news articles 8 april

[Inside Australian Idol]

Who's beautiful now?
By Kimberley Porteous
April 8, 2004

Film stars once again dominate Who's annual Most Beautiful People list.

Along with music industry personalities, they shine the brightest.

But absent this time is Australia's sweetheart Delta Goodrem - who was sitting pretty in last year's selection.

While nobody on the list has been hit with the ugly stick, there is room for those of a more modest mien, with the magazine saying they celebrate "not just pin-ups but real people". Presumably this explains the inclusion of Australian Idol judge Ian "Dicko" Dickson.

Not all of the blonde babes chosen come from the showbiz world. In a nod to this year's news events, world champion surfer Layne Beachley is splashed across the pages depicting the bold and the beautiful.

Rating her eyes as her best feature, Beachley puts them to work, saying: "I love to laugh. At myself, of course."

The record-holding six-times world champion reveals she rarely makes the time in her hectic schedule for facials, and says she'd rather be surfing.

Her outdoor lifestyle is reflected in her natural approach to skincare. "I was never a big sunscreen user, growing up in the 70s and 80s. We all learned to sunbake in baby oil. I'm just fortunate I haven't suffered much sun damage."

Beachley is one of the token Australians inserted into the list which is inspired and largely sourced by their sister publication in the US, People magazine.

Fashion designer and mother-to-be Collette Dinnigan also makes the grade (but her partner, Richard Wilkins, doesn't), alongside muso Pete Murray, Oscar-winner and Harvie Krumpet creator Adam Elliot, and Kiwi-but-we'll-claim-her-anyway Keisha Castle-Hughes.

Acting spunk Olivier Martinez is also included, probably for his connection to Kylie Minogue and thus providing an Aussie link.

The Oscars seem have to provided some inspiration for this year's candidates, with Charlize Theron (Best Actress), Johnny Depp (Best Actor nominee), Keisha Castle-Hughes (Best Actress nominee), Adam Elliot (Best Animated Short Film), Patricia Clarkson (Best Supporting Actress nominee) and Sofia Coppola (Best Director nominee, Best Screenplay winner) all getting their call-up. Scarlett Johansson, although overlooked by Oscar, was a Golden Globe winner and rounds up the list as new kid on the beautiful block.

The music industry gives us No Doubt's Gwen Stefani, teen soul sensation Joss Stone, Aussie guy Pete Murray, Logie guest import, Canadian Michael Buble, songstress and occasional actress Mandy Moore, and pop princess and reality televison blonde Jessica Simpson.

Television is evidently having a quiet year in the glamour stakes, if you don't count Jessica Simpson, with only Dicko and Queer Eye's Kyan Douglas catching the editors' eye.

And in recognition of current affairs and the more serious side of celebrity, Aron Ralston - the guy who self-amputeed in a rock-climbing accident, surely you remember - makes the cut, probably for sheer balls.


Who's Most Beautiful People of 2004

In order of appearance

Gwyneth Paltrow
Gwen Stefani
Johnny Depp
Layne Beachley
Jim Caviezel
Pete Murray
Charlize Theron
Maggie Gyllenhaal
Olivier Martinez
Ian "Dicko" Dickson
Keisha Castle-Hughes
Ben Stiller
Collette Dinnigan
Adam Elliot
Joss Stone
Kyan Douglas
Jessica Simpson
Aron Ralston
Patricia Clarkson
Mandy Moore
Peter Dinklage
Sofia Coppola
Garry Dourdan
Michael Buble
Scarlett Johansson

www.smh.com.au/articles/2004/04/07/1081222525215.html

[Inside Australian Idol]

Record ratings make it $43 million out of Ten
By Byron Kaye
April 8, 2004

Ten Network Holdings says it is confident blockbuster series like Big Brother and Australian Idol can again make it No. 1 among young TV viewers and maintain its record share of the advertising revenue pie.

The outlook came after Ten yesterday booked a $43.6 million first-half profit, up 33 per cent, for the half to February 29, thanks to stringent cost controls and premium advertising rates paid for its supremacy in the 16 to 39-year-old category.

"Our ratings will continue to maintain and build from here," executive chairman Nick Falloon said of Ten's dominant 30.5 per cent grip on the 16-39 demographic and "neck and neck" race with Seven for dominance in the 25-54 market.

"All in all we expect the rest of the year to perform particularly well for us."

He said the network had posted 20 per cent revenue growth in March, "high single-digit" growth in April, and had strong bookings for May and June.

Chief executive of television John McAlpine said: "We expect to beat last year's result," referring to the previous year's $89 million profit.

Mr McAlpine admitted fast consumer take-up of DVDs had dented overall ratings, including pay TV ratings, despite Ten's growing share of the free-to-air market.

The Sunday night movie's popularity had been affected, he said, and Ten would start programming first-run series in that time-slot from May.

"I think DVDs had the biggest influence," he said, predicting that DVD penetration would quickly surge as high as 90 per cent from its present 51 per cent.

"The franchise is not as strong . . . so we've taken the bull by the horns and said we will change our approach and go to first-run series."

He also indicated the honeymoon for reality TV may soon be over, given the network's recent decision to axe The Resort sooner than expected. "I think everyone would agree that it's probably been a little overdone," he said.

But he expected audiences would continue to tune in to proven favourites like Big Brother, Survivor, The Block and Australian Idol with its United States and global counterparts.

"You'll see it evolve that less of those shows will appear in the schedule but the quality ones will survive . . . because they're supplying what people want," he said.

The first-half profit, which was in line with most analysts' expectations, was achieved on a 17 per cent lift in revenue to $415.04 million.

Ten shares gained 1¢ to yesterday.

- AAP
www.theage.com.au/articles/2004/04/07/1081326790616.html

[Ava]

Delta's sparkling news
From Sydney Confidential
April 07, 2004



DELTA Goodrem is poised to make one of the greatest comebacks ever seen.

Sparkling Delta: the new face of Pepsi

After retreating from the public eye about nine months after being diagnosed with hodgkin's disease, Goodrem will literally be all over the place by the end of the year.

As well as starring in her first feature film which started shooting in Melbourne this week, Confidential can reveal Goodrem has followed in the footsteps of the world's top pop stars and sportspeople - including her new squeeze Mark Phillippousis - to become the latest face of Pepsi.

Taking over where Holly Valance and Guy Sebastian have left off, the deal is believed to involve larger-than-life billboards, print advertisements and a television commercial, which was shot around Sydney under super-tight security late last week and is expected to be rolled out in about six weeks in time for Australian Fashion Week.

But Goodrem's big return to the spotlight won't stop at fizzy drink and a role in a teen flick.

The Pepsi campaign is believed to hit the streets at the same time she is rumoured to be lined up for appearances on the catwalk during fashion week.

This will follow what is expected to be a clean sweep at the upcoming Logies for which she is nominated twice and is expected to win gold, silver or both top gongs.

Meanwhile, she will feature in an exclusive in Australian Women's Weekly story, with the proceeds going to cancer research.

A Sony spokeswoman would neither confirm or the deny the Pepsi deal.

The Daily Telegraph

[Skip]

Truckin’ on with FTG

Compiled by MELODY L. GOH
FTG: Stop this Madness (PonyCanyon)

VETERAN local rockers FTG just keep getting stronger. From the cover, you can more or less guess what the songs are all about: the effects of war on people and the never-ending search for peace. It’s heavy rock with societal undertones.

However, don’t be fooled into thinking that this album is as deep as it aspires to be. It’s still a fun, loud album. Of course, that also depends on how you define “fun” ... if you’re looking for rock songs to scream along to, then this is it.

Just don’t expect any jumpsuit glam-rock action a la The Darkness. FTG is all about heads-down rockin’.

The guttural growls are still intact, the musicianship taut and FTG doesn’t let up on the full-frontal assault. This album includes Rising Pain, All By Yourself, Save Me, Running with the Wind, Saint or Tyrant and Towards the Unknown.

George Michael: Patience (Sony Music)

IT TOOK Yorgos Kyriatou Panayioutou (that’s George Michael’s real name, mind you) five years to release this album after his last one in 1999. But being patient paid off well for Michael as well as his fans because this album really showcases the kind of musical genius Michael is.

Patience is more reflective pop than anything else, but you do hear dance and a bit of R&B influences in a few numbers.

Features the two singles that had been released in the past two years – Freeek! ’04 and the controversial Shoot the Dog – and other tracks like Amazing, John and Elvis are Dead, Cars and Trains, My Mother Had a Brother and Please Send Me Someone (Anselmo’s Song).

Cypress Hill: Till Death Do Us Part (Sony Music)

NOT the best of albums from these Los Angeles rap veterans, but just nice to keep fans of this rap group happy. It’s hardly as forgettable and bad as Skull & Bones or Stoned Raiders, but Cypress Hill, now looking to its rap roots, is struggling upwards to regain the form of the early days.

Don’t expect another Black Sunday, but the tracks on this ninth album are a little more hostile, grittier and rowdier than Cypress Hill’s recent rap-rock throwaways. So it does take a while to appreciate them.

Contains numbers like Busted in the Hood, Money, Latin Thugs (featuring Tego Calderon), Another Body Drops, What’s Your Number? (featuring Tim Armstrong), One Last Cigarette and Last Laugh (with rappers Prodigy and Twin).

Dionne Warwick: Walk on By (IO Music)

DIONNE Warwick is a name that’s synonymous with two things, a strong lustrous voice and well, unusually large nostrils. The latter has nothing to do with her music, but her vocal prowess is definitely something to be reckoned with. Warwick, a cousin of Whitney Houston, has been singing since the tender age of six and it does not look like she’s going to retire anytime soon (she’s 64 this year).

This collector’s edition best of album sees 20 of her biggest hits that have been around for decades, like I Say a Little Prayer, Do You Know the Way to San Jose, Don’t Make Me Over, Alfie, Trains and Boats and Planes, I’ll Never Fall in Love Again and The April Fools.

Guy Sebastian: Just As I Am (BMG)

THE debut of talent search programme Australian Idol is as cheesy as the show itself. That’s probably what the judges of the show were looking for anyway, and Guy Sebastian really fits the bill.

His first single Angels Brought Me Here is a current favourite on the radio and music TV channels, and his visit to Malaysia will probably push the sales of his album even further up than it is now.

Tracks include All I Need Is You, Something Don’t So Feel Right and i 4 U, all of which are Sebastian’s own compositions, as well as covers of Prince’s When Doves Cry, Louis Armstrong’s What a Wonderful World and Climb Every Mountain (a Rodgers and Hammerstein song from the musical The Sound of Music).

Shakira: Live & Off the Record (Sony Music)

COLOMBIA-born Shakira might have done well with her debut English album Laundry Service a few years back, but it is her Spanish albums, like Peligro and Pies Descalzos, that gave her a huge following.

This concert album gives fans a chance to listen to the live versions of her Spanish and English songs like Ojos Asi, Underneath Your Clothes and Back in Black, as well as watch a 90-minute concert recording that comes in two bonus VCDs.

The footage shows her performing at two concerts and features tracks like Octavo Dia, Se Te Vas, Mongoose & Snake, Estoy Aqui and Whenever, Wherever.

www.star-ecentral.com/news/story.asp?file=/2004/4/8/music/7701902&sec=music

[Inside Australian Idol]

Dicko gets makeover
April 08, 2004


WHEN thinking of candidates for a Most Beautiful list, Ian "Dicko" Dickson isn't one that instantly leaps to mind.

But the newly shorn Australian Idol judge has landed a place in this year's Who magazine Most Beautiful People issue.

He joins Oscar winner Adam Elliot, surfing champ Layne Beachley, singer Pete Murray, designer Collette Dinnigan and Whale Rider star Keisha Castle-Hughes as the locals to make the cut.

Dicko said the new 'do was long overdue.

"It's like having a really horrible girlfriend that no one likes," he said. "You finally ditch her and everyone says, 'Thank God, I hated her'."

Joining Dicko on the list are Charlize Theron, Johnny Depp, Olivier Martinez, Ben Stiller, Gwen Stefani and Mandy Moore.

Herald Sun

entertainment.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,4459,9225264%255E10229%255E%255Enbv,00.html

[Inside Australian Idol]

Dicko's beautiful mates
The Eye
08apr04

WHEN thinking of candidates for a Most Beautiful list, Ian "Dicko" Dickson isn't one that instantly leaps to mind.


Missing the mullet: Australian Idol judge Ian "Dicko" Dickson has a new look to go with his nomination on Who magazine's Most Beautiful Poeple list.

But the newly shorn Australian Idol judge has landed a place in this year's Who magazine Most Beautiful People issue.
He joins Oscar winner Adam Elliot, surfing champ Layne Beachley, singer Pete Murray, designer Collette Dinnigan and Whale Rider star Keisha Castle-Hughes as the locals to make the cut.

Dicko said the new 'do was long overdue.

"It's like having a really horrible girlfriend that no one likes," he said. "You finally ditch her and everyone says, `Thank God, I hated her'."

Joining Dicko on the list are Charlize Theron, Johnny Depp, Olivier Martinez, Ben Stiller, Gwen Stefani and Mandy Moore.


www.heraldsun.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5478,9219083%255E2902,00.html

[SoCrazyInLoveWithGUY]

How come Guy's not on Who's most beautiful people list? That's just wrong.

[Monkey]

That's true SCILWG, Guy should be on the list.