In today's Independent newspaper about Duran's win at the Ivor Novello Awards yesterday:

Duran Duran won the PRS (Performing Rights Society) award for Outstanding Contribution to British Music and turned up en masse " well, four out of five " to collect it. Simon Le Bon advised aspiring rockers to 'Write: write songs, write instrumentals in between songs, write to leave something behind' before confiding that the band co-wrote their material in blissful harmony 'as a bunch of mates'. A hundred male heads turned with an audible creak as Nick Rhodes, the keyboards player, arrived with a freakishly tall and graceful lady companion in a red jersey dress several feet smaller than herself.

More pictures of their win are at Capital Pictures, Getty Images, and Isifa, among others.

New pictures of Nick are on duranduran.com from Lisbon and Spain.

GTBJ has scans of the June 2005 Interview magazine where Nick interviews Japanese pop star Utada.

No new updates till 10 June. Check the links above to get the latest news and info about Nick. Any pictures that may appear on the wire services during this time will be posted when I return.

New concert date: 21 December at Earl's Court in London. Pre-sale and VIP tix on sale tomorrow at 9 am London time. General public on sale date is 31 May at 9 am via Get Live and Gigs & Tours.

Pictures of Nick, Meredith, and Simon at today's Ivor Novello Awards in London here and on Dear Saint Nick. Yasmin, John, Gela, and Roger also attended. They won the PRS Outstanding Contribution to British Music award.

A new encounter has been posted. (Thanks, Tracy!)

Nick - an unsung hero :)

Something amusing found on the 'net from thisispoverty.com:

Q: Dear Dean - I am a male, and a big Duran Duran fan. There's one thing that's always bothered me - what sex is that person who plays the keyboard? I find him/her really hot. If it's a man, does that mean I'm gay? Can you tell me a bit more about them? - Duncan, Manukau A: This is Nick Rhodes, Duran Duran's designated funnyman! Born June 8, 1962, and 5'9", with dreamy green eyes and possibly a whopper of a vagina, he is by far the cutest Duran Duran of all the Duran Durans! But just what sex is he? This question has been posed to experts the world over by the Canta team. Sex and gender relations expert Dr. David McTeague had this to say: "Nick Rhodes is clearly a woman. I have met and spoken with him, and conducted studies, and his uterus is about the size of a watermelon." However, feminist expert Prof. Lorraine McCallum had this to say on the issue: "Nick Rhodes is clearly a man, you idiot. His name is Nick, for God's sake." Countering Lorraine's position in this global controversy, however, is professional sex identifier Dr. John McKendrick: "Nick Rhodes is as female as the day is long. In fact, he is even kind of hot! I believe his hot blond dye-job really brings out the colour in his ovaries." Still not convinced by these confusing, opposing claims, the Canta task force went straight to the horse's, or in this case androgynous megastar's, mouth! We tracked Rhodes to his London home, where he had this to say: "What the fuck? Leave me alone you fucking freaks! And I don't want to see you hanging around my kid's school again!" Mr. Rhodes clearly didn't seem to want to speak to us. His tampon was probably on too tight.

Frantic is the opening act for Duran in Paris on 1 June. Other opening acts noted on the news page for duranduran.com.

Warren news: NoneRadio is rebroadcasting "Everybody Loves Falsetto", a mix of Warren songs that includes a TV Mania track, "Euphoria." (thanks to trendmonger at LK)

Nick in concert in Madrid last night here.

New Meredith pix on Dear Saint Nick.

Pictures from Duran's appearance on the tv show "Las Vegas" that aired in January are here.

Late notice but...Nick was on BBC radio WM this evening at 6 pm (UK time), being interviewed by Franksy. You can download the interview from duransitesgospels.com. While you're there, browse around at all their video/audio/image downloads - you won't be disappointed!)

Duran Duran want you on their guest list! Amnesty Internationa/Music for Human Rights 2005 online auction. Bid on ticket packages for their Birmingham, Paris, Berlin, Hamburg, Munich, Bonn, Weilburg, and Roskilde shows.

Europe PR - on duranduran.com, a list of newspapers/publications/radio stations to check for Duran interviews in the coming weeks.

New articles in the Archive - scans from Attitude magazine ("How Gay Are You?") and NME Originals.

On Dear Saint Nick: new Meredith pictures.

Nick and Simon will be on BBC's Hardtalk Extra this Friday. The show will also be available on the website after airing. (duranduran.com)

On Dear Saint Nick: new Meredith pictures and a new photo in the Confessional. Also - the EZboard Gold Status for Dear Saint Nick expires on 24 May. Want to help keep it free from all those nasty pop-up advertisements? Follow the links to contribute!

New European tour date added - 20 June in Genoa, Italy.

Look for interviews with Nick in 2 of Spain's newspapers: Metro Directo (Barcelona edition) and El Periodico (Catalonia). (duranduran.com)

Simon and Nick will be appearing on UK's Hard Talk and Biography in mid-May. Air dates TBA. (duranduran.com)

New European tour date added - 21 May in San Javier, Spain. Tix on sale today!