I've been a fan of Girls Aloud's ever since 'Popstars: The Rivals', but have found ever since 2009 that Cheryl Cole on her own is a bit of a love/hate person for me. I like some of her singles she's put out but her actual albums have always been, bar '3 Words', middingly disappointing and full of fillers when put next to not just the band's material but also the far superior but poorer selling solo albums of her bandmates Nicola Roberts and Nadine Coyle. I loved her when she was a judge on X Factor, and I felt sorry for her yet also felt frustrated at her continued willingness to put up with Ashley's infidelity.

But despite all this I was looking forward to reading her book. However I decided instead to wait until it was out in paperback as it'd be cheaper than the hardback. And oh, how glad I am that I made that choice as after getting this read in just two hours I was glad when it was over and actually felt hugely angry and disappointed - so much so I requested a refund. Admittedly this is ghost written and you can tell it is but this book does her absolutely no favours whatsoever. Everything seems to be one long continuous whinge at how unfair everything - bad boyfriends, THAT incident with the toilet attendant, Simon Cowell umming and aahing about her being on US X Factor - has been but there doesn't seem to be any kind of self reflection or analysis of how she could have handled the situations she was in differently.

Just for a point of comparison, I read Olly Murs' book recently which was also ghost written but you couldn't even tell it was, and it was also written with a lot more warmth and engaging humour which I'm afraid I look for when I'm reading an autobiography. Cheryl's book on the other hand just left me feeling cold. No one deserves what she went through and yes it was horrible but she seems to be holding grudges that she clearly needs to let go of because it's getting a bit boring now. I just hope her band mate Kimberley Walsh's book, which is out later in the year, will be more enjoyable than this.

Finally this week comes the debut release of a band that I have been waiting for for what seems like a year. And in essence it has been a year since we first saw Eddie, Sonny and Te aka Loveable Rogues bound onto the audition stage on 'Britain's Got Talent'. They instantly won the judges over with their self penned, self performed songs like 'Love Sick' and 'Honest' (both of which will be on their debut album in the summer) that mixed sweet harmonies and lyrics with a big dashing of quintessentially British wit.

After signing to Epic/SyCo and gigging up and down the country extensively last summer they were originally supposed to release a debut single last autumn but instead held back to take time to perfect the songs they'd already crafted as well as recording some new ones - and now fresh from supporting their label mate Olly Murs on his sold out UK tour I'm pleased to say that wait was worth it.

In a world where the charts are populated by preening pretty boys that are told what to do and what to sing like One Direction and Union J these lads are a much needed blast of fresh air. I loved them on the show but it wasn't until I saw them in action for the first time at the O2 on the Olly tour last month that I saw just how good they were - talented and also very funny to boot which comes across completely in 'What a Night' which is a lively, lairy anthem about house parties gone horribly wrong.

If you're not swayed just yet by this song then I can reassure you they are yet to release some of their better songs but make sure you keep your eye on this lot. I'm confident that 2013 is going to be their year.

Ten years ago in 2002, in dingy conference rooms up and down the UK, five girls - four from the North and one from Northern Ireland - came along with the tens of thousands of hopefuls who auditioned for ITV1's new talent show 'Popstars: The Rivals'. After the dismal crash and burn of Hear'Say, the original Popstars winners, pure pop music was already falling out of fashion by this point - Steps and 5ive had split, S Club were just about on the way out, and what was meant to be created was a sub-par Atomic Kitten and Westlife to release dull as dishwater cover versions that would sell a few thousand at Christmas that year but nothing more afterwards. Whilst the boyband end of the bargain was fulfilled with One True Voice, it was to be quite a different story for Nadine, Nicola, Kimberley, Sarah and Cheryl, otherwise known as Girls Aloud.

Through a mixture of pure grit and determination, coupled with a long and fruitful relationship with Brian Higgins and his team at Xenomania, it is at once surprising yet unsurprising that we find ourselves here, celebrating a decade since that epic first single 'Sound of the Underground' trounced the boys by 3-1 in the race for that year's Christmas number one. However, 'Ten' is a very different collection to their last, 2006's chart topping "The Sound of Girls Aloud".

For starters, you could argue that it's not as complete, as it's taken off some of their absolute classic singles and underrated gems like 'Wake Me Up', 'Life Got Cold' and 'Whole Lotta History' (although the former and the latter have made their way onto the fan voted disc on the deluxe edition of this album). Then again, in their place have come the seven singles from "Tangled Up" and "Out of Control", their two albums post-"The Sound of Girls Aloud" and which, in themselves, have classics of their own like 'Call The Shots', 'The Promise' and 'Untouchable' to name but a few that are all worthy of being remembered just as much.

Add into that four brand new tracks including the storming current single 'Something New' and the haunting forthcoming torch-ballad 'Beautiful Cause You Love Me', and what you have is essentially an album that nods to and celebrates that glorious decade while looking ahead to what will hopefully be another decade to come for these five bolshy but loveable beacons of what's made pure British pop music the most exciting it's been since the 1980's. So, as they themselves uttered on national TV in 2002, let's hope they carry on as they always do...c'mon the girls.

If in pop music you've managed to make it to your third album, particularly in an industry where new acts and styles of music are coming in and out of fashion all the time, and more importantly, that the music is still as good if not better than it was when you launched, you know you're on your way into the hall of pop fame. So too, as with Girls Aloud and Will Young before him, then, is Olly Murs. If last year's triple platinum chart topper 'In Case You Didn't Know' was his 'What Will the Neighbours Say?' or 'Friday's Child', then his third album in as many years, 'Right Place Right Time', is his 'Chemistry' or 'Keep On'.

His first album to be recorded on both sides of the Atlantic, Olly's not only had his biggest tour to date here in the UK this year with 19 sell out arena dates, but he's had his first taste of international success this year in Europe (where 'Heart Skips a Beat' and 'Oh My Goodness' stormed the charts in Germany, Switzerland and Sweden) and a very small knock on the door of America. So it's no surprise that the sound of this album is very much world beating and anthemic, with the kind of tracks that are just made for his live arena shows, whilst keeping his sensibilities of who he is an artist and that unique, very British charm that has made his material thus far an absolute joy to listen to.

The opening track 'Army of Two' is a perfect example of this. Clocking in at nearly five minutes, it's the sonic lovechild of 'The Circus' era Take That and George Michael - think his own 'Change is Gonna Come' from the first album with added ballsiness - but is lyrically contrasting, as he wrote it as a tribute song for his fans (who he affectionately calls 'the Murs Army'), and is not only sincere and sweet but sums up that feeling we all feel about what it means to be a fan of an artist you really love and are dedicated to (as I am with Olly) and supporting them through the good and bad: 'Soldiers, follow my lead, repeat after me/If faith is the bullet, hope is the gun and love is all we need'.

The music is now also starting to reflect Olly's maturity and growth as an artist, writer and performer, in more ways than one - it's a real coming of age record. On the one hand this is shown by adding a depth to that conversational relatibility he's known for, such as on 'Dear Darlin' and 'Hand on Heart', two gorgeous, chilled out mid-tempo numbers, evocative of Emeli Sande and Daniel Merriweather that read like open letters to loved ones, whilst maintaining his love of a resounding hookline. On the other hand, his knowing sense of wit and cheek of the chappy variety is given an extremely tongue-in-cheek dashing of sauciness, with disco-tastic 'Hey You Beautiful' (written with his long time collaborators Claude Kelly and Steve Robson as the 'After party' follow up to 'Dance with Me Tonight') and the smooth, soulful 'Head to Toe' both likely to send the female contingency of his fanbase into swooning fits when performed on next year's tour with lyrics like: 'I know there's something dirty on your mind/You don't have to lie girl...sex is in your eyes'.

But for me the two biggest highlights of this album are the current number 1 single 'Troublemaker', a funky, born-for-radio play and ridiculously catchy Jamiroquai-esque 'shouldn't-work-on-paper-but-does-in-practice' collaboration with Flo Rida, and his collaboration with The Wanted's hitmaker Ed Drewett on the delightfully funny and Madness-esque 'What a Buzz'. Overall, Olly's third album is without doubt the most aptly titled of its kind and he's really come into his own here, and there's no doubt at all that you can expect it to be packing out arenas and shooting to the top of the charts all over again in the next year.

Very quietly, Olly Murs is fast becoming a real pop force to be reckoned with. Just a year on from the multi-platinum chart topping success of 'Heart Skips a Beat' and 'Dance with Me Tonight' and The X Factor's former Essex boy done good has well, done it again.

Leading off his third album in as many years, 'Right Place Right Time' (out next Monday), 'Troublemaker' reunites Olly with his collaborative soulmates Claude Kelly and Steve Robson (who he worked on 'Please Don't Let Me Go' and 'Dance with Me Tonight' with) and welcomes a collaboration with US rap megastar Flo Rida that, as with Rizzle Kicks a year previously, shouldn't work on paper but works so brilliantly in practice. It's a funky, fun pop track with a blinding chorus, nodding to Jamiroquai and Maroon 5, possibly even Chic and Nile Rodgers with it's disco beat. But as always it comes with a huge dose of Olly's ever present cheek of the chappy variety that makes him such a delight to listen to.

Whilst Olly is still chasing his first breakthrough hit in America after the relative failure of an appalling US remix of 'Heart Skips a Beat' (where Chiddy Bang were thrown on in place of Rizzle Kicks against his will), I feel that 'Troublemaker' could quite possibly be the song to finally break him over there. But for now, back on his home turf, he's definitely got his fourth number 1 on his hands. Get in!

Finally, after three long years away to pursue solo projects, Britain's five favourite ladies are back! Now celebrating a decade in music since they first appeared in our lives as fresh faced wannabes on 'Popstars: The Rivals', Girls Aloud ring in the sound of celebration with 'Something New', the lead off single from their new greatest hits album, aptly titled 'Ten'.

As bolshy, fun and frenetic as their classics before it - 'Sound of the Underground', 'The Show', 'Love Machine', 'Biology' and 'Something Kinda Ooooh' - it's everything you'd expect of a Girls Aloud comeback single - and then some. Once again it's another dead on the mark collaboration with Brian Higgins and his team at Xenomania, and in much the same way they left their boyband competitors in the shade 10 years ago, so too they do on the songs' addictive holler of 'Go girls, g g go go go/We girls gonna take control/You boys better know know know/we girls gonna run this show'.

There is a certain magic the minute Cheryl, Kimberley, Nicola, Nadine and Sarah get together with Xenomania to craft their finely perfected and very British pop music. And it's testament that 'Something New' proves they've not lost their magic 10 years on. Here's to the next 10!

This time last year when it was the release of their 'Jukebox' album, I was saying that it was perhaps time for JLS to return to their more soulful, R&B led roots on their next album, something that seemed to confirm itself when 'Do You Feel What I Feel?', the third single from that album, became their first to miss the UK top 10 despite their continuing success up to that point.

Now on to their fourth album in as many years since they first came to our attention on 'The X Factor' and thankfully that's what has happened. What Oritse, Aston, Marvin and JB lack in the current worldwide hype and sales that One Direction and The Wanted have experienced over the last year (but in America particularly) I feel they are bound to make up for with the release of 'Evolution'.

They've chosen to step away from the feel good synths and anthemic choruses that defined 2010's 'Outta This World' and last year's 'Jukebox' and indeed the resulting album - boasting a roll call of America's biggest R&B/hip hop producers such as Rodney 'Darkchild' Jerkins and Bangladesh - is their most experimental body of work to date. Opening track 'Dessert' has a distorted hip hop sample at its base and is (lyrically anyway) pure filth but it's slinky and seductive and is carried off with sufficient swagger, as is the current Neptunes-esque single 'Hottest Girl in the World' and the very funky, late 80's sounding 'Have Your Way'.

The dance-y feel to their more uptempo numbers is still present here and there midway into the album - in particular on 'All the Way', 'Troublemaker' (not to be confused with Olly Murs' upcoming single of the same name) and 'Give Me Life', but it's a lot more maturer and classier than say, 'The Club is Alive'. But for the most part the modern take on an 90's R&B feel is the most omnipresent sound throughout, particularly on the brilliant 'I Like It' and the mid-tempo offering 'Hold Me Down' which in my opinion is just begging to be a single.

It's their shortest album yet at 10 tracks long (unless you count the four bonus tracks on the deluxe 2CD edition, of which I felt 'Single No More' and 'Homeless Heart' were the strongest offerings) but with a greater focus on quality over quantity I'm confident JLS may yet still have America conquered in the next year with what I think is their best album so far. Who said slow and steady couldn't win the race?

After the somewhat underwhelming chart performance of their last two singles earlier in the year - January's 'Do You Feel What I Feel?' and March's Sport Relief track 'Proud' - coupled with the hype and press attention lauded on One Direction and The Wanted's sudden success Stateside, it looked as if JLS' days were starting to be numbered and that no one was interested anymore in (by far) the best of the current day boyband crop. That is of course, before anyone heard their 11th single release in four years, 'Hottest Girl in the World'. And those willing to write them off to a premature split may wish to eat their words now.

A thundering, funky, ballsy falsetto laden track that makes a definite nod in the direction of N*E*R*D and Pharrell Williams' work for the lads' musical hero, Justin Timberlake, the first single from their new album 'Evolution' is exactly that. It still maintains the fun aspect of their finest upbeat moments - 'Beat Again', 'She Makes Me Wanna' - but moves their sound forward and carries off a (dare we say it) maturer, classier swagger than they've ever attempted before. Furthermore, this sounds like it could be the track to help them make that all elusive crack on the US market. Who said slow and steady couldn't win the race? JLS are officially reborn.

Much fuss and abberation is often made of people in the public eye who've had less than half a century under their belts releasing their memoirs. The argument is that you're not qualified to write them until you're 50+, are decrepit and are getting beyond the point of public interest. I say: this is crazy logic. Particularly when some people have packed more into their relatively short lives than they might initially be given credit for. Olly Murs just so happens to be one of these.

Anyone who's a devoted fan of the X Factor's Essex boy done good like I am will know that, not only has he lived quite a varied, colourful life, but that he can also talk the hind legs off a donkey (in a good way). When I went to see his first theatre tour well over a year ago in London, one of the things that I warmed to with him was his interaction with the crowd in between songs - more specifically the stories he'd tell about why he'd written a particular song on his album or why he'd chosen to cover a particular song. It was the way he talked about his life experiences and how they related to songs that made me wonder why he'd not written a book about it all.

So I was extremely excited coming to 'Happy Days'. Whilst it's true to say format wise it's less an autobiography and more a recap of the last six years of his life come coffee table picture book in the vein of say, JLS' two books they've done (Olly shares a photographer with them in the fantastic Dean Freeman who did the photography for this book and their own 'Our Story so Far' and 'Just Between Us: Our Private Diary'), it is a book that will exceed your expectations if you've been sat on the fence about him before now.

His personality shines through as he talks about his life growing up in Witham, facing a crippling series of setbacks in his early twenties (including his professional dreams of becoming a footballer) before finally discovering what had been there in his life all along, but that he'd never dared to dream of pursuing: a career in music. It's one of those books that feels like a close mate chatting to you down the pub, as he also speaks candidly about the amazing highs of his career alongside some tougher times he faced personally and professionally.

Cheesy though it may be to quote it but the title of his own song is true here: he really does wear his heart on his sleeve. It's funny, honest and engaging, and 'Happy Days' will bring you closer to Olly than ever before.

My memories of The Wombles growing up in the 90's are mainly tied to re-runs on Channel 4 of the 1970's series of the TV show inspired by the books, lovingly narrated by Bernard Cribbins, although I do remember, when I was a bit older - i.e. 7 or 8 years old - reading a few of the books which inspired the series. However I'd never read the first original book until now, and having recently done a module on my degree course about children's literature I felt inspired to revisit a few of my old favourites, and Elisabeth Beresford's loving little creatures who 'make good use of bad rubbish' left behind on Wimbledon Common were one of them.

Although to my great surprise, I found that this first original book is perhaps a lot darker in tone than the TV series. Whether this was done deliberately by the BBC to fit it into it's 5 minute episode slots I don't know - but a lot of the issues and moral ideas it brings up are strong and challenging for it's young readers, giving Great Uncle Bulgaria, Orinoco and pals far greater literary creedence for children then they will probably ever be met with.

They work not only on a good, eco-friendly ethos, but a number of abstract concepts tied into this: honesty (such as when Orinoco admits to looting a crate of pastries all for himself whilst the rest of the burrow is starving in a hard winter), team work (when the rest of the burrow helps Tobermory to replaster damaged foundations) and showing care for others (such as when they invite a lonely old human man to the burrow for their Christmas party). I intend to train to be a primary school teacher within the next year and if I am fortunate enough to teach my own class I will certainly make sure 'The Wombles' will be one of the books I read them for story time at the end of the day.