Thursday, July 31, 2008
Big Brother’s Great Grandpa Will Mess You Up, Son
11:20AM Seth | · And now for some non-earthquake-related Big Brother rumbles: In one corner, we have 75-year-old contestant (and the oldest person on CBS since Murder, She Wrote), Jerry. In the other, we have professional “mixologist” Memphis, precisely one-third Jerry’s age. We won’t tell you how it plays out, except to say so long as you’re glimpsing three-quarters-of-a-century-old armpit, Jerry’s winning. [Big Brother] · A fourth Austin Powers is reportedly being written by Mike Myers. It’s a “very personal [take] with a father and son theme loosely based on his own life,” meaning it’s sure to feature a scene in which the old Mini Me is tossed around in the backyard. [Deadline Hollywood] · In honour of Discovery Channel’s Shark Week, a chat with a Great White. [edithzimmerman.com] · Hitting every stop on the Interactive Ben Kingsley Accent Map would wear out even the sturdiest Amazing Race contestants. [bestweekever.tv] · Hey—bear running around a track in high heels! [Jezebel]
Vogue Editor To Demelza: ‘Alice Was Better’
11:15AM Clem Bastow | If Australia’s Next Top Model Cycle 3 winner Alice Burdeu’s post-show career boom was like a steaming hot dish served on a sparkling silver platter, then Cycle 4 winner and professional bully Demelza Reveley’s desserts are served cold, coagulated and with a hair on top – in a polystyrene container.
After already damning the teenage wannabe with faint praise, Vogue Editor In Chief and AusNTM judge Kirstie Clements has once more stuck her Louboutin boot into Reveley.
Branding the Reveley feature with a non-committal “You be the Judge” caption, Clements yesterday conceded the Foxtel face had received “a big leg up” in achieving the polished and professional look, The Daily Telegraph’s Sydney Confidential reports.
“Look, Demelza scrubbed up all right but she’s got a bit of a way to go – she’s very young and she’s no Alice Burdeu,” Clements said.
“I felt like I’d said enough about Demelza’s behaviour on the show, so I opened up the forum to the readers to let them have their say.”
As for the shots themselves, Vogue released a sample to the press and, well…
If the series was titled Australia’s Next Top Impersonator Of The Alien From Close Encounters After It Had Had A Go In Amy Winehouse’s Makeup Case, then I would applaud it. However, since it isn’t, I say underwhelming. More » 
Even Rachael Ray’s Audience Can’t Get Excited About Awful, Faux Paparazzi Service
10:50AM Defamer Hollywood | Perhaps inspired by the Britney-prompted downturn in paparazzi profits, former commercial photographer Tania Cowher has come up with a novel (yet terrible) solution: allowing non-celebrities to hire their own personal paparazzi via her service Celeb 4 a Day. After all, who among us hasn’t yearned to be stalked by a loudmouthed photographer screaming, “Over here! Look over here, you bitch!” on the way to Walgreens? The answer is “almost everyone,” at least if this clip from Rachael Ray is the judge. After grilling Cowher, Ray asks the audience to raise their hand if they’d use the service themselves, soliciting a feeble response. Next time, Tania, try Oprah: the audience will scream in pleasure when O yells “You get Getty Images! You get an X17 subscription! EVERYONE GETS A BAUER-GRIFFIN LOGIN!” More »
Elton John Loves PNAU Forever
10:41AM Clem Bastow | You’re probably aware by now that one of Defamer Australia’s collective biggest bugbears is when the local press wets itself because someone overseas has said that our actors/musicians/sportspeople are pretty good, so we can all pat ourselves on the back, having confirmed our greatness via outsourcing.
However, there are times when we’re happy to wet ourselves along with the rest of our media, and today is one of those days: the boys from PNAU have picked themselves up a new fan in the form of one Reginald Kenneth Dwight!
Elton John has proved to be more than a vocal champion for Sydney dance pop duo PNAU, earning his Rocket Man tag by blasting into action and signing the band to the London management company which oversees the superstar.
Sir Elton hasn’t been able to stop singing PNAU’s praises since actress Toni Collette – who shares an Australian agent with the band – suggested he check them out while on tour here last December.
He bought dozens of copies of their self-titled third album and has since kept in close contact, reports music editor Kathy McCabe.
Back home briefly for the Splendour In The Grass festival this weekend and their own tour next week, Nick Littlemore and Peter Mayes said Sir Elton wasn’t personally managing their affairs but has been an invaluable adviser.
“We talk more about art than business and hopefully introducing us to that part of London, artists like Damien Hirst, Tracey Emin and Sam Taylor-Wood,” Littlemore said.
Well done, lads! May the good queen Elton smile upon your glittering careers. It seems Defamer Australia and PNAU think alike, too; when I saw the piece I thought, they should record with him – a thought that has crossed their minds as well:
“The first time he called me, the only thing I wanted him to do was play some piano for us and he still hasn’t!” Littlemore said.
Now now, Elton, don’t leave them hanging by the telephone! More » 
Walt Disney Proudly Presents ‘The Princess and the Frog and the Racist Firefly’
10:35AM Seth | As if we weren’t soiling our pants enough already in anticipation of Disney’s Beverly Hills Chihuahua and its high-kicking chorus of furry Mexican slurs, now comes a short teaser from the upcoming The Princess and The Frog—a return to hand-drawn animation for the studio, and the first to feature an African-American princess in the lead. Set in New Orleans, the jazz-era musical is written and directed by the team who brought us classics like Aladdin and The Little Mermaid, features songs by Randy Newman, and—if this teaser is any indication—stars a toothless firefly that seems to have fluttered in accidentally from the set of Song of the South 2: Cajun Vacation. Unfortunately, the feature won’t be in theatres until Christmas 2009. Haw-haw! Id looks like dis could take some TAHM! More »
Larry Emdur Watch: Is He Or Isn’t He Hosting ‘Dancing’?
10:30AM Clem Bastow | So they announced the Dancing With The Stars, er, stars yesterday, but still no word on who is stepping up to host in Daryl Somers’ absence.
And since I am currently placing all my bets on Larry Emdur stepping in to fill the all hostin’, all punnin’, sometimes dancin’ gig, I am hoping that they make up their bloody minds soon – evidently, so does Larry himself. Or at least his fans.
And in an extraordinary public response to Confidential’s previous report of Emdur’s early screen test for the role, Sydney voters have backed the former Price Is Right guy to win.
The TV veteran scored 39 per cent of more than 1550 votes in an online survey, ahead of former contestant Fifi Box (20 per cent) and Weekend Sunrise co-host Andrew O’Keefe (17).
Seven colleagues Chris Bath (10), Andrew Daddo (8) and David Koch (3) rounded out the field of six possibles to star opposite Sonia Kruger.
Seven publicists have refused to confirm potential appointments, with rumours the successful host will be named this weekend.
Whoa, slow down there egghead – when did a Daddo enter the field?
Personally, I’m still on team Larry, although, this also opens up the possibility for Sonia “Tina Sparkle” Kruger to potentially take on all the hosting duties. If that’s the case, I will not only watch every episode, but threaten to drink poison unless everyone I know watches it, too, and pumps up the ratings.
You can thank me later, Seven! More » 
A Thousand Stoned Stars Align For Pot Cinema’s Finest Hour
10:00AM STV | Seth Rogen’s recent mellow-harshing bust notwithstanding, there has arguably never been a better time to be a pot aficionado in the movies. Or at the movies. Or returning to the movies — or to the road, anyway, as evinced by new reports of Cheech and Chong’s cannabis comeback. Basically anyone who can approximate stoner bliss is ready for prime time these days, from the principals of Harold and Kumar to Pineapple Express to Smiley Face (to say nothing of Hall of Famers The Big Lebowski and Up in Smoke), notes a pot-film scholar who miraculously focused long enough to taxonomize and rate them: More »
Is NBC’s Ben Silverman About to Be Cancelled?
9:40AM Defamer Hollywood | A while back, those savvy kids over at New York magazine’s Vulture posed the provocative question: “Is Ryan on The Office a thinly veiled Ben Silverman?” In a case of life imitating art imitating life, it looks like Silverman may follow in his fictional wunderkind’s footsteps: rumours are flying that the NBC co-chairman is about to be fired. Says Page Six: More »
Kiefer Sutherland’s Silver Lake Bachelor’s Warehouse Yours For Just Shy Of $5 Mil!
9:20AM Seth | Disconcerting news: Patron Saint of Eastside Good-Time Drunkenness Kiefer Sutherland has put his bachelor’s paradise up for sale, the Real Estalker blog informs us. Located in a converted foundry on N. Madison (that’s Melrose just west of Virgil—hey, we can spit there!), the 14,400 sq. foot warehouse space cost him $700,000 to purchase, and—outfitted with “three bedrooms and four bathrooms…25 foot ceilings and polished concrete floor…[and] curtained off areas that function as an art/painting studio and a home gym set up”—it’s now available to you, the Kiefer-Stalking Person or Persons of Means, for a mere $4,895,000. Did we mention it’s walking distance to Ye Rustic? Look: We’ve even Google Mapped it for you! More »
