2015 in review: New stars are born as golden oldies hit town

It was an unusual venue for the superstar to perform at, but one that he was said to have personally picked as part of his European tour.

For two and a half hours Elton entertained the crowd, playing sing-along favourites including Tiny Dancer, Sorry Seems To Be The Hardest Word and Don't Let The Sun Go Down On Me.

His encore of Crocodile Rock left fans dancing, a triumphant conclusion to a brilliant night. Elton proved that he truly is still standing, better than he ever did.

Another artist that returned to the region to show they've still got it was Sir Cliff Richard, who performed at Birmingham's Symphony Hall in September.

It was Cliff's 75th Birthday Tour, and he dazzled with hip-shaking moves and that belied his age. Fans gathered outside the venue hours before the sell-out show was set to start and packed the Hall to hear classics like Living Doll, Summer Holiday and Congratulations.

Talking of congratulations, they were in order for singer Stevie McCrorie back in April when he was crowned the 2015 winner of The Voice. Afterwards, the show was snapped up by ITV – the home of The X Factor and Britain's Got Talent – who will air the competition from 2017.

As well as taking over The Voice, ITV announced it would create a new show too – The Voice Kids – which will give youngsters the chance to show off their singing abilities.

With talent shows still proving so popular, the ratings battle between The X Factor and Strictly Come Dancing was hotter than ever. But Strictly foxtrotted its way to success, and Jay McGuiness, singer with boyband The Wanted, danced his way to the glitterball trophy.

Teenager Louisa Johnson reigned supreme on The X Factor, releasing a cover of Bob Dylan's Forever Young in a bid to hit the Christmas number one spot. Geordie Shore's Vicky Pattison (who!?) went on to win Queen of the jungle in I'm A Celebrity. . . Get Me Out of Here. And, Nadiya Hussain baked her way to victory in The Great British Bake Off.

No telly event was more highly anticipated this year than the last ever Downton Abbey, screened on Christmas Day. Just like the Queen's Speech, families sat down to see just who gets to live happily ever after.

From the little screen to the big one, 2015 saw some huge movie releases. For fans of E.L. James' hugely popular Fifty Shades book series, seeing Christian Grey brought to life by Jamie Dornan was one of the highlights of the year.

Dakota Johnson starred alongside as college graduate Anastasia Steele in the raunchy tale.

But the biggest cinema release of 2015, and arguably for many a year, was Star Wars

Fans had waited more than 30 years to find out what happened after the Battle of Endor. Cinemas across the region were forced to schedule extra showings to meet demand from those wanting to watch the latest instalment, The Force Awakens when it opened two weeks ago.

Midnight screenings were sold out and cinema bosses in the Black Country and Staffordshire said demand had been unprecedented. Showcase had 72 screenings in Dudley and Walsall on the first day of its release alone.

Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher and Mark Hamill all reprised their roles in the J. J. Abrams film.

Star Wars wasn't the only cult saga to receive a new instalment in 2015. Spectre was released in October with Daniel Craig returning as James Bond.

At the age of 50, Monica Bellucci became the oldest actress to be cast as a Bond girl.

Jurassic World was released in May, the fourth part in the Jurassic Park series. Set 22 years after the events of the first flick, Jurassic World takes place on the same fictional island of Isla Nublar, where a fully functioning dinosaur theme park is in operation. The dino dung hit the fan when a genetically modified dinosaur broke loose to embark on a savage rampage. Well, what did they expect?

The 16th series of Celebrity Big Brother had it's share of savage rampages too. The series, won by Apprentice star James Hill, was swathed in controversy.

Especially when a fight broke out on spin-off show Big Brother's Bit On The Side. Ex-Teen Mom star Farrah Abraham pressed charges against Aisleyne Horgan-Wallace after the pair became involved in a brawl which saw the show taken off the air.

From Z-listers to the cream of the crop, we welcomed the Queen of Pop Madonna to Birmingham just two weeks ago. The 57-year-old ended our gig year on the highest possible note, with the Barclaycard Arena getting Into The Groove.