A Night For Awards

the Emmy's kick off this morning in Los Angeles with two Australians up for awards : Nicole Kidman for her portrayal of Martha Gellhorn in the film Hemingway and Gellhorn while the reclusive Judy Davis ('best actress in the world' :Woody Allen) will be attending to see if she picks up the Best Supporting Actress gong in the political drama Page Eight.

Nicole Kidman as Martha Gellhorn with co-star Clive Owen

Trevor Ashley : Diamonds Are For Trevor

In the evening the stars of the Australian stage and local Hollywood types will gather at the Sydney Opera House for the Helpmann Awards. The Shuttle will be on hand to see if the brilliant rising drag star Trevor Ashley picks up an award for his superb show Diamonds Are For Trevor while Tim Minchin is nominated for Best Comedy performance.

Judy Davis' husband Colin Freils may get Best Actor in A Play for Red and no Sydney theatre event is worth it's salt without either Cate Blanchett in attendance or getting a Best Actress Award as she may for her role in Gross Und Klein. And Miranda Otto should be there along with the Otto clan including dad Barry Otto ('best actor in the world' : John Gielgud). Miranda has been nominated in the supporting role in The White Guard.

Bruce Beresford has been nominated for his direction of the opera Mice And Men.
Prince, Kylie Minogue, Foof Fighters, Sade and Keith Urban have all been nominated in various categories.
For the full list go to the Helpmann Awards website and check back at the social shuttle later tonight.

Shy Media Mogul

A nice group photograph from today's Sunday Telegraph of recipients at News Ltd's  in-house Oscars-the News Awards- given to journalists and photographers from publications around the country.

 

Who was the smiling gent almost obscured from view in this snap taken by top social photographer Richard Dobson?. Yes it is he-the world's most powerful media mogul Rupert Murdoch who slipped quietly into town last week to attend the gongs at a lavish dinner at Sydney's State Theatre on Friday.

No Dramas at Bill's Show

Ros Oxley & Bill Henson

David Wenhem & Kate Agnew

 The last time the Shuttle attended a Bill Henson show at Ros Oxley's Gallery in Paddington we encountered the State wallopers barring entry and piling the exhibits into a large paddy wagon. Oh for the publicity!.
It spread around the world and even had then PM Kevin Rudd proclaiming the photographs-some of teens - 'disgusting' (although he said hadn't actually seen them) while the Opposition leader Malcolm Turnbull declared them to be art (and as he owned a Henson I guess he would).

SBS TV's Jenny Brockie

Thursday night's opening was a rather sedate affair but all the better for seeing Henson's latest works which really are quite beautiful. The new exhibition  marks the return of Henson’s fascination with the human form, after a 2010 show of landscape photography. In an interview for the Sydney Morning Herald, Henson told art critic John McDonald the exhibition : “will focus more on the body, and less on landscape”. There are 18 works in total and editions of 5 of each at a cool $30,000 a go which makes around $2,500,000 worth of art on the walls. Get out those Box Brownies now and start snapping away.

John Moriarty admires the art

Watch the video below of the 2008 police raid on the gallery.
Bill Henson : 20 Sep-13 Oct Roslyn Oxley9 Gallery, 8 Soudan Ln, Paddington 2021  

More Woes at Big Picture

The blows just keep coming for the cockatoo haired Darryn Lyons of Big Picture fame - the agency that recently announced it was having 'cash flow' problems.

A freelance photographer says he supplied Big with photographs that were sold but he is owed nearly  £5000  and is threatening to issue a 'winding up' notice unless he is paid. Read more in the UK Press Gazette.

Camilla : Ajay Rochestor wants An Apology

Ajay Rochestor wears Camilla with Derek Warburton (inset).

She really does deserve one.
 Ajay is living in the USA forging a new career but has been the target of reverse Tall Poppy Syndrome attacks from her home country.

a real woman !

As the Shuttle reported last week. Camilla Franks has been cleaned out of her new Gypsy range after a break-in at her Bondi store but now her stylist has reportedly made a mean statement in Ros Reines' Sunday Telegraph column about Ajay's appearance on the catwalk wearing a Camilla caftan- and looking sensational- in the finale of New York Mercedes Benz Fashion Week, the Real Fashion. Real Women-Bottomless Closet parade organised and hosted by top New York stylist Derek Warburton.
Camilla's rep is reported as saying : "I'm sure that she (Camilla) felt much happier about the gorgeous Jennifer Lopez wearing one of her kaftans". Oh really ?. Earth to stylist : apart from being a bit ill-mannered, the very nice Camilla ain't going to survive on lending kaftans to the likes of Jennifer Lopez.  
The Real Women Real Fashion parade was an industry supported event to try and prove that the fashion industry cares about its real consumer, the women who wear the clothes. A worthy ambition one would think but brought undone by the words of a representative of one of the designers on show. Ajay (and her co-models) demonstrated far more grace and style on the night.
Is it any wonder that old Shuttle pal (Dame) Vivienne Westwood, one of Europe's most influential designers of the last 50 years and someone who abhors much of the pomposity that surrounds the business turned up at her show in London last week wearing this outfit (right).

Below is a video of the parade from Fashion News Live:

Lil Orphan Annie : The Oxford Street Version

Tickets go on sale from Friday for trAnnie the adults only pantomine which opens on Thursday 6th December at the Sydney Opera House.

 Ten year old little orphan Fannie (Trevor Ashley) parents have left him in a basket on the doorstep of the Sutherland Shire Children's Orphanage with nothing but a bracelet and a bottle of Stoli.  
 He is desperate to get his long-overdue gender reassignment surgery, but there’s so much standing in his way: including that boozy matron Miss Trannigan (Rhonda Burchmore) who has just been listed on the sex-offender registry, and is bitter from years of Logie losses.  Thank God Fannie has a bunch of foul mouthed orphans and his/her trusty ex-sniffer dog to help him/her survive.
Featuring songs, audience participation, and out-of-work television personalities, this brand new adults-only panto will have you in fits of laughter... and wishing that you too could be adopted by a sexy bald millionaire.

Book tickets here.

Lady GaGa : The Tattoo

Lady GaGa at her perfume launch: photograph www.patrickmcmullan.com

Yoko Ono at GaGa's perfume launch

 Lady GaGa being tattooed at her perfume launch in New York. Pics are by the brilliant photographer Terry Richardson who is a friend of La GaGa.

Topless Kate Middleton Pics & an Aussie Connection

William & Kate in Malaysia

While the brouhaha over the topless photographs of HRH The Duchess of Cambridge gets more dramatic by the day, an Australian connection is emerging.

A fortnight ago Bauer Media, Europe's largest privately owned publishing firm purchased Australia's largest magazine empire ACP for around $500M. Bauer Media also own the Closer brand of magazines. The topless photographs have been published in the French edition of Closer and the editor is unrepentant with reports now emerging that there are further pics to be published next  week.

Bauer have issued a statement deploring the use of the topless photographs of Kate Middleton and have complained to the magazine but the French edition is published under license by an Italian publisher Mondadori.

Bauer CEO Paul Keenan says he has asked Closer to remove the pics : "We deplore the publication of these intrusive and offensive pictures and have asked that Closer France takes these pictures down immediately from its website and desist from publishing any further pictures"'. Bauer are said to be reviewing the Closer license with Mondadori.
                                                                                                                           
Where does this leave the Australian Woman's Day, the biggest selling weekly magazine and new Baeur acquisition ?. WD is in fierce competition with New Idea (owned by billionaire Kerry Stokes' Pacific Magazines) and barely a week goes by without the 2 glossies running a feature on Prince William and Kate. A month ago we can imagine a bidding war would have erupted between the 2 mags for the topless photos. New Idea was the first to breach an agreement, not to mention that Prince Harry was serving in Afghanistan in 2008.

The Shuttle has worked on a number of occasions with the British royals including the late Princess Diana on her last visit to Australia. We once attended a dinner for HRH Prince Edward at Lady Mary Fairfax's pile Fairwater. Twenty guests had paid $10,000 each for the privilege of dining with Edward (the money went to charity) with the promise of a snap with the royal. The Shuttle obliged but not before an arrangement was made with Edward's minders- 2 charming but lethal looking gentleman from Scotland Yard's Royal Protection Squad. The Shuttle was to be searched before we left the function to ensure we had not taken any covert pics of Edward, perhaps rubbing his bald spot and so on. We were happy to oblige.
But where were Kate Middleton's minders while she was holidaying in France and for that matter, Prince Harry's when he was in Las Vegas ?.

O What A Bar

Michael Moore & wife Angela

 left  Kerri Anne Kennerley & Jane Ferguson tweeted friends about the O Bar.

Top chef Michael Moore has launched his new venue, the O Bar & Restaurant on the 47th floor of Australia Square.

singer Ivor Davies partying with pals at O Bar

And what a sensational place this is with spectacular views over the Sydney skyline. Not only that, the outer circle of the O Bar revolves a full 360 degrees -ever so slowly-something that only dawned on the Shuttle after the second cocktail when we noticed the Sydney Tower had disappeared and was replaced by the Prudential building with the Harbour Bridge slowly coming into view!

Around 300 guests gathered on Wednesday night to celebrate Michael's new venture and the positive mood of the party indicates O Bar will be a major success. This landmark building already has super smooth elevators that get  you to the top very quickly but even they are being up-graded. As it was a warm Spring type evening the courtyard of the Square was packed so by Summer we predict hundreds will be taking those lifts upwards.

left : X Factor favourite Bella Hunter & top model Michelle Walsh

Some of the nibbles at the opening party were from the Michael's local seafood , seasonal produce and healthy menu : quinoa crusted crab and chickpea cakes with lemon yoghurt, buttermilk organic chicken with buckwheat crust and apricot mustard and kingfish pastrami with coriander, citrus and cumin. Yum.    Check out the food and drinks menu at the new O Bar website.

Toronto Film Festival

   Two homegrown talents shine on the red carpet at the Toronto Film Festival. Naomi Watts was there to promote her new flick The Impossible while Abbie Cornish attended the Hollywood Foreign Press Association’s Toronto International Film Festival Party.
 




Meanwhile in New York , Tasmanian born actress Rachael Taylor attended the Mercedes Fashion Week.

Packer or Branson for Byron Bay?

It's the talk of Byron Bay : the star's hide-away Rae's on Wategos has been put on the market by owner Vincent Rae and the word is that entrepreneur Richard Branson is interested in adding the boutique hotel to his chain of luxury inns that include a small palace in Morocco , two islands and the magnificent Roof Gardens atop a department store in London which features 1.5 acres of English countryside complete with flamingos.

Vincent Rae

James Packer

 Rae's is situated on Wategos Beach which is just around the corner from the main part of Byron Bay and features sweeping views of the ocean, lush gardens - part designed by Salvador Dali- 8 penthouses and a clientele to die for : Russell Crowe, Tom Cruise, Kate Winslet, Keith Richards and Elle McPherson all stay there.

Byron locals say a Virgin big-wig was spotted in town last week and Richard Branson is a regular guest. It's the sort of hotel that would fit in perfectly with the Branson stable and the local council has approved plans for an underground car park, new terrace, spa and cocktail bar. But does the Virgin boss have a rival?

Branson's Necker Island

Branson's Kasbah Tamadot in Morroco

Rae's is also one of billionaire James Packer's favourite holiday spots in Australia and a local in the know has told us that a Packer associate has made discreet enquiries about the sale. And the price?. Only very interested parties are being told but earlier this year a duplex opposite the beach and near Rae's went for $9M. A fraction of what Rae's would be worth.

Smash & Grab at Camilla's

Sydney fashion designer Camilla Franks has had her new Spring / Summer range stolen during a daring smash and grab raid at her Bondi Beach store.  According to the Daily Telegraph two thieves by-passed jewellery and other goods and headed straight for Camilla's new 'Gypsy' range, featured here in our snaps which were photographed at the David Jones' fashion parade last month.

Camila's label has gone from success to success and her floaty caftan style frocks are sold around the Mediterranean and are popular with well heeled ladies on the Côte d'Azur. Two years ago the world's richest woman Gina Rinehart cleaned out one boutique in Cannes by snapping up the store's 40 creations while on a shopping trip. St Tropez local Brigitte Bardot has been spotted featuring several of Camila's designs.

                            right : Camilla Franks - below : the Gypsy range.

Read more here.

Deborah's Big Win

Deborah with Malcolm Turnbull MP

No doubt the very glamorous former model Deborah Thomas was celebrating on Sunday with her husband Vitek Czernuszyn, purveyor of fine vodka.

Deborah commands a number of weighty titles : director of media, public affairs and brand development at ACP magazines but she now also ascends to Woollahra Council after a convincing win in the local elections on Saturday.

Thomas has edited and published the Australian Women's Weekly for a number of years ( still the countries top selling magazine and at times, one of the world's) and she'll now be sitting in on council meetings making decisions on all sorts of mind boggling matters like local roads, development applications and so on. 
 

Only just last week it was announced that the ACP magazine publishing empire has been snapped up by the German media giant Bauer for a tidy $500M, the largest privately owned publishing group in Europe. It brings the legendary magazine empire built by the Packer family back into private hands.
left : Vitek Czernuszyn (far right) with pals Mark & Victoria Coppleson

Women Rule as Clover Claims Victory

Clover

Poor Alan Jones. The shock jock claimed a short time ago that 'these women are wrecking the joint' but it's only going to get worse for the radio host.
Sydney Lord Mayor Clover Moore has been re-elected for a further four years in council elections after receiving over 51% of the vote.

This will be Clover's third term as the Independent Mayor and seals her popularity with the diverse electorate of Sydney with 5 seats on the 10 seat council. Federal Opposition Leader Tony Abbott's sister Christine Forster (right) won a seat on the council for the Liberal party.

Anna Bligh

The Greens have picked up one seat which probably means Moore will be able to push ahead with her plans to 'green' Sydney with her promotion of villages and more bike friendly streets.
 On the minus side for the studded dog collar wearing Mayor is that she must now divest herself of the State seat she also holds under new rules introduced by the Coalition state government. This will mean a fiercely contested by-election will be fought by the Coalition and Labor.

The Shuttle's pick : Labor will most likely pick up the seat with a high profile candidate imported from Queensland : former State premier Anna Bligh. Watch this space !