Robbie Williams did himself few favours when he sang his new single on the X Factor TV show, with the former Take That star clearly nervous, some would say positively wired.

But the 35-year-old put that setback behind him on Tuesday night with his first full concert in three years at the Roundhouse in London which scored well with the critics. Both the Guardian and Telegraph broadsheets gave Williams four stars out of five, quite an achievement for someone who says he suffers from stage fright.

The best-selling Sun tabloid agreed, saying: “Robbie Williams overcame his nerves to nail the brilliant show he needed last night - his first gig for three years. After looking shaky on X Factor just over a week ago, the pressure was on to prove he’s still got it. I’m relieved to say he certainly has, and maybe a bit more besides.”

Two movies — one complete and one in the works — have underlined how technology is changing the way films are made.

Wes Anderson partly directed his animated “Fantastic Mr. Fox” using a computer, streaming images from multiple animation sets live on to a screen in front of him, allowing him to guide animators from another room, town, or, more often, country. That guidance often came in the form of emails, something which did not endear the film maker to some of the animators, according to a recent piece in the L.A. Times. George Clooney provided the voice of Mr. Fox, and London’s Three Mills Studios carried out the paintstaking, old-fashioned stop-motion animation.

Meanwhile, Peter Jackson used iChat to co-direct the upcoming, big-budget feature “The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn”. Actor Nick Frost, who plays Thomson in the film, said Jackson would be linked up live to the U.S. set from New Zealand, from where he would add to Steven Spielberg’s pearls of wisdom on set. “It was weird”, was his description of the experience. The blockbuster will feature motion capture technology, producing the kind of effect seen in “The Polar Express”.

According to Hollywood trade publications, while Spielberg was on set for just over 30 days, Jackson will have spent the best part of 18 months converting the data into an animation movie by the time it hits theatres some time in 2011. The balance has led some to question whether Jackson should be given the directorial credit rather than Spielberg. It also raises the possibility of more and more movie makers spending less and less time on set, particularly where animation is concerned.

Critics have united in their condemnation of British artist Damien Hirst’s latest works – a series of paintings that are on show at the Wallace Collection in London.

At times it seems the 44-year-old, famous for his pickled animals, pill cabinets and spot paintings, can do no wrong. Just over a year ago he made 111 million pounds at a sale of new works, confirming his status as the most sought-after living artist.

His work has always divided critics and the public alike. What is unusual about the reaction to his new paintings is that opinion against him is near-unanimous. Rachel Campbell-Johnston of the Times sums up the mood succinctly with the words: “The paintings are dreadful. Think Francis Bacon meets Adrian Mole.”

Hirst says he painted the works – many of which which feature images of white skulls on dark blue-black backgrounds – himself, unlike his spot paintings, which are produced by others in his studio. So there is a sense among detractors that he has been found out as someone whose artistic technique is lacking.

And to make it worst, Hirst fell to 48th place in ArtReview’s annual list of the art world’s most powerful figures from top spot a year ago, although his freefall was largely explained by his absence from the limelight for the past 12 months.

The immediate impact of the backlash is tempered by the fact that most of the new paintings have already been bought, by Ukrainian billionaire Viktor Pinchuk. But there is a sense that the Hirst brand, arguably contemporary art’s most successful in recent years, has lost some of its lustre.

It’s that time of year again. Although we don’t yet know the exact date of the announcement, in the next few weeks the Swedish Academy will decide on the 2009 winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature, probably the writing world’s biggest award.

The bookies are already out of the blocks, and it is Israeli writer and professor Amos Oz, regularly considered a favourite in recent years, who is tipped for glory this time around. Ladbrokes in Britain make him the 4/1 frontrunner, ahead of Algeria’s Assia Djebar (5/1), Spain’s Luis Goytisolo (6/1), America’s Joyce Carol Oates and her compatriot (and perennial Nobel Prize also-ran) Philip Roth, both on 7/1.

Ladbrokes feels that the perceived bias against U.S. authors among Swedish scholars could scupper the chances of Oates and Roth once again. The United States must go back 16 years, with Toni Morrison, for its last Nobel Prize in Literature.

But before we get too carried away with the odds, Ladbrokes has tipped the eventual winner only twice in the last seven years - J.M. Coetzee in 2003 and Orhan Pamuk in 2006. Doris Lessing, who won in 2007, was one of several outsiders to take the big prize in recent years.

The biggest star at this year’s Venice film festival has arguably been Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez. Sure, George Clooney and Matt Damon have got the crowds going and can cause a minor media scrum with little effort, but Chavez and his large entourage of aides and guards is another matter altogether.

In town for the world premiere of Oliver Stone’s documentary “South of the Border”, Chavez looked the part on the red carpet and giving interviews at a swanky hotel on the Lido waterfront. Spare a thought for the handful of reporters given a coveted slot with the leader, though. We were originally down to speak to Chavez and Stone at around 5:30 p.m., but, after a series of false alarms, we were moved to a different venue and eventually ended up speaking to them well after 10 p.m.

At one point guests at a party at the plush “Des Bains” hotel (scene of the Visconti classic Death in Venice) were not allowed into the building because of Chavez’s security, but the problem was quickly resolved.

Chavez, looking every bit the movie star, was all smiles and charm, shaking hands with onlookers and reporters who wanted to meet him. Little wonder he looked happy — he will presumably be delighted with Stone’s overwhelmingly positive portrait.

Seeing reporters humiliate themselves in front of major Hollywood stars is nothing new at film festivals around the world. The appearance of an A-lister, male or female, tends to bring out the worst in journalists who variously express their undying love or ask for hands in marriage. Usually the star in question laughs off the comments, and tries to turn the conversation back to the film he or she is in town to promote.

Today’s press conference involving George Clooney and Ewan McGregor, who star together in the comedy “The Men Who Stare at Goats” was more embarrassing than usual, however. After tactfully avoiding a question about his sexuality, Clooney then looked on while a man, announcing he was gay, proceeded to take of his shirt and trousers while declaring his love for the actor and asking him for a kiss. To make matters worse, he had not even seen the film.

Clooney’s response? “There’s a little ambulance on its way.”

Todd Solondz has uttered the “f-word” in Venice. No, not that one … ”Fascist”. Asked at a press conference for his new movie “Life During Wartime” whether he could give an opinion about the current political situation in Italy, he replied:

“I’m smart enough to know that I know so little and I would be very foolish, given whatever I know, to have an opinion in front of you guys. I just hope things work out nicely here. It’s lovely in this wonderful fascist building to take pleasure in this conversation.”

The building he was referring to was the Casino, a Fascist-era structure dating back to near the beginning of the world’s oldest film festival in 1932. Let’s not forget that two years later the Mussolini Cup was introduced at the festival for best foreign and best Italian films. Of course, all that has changed now. Although, at least for Solondz, the past is not forgotten.

So farewell, Big Brother. You have been on British screens every year for the last decade, but 2010 will be your last, unless someone else can be persuaded to pay production company Endemol for a show that has seen its ratings slump.

Channel 4 announced it is ditching the reality TV series, which in its prime enjoyed audiences as big as 10 million Britons but now is viewed by less than two million. Some pundits say it is tired and dull. Others say it never recovered from the 2007 race row when Jade Goody was accused of bullying Indian housemate Shilpa Shetty, prompting tens of thousands of complaints. Justice was seen to be done when Goody was evicted and Shetty went on to win.

Endemol, which makes Big Brother, has not given up just yet, and may seek another broadcaster to buy its ground-breaking show.

Whether the ratings slump is part of a broader disenchantment with reality TV remains to be seen. Certainly talent shows, from Strictly Come Dancing to Britain’s Got Talent, continue to thrive in. But as for Big Brother, will you miss it? Has it passed its sell-by date? Is Channel 4 right to ditch it?

Yes, you read it right.

Coldplay have made a short film to accompany their single “Strawberry Swing” that will be shown in UK cinemas from July 22 as a “supporting act” to Sacha Baron Cohen’s mockumentary “Bruno,” as well as to romance “The Proposal” starring Sandra Bullock. In it, frontman Chris Martin, dressed as an old-style superhero, battles a giant squirrel, whch is drawn entirely in chalk.

You can catch a brief trailer now.

The song will be released as a digital download on Sept. 14 and the short film will be “commercially available” on Aug. 3, according to the band’s record label. It has its premiere on July 20 on www.babelgum.com.

The band, which had the world’s biggest selling album in 2008 with “Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends”, starts its UK stadium tour on September 12, kicking off in Manchester and hitting London’s Wembley Stadium on the 18 and 19.

Madonna has won her appeal for the right to adopt a second child from Malawi, after a court overturned an earlier ruling blocking the bid, and the 50-year-old queen of pop is likely to face further criticism for her actions.

Local rights groups in Malawi have complained that Madonna has been given special treatment by the judicial system because of her status and wealth, and many people question whether taking a child from its native environment is necessarily a good thing.

Her divorce last year from Guy Ritchie, which has brought with it decisions over custody of their children, appears not to have concerned Malawi’s supreme court unduly. The Madonna brood already comprises daughter Lourdes, born in 1996, Ritchie’s son Rocco, born in 2000, and David Banda, a boy adopted from Malawi. Malawian Mercy James would make it four.

On Friday, Chief Justice Lovemore Munlo said Madonna had shown an interest in helping Malawi orphans and that four-year-old Mercy would have a better life with the star. Madonna has set up a charity called Raising Malawi which plans to build a school for girls in Chikhota village.

Do you think Malawi’s supreme court was right to overturn the earlier decision, thus allowing the adoption to go ahead?