Talk of the Town: Rebecca’s the one to watch next year

Olly Murs, Stereophonics, and The View were among the stars that brought the house down at the Radio Forth awards yesterday.

Then there was Forth One presenter Grant Stott’s updated rendition of That’s Fife complete with Jimmy Shand accompaniment on the big screen. But one performance stole the show – Edinburgh’s Got Talent winner Rebecca Traynor left the crowd speechless and earned a richly deserved standing ovation.

We’ll bet the next time Rebecca’s at the Forth Awards, she’ll be collecting one.

The usual hot air

POLITICIANS don’t know what they’re talking about, is a favourite complaint. But Environment Minister Paul Wheelhouse set out to prove the claim wrong when he answered a question in Holyrood from Edinburgh Western SNP MSP Colin Keir.

He wanted to know about air pollution in Queensferry Road, Barnton, and St John’s Road, Corstorphine. Mr Wheelhouse began his answer by saying: “As a former resident of the area Colin Keir mentions, I recognise the issue he raises.” Unfortunately he wasn’t able to help much further. “Addressing air quality issues is a matter for the local authority,” he said.

Tweet nothings

IT seems that Hibs players just can’t stay out of trouble when it comes to Twitter. After skipper James McPake was forced into a humiliating backtrack following derogatory comments he made about our fair city, Leigh Griffiths might have thought better about taking to the social media site to express his views about the latest troubles at Hearts.

And even though he stated that he wouldn’t want to see Hearts go bust as it would be a massive loss to the city, he soon found himself at the centre of a rather ugly row with Hearts fans. Perhaps it’s time that Hibs introduced “tweeting” into their training regime.

Some car boot sale

WHEN It comes to moving house a lot of people find they have some old junk to get rid of. For Princess Viola von Hohenzollern however, clearing out the contents of Killochan Castle involved a little more than a car boot sale.

The Princess employed the services of Bonhams auction house in Edinburgh to help clear out unwanted items such as a set of 12 silver-mounted beakers made for Edward Prince of Wales, later Edward VII, which sold for £8,125.

The sale made more than £364,000 – although despite the windfall Princess Viola von Hohenzollern said: “It is with reluctance that I have decided to leave Killochan.”