Latest news with #charitygala
Daily Mail
17-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
Sophie Ellis-Bextor wows in a leggy black dress while performing at Pub in the Park after being announced as Eurovision replacement for Doctor Who Star
Sophie Ellis-Bextor ensured all eyes were on her as she lit up the stage at the Pub in the Park Marlow Charity Gala 2025 in Higginson Park on Friday night. The Murder on the Dancefloor singer, 46, was recently announced as the replacement for Doctor Who star Ncuti Gatwa as the United Kingdom's spokesperson at Eurovision 2025. The BBC confirmed that Ncuti is no longer able to fulfil the role, with Sophie stepping up to announce the UK jury's results live from Basel, Switzerland. And before taking on her new Eurovision duties, Sophie delivered a dazzling performance at the charity gala. She looked sensational in a shimmering black sequin dress, complete with thigh-high slits that showcased her toned legs. The eye-catching outfit featured ruffle detailing on the sleeves and hem, which swished dramatically as she danced across the stage. Sophie completed the look with gold block heels and a bold pop of blue eyeshadow. Ncuti had to pull out of the 2025 Eurovision final due to 'unforeseen circumstances ', it was announced on Thursday. The Doctor Who star, who was previously confirmed as the UK's spokesperson for the song contest, will be replaced by Sophie. Sophie will now announce the British jury's points for each participating country's song on Saturday. The BBC confirmed in an Instagram statement: 'Due to unforeseen circumstances, unfortunately Ncuti Gatwa is no longer able to participate as Spokesperson during the Grand Final this weekend. 'However, we are delighted to confirm that BBC Radio 2's very own Friday night Kitchen Disco Diva Sophie Ellis-Bextor will be presenting the Jury result live from the UK.' Previously, Joanna Lumley, Fearne Cotton, Nigella Lawson, and Catherine Tate took on the spokesperson role. Sophie said: 'I love Eurovision and it's a privilege to be part of 2025's Grand Final. What an honour it is to announce the UK's jury score on such a special show which always puts music front and centre. The eye-catching outfit featured ruffle detailing on the sleeves and hem, which swished dramatically as she danced across the stage The star appeared in high spirits as she delivered a show-stopping performance at the event 'I am very much looking forward to delivering the iconic douze points from the United Kingdom!' It comes after Eurovision fans were all saying the same thing about UK entry Remember Monday's semi-final performance on Thursday. Viewers were all in agreement that the girl band 'absolutely smashed' their performance and are confident they could win Saturday night's grand finale. The group, made up of Lauren Byrne, Charlotte Steele and Holly-Anne Hull, is representing the UK with their song What The Hell Just Happened? The trio, from Hampshire, are the first girl group to represent the UK since Prescious in 1999. Fans shared their excitement on X for the final and were completely in support of the group. Comments read: 'United Kingdom - Remember Monday What The Hell Just Happened OUR GIRLS SMASHED THAT! 'Their vocals are the best of any act in this contest. The Harmonies are lush and I loved the staging. We will be in the top 10!', The BBC confirmed in an Instagram statement on Thursday: 'Due to unforeseen circumstances, unfortunately Ncuti Gatwa is no longer able to participate as Spokesperson during the Grand Final this weekend' 'There is not a single act with vocals as flawless as Remember Monday it's actually kinda insane. Anyone who cares about vocals will be picking up their phone to vote for them this Saturday! #Eurovision', 'I just love how Remember Monday had smiles on their faces from start to finish Whatever happens, WE LOVE YOU GIRLS! #Eurovision2025', 'Slayed. Do it again on Saturday, babs! #RememberMonday #Eurovision2025', 'Remember Monday were fab… the song, the staging, all on point. And the VOCALS… if they can perform like that again on Saturday they can be incredibly proud no matter the position #Eurovision', 'Remember Monday absolutely smashed that performance - vocals, chemistry, relishing the chance to perform on such a grand stage all spot on #Eurovision2025'. They first gained prominence after appearing on The Voice UK in 2019 and have also had careers in theatre. The UK has a poor track record at the competition - which will be held in Basel, Switzerland - in recent years. And if Remember Monday suffer the same fate as 2023 entrant Olly Alexander, they have decided that everyone on their team will have to get the abbreviation of their song, WTHJH?, tattooed somewhere on their body. In a more positive sense, the group have also decided to enact the vow if they place in the top five. 'If we get top five or above, every single person on our team has to get WTHJH tattooed on their body,' they said on Instagram. 'We won't take no for an answer. Can I get a hell yeah? It's happening, it's happening. It's got to happen. Or if we come dead last, nil points. That is also worth a tattoo.' The band confirmed their bid for Eurovision when they appeared as guests on The Scott Mills Breakfast Show on BBC Radio 2 and BBC Sounds. After weeks of waiting, Scott broke the news, saying: 'It ain't a Eurovision entry until I say it is. I am so ready to get behind the act that is representing us and I know you're going to adore them. They are genuinely brilliant and really lovely.' The song, which is out now, is an upbeat pop track full of energy, excitement and drama and was co-written by Billen Ted (Tom Hollings and Sam Brennan), Thomas Stengaard and Julie 'Kill J' Aagaard. The girls look set to be onto a winning formula as BRIT Award nominees, Billen Ted, have worked with Little Mix, Anne Marie, MNEK and Armin van Buuren to name a few.
The Guardian
17-05-2025
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
Sirens: Julianne Moore and Meghann Fahy have acres of fun in this wild White Lotus-esque bingefest
I have a theory that TV shows nowadays are all tonal variations on either The White Lotus, Boiling Point or possibly Yellowstone, but honestly I haven't seen the latter. You might wish I had supporting evidence, but isn't that what a theory is? Anyway, this week's pick is definitely in the White Lotus mould. Sirens (Netflix, from Thursday 22 May) unfolds over Labor Day weekend in the Lloyd Neck peninsula of upstate New York, where a wealthy group of guests descend on a beachside estate for a charity gala. The raptor conservation organisation (think falcons, not velociraptors) is run by socialite Michaela Kell, a wellness-y guru who expects obedience from everyone around her. But preparations are interrupted by Devon, a chaotic falafel waitress who has come to save her sister Simone, Michaela's assistant. Devon comes to believe Simone has been brainwashed, and that they're mixed up in a murder, or several. It's a long weekend. They're serving cult, obviously, in addition to shrimp. Michaela – 'Kiki' to her inner circle – is an insidious emotional vampire. She's feared more than revered by the locals, and has the police on a leash. She concludes ceremonies and conversations with the weird, pseudo-spiritual mantra 'Hey hey', as if attempting to summon the spirit of the chicken from Moana. When Devon asks the exploited employees why they don't complain, they clam up harder than the quahogs in the Long Island Sound. Come for the set-up, stay for the execution. Milly Alcock plays Simone as a smothered scream. Her Barbie-perfect factotum is across everything from beach seating for bird funerals to misting Kiki's underwear with lavender – and composing her boss's sexts to her husband. Meanwhile, Meghann Fahy, whom we've seen in – huh, The White Lotus – has acres of fun as Devon. 'A transient person carrying hot garbage' is how a member of staff describes her when she turns up at the manicured estate, having spent the night in jail, in the middle of a day that sees her sleeping with two separate men on different boats. She's the finest hot mess to hit our screens in an age. Then there's Julianne Moore as the titular siren. In the last few years, Moore has enjoyed sinister turns. There's the Todd Haynes film May December, in which she weaponised childlike, cutesy-pie manipulations to control others. As Michaela, she devours relatively spare screen time to portray an enigmatic, hostile cult leader who seethes aggression beneath wellness bromides and a too-wide smile. Devon is drawn in to her spell while fully conscious of the danger. Her monstrousness is alluring, which is the point. 'What would I do without you?' Michaela purrs disingenuously in one scene. 'You'd hire a new assistant,' replies Simone, in a Freudian slip of honesty. The pedigree shines throughout. Sirens is based on a play by Molly Smith Metzler, and has an initial block of episodes directed by Nicole Kassel, who won Emmys for HBO's Watchmen. For Michaela's weed-toking, elusive husband Peter, Kassel reunites with functionally immortal film star Kevin Bacon. The pair last worked together on Kassel's superb 2004 debut The Woodsman. It's nice to associate Bacon with something other than EE adverts isn't it? That was rough for a while. Where The White Lotus uses its glossy veneer to satirise our zeitgeist, Sirens digs at something deeper. Troubled female relationships, to be specific. There is the brittle intimacy of the boss-assistant relationship: an indentured labour demanding total emotional disclosure, an arrangement unimaginable between men. There are the sisters, vastly different, constantly at odds yet fiercely protective. More obliquely, and most affecting, the show investigates relationships of mothering warped by trauma. It's a rich watch, in every sense. Sign up to What's On Get the best TV reviews, news and features in your inbox every Monday after newsletter promotion Perhaps strangely for this job, I live in fear of people giving me TV recommendations. A chance conversation at a barbecue can feel like being handed between 20 and 160 hours of homework. But like Devon, this show goes down easy. Snappy comic writing, Hollywood pedigree and a corkscrewing mystery make it fantastically bingeable. And you know the best thing about it? It's five episodes long. Now that's music to my ears.
New York Times
13-05-2025
- Sport
- New York Times
New York's Deepest Pockets Turn Out to Fight Poverty
Thousands of Wall Street big shots crowded into the Javits Center Monday night for the annual Robin Hood gala. Founded in 1988, Robin Hood is one of New York's largest anti-poverty groups, and its yearly fund-raiser lures the city's deepest pockets for a night that results in millions in grants. A sea of men in navy jackets and brown oxfords filed through metal detectors to enter the cavernous hall, which was decked out with sports-themed decorations that included a giant inflatable basketball and baseball mitt. Thirsty bankers and hedge fund managers ordered vodka tonics and pours of Johnnie Walker Black Label at a bar housed in a soccer net. Boxers standing on small podiums jabbed at bright green punching bags that read '#fightpoverty.' After a marching band and a cheerleading squad performed, some 3,500 guests filed into an arena-like dining hall filled with hundreds of tables populated with sports, politics and finance figures. They included the National Football League's commissioner Roger Goodell, the former N.F.L. quarterback Colin Kaepernick, the philanthropist Laurie M. Tisch and former Mayor Michael Bloomberg. Serena Williams sat beside her husband, Alexis Ohanian, one of the founders of Reddit and a Robin Hood board member. As the former New York Giants quarterback Eli Manning tucked into a plate of fried chicken, he considered the importance of giving back. 'This city is filled with the people who root for me and who have rooted for me,' Mr. Manning said, 'and I think all New York athletes and sports teams have a responsibility to give back.' Across the arena, Mr. Bloomberg took his seat near Ms. Williams. 'There are always people worse off than you are, and there are always people who need help,' Mr. Bloomberg said. 'But when New York reaches out, it's a generous city.' Walking toward the men's bathroom, as basketball fans nodded at him with deference, was the former Knicks power forward Charles Oakley. 'Sure, some get into philanthropy for write-offs, but some of us grew up around giving back,' Mr. Oakley said. 'For me, it goes back to growing up in Cleveland and Alabama, and how my mother and grandmother always had people into their home for the holidays. Everyone knew you could go to them for a hot meal, whoever you were.' Lights dimmed when Michael Strahan, the former New York Giant, took the stage to help loosen the crowd's pocket books. 'This is what they call the Super Bowl of philanthropy,' he said. 'We're going to raise a lot of money tonight.' 'We're facing New York's toughest opponent: poverty,' he continued. 'So if the Robin Hood spirit hits you, there are Q.R. codes on your table for you to give. Do not be shy.' The event generated $72 million, according to a statement from Robin Hood. That figure included ticket sales, cash donations, pledges and annual gifts from donors motivated by the benefit. Richard Buery Jr., Robin Hood's chief executive, introduced a film about the organization's work with the nonprofit Henry Street Settlement, which documented its aid to several generations of a Lower East Side family, the Quezadas. When the film ended, he appeared under a spotlight beside the Quezadas in the crowd. The night would end with a private concert from the Weeknd, but the dinner's performers included the country music singer Keith Urban and the magician Oz Pearlman, who encouraged the crowd to donate more after each of his increasingly impressive feats of mentalism. Seth MacFarlane, the creator of 'Family Guy,' delivered a roast. 'It took a lot of planning to get this event together tonight, and a fabulous event this is,' he said. 'And now, we're all here working together to fix a problem that any one of you could fix by selling your beach house, and not even one of your good ones.' When he quipped about groups of financiers on dates with younger women, he drew more uncomfortable laughs. Paul Tudor Jones II, the billionaire hedge fund manager and one of the founders of Robin Hood, eventually took the stage to address challenges being endured by nonprofits in the face of funding cuts from the Trump administration. 'Now confronting us, the next great challenge is going to be the great poverty crisis,' Mr. Jones said, pacing about the platform. 'You don't have to be in the prediction business, if you read the papers and hear about the budget cuts, to know what's coming.' The crowds finally filed back out to a concert stage prepared for the Weeknd. As the pop star began gyrating and performing for the crowd, which resembled a massive Wall Street happy hour gathering, his audience danced stiffly to hits like 'Blinding Lights' and 'Can't Feel My Face.' One of the gala's guests, Pat Kiernan, the longtime morning anchor for the local cable news station NY1, considered what giving back meant as a New Yorker. 'We don't live behind windshields to each other's lives in this city,' Mr. Kiernan said. 'We're among each other out on the streets and in the subways. So if you have money in your pocket you can take out, you're going to take that chance to help your fellow New Yorker.'
Daily Mail
12-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
EXCLUSIVE Insiders reveal ALL the gossip and drama from Justin Hemmes' exclusive Silver Party: Which guests were seen getting cosy, who was banished to 'social Siberia' - and why you didn't see THAT scandalous dress on the red carpet
Long hailed as a crown jewel of Sydney's social calendar, the Silver Party is more than a prestigious charity gala - it's the grandest stage for the city's most glamorous to see and be seen, swap gossip, and vie for best dressed. On Saturday night, more than 300 guests gathered at the Vaucluse mansion of hospitality billionaire Justin Hemmes for the annual fundraiser which this year had a 'rock royalty' theme.
Daily Mail
10-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
Justin Hemmes' pregnant partner Madeleine Holtznagel cradles her huge baby bump in a racy sheer dress as they join Tyra Banks and Pip Edwards at glamorous Silver Party
Supermodel and television icon Tyra Banks brought a dose of Hollywood glamour to Sydney on Saturday as she led a dazzling lineup of celebrity guests at the prestigious Silver Party charity gala. The America's Next Top Model creator, 51, made a powerful fashion statement in a tailored pinstripe suit that fused elegance with edge. She paired the structured look with bold accessories and a sleek hairstyle, commanding attention as she arrived at the Vaucluse venue in style. Tyra looked to be in great spirits as she mingled with local celebrities and philanthropists at the exclusive event, which supports the Sydney Children's Hospitals Foundation. Joining her at the glittering soirée was model Madeleine Holtznagel, who proudly showed off her growing baby bump as she stepped out with her billionaire partner Justin Hemmes. The 28-year-old beauty looked radiant in a strapless black gown featuring a sheer midriff that put her blossoming belly on display. The America's Next Top Model creator made a powerful fashion statement in a tailored pinstripe suit that fused elegance with edge With her brunette locks styled in an elegant updo and subtle, glowing makeup, Madeleine was the picture of maternal glamour. Her partner Justin, 52, matched her sophistication in a perfectly tailored black suit, looking every bit the dashing dad-to-be. Elsewhere at the event, Today show host Karl Stefanovic and his wife Jasmine were all smiles as they made a dramatic entrance in stylish outfits that turned heads upon arrival. Karl, 50, looked every inch the man in black, opting for a classic dark suit that he paired with a crisp white shirt and his signature cheeky grin. Jasmine, 41, oozed sophistication in a plunging black gown, which she teamed with a cream coat draped elegantly over her shoulders and dazzling diamond necklace - a chic touch that elevated her already-glamorous ensemble. Nova radio favourite Michael 'Wippa' Wipfli, 45, also stepped out for the exclusive soirée alongside his wife Lisa. The couple looked loved-up as they posed for cameras, with Wippa keeping it classic in a smart red tuxedo while Lisa stunned in a floor-length maroon dress adorned with a delicate floral lace pattern. Real Housewives of Sydney star Terry Biviano and her husband Anthony Minnichello brought a touch contemporary glam to the party as they rocked their best angles at the event. Jasmine oozed sophistication in a plunging black gown, which she teamed with a cream coat draped elegantly over her shoulders and dazzling diamond necklace - a chic touch that elevated her already-glamorous ensemble Terry looked radiant in a lacy grey sequinned gown and Anthony cut a dashing figure in a traditional all-black getup. The Silver Party, hosted annually by the Sydney Children's Hospitals Foundation, is one of the city's most prestigious charity galas. Held this year at a lavish harbourside residence, the event drew around hundreds of Sydney's most influential business leaders, philanthropists, media figures, and celebrities. Since its inception in 2001, the Silver Party has raised over $10 million in support of the state's most critically ill children, funding vital equipment, research, and life-saving treatments across the Sydney Children's Hospitals Network. Real Housewives of Sydney star Terry Biviano and her husband Anthony Minnichello brought a touch contemporary glam to the party as they rocked their best angles at the event Madeleine and Justin - who have been dating since 2020 - appeared to be in high spirits as they mingled with fellow A-List guests. The socialite's glamorous appearance comes just weeks after news broke that she and Hemmes are expecting their first child together, adding another exciting chapter to their already high-profile romance. With the baby due later this year, Saturday's outing marked one of the couple's final public appearances before they step into the next chapter of parenthood. The Silver Party is a prestigious annual fundraising gala hosted by the Sydney Children's Hospitals Foundation (SCHF).
