Russia TV star says she wasn't in tycoon car crash

By Richard Balmforth

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Married Russian TV star Tina Kandelaki on Tuesday defended her squeaky clean image after French police said she was the mystery woman with a Russian billionaire when he crashed his sports car on the Riviera.

A police source in Nice said 31-year-old Kandelaki was treated for minor injuries after businessman Suleiman Kerimov's black Ferrari slammed into a tree. But the presenter said she was at home all the time with her husband and children.

As Kerimov fought in a Marseille hospital to recover from terrible burns he suffered in the crash, scandal enveloped Kandelaki, wife of a wealthy entrepreneur and regularly billed as one of Russia's most glamorous but respectable public faces.

The racy tale of wealth and possible indiscretion drove Russia's fast-growing tabloid press into a frenzy. "The billionaire burnt, trying to save the presenter Tina Kandelaki," a headline in Your Day newspaper ran.

The French police source confirmed Kandelaki was briefly treated at Saint Roch hospital in Nice on Saturday suffering from slight burns to the legs following the accident on the city's Promenade des Anglais.

She checked out of the hospital very quickly, the police source said.

But Kandelaki, who has an untainted public image as a presenter of children's programmes and host of a popular chat-show "Details", was determined to tough out the scandal.

She told Russian journalists she had been with her family at home in Moscow all the time, recovering from mumps which stopped her making any public appearances.

DUMPLINGS AND MUMPS

"I'm at home, eating dumplings," she told the mass-selling daily Komsomolskaya Pravda. "If you want to come and get mumps you're welcome to drop by and see me!"

"After the sort of accident that Suleiman had, nobody could have got out of that car without being hurt," she said.

But her version appeared to be contradicted by her husband, Andrei Kondrakhin, who told Your Day that she had been in France with Kerimov -- though not in the car with him at the time of the accident.

There was no immediate word on Kerimov's condition on Tuesday. A hospital spokesman in Marseille said on Monday that he was in a critical condition, suffering from burns.

The bespectacled Kerimov, who also holds a seat in the State Duma (lower house of parliament), is a man with the Midas touch as well as a taste for the good life.

He has a formidable reputation as a deal maker who bought and sold companies, later ploughing his profits into high-profile investments such as gas monopoly Gazprom and Russia's largest bank, Sberbank.

He is worth $7.1 billion (3.6 billion pounds) according to Forbes magazine, whose annual survey of the world's richest people put him at No. 72, and made him the 11th richest Russian.

Married with three children, Kerimov also controls silver mining firm Polymetal, which plans an initial public share offering in January.

Moscow media reported last year that he paid $1 million to fly pop stars Shakira and Christina Aguilera to Russia to entertain guests at his 40th birthday.

source

Tom and Katie's Scientology Wedding

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Gibson not surprised film's a hit

BY TERRY LAWSON

FREE PRESS MOVIE WRITER

If the phenomenon of "The Passion of the Christ" remains the biggest shock to the system Hollywood has ever received, the box-office success last weekend of "Apocalypto" -- taking the No. 1 spot with $15 million in a week where four other films in the Top 5 made more than $8 million -- was a still a potent aftershock.

By any yardstick, a blood-drenched drama about the last days of Mayan culture, with unknown actors speaking Mayan dialect -- with subtitles -- would seem a difficult sell. But the real sticking point was its origins: As the advertising made clear, this was "Mel Gibson's 'Apocalypto.' "

"It was what it was," says Gibson, calling from Los Angeles, before picking up one of his sons to see the Los Angeles Lakers play Dallas. "There was no way to hide that. To me, the gratification was that there was a desire to see the movie, that people weren't going to be scared away by anything that wasn't about the storytelling."

To those whose suspicions about Gibson hardened into deep dislike or worse after his drunken driving arrest in August, in which he spouted anti-Semitic and sexist bile to the arresting officers, Gibson's name in the title seemed less an inducement than a challenge, like selling cigarettes as "Cancer-causing Smokes." So it may be that the only person who wasn't somewhat surprised by the positive reaction to "Apocalypto" was Mel Gibson. source

Gotta love gossip he he

tori spelling sells stuff
Over 300 people showed up for Spelling’s yard sale at her Los Angeles home. Some came as far away from Boston. There were 10 news helicopters hovered overhead and the crowds on the street backed up traffic.

She sold stuff from sofas and wine glasses to all of her stuff from the show Beverly Hills, 90210. Her garage sale is in prep for her upcoming reality show where she buys a bed and breakfast and redoes it as well as her pending birth of a baby boy.

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BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. - George Lucas, the mastermind behind the "Star Wars" and "Indiana Jones" sagas, can add another credit to his illustrious resume: Rose Parade grand marshal.

For a man accustomed to working behind the camera lens, Lucas embraces his latest challenge as the public face of the 118th annual Tournament of Roses on New Year's Day.

"There's nothing like being a grand marshal. It's a completely unique experience," said Lucas, sitting in the posh Beverly Wilshire hotel.
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The 62-year-old director-producer took a break from his grand marshal duties this past week to reflect on the new year and practice his parade wave. He raised his cupped right hand and, with a flick of his wrist, turned it side to side like a beauty pageant model.

"I've done a lot of wave training," he quipped.

It seems fitting for Lucas to serve as the ambassador of the 2007 Rose Parade that will feature the three-piece "Star Wars Spectacular," which commemorates the 1977 release of "Star Wars," the first film in the sci-fi six-pack. The procession will include two floats depicting the moon of Endor seen in the "Return of the Jedi" and the garden planet of Naboo. Darth Vader will lead a group of 200 stormtroopers, assembled from around the world, who belong to a fan club called the 501st Legion. source

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The theme fo the parade is "OUR GOOD NATURE"

All I have to contribute is that i saw Kevin Federline(sp?) on wrestling a couple weeks ago. I'm was astounded at how low the wreslting and Kevin Federline have gone.