Friday, May 23, 2008
Eurovision 2008 Semifinal Report (Part Two – “The Bad”)
9:22PM Jess McGuire | (As part of our ongoing Eurovision coverage, penned with effortless brilliance by our Euro Correspondent Will, we proudly present Part Two of Will’s report on the second semifinal. Part one is available here…)
THE BAD.
1. Malta missing out!! This is Morena with “Vodka”:
I thought this performance had everything perfectly calibrated – mirrorball boots, a song about a drink enjoyed by citizens of most of the countries that seem to control Eurovision voting, cossack dancing, generally strong stage presence – but it was overlooked! I’m not really fussed but it’s a bit surprising that Iceland took and this one didn’t (though the French commentators noted that Morena “really annoyed” them).
More » 
Eurovision 2008 Semifinal Report (Part One – “The Good”)
8:19PM Jess McGuire | (As part of our ongoing Eurovision coverage, penned with effortless brilliance by our Euro Correspondent Will, we proudly present Part One of Will’s report on the second semifinal.)
THIS IS OFFICIALLY GETTING RATHER EXCITING: Some half-baked notes on Eurovision 2008 Semifinal number 2
Now then. This semi was something of a litmus test for the new semifinal voting system (intended to prevent the regional bloc voting that has plagued the results of this contest during the past decade), and on the basis of the results, it seems to have worked to some extent (if “working” means “each of the 5 Scandinavian nations qualifying”). In fact I am EXTREMELY HAPPY with 80 per cent of the entries that qualified, if a bit surprised. This is a nice counter to my usual “IS THIS A JOKE” reaction to previous Eurovision semifinals, is it not? People will probably bitch now about how the Balkan voting bloc has been replaced by a seemingly all-powerful Scandinavian one, but being a gay fond of a key change and a wind machine, I am far more comfortable with a Nordic balance of power than a Slavic one. It is also worth noting that, as with the previous semi, one of last night’s 10 finalists was jury-selected, rather than voted through by the frequently moronic viewers. But we don’t know which one!
SO WHAT HAPPENED THEN.
I am so glad you asked.
THE GOOD
1. Sweden qualified – thankfully Charlotte’s increasingly terrifying GIANT FOREHEAD OF DEATH didn’t put off the viewers too badly. The French broadcaster’s commentators I was listening to made a point of noting that Charlotte is a walking advertisement for aesthetic surgery, which seems a bridge further than Terry Wogan would have taken things.
Oh it’s GOOD this song isn’t it! Look out for the laser spazz-out bit in the last minute. She is just a very strange looking woman.
More » Someone Needs To Send Kevin Rudd A Copy Of “The Dirt”
11:59AM Jess McGuire | Ha! I very much enjoyed the following story sent in by Defamer Australia reader Elmo. It seems our Prime Minister likes Motley Crue, or at the very least, is open to the idea of reading the infamous book “The Dirt” and learning more about them.
We were at a taping of Q&A at the ABC last night, waiting in the audience for our Blessed Leader to arrive. So I was reading my friend’s copy of the Dirt while we were waiting, just to bone up on the issues of the day. We nyukked about how funny it would be to get KRudd to sign it for us. It took two tries, but he dutifully did, out on the street in front of the ABC.
Thus earning our buddy Alex the coveted title of Everyone’s Personal Hero.
“Have you read it?”, she asks.
KRudd glances at cover.
“Ah. No. But I will.”
“It’s really very good.”
So if it could be arranged for a copy of Motley Crue’s autobiography to be
sent to the Prime Minister’s office, that’d be tops.
There was a sign early in the piece that he’d be up for it – he wears Blundstones.
Rock on, PM. Rock on. More » 
YouTube Clip Of The Day
11:56AM Jess McGuire | Ahh, David Bowie in tight pants…
DANCE, MAGIC, DANCE! More » ‘Indiana Jones’ PlunderWatch
11:31AM Seth | Indiana Jones PlunderWatch Projections var zFontColor = "#FFFFFF"; // Debt Value Colour var zFontSize = 20;// Debt Font Size var zSpeed=4; More »
Kat Von D Now Fucking Nikki Sixx
11:17AM Seth | · LA Ink star and flaming Star of David tattoo-conceptualizer Kat Von D stopped by Jimmy Kimmel Live! with her mum and new boyfriend, Nikki Sixx, in tow. Above, she proudly displays the love note Sixx drunkenly etched upon her right shoulder. Oh well—a growling panther head should cover that up nicely. [Jimmy Kimmel Live] · The pregnant transgendered man has sold his life story, working title Love Makes A Family: A Memoir of Hardship, Healing and an Extraordinary Pregnancy, to St. Martin’s Press. We already have some casting ideas for the inevitable movie: No, not Cillian “Peacock” Murphy, he’s too obvious. We’re thinking Gyllenhaal! (Both of them.) [HuffPo] · “What happened to that guy?! ‘Cause if that guy came back he could totally put it in me.” No truer words have ever been spoken, Livejournal user fatherleary. [ONTD] · Thomas Dekker: The Sashay Chante Chronicles, Part Deux: “You think you own me, left half of my zip-up sweater? Just. You. Watch.” [Just Jared] · Everyone wins on this season’s American Idol—even the never-rans: Josiah Leming, the emo kid runaway who lived in his car and saw his dreams smothered by a heartless, Paula-led tribunal, gets signed by freaking Warner Bros. Records. [Reuters] More »
Loud, Coarse Motorhead Legend to be Featured in Surprisingly Loud, Coarse Documentary
10:00AM Defamer Hollywood | Where to even start when discussing a documentary about Lemmy Kilmister, the legendary Motorhead frontman and apparent subject of a forthcoming film appropriately enough titled Lemmy? Even the fucking co-directors don’t even know, with filmmaker Greg Olliver telling Billboard today: “Shooting Lemmy is like filming dangerous wildlife. He never does what you expect him to do, and he never does anything you want him to do.” Olliver’s partner, Wes Orshoski, agreed: “Lemmy never ceases to surprise me. … You think you know who Lemmy is, but you have no idea. If you think you have Lemmy all figured out, trust me. You don’t!” Actually… we think we might. More »
Nicole Kidman Latest To Join The Pregnant Celebrity Belly-Baring Club
9:30AM Molly Friedman | The latest celebrity said to be jumping on the nudie pregnant pictures bandwagon is Nicole Kidman, who was seen yesterday attending a “top secret” modelling session for a potential cover shoot with Frenchy photographer extraordinaire Patrick Demarchelier. While he’s no Annie Leibovitz, and it’s unknown which magazine this shoot was for, Demarchelier is a monthly contributor for Allure, Vogue, and Demi Moore’s old knocked-up-while-nude stomping grounds, Vanity Fair. So whether or not Nicole is looking to appear on an upcoming cover of VF as Demi’s successor is still unknown, but we took a look back at some classic big-bellied celebrity appearances in the past to see some glossy examples of what Kidman will be competing with in the Nude And Pregnant Hall of Fame: [Warning: What follows is NSFW, and in the case of one Lisa Rinna shot, NSFLunch.] More »
Sam Newman-gate: Advertiser Boycott Encouraged
9:25AM Clem Bastow | The fallout from Sam Newman’s hilarious mannequin stunt on the Footy Show continues to ripple through the industry, with word that other major advertisers could join ANZ in pulling their funds from the Show’s ad breaks.
Women’s Forum Australia, a national lobby group, is – understandably – pressuring major advertisers to take a stand against the Footy Show’s dark ages sexual politics.
The director of Women’s Forum Australia, Melinda Tankard Reist, said a wider boycott would have broad support.
“This is definitely worth us doing,” she said. “The program has caused a great deal of hurt to a lot of women and if The Footy Show can’t respond in a proper manner, then maybe they will respond when they start losing money.”
The group, led by a Canberra-based board of female academics, doctors and welfare experts, will consider the issue at a board meeting next week. Advertisers or sponsors on the show include Nissan, Mitre 10, Safeway, Mazda, Arnotts, Telstra and Toyota. Current advertisers McDonald’s, Foxtel and adidas ruled out a boycott.
Apparently a show staffer has quit over the kerfuffle as well, though he a) requested anonymity and b) issued a “no comment” as to his exact reasons for leaving the gig.
Basically whatever happens through all this, it would just be nice to have it end with Sam Newman eating shit his words and being made to make a formal apology – on the day The Footy Show is cancelled for being irrelevant and is replaced by Straughnie. More » 
