debritz.net - Celebs

GoMA's pile

debritz — Fri, 01 Dec 2006 13:48:22 -0700

A few thoughts on the opening of Brisbane's impressive new Gallery of Modern Art last night:
* I think it was very wise of them not to lay the carpet until after the opening. Those red wine stains are impossible to remove.
* On the subject of drinks, I had to walk a long way to find one of the non-alcoholic variety.
* I got sick of hearing about how many interstate guests were there. As if we need people from elsewhere to validate what's happening in Brisbane. Let's shake off the cringe, people.
* It's great to see they gave this sign (pictured) one last outing.
PS: Yes, I know it's not meant to have carpet and, yes, the headline on this item is meaningless, but I thought it was funny.

Where's Wally? On Nine, of course

debritz — Thu, 30 Nov 2006 23:34:46 -0700

Is this the non-scoop of the century? I've just received a press release saying Wally Lewis will speak exclusively to Channel 9 news tonight about his mystery illness. Of course he will; he works for Channel 9. It'd be a surprise if he told all to anyone else.
Update: Wally revealed he is epileptic and, of course, he deserves our best wishes.

Premier attraction

debritz — Thu, 30 Nov 2006 22:08:42 -0700

I've met Queensland Premier Peter Beattie a couple of times. I'm not sure if he knows who I am or I just look like somebody he knows or thinks he should know. Whatever the truth of it, he certainly helped me impress a visiting PR person from Sydney today. We organised to meet for coffee at the new State Library and, just after we hooked up, the Premier and his deputy Anna Bligh came wandering past. Mr Beattie looked in my direction and gave me a big wave of acknowledgement. I resisted the temptation to big-note myself to the interstate guest, but I would have been impressed if I was her.

Wiggling all the way to the bank?

debritz — Thu, 30 Nov 2006 03:20:28 -0700

I'm not sure if this is appropriate or not, but I can't help wondering whether Sam Moran will be a "real" Wiggle now that he's officially replaced the ailing Greg Page. Will he get the same share of the takings as the other three Wiggles or will he just be an employee on the payroll? I assume Page, as a founding member, will also continue to have a stake in the huge multinational business that is The Wiggles.

TV or not TV in 2007

debritz — Tue, 28 Nov 2006 13:20:10 -0700

After the departure of Tracey Spicer from Ten and Naomi Robson from Seven's Today Tonight, Crikey is calling it the "boning season" in television. Of course, officially neither of them were actually sacked - Robson made her own decision to move on and Spicer's contract expired. It makes one wonder, however, how many more departures will occur over the festive season. The rumour mill is already running hot, but I have it on good authority that one Brisbane TV program that is routinely written off around this time of the year will definitely be back in 2007.

Naomi tells all

debritz — Sun, 26 Nov 2006 22:38:51 -0700

This just in: Naomi Robson, whose future as host of Today Tonight has been the subject of much discussion in recent weeks, will make a "special announcement" on the program tonight.
Update: She's leaving; more here.

Nova nights change again

debritz — Sun, 26 Nov 2006 17:37:15 -0700

First it was Jabba and Justine, then it was Justine and Simon, then Vee and Bossy, now Nova 106.9FM has made what it calls a "permanent change" in its night-time shift. Step forward Dan Lyons and Ken Green, previously known as The Benchwarmers. Here's the Nova press release in full:

Nova 106.9 is pleased to finally announce Dan Lyons and Ken Green as the new hosts of Nova's Night Show in 2007.
Dan & Ken, previously known as "The Benchwarmers" have worked together since 2000, most recently networked throughout Australia on over 42 radio stations.
Dan & Ken are no strangers to Queensland, forging their radio careers here and currently based on the Goldie. The boys are over the moon about moving back to Brissie to host a LOCAL show where they can finally call the time without worrying about 4 time zones!
When we asked Dan how he felt about losing his social life at night he said, "I’m really excited, but I’m still gonna hold onto my dream of spruiking outside $2 discount stores. I can't believe they're handing the reigns to two knobs like us!"

read more

A week of losses

debritz — Fri, 24 Nov 2006 16:21:08 -0700

The world has lost some great entertainers in the past few days. French actor Philippe Noiret, US jazz singer Anita O'Day, Broadway producer Betty Comden and BBC radio journalist Nick Clarke have all been added to my Celebrity Deaths Archive.

By the book

debritz — Thu, 23 Nov 2006 19:29:03 -0700

The ABC may have declined to publish Jonestown, the controversial Chris Masters biography of radio star Alan Jones, but the national broadcaster is still making some money from the venture. At the time of writing, the book is featured on the front page of the ABC Shop site.

Dancing with the truth?

debritz — Wed, 22 Nov 2006 13:01:08 -0700

I guess it's a matter of how contrived you want your "reality" TV to be. Gold Coast chess champ and Dancing with the Stars contestant Arianne Caoli is under fire because she's allegedly a well-trained dancer - even though she told host Daryl Somers that she'd never had a dance lesson. My care factor's pretty low, but people are voting on this thing and the producers owe it them to preserve some integrity in the process.