AceShowbiz - Rapper Dizzee Rascal has teamed up with a British tabloid to launch a competition to find newspaper columnists of the future. The hip-hop star is backing The Sun's new contest which gives young people the chance to launch a career in journalism.

The Column Idol competition is open to youngsters aged between 16 and 21 and the winner will see their work published in the paper, and Dizzee Rascal is convinced the scheme will help kids embrace their creativity. He says, "Anything which gets kids to focus and use their creative juices is great. A newspaper like The Sun is informative and entertaining so that is exactly what your column needs to be."

"It is the same with music, you want to entertain people but tell them something at the same time. I reckon writing a column for The Sun is a bit like writing a pop song. People probably think it is easy but it's not. It is easier to write something for a specialist audience, but hard to write something for a mass audience which everyone can understand and enjoy."

"It really isn't that different from writing lyrics, because it involves expressing your thoughts in a way that entertains."