Sites and sounds: B*Witched are web's big hit

B*WITCHED, Dave Stewart and Massive Attack were among the acts who took awards for their internet sites at the UK Music New Media Awards.

The chart-topping Irish girl band's site (http://www.b-witched.com) won Best Artist Site for its overall sense of community and perfect understanding of the target audience, said the judges. The B*Witched site was also the winner of the fans' vote.

Virgin Records' C3 site (http://www.c3.vmg.co.uk), an online home for the Spice Girls, Billie, 911 and Kavana, won the award for best record label site.

Dave Stewart (http://www. davestewart.com) won the award for most creative use of new media, after inviting web visitors to contribute lyrics for a song he wrote in a single day, and made available for free download that same evening.

Bristol's electronic innovators Massive Attack also earned praise, and the best promotional campaign award, for their use of audio clips and online advertising during the launch of last year's Mezzanine album.

The best music business site was Drum 'n' Bass Arena (http://www.breakbeat.co.uk), for its level of interactivity and comprehensive Real Audio archive.

Booted up for big yihaa!

I WILL never understand the appeal of line-dancing - but then I've never looked good in a stetson.

But there are thousands of people who like nothing better than getting dressed up in fringed shirts and cowboy boots.

The Country Music Dance Network (http://www.tony-net.net/loneeagle) is a mine of information for anyone who wishes they were from Texas and that spurs were considered a bit more fashionable.

There are details of basic steps and dances, tips for dance teachers, country music charts and a guide to dancefloor etiquette.

The design is generally quite good but I found that for some reason they'd put a profile of singer Trace Atkins in black type on a black background...not so smart.

Still, there's enough legible information to keep the average wannabe cowboy happy.

Super sport in the States

IF you've ever thought holidays in America were just about DisneyWorld and Florida, a browse through the pages of online magazine Explore might give you a few more ideas.

The site (http://www.

Exploremag.com/

core.html) is dedicated to adventure sports, from mountaineering to sand surfing.

It takes you on a journey through America's great outdoors, with features, weather updates and snow reports.

There are also pieces about adventure sport outside the USA - the latest issue has features on Everest and Nepal.

Tap into The Force

EARLY reviews of The Phantom Menace suggest the film might not live up to the hype but Star Wars fever continues to grip the world.

If you've over-indulged on R2D2 and Co, you can find out which character you've come to most resemble by trying the Is the Force With You? quiz (http://underwire.msn.com/

underwire/social/millenium/

58millenium.asp). Shame the creators couldn't learn how to spell millennium properly, really.

Incidentally, if you don't want to know what happens in the film, don't whatever you do visit Ain't It Cool News:

(http://www.aint-it-cool-news.com)

Start for art's sake

A SITE featuring Britain's hidden art treasures was due to go live today.

Classic pictures such as Raphael's Madonna and Child, Botticelli's Venus and Mars, Renoir's At the Theatre and Van Gogh's Sunflowers will be accessible through the site: (http://www.24museum.

org.uk), along with more unusual and unexplored works which are rarely seen.

The Tate Gallery alone will display 8,000 paintings, featuring works by Rodin, Lichtenstein and Picasso. There will be information on around 3,000 museums and galleries with links to about 150 individual museum websites.

Bits and bites...

IT can't provide a hotline to Heaven, but the Vatican Yellow Pages might just give you the nearest thing. The site (http://www.

ferinvest.com/vatyell-start.htm) lists telephone and fax numbers for those in charge in the Papal state.

BLACKBURN man Brian Stockdale is webmaster of a site dedicated to the work of the North West's Save the Children Fund volunteers.

The site (http://www.stocks.demon.co.uk/scf) has news of the organisation's national campaigns as well as a guide to local fund-raising events.

FOLLOW Blackburn Rovers' fight against relegation through the sports pages of This is Lancashire (http://www.thisislancashire.co.uk)

SEEN something interesting on the web? Please let me know about it. Send an e-mail to vcowan@lancashire.newsquest.co.uk.

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.