They've made Robyn into a robot

How about watching Robyn meet a robot that's been based on her?

The robot is able to detect music and make rudimentary dance moves, giving the appearance of some sort of emotional life. Which already makes it more than qualified for a role in Little Mix.

The team at Sweden's KTH University plan to have the robot completed early next year.

Gordon in the morning: The rise of the robots

It's one of those mornings when we have to applaud Gordon's work. His coverage of Take That being trapped when their giant onstage robots broke down mid-set is a lovely story, and a lovely image.

It's a pity that he does spoil it by trying to pretend he knew this was going to happen all along:

It could have been a lot worse. In classic movie comedy This Is Spinal Tap, bass player DEREK SMALLS is trapped inside a giant pod while roadies try to smash it with a hammer.

And U2 spent sections of their Popmart tour trapped inside a giant lemon which failed to open.

Something similar was bound to happen with Take That's massive robot.

Funny, if it was "bound to happen" you might have thought Gordon would have mentioned that in his review of the set, but back then the robot didn't seem so obviously flawed:

The last time they hit the road they had a gigantic mechanical elephant as the centrepiece of the production. And the lads have taken another step up in scale since then - introducing a giant 60ft mechanical man.

It is a staggering piece of kit, and a real symbol of the band's huge ambitions with this show.

A staggering piece of kit which, apparently, was so clearly going to fail at some point it wasn't even worth mentioning.

Look on Jacko's works, ye mighty, and despair

Since Michael Jackson doesn't follow through on anything he promises any more, why shouldn't he promise the most outlandish thing he can think of?

Like a fifty-foot robot Michael Jackson, shooting lasers from its eyes.

The proposal is that he'll pay for this monstrosity to be erected outside Las Vegas -as if anyone who goes to see him play in Vegas is going to be tempted by the thought of a Jackson gig, rather than trying to kill the time gap between running out of cash at the roulette table and the bus to Oregon leaving the next day.

Lets push it further, though, shall we Jacko? Why not make it an animatronic, dancing and coughing flocks of flamingoes from its very mouth?

Nothing beside remains. Round the decay
Of that colossal Wreck, boundless and bare
The lone and level sands stretch far away