CHART TOPPERS
Olly Murs has secured the fourth number one single of his career as his Flo Rida assisted track 'Troublemaker' shifted more than 120,000 copies this week to beat the comeback single from Girls Aloud to the top of the chart.
The girls made it 16 top five hits with charity single 'Something New', raising money for Children In Need, while boyband One Direction dropped two places to number three with 'Little Things', according to the Official Charts Company.
Rihanna continues her chart domination, as 'Unapologetic' entered the album chart at number one - her fourth number one album.
She displaced One Direction, whose 'Take Me Home' slipped a place to number two after selling 540,000 copies in its first week.
GIGS TO LOOK OUT FOR
If you fancy going to an arena concert for an artist who can actually sing and write her own songs, fourteen-time Grammy Award-winner Alicia Keys will hit British shores next May.
Showcasing her highly-anticipated fifth studio album, 'Girl On Fire', released on 26 November, Keys will play arena dates in Liverpool, Newcastle, Manchester, Birmingham, Nottingham and London.
The American star, who has sold more than 30 million albums and 30 million singles worldwide, recently performed at the MTV EMA’s 2012 in Frankfurt, Radio 1 Xtra Live in Birmingham and (accompanied by a huge dragon) on 'The X Factor'.
Tickets for her tour go on sale at 9am on Friday 30 November through www.aeglive.co.uk
Meanwhile, if you're after a more intimate gig, Indie pop band Waylayers are set to release their second single 'Magnets' next week on 26 November and are hosting a free entry single launch party at 93 Feet East on Tuesday 27 November.
To celebrate their single release, the band are also giving away the B-side 'Love Locked' as a free download via their SoundCloud, check it out below.
Lead singer Harry said: "We love all the electro stuff out there from Ewan Pearson, to Jon Hopkins, to Teengirl Fantasy, to SBTRKT, and all the stuff Kitsuné put out - and so this is the other side of that Waylayers coin I guess. For now these kind of tracks will probably breath as B sides (mainy as they're bloody hard to play live!) but we hope you enjoy it nonetheless"
B-side 'Love Locked' free download: http://snd.sc/10mCOLu
OPEN YOUR EARS
In 1998, as Emilia Rydberg, Mitiku had a worldwide hit with the heartbreak single 'Big Big World' which sold more than 4.5 million copies. Today she's a very different artist, sounding more like Norah Jones, and has some beautiful festive songs to offer.
The sultry-voiced Swedish-Ethiopian singer is previewing her 'I Belong To You’ album which will be released early in 2013 with the release of the ‘Winter’ EP on 3 December.
The four-track EP features Mitiku’s 'Winter Beach' which will feature on ‘I Belong To You’ with interpretations of three other songs: the traditional Christmas standard ‘Winter Wonderland’; ‘Jardin d’Hiver’ by cult singer-songwriter Keren Ann; and finally the Cy Coleman/Carolyn Leigh classic ‘Witchcraft’ famously recorded by both Frank Sinatra and Elvis Presley.
Speaking about how she is a very different artist today, Mitiku said in a statement: "I’ve always sung this way, it really is at the core of me, though it’s taken me until now to represent that.”
LISTEN: Mitiku's last single 'So Wonderful'...