Clapperboard Queen

Showbiz, dear reader. I just CAN'T keep away from it, try as I might. Just when I think I've finally left behind the smell of the greasepaint, the roar of the crowd, for good, Lady Luck lifts her fickle finger and pokes me back into the limelight. I'd just settled down in the Swedish Centre cafe with a mug of coffee and a pastry filled with what the Swedes delightfully refer to as "Grandma's cough" when the phone rang. My phone, I mean, not theirs. It was Toby. "Listen," he said. "Do you mind if we meet for coffee round the corner instead? I've got to do something with some musketeers, but it won't take long..." Which is how I found myself with French actor Jean-Christophe Bouvet, a Jack Russell and four musketeers (the Lames du Marais), shooting a film about Marie-Antoinette's dog. We all mucked in and it was great fun but I still have absolutely no idea (my italics) what it was all about. Afterwards, we did indeed go for that coffee with Jean-Christophe and his charming assistant Florian and had a rather wide-ranging discussion about working with Rip Torn, Tecktonic dance moves and Aussiebum undies. All that and then out for dinner to celebrate the birthday of another rising star... "Fabulous" doesn't even START to cover it...(P.S. coming soon, pics and more from Micke's MUTHA of all Gay Karaoke nights)

BearForce1

Just when I was wondering what my next career move should be, I find these guys, who claim to be the world's "first true bear band." They also have a rather fab website. Marvellous. (via Absolument Gauthier)

And the Winner is....

JULIEN!! Last night was the grand final-ey of Nouvelle Star, the French version of Pop Idol. It's taken sixteen - count 'em - weeks to whittle down the contenders from fifteen to the final two. In the red corner, ukulele-playing Julien, with his hairslide, who describes his greatest quality as being "frigid or precise" and claims to be a fan of crusty old French novelist/literary historian Jean d'Ormesson. And in the blue corner, Tigane, who says his "kind nature" is his strong point and cites Michael Jackson, Alicia Keys and Stevie Wonder as his biggest influences. I need not tell you, dear reader, that Miss Kitty and I were GLUED to the sofa at Rhino75 Towers, biting our nails and licking our bottoms, respectively. Though Tigane has a pleasant enough voice, bless him, he suffers from something of a charisma by-pass and is just a smidgin' karaoke. Julien, on the other hand, had our vote from the start and his version of "Le Mal-Aimé" (a French cover of "Daydreamer" as sung by David Cassidy - watch the original here) brought a tear to my eye and a lump to my throat. Another highlight was his jazzy performance of "Smells like Teen Spirit" (ok, bit of a Paul Anka rip-off, but he does it well) in a red velvet suit that inspired this wonderful haiku from AussieLass. I didn't like the "Ebony & Ivory" duet with Tigane, though - it's a grisly song at the best of times and they had the harmonies all wrong. ::sigh:: Ah well, at least we got the right result IMHO. Now only a couple of months to go before "Star Academy" (the French version of "Fame Academy") starts again...In the meantime, watch Julien in action here. I think I may start wearing a hairslide myself...

'Rokey

Karaoke. It's FAB, isn't it? I deserved 12 points, or douze points, for my version of "Never Can Say Goodbye" on Friday night. Was I channeling Thelma Houston or WHAT?? And then Micke and I blew the competition away with a version of "New York, New York" that would have had Frank Sinatra spinning in his grave crying for joy. Strangely, the rest of the crowd didn't seem to share this assessment. And before I knew it, it was 4 a.m., Micke and Bru had gone home and I was engrossed in conversation with a fellow performer - and then it all went black.