Wednesday, August 20, 2008
Amy Winehouse Round-Up: What’s Cookin’, Good Lookin’?
2:38PM Clem Bastow | Okay so based on the press surrounding Amy Winehouse’s appearance the last few weeks, you could be forgiven for thinking she was close to death and/or preparing, method-style, to play the female lead in a remake of Weekend At Bernie’s (particularly if you, you know, actually looked at her). But now, following the news that she actually didn’t fare too badly at the V Festival this past weekend (”The 24-year-old Grammy winner looked nervous, and her vocals were sometimes only partially audible, but the V crowd applauded loudly at the end of her curtailed set,” apparently), I’ve looked at the shots from the gig and, well, is it wrong to tentatively say she’s actually starting to look a bit better again? Evidence over the jump. More » 
This Year’s Meredith Line Up Has Been Announced
2:27PM Jess McGuire | Ahhh, the Meredith Music Festival, or as it’s known to regular attendees – Merry Death. I’ve only been once, but I had an absolute ball (and sustained some mysterious injuries, accidentally wee’d on a guy who looked like Jesus, etc), and I’ve been waiting to hear what the line up for this year’s festival will be so I can decide whether or not I can face several days of dusty and/or muddy mayhem when December rolls around.
So just who will be entertaining us at Meredith?
Let’s copy and paste from the press release take a look, shall we? More » Let’s Check Out Brett Lee’s Knickers
2:16PM Jess McGuire | If you’re a cricket groupie (or perhaps a Bollywood devotee?), you’ll be sad to learn you’re not about to see Brett Lee in his undies. Instead, we wish to draw your attention to the bowling guru’s new line of men’s briefs.
Cricketing favourite Brett Lee stopped short of bowling in his briefs at the launch of his Acestar underwear line last night – instead letting the models impress the maidens.
Having teamed up with celebrity creative Bruno Schiavi to launch the designer smalls label, Lee was happy to let his buffed and bronzed promo pictures do the talking as he introduced the fashion line.
Shame, really, that Brett decided against donning some pants and strutting at the launch. I heard once from a very good source that the dude is packing heat, yo. More » 
AC/DC Fans “Leak” New Song, Unwittingly Create YouTube Genius
1:18PM Clem Bastow | As mentioned yesterday, the first AC/DC studio album in eight years is due for release in the next few months, so naturally a bunch of songs from the record have leaked (it’s just not a hotly-anticipated release if you can’t listen to crappy 64kbps snippets of the hit single online!) – but what makes this leak different from all the others is that the eager Acca fans have inadvertently created one of the most brilliant pieces of YouTubery since the last brilliant piece of YouTubery we claimed was the best ever. Because the songs themselves haven’t actually been leaked, per se. In short: the fans attended the music video shoot, heard the song, remembered how it went, and then rushed home to their guitars, webcams and, in the case of this champion, their best Brian Johnston dress-ups, and “leaked” the song, second-hand. Are you ready to rock?! More » 
Entertainment Eds Prepare Their Best ‘We Didn’t Win’ Copy As Boom Year For Aussie Oscar Noms Looms
12:24PM Clem Bastow | It’s hard to believe that 2008 is roaring past at such speeds that it’s almost time for the Australian entertainment press to start crowing about how the Academy (etc) really, really like us and then, inevitably, sulk and whinge when Australian actors, directors, writers and artisans don’t end up coming up with the paperweights, but indeed it’s true; Oscar buzz is now an acceptable topic of water-cooler discussion. However, it looks as though the upcoming award season could be a rich one, with – talk about placing your bets early! – two as-yet unfinished (sort of) Australian productions looking likely to bring in the nominations, if you believe the experts. Hollywood insiders say it is not just A-list Australians in the running for Oscars. Some lesser known Aussies are in the hunt. More »
It’s Taken Sixteen Years But Australians Will Soon Be Able To Chortle Heartily At The Boobies And Mismatched Animal Mating That Puritanical Despot Kerry Packer Didn’t Want Us To See
12:19PM Jess McGuire | What better way for Channel Nine to pay homage to the memory of its now departed former owner Kerry Packer than to finally show in full the television program which so angered him 16 years ago, he infamously rang up management during the broadcast and had it yanked off the air.
That’s right, folks – Channel Nine have decided to take Australia’s Naughtiest Home Videos out of the storeroom of shame, give it a good dusting off, and offer it up to the people of this fine country once more, secure in the knowledge that no one at Channel Nine management seems to give a shit about quality control when it comes to what the station’s pumping out at the moment, so there’s no chance of some disgruntled executive having a hissy fit and ruining everyone’s fun before the closing credits. Huzzah!
Kerry Packer didn’t want you see a naked man falling out of a shower or a 70-year-old woman using her dentures to retrieve a birthday message from the underpants of a male stripper. Not to mention a guide to making home porn. But the nation will be treated to these bawdy scenes – and more – when channel 9 airs Doug Mulray’s Australia’s Naughtiest Home Videos in full for the first time.
And personally, I could not be happier to hear this news as I will at last be able to watch the notorious program I missed out on when I was eleven years old (because my mum wouldn’t let me view it, not because of anything Packer related – although that grumpy old bastard was certainly powerful enough at the time to have threatened her into attempting to shield my innocent eyes).
I mean, how could you not be excited by the idea of the show when some of the highlights include… More » 
Delta Goodrem’s Postmodern David Letterman Fantasy
11:46AM Clem Bastow | Delta Goodrem’s take-no-prisoners assault on the US continues as she rapes and pillages Duluth, leaving only smoking shells of buildings and the charred bodies of dead infants gears up to appear on The Late Show With David Letterman, which her label no doubt hopes will introduce her to the audience she has been so desperately trying to court (night-owls and shift workers, natch). And how is our very own postmodern mermaid feeling about her talkshow debut? Bless her nylon sockettes, the little thing is nervous! More » 
Are You Aware Of The Fact Keane’s New Single Is Quite Bloody Good?
11:36AM Jess McGuire | Maybe British musical ensemble Keane’s soft and gentle and totally Australian Idol-friendly balladry of yesteryear, particularly the song Somewhere Only We Know, didn’t really do much for you, and you’ve never bothered keeping an ear out for their stuff ever since. Fair enough – although you would have missed out on the rather great tune Is It Any Wonder from their follow up record Under The Iron Sea and more fool you.
Well, they’ve just put out the first single from their brand new album, and it’s called Spiralling, and guess what? It’s a bloody corker. Seriously.
Have a listen after the jump. More » 
They Tried To Make Me Co-Operate With The Popo, I Said “No, No, No”
10:33AM Clem Bastow | If you haven’t yet experienced the wonder (tinged with skin crawling horror) of Allison the electronics cleaner huffer and her “It’s like I’m walkin’ on sunshine!” exclamations, now’s the time. However, while thrilling to Allison’s head-bobbing toluene meltdown and crazy eyes last night, I had something of an epiphany, pertaining to everyone’s favourite Troubled™ soul superstar. Could Intervention have unwittingly given us a clue to Winegums’ continued disastrousness? Hop over the jump for an “artist’s impression” I think you will find wholly compelling. More » 
Lily Allen’s Been Getting Her Punch On!
10:19AM Jess McGuire | I love Lily Allen. And Lily Allen loves a drink and indulging in bad behaviour, or so the tabloids in the UK are informing us today, with snaps emerging of Lily leaving a venue in Soho and swinging a punch in the direction of an unknown woman (who appears to find the whole thing incredibly amusing rather than threatening).
From the descriptively titled article Wild Lily Allen lashes out at a woman during a heavy night out in the Daily Mail…
Lily Allen threw a punch at a passer-by during a drinking session in London’s Soho early this morning.
Witnesses suggested Lily reacted after being heckled as she left Ronnie Scott’s Jazz Club at 2am. With a short reach, the punch appeared to fail to connect.
Failed to connect? That’s poor fisticuff form, Allen! More » 