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Since Neighbours isn't eligable to be nominated in British Soap Awards, we thought we'd run our own, using the same categories and concentrating on the 2006 season. Voting is now open to our messageboard members - and you can either vote in the thread, here or by sending an email to vote@perfectblend.net (remembering to include your username on the messageboard). The categories are as follows:

Sexiest Male
Sexiest Female
Villain Of The Year
Best Comedy Performance
Best Newcomer
Best On-screen Partnership
Spectacular Scene Of The Year
Best Single Episode
Best Exit
Soap Bi*ch Of The Year
Best Dramatic Performance
Best Dramatic Performance from a Young Actor or Actress
Best Storyline
Best Actor
Best Actress
Lifetime Achievement Award

And remember to only vote for characters and events from the 2006 Season. Voting is open until Saturday 30th June 2007 and the results will be published on Perfect Blend in early July.

A TV production company are currently looking at ideas for a programme to mark the end of Neighbours on the BBC.

What would be the ultimate tribute/celebration for Neighbours fans?

They are wondering if anybody could help them by suggesting another HOOK other than the departure i.e. an anniversary date of some kind or special event to hang the programme on. Is there anything we can do that A Morning with Neighbours (1999 and 2001) Neighbours Revealed & Happy Birthday Neighbours (2001) and 20 Years of Neighbours (2005) haven't done already?

Please send your thoughts, ideas and suggestions to bbc@perfectblend.net and we'll pass them on.

There will be no episodes of Neighbours shown on Monday 28th May on RTE2 or BBC One, due to the Bank Holiday.

The early hours of Saturday morning saw our very own Rhys take part in a radio debate on BBC Radio Five Live, discussing the pros and cons of Neighbours' move from the BBC to five. Also taking part in the discussion, part of Stephen Nolan's radio show, were Ben Nicholas (Stingray Timmins) and the editor of Inside Soap magazine, Steven Murphy. To listen to the interview, click here but UK viewers should be aware that a spoiler is mentioned.

Within hours of the announcement that the BBC has lost the rights to show Neighbours, MediaGuardian reports that Five will be the new home of our favourite Australian soap from next year.

It is now speculated that they will use the show for form an hour of Australian soap with Home and Away, which they snatched from under the noses of ITV several years ago, but it currently unknown when Five will begin screening Neighbours, or the exact timeslots they will put it in. It is, however, known that the deal includes the rights to screen Neighbours on Five's sister channel, Five Life, possibly in the form of an omnibus or a "first look" showing of the next day's episode.

"Five will be a great home for Neighbours and FremantleMedia is confident that the show will continue to go from strength to strength," said FremantleMedia Enterprises CEO David Ellender today, with Lisa Opie, Five's Managing Editor of Content, adding "I'm delighted Five has secured such a popular and sought after series. Neighbours is quite rightly much loved by its many fans and it will be a greatly prized part of our schedule and suitably cherished by us."

The BBC has today announced that they have formally withdrawn from the current bidding war over Neighbours and the show will air for the last time on the channel in April 2008, but no other channel has currently won the rights to show it after that point. The BBC have released the following statement:

"We have this afternoon formally withdrawn from the bidding for Neighbours. The BBC has had a long and fruitful relationship with Neighbours, which has transmitted on BBC One for 21 years, and this has come to an end because of an unrealistic price demand. We do not believe that we could have justified to BBC viewers a price tag of what would have amounted to some £300 million across the term of the contract. Paying that sum would also have compromised our ability to invest in new original programmes. We made a fair offer and are sad that we have not been able to reach terms with Fremantle."

There will be no episodes of Neighbours shown on Monday 7th May on RTE2 or BBC One, due to the May Day Bank Holiday.

Monday 7th May sees the launch of a new weekly event in Melbourne, designed to give fans the opportunity to meet and mingle with members of the current cast, as well as win great prizes. Organised by the actors themselves, Meet The Stars From The Street will feature four of the current cast each week - to find out more, click here...

There's still no news over who's got the contract to show Neighbours from next year, but if you'd like the show to stay with the BBC, there's a petition going, with the number of signatures currently standing at over 8000. Click here to add your support.

To view our archive of past news stories click here