The 45-year-old singer - who won the competition with All Kinds of Everything in 1970 - is reportedly planning to stand in the 1999 European Parliament elections.

The mother-of-four - real name Rosemary Scallon - finished third with 14% of the national vote in last year's presidential election won by Mary McAleese.

Her campaign was based on traditional Christian values and prompted the entertainer to indicate an interest in entering politics full time.

She was later approached by both of the Irish Republic's main political parties, the currently in-office Fianna Fail and the opposition Fine Gael. Reports in Ireland say Dana would run as an independent.

Earlier this year she moved from the US to County Cork and she is tipped to stand in the south-western constituency of Munster.

Video sales hit fast-forward

Titanic: Helped video sales soar

The success of blockbuster movie Titanic has helped video sales and rentals break all records, according to industry figures.

Preliminary figures from the British Video Association show both sales and rentals are rising, with the sector growing by 15%.

The BVA said a final surge in the run-up to Christmas had topped off a year which had seen a string of record-breaking titles released, including Titanic, which became the best-selling movie of all time.

Other strong titles included The Full Monty and Men In Black. Usually the video market is dominated by children's titles.

BVA director general Lavina Carey said: "One of the most interesting facts to emerge from our research is that the advent of cable and satellite is good for business rather than being harmful to it.

"Total video viewing is higher in cable and satellite households than elsewhere."

It's daytime TV war, warns Vanessa

Vanessa Fektz: Gloves off in morning TV war

Chat show queen Vanessa Feltz has vowed her new show will thrash its ITV rival - fronted by the woman who replaced her - in a head-to-head ratings battle beginning next week.

Ms Feltz, who was fired by Anglia Television in a much publicised row during the summer, starts her new morning programme The Vanessa Show on Monday on BBC One at 0945 GMT.

The show runs against ITV's Trisha - which filled the slot she vacated.

"She's no competition," Ms Feltz said of her replacement Trisha Goddard. "I'm certainly not worried - no sweat."

She jokes in the four months since she quit ITV she had spent her mornings throwing tomatoes and eggs at the screen.

"It's horrible when someone else is doing it and you're at home in your dressing gown and eating your Frosties," she said.

Her new programme will be "a topical news discussion" and will feature offbeat celebrity features.

Other features will include consumer problems and a live family fly-on-the-wall documentary.

"Daytime audiences are normally fed a diet of pap and they have to live with that," Ms Feltz said. "The BBC is waking up to that."

Pop divas team up for film

Diana Ross: Teaming up with young star Brandy

Two generations of pop divas have teamed up to make a movie - with Motown legend Diana Ross joining current star Brandy playing mother and daughter in new film Double Platinum.

It features Ross as an ambitious singer who abandons her new-born daughter to follow her dreams of stardom. She succeeds beyond her wildest dreams, but 18 years later finds her daughter - played by Brandy - has the same talent.

She decides to help her - but that involves revealing her identity.

Before filming started in New York, Brandy admitted she was nervous about working with Ross.

But she said: "I will ask her for advice, because there's a lot I want to know about this business, especially in terms of longevity".

Byrne and B*Witched top in Irish awards

Gay Byrne: Longest-running chat show host

Veteran broadcaster Gay Byrne has been named as Ireland's Entertainment Personality of the Year.

Other winners in a set of awards announced by Ireland's Telecom Eireann telecommunications company included girl group B*Witched, as best new entertainers, and the Corrs, as best popular act.

Gay Byrne, 64, quit his long-running radio programme with an outdoor edition from the centre of Dublin on Christmas Eve, and will step down from his Late, Late show at the end of its current run in May.