Coldplay feature in the top 10 best-selling British acts in the first quarter of this year, and in the list of top-grossing live performers from Britain.But, with radio stations still reluctant to give airtime to new British bands, they are now doing deals with big companies to feature in advertising campaigns, as a way of getting their music heard. Badly Drawn Boy's music has featured in a Gap commercial; Doves lent a song to the American Red Cross, and Coldplay's "Yellow" was used extensively in a campaign for the ABC television network."Beautiful", the first single from Mandalay, has been picked to launch a new Est?Lauder fragrance. Richard Sanders, the US president of Mandalay's record company, V2, says: "It's about creating opportunities to hear their music. If it's done with the artists feeling comfortable, it's a good thing."Others are less than comfortable about the idea. Stereophonics have turned down numerous offers to have their songs used in commercials The singer-songwriter David Gray is also staunchly opposed. "It's staggering the amount of money you're offered," he said. "But music is more important than selling mashed potatoes or a dodgy jacket made in the Philippines."Lars Jensen, creative director of Modernista, a Boston-based advertising agency, disagrees.

He matched Badly Drawn Boy with Gap and believes that this is just the start of big US companies using contemporary British music in advertising campaigns. He says: "People aren't looking at it as a sell-out, but as a way to get their music heard British music works well There's a certain intelligence to their pop. We try to pick songs that have indie cred but don't alienate anyone."The combination of British bands being heard in adverts and winning critical acclaim for live performances, means that the barren years for Brits in the US music scene could be coming to an end.Adam White, international editor-in-chief of Billboard, said yesterday: "The ongoing US success of Dido, Sade, Coldplay and David Gray, among others, make it likely that 2001 will continue to be a good year for Brits in America, with a real chance of improving on the 1.9 per cent share of the Billboard year-end album charts taken by UK talent last year."Dido and S Club 7 are currently both in the top 10 of the Hot 100 in the US. That's the first time Brits have had a 'double decker' like this since September 1998."One difference British bands are finding between fans in the UK and the US is that Americans love and demand live performances ­ and miming is absolutely not allowed. Jon Lee, of S Club 7, says: "Everyone said 'you've got to sing live' That's something we're up for We're doing our tour live. In the UK they just don't expect it from you; 90 per cent is not live.

I know we mime a lot [in the UK], but you get a lot more respect if you sing in the US, even if they don't like the song.". The D'Oyly Carte, which has been presenting Gilbert and Sullivan for more than a century, is being sued by a young actress who claims she was denied a starring role as a virginal young teenager because she was pregnant. The D'Oyly Carte, which has been presenting Gilbert and Sullivan for more than a century, is being sued by a young actress who claims she was denied a starring role as a virginal young teenager because she was pregnant. Bethany Halliday claims she was approached by the D'Oyly Carte Company and asked to appear in its West End production of The Pirates of Penzance.The role on offer would have required her to play one of the five virginal daughters of Major General Stanley, a character so shy of men that she is liable to scream at the sight of one.However, she claimed that when the theatre company discovered she was expecting a baby, and by the time the show opened she would be eight months pregnant, they withdrew the offer of the role."Common sense must play a part in this," said Ian Martin, the company's general manager. "She would have had to wear a tightly corseted costume and run up and down flights of stairs, aside from any consideration about the character she was supposed to be playing.