Friday, October 19, 2007
Melbourne Band In Car Crash Tragedy
12:48PM Jess McGuire | From news.com.au –
A young Australian rock band on their first US tour has been
shattered after their SUV crashed killing the guitarist and his wife.
Hayden
Sweeney, 23, from Melbourne band Electric Jellyfish and his wife
Bridget, 26, died after losing control of the vehicle on the Ohio
Turnpike near Cleveland early yesterday.
Frontman Mike Beech
suffered head injuries and was initially listed as critical but his
condition has since stabilised, while the bass player Adam Camilleri
suffered a broken arm.
Drummer Patrick Lias walked away with
minor injuries and was staying near Cleveland Metro Hospital as he came
to terms with the deaths and the abrupt end to their dream.
Lias’s twin brother Anthony told NEWS.com.au
today the tour was the culmination of four years hard work and saving
since forming the band at La Trobe University in Melbourne.
“They
were hoping to get signed after the tour,” he said. “My brother was
stacking shelves, saving money to get the tour together.”
Anthony
Lias said the band were travelling between Detroit and Ohio when
Bridget apparently swerved to avoid a deer on the road about 5.20am.
She and her husband were killed instantly.
The band had a show in Detroit on Wednesday and were booked to play in Brooklyn in New York City tonight.
They have been in the US for less than a month.
This is just awful, awful news. Adam is a friend of ours, and one of the loveliest guys you’ll ever meet. He often does RRR Graveyard shifts, and also pulls pints at the Northcote Social Club in the most chipper manner we’ve ever seen. There is nothing we can add to this story except to say that our thoughts go out to the band and their families.
More » 
Amy Winehouse Round-Up: Bond Theme Taken, Not Hers
10:14AM Clem Bastow | There were reports circulating that Winegums was to record the themesong to the next James Bond flick, seeing as she is a diva in the Shirley Bassey/Nancy Sinatra/Paul McCartney vein, but those hopes have been dashed – by the soundtrack’s producers.
Turns out the Bond clan aren’t keen for nu-soul and instead wish to please Bam Margera by offering the gig to his favourite band.
To quote Rove, what the…?
Longtime 007 soundtrack writers David Arnold, 45, and Don Black, 69, have changed their minds.
They now want Ville Valo of gloom rockers HIM to sing the theme tune to 39-year-old Daniel Craig’s second Bond outing. Ville, 30, was approached by the Bond team at the BMI Awards dinner at London’s Dorchester Hotel, where he scooped a gong for his hit Wings Of A Butterfly.
If we needed any further proof that the Bond franchise was desperately out of touch then this is probably it.
Oh well, perhaps Winegums can attach herself to a similarly big-ticket project, like, er, how about the theme song for Defamer Australia?
More » 
Kylie Needs To Tell William Baker That Loose Lips Sink Ships
10:08AM Clem Bastow | Before Our Kylie could even get the words out, Her William Baker has been blabbing about the pop princess’ rumoured world tour, which now looks set to be a 40th birthday celebration of sorts.
Are we the only ones who wish Baker would stop pitching himself as her personal channeller and instead be content to play the Ken Paves role?
The Australian pop princess, who will celebrate the milestone on May 28, is working with friend and stylist William Baker on ideas for the tour, Britain’s The Sun newspaper reported today.
“I’m heading back into the studio with Kylie in February to start training for the tour we want to do in June,” the tabloid quoted Baker as saying after the London premiere of a documentary about Minogue titled White Diamond.
And was it his idea to dress her up as a drag queen in that official camera? Is it William Baker who keeps feeding stories to the tabloids about Kylie’s many new hairstyles? Did he pick that dress she wore to the White Diamond premiere?
The man must be stopped! More » 
While Punking Co-Presenter, Catriona Rowntree Becomes The Punkee
9:59AM Clem Bastow | Getaway presenter Catriona Rowntree was left regretting her decision to get involved with Channel 9’s Surprise, Surprise, Gotcha! after a skit in which she was the show’s willing accomplice went considerably awry.
Rowntree had taken fellow Getaway presenter Ben Dark to “lunch”, where the (fake) service was “hilariously” bad, but the punchline ended up backfiring thanks to the old ‘hidden microphone’ trick.
The location was set and all was going to plan until Rowntree left the room to “use the bathroom” and Dark – obviously not realising he was being recorded – began bitching about her to his friend, who had also attended the lunch.
It is understood Dark made several derogatory comments about his long-time co-worker and her professional relationships with senior Nine management.
Rowntree, who had really ducked outside the Melbourne restaurant to speak to the hidden camera crew, overheard the entire exchange.
Dear old Catriona deadpanned her way back into the skit, and we imagine Dark didn’t realise she’d heard – well, until now.
This should make those red-eye Getaway flights together nice and friendly! More » 
Lindsay Lohan Achieves Moment Of Clarity While Screwing In Rehab Stairwell
8:00AM Defamer Hollywood | In learning to live without the little narcotic helpers that had landed her in rehab an impressive three times before her 22nd birthday during her prolonged stay at Cirque Lodge, Lindsay Lohan was encouraged to seek out different, potentially less self-destructive ways to temporarily blunt the pain and alienation that comes with worldwide celebrity. According to the ex-fiancee of the fellow addict with whom Lohan most closely bonded at the facility, the troubled actress made great strides in her recovery by availing herself of Cirque’s innovative Fucking in Stairwells Therapy: “I’ve stuck by Riley through the good and the bad,” she said. “But when he finally confessed to me that he had sex with Lindsay in one of the stairwells at Cirque – that was it, we were done.” More »
All Those Loose ‘Brokeback’ Ends To Be Tied Up In Sequel?
7:30AM Defamer Hollywood | Who could ever forget the final scene of Ang Lee’s tragic Brokeback Mountain, in which Heath Ledger’s Ennis Del Mar [spoiler alert if you've been meaning to rent it!] clutches a shirt belonging to the gay-sheepboy love of his life, as if touching him for the very last time? As shattering as that moment was, however, something called for a coda – perhaps just a brief shot of a smiling Ennis, finally at peace serving daiquiris to vacationing tourists at the Key West bed n’ breakfast he opened after Jack Twist’s death. We may not have to rely on our imaginations for that kind of closure, however, as OK! Magazine reports that a Brokeback sequel is on the way: Although we won’t be seeing his pal Jake Gyllenhaal, 26, Heath Ledger, 28, is currently in negotiations to reprise his role as Ennis. More »
TV Repeats
7:15AM Defamer Hollywood | Rebecca Romijn is a publicist’s dream: spend a few minutes to rehearse an amusing talk-show anecdote and its accompanying hand gestures, and she’ll execute them flawlessly every time. [HuffPo] More »
Fans Still Believe Cute Food Deliveries Can Sway TV Decisions
7:10AM Defamer Hollywood | In this post-Jericho era, any network executive or TV producer who’s just signed off on a potentially unpopular change now expects to spend their next day at the office buried underneath an avalanche of foodstuffs delivered by protesting viewers who now believe that even the most stubborn of minds can be changed with a metric tonne of peanuts. Discussing the announcement of Jorja Fox’s (officially voluntary) departure from CSI with TVGuide.com, executive producer Carol Mendelsohn marvels at how disappointed fans have escalated things since the now quaint-seeming NUTS to CBS! campaign: What do you make of the intensity of the fan reaction to Jorja’s exit? Mendelsohn: It has been astounding. It’s incredible how creative our fans are. We got two cases of chocolate covered insects with the message “CSI without Sara bugs us.” More »
