The 9 0'Clock News – Fri 16 May

Posted by heatworld on Friday 16 May 2008

Filed under: Brian McFadden, Kate Thornton, Paris Hilton, Take That, Victoria Beckham, Babies

Posh and Paris throw rival launch parties:
This pair must be two of the most publicity hungry media savvy stars on the showbiz circuit, but when it came to a competition between them both, who turned out to have the biggest pulling power? Paris Hilton, in London to launch her new fragrance Can Can (we hope that doesn’t mean it comes in a can), attracted a huge crowd at Selfridges on Oxford Street, while Victoria Beckham set up base at the nearby Harrods to launch her new DVB denim range. Although Posh had clearly bagged the more, erm, posh store, Paris cheekily brought her appearance time forwards by a few hours to clash with her rival. Plus, when it came to fans, Paris was – amazingly – in her own league, with admirers queuing overnight to snap up her new perfume and get a glimpse of the heiress. A Selfridges spokesperson said, “There were thousands of fans.” In contrast, Harrods had put blankets out expecting a similar response, but nobody showed up until a few hours before. But, while Paris clearly won the public popularity contest, Posh pulled in the greater number of press – so much so that when Paris arrived back at the Dorchester hotel there was hardly a pap to be seen as they were all at Harrods. Ding! Round one to Posh...

Take That are back in the recording studio. Yay!
Take That are back in the recording studio – cutting short their planned break after just four months. The group, who have had amazing success since reforming and have scooped a number of gongs including two Brits in February, have been in meetings and are already working on new material. A source revealed, "They've had the relevant meetings with their record company about a new album and both parties are in agreement about it. They're going to be back a lot quicker than they'd originally planned."

Kate Thornton’s had a baby
Kate Thornton has given birth to a baby boy called Ben. The former X Factor presenter, who is engaged to DJ Darren Emerson, had her first baby on Tuesday and a spokesperson for the couple said, "Mum, dad and baby are all at home resting up." Kate was given the boot as presenter of the X Factor by Simon Cowell and replaced by Dermot O'Leary, but has since fronted a number of different shows including ITV1's Britain Sings Christmas. Congrats Kate.

Ha! This Brian McFadden press release is genius...
You have to admire the sheer balls of some people. One marketing or PR genius in Australia has been tasked with penning a press release to promote Brian McFadden. Remember – as well as being Kerry Katona’s ex he also sings! The document describes Brian as “one of the most successful performers of his generation”. Riiiight. Um, did someone mix up Brian’s press release with Madonna’s, or something? The gush then goes on to say that Brian’s duet with Delta Goodrem was “life altering”. Blimey! What do they put in the tea down under?