Archives for April 2009

From a top 10 finish in Miss Photogenic 2006 to winning the national Supermodel Contest 2008 outright, to second place in Miss Universe Vietnam 2008, Vo Hoang Yen is inches away from becoming her country’s representative at the Miss Universe 2009 pageant in the Bahamas.

Standing 179 centimeters tall and measuring 90- 62-93, the 21-year-old model with a milky complexion and Western features was a natural for last year’s Miss World contest, but she turned the offer down as there would have been too little time to prepare.

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If only Noël Coward had been around to advise the Governor of Alaska. Don't put your daughter on the stage, Mrs Palin. Especially if she's a pregnant teenager with an on-off boyfriend and the world's media zooming in on her bump.

But Sarah Palin doesn't have that much sense. And by turning her family into the cast of America's favourite soap opera, she's destroyed her credibility both as a mother and as any sort of political brain. Today's episode involves Levi Johnston: the ex-boyfriend and self-proclaimed redneck who has just announced that he might seek custody of his son. Not in a private chat with Bristol, her parents and the lawyers. But live on air to Larry King and well over a million viewers.

When it comes to a thirst for publicity, he learnt from the worst. In her quest for power, Sarah Palin forgot the number one rule of hockey moms everywhere. Never expose your team's vulnerabilities. The savviest politicians capitalise on their children only in the most scripted photo-shoots. Why do you think the White House puppy gets more air time than the Obama girls?

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Back to Bacharach and David, the revue of Burt Bacharach and Hal David songs at the The Music Box @ Fonda, feels less like a theatrical performance than an episode of American Idol -- and that's due only partially to the fact that it features two former Idol contestants.

The real reason is that no cohesion is given by co-directors Kathy Najimy and Steve Gunderson, and there's even less sense of character than found in jukebox musicals like Smokey Joe's Cafe and Swing!, making the evening ultimately feel far too repetitive.

Admittedly, some of the duo's songs are presented in interesting ways, such as "Close To You" as a harmony vocal number in a method that Manhattan Transfer would use, while. "Are You There With Another Girl" is presented as a three-act play about a woman who suspects her boyfriend of three-timing her.

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Wait, didn't we see nail-spitting hero Chev Chelios (Jason Statham) die at the end of "Crank"? Falls from helicopters onto pavement tend to be conclusive in movies, but the film's unasked-for sequel is actually more of a video game, and a clever, proudly anti-social video game at that. Imagine some very smart people setting out to make a very naughty action film and shooting themselves in the foot. Voila: "Crank: High Voltage."

Chelios having worked the lethal poison out of his system, the new movie needs a fresh heart-stopper and it's literal: The hero's ticker has been transplanted into the body of an aged Chinese gangster (David Carradine, essentially playing Grasshopper from "Kung Fu" gone bad) and Chelios has been left with an artificial model with an approaching expiration date.

Since he loses his external battery early in the mayhem, much of the comedy here comes from the frenzied search for power sources: jumper cables, doggie shock collars, car lighters. Written and directed by the team of Mark Neveldine and Brian Taylor (they go by Neveldine/Taylor) in a lapel-grabbing aggro style derived from Red Bull commercials, "Crank: High Voltage" is pulverizingly bloody, relentlessly crude, and often weirdly playful.

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Australian media group News Ltd. says a push by sports organizations to restrict reporting of their events is an attempt to monopolize coverage, and allowing that by legislation would be an assault on free speech.  Australia's leading sporting bodies have told a Senate inquiry that the advent of online "news" reporting is affecting their revenue streams and could limit their ability to support grassroots participation.

An increasingly intense dispute has evolved between the media as it has embraced digital delivery of news via Internet and mobile platforms and sports organizers, who want the right to license in the digital media what is published beyond strictly breaking news.

Cricket Australia, the Australian Football League and Tennis Australia are among the administrators who appeared before the Australian Senate inquiry calling for the government to create laws or regulations to put limits on what media organizations can publish, from their events, on the Internet.

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Mariah Carey insists she is not pregnant: She was just wearing a bad outfit.On Easter Sunday, Carey was Carey was photographed in a tight, peach dress with husband Nick Cannon.See how all the stars spent Easter-Blogs soon began speculating that she was pregnant.

"I don't know what was worse, the bleak angles and bright peach dress ... or the b.s. commentary/blogs," she says (via Twitter).Find out Mariah Carey's secret celeb -Although "Nick looked cute" in the photos, she says she "could've definitely lived without" seeing the pictures. (She also admits that her "dress and hair" were not suitable for the "red carpet.")

She added, "And if I gained a few pounds.. my trainers back living with me again."See photos of stars working out-Her rep also shot down pregnancy rumors when contacted by Usmagazine.com.Asked about media reports that she and Cannon spent Easter Sunday at a fertility clinic, her rep tells Us: "No, not true. Nick and Mariah spent Easter Sunday with family in southern California."

See Mariah Carey's high school yearbook photoCarey and Cannon secretly wed nearly a year ago in Eleuthera in the Bahamas.Check out all the couples who wed last yearThey're already prepping for parenthood.

Cannon recently told Us that he bought Carey a dog for their anniversary."I got her a short-haired Jack Russell terrier -- a girl, named Cha-Cha," he said last month. "She's eight weeks."

With the summer music festival season just around the corner, leading international festival producers insist that the difficult economic climate isn't putting a serious crimp on business, and key promoters report that ticket sales are on par with years past.

"We're not feeling it yet," says AEG Live CEO Randy Phillips, whose company produces large U.S. festivals like Coachella, Stagecoach, the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, Mile High and All Points West, among others. "I'm not saying we won't eventually, but the festival business is tremendous value for the money in terms of the show and what you get."

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UK Sport wants athletes to sign a contract to be part of a sponsorship scheme to cover a £50m shortfall in the government's £300m funding package.

The scheme aims to attract private investment and would require athletes to promote its commercial partners. But athletes are concerned the deal could affect their private sponsorship.

UK Sport said any work required will not compromise private deals and officials are hoping to talk to athletes and their agents as soon as possible to calm any potential row. All 1,400 publicly-funded athletes must agree to the terms to qualify for Lottery grants, but it is thought there are around 80 who have questioned the idea."The majority of athletes have not had any questions over this, and we are committed to finding resolution with those that have," said a spokesman for UK Sport.

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Who wouldn't want to travel to a chocolate factory that has an unlimited supply of candy? The great American classic "Willie Wonka and the Chocolate Factory" made that dream possible, and is actress Salma Hayek's favorite movie. In a scene from the film, left, actor Gene Wilder plays Willy Wonka.

The 1971 film, directed by Mel Stuart, "is what made me want to be in movies. As a young girl, I sat watching this movie thinking that I could win a golden ticket and go into this world where anything and everything was possible!" Hayek said in Pearlman's book.

Country newcomer Jamey Johnson beat out veterans like George Strait and Brad Paisley in nabbing the first honour at the Academy of Country Music Awards on Sunday, winning song of the year for his poignant hit about an old man looking back on his life, Living in Colour.

Australia’s Keith Urban is up for three awards, including entertainer of the year, at the awards ceremony in Las Vegas on Sunday night. Urban is up against Strait, Paisley, Kenny Chesney and Carrie Underwood for the entertainer of the year award - the night’s top trophy.

The show will feature appearances by Urban, Chesney and the other entertainer nominees. The ceremony began by featuring country’s top superstars in a medley of hits anchored by Brooks & Dunn’s Play Something Country.

It included Taylor Swift’s fiery Picture to Burn, Sugarland’s It Happens, Underwood’s All American Girl and Rascal Flatts’ Me and My Gang. Rascal Flatts was an early award winner, taking out the award for top vocal group of the year.

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