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Keeping Queen’s secret ‘a hell of a job’ K eeping Queen Elizabeth’s role in the Olympic Games Opening Ceremony a secret was “a hell of a job”. The monarch delighted those attending the ceremony at the Olympic Stadium in Stratford, East London and an estimated worldwide audience of one billion by taking part in a pre-recorded segment with Daniel Craig as James Bond where she appeared to parachute into the stadium. Scenes were filmed in April and a source told MailOnline: “It’s been a hell of a job keeping it secret for so long.” A palace spokesman said: “She was delighted to be asked to be involved in something so exceptional.” The film began with James Bond arriving at Buckingham Palace in an iconic black cab and walking down a hallway flanked by two of the 85-year-old royal’s beloved Corgi dogs, Monty, 13, who used to belong to the Queen Mother and Holly, nine. He entered a room to be greeted by Queen Elizabeth, wearing a pale peach dress, with the words “Good evening Mr. Bond.” The spy returned the formal greeting by answering “Good evening You Majesty” before the pair walked outside to a waiting helicopter before taking off, leaving the disappointed Corgis behind. Queen Elizabeth and Bond travelled in the Union Jack decorated helicopter past a number of iconic London sights including Tower Bridge, Westminster Abbey and the London Eye before arriving at the Olympic Stadium for her “jump”. However, the royal revealed the joke when she and her husband Prince Philip appeared to loud cheers, where they walked down the steps in the stadium to their seats. Cole loses appetite Cheryl Cole can’t eat when she’s stressed about men. The ‘Fight For This Love’ singer - who split from husband Ashley Cole in 2010 - loses her appetite when she has personal problems, though she has always tried to watch what she eats since she shot to fame after taking part in ‘Popstars: The Rivals’ in 2002. Cheryl’s niece Melissa Armstrong said: “Cheryl tells us that if she gets stressed with men, she can’t eat. When she went on ‘Popstars: The Rivals’, I remember [Girls Aloud] were all upset because they were told to lose weight. That was ridiculous. “I know Cheryl loves her takeaways, and she did tell us that she wanted to lose weight, cos she joked she’d become a pop star and put on weight and that definitely wasn’t what was supposed to happen.” However, Melissa admits Cheryl will indulge in her favourite takeaways when relaxing at home with her family in Newcastle, North East England. Melissa added to heat magazine: “She likes to dress down when she’s with us. She’s in tracksuit bottoms - sometimes pyjamas - and no make-up and she looks stunning. We always have a Chinese takeaway - her favourite is duck.” Despite being catapulted into the limelight 10 years ago, Melissa is adamant Cheryl is the same small town girl Newcastle she always was. Her niece added: “She’s a very proud Geordie girl. She’s someone you can just to and chat to at a party. She loves you to call her up and tell her what’s going on - who’s ordered a new washing machine and that.” Hathaway to get in shape A nne Hathaway had to “change her lifestyle” to play Catwoman in ‘The Dark Knight Rises’. The actress worked hard to get into shape to become the villain in the action film, so she could perform her own fight sequences and stunts. She said: “I had to change my lifestyle in order to play this character. Nobody told me to lose weight, but I was told I had to be strong enough to do my own fight scenes, so I spent several weeks getting into the best physical shape I could. “I made sure I got to the gym and made a conscious effort to make healthy food choices, and yes, I did feel healthier. Not only did I have to get into shape, but I had to maintain it for the ten months of shooting. I definitely did learn better eating habits during that time.” However, soon after shooting the film, Anne had to dramatically lose weight for her role as tuberculosis-ridden prostitute Fantine in ‘Les Miserables’, which provided a completely different and difficult challenge for her. She added to Britain’s Hello! magazine: “I lost 25lb. It was very hard. I lost the first 10 in three weeks and the subsequent 15 in the next two weeks. I don’t recommend anyone try this. It was not designed with any health benefits in mind except to make me look like an impoverished prostitute who was near death. “I’m back to my usual weight now and feeling fine, but while shooting the film I didn’t look healthy or good and wasn’t supposed to. Dying of tuberculosis is not romantic and it’s not pretty.” A shton 36 LIFESTYLE G o s s i p Kutcher buys phone case for Kunis Kutcher bought Mila Kunis a $5,000 phone case engraved with both their initials. The ‘Two and a Half Men’ actor reportedly designed the bejeweled case himself, with pink crystals and a heart encircling both their initials in real diamonds, leaving the ‘Ted’ actress thrilled. A source told National Enquirer magazine: “He spent five thousand bucks on Mila’s case. Needless to say, she loved it!” It had recently been claimed Ashton and Mila are living together and how the former ‘That ‘70s Show’ co-stars are inseparable from each other. A source said: “They’re basically living together. Like any new couple in love, they’re pretty much joined at the hip. “They’ve been sneaking around for months but there’s only so long you can keep it quiet. They’re staying with each other most nights. Mila’s practically moved in to Ashton’s Hollywood home.” Ashton’s marriage to Demi Moore broke down last November, following reports of his cheating and the ‘Ghost’ actress is said to be devastated he has now found love with Mila. T he Watts needs two years off from bandmates Robert was ‘weeks away’ from proposing to Kristen R obert Pattinson was “weeks away” from proposing to Kristen Stewart before finding out she cheated on him. The ‘Twilight’ star was due to ask for the brunette beauty’s hand in marriage in the spring and he had even bought a £5 million Los Angeles mansion for the couple’s future before being told of the 22-year-old star’s affair with her ‘Snow White and the Huntsman’ director Rupert Sanders, 41. A source told the Sunday Mirror newspaper: “Robert hoped to marry Kristen and was making preparations to spring a proposal before she admitted cheating. He had bought the house in Los Angeles to be their home and saw them staying there for a long time.” But since discovering the news, Robert - whose character in ‘The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part 1’ married Kristen’s alter-ego onscreen last year - is “angry” with Kristen and the 26-year-old hunk has moved out of their LA home. The insider added: “Now Rob is angry - he’s left the mansion and not spoken to her since. They have exchanged heated text messages only.” After pictures of Kristen and Rupert together emerged, the pair publically confessed to cheating on their respective lovers, and the director has “apologized profusely” to his model-and-actress wife Liberty Ross - who played Kristen’s mother in ‘Snow White and the Huntsman’ - in the hope he can save his marriage. A friend explained: “Liberty is hurting. But she’s realistic. Things happen and marriage isn’t easy - she just hates the fact her name’s been dragged into all of this. Rupert has apologized profusely and she has accepted his apology. She hopes things get back on track - after all, they have kids together.” Robert now wants to have a one-on-one chat with Rupert to find out “exactly what happened” between the filmmaker and his girlfriend. A source said: “Rob wants to have a man to man chat with Rupert to find out exactly what happened between him and Kristen. “Kristen has already betrayed his trust by cheating, so he can’t be sure that she will tell him exactly what went on between her and Rupert.” Robert and Kristen are contractually obliged to be pictured side by side on the red carpet at the premiere of their final ‘Twilight’ movie together, ‘The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part 2’, later this year. N icole Rolling Stones Charlie Watts doesn’t want to see Ronnie Wood “for two years” after touring. The drummer spends so much time with his bandmates - Ronnie, Keith Richards and Sir Mick Jagger - when they stage huge worldwide tours, he doesn’t want to spend any more time with them after they have finished. He said: “The tours are two years long, so I’m living with Ronnie Wood for all that time, so I don’t need to see him for another two years.” Charlie added in the band’s 60s heyday they had a much more hectic schedule, and would spend even more time together, but didn’t mind being photographed all the time as they were more youthful. He told Classic Rock magazine: “In the mid 60s the tours would be a trip around England, then a trip around America, then recording in America back to Europe, England to America. You were living together the whole time, you’d get a month off at the most. You were younger though. And also, you were more photogenic, to be honest. I don’t think Keith would want you photographing him at two in the morning now.” —Bang Showbiz Kidman attends ‘amazing’ Olympics Opening Ceremony Kidman attended the “amazing” London Olympics Opening Ceremony. The Australian actress - who was accompanied by husband Keith Urban - couldn’t contain her excitement at watching the spectacular show live from the Olympic stadium in Stratford, East London and took to her Facebook page to share her enthusiasm. Posting a picture of herself, she wrote “At the Olympics with omega! Amazing!!” Fans in the audience were also thrilled to spot the star, with one twitter user writing “forget about the athletes, Nicole Kidman is at the Olympics opening ceremony (sic).” Other well known faces at Danny Boyle’s spectacular show included performers such as Kenneth Branagh and Rowan Atkinson. Duchess Catherine and her husband Prince William also attended along with a number of other royal family members including Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip. Meanwhile despite being famously snubbed from Team GB for the Games , David Beckham MONDAY, JULY 30, 2012 still made a spectacular appearance. Fireworks appeared on Tower Bridge before a powerboat appeared which seemed to be driven by David as it passed along the River Thames to the Olympic Stadium in Stratford, East London. On the boat with him were Jade Bailey, Arsenal and England Under 17 ladies footballer player and the famous Olympic torch. Spears confused about wedding B ritney Spears isn’t sure what type of wedding she wants. The US ‘X Factor’ judge - who has been married twice before - is set to tie the knot with her former manager Jason Trawick and while he is keen to get married this Christmas, Britney is delaying plans as she is “confused” about whether she wants her nuptials to be huge or intimate. A source told National Enquirer magazine: “There is still no date or really even any plans in place yet. Jason really hope to get married around Christmas, and he wants to have a huge bash. Britney, on the other hand, is completely holding back from making any plans. “She just isn’t ready to commit to concrete plans, because she’s not sure what the right thing to do is. She’s confused. This is her third wedding, so she doesn’t know whether she should go really big and make a huge statement or just do it super toned down.” Britney was previously married to childhood sweetheart Jason Alexander, although their marriage was annulled after just 55 hours in January 2004. She then wed dancer Kevin Federline in September 2004, and had two sons with him, Sean Preston, six, and five-yearold Jayden James. She got engaged to Jason last December.
Indian Bollywood actors Akshay Kumar and Sonakshi Sinha pose with director Prabhu Deva during the DVD launch for the Hindi film Rowdy Rathore in Mumbai on July 28, 2012. —AFP A lawyer Snoop Dogg denied Norway entry for 2 years for pot representing Snoop Dogg says the American rapper has been banned from entering Norway for two years after trying to enter the country with a small amount of marijuana last month. Holger Hagesaeter, the rapper’s legal representative in Norway, told The Associated Press on Saturday that his client “can live with the decision” and has no immediate plans to appeal it. Snoop Dogg, whose name is Calvin Broadus, was on his way to a music festival in southern Norway in June when sniffer dogs detected eight grams of marijuana in his luggage. He was also carrying more cash than is legally allowed and was fined 52,000 kroner ($8,600) after admitting to the two offenses, the lawyer said. —AP 37 LIFESTYLE Members of the band Metallica, from left to right; Lars Ulrich, James Hetfield, Kirk Hammett and Robert Trujillo, pose at a photocall before their first of eight concert performances in Mexico City, Saturday, July 28, 2012. The heavy metal band added two more tour dates to their Mexico City run after a record six sold out August shows. —AP A Russian Russia courts Hollywood with vast new studios company has spent $89 million building Eastern Europe’s largest production facilities in a field outside Moscow and hopes to lure Hollywood majors to shoot and produce movies. The idea is to create a modern flagship studio that will make Russia a competitively priced destination for film projects and in turn modernize the local industry. “It is one of the targets for us to invite international projects to get their experience, to get their technologies,” general-director of the Glavkino grou, Ilya Bachurin, told AFP. Opened by President Dmitry Medvedev in February, on a recent tour the Glavkino studios were still dusty from the construction process and smelled of paint. Bachurin, 42, a former impresario and television executive, led the way through the studios to show off echoing sound stages and hi-tech 3D equipment. The largest sound stage measures 3,108 square metres (33,4340 square feet), a space so large that it swallowed up a bus parked in the corner. “It’s the biggest in eastern Europe,” Bachurin said. The studios have a Hollywoodstyle sign on the roof visible from passing planes. Their website boasts they are “equivalent to the best studios of America and Europe”. So far one feature film has been completed at Glavkino: “August 8,” a strongly pro-Russian drama based on the 2008 Russia-Georgia war that was 90 percent funded by the Kremlin. It aims to attract major global players to do studio shoots and post-production there and pass on their expertise to Russia’s technically lagging film industry. “In fact we do not need their money-it’s not our major goal,” said Bachurin. “We need to attract their experience and their specialists: those who can make the studio a part of the big international filmmaking industry.” In June Glavkino gave British art-house director Peter Greenaway a voucher worth 30,000 euros ($37,000) to spend on post-production for a planned remake of “Death in Venice.” Greenaway told Hollywood Reporter he was considering Saint Petersburg as a location. Without giving details, Bachurin said that Glavkino was planning to submit quotes for several big international projects. ‘We do not feel competition with Mosfilm’ One problem is that Russia offers no tax breaks for filmmakers. Add in a mass of headaches from tough rules on customs to visas and work permits. “We are going to make special proposals, make prices lower,” said Bachurin. “This is a pragmatic business. If it is convenient and profitable, people will be ready to do the maths.” Viktor Ginzburg, a Russian-born film director based in the United States was visiting the studios with a view to making his next film there-an adaptation of Viktor Pelevin’s novel “Empire V”. He said he was impressed by the facilities. “It seems terrific. They should dust it, though,” he added. Yet he said the hi-tech studios still lacked something: “film culture”. “You need projection designers, art directors, set decorators, craftsmen,” he said. “Unfortunately there is a real problem in the Russian film industry right now with these key positions.” That is a hangover from the 1990s when the film industry almost dried up and professions skipped an entire generation. While Glavkino is brand-new, it reeks of money and connections. Its name uses Soviet-speak abbreviations: “glav” or main and “kino” meaning cinema or film, to suggest the historic roots it lacks. One co-founder with Bachurin is actor and director Fyodor Bondarchuk, 45, who made hit films including “The 9th Company.” His father Sergei Bondarchuk directed the Oscar-winning “War and Peace.” Another co-owner is Konstantin Ernst, the director-general of state-controlled Channel One television, which also has a major film-making division. The three men together with UralSib bank own 50 percent, while the other 50 percent belongs to private investor Vitaly Golovachev, according to Glavkino’s website. The studio was built after the owners raised a massive loan from VTB bank. Glavkino could hardly be more different from what is still Russia’s main film studio, Mosfilm, a maze of buildings dating from the 1930s in a busy urban area hemmed in by construction. “We do not feel it will be competition with Mosfilm, because the market for technical services is not filled, even now as we finish the Glavkino studios,” Bachurin said. Currently Glavkino is mainly being used to make television shows, while the plan is for the proportion to change to half-and-half. A second stage upgrading the studios with equipment and everything from costume workshops to a five-star hotel will cost a further $120 million and is expected to be finished by the end of 2013. —AFP Seb Webber stood in a stark office space 12 floors above Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood, surveying his new domain. The 27-year-old London expatriate and the recently minted managing director of the music-services firm SQE was dressed in his typical plastic Buddy Holly glasses and skinny black jeans. His office’s polished concrete floors lacked furniture for the moment _ move-in day was a week or so away _ but he had a gorgeous floor-to-ceiling panorama of the Hollywood Hills to his north and, on this clear day, almost to Catalina Island in the west. It’s a workplace view befitting a lavish new tech startup or a cash-flush film production house. But Webber’s company is in a more volatile (pessimists might even say doomed) line of work. SQE is a contrarian bet that the music industry won’t be saved by novel technology or a radical new profit stream. Its magic bullet, if there is one, is absolute flexibility and transparency in handling a growing stable of artists like the punky Coachella 2012 headliner At the Drive-In and pop-savvy dubstep auteur Rusko. “Our idea was, ‘Isn’t there a good company where you don’t feel cheated?’” Webber said. “I see us as a service. We literally just execute on their behalf. No one knows better than them what they want.” The L.A. office of SQE is the American arm and new flagship of the British Columbia-founded firm that President Nathan Beswick and Chief Executive Duncan MacRae _ both in their mid- to late 20s _ started in 2010. SQE’s first big coup was landing Webber. He left his position as the vice president of A&R for the U.K.-based XL Recordings to helm the firm. Billboard had even named Webber one of its “30 Under 30” music-biz stars in 2010 for his regional scouting acumen for XL. But after working on Adele and M.I.A.’s A&R teams and cosigning Odd Future’s Tyler, the Creator to the label, Webber wanted to build something from the ground up instead of being an L.A.-based “Our Man in Havana” for an English hit label. “It was really difficult being the L.A. point person for a U.K. company,” he said. “I’m still close with Richard (Russell, XL’s founder), and the one thing he hammered home was that nothing exists without quality music. But if there was any time to stand on my own two feet, it was now.” SQE’s business model is simple _ find ambitious artists, ask them what they need to realize their career goals and be able to do anything that can help. I t’s not a concert, Danny Boyle stressed. It’s about the athletes. In a very real way, though, the director of the Olympic opening ceremony was wrong. While sports are the heart of the Olympics, music - loud, bold, world-conquering British music, amplified in the most global of settings - was the booming beat Friday night. One of Boyle’s stated aims was to showcase “the best of us” - and ever since the Beatles and the Rolling Stones appropriated American blues, country and rock and remade them into something new, the best of British has been music. Music ran like a river through Boyle’s “Isles of Wonder” extravaganza, which depicted a Britain brutally wrenched from its rural past by industrialization and upheaval before being thrust into a fast, uncertain, exciting new world - all propelled by the throb of homegrown music. It began gently, with Edward Elgar, the hymn “Jerusalem” and “Danny Boy” - but soon started to rock. Olympic ceremonies often play it safe. But Boyle, who brought in the electronic duo Underworld as musical directors, gave his show a cheeky edge. The Sex Pistols, once the outrageous face of punk, were included with their song “Pretty Vacant.” Boyle even slipped in a few bars of the Pistols’ snarling “God Save the Queen” (“the fascist regime”) early on - although he respectfully did it before Queen Elizabeth II herself had entered the stadium. Fashion designer Wayne Hemingway said including the Pistols was typical of Boyle’s “wit and guts.” “Normally it would be brushed over, but the punk spirit which is in Britain was written through the ceremony,” he said. “Anyone cynical about this has no lust for life. It’s just bloody brilliant.” In parts, it was like a Union Jack jukebox - a medley of tracks from the Beatles and the Rolling Stones, David Bowie and Queen, the Specials and the Jam, the Stone Roses and Eurythmics, and what seemed like dozens more. The list spanned generations, from The Who’s “My Generation” right up to live performances from two of the hottest homegrown acts of the moment: grime star Dizzee Rascal - who performed his hit “Bonkers” - and singer Emeli Sande. The musical melange continued during the athletes parade, with members of the 204 national teams circling the track to everything from “West End Girls” by the Pet Shop Boys and “Rolling in the Deep” by Adele. And of course the evening could not MONDAY, JULY 30, 2012 Olympic opener showed music is best of British Dizzee Rascal performs during the Opening Ceremony. Many traditional record labels and management teams farm out aspects of artist-caretaking to specialists at different companies _ a label fronts advances and distributes physical albums; a licensing firm places songs in commercials, films and TV; a publicity company wrangles media coverage. SQE can do all these things for an artist _ or take on as few as one of those jobs. SQE handles management, licensing, press, marketing and record label duties in-house, with a staff of around 14 who specialize in each field. When they sign an artist, the musician can choose which aspects they want to use. Don’t call have been complete without a Beatle - a rousing live performance from Paul McCartney, still rocking at 70. The amazing thing about the outpouring was how endless it seemed - a reminder that British music, decade after decade, has retained its genius. Could any other country have pulled off a similar homegrown aural feast? The United States, certainly. But Boyle reminded Britain Opening Ceremony artistic director Danny Boyle speaks next to the Olympic Bell ahead of the Opening Ceremony at the 2012 Summer Olympics, Friday in London. —AP photos how much it has to be proud of - and the clapping, cheering, singing 60,000-strong crowd loved him for it. Broadcast to a television audience estimated at 1 billion, it played like an excellent ad for Cool Britannia 2.0. Singer-songwriter Billy Bragg spoke for many when he tweeted: “Impressive though (the opening ceremony) in Beijing was, they didn’t have any great pop music to play, did they?” And if you haven’t heard enough, have no fear - Universal Music said an album of the ceremony soundtrack would be on sale “within moments” of the ceremony ending. —AP SQE takes an all-encompassing approach to handling musical acts Seb Webber leads the artist management firm SQE, handling management, PR, record label and licensing for a select group of clients, photographed with their mascot goat, in their new headquarters on Sunset Boulevard, in the heart of Hollywood, California, June 4, 2012. —MCT it a “360 deal” _ SQE has banished that term for a deal in which a label gives larger advances but takes cuts from all streams of an artist’s income from its offices. But the firm does imagine music management as a holistic project. “Artists are able to control a lot by themselves nowadays, and considering the established awareness of how the business side of their art works, a la carte is a no smoke-and-mirrors, transparent way for them to get what they want when they want it,” Beswick said in an email. For artists, that transparency and selectivity is the key selling point. SQE handles artists at all points in their careers, from a seasoned and recently reunited act like At the Drive-In down to the young Irish electronica artist Mmoths, who was signed off a YouTube demo and has barely an EP to his name. For an artist like Rusko, who is beloved in serious beat-music circles but who has also produced for Britney Spears, Rihanna and T.I., SQE’s flexibility is an asset in navigating an unconventional career. “They do it all for me, or at least figure out how to get it done. Many times, they’ll take initiatives and bring cool opportunities that I didn’t even think about,” he said, highlighting SQE’s recent work with Cat Stone of Stone Management, a filmplacement and promotions firm. In a music business defined by decimated record sales, that creativity is essential _ even for an artist who headlined the 3,800-capacity Hollywood Palladium to rapturous crowds. “In one week, I’ll play to more kids in the U.S. than have bought my first album. I have only received one royalty check in my life, and it equaled the same amount as two months of my T-shirt sales.” After a brief signing spree in which the firm snapped up promising young electronica acts Audrey Napoleon and Data Romance alongside locals L.A. Riots and Daniel Ahearn & the Jones, Webber is ready to dive into the details of making careers. He was about to fly to Texas to join Rusko _ one of the few clients he personally manages _ on the road for the Western leg of his U.S. tour. But he was eager to get back to L.A. For him, SQE has become as much a space for music-management creativity as much as it is for any of his artists. “When you become a home where artists can explore, eventually you’re going to get an Andy Warhol,” he said. “But you can’t just go out and buy an Andy Warhol.” —MCT
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