They may have millions of dollars in the bank, but it hasn?t been a particularly good week for either Madonna or Paul McCartney. While Madge is facing a hailstorm of controversy over her adoption of a Malawian toddler, the former Beatle's acrimonious divorce got even uglier as details of his estranged wife's divorce papers fell into the hands of the press.
Nothing too out of the ordinary there, except that Heather Mills accuses the singer of physical abuse, assault with a broken wine glass and pushing her into a bath while she was pregnant. Both are controversial stories, is Madonna's adoption ill advised and should the McCartney's divorce proceedings be made so public? Keeping it controversial, but getting a bit more academic, South Africa's white elite authors who rose to fame by bashing the apartheid regime have now turned their pens on the current rulers of our country.
Are their harsh words justified? Some respite this week comes from the batch of new music hitting the shelves. We've got a wide variety from the happenin' Justin Timberlake and Kelis to the ol' crooners Luther Vandross and Julio Iglesias so there's sure to be something that takes your fancy.
What got me through this week? Visiting Durban, sundowners, chatting to the author John Connolly What got you through the week? Paul McCartney, accused by his estranged wife Heather Mills of abuse during their marriage, has rejected the allegations.
The Walt Disney Company has lodged a furious complaint over a saucy joke video doing the rounds on the internet, shot by staff at Disneyland Paris in the guise of well-known cartoon characters. Melanie Brown, better known as Mel B or Scary Spice from the all-girl group Spice Girls, is four months pregnant with Eddie Murphy's child. And it's possible she's expecting twins.
Canada's fisheries minister and the head of an Atlantic island province are taking credit for helping to break up rocker Paul McCartney and his wife, whose vitriol over the seal hunt angered locals. Kate lays down the law for Pete, Vince denies a break-up, Scarlett tries a new career, Jen didn't get a boob job and a dumped James Blunt looks to get his dignity back ? all in this week's star goss.
.. David Banda, the African toddler whom Madonna wants to adopt, faces the ultimate culture shock after moving from an orphanage in one of the world's poorest countries to the pop diva's London mansion.
?Imagine Me and You? has all the makings of a great romantic comedy ?
frightfully good-looking people, a dash of British humour, a love at first sight moment and a wedding. But, says Rebekah Kendal, it's unconvincing and falls flat. Justin Timberlake means serious business when it comes to this growing up thing his adventurous second solo album is the work of an an artist whose music matures as his confidence grows.
Expect sexy, but intelligent, r b...
With a track for every occasion, Kelis' fourth album, featuring a combination of rap, r b and rock ?n roll, reveals that there?s clearly way more to her than that ?
Milkshake? song..
. Surprisingly Old Smoothie Iglesias' latest is a gentle and pleasant album of classic love songs that will have a wider appeal than just its main target audience of wrinkle-rockers. Pleasant, easy listening is what Luther Vandross is all about and this album is a fine tribute to the pleasure he brought to a world suffering from an ongoing onslaught of brainless vocals and tedious, repetitive noise that passes for music.
I didn't think I?d feel like this but I was really sorry to say goodbye to Nicotine. He?
s been such a trouble-maker and general all-round arse that I?m gonna miss ragging his crappy quips and commentaries a lot. As is usually the case in the episode just before the big finale, there was almost no tension this week because we all knew it had to be a Non-Elimination.
Their prose did much to expose the moral bankruptcy of apartheid to the outside world but the literary elite of white South Africa has now turned ferociously on the Rainbow Nation's new rulers. Enjoy an afternoon of music with the Abigail Petersen Quartet at the Cape Quarter Piazza in Green Point on October 22. We've got three R250 meal vouchers to give away for the day?
American rock group Live will be paying a third visit to South Africa in October as part of their 'Black Mountain ? White Light' tour. We've got 16 tickets to give away.
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