Idol offends fashion police

Since when is a flower mesh frou-frou evening gown considered the right stage attire for an upcoming pop star? On Sunday the winner of Australian Idol , Natalie Gauci, looked dressed for a teen debut rather than decked out to bring the Opera House roof down. Meanwhile, her rival, Matt Corby, worked the stage in cool black drain pipe jeans, an oversized T-shirt and fedora. No question who won the style award on the night. Let it be said that George Gross, who created the $2899 gown, has built a successful fashion empire dressing Australian women over the decades.

But sorry, George, it just wasn't quite right on the night.
HEAVEN-SENT

It was rejected by most Australian cinemas, but now the Swedish film As It Is In Heaven has become one of the longest-running foreign films in Sydney. This week the tale of a small church choir will celebrate a year of daily screenings at the Hayden Orpheum Picture Palace in Cremorne. Audiences give standing ovations at the final credits. On Friday the Orpheum will screen a message from two of the film's stars and its director, Kay Pollak. Pollak is still overwhelmed by the response the film has received in Australia, saying in his video message: "I have a wall of certificates for many films but every day when I look it is the picture of the Orpheum saying my film beat Titanic that I look at the most. We beat Titanic." The special screening will feature a performance by an eight-piece Nordic choir, will be attended by the Australian ambassador to Sweden and will be hosted by the Channel Ten entertainment reporter Angela Bishop.
SUPER SANTA

And the Swedish connections keep coming. A Perth man has wowed Swedish judges with his chimney-climbing skills to be named the world's best Santa. Dave Downey beat 30 contestants from around the globe on Sunday to take out the gold medal at the fifth annual Snoyran Santa Games in Gallivare, Sweden. Prospective Santas competed in chimney climbing, reindeer racing, porridge eating, kick-sled racing and Santa's Christmas Eve. This was Downey's third attempt at the Santa crown. "Three years in training to be a Santa and now it's all paid off," he told the Swedish paper The Local. "Last year I fell off the reindeer and got porridge stuck in my beard." The tournament organiser, Elisabeth Landby, said Downey had faced tough competition but was definitely the best Claus on the day. "He really impressed during the chimney climbing, where he got good points for style. He was also very good with the children," she said. As well as the title of top Santa, Mr Downey won a gold medal, a diploma and a hand-made sculpture of Santa.
SHADES OF JIMI

Bob Hendrix, cousin of the guitar-god Jimi, is in Sydney this week spruiking the latest Hendrix-branded money spinner, sunglasses. Bob, who says Jimi was "like a brother to him", caught up with SiT yesterday to reminisce about his cousin. "I was there the first time he picked up a guitar," Bob said. "He was about 13 years old and you could just tell that he had met a match. From the first strum he was completely at one with his instrument."

But for Bob, his best Jimi moment involved their 90-year-old grandmother. "When Jimi got back to Seattle in 1967 I took our 90-year-old grandmother to a concert. We had these great seats in the front row, but when Jimi came out to play she just said, 'I've gotta get to the back row. This music is killing me'. We moved, but even though it was all too loud for her, she stayed until the end."

source: http://www.smh.com.au/news/stay-in-touch-feature/idol-offends-fashion-police/2007/11/27/1196036891464.html