What's hot and not

William Hill are starting goldfish races with big money available to anyone willing to put their faith in the swimmers. Two races a day will be screened on the company's Internet betting site with six goldfish swimming in each race. Just like horse racing, the cameras will decide if there's a photo finish with more than one fish swimming under the finishing line at one time. If the new sport becomes a hit, it will also be screened in William Hills' betting shops. Who knows - it could become as popular as Ascot, though we can't see the Queen Mum investing quite so heavily in training aquatic racers. The website can be found at www.willhill.com.

BRIT STAR: Rising star Dido Armstrong is being showered in praise after years of waiting in the wings. The British-born singer and songwriter has been making waves in the States where her album, No Angel, has already sold more than a million copies. And she started getting noticed over here when Eminem sampled one of her tracks for his recent chart topper Stan. But the pop star admits she is a little bit perplexed at finding herself among the nominations for this year's Brit awards. We believe many people will soon have heard Dido's music and that she will be one of the country's brightest stars by the end of 2001.

INDEPENDENT WOMEN: Forget dreams of finding Prince Charming and settling down to a life a wedded bliss. SASSY girls are after something else. Single, Affluent, Successful, Sensual and Young (SASSY) women are a new breed threatening the traditional aims of women to get married and bring up a family. A new survey has revealed young women are more concerned about their careers and having a good time on a night out than finding a life partner. The survey found most single women aged between 25 to 35 are actively avoiding marriage because they wanted to have fun and 80 per cent preferred one night stands to committed relationships.

Famous SASSY women like Liza Tarbuck have a massive female following because they have achieved great things at work while retaining their sense of humour and sex appeal. There may be health issues connected to this kind of lifestyle but it's refreshing to think young women are taking control and responsibility for their own lives.

BAD MANNERS: It didn't take long for the Popstars band to turn into badly-behaved prima donnas.

During their first press conference, the band admitted vandalising the secret house they had been hidden away in for three months.

The poor darlings claimed they were bored because, until a week ago, their identities had not been revealed to the nation. So with nothing better to do the group allegedly set fire to a pair of curtains and ripped a banister from the wall. Just weeks ago the five band members were wannabes with normal jobs who could only dream of the glamorous life they now have. But already they are bored and instead of counting their blessings they are trying to live out some sad rock-star lifestyle.

All five have been remodelled by stylists but it seems it's much more than just their hair, clothes and make-up that have been changed.

Someone's inflated their egos to a gross size at the same time...

BEING A GODDESS: Nigella Lawson seems to have it all - beauty, brains and the ability to bake a cake while looking after a family and holding down a job. But there is something lacking from Nigella's life - the respect of ordinary women who can't live up to her ideals. Nigella's book, How to be a Domestic Goddess (pictured below), was a best seller, bought by harassed women who wanted a magic solution to their lives which were in danger of spiralling out of control. But a recent survey has shown most women have been unable to attain goddess status and are sent into a panic at the mere thought of making dinner, doing the housework and having a career. Rather than being goddesses in the kitchen, most women would prefer to be able to get by without burning the toast and having a little help from their partners.