With the nominations for the Brit awards now announced I'm really chuffed Duffy is up there topping the list of nods with Coldplay. Her album Rockferry seemed to become the unofficial anthem of last summer, and Mercy still has what it takes to get me moving.

Considering the musical reputation the Welsh have, though, it's weird there aren't more chart toppers emerging from the principality.

Veterans like Tom Jones and Shirley Bassey are both from the south, as is Cerys Matthews. Born in Bangor and brought up in the small seaside community of Nefyn, Duffy is the only internationally recognised talent to come out of the North. You'd think there would have been more. Does anyone know if I've missed someone?

Like millions of people around the globe I spent most of yesterday glued to CNN online watching the inauguration of Barack Obama as America's 44th president. Was that great TV or what?

During his post swearing-in speech I had to keep reminding myself this was for real - not something written for a Hollywood movie. It seemed like Harrison Ford or Will Smith could erupt onto the scene any moment.

The hopes, the dreams and the vision he laid out moved grown men to tears and had me reaching for a tissue... what a script!