Van Tango

Will America choose sweet Taylor Hicks over sexy Katharine McPhee during this week's finale of American Idol? Fox News Lisa Bernhard explored the question, with comments from both contestants. [vid]

Katharine McPhee and Taylor Hicks gave phone press conferences last Friday to talk about the finale of 'American Idol'. Asked if it matters if she wins on Wednesday, McPhee responded, "I've had a few people ask me that. Of course, you want to win. Definitely, I'd love to win. I think it depends on the person. Look at Clay Aiken. He's done really well for himself and he didn't win. I don't know if it really matters. When you're in the top two... Taylor and I looked at each other and said, 'Oh my God it doesn't matter.'" More...[link].

AOL Music is hosting an online listening party [link] for the compilation album 'American Idol Seaon 5 Encores', released on Tuesday (May 23). The disc features music from the FOX show's 12 finalists.

Out & About:
- Noel G and girlfriend Sara MacDonald shopping and going to the cinema in London, England on May 9th. [wenn].
- Charlotte Church and boyfriend Gavin Henson were photographed enjoying a weekend break in Spain on Saturday May 20. [wenn]
- Boyzone stars Shane Lynch, Ronan Keating, and Stephen Gately met up for a boys night out at Nobu in London, England on Thursday May 18. [ wenn / rex]

Check out these two great Muse sites for all your muse-y needs.. [ M-DL / M-BR ]


Wedding Story No.1:
This is great! Kylie and Olivier Martinez will tie the knot... twice! They have planned two wedding parties: one in Kylie's native Australia and one in Olivier's native France. A source said: "They're planning wedding parties in France and Australia. Olivier went to Corsica in February to look at venues this end." A few months ago she was spotted trying on a wedding dress, on a trendy shop, accompanied by her love mate. Congrats to both!


Wedding Story No.2:
Jennifer Aniston is apparently so desperate to have a baby, that she has reportedly put beau Vince Vaughn on 'healthy' diet to increase her chances of conceiving. Aniston has been making Vaughn cut down on his love for drink, cigs and fast food. She was quoted as saying: "If Vince was drinking, smoking and eating burgers, my will power would be out the window." There are also rumours about the couple planning to tie the knot later this year with a ceremony in Fiji, and that Aniston has been discussing wedding dresses with celebrity fashion designer Vera Wang. That boy does look as if he needs to stop the burger intake..and getting a makeover. Must be a real thing going on between them.


Wedding Story No.3:
Of all the wedding singers, Nicole Kidman has to pick a horrible one. Bette Midler to be precise. The veteran lady will sing her hit Wind Beneath My Wings at Nicole's wedding in Sydney, Australia on June 25. That song is her all-time favourite. Bette & Nicole are very close; both being born in Hawaii so probably they have many things in common. I won't wanna hear that song again coz it's beyond cheesy. Saying that, it's going to be one grand ceremony come June. And there will be no pre-nup agreement.


She may be a famous tv spy, but Jennifer Garner is not so well trained in the kitchen...Her house was reportedly set on fire due to her leaving a frying pan unattended! Jenn reveals: "I love to cook but, um, I do have a little problem. Sometimes I'll cook a little hot. We're staying in a rented house, and I didn't know how to put the vent on over the stove." Thankfully, after a few minutes, the burning pan triggered the fire alarm. Jen explains, "It's [the alarm] saying, 'Fire, please leave the building. Fire, please leave the building.'" That is not all. To make things more interesting, people came dashing in... "Next thing, here [the firefighters] come. Hatchets, hats, full gear. We hear pound, pound, pound, pound, pound on the door. There were like eight firemen and I said, 'Well, I can fix you dinner. But it's probably gonna be burned.'" Ben Affleck's face must have been feeling blushingly hot as well.


Hugh Jackman has revealed the James Bond movie-makers wanted him to sign up for 007 ... but he wouldn't until he'd seen a script. So, that part went to Daniel Craig, who was not a popular choice with every Bond fan. Aussie Hugh admitted: "They rang my agent to find out availability and interest.
"I said: 'Can I have a look at the script? Who is directing it?'
"They said: 'Just sign on.'
"I was like, 'No'.
"They didn't offer it to me. I don't want to be on record as saying I was offered it because that's not true."

X-Men 3 >> Magazine Cover Gallery [link]

X-Men 3 Review:
Having just watched the preview, I must say this third installment was quite well done. The action is fast paced almost throughout the show, with some major surprises along the way. Some characters like Cyclops, Angel, Rogue were extremely underused but the introduction of new mutants such as Jaggernaut, Beast, Multiple Man & Callisto was a cool idea to incorporate into the show. The best fighting scene would be in the house where Professor X got ........ by Dark Phoenix. The last battle involving the huge golden gate bridge was fantastic; with many one-on-one head-ons between the mutants. There are lesser long-winded talking scenes this time and this new director did a pretty good job overall. 'Magneto' was seen trying to move a chess piece without touching and interestingly, it did move a liiiiiiiiiiittle... And don't be foolish by not sitting through the credits because there is something special after that.

Pete Doherty's AOL biography article [link]. Funniest part is everyone's Pete Headlines. "The U.K.'s GQ Man of the Year. Eat yer heart out Johnny Depp!" Rough Trade has dropped Babyshambles [link] but the label insists that the contract came to a 'natural end' and that they were happy to talk to the band about future plans. It would appear the cause of it was that sad incident with a MTV cameraman. Despite the relationship being amicable between the two parties, Babyshambles are still without a label and a manager. With the daily controversies baggage, it would take a brave move to manage this band.

X-tina - Back To Basics (audio sampler)


Bluebell Madonna = Why this name????? Geri gave her newborn baby this name after being stunned by the spring flowers in the park during her pregnancy. In the Hello! mag, she said: "Scarlett was a name I loved, as Scarlett O'Hara was my fictional heroine. I seemed to recall she had a daughter who was called 'Blue'. I thought that was cute - and Bluebell was even cuter. As I walked around the park in the last few weeks of pregnancy, I seemed to see bluebells everywhere. There's a good reason I picked Madonna as a middle name, too. As she came out of my tummy, Bluebell had both arms wide in the air as if announcing, 'Hi, I'm here.' She was screaming her head off, as though she was shouting, 'Hello Wembley.' "No one else has that name, apart from the Virgin Madonna and the singer, who I love." Goodness me why does she have to pick such a horrible name for her child? 'Scarlett' would do just fine. But at least she is happy to have her own 'little doll'.

Andrea Corr at a photocall in Cannes. Unsurprisingly stunning as ever.


Prince William kissing singer Natasha Hamilton (21st May 2006)

The British press is making this smooch between Tash and Prince Williams into something big. This incident happened following a charity concert in London last weekend. But she has denied trying to seduce him. Tash said: "I wasn't trying it on. He has a girlfriend and I have a boyfriend. It's just an unfortunate picture. I'm so embarrassed by it. It looks like I'm going in for the snog, but really I was not. I don't think his girlfriend Kate Middleton will believe it." Guess it's just an innocent act. Not too sure whether this Kate will have her kitten-claws out over this...

The best thing to eat to extend your lifespan is very little. True? Why caloric restriction should lengthen life isn't clear, but it now seems that growth hormone could well be a key piece in the puzzle. Andrzej Bartke and colleagues at Southern Illinois University worked with normal mice and mutant mice missing the receptor for growth hormone. Half of each type were allowed to eat at will, and the other half were fed 30 per cent fewer calories than usual. As expected, normal mice on fewer calories lived 20 to 30 per cent longer. Mice without the growth hormone receptor also showed similar increases in longevity on a normal diet. This suggests that restricting calories has a similar effect on the body to knocking out the growth hormone receptor. Doing both does not make the mice live even longer: the mutant mice on low-calorie diets had similar lifespans to those on the normal diet. "The actions of growth hormone are somehow implicated in linking caloric restriction to longer life," Bartke says. Insulin may be the connection. Both groups of long-lived mice had a greater sensitivity to insulin, and caloric restriction in the mutant mice failed to increase their strong insulin sensitivity any further.
"Insulin resistance is a risk factor for just about any problem you don't want to get: diabetes, atherosclerosis, cancer. It's sort of intuitive that the opposite situation would be beneficial."