celebs – Page 8 – Rob Mansfield: Content-ment

Joaquin Phoenix on Letterman

This is one of the more bizarre, but genuinely entertaining celeb talk show interviews you’ll see for a while.

There has been speculation that Joaquin Phoenix was being serious, but I think it’s clear that even though David Letterman wasn’t in on the gag, he’s playing it for laughs.

Think about it this way: if Joaquin had gone on David Letterman and just given a straight interview, no-one would probably remember it. Now, it’s quickly become an internet phenomenon and tens of thousands of internet goers will have heard of Two Lovers, the movie he’s on plugging.

Enjoy!

Why it’s not just Timmy Mallet that will get a boost…

As Timmy Mallett’s ‘career’ receives a boost with his appearance in I’m A Celebrity, there’s an increasing worry that he’s getting ready to re-release his abominable version of Itsy Bitsy Teeny Weeny Yellow Polka Dot Bikini that he somehow managed to get to No.1 back in 1990 under the guise of Bombalurina.

It’s not that the former Wacaday presenter doesn’t deserve another (let’s hope) brief shot at fame, but let’s not forget that his short pop career was masterminded by none other than the (Dark) Lord Andrew Lloyd Webber.

Bombalurina is, as any fewl nose, a character from Lloyd-Webber’s phenomenally successful musical Cats, but it was also the name given to Timmy’s group which Lloyd Webber produced, hence the Cats link.

In fact, Lloyd Webber had previous form at entering the pop charts undercover. Along with a guy called Nigel Wright, he made a song called Tetris, using music from the computer game, under the name Doctor Spin. The track charted at No.6 in the UK charts in 1992 – amazing.

I know ALW has gained some sort of cool status again for his appearances on BBC’s Joseph/SoM/Oliver reality series, but that’s surely no reason for him to make more money and re-inflict IBTWYPDB on us again, is it? Surely Timmy Mallett alone is enough?

That’s right – take the piss, why not!

Jo Swash It didn’t take long for the newspapers to start making fun of the celebs in the jungle, did it?

Every year, whether it’s Big Brother or I’m A Celebrity, newspapers always mock contestants for their lack of general knowledge – as if everyone should be gifted with the brain of Fred Housego.

Joe Swash’s crime was to ask Czech-born Martina Navratilova if the Czech Republic is near Prague. Now hang on a minute – just exactly why is that soooo stupid?

OK, so he confused a city and a country, but if he’d turned round and said is that near Sydney or London, then the mocking would have been worth it. But come on – Prague is the capital of the Czech Republic, so he wasn’t exactly far out, was he?

How many people get taught capital cities and countries any more anyway? And European geography isn’t as simple as it was 15 years ago.

Back in 1990, say, you had Czechoslovakia and Yugoslavia – these have now been broken up into 8 smaller countries, making it far more difficult to know them all.

In my book, Mr Swash seems like a pretty OK bloke and he’s getting paid considerably more money for his 3 weeks work in the jungle than I get paid to sit at a desk for 12 months of the year, so fair play to him!