After a whopping 42 years showcasing the latest chart hits, Top of the Pops was relegated to gathering dust in the BBC archives back in 2006. Alternative music show, No Disco, popped it’s clogs in 2003 after a ten year run. Dave Fanning’s 2TV music programme lasted 6 years up until 2001. Since then music shows on this side of the pond have been few and far between. Well at last there’s a new music show in town – Ceol ar an Imeall (Music on the Edge) –  hits TV screens tonight at 11.45pm on TG4. You can view a promo here.

Fronted by Sunday Tribune journalist Una Mullally (who also runs Thursday club night ‘Soundcheck’ at Spy), the programme will shine a light on up and coming Irish bands as well as interviewing well-known names like The XX and Passion Pit.

The Irish language programme is launching tonight with a bit of a bash and a special screening at Spy. It kicks off at 7pm and entry is free.

Introducing Nneka (pronounced Nay-ka) the hottest thing to come out of Nigeria (which in all fairness wouldn’t be hard). Nneka has big hair and an even bigger sound and what’s more, unlike the Rihanna’s of this world, she actually has something to say.

Born to a German mom and a Nigerian dad, the singer and guitarist describes music as “therapy” and compares performing on stage to “being in a church or in a shrine”. You couldn’t be blamed for getting Lauryn Hill flashbacks whilst listening to Nneka, whose head-bopping blend of hip hop/reggae is influenced by her upbringing in Nigeria. She describes it as “a very tough place” and as a result her lyrics are “very conscious” and “very political”.

She released her first album in 2005 -- ‘“Victim of Truth” -- which, despite being released in Germany, England, France, Netherlands, Nigeria and Japan, capturing the attention of critics, it went largely overlooked by the average Joe consumer. Her highly political second album, “No Longer at Ease“, brought her more success, with the lead single -- “Heartbeat” -- reaching the UK Top 20 Singles chart and earning her a MOBO Award for Best African Act.

After the release of the three disc ‘best of Nneka so far’-type album, “To and Fro“, in 2009, Nneka is now heading Stateside. She is releasing her first US album, “Concrete Jungle” in February in an attempt to “bring Africa to America”. The compilation album is likely to put Nneka on the map given the current lack of emerging hip hop stars, so expect to hear more of this:

Anyone reading this from outside Ireland/the UK will be uttering ‘Jedward who’ round about now. Here’s a bit of background on the phenomenon that is Jedward.

• Jedward are twin teenage boys -- John and Edward Grimes -- from Lucan, Dublin who entered Simon Cowell’s ‘talent’ show last year
• It quickly became obvious that despite their quirky ‘There’s Something About Mary’ haircuts and cheese-tastic matching outfits, the twins could not sing
• They became the centre of attention, being booed at every live performance, with all talk focused on how they were lowering the tone of the competition
• With the resilience of cockroaches and a truly unbelievable and inexplicable performance of Britney Spears ‘Oops I Did it Again’ complete with matching skin tight red catsuits, the pair began to win the public
• Soon Jedward were the only reason to watch the show -- will they finally get voted out? What song will they murder? What will they wear?
• A ‘Jedward to Win’, “Jed we Can” campaign was launched to try and drive the twins to victory
• The campaign failed but not before they gave their ‘best’ performance of the show by bending the rules during ‘Queen week’ when they sang and rapped (Irish rappers!!) a version of ‘Under Pressure’ mixed with Vanilla Ice’s ‘Ice Ice Baby’ -  a song which samples the Queen song’s bassline.

It was reported today that Vanilla Ice saw the performance and is now keen to work with the Irish twins. They’ve also been rumoured to have been offered TV shows and modelling gigs so it looks like whether you love ‘em or hate ‘em, Jedward are here to stay (for a while at least!). Check out their attempt at ‘ Ice Ice Baby’ here complete with intro which gives a bit of a flavour of their ‘journey’ -- performance starts at 2mins 32

The ever-fabulous Panti of Pantibar has released this video to make sure the World knows there are half-price drinks at the bar on Sundays!

Since Ireland entered it’s much talked about ‘cold snap’, I’ve been spending my evenings snuggled up on the couch with everybody’s favourite mobster, Tony Soprano.  The Guardian released their “Top 50 Television Dramas of All Time” today and with my seal of approval and a hoard of Emmy Awards, it’s no surprise that The Sopranos tops the list of the best dramas on the box.

It is surprising that the critically acclaimed show, The Wire, only squeezes in at number 14 with a number of 80’s BBC dramas – A Very Peculiar Practice, Talking Heads, The Singing Detective, Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit and Boys From the Blackstuff – listed in the top ten.

…read more about The Guardians Top 50 TV Dramas of All Time