Barbra Streisand's New Year's Eve concert at the MGM Grand Hotel in Las Vegas has smashed box office records for ticket sales.

High-price tickets for the glitzy show brought in over $14m (£8.5m), announced MGM Grand Entertainment president Richard Sturm.

"Right from the beginning, Ms Streisand's engagement was regarded as the single premiere entertainment for that once-in-a-millennium occasion," Sturm stated.

The previous record for single concert sales was held by The Three Tenors Placido Domingo, Luciano Pavarotti and Jose Carreras, who grossed $13.4m (£8m) at their concert in New Jersey's Giants Stadium in 1996.

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Natalie is first All Saint to go solo

All Saints singer Natalie Appleton has revealed that she is going to release a solo single but has denied that the band are about to break up.

The 26-year-old - who split-up with boyfriend actor Jonny Lee Miller last week - told Sky magazine she is recording a version of The Supremes' 1967 hit Reflections.

The song will be on the soundtrack of Honest, which stars Natalie, sister Nicole and Melanie Blatt.

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Crawford's devilish role

British stage actor Michael Crawford is to take the lead in London's West End musical production of The Witches of Eastwick, according to newspaper reports.

The 57-year-old Phantom of Opera star has been asked to take the lead in the £4m production by theatre impresario Cameron Mackintosh, says The Express.

The show will be based on both the novel by John Updike and the 1988 movie starring Jack Nicholson, Cher, Susan Sarandon and Michelle Pfeiffer.

The witches are reportedly to be played by Lucie Arnaz - daughter of American comedian Lucille Ball - and British actresses Maria Friedman and Joanna Riding.

The show is due to open in Spring 2000. As yet, the production's publicists say they are unable to confirm Crawford's involvement.

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Westlife keep their place in the sun

Boy band Westlife have retained their place at the top of the singles chart to become the first act for over a year to stay there longer than three weeks.

The Irish group's single I Have A Dream/Seasons In The Sun won the battle for the Christmas number one and has now held on for a fourth week.

Cher's Believe was the last song to hold the top spot for a month.

Sir Cliff Richard's Millennium Prayer was at number one for three weeks.

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Spanish wedding for Zeta Jones?

Hollywood couple Catherine Zeta Jones and Michael Douglas plan to marry in Majorca, according to newspaper reports.

The Welsh star, 30, could tie the knot _with the 55-year-old US actor at his remote mountain villa on the island after abandoning plans to marry at the actress's small, local chapel in Wales, says the Sun.

"They want to keep the wedding private. Michael's estate in Majorca is perfect because it is so isolated," said an unnamed source. The couple plan to marry on their joint birthdays, 25 September.

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Richards spearheads green campaign

Veteran rocker Keith Richards is on the front-line of an environmental campaign to save a woodland close to his home.

The Rolling Stones guitarist, 56, is protesting against plans to build a house on the small wooded site near to his £1.5m Elizabethan mansion in West Wittering, West Sussex.

Locals say Richards is determined to maintain the beauty of the countryside where he has lived since 1966.

"He has been as active as anyone. He really cares about nature," said a neighbour.

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Denzel speaks of ongoing discrimination

Oscar-winning actor Denzel Washington says that despite his fame, he still suffers racial discrimination on a daily basis.

"You get on an elevator and a woman gets on and she backs up," the 45-year-old star told US TV show Sixty Minutes.

"I'm like, I could take my wallet out and crush you with it but they're still 'Oh, black face. Hmmm, you're going to get me'," said Washington, who won Best Supporting Oscar in the 1989 film Glory

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Supremes planning reunion star

Diana Ross is to reunite with her old group The Supremes for a reunion tour, according to one of the trio.

Fellow former Supreme Mary Wilson revealed the group's plans during an interview in Los Angeles.

"If we can get everything together we will go into rehearsals in May, then head out on tour this summer.

"We're going to start in the US and if it goes great, I'm sure we'll extend it," she said.

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Corrie celebrates 50th Street wedding

Wedding bells are ringing in Coronation Street this month as the soap's Kevin Webster and Alison Wakefield tie the knot for the Street's 50th wedding.

The register office ceremony, screened on 23 January, sees 27-year-old actress Naomi Radcliffe marrying the mechanic, played by Michael Le Vell, with his kids and ex-wife Sally as bridesmaids.

Street insider says: "Fans will need hankies it's a real tear-jerker".

Last night's episode saw a pregnant Alison accepting Kevin's proposal.