't know when."

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George Clooney has been named as the man women most love to think about between the sheets.

Glyn has confessed that hes not the Welsh dragon he makes out. His dad is actually English.

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Lea is jealous of Susie. She moaned: "Her husband is fucking minted. She gets everything she wants."

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Aisleyne is desperate for Mikey to stay. She said: "If he goes we are left with two straight guys and a gay guy. We'll be getting so sexually frustrated and all have our periods together."

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Pete had some odd dreams. He said: "I had to put bananas in my ears as part of a task to try to win some food."

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Richard says the Big Brother men are failing to light his fire. He said: "Why is it that the women are attractive but the men are ugly."

Appearing on CNN today to promote his current tour and album of Pete Seeger songs, rocker Bruce Springsteen took note of the current controversy surrounding Ann Coulter in responding to a question about whether musicians should speak out on politics.

Springsteen was asked by Soledad O'Brien if getting flak about his political views, such as backing John Kerry in 2004, made him wonder if musicians should try so hard to be taken seriously on topical issues.

"They should let Ann Coulter do it instead?" he mused, with a chuckle. Then he said, "You can turn on the idiots rambling on, on cable television, every night of the week -- and they say musicians shouldn’t speak up? It’s insane, it’s funny," he said, laughing.

He called politics "an organic part of what I’m doing. It’s called common sense. I don’t even see it as politics at this point.''

As for the Iraq war, he commented, "You don’t take your country into a major war on circumstantial evidence -- you lose your job for that. That’s my opinion and I don’t have a problem voicing that. Some people have a problem with that, others don’t."

He revealed that some former fans have mailed records back to him.