Daily Post

Fame Is the Spur That Brings Barbara Back

SUCH is the close to delirious affection that Liverpool folk hold for Scots singer Barbara Dickson -- after all, her mum is a Scouser - - that some would no doubt stand out barefoot in a snow storm to hear her glorious soaring voice swooping through well loved refrains. Indeed, Barbara confides that performing in Liverpool is actually something of a 'busman's holiday' for her and that, yes its true, she really does love the place.

A Slice of the Real Thing ; Mike Chapple Talks to Liverpool Actor Daniel Craig About His Brush with the World of Gangsters

IT COULD have been a crime. Another embarrassingly bad British gangster movie of which this country and, some would say, this city has had more than its fair share. But Layer Cake is something different. It may even be up there with the great BGMs such as Get Carter and The Long Good Friday.

It Was the Everyman That Got Me Into Acting

"I DIDN'T like school that much but I got into drama and that was really the key for me, I found my impetus then, " says Daniel Craig about growing up in Liverpool. "It was the Everyman who got me into acting. Liverpool Art College and Manchester Polytechnic were producing all these great things and my mum (arts teacher Olivia Blond) helped with the stage design and it was part of her social life, it was were she hung out.

7 Days: The Week's Highlights

CHANNEL 4's Operatunity talent show was a chance for opera singers to shine. The eventual winners Denise Leigh and Jane Gilchrist have gone on to prove that they were more than Pop Idols but brilliant singers. In this show, the two come together to sing some of their favourite arias along with guest singers from Covent Garden and English National Opera. Philharmonic Hall, 7. 30pm. ONE Night of Queen features some of the best Queen songs with a band led by Stars in Their Eyes winner Gary Mulle...

Dvd View: The Who, Live in Boston (15)

Dvd View: Connie and Carla (12a)

Dvd View: Fleetwod Mac, Live in Boston (U)

GROWING old disgracefully, unlike the Who, is something that the Maccas could always get away with because they always looked middle aged anyway. Mee-ow! Despite the bitchy comment however this is a sumptuous package modelled on the excellent fold out of the Zeppelin box set from last year. Besides the two DVDs featuring the greatest hits performed by Stevie Nicks, Lindsay Buckingham, Mick Fleetwood and John McVie at the Fleet Centre Boston in September 2003 there's a bonus CD of music too.

The Big Picture: Fantastic Flight of Fancy ; Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow (Cert Pg) Stars Jude Law, Gwyneth Paltrow, Angelina Jolie and Giovanni Ribisi; Director Kerry Conran. 106 Mins. Rating . . . . .

I AM not a fan of computer-generated images in films, but Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow is in a class of its own. Director/writer Kerry Conran made his movie with hardly any sets or props: his actors were filmed and the settings added later.

Now Showing

Layer Cake (15) Rating . . . . LAYER Cake is not just another British gangster film, but one that oozes style and intelligence.

On Film

The Punisher (18) . . BASED on a comic book character, The Punisher follows the get-even exploits of FBI man (Thomas Jane) who loses most of his family in a hit by gang boss John Travolta. Nasty in the extreme with lots of bloody violence. Wimbledon (12a) . . . . A ROMANTIC ciomedy set around the Wimbledon tennis tournament with Paul Bettany as the British hope who starts to do well after meeting American Kirsten Dunst. Much better than it sounds with two touching central petformances.

Classical

TOMORROW night the Liverpool Phil enjoys a visit from the Lancashire-born soprano with the international career, Amanda Roocroft, who is a graduate of the Royal Northern College of Music. She will be singing Ravel's song cycle Sheherezade.

Review: The Stuckists/ the Walker

THERE is a warning notice outside the gallery where The Stuckists are exhibiting. It suggests that some of the work is controversial and unsuitable for children. As The Walker has a gallery of naked classical statues off its foyer this X Certificate may seem a little over the top.

Cd Review: Fatboy Slim -- Palookaville Rating . . .

Cd Review: Robbie Williams -- Radio Rating . . .

Cd Review: Rem -- Around the Sun Rating . . .

Cd Review: Rachel Stevens -- More, More, More Rating . . .

Donny's Life Is Just a Breeze ; Emma Johnson Talks to One of the Pop Industry's Greatest Survivors

FOR someone told he was a has been at 20, Donny Osmond is not doing too bad. After 42 years in the music business the evergreen star has just rocketed into the UK Top Ten with his latest single.

Reader Competition

IF YOU weren't lucky enough to grab one of the coveted tickets to see Donny at the Royal Court, where he promises to attempt a rendition of Crazy Horses with a full orchestra -- for the first time ever, by the way -- don't panic. Here's another chance. We have five pairs of tickets to Friday Night is Music Night to give away.

One-Woman Show Still Spins Webb of Intrigue

AS an actress and singer, there can be few honours greater than to have Andrew Lloyd Webber write a musical especially for you. Marti Webb is one of an elite group so exalted by the musical supremo, he approached her early on in her career to mould a show around her voice.

Arts: Inner Demons of a Matinee Idol ; Dirk Bogarde the Authorised Biography by John Coldstream; Weidenfeld and Nicolson; Pounds 20

THE one-time matinee idol Dirk Bogarde is revealed in this well- written biography to have been a misanthropic soul, tormented by inner demons. Some are only hinted at, but the most formidable one was his homosexuality, which he indignantly denied to the end of his life.