Untitled Document

Anything Goes

March/April 2007

Oscar triumph for Helen MirrenBritish actress Helen Mirren wins her first best actress Oscar for The Queen. She described the honour as the "biggest and the best gold star

Elizabeth Taylor turns 75Silver screen legend Elizabeth celebrates her 75th birthday today

Princess Diana tiaras on displayBejewelled accessories once worn by the late Princess, including pieces on loan from the Spencer family collection, go on display in Cleveland in an exhibition entitled Diana, A Celebration

Hepburn dress aids India's poor

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/6377915.stm

The dress sparked a frenzy when it went to auction
The sale of Audrey Hepburn's iconic black dress from classic film Breakfast at Tiffany's is to fund 15 new educational centres in India. The black Givenchy dress, made specifically for Hepburn's role in the 1961 movie, sold to an anonymous bidder for £467,200 at Christie's in December.

Proceeds from the sale have gone to Calcutta-based charity City of Joy Aid. The first new educational centre is being built in Lakshikautapur, Bengal, and will be opened later this month. It will be equipped with computers and audio aids to help teach English to children who otherwise would never go to school.

Bidding frenzy

French author Dominique Lapierre set up City of Joy Aid, which helps India's poor through a network of clinics, schools, rehabilitation centres and hospital boats. Lapierre was given the dress - one of three made for Hepburn in her role as eccentric Manhattan socialite Holly Golightly - by designer Hubert de Givenchy. It had been expected to fetch £70,000, but caused a bidding frenzy when it was sold in London on 5 December. The winning bidder paid £410,000, with the rest of the sale price made up of buyer's fees.

The dress sparked a frenzy when it went to auction

Academy Awards!

The Academy Awards are tired, but the Oscar statuette remains a design classic?unlike these 10 highly coveted atrocities

The Academy Awards have become one huge foregone conclusion!! Even my half-blind beagle, Gus, knows who's going to win. Among his other complaints: too many "greige" gowns and a distinct shortage of Debbie Allen production numbers (video clips of Allen's 1999 Saving Private Ryan tap dance still make his hind legs spasm with joy). One thing we continue to admire, however, is the statuette itself. Designed in 1929 by legendary MGM art director Cedric Gibbons, the Oscar is restrained. Though its Art Deco "crusader" is admittedly naked, he does not arch his back suggestively like the slutty Emmy or swivel like the Tony. He would never appear in public with Jimmy Kimmel like the American Music Award. Most importantly, unlike the majority of award statuettes designed in recent years, the Oscar does not strain to be unique. It is not pointy or see-through or, in any way, an abstraction of a cowboy hat. The beagle and I would proudly display one on our $249.99 Bjursta sideboard from IKEA. The same cannot be said, however, of these 10 awkward designs, currently in tight contention for one of Radar's lowest honors, "The Ugliest Award in the World."

The youngest sister of Spain's Princess Letizia has died in Madrid at 31, the Royal Palace said Wednesday.

MADRID (AFP) - Spain's Princess Letizia, wife to heir to the throne Prince Felipe de Bourbon, resumed her official duties, one week after the death of her younger sister Erika Ortiz.

Letizia, dressed in black, visited the new Madrid headquarters of the Cervantes Institute, which is charged with promoting Spanish language and culture around the world, along with her husband, who wore a black tie.

Fine arts graduate Erika Ortiz, the mother of a six-year-old girl, was found dead in the bedroom of her apartment on February 7. She was widely reported to have taken her own life although the cause of death was not officially confirmed.

Ortiz was known to have been suffering from depression having split with the father of her child, sculptor Antonio Vigo, last year. The tabloid media had written at length about the couple's separation.

Letizia married Felipe, heir to the Spanish throne, in 2004. They are parents of a one-year-old daughter, Leonor, and Letizia is due to give birth to their second child in May.

The Ministry of Defense has confirmed Prince Harry will be with his regiment, the Blues and Royals, when it heads for Iraq as part of a long-planned rotation of troops. The news means he will become the first royal to go into active service since his uncle, Prince Andrew, served in the Falklands War in 1982.

Sidney Poitier turns 80In The Heat Of The Night star Sidney Poitier, who became the first black actor to receive an Oscar for a leading role when he won an Academy Award in 1963 for Lilies Of The Field

Queen Rania appears on Italian talk show

Jordan's beautiful young queen salutes fans during an Italian talk show appearance while on an official visit to the country

Princess Caroline visits Nelson Mandela

Former South African president Nelson Mandela welcomes Princess Caroline of Monaco to Johannesburg

PRESIDENTIAL BATTLE BEGINS: Segolene Royale invested by Socialist Party

The Socialist candidate in France's presidential election, Segolene Royal, has launched her manifesto in Paris.
She announced a 100-point platform with a strong emphasis on social programmes, promising a higher minimum wage and the construction of more low-rent housing. Ms Royal has been criticised for delaying the release of her platform until just 10 weeks before the first round of elections. She has fallen behind her right-wing rival Nicolas Sarkozy in opinion polls.

Ms Royal unveiled her "presidential pact" in front of a cheering crowd of Socialist Party delegates who frequently broke into chants of "Segolene, president!" "I feel today I can propose to you something more than a platform," she said. "A pact of honour, a presidential pact that I propose to everyone, the most vulnerable and the strong, those who have been our supporters all along and those who have not, because France needs all its people." Many of the 100 points already feature in the Socialist Party's election programme released last year. Others, such as proposals to set up citizens' juries to evaluate the work of the National Assembly and military-style boot camps for young offenders are new ideas.

Clint to be awarded top French award

Hollywood star Clint Eastwood has been presented with the highest civilian distinction in France, Legion d'honneur, at a ceremony in Paris.

Cameron and Al get serious about climate change

Glam Sharon jets into Berlin for festival

Actress Sharon Stone attends the premiere of her latest movie 'When A Man Falls In The Forest' during the Berlin International Film Festival

London Fashion Week gets underway

Models take to the London catwalk in the latest collection by British designer Caroline Charles. The fashion veteran recently launched her first eponymously titled fragrance

Rawhide' singer Frankie Laine dies at 93

LOS ANGELES, California (AP) -- Frankie Laine, the big-voiced singer whose string of hits made him one of the most popular entertainers of the 1950s, died Tuesday. He was 93.

Laine died of heart failure at Scripps Mercy Hospital in San Diego, Jimmy Marino, Laine's producer of more than a dozen years, told The Associated Press.

"He was one of the greatest singers around," Marino said. "He was one of the last Italian crooners type."

With songs such as "That's My Desire," "Mule Train," "Jezebel," "I Believe" and "That Lucky Old Sun," Laine was a regular feature of the Top Ten in the years just before rock 'n' roll ushered in a new era of popular music.

Somewhat younger listeners may remember him best for singing the theme to the television show "Rawhide," which ran from 1959 to 1966, and the theme for the 1974 movie "Blazing Saddles."

He sold more than 100 million records and earned more than 20 gold records.

"He will be forever remembered for the beautiful music he brought into this world, his wit and sense of humor, along with the love he shared with so many," Laine's family said in a statement.

Laine said his musical influences included Bing Crosby, Al Jolson and jazz artists including Bessie Smith, Louis Armstrong and Billie Holliday.

"When people nowadays say that Elvis was the first white guy to sound black, I have to shake my head; what can you do?" he said in a 1987 interview. "At the time of 'That's My Desire,' they were saying that I was the only white guy around who sounded black."

He occasionally recorded songs by country singers, such as "Hey Good Lookin"' and "Your Cheatin' Heart" by Hank Williams. In 2004 he released an album called "Nashville Connection."

Laine's variety show "Frankie Laine Time" ran for two summers, 1955 and 1956, on CBS, and he also appeared in films including "When You're Smiling," and "Sunny Side of the Street."

He had a top 25 hit on the Billboard charts in 1969 with "You Gave Me a Mountain," a song written by Marty Robbins.

Laine was born Frank LoVecchio on March 30, 1913, in Chicago, the son of a barber who emigrated from Sicily.

He struggled from his teens until well into his 30s -- even having to earn a living as a marathon dancer -- before hits began coming his way with "That's My Desire" in 1947. His breakthrough came when Hoagy Carmichael heard him sing in a Los Angeles nightclub and praised his work.

"People like to say, 'Oh, I wouldn't change a thing,"' he said in an interview for the book "Off the Record: An Oral History of Popular Music." "But if I had it to do over again, there is one thing I would change. I would make it happen maybe 10 years sooner.

"Ten years is a good stretch of scuffling. But I scuffled for 17 years before it happened, and 17 is a bit much."

In recent years, he remained active in touring and in charity fund-raising. Punning on the title of one of his hits, he called his 1993 autobiography "That Lucky Old Son."

His last performance was in 2005 on a PBS television special.

He was married to Nan Grey, a leading lady in Hollywood films of the 1930s who died in 1993.

Survivors include his second wife, Marcia; a brother; and two daughters.

At 114 years of age, she still enjoys a cheroot

By Khin Su Wai

¡ÆI married at 21, but my oldest is now 80¡Ç

Fiesty Daw Mya Gyi said she would have liked to have changed into nicer clothing before she was photographed. Pic: Khin Su Wai

AT the ripe old age of 114 years, Daw Mya Gyi from Mandalay Division is officially recognised as the oldest woman in Myanmar. Despite her age – which has been confirmed by the Ministry of Social Welfare, Relief and Resettlement – and her smoking habit, she is in good health and she maintains a feisty attitude about her desire to look good for the camera.

When Myanmar Times reporter Khin Su Wai showed up unannounced at her home in the village of Pauk Chaing Gon for an interview, Daw Mya Gyi complained that she would have worn better clothes and put rings on her fingers had she been notified in advance. On October 1, she will attend an event to mark the International Day of Older Persons, at which homage will be paid to those 97 years of age and above.

How do you feel about attending ceremonies where homage is paid to you and other elderly people?

I¡Çm not very comfortable at such events because I have to sit on a sofa in front of everyone. I¡Çve been doing these ceremonies since I was in my 80s, and I¡Çm still shy about them.

What do you do with all the donations you receive during these ceremonies?

I give most of them back to the monastery, especially chairs, benches, robes and money.

How many grandsons and granddaughters do you have now?

A planeload. I can¡Çt even remember how many or what their names are.

Do you live alone?

Until recently, one of my grandsons stayed with me. But now I am living alone. I like to live alone. If the kids come here for 15 days, I have 15 quarrels with them.

How is your health?

I¡Çm fine except for a slight pain in the back from slipping and falling down in the mud. Other than that, everything is fine.

What do you like to eat?

Normally I have breakfast only, but sometimes I eat lunch. For each meal I eat an amount of food about equal in volume to a tennis ball. I like roselle and tamarind leaves. I haven¡Çt eaten meat since I was young. I can¡Çt bear its smell. It¡Çs too strong for me.

What did you do for a living when you were younger?

I planted paddy and sold dried fish and prawn at Zeigyo and Yahind markets. But I stopped working when I got married.

When did you get married?

I got married when I was 21. We had three children. My oldest daughter is 80 years old now.

Do you have any brothers or sisters?

Yes, but they¡Çve all died. I¡Çm the youngest of four.

I noticed you¡Çre a smoker. How long have you had the habit?

I started when I was young, when my father told me to light his cheroots. I still smoke, but only one or two cheroots a

Some of the most unforgetable beauties of the world