Tag Archives: Catherine Balavage

Justin Bieber's perfume rakes in over 3 million

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Justin Bieber’s debut perfume looks set to become the top-selling perfume of 2011.

The 17-year-old singer’s women’s scent, Someday, generated more than $3 million in retail sales at Macy’s in New York in under three weeks and experts are already hailing its debut on June 23 as the most successful celebrity fragrance launch in history.

Karen Grant, vice president and senior global industry analyst of the NPD Group Inc., said: “If it sustains this momentum, it will become the number-one-selling fragrance of 2011. We haven’t seen anything like it since [Jennifer Lopez’s] Glow and [Britney Spears’] Curious.”

To launch the fragrance, Justin made a personal appearance at Macy’s, where the first 325 fans who purchased the $135 Someday gift set had their pictures taken with the ‘Baby’ hitmaker and the store believe the star’s presence propelled the fragrance’s high sales.

Terry Lundgren, chairman, president and chief executive officer of Macy’s Inc., told WWD: “Justin Bieber’s Someday fragrance, propelled by Justin’s incredible personal appearance at Macy’s Herald Square, has resonated with our customers, and has now become the biggest celebrity fragrance launch on record.”

Following’s its success in Macy’s, other US stores – including Dillard’s, Boscov’s, Belk, Nordstrom, Lord & Taylor, Sephora and Ulta – are now stocking the fragrance, while it will also be sold overseas, including in the UK, Australia, Germany and New Zealand.

The fragrance was created through Give Back Brands – a company designed for entertainers to use to raise money for good causes – and the proceeds will go to several charities, including the Make-A-Wish Foundation and Pencils of Promise, an initiative which builds schools.

Robert Hollander, president of Give Back Brands, said: “Justin Bieber Someday has launched to numbers that are nothing short of astounding, making this the industry’s single most successful celebrity fragrance launch. Our retail partners simply cannot keep it in stock. Justin has truly made his mark on the fragrance industry, and we could not be more proud of this partnership.”

Taylor Swift's perfume inspired by love

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Taylor Swift’s fragrance Wonderstruck was inspired by falling in love.

The pop star has collaborated with Elizabeth Arden to create her first perfume and Taylor revealed the name came from her song ‘Enchanted’ about meeting a special someone.

She told WWD: “I share personal life experiences through my music, and my fragrance will allow me to share these experiences with my fans in a completely different and new way. Falling in love is a moment every girl daydreams about and Wonderstruck represents that magical feeling of promise and hope and intrigue. It was fascinating to learn that you can layer so many different scents to create a beautiful end result.”

The new scent -which will be rolled out worldwide over two years starting in September – features freesia, green tea, apple blossom, raspberry and dewberry and Taylor likened choosing the scent to planning an album launch.

She said: “Writing songs is a process unlike anything else, and I’ll never experience anything like it. However, coming up with ideas for this fragrance and the packaging and message of it reminded me of what it’s like to plan an album launch. You come up with a theme that represents all these tiny moving parts, a sum of all the planning and creating. Then it goes out into the world and becomes a part of people’s daily lives.”

Daniel Radcliffe loves free Potter rides

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Daniel Radcliffe loves the ‘Harry Potter’ theme park – because he doesn’t have to pay.

The 21-year-old actor – who has played the titular boy wizard in all eight of the movies in the franchise – was thrilled to be asked to open the attraction in Florida, which is based on the films and original books by J. K. Rowling, because he got to enjoy the rides afterwards.

He said: “It’s brilliant going round your own theme park. You don’t have to queue, you don’t have to pay.

“I went on the Dragon Challenge roller coaster five times.”

Despite having amassed an estimated £48 million fortune, Daniel admits he “doesn’t know” what to do with his cash, but is pleased he never has to worry about his finances.

He said: “I don’t know what to do with it. I’m very fortunate to have it, and it gives you room to manoeuvre.

“But the main thing about having money is it means you don’t have to worry about it. And that for me is a lovely thing. It’s not for fast cars and hookers.”

Brooke Mueller in plane row

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Brooke Mueller had a row with a flight attendant on Tuesday, culminating in her leaving her plane before it departed Los Angeles.

The former wife of Charlie Sheen – who has reportedly reconciled with the troubled actor and father of her two-year-old twin sons Bob and Max – was on a United Airlines flight to Cancun in Mexico when she was prevented from using the restroom on board because the plane was about to depart.

Although Brooke claims the flight attendant was rude and replied “tough” when she explained she had to vomit, a witness told gossip website TMZ that the 33-year-old reality TV star was “belligerent and cussing out” the staff member.

The real estate agent is said to have gone “ballistic” and demanded to leave the plane, which she was allowed to do, though it is not known if she was ejected from the flight or allowed to dismount of her own accord.

Brooke – who has endured a long battle with drug and alcohol abuse – recently completed a 45 day treatment programme at an unnamed rehab facility and is said to be doing “amazing”.

A source revealed: “Brooke is just taking it a day at a time. She has been down this road before and she knows what she has to do.

“Brooke needs to continue to play an active role in her sobriety. When she goes to her AA meetings everyday and talks regularly with her sponsor, she does amazing.”

The actress has completed an outpatient programme which allowed her to spend eight hours a day with her sons and now she will be spending every day with them, and every other weekend.

Ewan McGregor had no ideal woman

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Ewan McGregor didn’t have an ideal woman “checklist”.

The ‘Beginners’ actor – who is due to celebrate his 16-year anniversary with wife Eve Mavrakis next week – explained while he doesn’t know what the secret to their lasting romance is, he “fell in love” with her instantly.

He said: “I don’t know what keeps us together. I hit 40 this year and I’ve got friends of the same age who haven’t found a partner yet.

“I didn’t have a checklist for my ideal woman. I was very young when we met, and I just fell in love with her and knew I wanted to be with her, and I still want to be with her.”

The 39-year-old star – who raises four daughters with Eve, biological children Clara, 15, and Esther, 10, as well as adopted kids Jamiyan, nine, and a baby girl whose name has not yet been revealed – explained the couple are raising their brood with traditional Scottish values passed down from his own parents.

Ewan added to the Daily Mail newspaper: “We go back to visit my mum and dad in Crieff every summer and the kids love it. My knowledge of parenting comes directly from the way I was raised by my parents – I think that politeness and manners are very important.”

Nicole Scherzinger engaged

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Nicole Scherzinger and Lewis Hamilton are reportedly engaged.

The ‘X Factor’ judge and the Formula One driver – who have been dating on and off for the past four years – are set to marry after Lewis popped the question, according to Nicole’s father.

Alfonso Valiente – who split from Nicole’s mother Rosemary when she was six but remains close to his daughter – told the Mail on Sunday newspaper: “You know about the proposal? Yes they are engaged.

“My future son-in-law is a really nice guy, really down-to-earth.

My family all like him. The good spirit is there.”

Alfonso, 52, says he first met Lewis last year after the couple spent a week with him and his family on the Hawaiian island of Oahu and the sportsman left a good impression.

He said: “When he walked into the house for the first time he picked up one of the babies. That went down very well.

“He is sincere and he and my daughter seem genuinely happy together. Lewis is a really good guy. When they came to visit, we hired them a Jeep because he had never driven one before.”

While a spokesman for 25-year-old Lewis refused to confirm their engagement, Nicole recently revealed how she wants to settle down and have children.

The 32-year-old singer said: “Do I see us getting married and having children? My head says yeah, but I’m really focused on my music now and I think that will come in time.

“I think I’ll be really strict like my momma, maybe even worse. I won’t let my children out of the house! I’ll make them listen to classical music.”

Jennifer Lopez splits from Marc Anthony

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Jennifer Lopez and Marc Anthony have split after seven years of marriage.

The couple – who have three-year-old twins, Max and Emme, together – have decided to call time on their relationship after they both agreed on the “difficult decision”.

In a statement released to People magazine, Jennifer and Marc – who wed in June 2004 – said: “We have decided to end our marriage. This was a very difficult decision. We have come to an amicable conclusion on all matters.

“It is a painful time for all involved and we appreciate the respect of our privacy at this time.”

Jennifer – who has been married twice before – recently spoke of her contentment in her personal life now she was a wife and mother.

The 41-year-old beauty said: “I’m in a really happy, good place now, and when you have babies, you feel a different kind of love to anything you’ve experienced – deeper, more profound.

“No matter how much experience you have in love, you’re always learning new things about it; you’re always going to have questions you can never fully answer. I’m probably the happiest I’ve ever been in my life and my husband and my babies have everything to do with that.”

Les Hinton and Rebekah Brooks Resign. Murdoch Latest

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Following on from the last article Frost did on the phone hacking scandal, Rebekah Brooks has finally resigned after Elisabeth Murdoch, daughter of the press baron, launched a rant that Brooks had ‘fucked the company’. Les Hinton, who has been at News Corporation for over 50 years has also resigned saying that he ‘had no other choice’. Apparently, Brooks had offered her resignation a week ago.

 

Rupert Murdoch has taken out a full page advert in the national press to say apologise despite saying previously that ‘we only made minor mistakes.’ The FBI have launched an investigation into the claims that the phones of 9/11 victims were hacked.

 

Carl Bernstein, the former Washington Post reporter who exposed Watergate and helped depose a US president, says it is evident that the events of the past week “are the beginning, not the end, of the seismic event”.

 

News Corporation has hired Edelman, a global communications company to manage the crisis on both sides of the Atlantic and it looks like James Murdoch being the heir apparent it now a pipe dream.

 

UK parliamentary hearing start next week and the future is looking grim for Murdoch, he personally met the family of Milly Dowler to apologise to them, but the damage has all been done. It will interesting to see what happens next. It is ironic to see the hounder hounded, a lot of the photographers taking pictures of Murdoch, actually work for him. Tom Mockridge has been appointed to run News International. Will Chase Carey be heading up global corporation soon.