'Sound-clashing whirlwind’ V V Brown whose debut album 'Travelling Like The Light' has been wowing the public and media alike in the US, has just been named one of the new faces for Marks & Spencer’s Spring 2010 advertising campaign. 

V V will join Twiggy, Dannii Minogue, Lisa Snowdon and Brazilian supermodel Ana Beatriz Barros for the TV and print advertising campaign which launches in March.

This latest high profile opportunity for V V comes in the same week that she landed the coveted Single of The Week in the US iTunes chart while her album has climbed to a hugely impressive no. 20 in the iTunes album chart. Her American star looks set to rise further with her first US tour, including 3 performances at the SXSW festival in Austin Texas, as well as two very high profile TV appearances on US Network TV’s Jimmy Kimmel live and the Rachael Ray show.

This amazing American rise follow Brown’s recent chart-topping exploits in France where her single and album both topped the French iTunes chart following a sensational live performance on France’s biggest TV show 'Le Grand Journal'. The French story also looks set to get bigger with V V jetting back to France in March for three live performances in Paris during Fashion week, one of which promises to be a spectacular show live from the Eifel Tower.

The 25 year-old singer/songwriter/producer has already been tantalizing American eyes and ears for months. Many of her songs have already been aired via high-profile network and cable TV shows: 'L.O.V.E.' features prominently in a new promotion for 'Cougar Town'; 'Back In Time' was heard in the third episode of CW’s top-rated new series The Vampire Diaries as well as CSI: NY; 'Crying Blood' in 90210; 'Shark in The Water' in MTV’s The City; and 'Everybody' in a promo spot for ABC’s Desperate Housewives.

George Clooney has enlisted his celebrity troops to come out for the Hope for Haiti:A Global Benenfit for Earthquake Releif"Telethon airis tonight on every major channel worldwide. The benefit concerts will be held in Los Angeles, New York and London, with performances by Beyonce and Jay-Z, Stevie Wonder, Mary J. Blige, Kid Rock, Dave Matthews, Sheryl Crow, John Legend.Wyclef Jean, Jennifer Hudson.

Anderson Cooperwill be reporting Live from Haiti, while Gabourey Sidibe, David Arquette, Colin Farrell, Renee Zellweger, Courteney Cox, Zac Efron and others will be helping on the phone lines.

By the way, Kanye West has been banned from the Telethon due to uncontrollable outbursts.

The former Spice Girls singer - who already has two daughters, 11-year-old Phoenix and two-year-old Angel, from previous relationships - is planning on expanding her family further in the near future and says she loves being pregnant.

She said: 'If I don’t have another baby this year, I’d definitely like one the next. I’d like two more. I’ve never suffered from morning sickness, so I’ve really enjoyed my pregnancies.'

However, a baby could get in the way of Mel taking part in UK TV talent show 'The X Factor’.

The 35-year-old star was rumoured to be taking over from mother-to-be Dannii Minogue on the judging panel while the Australian star has her first child.

Despite the potential problems, Mel still wants to be a judge on the show.

She told Closer magazine: 'I’d love to be a judge on 'The X Factor’. I think it’s a great show. I was speaking to Dannii recently and she told me everyone gets on really well. I’ve also met Cheryl Cole – she’s lovely.'

Discussing plans for a Spice Girls musical, she admitted she and fellow

band members Mel C, Emma Bunton, Victoria Beckham and Geri Halliwell will be making arrangements for the show over the internet because it is so hard for them to get together.

She said: 'All of the Spice Girls want to get involved so we’re all going to make a video call on Skype for a big chat as we’re never in the same place.'

'Everyone loves Michael Jackson, so it will be tough to find a jury without bias,' lawyer Shawn Chapman Holle.

Michael Jackson's personal physician, Dr. Conrad Murray, faces a steep uphill battle in fighting off the involuntary-manslaughter charges lodged against him Monday (February 8) in Los Angeles. That's according to L.A.-based attorney Shawn Chapman Holley, who told MTV News that the combination of the doctor's discussions with police following Jackson's death in June and the reported admission that he supplied the singer with the surgical anesthetic that the coroner's office has said caused his demise make for a very difficult defense. 

"I'm not surprised by the charge, no," said Chapman Holley, who worked as part of the defense team for O.J. Simpson, as well as representing Lindsay Lohan, Nicole Richie, Paris Hilton, the Kardashian sisters, Reggie Bush and Tupac Shakur. (Chapman Holley is not involved in the Murray case.) "It's really the only thing it could have been. It's the only charge under the heading of homicide that does not require an intent element."

The district attorney's office charged Murray on Monday, saying that the Houston-based cardiologist "did unlawfully, and without malice, kill Michael Joseph Jackson." An arraignment was taking place at press time, where Murray was expected to turn himself in and enter a not-guilty plea. If convicted, Murray faces a possible four-year state prison term. 

"There's no question in my mind that he didn't intend for Jackson to die or be hurt," Chapman Holley said. "A murder charge would require that intent, but it becomes involuntary manslaughter when a defendant did something that posed a high possibility of death or grave injury. The issue will be whether or not administering the drugs he administered in the manner he did was likely to cause death or serious injury."

Chapman Holley predicted that Murray's legal team will mount a spirited defense based on a lot of expert medical testimony, which will include physicians who will say that what Murray did should not have caused injury or death and that his actions were not unreasonable. They will also likely bring up allegations that Murray was not the first physician or medical worker to provide Jackson with propofol or other sedatives. Murray has reportedly told investigators that he provided Jackson with the powerful anesthetic propofol several times in the hours leading up to the 50-year-old singer's death in June as part of a nightly regimen of anesthetics and sedatives that the singer allegedly used to combat chronic insomnia.

One of the hardest factors for Murray's defense team is the fact that the doctor spoke to investigators several times in the days after Jackson's death, a move Chapman Holley said might have been ill-conceived. "You usually don't want your client to talk to the police in order to not be locked into a timeline," she said, suggesting that by giving investigators a minute-by-minute account of what he was doing prior to Jackson's death, Murray might have committed himself to an account of events that he will not be able to deviate from. "People who feel like they didn't do anything wrong naturally want to talk to the police, but it's almost always not a good idea from a criminal-law standpoint. You lock yourself into that timeline, and the police are trying to build a case against you, so they act real nice, but really they just want to hear what happened as they're gathering evidence against you."

Another complicating factor will be finding a jury to try the case, which Chapman Holley said might actually be the most time-consuming part of the trial, which she predicted would likely last a month. "I'm not a doctor, but based on what I've heard, [what Murray did] sounds crazy. A jury won't know either, so you'll have these doctors coming in to testify of the risks of doing this, and while his experts will say there was not a tremendous risk, the DA's experts will say there was," she said. "Obviously, it did cause his death, but that's not the question here. You have to look at what the person did and what they knew at the time. It's almost like the outcome [of Murray's actions] are not irrelevant, but not really important to the case. Plus, everyone loves Michael Jackson, so it will be tough to find a jury without bias."

'He's definitely going to be treated differently,' retired NYPD detective Derrick Parker says of Wayne's prison stint.

Lil Wayne's life revolves around a daily regime of "SportsCenter," studio time and sweets. But on Tuesday (February 9), the Cash Money lyricist will be formally sentenced to prison after he struck a plea deal with Manhattan prosecutors stemming from a 2007 arrest in New York on gun charges. After he officially enters his plea, the rapper is expected to then turn himself in immediately to begin a one-year jail sentence.

Not since Tupac has such an accomplished and relevant MC faced an impending prison term. But will the lithe New Orleans rapper survive the daunting conditions at the notorious Rikers Island facility?

"Lil Wayne is gonna be OK," retired NYPD detective and noted "hip-hop cop" Derrick Parker told MTV News. "While he's in jail, it's a matter of fact they may not put him with the general population because of who he is and his popularity. They might lock him down and let him come out with a supervisor and stuff like that [when he's] in the main area — but he's definitely going to be treated differently."

According to Parker, the way Wayne will be handled will depend on safety concerns for the rapper as well as an effort to maintain as much normalcy at the facility as possible — it won't resemble pampered treatment by any means. Parker said despite Wayne's small physical stature and his propensity to signal a particular gang affiliation in his rhymes, the rapper won't have much to fear in terms of extortion, bullying or worse.

Parker compared Wayne to former New York Giants football player Plaxico Burress, another celebrity who was convicted on gun charges in New York. However, Wayne could be better prepared for life behind bars — Burress hired a jail coach to assist him with acclimating to prison, something Wayne wouldn't even consider.

"Wayne is from the streets, from the Magnolia Houses in New Orleans, so I'm sure those guys have been in jail or locked up at some point," Parker said. "So being in prison is no big deal to them. Plaxico isn't built for that — he's the type of guy that's never been locked up like that before. He's gonna need a coach or someone to tell him what to expect, since he's not used to that."

But what exactly can Wayne expect? Fortunately, he won't have to cut his trademark tresses.

"The days of doing that are over," retired corrections officer Charles Reid told MTV News. "They can't make inmates do that anymore — it's within their rights to maintain any kind of hairstyle."

Wayne will have a few comforts of home while he's away. He will be able to watch network television — not cable, however. And he'll be able to watch DVD movies. He told Rolling Stone recently he plans to take an iPod in with him to assist with writing music, but a source close to the prison facility told MTV News that would not be allowed.

Reid, who worked at Rikers Island for 21 years as an officer and an investigator, said Wayne's days would continue to be regimented, but in a much different way. He suggested the rapper may have to succumb to some work conditions, whether in sanitation or the mess hall, for example. Reid also noted that different wings of the prison carry different types of criminals, but guessed that Wayne would be housed in a dormitory area and not even be confined to a cell.

"Like a hospital, where there's maybe 20 to 25 beds in an open ward, or it maybe bunk beds," Reid said of Wayne's possible lodgings. "Where he has a nightstand to keep his personal belongings."

Due to the short nature of Wayne's sentence — one year, which could mean 10 months, including the possibly of early release after serving 80 percent of good time, possibly putting him back onstage in a little as eight months — the rapper could very well spend his entire term at Rikers Island.

It won't be known for sure if Wayne will be transferred upstate until he enters the New York corrections system and is processed. (A representative for the Corrections Department did not return several inquiries made by MTV as of press time.)

"I think he's gonna go in there and do his time and do it quietly," Parker said. "If he does it with good behavior, that will be a plus for him — then he'll be out and putting out a new album."