Cosmopolitan Australia "Fun Fearless Females" - finalists announced

Cosmopolitan Australia's "Fun Fearless Females" are here for the fifth year running, and the mag again asked readers to vote for who they believe to be the strongest, most inspirational, fun and fearless females in Australia.

Over 218,000 votes - record numbers in the Awards’ history - came flooding in from all corners of the country and were narrowed down to 33 talented and influential finalists across 11 categories.

Here are some of my faves, including singer Sia Furler, DJ Havana Brown, One Teaspoon’s Jamie Blakey, the lovely Natalie Gruzlewski, and the youngest woman ever to serve in the Australian House of Representatives, Kate Ellis.

Now it's down to Cosmo readers to decide who wins in each category, and who walks away with the top title: Woman of the Year (who receives the most votes overall) and $10,000 from the sponsor, Libra. Votes can be cast at http://www.cosmopolitan.com.au/fun-fearless-females/2011/ and the winners will be announced at a glam Awards event held in Sydney’s Catalina restaurant on 27 July. (My picks are all the women featured here, although there are many I like in the same category).

Cosmopolitan’s Fun, Fearless Female awards 2011 are sponsored by Libra, with Libra’s Therese Winterburn saying: “We’re proud to be sponsoring the Cosmopolitan Fun, Fearless Female awards for the first time in 2011. Libra is all about confidence, fun and femininity. We look forward to celebrating the winners in each category.”

Cosmopolitan’s Fun, Fearless Female finalists - which can all be seen in the current issue with the stunning Kim Kardashian cover - for 2011 are:

Actresses
Jessica Marais, Packed to the Rafters
Yvonne Strahovski, Chuck
Asher Keddie, Offspring

Singers
Julia Stone
Jessica Mauboy
Sia Furler

Entrepreneurs
Belle Bijoux, accessory designer
Carly Crutchfield, Property Developer
Juliette Knox, TLBDE.com

Designers
Natalie Wood, Something Else
Becky Cooper and Bridget Yorston, Bec and Bridge
Jamie Blakey, One Teaspoon

Bloggers
Nicole Warne, garypeppervintage.blogspot.com
Katie Quinn Davies, whatkatieate.blogspot.com
Sara Donaldson, harperandharley.com

Rising Stars
Kate Ellis, MP
Robyn Lawley, model
Sarah Snook, actress

Radio Hosts
Havana Brown, AUSTEREO DJ
Fifi Box, 2DAYFM
Zan Rowe, Triple J

TV Presenters
Natalie Gruzlewski, The Farmer Wants A Wife
Poh Ling Yeow, Poh’s Kitchen
Rachael Finch, High Road, Low Road

Authors
Jessica Rudd, Campaign Ruby
Alexandra Adornetto, Hades
Miranda Darling, The Troika Dolls

Role Models
Cat Edwards, Youngcare
Rebecca McNaught, Red Cross
Anna Bligh, Premier of Queensland

Sports Stars
Stephanie Gilmore, surfer
Samantha Stosur, tennis player
Laura Enever, surfer

The Sydney Film Festival - Wednesday June 8 - June 19, 2011

The Sydney Film Festival kicks off this Wednesday June 8 and runs until June 19, 2011.

The full 12 day film festival program includes 161 titles: 75 features, 39 documentaries, 34 short films, 13 retrospective titles, 10 world premieres, 86 Australian premieres, 42 countries, 47 languages and 29 Australian productions (1 retrospective, 6 features, 10 documentaries, 12 short films). Phew!

“Between our high-octane Opening Night premiere of Joe Wright’s Hanna starring Cate Blanchett and Eric Bana and our Closing Night premiere of Mike Mill’s delicious romantic comedy Beginners with Ewan McGregor and Christopher Plummer, you will find the very best cinema from around the world," said Festival Director Clare Stewart.

“From the daring stylistic approaches in our Official Competition selection through the inspirational subjects and investigations in the FOXTEL Australian Documentary Prize lineup, this year’s festival is a rousing chorus of unfettered vision, enquiry and creativity.”

The opening night gala will feature the Australian premiere of espionage thriller Hanna – directed by Joe Wright (Atonement) and stars Saoirse Ronan, Cate Blanchett and Eric Bana, kicking off the 2011 Sydney Film Festival at the State Theatre on Wednesday June 8 at 7.30pm, followed by an afterparty at The Establishment. Cate Blanchett will be opening night guest.

Other highlights include the 'family gala' event: director Jennifer Yuh Nelson and CEO of DreamWorks Animation Jeffrey Katzenberg will be at Sydney Film Festival to introduce the Australian premiere of Kung Fu Panda 2 in 3D on the public holiday Monday 13 June, 6.30pm, at Vmax 1 and 2, Event Cinemas George Street.

Now in its fourth year of FIAPF-accredited Official Competition features 12 international titles, in a program of cutting-edge filmmaking. Jury President Chen Kaige and four jurors will select one film to receive the $60,000 Sydney Film Prize.

There will also be industry talks and workshops - see the site www.sff.org.au to book tickets, to find out how to get there, movie times, movie venues, ticket prices, and more.

Tickets can also be booked by calling the SFF box office on 9690 5390.

The Amazing Race Australia - Chris and Anastasia

Will this couple overtake Richard and Joey as the most talked about duo on the often-controversial, hugely popular reality show The Amazing Race Australia?

Watch this 'leaked footage', taken from tonight's ep and have your say... what do you think about this team?

And for the couple's profile video, go here (looks like Chris really, really likes Anastasia's, er, rack):

http://au.tv.yahoo.com/the-amazing-race-australia/teams/article/-/9170600/1/anastasia-and-chris-nsw/

Empty Oprah Syndrome: cured. Oprah now on Bio channel

If you have a case of Oprah-itis (that a cream just won't fix) we have your cure right here.

On Foxtel and Austar, you can catch every single final season episode on Oprah's new home at the Bio channel.

Premiering today, Monday June June 6 at 2.30pm, the world’s most popular talk show, The Oprah Winfrey Show, is celebrating 25 years of life-changing television, with Oprah beginning her final series the way we now know: "You're going to Austraaaaaaalia!"

Final season show June highlights include:

Monday, June 6 – Oprah’s Farewell Season Premiere
Tuesday, June 7 – Oprah’s Ultimate Australian Adventure (Part 1)
Wednesday, June 8 - Oprah’s Ultimate Australian Adventure (Part 2)
Thursday, June 9 - Oprah’s Ultimate Australian Adventure (Ultimate Wildest Dreams)
Friday, June 10 - Oprah’s Ultimate Australian Adventure (Hugh Jackman, Bono and more)
Monday, June 13 - How Wynonna Judd Survived the Ultimate Betrayal
Wednesday, June 14 – 23 Years Later Oprah Returns to Williamson West
Thursday, June 15 – The Discovery headquarters. Hostages come forward
Friday, June 16 – Ultimate Wildest Dreams and Oprah’s New Book
Monday, June 20 – Waiting for Superman – The Movement
Tuesday, June 21 – Jon Stewart and living legend Liza Minnelli
Wednesday, June 22 – Bravest mum in the world set free
Thursday, June 23 – Held Hostage in Iran: American hiker Sarah Shroud
Friday, June 24 – Viewers react to Waiting for Superman
Monday, June 27 – Celebrities take on their dream jobs
Tuesday, June 28 – The mum who fathered her own children
Wednesday, June 29 - Aging beauty – Cybill Shepherd and Linda Evans
Thursday, June 30 – On location in Scotland. Oprah and JK Rowling

The Oprah Winfrey Show is now on the Bio channel, daily at 2.30pm, with repeats of that day's episode at 7.30pm, then again at 12.30am.

Breaking Dawn - Part 1 trailer. Watch it here and on MTV Awards today

Are you ready?

Here is the official trailer for Breaking Dawn, Part 1.

You will see:

- Bella's wedding dress (and hint of a belly)

- Edward's hotness (especially in a wedding suit)

- Jacob's bare chest (again)



The trailer will have its official premiere at the MTV Movie Awards today, screened in Australia at 4pm today (channel 124, on the 'Entertainment' menu, not the 'Music' menu).

Are you excited?

While I am not one of those huge fans of the movies/books, I will allow myself to be swept up in the hype by seeing the highly anticipated flick with someone who is.

The movie open in Australia on November 17 - one day before the rest of the world!

Blake Lively - Glamour magazine US, July 2011

Is it just me, or is Blake Lively looking more spectacular than ever?

In these incredibly beautifully styled shots, Blake rocks a pair of red slingbacks and polka dots, and lace shorts like nobody's business.

To see the behind the scenes vid from the shoot - and join the Facebook page - go here: https://www.facebook.com/glamour?sk=app_194940290541135

Zara 101: a lesson from Hungry Beast (and Things Bogans Like)

Hungry Beast is THE TV show you should be watching if you need cheat sheets on just about anything, broken down into small, digestible chunks. It features a segment called 'joining the dots' and I love this for its ability to deconstruct any subject matter; you can then pass the nuggets of knowledge off as your own at the next dinner party (are we still having those?)

The latest ep featured an overview on clothing chainstore Zara.

Explained in the usual, inimitable Hungry Beast way, with graphics and illos, it provided a run-down on how this retailing giant works.

Some gobsmacking facts:

- Zara now has almost 2000 stores in 77 countries.

- Its parent company, Inditex, turned over $17 billion last year.

- Staff churn out 30,000 designs a year.

- Garments hit shop floors within three weeks of design, as opposed to the industry average of six months.

- The brand’s global distribution centre in Spain moves 2.5 million items per week. Nothing remains warehoused longer than 72 hours.

- When the Sydney Zara stores opened in April - the first in Australia - 80% of the stock was snapped up within three minutes. Three minutes!

Watch the full Hungry Beast video here:



Want a completely different take on the brand? Go here: http://thingsboganslike.com/2011/04/27/224-zara/