Celebrity News Media: March 2012

Saturday, March 31, 2012

Celebrities Revel for a Cause: Black Tie For Breast Cancer Gala Ball, Sydney

Reg Inglis, Leanne Zalapa

Tonight in Sydney, Australia, the Black Tie for Breast Cancer (BT4BC) gala event for the Prince of Wales Hospital Foundation took place at the beautiful Westin Hotel.

A community aware group of nice folks including both A-listers, everyday mums and dads and a range of people from all walks of life, gathered together to help raise much needed funds for the development of a new Cancer Centre at the Prince of Wales Hospital.

The celebrity contingent included Jodi Gordon, Braith Anasta, the newly engaged Rachel Gilbert and Tom Williams, two time Logie nominee Anna McGahan, Melissa Hoyer, Peter Morrissey, Laura Csortan and a swag of others whipped up a storm in an effort to help raise money for a new cancer centre at the Prince of Wales Hospital Randwick campus.

The guest list included: Jodi Gordon, Rachel Gilbert, Tom Williams, Anna McGahn, Ant & Becks, Peter Morrissey, Laura Csortan, Chris Joannou, Sarah Cumming, Geoff Field, Melissa Hoyer, Bianca Dye, Braith Anasta and Roy Billing.

Finally, all power to cancer survivors, their family and friends, and those doing what they can to help fight cancer.

Celebrity for good - always good to hear, and public big congrats to all of those who helped put tonight together.

About the Prince of Wales Hospital Cancer Centre...

The Prince of Wales Hospital Foundation promotes the work of the Prince of Wales Hospital (POWH) to build healthier communities. Partnering with our community, we raise vital funds to ensure the continued development of research, education and special projects, which will provide integrated health care for the patients.

Over the next few years we will be embarking on a campaign to build a new, gold standard Cancer and Blood Disorders Centre on site and the BT4BC event is the signature event for this centre. The centre will work closely with the University of NSW’s Lowy Cancer Research Centre, to provide the latest researched treatments. When completed, it will be the only fully comprehensive, public cancer treatment centre in Sydney, which also treats many of our country patients.

Braith Anasta, Jodi Gordon

Laura Csortan

Websites

Prince of Wales Hospital Foundation

www.powhf.org.au

The Westin Sydney

www.starwoodhotels.com/westin/property/overview/index.html?propertyID=1183

open haus

www.openhaus.net.au

Eva Rinaldi Photography Flickr

www.flickr.com/evarinaldiphotography

Eva Rinaldi Photography

www.evarinaldi.com

Friday, March 30, 2012

Paris Hilton, Friends, Hollywood Celebrities Open Marquee The Star, Sydney, Australia

Australian entertainment and nightclub fans, and all you celebrity watchers out there... It's time for yet another showbiz update.

The Star's new nightclub Marquee in "Sin City" Sydney, Australia tonight held their grand opening last night and the ultimate party girl herself - Paris Hilton, along with boyfriend DJ Afrojack, and a bush tucker bag of friends and associates including Ashlee Simpson, Nick Lachey, Kellan Lutz, Abbie Cornish and LMFAO's Redfoo helped get the party started on the red (purple) carpet. By the way, the colour purple is supposed to attract money we understand, and it was working for Ms Hilton.

The gamble to sign up Paris and friends appears to have paid off, as far as attracting international headlines, but only time will tell what it does to the bottom line of The Star (once known as Star City Casino).

The Australian contingent of celebs who attended included Laura Dundovic, Alex Dimitriades, Glenn and Sara McGrath, Alex Perry, Nikki Phillips, Didier Cohen, April Rose Pengilly, Tim Commandeur, Laura Cstortan and Chris Joannou.

Marquee is understood to have snatched big dollars tonight, along with some positive press, but upping the ante in star power. Just how much it cost The Star to bring in Ms Hilton is anyone's guess but a well known media agency in Sydney estimated "between $50,000 to $150,000 for Ms Hilton and friends", but don't ever expect to find out the real figure as agents and legal eagles will be guarding that information from falling into the media and public domain.

The official VIP launch party featured DJ sets from The Black Eye Peas, will.i.am and Afrojack, with boat loads of celebs.

The 20,000 square foot nightclub occupies the entire top tier of The Star’s new Pirrama Road harbour side entrance. It enjoys a 1,200 people capacity and is aiming to fill up the venue with the right sort of customers. It's understood that there's three separate spaces within the one venue, and there was something for everyone's mood and taste.

The Main Room sports a 30-foot projection stage with an LED DJ booth and two funky dance floors, while another section entitled 'Boom Box' has an outdoor patio and DJ booth. For those guests who are looking for a bit more intimacy... and we know your out there boys and girls, there's a "library-style" lounge room along with fireplace, where you might want to get all cosy with your best friends.

The new sexy nightclub is a joint effort between The Star and Tao Group, which operates very successful nightclubs in the United States including LAVO in New York and Las Vegas, TAO Las Vegas and Marquee Nightclub and Dayclub at The Cosmopolitan in Las Vegas.

We think its a pretty safe bet that you and yours will have fun (and spend a few dollars) at The Star's Marquee, so why not give them a go and tell us all about your experience.

It's all just another move in the Australian casino and entertainment wars, with a good dash of tourism biz factored in, and hopefully the public and Sydney benefit.

Competitor of sorts, Crown Limited, is following the progress of Sydney based 'The Star' closely, and the two gaming companies fight for the entertainment and gambling dollar, with big name celebs and casino "whales" being the most sought after patrons.

The Star will no doubt be hosting more celeb filled parties, but its unclear when Ms Hilton is returning to party (and pick up another payday). No word yet if she's got a whole floor to herself to sleep in and party (like Leonardo DiCaprio did on his previous down under Australian visits), but we highly suspect so.

Will you be on 'The List' any time soon at Marquee? Well, dress the part, work hard, and play harder, and you may soon be partying along with some of the world's hottest socialites.

If your into the best nightlife that Sydney has to offer you owe it to yourself to take the gamble and get on over to Marquee all you cool cats out there.

Thank you to everyone who helped make the event a hot success, and Paris - we hope you enjoy the rest of your stay in Australia.

Websites

The Star

www.star.com.au

Marquee, The Star, Sydney

www.marqueesydney.com

Echo Entertainment

www.echoentertainment.com.au

Paris Hilton official website

www.parishilton.com

Eva Rinaldi Photography

www.evarinaldi.com

Eva Rinaldi Flickr

www.flickr.com/evarinaldiphotography

open haus

www.openhaus.net.au

Tuesday, March 27, 2012

Duran Duran Rock Sydney Entertainment Centre, Australia

Tonight's the night. The Sydney Entertainment Centre was privileged to showcase iconic 80's group Duran Duran to Sydney.

The group looked and sounded great, and it didn't look like they missed a beat from when they were in their prime.

Favourite numbers of mine included ‘Hungry Like The Wolf' and 'Girls On Film'.

The anticipation of music lovers in Sydney has been building for some time and was further fuelled along by the announcement of promoter Dainty Group...

Dainty Group is thrilled to announce that after a long absence, one of the world's most iconic bands, DURAN DURAN, will return to Australian shores in March 2012 for a series of six concerts, in support of their latest album ‘All You Need Is Now'. This highly anticipated tour will see the band perform across the country, with shows in Sydney, Melbourne,Brisbane, Adelaide, Perth and the Hunter Valley.

DURAN DURAN's Australian tour will comprise a run of spectacular arena shows, as well as two unforgettable outdoor concerts at Sandalford Estate (Swan Valley, Perth) and Tempus Two Winery (Hunter Valley, NSW). Last in Australia in 2008, DURAN DURAN will showcase songs from their critically acclaimed new album on the March dates, alongside all of the unforgettable hits from across their thirty-year career.

DURAN DURAN's stunning new album: ‘All You Need Is Now', has already been proclaimed a triumph by fans and critics alike, and hit the #1 spot on download charts in the top 15 markets around the world when it was released earlier this year (on Shock Records in Australia). Produced by Grammy Award-winner Mark Ronson (Amy Winehouse, Adele, Kaiser Chiefs, Lily Allen) and mixed by Spike Stent (Madonna, Björk, No Doubt), it features guest vocals/rap from long-time Duran Duran pal/collaborator Ana Matronic of the Scissor Sisters, and R&B/neo-soul superstar Kelis; while Owen Pallettof Arcade Fire contributes the album's string arrangements. ‘All You Need Is Now' is a return-to-roots homage to DURAN DURAN's most celebrated musical panache, and has already been dubbed the "imaginary follow up to Rio that never was."

The announcement of the band's 2012 Australian dates comes hot on the heels of their brilliantly reviewed North American tour, a sold out 11 show arena run in the UK, and a whirlwind year that has seen them, amongst other things, make a spectacular live film with director David Lynch, and most recently release a uniquely DURAN DURAN video for the song ‘Girl Panic !'.Directed by Grammy-award winner Jonas Åkerlund (who has shot videos for Madonna, Beyoncé and Lady Gaga, including the notorious "Telephone"),this dazzling short film reunites top supermodels Naomi Campbell, Cindy Crawford, Helena Christensen, Eva Herzigova and Yasmin Le Bon, and was shot over the course of two days this past June at the Savoy Hotel in London. As the models take on rock star roles playing Simon, John, Nick, and Roger, the nine minute video unfolds into a stunning, fast-paced, high fashion affair, that has fast become the most talked about collaboration of its kind this year. Australian fans can view the video here.

The original Duran line-up of Simon Le Bon, John Taylor, Roger Taylor, and Nick Rhodes continues to reign supreme as one of the biggest British bands of all time - reimagining pop music, creating ground-breaking music videos and winning over millions of new fans worldwide with their unique fusion of music, art, technology and fashion.From the very beginning,when DURAN DURAN first took the visual imperatives of the New Romantic movement of the 1980s to a whole other level, defining the MTV generation, they have built a loyal army of fans who have stayed with them to this day.

Since their first worldwide hits, that included ‘Planet Earth', ‘Girls on Film', ‘Hungry Like The Wolf' and ‘Rio', the band have maintained their success and solidified their place within pop music history. They have sold over 80 million records worldwide, had more than 30 hit singles and have garnered a global presence with huge concert audiences on five continents. Now a seemingly unstoppable force, with no fewer than six prestigious Lifetime Achievement Awards under their belts (MTV Video Music Awards, the Brits, the Ivor Novellos,Q Magazine, the Spanish Ondas and most recently GQ Magazine),DURAN DURAN are in a category with only a handful of other internationally acclaimed artists.

As this new chapter begins, they have nothing left to prove, but everything to play for. So for them and their loyal army of fans... All You Need Is Now!

Thank yous...

We would like to say a big thank you to everyone who has been diligently working away in putting this awesome concert together.

We'll see you back at the Sydney Entertainment Centre again really soon.

Websites

Duran Duran

www.duranduran.com

Dainty Group

www.daintygroup.com

Sydney Entertainment Centre

www.sydentcent.com.au

Eva Rinaldi Photography Flickr

www.flickr.com/evarinaldiphotography

Eva Rinaldi Photography

www.evarinaldi.com

Splash News & Pictures

www.splashnews.com

Monday, March 26, 2012

Leisel VS Bondi

Leisel Jones has won three Olympic gold medals, broken twelve world records, won 7 World Championships and last week became the first Australian swimmer of all time to qualify for four Olympic Games.

Leisel will be at Bondi Beach on Tuesday morning to cheer on participants as they attempt to better her world record 200 metre breaststroke time...participants will however be allowed to swim freestyle!

Interview and photo opportunities will be available.