World Exclusive: Shirley Clamp escapes to Australia after Melodifestivalen shame

Pop Goes Canberra! is proud to present the first world exclusive shots of a new, less busty Shirley Clamp on the set of her new job at Prime ACT, where she hosts the night-time weather segment.

Shirley was obviously disappointed at the 4th placing of her 2005 Melodifestivalen entry Att Alska Dig, and subsequently fled Sweden in tears. She then recuperated at an unknown location, most likely Cable Beach Resort at Broome, or perhaps as some South Coast plumbers are suggesting, Nicole Kidman's new beach pad near Moruya Airport on the South Coast of New South Wales. She has since snared the prize job of Weatherwoman (Japanese movie style of course) on Channel 7 (home of Desperate Housewives, Lost, and of course, Dancing with the Stars, particularly Nikki Webster) affiliate, Prime.

Here are the photos of the new Shirley, taken tonight shortly after the end of The Amazing Race.



In happier times, still basking in the limelight of a 2nd place finish at Melodifestivalen 2004 with what was perhaps the best pop song of 2004, Min Karlek, this shot of Shirley being "held" by Andreas and Magnus from Alcazar was taken backstage at Nacka Strand, Stockholm on 22 December, 2004.

Transportation Review: Canberra Buses

ACTION is the name of the Canberra bus company.

Great things about Canberra buses:

- They run pretty much on time
- They aren't hideously old

Horrible things about Canberra buses:

- They are cesspools of infection. This morning, someone sneezed behind me. I hate that. I held my breath. Then, someone sneezed in front of me. I hate that. I held my breath, a bit Destiny's Child style. But they lost it, I held it. Then someone was coughing heaps. I hate that. Especially when you can hear the pghlegm, etc. (Are there too many 'g's there?) You know what, while watching the amazing The Amazing Race tonight, I started coughing. You what caused it? Those nasty people on the bus. The lesson? If you're sick, STAY AT HOME AND WATCH BERT etc!
- There is this kid that sits there looking so cool. He has an iPod with a little blue cover. He manages to look way cool even in his school uniform, though his white jacket does have a funny yellow stain on it. He is about 15 though, so that could be normal. His hair is perfectly coiffed. It's unneverving how cool someone can be.
- There is this rather clumsy man with a funny box who gets on the bus when it is already quite full, and there is something just very very clumsy about him. And the "cool" school kids don't want him to sit with them. But then because it's not a rough bus and these kids were probably actually brought up quite well and they are trying to rebel by being kinda mean in an attempt to be cool, they let him sit next to them by very slowly taking their bags off the seat. It's all very uncomfortable to watch.

I really can't be bothered going into all the business about the total dropkicks who catch the bus at other times besides 8:15am, I'll leave that for the next instalment.

Canberra - Australia Day Collage

Here you can see the wonderful Sandra Sully feeling her body while standing next to the Prime Minister, you can see the crowd against the backdrop of the War Memorial. And what is more Australian than a blurry Gretel Killeen and some blurry Idols in front of Parliament House?

Pop music trends in Canberra vol. 1

Given that Canberra has no radio stations that play my brand of quality popular music this section will only ever discuss what is playing in my house. If you are considering starting up a radio station in Canberra, how about making it sound like Rix FM or Radio Metro or Hot Tomato...

Currently blaring on the stereo here are the Melodifestivalen 2005 tracks (particularly Refrain Refrain by Pay TV and Alcastar by Alcazar), Kelly Osbourne's brilliant latest, One Word (it features French talky bits, it has to be good), and a few Melody Club tracks.

Venue Review: Minque

I went out last night to Minque. It's a lounge/bar/club located in trendy Manuka, on the southside of Canberra.

Initial impressions: faint vomit/strong cigarette smoke smell, good looking but try-hardish patrons. Bar staff have very gay hair but are definitely not gay. In the skunkish sense.

Drinks: I could hardly taste the vodka in my mixer drink, and it wasn't top shelf vodka.

Toilets: Reasonably clean, and ever so slightly innovative. Urinal is made out of granite. Tap over marble sloping sink did not work very well, but water was cold. Good thing.

Music: generic housey shit blaring into the street.

Clientele: my companion commented that the crowd gets younger, druggier and woggier as the night progresses.

Atmosphere: very smokey, generally making one feel sick for the following few days.

All in all, a good night was had!

A new era in blogging...

...well not EXACTLY but I'll give it a go. This will be a genuine attempt to create a trully brilliant and very very witty blog.

My inspiration? Fop and his "affilliates." When I say "affilliates" I mean all the sites that he links to, because they are classy.