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Saturday 31 May 2014

Kim Kardashian Wedding Makeup: Mario Dedivanovic - How to, Makeup List + Photo

Doing Kim Kardashian's makeup looks to be a full-time job… it is.

This guy here - Mario Dedivanovic - is Kim's main makeup man. And he was in charge of doing her makeup for her recent wedding to Kanye West.

Here's the obligatory selfie from the wedding day to prove it:

Mario and Kim. Source: Instagram
And now, Mario reveals all the beauty tools he used to create the look.

Here is the list of all the products he used (and yes, it includes two products from the Kardashian Beauty line, available in Australia from meccamaxima/meccacosmetica (links below).

He also used the fantastic products from L'Oreal as well as products from Urban Decay. All listed below:


In Australia (and worldwide) you can buy the Kardashian Beauty Individual Lashes here.

And the Kardashian Beauty Honey Stick Lipgloss in Natural Honey here.

Here is Mario on E! Entertainment explaining the look:

Thursday 29 May 2014

'One Plus One', ABC News 24: Mia Freedman interviewed by Jane Hutcheon

On this week’s 'One Plus One' on ABC News 24, Jane Hutcheon speaks to digital publisher and journalist Mia Freedman in a program recorded in front of an audience. Here is a photo from the show's recording:

Mia Freedman and Jane Hutcheon. Photo credit: ABC TV


Many know Mia has had a career in glossy magazines, becoming the editor of Cosmopolitan Australia at the age of 24.

When Mia left the magazine world, she had a brief stint as a television executive at Channel Nine  with the talk show 'The Catch Up', before going on to establish her news and entertainment website mamamia.com.au in 2007. She really was a trailblazer at that time.

On ABC News 24, Mia discusses the growth of her readers (between 2 - 4 million users every month) over three websites - mamamia, iVillage, and soon, the about to be launched health and beauty site called The Glow.

“Women are so engaged online as opposed to men, who just lurk," tells Mia. "So they (men) will be on Facebook but they won’t say anything. The only time they will ever share anything is if it’s a funny video or it’s something a bit rude, whereas women are liking and sharing and posting and being supportive and linking to things and signing petitions and getting in there. That’s why they’re such a wonderful engaging audience to work with as a publisher and also as an advertiser.”

In light of the social media storms weathered by Mia, she candidly admits to Jane:

“When you write opinion, you put yourself out there. I’m often told I’m polarising. When you’re a feminist, there will always be people telling you are doing feminism wrong.”

One Plus One airs this Friday at 8.30pm on ABC News 24.

One Plus One repeat times:                                                                       
Saturday 6.30am and 5.30pm ABC News 24
Sunday 9.30pm ABC News 24
Wednesday 11.00am ABC1

You can view the Q and A session after the program airs at: www.abc.net.au/oneplusone.
 
You can view previous episodes online:

Mia Freedman, as she appears on 'One Plus One', on ABC News 24. Photo credit: ABC TV


Wednesday 28 May 2014

Maya Angelou Dies Age 86

In news just in, Maya Angelou, legendary American author, civil rights activist, director, educator, speaker, performer, and poet whose career has spanned five decades, has passed away at age 86.

According to the local Winston-Salem Fox affiliate (and confirmed by CBS News), Angelou was found unresponsive by her caretaker on Wednesday morning.

Photo credit: Oprah.com


Here is a video with Maya and Oprah, on the revelation that changed her life:



'Jonah From Tonga': DVD release + giveaway + cinema release

The latest Chris Lilley series - 'Jonah From Tonga' - is released on DVD today!

And you can own a copy of the much anticipated DVD. See below for more. Here is the fab DVD cover:
The DVD release features a whopping two and a half hours of extras!

Here's all you need to do to be in the running to win a copy (5 up for grabs!):

- Follow me on Twitter and Instagram if you're on those platforms
- Share this link on YOUR Facebook wall
- Email me at josiegags@optusnet.com.au with your address. Without this, your entry is invalid (it's often hard to track down winners to send their DVD!)
- Comment below on why you'd like to win the DVD and why you love Jonah
- Follow Jonah on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram (if you are on all those social media platforms)

*Competition open for one month, and to Australian residents only

Oh, and you can catch 'Jonah' creator Chris Lilley at these special 'Jonah From Tonga' movie screenings (where all six eps are screened in one go, in a cinema setting) from tomorrow, where Chris will be on hand for a live Q & A.

Details below:


The feature-length cut pieces together all of the action of the six-part series and will be

shown in exclusive cinema sessions in Sydney, Parramatta, Melbourne, Brisbane and the Gold Coast and will also feature an exclusive Q&A session with Lilley at each session.



Fans can also rally to get their local cinema to show Jonah by registering on the Jonah From Tonga website www.jonahfromtonga.com.au - do it!



“Jonah is a rule-breaker so it’s been awesome to see the show get out in so many different and new ways this time,” Chris Lilley said.



“We had the binge viewing, e-books and now he’s even on the big screen. I’m looking forward to saying hi to all of the fans and of course answering the questions about the shows they’ve always wanted to know,” Chris added.



Follow the social media convo with this hashtag: #jonahfromtonga and the social media platforms above, plus here: @chrislilley

Here are some photos from the hilarious TV series - one of Chris Lilley's best yet:

Publicity image: Ben Timony
Publicity image: John Tsiavis
Publicity image: Ben Timony




Mr Joseph. Long-suffering teacher of Jonah and his classmates.

Jessica Marais tells: 'I am bipolar' - The Australian Women's Weekly, June 2014

In the latest edition of 'The Australian Women's Weekly' (June edition - out tomorrow, Thursday May 29) Australian actress Jessica Marais reveals she has battled with bipolar disorder since she was a teenager.


Jessica Marais as she appears in upcoming ABCTV tele movie 'Carlotta'





Read more of this exclusive story in the June issue of The Australian Women's Weekly - out tomorrow.

Read about TV exec producer Adam Boland's bipolar story here.

And see more of Jessica's transformation as Carlotta in the ABCTV production here.

Bondi Hipsters: 'Soul Mates' TV series on ABC2

Shooting has started in Sydney on 'Soul Mates', the highly anticipated 6 x 30 minute comedy series by the Bondi Hipsters.


Commissioned by ABC2, 'Soul Mates' is the brainchild of brothers Christiaan and Connor Van Vuuren and Nick Boshier, whose previous projects – together and separately – include such huge online successes as Bondi HipstersBeached Az and The Fully Sick Rapper.

This new-to-TV bromance follows the story of a couple of buddies continually drawn together across the course of human history, and into the future. The beginning of time finds the two mates experiencing all of life’s firsts as a couple of cavemen. In 1981 they’re killing it – literally - as two Kiwi Assassins, sent to Australia to avenge the credit theft of one too many New Zealand inventions. By 2013 they’re everyone’s favourite pair of fashion-obsessed Bondi Hipsters. While in the future they’re tackling time travel conundrums, working nine to five in a travel agency called ‘Travel Time’.

Here is a just-released shot of the duo from the new series:






Bondi Hipster Adrian Archer is excited to be starring in his own series: "Frahnkly, I'm stoked to be working with the ABC on 'Soul Mates'. After this latest budget, the ABC is becoming more and more underground."

Bondi Hipster Dom Nader is equally thrilled to appear in the time-travel themed show:
"Only dickheads would watch that... Seriously, who gives a shit about past lives anyway? People like to think they were something cool like a Cleopatra or a Viking or some shit, but the truth is, if you're just some dickhead now, you were probably always just some dickhead."

“The ABC deeply regrets ruining the Bondi Hipsters’ cred by putting them on primetime television, and respects their choice to only watch the show on a Super 8 Projector in a warehouse in Chippendale,” said ABC TV’s Head of Comedy, Rick Kalowski.

'Soul Mates' will screen on ABC2 later in 2014.

Starring Christiaan Van Vuuren & Nick Boshier. Created and written by Connor Van Vuuren, Christiaan Van Vuuren and Nick Boshier. Directed by Van Vuuren Bros. Series produced by Chloe Rickard.

Executive Producers for ABC TV are Rick Kalowski and Greg Waters. A Van Vuuren Bros / Ludo Production in association with ABC TV.

Are you a Bondi Hipsters fan?

Here are some of their YouTube vids:





Happy Leonforte - Pharrell Williams: VIDEO

Leonforte, in the province of Enna, in Sicily hold a very, very special place in my heart.

It is where beloved father grew up, it is where my mother moved to (from Catania) after World War II broke out (and stayed) and later, where they met and fell in love and married (before moving to Sydney, Australia).

My cousin, who lives in Sicily, just posted this video, and I kinda flipped. In a good way. 

Set against the backdrop of the infectious Pharrell Williams song 'Happy', it features a panoramic opening shot of Leonforte (yes, I know… the countryside looks like a scene from 'The Godfather'), it shows the '24 Cannoli' famous water fountain, and it shows the beautiful Sicilian people, who are as real as they come in Italy. I always say the lower you go down Italy's 'boot', the lovelier the people get, and the more delicious the food becomes.

Here's the vid:



The YouTube description says:

Happy Leonforte cerca di porre l'attenzione su tutto ciò che oggi siamo riusciti a creare, dal lavoro a ogni forma di aggregazione. Happy Leonforte vuole dare risalto agli angoli nascosti che ciascuno di noi guarda ma non vede; agli angoli che qualcuno non ha mai visto. 

Circa un migliaio di persone coinvolte, grazie anche alle tante realtà associative (ci dispiace per quelli che non appariranno per problemi di tempo e tempistica); 20 giorni di riprese volte a valorizzare ogni angolo di un paese che nasconde la propria identità; circa 5 minuti per concentrare, incastrare, 150 riprese diverse.

Da un work group a cura di Alberto Maria, Sandro Rossino, Giuseppe Guagliardo, Paolo Cremona, Sergio Rossino, Matteo Sturnio, Tano Purrazzo...un sentito grazie a tutti i leonfortesi che amano Leonforte e la rendono "HAPPY".

The famed water fountain is here below. Leonforte is a must-see part of Sicily, Italy:


Female on male violence: viral video


Interesting.

Thoughts on this video?

DareLondon for the Mankind Initiative created this video, saying they were inspired by the recent Solange attack on Jay Z.

How do you think YOU would react if you saw a woman attacking a man in public?

Tuesday 27 May 2014

Kim and Kanye's Wedding: PHOTOS

Photos just in from Kim Kardashian and Kanye West's wedding, from E! News:


 Kim's final dress fitting at the Givenchy atelier in Paris with Riccardo Tisci.




To see the road to Kim and Kanye's wedding—from Los Angeles to Paris to Italy—tune in to the new season of Keeping Up With the Kardashians, premiering Sunday, June 8, on E!. 

For more, click here.

Monday 26 May 2014

Keyboard Cat is back: VIDEO

Keyboard Cat… is back!

The new video, right here:



And the video that started it all (35 million + views so far):







For more on this eccentric muggy, click here.

The original Keyboard Cat, who went by the name of Fatso, was first filmed by his owner Charlie Schmidt in 1984, But, it wasn’t until the footage was posted online – and then picked up by blogger Brad O’Farrell – that he gained his crazy-big loyal following.
His replacement, a ginger cat called Bento, is on the keyboard in the above clip. Next stop, stardom, for this little critter...

'The Wolf of Wall Street' - DVD release + giveaway

'The Wolf of Wall Street' is something else.

The hype, the interviews with the real life 'wolf' Jordan Belfort, the portrayal of Jordan by Leonardo DiCaprio - it's all here, and now neatly packaged up in the DVD offering of the movie, so you can relive the madness, or immerse yourself in it for the first time. The DVD extra: a 'The Wolf of Wall Street' round table. Here is the DVD cover:

It's a must-see Martin Scorsese masterpiece - and it's almost three hours (172 minutes!) of onscreen intensity which refuses to let up during every single frame.

Here is the trailer:


Here's all you need to do to be in the running to win a copy (5 up for grabs!):

- Follow me on Twitter and Instagram if you're on those platforms
- Share this link on YOUR Facebook wall (so others can see the comp)
- Email me at josiegags@optusnet.com.au with your address. Without this, your entry is invalid (it's often hard to track down winners to send their DVD!)
- Comment below on why you'd like to win the DVD

*Competition open for one month, and to Australian residents only

Georgie Gardner Leaving 'Today' Show

Georgie Gardner - newsreader on the 'Today' show - has just announced she is leaving the show, after 7 years with the successful breakfast TV program.

Here is the clip:



As you saw in the clip, Georgie is still staying with the Nine Network, though, reading the Friday and Saturday 6pm news bulletins. Gosh she does a fantastic job. One of the very best newsreaders around.

Here are some of Georgie's career highlights:






And a webisode featuring Georgie's 'problem':




Georgie said she would leave the show (within two weeks) as she'd like to spend more time with her young family: her husband Tim and their two young kids, Bronte and Angus (aged 4 and 6 in the recent photo below; photo by Michelle Holden, The Australian Women's Weekly).




Ben Fordham is also leaving the 'Today' show at the end of this year.

Farewell, Georgie! Leave your comments below for Georgie…




Friday 23 May 2014

'Carlotta' - ABC1: Screen date + PHOTOS

The much-talked about Australian production of 'Carlotta' on ABC1 is set to screen on Thursday June 19 at 8.30pm.



Carlotta might be the most famous of Balmain boys - who then became the most famous of Sydney showgirls, and Australia’s most famous transsexual performer. Carlotta was the legend of 'Les Girls', the Kings Cross show which she starred in and ruled for three decades.

Not many know the story of Carlotta, and this dramatisation of her life (played by the immensely talented Jessica Marais) tells of her incredible life: starting life as Richard, and later fleeing an abusive stepfather as a 16 year old; the sexually confused young man arrived in 'the Cross' in 1959 and the nation and became close to a group of like-minded friends, testing the boundaries of gender and sexuality, with a view to remake himself.

Through cross-dressing and performing, Richard experimented with becoming a woman, and despite persecution and exploitation, found the courage to live as Carol Lee. Later, when illegal hormone treatment showed results, “Carlotta” was born.
In the 1980s, Carol met and fell in love with a “great Aussie bloke” - and this changed everything. The infamous “Carlotta” was pushed aside and it was Carol who fell in love, married, and gave up her still burgeoning career for a life in the 'burbs.

She loved her new life as a homemaker and doting wife, but was surrounded by reminders of the children she ached for but could never have.

Carol/Carlotta was stranded between two worlds, belonging in neither.

Her new life tested all she believed in, and hers is the story of an exceptional woman’s desire to be ordinary.

The one-night-only program also stars: Alex Dimitriades, Anita Heigh, Eamon Farren, Caroline O'Connor, Ryan Johnson, Socratis Otto, Andrew Lees, Damian De Montemas, Genevieve Lemon, Gigi Edgley, Paul Capsis and Kai Lewins.

On a personal note, I recall meeting Carlotta when I worked at Balmain Tigers Football Club. I was in charge of organising a big event for staff, management, members, players - a fundraiser. I needed a 'kick arse' MC, someone who would run the show and command the audience. Having worked at an avant garde magazine, I always loved thinking outside the square… and I thought Carlotta would be perfect. And, she was Balmain 'royalty'.

I got in touch with her mum, who would regularly visit the club downstairs. She gave me Carlotta's home number and I called, nervously. Carlotta was legendary, and I was anxious to impress, as well as sell the whole idea to her. She loved it, and when we met for the first time I was truly awe-struck - she was larger than life and as glamorous as I'd imagined, with a fantastic presence. And she owned that event. It was something I'll never forgot; I recall walking with her from the office to the event and having her tower over me. It was memorable and incredible. She is Kings Cross and Sydney, and it's fab to see her life immortalised on screen.

'Carlotta' will screen on Thursday June 19 at 8.30pm, on ABC1.

Here are some spectacular photos from TV special event:


















'Bad Lip Reading': Sing-Song Contest of America - A Bad Lip Reading of American Idol

If you're a fan of the 'Bad Lip Reading' series of hilarious videos, and every talent show you've seen for the past few years (in particular, any of the 'Idol' shows), this… is all you need to see today.

Watch the hilarity:



First time seeing the 'Bad Lip Reading' madness?

See more here and here and here and here and here and here and here.







Celebrities Read Mean Tweets #7: 'Jimmy Kimmel Live'

Celebrities read 'mean tweets' about themselves on 'Jimmy Kimmel Live'. This is part 7 of this fabulousness.

Best.

Watch:



Here is part 5 and 6.

And parts 3 and 4.

And part 2 and part 1.


Thursday 22 May 2014

Fat Shaming of Opera Singers: Sarah Ann Walker and Tara Erraught


Fat shaming… in the world of opera?

UK opera singer Tara Erraught was actually fat-shamed for her size following her performance in a Strauss Opera in London a few days ago.


Tara (left) performing
It's no secret that many successful opera singers are robust people; in the entertainment industry, fat shaming is rife, while the opera scene has remained 'untouched' from those unacceptable insults. Until now.

Artistic director of Sydney-based Harbour City Opera, Sarah Ann Walker (below)  is both shocked and saddened by the news.


Sarah
Says Sarah, “I know all about fat-shaming. It started for me when I was only 24, studying music at University. My lecturer gave me two weeks to lose weight, telling me I couldn’t be fat and have a career in opera.


Sarah (left) performing
“Only recently, I made it all the way to the finals out of hundreds of entrants and the reason I was given for not making it through to the program was because of my weight and it had absolutely zero to do with my voice.

“This simply should not be happening”, adds Sarah. “There is a vast array of amazing talent in Australia – from Opera singers to pop singers, even to actors and actresses - and the fact they are judged by their looks, rather than their talent makes me incredibly sad and frustrated. One of my main motivations for starting Harbour City Opera last year was to nurture Opera talent, no matter how they look. For the industry to grow and thrive, Opera needs to cast for talent, not weight”, says Sarah.

Sarah wrote an excellent piece in limelightmagazine.com.au titled 'Body shaming in opera: At what point is enough, enough?' Read it here.

The fat shaming of Tara came from these critics. Awful.

  • Andrew Clark, writing for the Financial Times: "Tara Erraught's Octavian is a chubby bundle of puppy-fat." He adds, as an afterthought, that her performance was "gloriously sung." wrote last night for the Washington Post: "If [that's] true, surely merits more than an offhand mention?")
  • In The Guardian, Andrew Clements: "It's hard to imagine this stocky Octavian as this willowy woman's plausible lover." 

  • Gramophone Magazine's Michael Church, writing in The Independent: "This Octavian (Tara Erraught) has the demeanor of a scullery-maid."
  • Rupert Christiansen in The Telegraph: "Tara Erraught is dumpy of stature and whether in bedroom déshabille, disguised as Mariandel or in full aristocratic fig, her costuming makes her resemble something between Heidi and Just William. Is Jones simply trying to make the best of her intractable physique or is he trying to say something about the social-sexual dynamic?" 

  • Richard Morrison in The Times of London: "Unbelievable, unsightly and unappealing."