celebrity

Los Angeles (E! Online) - Look who's waking up early again.

After retiring as Regis' sidekick eight years ago, Kathie Lee Gifford has decided to make an a.m. comeback as coanchor for the fourth hour of NBC's Today Show.

The announcement, made on air Monday, will bring the perky chat maven back to morning TV beginning April 7. Gifford will sit alongside Hoda Kotb in the 10 a.m. to 11 a.m. slot.

"I am truly honored to join the Today Show family, many of whom have been friends and colleagues of mine for years," Gifford said in a statement. "And I'm especially looking forward to working with Hoda, a bright and beautiful woman I admire very much. Together I hope we will bring a fresh and fun perspective to the topics that affect all of our daily lives."

The news was broken by Today emcee Matt Lauer, who, over a series of memorable TV clips, described her as "fearless" and "a little untamed," then borrowed from Michael Corleone in The Godfather Part III to describe her new gig: "Just when they thought I was out, they drag me back in."

"It couldn't be worse timing in some ways. I'm eight years older, 10 pounds heavier, and a half inch shorter and just in time for HD television. It makes no sense," the 54-year-old Gifford joked with the Today gang.

When Meredith Vieira asked Gifford what convinced her to come back, America's favorite soccer mom cited a somewhat raucous lunch she had with Kotb at Rockefeller Center's Rainbow Room.

"Timing is everything in life. It was the right time when I left the show all those years ago, for my family especially, and my son's going off to college this fall," she said, adding with a laugh that son Cody is "6-3 and obnoxious."

As for her hubby, NFL Hall of Famer and former Monday Night Football broadcaster Frank Gifford, Kathie Lee said he was down with her new gig, though she couldn't resist reeling off a stale one-liner about him being a "tight end."

While the first three hours of Today maintains a healthy ratings lead over rival ABC's Good Morning America and CBS' The Early Show, the expanded edition, anchored by Ann Curry and correspondents Natalie Morales, Tiki Barber and Kotb that kicked off on Sept. 10, 2007, has been steadily losing viewers to syndicated competitors like Rachael Ray, Judge Judy and The Tyra Banks Show.

Curry will remain in her role as as news anchor between 7 a.m. and 9 a.m. and continue to cohost with Al Roker the 9 a.m. hour. They be joined then by Morales, who will also stay on as national correspondent for Today and serve other NBC News platforms.

Gifford joined Live in 1985 and spent 15 years bickering with Philbin. She stepped down in July 2000 to spend more time with her family, prompting a parade of guest hosts before Philbin and producers settled on Kelly Ripa to be her permanent replacement in 2001.

Before that, the 11-time Emmy nominee was a correspondent on GMA for three years. Gifford also was the first woman to ever fill in as host of the Late Show with David Letterman and has also acted on Broadway and recorded albums, starred in various TV programs and movies, toiled as a playwright and producer, and designed her own line of clothes.

Gifford returned to Live as a special guest last September to honor the coffee klatch's 20th year on the air in national syndication.

Posted by fathima at 9:37 AM | Permalink | Comments

Her record company is under financial strain and has been forced to cut back on free tickets for friends and family of stars, so people like Ron and Carol Minogue will have to pay for themselves.

The record company reportedly has also been forced to cut back on the number of business class flights for its performers.

Posted by fathima at 9:34 AM | Permalink | Comments

Rick Salomon has claimed that there's fraud involved in his divorce with Pamela Anderson

It was a shock (not really) to everyone when Pamela Anderson and Rick Salomon decided to end their brief two month marriage. But now the focus has moved to the fact that they're both claiming "fraud" as the reason for their split.

Opting for an annulment rather than a full-fledged divorce, the Baywatch babe and the "One Night in Paris" star/director have both filed paperwork naming fraud, without explaining what exactly they mean.

Nevertheless, it's clear that neither one of them wish to stay married to each other. And since this is the third marriage for each, we can't say we didn't see it coming.

After all, how much confidence can you have in a marriage that started as sex in exchange for poker debt? Don't forget, they tied the knot during a 90 minute break in Pammie's magic show schedule.

Fropki.com

Posted by fathima at 8:34 AM | Permalink | Comments

Hollywood stars help sustain Darfur aid flights: WFP

GENEVA (Reuters) - Money from Europe and a charity co-founded by Hollywood actors George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Matt Damon and Don Cheadle will help maintain humanitarian flights in Darfur through April, the United Nations said on FridayThe $6 million donated by Ireland, the European Union and the Clooney-backed Not On Our Watch will allow the U.N.'s World Food Programme (WFP) to hire helicopters and aircraft to ferry aid workers to Sudan's war-torn region for 30 days.

The WFP's air link carries some 8,000 aid workers from 160 organizations to, from and within Darfur each month, WFP spokeswoman Christiane Berthiaume said.

"We have received some funds which will allow us to maintain the flights for the month of April," she told a news briefing but added the reprieve is only short term as a further $71 million is needed to operate the service for the rest of 2008.

"It is vital to maintain the service especially at a time when insecurity reigns," she said.

The western Sudanese region of Darfur is the site of the world's largest aid operation. International experts estimate five years of conflict have killed 200,000 people and driven 2.5 million from their homes.

Aid workers are increasingly at risk in Darfur where rebel groups and militias have split into factions, some of them merely bandits without political agendas who prey on civilians for their own survival.

Bandits killed three WFP truck drivers in separate attacks earlier this month in Darfur and south Sudan.

Securing long-term funding for humanitarian flights in Sudan is essential, 14 international aid agencies said in a joint statement issued on Friday.

The agencies -- which include CARE Sudan, Catholic Relief Services and Oxfam International -- said that they rely on the WFP's air service to help them deliver aid to "many of the most inaccessible, insecure and poverty-stricken areas of Sudan."

In Darfur alone, the aid groups jointly assist more than 2 million people in areas currently only accessible by air, as roads are too insecure, according to the statement.

"A service upon which millions of people depend should not have to fear for its future every month," it said.

(Reporting by Stephanie Nebehay, editing by Laura MacInnis and Mary Gabriel)

Posted by fathima at 8:24 AM | Permalink | Comments

Tara Reid: Fun in the Mexican Sun

She's quite the traveler these days, and it seems that Tara Reid has turned in her Australian affinity for a little Mexican mojo.

The "American Pie" actress was spotted over the weekend enjoy the beautiful weather and surroundings of Cancun, Mexico.

Yesterday, Reid showed off her fabulous bikini body, sporting an animal print two-piece bathing suit, along with a south-of-the-border-style shawl.

The former "Taradise" hostess has also been seen going around with a new Mexican playboy. As far as relationships go, this one isn't even on the map yet, but with Mexico's reputation for romance, who knows what could happen?

Posted by fathima at 8:59 AM | Permalink | Comments

Opposition wins Taiwan presidential vote

TAIPEI, Taiwan - Taiwan's opposition candidate cruised to victory in the presidential election Saturday, promising to expand economic ties with China while protecting the island from being swallowed up politically by its giant communist neighborFireworks lit up the sky over Ma Ying-jeou's headquarters, and cheering supporters put up victory posters before the former Taipei mayor climbed on stage and declared victory.

"People want a clean a government instead of a corrupt one," said Ma, also a former justice minister. "They want a good economy, not a sluggish one. They don't want political feuding. They want peace across the Taiwan Strait. No war."

Across town, a crying crowd gathered at the campaign office for ruling party candidate Frank Hsieh, a former premier.

"Don't cry for me today," Hsieh said in his concession speech. "Although we lost the election, we have a more important mission. The torch of democracy should not be extinguished."

Ma won 58 percent of the votes compared to 41.5 percent for his challenger, according to the Central Election Commission. Turnout was 76 percent, the commission said.

Ma and Hsieh have both said they want a less confrontational relationship with China. But they were divided on how best to deal with Beijing, which presents both a huge opportunity for the island's powerful business community and a looming threat to its evolving democracy.

Taiwan and the mainland split amid civil war in 1949, but China still considers the island to be part of its territory. Beijing has threatened to attack if Taiwan rejects unification and seeks a permanent break.

China's official Xinhua News Agency reported on Ma's victory in what it called the island's "leadership election" — reflecting Beijing's refusal to recognize Taiwan's government.

The Central Election Commission also said two referendums calling on the government to work for the island's entry into the United Nations failed. China had warned that the referendums threatened stability in the region.

Ma has based his campaign on promises to reverse the pro-independence direction of outgoing President Chen Shui-bian and leverage China's white-hot economic boom to re-energize Taiwan's ailing high-tech economy.

He has proposed a formal peace treaty with Beijing that would demilitarize the Taiwan Strait, 100-mile-wide waterway that separates the two heavily armed sides. But he has drawn the line at unification, promising it would not be discussed during his presidency.

Economically, he wants to lower barriers to Taiwanese investment on the mainland — it already amounts to more than $100 billion — and begin direct air and maritime links between the sides.

Ma is particularly interested in expanding the China-Taiwan high-tech connection, which every year sends billions of dollars' worth of Taiwan's advanced components to low-cost assembly plants along China's rapidly developing east coast.

That interest resonated with businessman Wang Wen-ho, who cast his ballot for Ma at a Taipei high school.

"The DPP has failed to cope with China's growth in eight years," he said. "We need to engage the mainland to improve the economy."

But George Tsai of Taipei's Chinese Culture University said improved relations with China will likely come slowly.

"Even if Ma can manage to resume cross-strait dialogue and build mutual trust with Beijing, it probably will not happen in the first two years," Tsai said.

Hsieh has accepted his party's independence platform, but without the special vehemence of Chen, whose support for separatist policies constantly incensed China and caused grave concern in the United States, Taiwan's most important foreign partner.

Hsieh's party had used the last day of campaigning to fan outrage over China's handling of protests in Tibet, warning the crackdown could be replicated in Taiwan.

He also had warned voters that if he loses, Ma's party will control both the presidency and the legislature, creating a dangerous imbalance of power.

Posted by fathima at 8:55 AM | Permalink | Comments

Mena Suvari attended the Jenny Han show at Mercedes Benz fashion week

Her hair has finally grown back after a movie related shaving, and the lovely Mena Suvari was happy to show off her budding blonde locks at Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week on Wednesday (March 12).

The American Beauty babe busily chatted with friends and grabbed a front row seat at Smashbox Studios in Culver City for the Jenny Han Fall 2008 show.

In related news, just last month, the 29-year-old paid a visit to Uganda for the African Medical & Research Foundation (AMREF). Kate was there as Goodwill Ambassador on behalf of their cause.

"We're excited to introduce Mena to our work on the ground and proud to have her join our efforts to highlight the extraordinary work that AMREF is doing to ensure that families and communities across the country have access to health and health care," said AMREF Country Director Joshua Kyallo.

Fropki.com

Enjoy the pictures of Mena at the Jenny Han show (March 12).

Posted by fathima at 8:50 AM | Permalink | Comments

Star cooks up more than food at SXSW

AUSTIN, Texas - Of all the sponsored events at the South by Southwest music festival, Rachael Ray's artist showcase may have been the most puzzling.After all, Ray is the cherub-faced, perky cook and host of her own daytime TV show — and there she was at SXSW playing host to edgy acts like The Raveonettes.

Ray brushed aside the idea that her presence at SXSW, which ended Sunday, was out of place.

"I guess people think that I just live in a kitchen but I love music, every type of music," she told The Associated Press as she cooled off from the Texas heat in an air-conditioned bus.

"I listen to jazz, my husband and I go to the opera a few times a year, we both love indie rock, go to a lot of indie rock shows. It's not surprising to me," she continued. "I know that I'm more than just a cook. I think that's why people probably thought it was so weird but I married a man who has an indie-rock band, so how is it that weird when you really think about it?"

That band, The Cringe (led by her hubby John Cusimano), were among the performers at Ray's showcase, which had people lined outside the door waiting to get in. But music wasn't the only draw: after all, Ray's claim to fame is her cooking.

So, she made up three recipes for the event, including a seven-layer slider and a vegetarian macaroni and cheese, which were among the dishes served up to the packed crowd.

Though this was Ray's first time at SXSW, she's a regular to the city of Austin: "I think of every excuse in the world to come back."

"I've also loved Austin because it's the live music capitol of the world," she added. "I've always come down and made sure that I go out and listen to different music, so it's great to see that kind of on steroids."

Posted by fathima at 9:22 AM | Permalink | Comments

Hollywood Hotties All assets, no abilities
Some girls have all the luck: a pretty face, a bod to kill for, and the opportunity to springboard into Hollywood movies with great visibility. Oh, and lots of money.

None of this, however, make them a good actress. While Lindsay Lohan and Anne Hathaway are actually potentially decent actresses, some of their contemporaries are simply a woeful waste of celluloid.

Here's a look at some of young Hollywood's biggest no-talent babes:

Jessica Simpson

Okay, so she might be able to fill out both a stadium -- as well as a pair of hotpants -- with impressive ease, but singer Jessica Simpson's actual histrionic ability doesn't amount to much, as her duds Employee Of The Month and the straight-to-DVD Blonde Ambition show

This one is sensationally hot.

Alba's body is enough to inspire fits of delirium, her eyes striking irresistibly and that bottom the stuff of dreams -- but she just cannot act.

A double Worst Actress nominee at the 2006 Razzies for her hideous, wooden performances in Into The Blue and Fantastic Four, Alba is a tragically bad actress.

The female Keanu Reeves, really.

Yup, her.

From sex-tapes to prison, the hotel heiress really knows how to make headlines and bait the paparazzi.

Her latest dud The Hottie And The Nottie is just the tip of the sinking iceberg. So much of a liability is she that Hilton's horror flick House Of Wax was heavily promoted with the 'unofficial' tagline: 'Watch Paris Hilton die.'

If only she knew films as well as she knew miraculous push-up bras

She has the kind of body a man would readily kill for.

And while Longoria manages almost reasonably well in the undemanding morally-lax role of Gabrielle in Desperate Housewives, movies are a whole different ball game.

Her recent feature film release Over Her Dead Body got revolting reviews, critics universally panning her work while begrudgingly admitting her attractiveness.

Model lingerie instead, Eva. Please?

The truth is that she's the worst one on the list.

And while you might argue that 20-year-old Mischa has a nice smile or that she doesn't bait the paparazzi as blatantly as the girls that preceded her on this list, the fact is that she's worse than being a poor actress: The OC star is one of the most annoying actresses on the planet.

Upstaged obviously by pretty OC co-star Rachel Bilson, Barton is a waifish actress given to constant melodrama and much weepy simpering. And she doesn't even cry with an ounce of credibility. St Trinians, Assassination Of A High School President and Finding tAtU are all missteps in the painful hope that she could one day learn to act. She can't.

Her Marissa was a character we were glad the TV writers axed.

Posted by fathima at 9:05 AM | Permalink | Comments

Actress Courteney Cox says she still has nightmares of her hairstyle in the Scream movies.

A newspaper reports her saying that it was her hairstyle that scares her the most about the movie. She said, “In Scream 3, I did have the worst hairdo in the world. I can’t believe it’s forever on film. It’s brutal. I would do anything to go back and get that hair changed.”

Posted by fathima at 5:57 AM | Permalink | Comments

Amy Winehouse’s troubled life doesn’t seem to have affected her popularity when it comes to her style, for her Grammy’s dress fetched 1,950 pounds at an eBay auction.
The 24-year-old singer’s black Dolce and Gabbana number worn during her satellite performance at the Grammy’s was up for grabs to raise funds for breast cancer charity The Lavender Trust, reports The Sun.
The dress has been bought by a London buyer named Higghe.
Winehouse couldn’t attend the Grammy’s after visa problems following her rehab stint, however she swept away with five awards.
The dresses belonging to celebs such as Mariah Carey, Girls Aloud and Danielle Lloyd were also up for grabs at the charity auction.

Posted by fathima at 5:39 AM | Permalink | Comments

Omid — who met Brad on the set of Spy Game in 2000 — gave the actor marriage advice after Brad admitted he wasn’t happy with Jennifer.

The British comic star revealed, “I did a scene with Brad in the back of a taxi and it was only a few days after he had married Jennifer. I chatted to him for hours giving him advice about the three stages of marriage. Stage one is perfection — blind love. Stage two is the difficult stage, because you start to despise everything about her. If you can deal with the baggage you can possibly get to stage three — a harmonious marriage. “

After six weeks Brad came up to me and said, ‘I’m definitely in stage two Omid!’” Brad and Jennifer tied the knot in Malibu in July 2000. Rumours of marital problems surfaced in 2004 as Brad filmed Mr and Mrs Smith alongside Angelina Jolie.

Posted by fathima at 5:35 AM | Permalink | Comments

Serial sex offender gets 24 years

A serial sex offender has been jailed for 24 years for subjecting nine young girls to years of rape, sexual abuse and violence.
Jason King, 38, from Balfour Street in Newtownards, County Down, was told that he was every parent's worst nightmare.

Mr Justice Gillen said he considered King's case to be "probably the worst instance of multiple child abuse" that he had come across.

He was sentenced at Belfast Crown Court after being convicted on 58 counts.

These included nine rapes and 25 indecent assaults.

King was said to have groomed and preyed on the schoolgirls, aged between 12 and up to 15. Two of them became pregnant.

Originally from County Down, King, who showed no remorse, was brought up in County Kildare, but returned to Northern Ireland.

Mr Justice Gillen instructed that he sign the sex offenders' register for the rest of his life and barred him from ever working with children.

He also stipulated that in order to protect the public from King, believed to be at high risk of reoffending, would be released on licence.

Posted by fathima at 8:42 AM | Permalink | Comments

Eva Mendes is Looking Healthy

With most celebrity train wrecks, everybody sees it coming. But when Eva Mendes checked herself into rehab last month, it was a huge surprise to her adoring fans.

And now with all of that behind her, the "Hitch" actress is looking happier and healthier than ever, as evidenced by her appearance and disposition yesterday.

The "We Own the Night" babe was spotted by the paparazzi leaving her local medical facility in Beverly Hills, California with a big smile on her face.

Eva was looking fit and fine in a short-sleeved black dress with a pair of heels, a matching handbag and a pair of sunglasses.

Fropki.com

Posted by fathima at 10:25 AM | Permalink | Comments

Rowling revives privacy case over photo of son

LONDON (Reuters) - British author J.K. Rowling revived her bid on Monday to ban the further publication of a long-lens photograph of her son after the initial privacy claim was thrown out by a London court last year.Lawyers for the creator of the bestselling Harry Potter books, suing under her real name Joanne Murray, have gone to the Court of Appeal over the image of Rowling, her husband and their son David which was published in a Sunday Express magazine.

Rowling, 42, and her husband, Neil Murray, sued Express Newspapers and photo agency Big Pictures in David's name, seeking to block further publication.

The Express settled the claim, and last August High Court judge Nicholas Patten threw out the case against the agency.

He said David, who was less than two when the photograph was taken, was "not himself upset" by it and that as a result the claim being brought in his name was "somewhat artificial."

Patten said he sympathized with anyone wishing to shield their children from intrusive media attention, but added the law did not allow them "to carve out a press-free zone for their children in respect of absolutely everything they choose to do."

Reviving the claim in the Court of Appeal, Rowling's lawyer Richard Spearman said: "The claim is not about the right of the adult. It is about the rights of the child."

The hearing continues.

Posted by fathima at 10:16 AM | Permalink | Comments

She's certainly been through the proverbial ringer this past year. And Lindsay Lohan has put enough distance between her present and her past to finally get real with where she was, as well as where she hopes to be in the future.

The "Mean Girls" actress recently opened up about how her past indiscretions may have hurt her career chances from here on out. She told press, "I am what I am. They either want to take a chance or they don't, is how I see it."

In terms of the contributors to her breakdown in 2007, LiLo confessed, "I had a lot going on in my life and that was a way of hiding from it. I hadn't seen my dad; I had a lot of work stress 'cause I was constantly working and never took time to stop. Everything was go-go-go, and the easiest thing was to run away from it, going out and drinking at night. You know, you don't have to think when you let go sometimes."

Lindsay continued, "But I didn't realize it was getting in the way of my work – what I've worked for my whole life. There's not really much else to do when you're sitting in a treatment center. It's like, 'Why am I here? Let's think.'"

As for her future, the "Georgia Rule" actress wants to get back to what she does best- acting. "Right now I just want to find a great script, a great role. I was so used to working and working and working, and for a good few months there was nothing for me to do. Now I know what it's like to be an out-of-work actor, and how much it scares me."

Posted by fathima at 9:55 AM | Permalink | Comments

The year's top ten movies

And while that's more than two months after we announced our list of Best Hindi Films of 2007, spare us the time to let us get to the finest of international cinema, which takes its own sweet time in getting to our shores.

Now, with the cream of the crop coming to theatres and DVD in India, here's a look at my top ten ranking of the year. Feel free, fellow filmbuffs, to disagree.

It's been a super year. Here's the list, accompanied by special 1-10 ratings, relative on a scale comparing them to each other:

10. Charlie Wilson's War (7 out of 10)

Director Mike Nichols can never quite go astray, and in this fascinating true life tale of Congressman Charlie Wilson, he is aided by one of the most talented dialogue-men out there, The West Wing's Aaron Sorkin. It's great to see Tom Hanks getting a meaty role he can actually have fun with, after absolute ages, and he provides much fun as the whiskey-and-woman loving politician. Philip Seymour Hoffman is the film's gruff voice of pessimism -- reality, to be honest -- and, as always, rocks the joint.

What makes this film really glide, though, is a sparingly used Julia Roberts who plays Texan socialite Joanne Harris in a deliciously sexy manner that'd make your hair stand on end. The movie's highlight is a scene where, while Hanks lies in a bathtub in the background, she separates her eyelashes adroitly with an open safety pin while briefing him on the Afghanistan War.


Honestly, gun to your head, if you had to pick one Hollywood director to make a period musical about a possibly real-life London barber with a fetish for guillotining his clients and tossing them down to the basement to provide pastry-filling for his landlady's flourishing meat pie business, who would you pick?

Considering Quentin Tarantino's distaste for musicals, Tim Burton is the perfect choice bar none. The God of goth, arms linked inextricably with the super Johnny Depp -- who played barber once before in Burton's magnificent Edward Scissorhands, understands this, and makes Todd a gleeful celebration of death, where blood flows -- as if in salute to QT -- with Kill Billistic fervour. Yummy.

Depp pours out a mega performance, but is far from the best thing in the film, that honour going to the excellent Helena Bonham Carter, who sings the demanding Stephen Sondheim with gruesome grace.

The finest crafted film of the year, it's alarmingly delicious

Director Olivier Dahan's lyrically fluid handling of the tragic life of legendary French singer Edith Piaf bristles with life, love and pure passion. There is a rhythmic flow to the non-linear proceedings -- awesomely, heartbreakingly torturous for audiences unfamiliar with Edith's life -- and Dahan skillfully balances complete melancholia with songs that make you smile, even despite yourself.

And while Gerard Depardieu's cameo is so nicely placed -- it is he who gives Edith wings and makes the sparrow fly -- it could make you whistle, this is a film where one actress has to go from playing a drunk and defiant teenager holding out her hat in the streets to a drunk and defiant dying legend pouring out her heart on the stage. Marion Cotillard deserves all the Best Actress accolades she gets; this is a performance that warrants standing ovation

David Cronenberg, the 64-year-old master of veneral horror, goes literally under the skin with his remarkable Eastern Promises, a story set around the Russian mafia in London, a ruthless organisation that pricks its badges of honour unmistakably onto chests and shoulders instead of medals and ribbons. And Nikolai, an enigmatic chauffeur, has just managed to get himself tattooed the twin-stars, making him a made man.

A made man is also a term one can use for the actor playing Nikolia. Viggo Mortensen has been a capable actor for more than a while now -- never more so than in Cronenberg's last film, A History Of Violence -- but this is the one he's likely to be remembered for, a devastating acting job where he sizzles.

An overwhelming tale of moral degeneration, this is also an authentic edge-of-the-seat thriller, and one that features a brutal, fantastically choreographed fight sequence that is the stuff of nightmares. Wow

It has been a year of cinematic masterpieces, largely tragic and dark cinema that makes us brood and introspect, question ourselves and our relationships, and pontificate on the very nature of life and the world itself.

In that, then, we need to stand back and hail the one film that has brought us nothing but bright yellow skinned elation. The Simpsons Movie is the kind of unpretentiously spectacular achievement that might be the hardest ever to achieve, a film based on a brilliant TV show far past its prime.

Sit back, enjoy the fact that an American mainstream cartoon gets the meaning of the word 'Irony', and laugh our guts out. It's as joyous as a doughnut.

Posted by fathima at 8:20 AM | Permalink | Comments

Bollywood's Wonder Women

The Wonder Woman of today is something else. Although she may not have any visible super powers, trust her to be the undisputed queen of multi-tasking, that is, work 9-to-5, run a house and still manage to have a life.

Clearly, from astronaut to filmmaker, there's no dearth of female professionals in any competitive field. Our films have recognised the need to reflect the same.

And so there's more to our heroine than playing a stereotypical smug campus queen or lady of the night. A formidable combination of personality and pluck, she feels home essaying an economically and emotionally independent modern lady.

On the eve of International Women's Day, frpoki.com pays a tribute to the 'working' divas of Bollywood.

TV reporter -- Preity Zinta, Lakshya

The job: Romila Dutt is a focused and straight-forward individual with a strong sense of duty and awareness. Gentle yet brave, Romi has no qualms about throwing herself in the mouth of danger whilst covering the 1999 Kargil war.

Pat on the back: Preity Zinta met NDTV journalist Barkha Dutt, around whom the role was said to be modeled, to get the feel and authenticity of her character's profession for Farhan Akhtar's war drama.

Posted by fathima at 8:14 AM | Permalink | Comments

Oil rises as dollar falls to new low

NEW YORK - Oil prices rose Thursday, extending their record-setting gains as new economic reports and a decision by central banks in Europe to hold interest rates steady sent the dollar to a new low against the euro.While retailer reports on same-store sales were mixed, home foreclosures jumped in the fourth quarter to an all-time high, according to The Mortgage Bankers Association.

The European Central Bank and Bank of England, meanwhile, decided to leave interest rates unchanged.

Analysts believe the steadily weakening dollar is the reason oil prices have jumped to a number of new inflation-adjusted record highs this week. Crude futures offer a hedge against a falling dollar, and oil futures bought and sold in dollars are more attractive to foreign investors when the dollar is falling.

"This market continues to be based on the dollar," said James Cordier, founder of OptionSellers.com, a Tampa, Fla., trading firm.

Light, sweet crude for April delivery rose 93 cents to $105.45 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, after earlier spiking to a new record of $105.97.

At the pump, meanwhile, gas prices extended their advance toward record levels. The national average price of a gallon of gas rose 0.7 cent overnight to $3.185, according to AAA and the Oil Price Information Service. Gas prices are following oil higher, and are expected to peak this spring well above last May's record of $3.227 a gallon.

Diesel prices jumped 1.4 cents overnight to a new record national average of $3.71 a gallon. High diesel prices are boosting prices of consumer goods, the vast majority of which are transported by the distillate fuel.

OPEC's decision on Wednesday to hold production steady, and the Energy Department's report that oil inventories rose last week, continued to prompt some investors to buy, analysts said.

Traders also worried about escalating tensions between oil producing countries in Latin America. Following a weekend attack by Colombia on leftist rebels in neighboring Ecuador, Venezuela moved tanks and soldiers to the Colombian border. Ecuador said Monday it had sent 3,200 soldiers to its border with Colombia.

In other Nymex trading, April heating oil futures rose 1.55 cents to $2.9586 a gallon, while April gasoline futures fell 0.81 cents to $2.634 a gallon.

April natural gas futures rose 7.3 cents to $9.814 per 1,000 cubic feet. The Energy Department said inventories fell by 135 billion cubic feet last week, less than analysts had expected.

In London, Brent crude rose 81 cents to $102.45 a barrel on the ICE Futures exchange.

Posted by fathima at 9:15 AM | Permalink | Comments

'Idol' nearly mum on contestant's past
LOS ANGELES - David Hernandez's stripper past didn't come back to haunt him on Tuesday night's "American Idol." Hernandez's three-year stint as a male stripper wasn't even mentioned during the live telecast, which featured the 24-year-old from Glendale, Ariz., performing a rendition of Celine Dion's "It's All Coming Back to Me Now." However, acerbic judge Simon Cowell did mutter something about stripping, off camera, immediately after the song ended.

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Randy Jackson called Hernandez's singing "pitchy" but said he had a "big ol' voice." Paula Abdul raved that Hernandez had some of the "best vocals." And Simon Cowell said it wasn't as good as last week, but Hernandez had secured himself a place in the finals.

On Thursday, 16 semifinalists will be narrowed down to the final 12 contestants.

Other than Cowell, no one alluded to Monday's news that Hernandez worked for three years in Phoenix at Dick's Cabaret. There, he would appear fully nude and perform lap dances for the club's "mostly male" clientele, club manager Gordy Bryan told The Associated Press on Monday.

It apparently wasn't Hernandez's "most embarrassing moment" either. (Contestants had to 'fess up about theirs during the show.) In a taped segment before his performance, Hernandez said his red-faced moment happened when he discovered he had "a pea-sized booger" in his nose following a photo shoot.

Fox and the producers have declined to comment about Hernandez.

In 2003, semifinalist Frenchie Davis was dismissed from "Idol" because of her appearance on an adult Web site, but Antonella Barba remained in the competition last year after racy photos of her surfaced on the Internet.

Third-place finisher Nikki McKibbin from the first "Idol" season briefly worked as stripper before the show, according to Joe Cannizzaro, president of McKibbin's record label, Chenoa Music. Like Hernandez, McKibbin wasn't dismissed from the show when her history as a stripper was publicly revealed — nor was it disclosed on the show.

Dick's Cabaret manager Bryan told the AP he was aware that Hernandez was a vocalist, but that Hernandez never sang at the club. Bryan said he now believes Hernandez stopped working at the strip club on Sept. 30, 2007, because of his participation in "Idol."

On a video posted on AmericanIdol.com, Hernandez said he broke the lease on his apartment and lived out of his car before auditioning for "Idol." And, when asked in a Q&A posted on the site which talent would he would most like to have if he couldn't sing, Hernandez responded: "Dancing! I'm horrible at that."

Posted by fathima at 9:00 AM | Permalink | Comments

Good art should unsettle not soothe: Gormley

LONDON (Reuters) - Good art, says Antony Gormley, should make you feel unsettled, even challenged, and not fit neatly into your everyday lifeThe role of the artist is to foment revolution not confirm the status quo says the man who created the monolithic Angel of the North statue and has turned his own body into an art industry.

"We have to continuously break our own rules. Artists are capable of falling foul of their own conventions, of getting lazy," Gormley told Reuters at the opening to the public on Wednesday of his two new works "Lost Horizon" and "Firmament."

"Art should be an agent of destabilization, an agent for change," added the 57-year-old Londoner.

Following the success of his first major retrospective at the Hayward Gallery and Event Horizon exhibition on the rooftops of London last year, Gormley's new installations at the White Cube, Mason's Yard are again based on his body.

"Lost Horizon" has 32 life-sized solid iron copies of Gormley's body adorning the floor, walls and ceiling of one room in the gallery.

"Firmament" has 1,770 steel rods welded together in a giant structure depicting the human form that arches across another, subterranean chamber.

"It is all about questioning where human beings fit into the world," Gormley said. "When you walk into these rooms they should unsettle you, make you reexamine your place."

"Art that makes you feel comfortable is likely to be craft, not art. It will naturally fit into conventions, not be evolving, challenging," he said.

Gormley is surprised at the success of last year's simultaneous exhibitions which drew record crowds to London's South Bank and prompted numerous calls to police from members of the public who mistook his rooftop figures for suicide jumpers.

"That was very surprising. In my view good art is unlikely to be immediately accepted. But this clearly was," he said.

Best known for the Angel of the North, a project he describes as an "absolute experiment" that towers over the A1 road in northeastern England, Gormley has also exhibited in Venice, Germany, Australia, Singapore, Portugal and China.

Despite being best known for public space installations, Gormley complains than most of today's public art is lazy and meaningless, dismissing it as "garnish" for badly designed buildings.

"On the whole we have not reinvented the statue for the 21st century very convincingly," he said.

Posted by fathima at 8:51 AM | Permalink | Comments

Obama letter delights Japanese namesake town

TOKYO (AFP) - Barack Obama has sent a letter saluting his supporters in a Japanese town that shares his name, delighting residents who are rooting for the US Senator to win his party's presidential nominationThe mayor of the western town of Obama last year sent a package to the presidential hopeful that included a set of local lacquer chopsticks, voicing hope he would take interest in the region.

After a long wait, the town's mayor on Monday received a letter from Obama expressing his appreciation for the town's "support and encouragement" and the "thoughtful gifts".

Obama wrote the letter in English but signed it in Japanese, "Your friend".

"We share more than a common name; we share a common planet and common responsibilities," Obama wrote in the letter.

"I look forward to a future marked by the continued friendship of our two great nations and a shared commitment to a better, freer world," he concluded.

Obama's mayor, Toshio Murakami, proudly showed the letter to reporters and said he would write back after watching how Obama fares against Hillary Clinton in Tuesday's key contests in Texas and Ohio for the Democratic nomination.

"I was so surprised. It's like, 'Really? Is this true?'" Murakami said.

Obama, which means "small shore" in Japanese, is an ancient fishing village of 32,000 on the Sea of Japan (East Sea) where residents are planning to hold a party to watch the results of the latest primary elections.

Some 100 self-styled Obama supporters plan to gather wearing "I love Obama" t-shirts and headbands. The crowd will give a rousing Japanese chant of "Banzai" -- which means "Long live!" -- if Obama clinches the nomination.

During the results, supporters will dine on food named after the senator , such as the "Obama Hamburger" and the "Obama Cutlet Roll".

"We feel very close to Mr Obama as it's pretty rare to have such a coincidence in name," said Seiji Fujihara, a member of the local tourism board as well as head of a club for Obama supporters in the town.

"If he's elected, we hope to arrange a trip to the White House to meet Mr Obama. I hope he'll accept our visit."

Posted by fathima at 7:32 AM | Permalink | Comments

Chesney leads Academy of Country Music award bids

NASHVILLE, Tennessee (Reuters) - Kenny Chesney easily snagged 12 nominations on Tuesday to lead contenders for the annual Academy of Country Music awards, and Rodney Atkins, who has had four straight number one singles, was second with six.Atkins, 39, whose "If You're Going Through Hell" was the most played country single of 2006, was Top Male Vocalist in last year's academy competition.

Chesney led in total nominations, including one for Entertainer of the Year, which he had already won three times. If he wins that again he would tie Garth Brooks for academy honors in that category.

The nominations were announced in Nashville along with the announcement that, for the first time, fans will choose the winner of the "Entertainer of the Year" award. Voting will start on May 5 and the awards will be presented on May 18 in Las Vegas in a program aired on CBS Television.

Coming in third on the nominations list was Brad Paisley with four individual nominations, while the duos Big & Rich and Sugarland each won four nominations.

Miranda Lambert and 18-year-old Taylor Swift both received three nominations.

In addition to the top entertainer award, Chesney's nominations included Top Male Vocalist, Album of the Year for "Just Who I Am: Poets & Pirates," Single Record of the Year, Song of the Year and Video of the Year for "Don't Blink."

Atkins was nominated for Top Male Vocalist, Song of the Year and Video of the Year for "Watching You" and Album of the Year for "If You're Going Through Hell."

Brad Paisley was nominated for Entertainer of the Year, Top Male Vocalist, Album of the Year for "5th Gear" and Video of the Year for "Online."

Big & Rich snared nominations for Top Vocal Duo and, for the song "Lost in this Moment," Single Record of the Year, Song of the Year and Video of the Year. John Rich was nominated for a producer and writer award, and Big Kenny for two producing awards.

Sugarland's four nominations were for Top Vocal Duo, and for the song "Stay," Single Record of the Year, Song of the Year and Video of the Year. Jennifer Nettles also received two nominations for writing and producing, and Kristian Bush received one for producing.

Besides Chesney and Paisley, other nominees for Entertainer of the Year were the duo Rascal Flatts, George Strait and Keith Urban. The nominees for female Vocalist were Lambert, Swift, Martina McBride, LeAnn Rimes, and Carrie Underwood. Top Male Vocalist nominations went to Atkins, Chesney, Paisley, Strait and Urban.

Posted by fathima at 7:25 AM | Permalink | Comments

US launches airstrike in Somalia

WASHINGTON - The U.S. launched a military airstrike in Somalia to go after a group of terrorist suspects, defense officials said Monday.

"It was a deliberate, precise strike against a known terrorist and his associates," one U.S. military official said, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to comment on the record.

He gave few other details, except to say the targets were believed staying in building known to be used regularly by terrorist suspects.

In the strike early Monday, Somali police said three missiles hit a Somali town held by Islamic extremists, destroying a home and seriously injuring eight people.

The strike follows one last year in which the U.S. shelled suspected al-Qaida targets in Somalia, using gunfire from a U.S. Navy ship off the shore of the lawless East African nation.

Posted by fathima at 9:02 AM | Permalink | Comments

Fergie has been taking in the styles at Milan Fashion Week

If you've noticed an influx of American celebrities to Italy, it's not just a coincidence. They're coming in droves for Milan Fashion Week, and Black Eyed Pea Fergie isn't one to be left out.

The "Big Girls Don't Cry" singer was spotted at the Dolce & Gabbana show yesterday, rubbing shoulders with Lindsay Lohan and checking out the Italian designers' latest looks.

And Fergie-Ferg got her sexy on in a little black belted dress, showing off her ample "lady lumps" as she perused the bevy of beautiful models.

But she didn't stop there- the "Fergalicious" babe also stopped in to check out the Gianni Versace show before attending the DSQUARED2 show and after party.

Posted by fathima at 7:00 AM | Permalink | Comments

As Oscar weekend approaches, many celebrities are finding themselves jet-setting from America to Italy and back. And Megan Fox is one of them.

As previously reported by the Fropki.com, Fox was spotted at LAX airport on Tuesday of this week getting ready to board a plane to Milan.

Once she touched down in Italy, it was all about checking out the latest fashions. And with a body like hers, Megan can wear just about anything.

She was seen at the Gianni Versace show yesterday rocking a super-sexy, cleavage-bearing, flowy silver dress, along with her Marilyn Monroe tattoo and enough attitude for the entire room.

Fropki.com

Posted by fathima at 6:56 AM | Permalink | Comments

But it was all an illusion, made possible by the film-studio art of "bosom make-up". It is a skill from Hollywood's golden age that fell out of favour with the advent of silicone enhancement.

Miss Knightley said: "They painted my t**s on me for the films, which is extraordinary because it's kind of a dying art form - in the past, they used to have whole sections of the studios devoted to bosom make-up.

"And I loved it, completely loved it. Because it was the first time in my life I had big t**s, and I didn't even need surgery.'

She said the process of creating the cleavage took 45 minutes every morning before filming started.


A make-up artist would apply a slightly darker shade of base make-up between Miss Knightley's own breasts to create a shadow to increase the 'cleavage effect'.

The actress's assets were digitally enhanced in movie posters for her 2004 film King Arthur. In British versions she appeared in her natural state, but in posters for the US they had grown to a C-cup size, causing much debate among cinema-goers.

Miss Knightley said she was anxious not to be typecast in her Pirates role and took the risk of appearing in the 2005 film Domino as a model turned bounty-hunter.

In an interview in Easy Living magazine the actress, who is dating actor Rupert Friend, tells how she solved the dilemma of nudity required in Domino after being told by director Tony Scott that the role called for her nak*d bottom to be displayed on screen during a sex scene.

"I said, 'You can have my t**s, but you can't have my a**.' And he was going, 'I just want the a**; I don't want the t**s.'

"Then one day Tony called me in to his office and there were three very beautiful women standing there completely nak*d, and I couldn't quite take my eyes off bits of them.

"And he said, 'Which one do you want, then?'"

The actress was being asked to pick a derrière-double. She said: "I did pick a very beautiful bum."


Uplifting: Keira's chest was digitally boosted for the U.S. promotional posters of King Arthur

Chanel babe: Keira strips off for the Coco Mademoiselle ads

Screen siren: Keira Knightley is a vision in green in Atonement

Posted by fathima at 6:47 AM | Permalink | Comments