Luke McFarlane: "I don't know what will happen professionally ... that is the fear, but I guess I can't really be concerned about what will happen."

Were you as shocked as I to read that Luke McFarlane is gay? I mean, I didn't even realise girlfriend was ever in the closet, but there's sure as hell been a lot of fuss about it over the last couple of days. In our dear gay blogosphere like it's some kind of revelation. Ooh, a gay guy off the telly officially came out and, like, talked about it and stuff!

Anyway, McFarlane talked about his sexuality in the context of his role in Brothers and Sisters to Canada's Globe and Mail - a patriotic choice, but I'd so go on Oprah to tearfully spill the beans. She eats this shit up! Apparently, there have been rumours about McFarlane since he was spotted first dating T R Knight, then (allegedly) moving on to Wentworth Miller - girlfriend sure puts it about!

"I don't know what will happen professionally ... that is the fear, but I guess I can't really be concerned about what will happen, because it's my truth. There is this desire in L.A. to wonder who you are and what's been blaring for me for the last three years is how can I be most authentic to myself - so this is the first time I am speaking about it in this way."

McFarlane does keep typically quiet about his love life though. When asked if he's currently single, he goes down the Ricky Martin route of saying: "That is my personal life. That is where I draw the difference." Nice try, but we've all seen the photographs of McFarlane with our Wentworth and such a darlin' couple they make too!

You see, what I'd like for once is for a gay actor to just put it all out there like Britney Spears or Madonna and have lots of messy love affairs and always be in the tabloids and on Oprah. Ok, so Rupert Everett and Marc Jacobs do their best to be tramps, but it's not good enough. I'm sick and tired of these gays being so well behaved and always taking the moral high ground. It's all become way too respectable and wholesome. I want them to be as skanky and shocking as the hetties, then we'd truly have equality!

Victoria Beckham: “Do not pull them up tight and have your bulge showing. Let it hang!"

Not content with advising just the ladies, Spice Girl Victoria Beckham has also been dishing out pithy fashion tips for the guys as well as getting in a sly dig at Britney Spears. Beckham is launching her men’s jeans range later this year branded under her dVb label and had this to say about denim:

“I think guys should wear jeans big and baggy, with a big pair of boots or flip-flops—exactly how you see David when he’s out in his jeans and T-shirt. Do not pull them up tight and have your bulge showing. Let it hang!"

“These are not skinny jeans. They are what I call proper men’s jeans. If you are a man that likes really skinny jeans, very fashiony, this isn’t really the line for you. I didn’t want anything too tight around the crotch. That really repulses me. It might be fashionable, but you are not going to get that from dVb.”

“I’ve used the best Japanese denim, and I think I’ve created a fit that is very flattering and very comfortable. I’m a complete control freak and I want everything to be perfect. I’m not doing a Britney Spears and just putting my name on something and saying, ‘Sell this perfume.’ This is a real passion of mine. People think all I do is go shopping like a miserable cow, but, in actual fact, I work bloody hard.”

I adore Posh, I don't think she's a miserable cow at all and I totally agree with her on the low-rise denim jean look. I know it can get a bit "wigger" if you're not careful, but it's how I like to wear my jeans and I haven't had a belt for years. It sure looks good on our Mr Beckham, don't you think?


Source

NME Awards 2008 nominations

Ok, so it's not the Oscars but it's still amusing to look through the NME Awards 2008 nominations and have a snicker:

Best British Band supported by Shockwaves
Arctic Monkeys
Babyshambles
The Cribs
Klaxons
Muse

Best International Band supported by T4
Arcade Fire
Foo Fighters
The Killers
Kings Of Leon
My Chemical Romance
Best New Band supported by BBC Radio 1
The Enemy
Foals
Joe Lean And The Jing Jang Jong
The Pigeon Detectives
The Wombats

Best Live Band supported by Carling
Arctic Monkeys
The Cribs
Kaiser Chiefs
Muse
My Chemical Romance

Best Solo Artist supported by 4Music
Kate Nash
Jamie T
Jack Penate
Amy Winehouse
Patrick Wolf

Best Album supported by HMV
'Favourite Worst Nightmare' - Arctic Monkeys
'Shotters Nation' - Babyshambles
'We'll Live And Die In These Towns' – The Enemy
'Myths Of The Near Future' - Klaxons
'In Rainbows' – Radiohead

Best Track supported by Trinity St
'Fluorescent Adolescent' – Arctic Monkeys
'Flux' – Bloc Party
'Men's Needs' – The Cribs
'Lord Don't Slow Me Down' - Oasis
'Let's Dance To Joy Division' – The Wombats

Best Video supported by NME TV
'Teddy Picker' – Arctic Monkeys
'Flux' – Bloc Party
'D.A.N.C.E.' - Justice
'Golden Skans' - Klaxons
'Teenagers' – My Chemical Romance

Best Music DVD
'Up The Shambles' – Babyshambles
'The Song Remains The Same' – Led Zeppelin
'Unplugged In New York' - Nirvana
'Lord Don’t Slow Me Down' - Oasis
'I Told You I Was Trouble' – Amy Winehouse

Best Live Event
Carling Weekend: Reading And Leeds Festival
Glastonbury
Muse At Wembley Stadium
T In The Park
V Festival

Hero Of The Year
Matt Bellamy
Pete Doherty
Noel Fielding
Ryan Jarman
Thom Yorke

Villain Of The Year
Tony Blair
Johnny Borrell
Gordon Brown
George W Bush
Amy Winehouse

Best Dressed supported by Topman
Pete Doherty
Noel Fielding
Kate Nash
Alex Turner
Gerard Way

Worst Dressed
Johnny Borrell
Pete Doherty
Mika
Gerard Way
Amy Winehouse

Best Dancefloor Filler supported by Club NME
'Flux' – Bloc Party
'Hummer' - Foals
'D.A.N.C.E.' - Justice
'Atlantis To Interzone' - Klaxons
'Let's Dance To Joy Division' – The Wombats

Best Album Artwork
'Favourite Worst Nightmare' – Arctic Monkeys
'The Good, The Bad And The Queen' – The Good, The Bad And The Queen
'Sawdust' – The Killers
'Because Of The Times' – Kings Of Leon
'Send Away The Tigers' – Manic Street Preachers

Best Radio Show
Russell Brand (Radio 2)
Zane Lowe (Radio 1)
Chris Moyles (Radio 1)
Colin Murray (Radio 1)
Jo Whiley (Radio 1)

Worst Album
'1973' - James Blunt
'The Trick To Life' – The Hoosiers
'Spirit' - Leona Lewis
'Life In Cartoon Motion' - Mika
'Blackout' - Britney Spears

Worst Band
30 Seconds To Mars
Fall Out Boy
The Hoosiers
My Chemical Romance
Panic At The Disco

Best TV Show
'Heroes'
'The Mighty Boosh'
'Never Mind The Buzzcocks'
'The IT Crowd'
'Skins'

Best Film
'Control'
'Hot Fuzz'
'Pirates Of The Caribbean: At World's End'
'The Simpsons Movie'
'Superbad'

Sexiest Man
Howlin' Pelle Almqvist
Julian Barrett
Noel Fielding
Nicky Wire
Patrick Wolf

Sexiest Woman
Jenny Lewis
Kylie Minogue
Rhianna
Hayley Williams
Rachael Yamagata

Best Venue
Brixton Academy
Manchester Apollo
Glasgow Barrowlands
London Astoria
Wembley Stadium

Best Website
Bebo
Facebook
Last.fm
Myspace
YouTube

Best Band Blog
Foals (www.wearefoals.com/blog)
Lily Allen (www.myspace.com/lilymusic)
Lightspeed Champion (www.lightspeedchampion.com)
Radiohead (www.radiohead.com/deadairspace)
The Streets (www.myspace.com/thestreets)

Best Music Blog
The Hype Machine (hypem.com)
The Modern Age (www.themodernage.org)
Nothing But Green Lights (nothingbutgreenlights.net)
Spinner (spinner.com)
Stereogum (stereogum.com)

Poor Amy Crackhouse, she just can't catch a break off anyone these days, not even the disaffected alienated kids that read NME!

Forbes.com presents the twenty highest grossing female musicians of 2007

Forbes.com has actually bothered to look at the earnings of female singers for the first time. Taking into account their estimated earnings from June 2006 to June 2007, they've compiled the following list of the twenty highest grossing female musicians. By the way, I've left in their own blurb, I was going to delete their commentary but then I realised that if I did, I'd have to actually make an effort and write something myself. Yeah, like that's gonna happen:

1. Madonna
$72 million
The ever-morphing singer still outsells artists half her age. She tops the Cash Queens list thanks largely to her record-breaking Confessions tour, plus income from album sales, an apparel line with retailer H&M and a deal with NBC to air concert footage

2. Barbra Streisand
$60 million
The 65-year-old legend, with 145 million albums sold worldwide to her credit, drew legions of die-hard fans to her short (and rare) concert series that wrapped in Europe last summer. Some tickets sold for upward of $1,000 apiece.


3. Celine Dion
$45 million
The Canadian diva's landmark Las Vegas concert drew some 3 million fans and grossed upward of $450 million during its five-year run, which ended in December.

4. Shakira
$38 million
The Colombian chanteuse shook her trademark hips from Mexico to India on a tireless tour that saw her perform 111 concerts before it was over.

5. Beyoncé
$27 million
The former Destiny's Child front woman is an endorsement darling, boasting deals with blue-chip brands like American Express, L'Oreal and Samsung.

6. Gwen Stefani
$26 million
Her last album, The Sweet Escape, peaked at No. 3 on the Billboard charts, her best performance as a solo artist. The 38-year-old platinum blonde also has an endorsement deal with HP, her own fashion label and a recently launched fragrance.

7. Christina Aguilera
$20 million
Critics adored the retro stylings of Back to Basics, her third studio album, which also proved popular with fans. Aguilera also inked deals with Pepsi and Orange, a European cellphone operator. In January, the 27-year-old welcomed her first child, Max.

8. Faith Hill
$19 million
Country's beauty-queen crooner joined husband Tim McGraw on the road for the Soul2Soul II tour, one of the year's fastest-selling, top-grossing American concert series, beating out even the U.S. leg of Madonna's Confessions tour. Hill also belts out NBC's Sunday Night Football theme song.

9. Dixie Chicks
$18 million
Despite vehement criticism from country fans of their anti-war, anti-Bush politics, the Dixie Chicks proved their resilience with their seventh studio album, the Grammy-winning Taking the Long Way Home. Though it immediately topped country and pop charts, the tour to promote the album was hit-or-miss. The Chicks canceled dates in Texas and Oklahoma following refusals from several radio stations to advertise the event.

10. Mariah Carey
$13 million
The 37-year-old pop and R&B diva makes good money off of her extensive catalog. (Her 10 studio albums have sold over 100 million copies worldwide.) The musical director for her last tour, dubbed The Adventures of Mimi, was longtime collaborator Randy Jackson, judge of American Idol.

11. Hilary Duff
$12 million
The 20-year-old former child star of Disney's Lizzie McGuire has quickly established herself as a credible pop star thanks to Dignity, her modestly selling recent studio album. Though acting and music may be her passions, retail is her biggest moneymaking asset. Stuff by Hilary Duff, merchandise targeting her tween fans, is available at Kohl's and JCPenney.

12. Avril Lavigne
$12 million
Marriage hasn't slowed this 23-year-old rocker down. Her third studio album, The Best Damn Thing, topped the pop charts last year and spawned an international mega-hit from its first single "Girlfriend." The video for that song is the second most-watched clip on YouTube, with over 69 million views. Lavigne recorded the chorus to the song in seven other languages, including Mandarin and German.

13. Martina McBride
$12 million
The 41-year-old country crooner's ninth studio album, Waking Up Laughing, was an unlikely crossover hit last year, earning top 10 spots on the country, adult contemporary and Hot 100 charts. (She's still on the road promoting the album on tour.) She and her husband own and operate Nashville's Blackbird Studio, where A-list music acts like John Bon Jovi and Keith Urban have recorded.


14. Britney Spears
$8 million
The former pop-superstar-turned-tabloid-staple eeks out a sizable income from her catalog of hits--the 26-year-old has sold over 80 million records worldwide over the course of her career--and royalties from sales of her fragrance lines. Critics be damned, her latest album, Blackout, has been a modest hit.

15. Carrie Underwood
$7 million
American Idol's fourth-season champ saw her debut album, Some Hearts, sell 8 million copies worldwide and spawn a mega-hit of its third single, "Before He Cheats." (Over 2 million downloads and counting.) Her sophomore effort, Carnival Ride, has sold over 2 million copies. Word is she'll hit the road this year with Keith Urban to promote their respective albums.

16. Nelly Furtado
$7 million
The one-time folk-indie-songstress-turned-pop-star partnered with uber-producer Timbaland for her third album, Loose, said to have sold more than 7 million copies worldwide. The album launched eight hit singles, including "Promiscuous." Furtado, 29, also appeared in Timbaland's "Give It To Me" single with Justin Timberlake

17. Fergie
$6 million
The Black Eyed Peas singer scored big with her debut solo album The Duchess, which landed five hit singles, including "Glamorous" and "Big Girls Don't Cry." Born Stacy Ann Ferguson, the 32-year-old also bagged endorsements with Kipling bags and Candie's shoes.

18. Jennifer Lopez
$6 million
Despite weak album sales of her first Spanish-language album Como Ama una Mujer and limited touring, J.Lo still rakes it in, mostly from her catalog, clothing sales and incredibly successful fragrances. (There are six fragrances so far.) Lopez also collected a paycheck for her credit in El Cantante, the biopic of salsa star Hector Lavoe co-starring hubby Marc Anthony. Lopez, 38, who also runs her own production company, is reportedly expecting twins.

19. Sheryl Crow
$6 million
The nine-time Grammy-winning pop-rock singer enjoyed income from her catalog and a smallish 2006 tour to promote her last album, Wildflowers. During that period, Crow overcame a breast cancer diagnosis and endured a very public breakup with Lance Armstrong. Last year she adopted a son, Wyatt Steven. In February, Crow, 45, will release Detours, her sixth studio album

20. Norah Jones
$5.5 million
The 28-year-old mellow rocker released her third album, Not Too Late, earlier this year and has reportedly sold 3 million copies worldwide to date. She also enjoyed income from a worldwide tour to promote the album. This year she'll make her big screen acting debut opposite Jude Law in My Blueberry Nights.

You can't begrudge Madonna being top of the list as you had to admit that our Madge does work damn hard for her money. Oh, and look at Ms Britney making the list. Her cut from selling paparazzi photographs of herself must be more lucrative than we thought!

Mr Blackwell's 38th annual Worst Dressed list

Mr Blackwell's snarky 38th annual Worst Dressed list:

1 - Victoria Beckham: "Forget the fashion spice - wearing a skirt would suffice! In one skinny-mini monstrosity after another, pouty posh can really wreck-em."

2 - Amy Winehouse: "Exploding beehives above…tacky polka-dots below... she's part 50's car-hop horror."

3 -Mary Kate Olsen: "YIKES! In layers of cut-rate kitsch, Mary Kate's look is hard to explain... she resembles a tattered toothpick-trapped in a hurricane!"

4 - Fergie: "Another style-free 'Fergie' in fashion's hall of shame? Yes, when it comes to couture chaos, guess it's all in a name!"

5 - Kelly Clarkson: "Her heavenly voice soars above the rest... but those belly-baring bombs are hellish at best! She may be the queen of 'Pro-Active' – but that wardrobe looks downright radioactive!"

6 - Eva Green: "Stuck in neon nightmares not fit for the sane. Fashion this loud could give Bond a migraine! A profusion of confusion from toes to nose!"

7 - Avril Lavigne: "Gothic make-up courtesy the mad spatula-Fashions provided by.. The house of Dracula!"

8 - Jessica Simpson: "Forget the Cowboys. In prom queen screams, can it get any worse? She's a global fashion curse!"

9 - Lindsay Lohan: "Lindsay the fashion frenzy strikes again! Lohan takes fashion to a new low."

10 - Alison Arngrim: "Little Nellie of the prairie, looks like a 1940's fashion editor for the Farmers Almanac."

Heh, he's such a bitch! However, we did notice one name missing. Mr Blackwell must've been reading our thoughts as he added a note at the end of his list: "For those of you who were expecting to see Britney's name adorn the 2007 list, I felt that it was inappropriate at this time to make comment, when her personal life is in such upheaval. I hope 2008 is a better year for her."

Aw, looks like the bitter old queen has a heart after all. Maybe, just a little.

Source

Celebrity meltdown of the year - it's Britney, bitch!

Of course it's Britney! She had lots of competition this year: Paris Hilton going to jail; David Hasselhoff filmed drunk crawling around in a hotel room eating a burger; Lindsay Lohan getting high on drugs, sleeping around with anyone and going to rehab three times; Rosie O'Donnell's hilarious ongoing feud with Donald Trump; Alec Baldwin's whiny and self-serving answerphone message to his daughter, no doubt leaked by his bitter ex-wife Kim Basinger; Anna Nicole Smith's sad drug induced death; O J Simpson getting arrested again for stealing and claiming he could've been the father of Anna Nicole Smith's child; Larry Craig getting caught using the secret homosexual foot tapping code in an airport public toilet; Keifer Sutherland getting drunk yet again and going to jail. Yes, it's been a bumper year of celebrity mishaps and law-breaking, but Britney still managed to rise above everyone else with her po' white trash escapades.

Let's see if I can remember what she packed into a fun filled year: Britney shaved her own head at a hairdressing salon after the hairdresser refused to do it for her; Britney then got a nice tattoo straight after; Britney attacked the paparazzi with an umbrella; Britney became friends with Paris Hilton and stopped wearing any knickers thus flashing her cooch to the whole world; Britney lost custody of her children and repeatedly failed drugs tests and failed to appear for hearings about her kids; Britney stole a mannequin's skanky wig and wore it; Britney stole a cigarette lighter; Britney posed topless in a flower garden and the photographs somehow 'leaked'; Britney performed on the MTV awards while drunk, over weight, badly (un)dressed and forgot her dance moves and how to lip synch to her own song; Britney was said to be pregnant, then wasn't, then was again, then wasn't again, all while there was confusion over who exactly the father was (am I the only one who suspected there was a little trip to the 'clinic'? No judgement!); Britney gave her kids nothing but soda to drink, thus ruining their teeth so she had to ask a dentist if he could whiten the kids' rotten baby teeth; Britney went to rehab, left, went back, left again, then went back again but to another one; and so on and so on.

I'm sure there was a lot more, but jeez, I can't remember every last thing. Whatever she did, you can be sure that it was skanky and trashy with the paparazzi tipped off and documenting every last sorry incident. And the best thing is that she just doesn't give up. A bit like herpes, Britney is the po' white trash gift that just keeps giving.

"I just can't control myself
(Mo- Mo- Mo- Mo-) More Uh.
They want more? Well I'll give'em more, Aww!

Gimme gimme more
Gimme more
Gimme gimme more (Gimme more)
Gimme gimme more
Gimme (Uh)
Gimme gimme more (Ooh)
Gimme gimme more
Gimme more
Gimme gimme more
Gimme gimme more (Gimme more, oh yeah)
Gimme (Uh)
Gimme gimme more"

Being allergic to something you love..

I'm back from my long weekend baby-sitting my Mom's and it was hell. You see, I'm allergic to cats and they induce my asthma and I was sucking on my asthma inhaler for the past few days like I was Britney Spears trying to work off too many frappuccinos. I've had asthma for years but I never knew what caused it until last year. Asthma can be triggered by so many different things and I was lucky enough to be tested at an asthma clinic. They pricked a patch on my arm with eight known triggers such as cat hair, grass pollen, house mite etc and the cat hair was the only one which proved positive.

I love my cat but she lives with my Mom now as I'm in a city centre flat so it's better for her (and me!) that she's got a large garden for my girl to play around in. Plus, the allergy is no fun at all and it's exhausting. I sneeze all the time and have a runny nose, my eyes puff up and I can't get to sleep. Next time around, I'm going to get me a tortoise. I had a couple of tortoises growing up and they were great pets and NO allergies!

For your listening pleasure - the Feast of Fools podcast

How do you get to sleep? One of the things that really helps me is to listen to some comedy. Seriously, music keeps me awake but listening to some stand up comedy helps me to drift off. I used to listen to Dr Laura (she's a comedien, right?) but I'm tired of giving that bitch my money and since I've listened to my collection of comedy so many times, I've turned to listening to podcasts instead. One of my very favourites is the Feast of Fools podcast. I was looking for something fun and found them by chance by typing in "gay comedy" in a search on iTunes for podcasts.

Feast of Fools is mainly Fausto Fernós and Marc Felion with occasional turns from Miss Ronnie, Amanda Steinstein, John Q. Sanchez and SAL-E. Oh, these guys are hilarious! They interview a wide variety of guests. This week I've been listening to a drag queen Heklina from the Trannyshack, Cookie Dough and that ex-marine who said he slept with Clay Aiken and did the quarter spin on him "because he wanted to feel all four of my walls" which simply has to be heard to be believed.

Fausto and Marc are campy, witty, snarky and just damn funny. It's like having two of your best gay friends around for dinner and settling down to enjoy listening to them dish on the subjects of the day. They cover all subjects, from gays in society, drag queens, celebrity meltdowns, Britney Spears, cocktail recipe and so on. Oh, just go download the podcast already!

Britney Spears has her life turned into Art - with a capital A!

Poor, poor Britney. I know that some of you may point out that this sweaty, puffy, pill-popping mother of two deserves all she gets and has caused all her own recent problems, but I feel sorry for Britney. Well, she may be cheered up by the news that an art gallery is having an exhibition of paintings and sculpture devoted to our Britney.

Fenton Bailey and Randy Barbatos, makers of the documentary "The Eyes of Tammy Faye" about former televangelist Tammy Faye Bakker Messner as well as other films exploring fame, gathered paintings, sculpture and other work for "Just Britney," which opened at their gallery on Friday.

"We reached out to a number of artists and found Britney is such a polarizing character these days," said Steven Corfe, a co-curator of the show with Thairin Smothers.

"People absolutely adored her and wanted to celebrate her bubblegum, pop princess years. Or, they thought she was an irresponsible mother or wanted to play up the drug side of things," Corfe added. "The show reflects that whole spectrum."

Pieces range from a portrait of the 25-year-old singer, "Gum Blond XLVIII" by Jason Kronenwald, made of chewed bubble gum, to the 6-foot by 10-foot (1.8 by 3.0-metre) "Snake Charmer" by Jamie Boling, based on a paparazzi photo of Britney exiting a car with her skirt hiked up and no panties on.

Apparently, Britney has been invited by one of her back-up dancers but has yet to say whether or not she'll attend. Pity, can't you just see her flinging open the doors of the gallery and saying: "It's Britney, bitch!" Then again, having looked at some of this Art, maybe Britney ought to stay away. I mean, what's with this weird Pinocchio one? Kinda creeps me out..






Source

Hit me Baby, one more time..

Um, there has been a LOT of news about Britney Spears over the last few days. First, she checks into rehab, then she gets out and goes and gets a tattoo and shaves her head. Then she checks into rehab again, then checks out again then beats up a car (see photo, found on Entertainment Tonight). News reports suggest that her mom has brought her back to the Promises rehab in Malibu and I hope she stays there this time, she's crazy!

Doing all this under the full glare of the media can't be good for her. At first, I found the vagina flashing amusing, the hanging out with Paris Hilton evitable, but this current meltdown goes is getting uncomfortable to witness. She makes slacker dope head Kevin Federline look like he's the normal, responsible normal parent now and that's some achievement!

"You know, you’re interrupting Judge Judy"

I was saddened this week to hear that Kathy Griffin's Dad passed away. Kathy is a very funny lady and I love listening to her comedy stand up where she skewers ridiculous celebrities in her inimitable manner. Gawd knows what she's currently saying about Britney and Anna Nicole!

On her webpage Kathy says: "Thank you for all of your lovely comments and inquiries about my Dad. He passed away last Saturday, February 17th at 2pm here in L.A. He had a very far reach in this world and is already missed by so many.

His ascerbic, rapier wit and true heart of gold made for a wonderful combination in a great man. He died from complications due to congestive heart failure AND multiple myeloma. Please keep my mom and my siblings in your thoughts and prayers. What can I say? I just loved him so much."

Here's a picture of Kathy and her Dad, from her hilarious Emmy nominated TV show, "My Life on the D-List".