Category: ENTERTAINMENT

Source: dailymail.co.uk

George Michael has forced the BBC to pull the plug on an interview he gave in which he reveals he is too scared to have an AIDs test.

The star made the admission to Stephen Fry for a new two part documentary shown on BBC2 next month.

In the programme, the former Wham singer is understood to have revealed he had not had a test to see if he is HIV positive for years because he is scared of what result would come back.

Mr Michael, 44, whose former partner Anselmo Feleppa died of an Aids related illness in 1995, is said to have told the BBC the subject was too personal and emotional to be broadcast.

It is understood that Fry and Michael clashed over the singer’s stance over whether to be tested or not during the interview, which was recorded earlier this year.

In June, Fry’s producer, Ross Wilson, revealed: “George says he does not believe in tests .

“He says he finds the wait for results to harrowing and that he hasn’t had a test since at least 2004 due to his fears it might be positive.”

But yesterday the BBC issued a short statement saying: “George Michael isn’t in the documentary, because on reflection, this was too personal a journey for George to revisit”.

There is also speculation that Michael may have been unhappy over the way BBC programming chiefs used his discomfort to promote the programme, which also sees Fry himself take an HIV test, which is provides a negative result.

The singer has talked frankly about the issue and his feelings about the death of former boyfriend Anselmo Feleppa, who died from the disease in 1985.

A spokesman for the star confirmed that he had asked for his contribution to be removed and claimed it had also been too personal a subject for Anselmo’s family to revisit as well.

He said: “On reflection, he felt it was too close and too personal a journey.”

The spokesman added: “It was too personal for Anselmo’s family to revisit.”

The documentary series called Stephen Fry: HIV and Me, which airs in the first week of October, follows on from his acclaimed programme The Secret Life of the Manic depressive, where he revealed his personal struggle with mental illness.

It has already been an eventful year for Michael after he became the first singer to perform at the new Wembley Stadium in June, almost seven years after the last concert at the venue.

But just a day before the gig, he was sentenced to 100 hours of community service and given a driving ban for two years after pleading guilty to driving while unfit.

He said he had been ashamed of risking other people’s lives as he drove his Mercedes erratically in North London in October last year.

Police found the car stopped at traffic lights with Michael slumped at the wheel, drooling and sweating.

Blood tests showed a cocktail of drugs in cluding anti-depressant, sleeping pill, cannabis and the illegal dance club drug GHB.

Michael was previously forced to complete 80 hours of community service in 1998 in the US for “lewd conduct” in an LA park.

Source: gossip-tv

Ο Στέλιος Ρόκκος είπε την άποψή του για τα όσα είπε ο Νότης Σφακιανάκης σχετικά με την Χρυσή Αυγή.

«Ο Σφακιανάκης είναι για μένα σαν να μην υπάρχει. Ακόμα και τότε που είπε για τον Ρέμο διάφορα, όσο και να διαφωνώ με αυτά, δήλωσα ότι μου αρέσουν οι άνθρωποι που λένε την άποψή τους, έτσι και τώρα δεν θα το πάρω πίσω.

Αλλά αυτή τη φορά ο Νότης ξεπέρασε τα όριά και πήρε μια θέση που τελικά αποκάλυψε ποιος είναι», δήλωσε ο Στέλιος Ρόκκος στο You και συνέχισε: «Το χειρότερο πράγμα είναι η ημιμάθεια και όχι η αμάθεια.

Εάν θέλει να επιβάλλει τη Δημοκρατία του Περικλή με κλομπ… στο χωριό του. Γιατί ξέρουμε κι εμείς να του πούμε ‘’να πάει να γ@μ@@ει’’».

Όσον αφορά την αποχώρηση της Δέσποινας Βανδή είπε: «Η Δέσποινα έχει ανέβει στα μάτια μου είκοσι μέτρα. Αυτό που έκανε θέλει πολλά α@@ι@@α.

Είναι όλα έτοιμα και λέει ‘’εγώ με αυτόν τον τύπο δεν μπορώ να συνεργαστώ γιατί λέει μ@@α@ιες’’.

Καλά κάνει και τις λέει γιατί έτσι εκτίθεται μόνος του, αλλά κάποια στιγμή πρέπει να διαβάσει περισσότερο, γιατί το παίζει πολύ διαβασμένος. @ρ@ίδι και κουράδι».

Source: Ekathimerini

One of Greece’s wayward sons is about to make a stand-up return. With the support of the Canadian Embassy, Canadian-Greek comedian Angelo Tsarouchas will take the stage at the Michael Cacoyannis Theater this Sunday, November 24. The show – in English but sprinkled with bits of Greek – forms the subject of “Back to Sparta,” a film documenting the comedian’s lifelong goal to perform live in his ancestral country.

Tsarouchas was born in Montreal, but his family originally hails from Sparta. “People would ask me how I learned to speak Greek and I would tell them it was because my mother couldn’t speak English,” notes the current Los Angeles resident. Tsarouchas has performed for audiences around the world, but this visit marks his first to Greece in a professional capacity. “This is where my parents are from. We used to spend summers here when we were younger. It’s always been a dream of mine to come back.”

Much of Tsarouchas’s humor pokes fun at his bulky figure and Greek heritage. His last stand-up special, “Bigger is Better,” premiered on Showtime and attracted upward of 14 million viewers. Past performances have also included roles in the films “Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle” and “Cinderella Man.” The production of a new sitcom series, “The Angelo Show,” was recently confirmed and will feature fellow comedian Vince Vaughn in the role of executive producer.

Tsarouchas lists Harry Klynn (Vassilis Triantafyllidis) and Lakis Lazopoulos as his greatest artistic influences. Last week he had the opportunity to meet Lazopoulos in Athens – “a very funny man and a class act.”

Touring across Canada and the United States, fellow comedians would ask Tsarouchas why Greeks were always so congenial to one another. “That’s just the way we are,” he would reply. “That’s the way we’ve been raised. We’re probably the proudest people on Earth.” Tsarouchas’s homecoming takes him back to the roots of that pride. “I only wish that more artists of the diaspora would do the same,” he adds.

General admission to Tsarouchas’s “One and Only Stand-Up Comedy Performance” costs 10 euros. Tickets can be purchased in advance by calling 210.341.8579 or visiting the Michael Cacoyannis Foundation’s website, http://www.mcf.gr. The show begins at 9 p.m. Michael Cacoyannis Foundation, 206 Pireos.

Source: BBCNews

In Time, released in 2011, starred both Justin Timberlake and Mamma Mia’s Amanda Seyfried

A Greek writer is suing the makers of Justin Timberlake’s sci-fi thriller In Time, saying they stole his idea.

Odysseus Lappas is demanding $4.5m (£2.8m) from 20th Century Fox and New Regency, according to papers filed in Los Angeles Superior Court.

In Time was set in a future world, where humans stop aging at 25, and must buy, borrow or steal time from other people – otherwise they die.

Lappas claims he wrote an “uncannily similar” synopsis in 1996.

His story, which was filed with the Writer’s Guild of America, was called Time Card.

In the film, the protagonists’ remaining time on earth counts down via a clock on their arm

According to his legal case, it was “an action-adventure love story about a man and a woman who live in a future world wherin the human life span had changed and people would die after reaching their 25th birthday”.

“Specifically, the Time Card synopsis outlines the main character as being broke and out of time, yet in love with a very rich woman who is virtually immortal,” the filing continues.

“The similarities are striking”.

Lappas said he met with a representative from 20th Century Fox, who offered to buy the rights to his idea for £80,000 (£49,733).

He refused, as he wanted to either write or produce any film arising from his story – but said the two parties entered into an “implied-in-fact contract”, suggesting he would be compensated if his synopsis was used.

In Time, released by Fox in 2011, made $173m (£107.5m) worldwide. It was credited to screenwriter/director Andrew Niccol, who previously penned the scripts for The Truman Show and Gattaca.

There has been no comment on the legal case by Fox or New Regency.