Tim Burgess

Solo performer and lead singer with The Charlatans

Heading off to play a series of gigs is a little like coming out of hibernation - it's a different way of life. The van is the mothership and the gigs are like the bits in Star Trek when they beam down to a new planet for a bit - without us losing the bloke who you've never seen before. There's the fun of looking up some record shops and old friends who've moved to the places we're visiting - I used to spend time with Anton Newcombe from The Brian Jonestown Massacre when I was living in LA, he's lived in Berlin for a few years and has offered to be out tour guide while we're there.

Planet Ivy

News for the bored generation

It's really quite sad if you think about it; not so long ago, Baz Luhrmann was the darling of Hollywood, a breath of fresh air in an increasingly formulaic industry. Audiences aren't so easily distracted these days by shiny colours and slick cinematography. More and more, they crave inner beauty over outer beauty. And perhaps it is that Baz Luhrmann hasn't quite realised this yet.

Random Impulse

Rock/rap musician and songwriter

I understand online visibility is very important, and I don't see anything wrong with getting someone on your team to post in your stead if its just a notification of a gig or record release, but in my opinion the line is crossed when you have someone posting things like 'loving blah blah blah on stage right now' or even worse, actually replying to fans acting as if its them.

Maureen Ryan

TV critic, The Huffington Post

One thing is clear from this episode, which was amped up and tap-filled and yet came off as filler: Good Lord, those flashbacks to Young Dick Whitman have to go.

Karen Bryson

Actress

When I look back at my time on Shameless over the last three years, I honestly feel a warmth. The shows spirit, the characters, the writing, the crazy story lines, the constant pushing of boundaries. I am filled with a sense of pride, that I was part of such a groundbreaking iconic show. Like they say..." All good things, come to an end.

Ben Gregor

Film Director and Dad

So your kid likes acting and singing and wants to be famous? You want them to be the next Harry Potter? Justin Bieber? Well, as a film director I have to say that the first thing you need to do is... STOP!

Jonathan Simpson

Labour Councillor in Camden, the Borough's Mayor and Music Champion

If people don't go to these venues then they will be unsustainable in the long run. If smaller venues go then it will make it almost impossible for budding musicians to get their first gig. What will happen then? Will we be left with a situation where acts have to audition for talent shows to get their break? It's a depressing thought.

Orlando Seale

Actor and musician

Time travel was invented for festivals like How The Light Gets In (HTLGI). It's a maddeningly exciting place. Maddening because there's so much to see, hear, and taste, more than even the greediest of festival-goers could swallow, more than it seems possible to fit into one festival.

Sara Bran

Catching the Comet's Tail

Ben is a master of the kind of acute observation of family life that has you pondering the deeper significance of the type of breakfast cereal your spouse prefers.

Chrissie Hynde

Lead singer of the Pretenders

Force-feeding causes the birds' livers to balloon to up to 10 times their normal size and become diseased with what is known as hepatic steatosis. In addition to being miserably ill with a painful and debilitating disease, the geese can barely breathe because their grotesquely enlarged livers displace their lungs and other internal organs... geese can be seen panting constantly in a vain attempt to suck oxygen into their squashed lungs. Veterinarian Holly Cheever has compared what force-fed birds endure in their final days to being smothered.

Joe Satran and Amy Lee

There aren't any runner-ups in the game of thrones. You win, or you die -- or so we've heard. This week's episode focuses on the ambitions of those who haven't yet reached the heights they seek.

Karen Ruimy

Singer, author and co-founder of the global gender equality foundation, the GREAT Initiative

This week Eva Longoria invited me to co-chair the Global Gift Gala that she organizes every year in Paris, Cannes, London, Marbella, LA and Mexico. It is an amazingly generous event where she honors a charity and this year they are honoring the charity I established with Mariella Frostrup fighting for gender equality in the world.

Pat Higgins

Film director, writer and producer

As soon as you start trying to protect people from the potentially offensive, the whole thing turns into a giant game of whack-a-mole. Potentially offensive things leap up from all directions, and no sooner have you squashed one than a dozen more potential shocking things pop up instead.
Because EVERYTHING is offensive. In some context. To someone.

B.J. Epstein

Lecturer in literature and public engagement, University of East Anglia

Silly pop songs, over-the-top costumes and dance routines, and a (possibly) fake sense of intra-European bonhomie. Yes, it's easy to dismiss the annual Eurovision song contest. But wait. This year might be a little bit different. Eurovision might actually get political - and not just political in the usual sense that neighbouring countries vote for one another in a show of regional support... What better time to demand equal rights than when you have the eyes of much of Europe on you?

Paul Drury

Action at the intersection of art and advertising

With this year's Cannes film festival now in full swing, thought it was worth sharing a Cannes travel story with a difference. In 2012, we dared to dream the impossible dream. From a wet and windy West Yorkshire all the way to the world's most glamorous film festival.

Anne Morrison

Chair of BAFTA's Learning and Events Committee

Bafta is known for celebrating excellence at ceremonies such as Sunday's Arqiva British Academy Television Awards, but it also engages in activity to help a diverse range of talented people to develop and grow in their careers.

Ricky Gervais

Actor, writer, comedian, director, producer

I am so proud of The Ricky Gervais Show. Not just because of how well it turned out or how successful it was, or the awards, or even how much fun I had producing it. I'm proudest of the fact that it was just another experiment that got out of hand - The Ricky Gervais Show Series Three was released on DVD this week. To celebrate this final chapter I thought I'd tell the lovely readers of The Huffington Post the story of how we got here...