Glittering musical line-up for V enthusiasts

Brit Award-winning pop star Ellie Goulding will complete her rise to the top by starring at this year's V Festival, at Weston Park on the Shropshire/Staffordshire.

The star, whose debut album Lights was released on Monday, will help the Virgin Media-sponsored event to celebrate its 15th year.

Ellie, of Kington, near Leominster, has enjoyed a whirlwind rise and has swept the board at awards ceremonies in recent months.

Both bands are topping the bill for the very first time at the festival, which is held across two sites - at Weston Park and Hylands Park, in Chelmsford.

Midlanders Kasabian today said it would be extra special for them because they would almost be on home turf.

A spokesman for Kasabian said: "The Weston Park site is only about 60 miles from our home town of Leicester.

"There'll be a lot of northerners and Midlanders at Weston Park so that will be good.

"We feel it's the right time for us to headline a festival. We've been playing so many festivals for so long, years and years.

"I think the moment is right. It's just a wonderful thing to be doing. Our fans are going to love the show. They'll really enjoy it."

The summer spectacular will be crammed with the hottest names in music.

Joining the headliners over the weekend will be favourites Stereophonics, Faithless, The Prodigy, David Guetta - who will be making his V debut - The Kooks, Paul Weller, Paolo Nutini and 2010 Brit Award-winner Florence And The Machine.

Tickets for the event go on sale at 9am on Friday.

Festival organisers are advising fans to purchase them quickly to avoid disappointment, but only from official outlets listed on www.vfestival.com

Fans will also experience sets from the Pet Shop Boys, Cheryl Cole, Madness, Editors, White Lies, Mika, Groove Armada, The Courteeners, The Charlatans, Temper Trap, Amy McDonald, Goldfrapp, Shed Seven, Newton Faulkner, La Roux, Skunk Anansie, Passion Pit, Ellie Goulding, Kate Nash, Paloma Faith, Plan B, Sugababes and Pixie Lott.

V Festival was the first UK festival to operate over two days and swop line-ups overnight.

Since 1996, some of the world's greatest performers have graced the stages including Radiohead, Morrissey, The Strokes, Coldplay, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Blur, Fatboy Slim, Kylie and the Killers.

Meanwhile, 23-year-old singer-songwriter Ellie Goulding, who topped the BBC Sound Of 2010 poll and won the Critics Choice Award at the 2010 Brits, claims she has been over-hyped.

She said: "People want to not like me because I've been so hyped up."

She said: "A journalist came to a gig a few weeks ago and he wrote this amazing review - but he was like, because my success has been so pre-ordained, he wants to not like me, he wants to be critical and sceptical.

"But he couldn't because he said that I was good. So he couldn't be critical.

"Which I thought kind of summed up the view of me really, that people are annoyed with seeing me all the time.

"I don't know why, it must be for a reason, because everyone's started to sort of turn and think 'Well actually I quite like her'."

The singer added that she had enjoyed plenty of good reviews, despite her fears of a backlash.

She said: "I very rarely hear anything bad said about me.

"I think it's because I'm quite a nice person and I work really hard and I'm really passionate about what I do - and not for any other reason than I love making music.

"So I think that might show in my music a bit."

Goulding topped the BBC Sound Of 2010 poll, which showcases the critics, broadcasters and music industry insiders' top choices for rising stars and artists for the coming year.

She also won the Critics' Choice Award at the 2010 BRIT Awards, which made her the only artist to top the BBC Sound Of . . . poll and win the Critic's Choice award in the same year.

Goulding's debut album, entitled Lights, was released through Polydor yesterday. For the majority of the album, she worked with English producer Starsmith.

Goulding has written two songs for former X Factor semi-finalist Diana Vickers's upcoming debut album.

They are entitled Remake Me and You, which was co-written with Vickers, and Jumping Into Rivers, co-written with Vickers and Guy Sigsworth.