Stevie Wonder vies with soccer

Pilton - Motown legend Stevie Wonder vies with England's World Cup soccer match against Germany on Sunday for the attention of more than 150 000 revellers at the Glastonbury music festival.

The performer, who recently turned 60, appears on the main Pyramid stage late at night to close the four-day event, which has been blessed with uninterrupted sunshine rather than the rain and mud for which it is justly famous.

So rather than the raincoats and rubber boots of recent years, it has been bare chests and bikinis, as well as hundreds of cases of heat exhaustion and dehydration.

Organisers of the annual festival held on a dairy farm in picturesque southwest England will put up two giant screens for the tens of thousands of fans keen to see if the English team can progress to the quarter-finals of the World Cup.

Then the focus switches back to music, with anticipation high that Wonder will give Glastonbury a rousing send-off as it celebrates its 40th birthday.

Crowds have danced and sung along to star acts including Gorillaz, Muse, Radiohead, Scissor Sisters, Shakira and Snoop Dogg, as well as hundreds of less famous names playing across a bewildering array of stages and venues.

Best birthday

Farmer Michael Eavis, who founded the event in 1970 when 1 500 punters paid one pound each to attend the Pilton Pop Festival, said he had had the best birthday ever.

"I've never enjoyed myself so much," said the softly-spoken 74-year-old, describing his Saturday night when English rockers Muse were joined on stage by U2 guitarist The Edge for one of this year's highlights.

"I didn't feel tired I had such a buzz off it, and I was very proud of what I'd created. For four of five hours it was total magic."

He added that he had already identified three main headline acts for the next festival, but declined to name them.

Glastonbury is one of the music world's most coveted slots for performers because of the size of the crowds and reputation it has built over the years.

The 2010 edition has not all been easy, however, despite the soaring temperatures.

Gorillaz were brought in at the last moment to replace U2 as the opening headline act, and, despite performing with the likes of Lou Reed and Bobby Womack during their Friday slot, they failed to win the crowd over on a flat opening night.

But rappers Dizzee Rascal and Snoop Dogg, a surprise set by Radiohead, Kylie Minogue's brief guest appearance with Scissor Sisters and Colombian singer Shakira's sizzling set helped life the mood through Saturday.

Muse ended the day on a high and performed U2's "Where the Streets Have No Name" with The Edge.