Following the Walk of Star presentation to Baggies legend, Tony Brown, the Walk of Stars is now set to honour Baggies super fan, Frank Skinner, this August 1st.

Stand-up comedian and television personality, Frank was born in Sandwell General House in 1957 and grew up in Oldbury.

Frank performed his first stand-up gig in December 1987 and, only four years later in 1991, went on to win the prestigious Perrier Award at the Edinburgh Festival. During the mid 90’s Frank sold-out two massive UK tours, the second of which, in 1997, closed to a world record breaking packed house at London’s Battersea Power Station. He also established himself as a leading name in television entertainment, going on to star in a succession of smash hit comedy shows, including Fantasy Football, The Frank Skinner Show, and Baddiel and Skinner Unplanned.

His prolific career to date has also seen him attain three number one hit with the football anthem ‘Three Lions’, alongside David Baddiel and The Lightning Seeds; star in the hit West End show ‘Art’ in 1999; and publish his first book, Frank Skinner, which became the top selling entertainment autobiography of 2002, with a total of 46 weeks spent in The Sunday Times Bestsellers list. Frank returned to live stand-up in 2007 with his unique blend of philosophical yet not for the faint-hearted humour. His third tour sold-out 69 dates across the UK, including three nights at the NIA.

Frank is also set to judge the final of the ‘Comedy Callback’ competition and following this he will be presented with his star.

Speaking about his Walk of Stars honour Frank said “It’s a fantastic honour. To be honest, it won’t be the first time I’ve been flat on the pavement in Broad Street”.

‘Comedy Callback’ is the Broad Street Business Improvement Districts’ bid to find Birmingham’s hottest new comedic talent. One person who has the potential to follow the likes of Jasper Carrott and one day perhaps even receive a star on the Broad Street Walk of Stars.

Coming to Broad Street this summer, and accumulating in the Grand Final live at Jongleurs on August 1st, lucky finalists will appear live on the famous Jongleurs stage where they will be judged by Maria Kempinska, Founder and Creative Director of Jongleurs Comedy Ltd, Birmingham’s very own Frank Skinner, BRMB’s Russ Morris and the Birmingham Mail, alongside Broad Street’s own Mike Olley. There they will fight it out to see who is crowned our Callback King or Queen 2009 and win our fabulous prize.

The prize:

• Win a contract with JONGLEURS. Britain’s premiere comedy circuit who’s stages have seen the likes of Eddie Izzard, Harry Enfield, Al Murray, Jack Dee, Lee Evans, Ben Elton, Harry Enfield, Jack Dee, and Jimmy Carr.

• A spot on the mainstage at this year’s ArtsFest in September.

• A professional showreel produced by Aquila TV.

To enter Comedy Callback please send a DVD with a short comedy routine of no more than 3 minutes marked for the attention of Caroline Ashton to Broad Street BID, 94 Broad Street, Birmingham, B15 1AU. Alternatively email your clip to caroline.ashton@broadst.co.uk; or text your mobile phone clip to 07722 447 496.

Audio and film clips will be considered. Please include contact details included telephone number and email address with your clip.

Closing date for applications is 12noon on Tuesday 14th July.

Entrants must be over 18 years of age to apply. Content of the audio/film clip should not include high levels of swearing or racist content. The organisers of this event withhold the right to withdraw entries should they feel that the material is of an inappropriate nature. Entrants will need to be available for a day of live heats on July 25th and the grand final on August 1st.

Half time of the West Bromwich Albion v Liver pool clash saw Tony Brown presented with his Broad Street Walk of Stars honour. The star was presented by the Mayor of Sandwell, Councillor Robert Price in front of a 26,000 strong crowd.

Speaking beforehand Tony said “I can’t say how pleased and humbled I was to be named as the Albion player who is going to receive the star on the Walk of Stars in Birmingham. The fact that it was voted for by the supporters is what makes it so special because I’ve been lucky enough to have a great bond with the fans both as a player and ever since I finished”. Brown still attends every Albion game as a radio pundit.

Mike Olley, Broad Street Manager, said “We were honoured to present Tony Brown with one of our Walk of Star accolades. It was evident from the final vote the tremendous affection Baggies fans have for Tony and the cheer at the presentation confirmed this star is truly deserved“.

Earlier this month the Broad Street Business Improvement District in conjunction with West Bromwich Albion launched a public vote to decide which who would receive a coveted Walk of Star on Birmingham’s Broad Street. Five great players, spanning over the last five decades were nominated and three weeks of public voting on the www.walkofstars.co.uk website was held.

We are delighted to announce that the winner of the public vote, with 1,310 votes, is Tony Brown!

Mr. Albion, Tony ‘Bomber’ Brown holds the record for most appearances (720) and most goals (279) for Albion and is the record appearance holder and record goal scorer for the club in the League, FA Cup and European competition. Brown left Albion for Torquay United but returned to The Hawthorns as a coach under Johnny Giles between 1984 and 1986. He still attends every Albion game in his guise as a radio pundit.

On receiving the news of his win, Tony said “I’m very proud, especially as it’s been voted for by our supporters. I feel they’ve rewarded me for the loyalty I showed the club over 20 years. That’s probably the main reason they’ve voted for me and I’m absolutely delighted and honoured. I’ll be in good company on the Walk of Stars with the great players from the other West Midlands clubs”.

Mike Olley, Broad Street Manager, said “We are delighted to add another such deserving football hero to our Walk of Stars on Broad Street. We’re looking forward to seeing Tony be presented with his star on the 17th”.

Jonathan Greening says he is honoured to have made the Albion shortlist for the Broad Street Walk of Stars - and claims the poll has sparked plenty of banter at the club’s training ground!

Current captain Greening is one of five, living, loyal Baggies servants to have been nominated for the Birmingham City Centre tribute.

His four friendly rivals for the honour are Bobby Hope, Tony ‘Bomber’ Brown, Cyrille Regis and ‘Super Bob’ Taylor and the winner will have their name inscribed on a star on Broad Street’s pavement.

Greening rubs shoulders every day with former midfield maestro Bobby Hope, who works as Albion’s head of UK recruitment.

The pair have been neck and neck in the voting from the start - and Greening hasn’t been slow in telling Bobby he’s now nudged ahead of him.

“I’ve been really winding Bobby up,” quipped the former Manchester United and Middlesbrough midfielder.

“Having said that, the only reason I’m just ahead of him is that I’ve been pestering my wife, kids, family and friends to vote for me!

“Bobby probably can’t even work out how to vote because it involves the internet!

“Joking aside, it’s just an honour to have been mentioned for the Walk of Stars and Bobby deserves it much more than me.

“It’s nice to be part of the history of such a great club and I’ll never forget lifting that Championship trophy last season.”

As it stands, ‘Bomber’ currently has a healthy lead in the poll, with Cyrille and ‘Super Bob’ battling it out for second spot.

The poll was set up after the Broad Street Business Improvement District decided to recognise the area’s footballing talent on its Walk of Stars this summer.

Under the Walk of Stars guidelines, the club nominated five players to celebrate the past five decades of Hawthorns history. Details and a run down on each of these five can be found at www.walkofstars.co.uk.

Bored of your accessory collection but can’t afford to update it? Then look no further…..

Swishing is a New York / London style event where a number of ladies bring along a maximum of five accessories to ‘swish’ with other attendees. The mayhem being with ladies swishing around from accessory to accessory in the hope that they can swap before the allocated time runs out. No money changes hands, but each guest will leave with some new, gorgeous accessories after swapping them in the swishing phase.

The Living Room on Broad Street is hosting its second swishing event on Tuesday 12th May 5.30pm til 7.30pm. On arrival guests will receive a complementary cocktail are invited to stay for dinner and enjoy 20% off their total food bill.

Places are limited, to book email Jade on birminghampa@thelivingroom.co.uk.

The Art Partnership, importers of affordable, contemporary art from Asia, will be exhibiting their current collection on Thursday 30^th April at The Living Room, Regency Wharf, Broad Street, Birmingham.

The Art Partnership imports contemporary oil paintings and sculptures. Founder and Director, Simon Kings, comments: We believe in artists’ freedom to be inspired and express themselves freely. Our ambition is to show the world that the Asian continent has a lot to offer the world of art and that the quality is outstanding’.

The Art Partnership supply art to private individuals as well as businesses and the company ethos of offering affordable and original art pieces is valid for all our customers and for any venue; your home, office, hotels, or restaurants.

Simon King adds: ‘We believe that the purpose of art is to induce emotion and to allow the viewer to contemplate and form a unique interpretation. We also think it should be everyone’s right to own a unique piece of art. Many traditional galleries are notoriously expensive and inaccessible. All our pieces of art are affordable and available to buy online where you can use our virtual showroom to see what they will look like in situ. We believe this is the way to bring unique art to people’s homes and offices’.

The Broad Street Walk of Stars is all about football this summer and the voting focus now shifts to West Bromwich Albion!

Following last months announcement that this summer the Broad Street Walk of Stars was to focus on the West Midlands world-class football clubs the voting for the West Bromwich Albion player is launched today.

The club has nominated Bobby Hope, Tony ‘Bomber’Brown, Cyrille Regis, Bob Taylor and Jonathan Greening who now face the public vote on www.walkofstars.co.uk.

The star will be presented to the winner of the West Bromwich Albion vote during the WBA v Liverpool game on May 16th.

John Simpson from West Bromwich Albion said “We’re delighted that an Albion player is going to be honoured on the Walk of Stars. Trying to whittle down all of the great players who have graced the shirt over the past four or five decades proved very difficult, but the five-man shortlist features players who have all made huge contributions to the club and have developed strong links with the area. It will be very interesting to see which player gets the vote from our supporters.”

Mike Olley, Broad Street Manager commented “Following the vote to honour a Villa player, we are delighted to now celebrate the tremendous achievements of West Bromwich Albion and each of the five players they have nominated for the public vote. For one player to be honoured alongside the likes of Ozzy Osborne is fantastic and a welcome addition to the Broad Street Walk of Stars”.

How the voting will work:

Visit the ‘Football Vote’ page Walk of Stars website, www.walkofstars.co.uk, to cast your vote.

Scroll down to find the player that you want to cast your vote for and click along the stars below their name and details.

On Friday 17th April 7.30am voting for the West Bromwich Albion players will commence, closing at 12noon on 8th May.

The Broad Street Walk of Stars is all about football this summer!

Birmingham and the West Midlands are home to a number of world-class football clubs and this summer we are set to celebrate one player from each of Aston Villa, Birmingham City, West Bromwich Albion, Wolverhampton Wanderers and Walsall.

Each club has nominated a number of their great players for you, the public, to vote on. The winner, that player for each club with the most votes, will receive a star and be honoured on Birmingham’s Broad Street.

Launched on Phil Upton’s morning show on BBC WM this morning (Thursday 26th March), public voting is now taking place on the www.walkofstars.co.uk website.

The first star will be presented to the winner of the Aston Villa vote during the Aston Villa v Hull game on May 2nd. West Bromwich will also be honoured before the season finishes, and then we return in August to present stars at Birmingham City, Wolves and Walsall.

Russell Jones, Head of Marketing at Aston Villa said “Aston Villa are excited to be the club that launches this Walk of Star campaign. It is great to see one of our players and football in the Midlands celebrated in this way. We would urge all Villa fans to go and vote”.

Mike Olley, Broad Street Manager commented “This thrusts the Walk of Stars into a new and unique gear. The opportunity for true die-hard footie fans to vote for their chosen star is a positive move and one that I am confident will be embraced to the full by all true and loyal fans in the West Midlands. I urge everyone to visit our website and cast their votes”.

A spokesman for West Bromwich Albion added “We’re delighted that an Albion player is going to be honoured on the Walk of Stars. Trying to whittle down all of the great players who have graced the shirt over the past four or five decades proved very difficult, but the five-man shortlist features players who have all made huge contributions to the club and have developed strong links with the area. It will be very interesting to see which player gets the vote from our supporters.”

How the voting will work:

Visit the ‘Football Vote’ page Walk of Stars website, www.walkofstars.co.uk, to cast your vote.

Scroll down to find the player that you want to cast your vote for and click along the stars below their name and details.

Voting for an Aston Villa player will take place from March 26th until the vote closes at 12noon on 17th April.

On Saturday 18th April voting for the West Bromwich Albion players will commence, closing at 12noon on 8th May.

Follow all the going’s on around Broad Street and the venues on Twitter now!

Find us at www.twitter.com/broadstreetbrum.