Your Midweek Mixed Bag Of Treats

Nicole and Keith greet fans outside GAC's
Nashville Flood Relief Telethon

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Keith Urban will be a guest on the following shows this week

May 20 - Thursday - Cody Alan's CMT Radio Live. Check link for local airtime.

May 22 & 23 - Saturday/Sunday - Crook & Chase Countdown. Check link for local airtime.

And don't forget the Brooks and Dunn ACM tribute will air this Sunday on CBS, 8 PM ET / 7 PM CT

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Nicole is the cover girl for this month's Australian InStyle. Although the photo shoot is not new, the interview is. Excerpt below.






















Nicole Kidman: breaking new ground


RECENTLY, NICOLE KIDMAN—OSCAR WINNER, COMPANION OF THE ORDER of Australia, and now Women of Style award winner—had another, even more unexpected win. She cooked a goat's cheese soufflé, and it rose. "I was shocked!" she says. "I left an ingredient out and had a back-up plan, but I did actually serve the soufflé." By her own admission, Kidman's cooking skills are a work in progress. "I gotta tell ya, I need somebody to come in [and help me]... I am not a good cook. But I love to be around people who can cook really well. Becca, [Rebecca Rigg, wife of The Mentalist star, Simon Baker], is a magnificent cook. Keith and I are always like, 'Oh, they invited us over–great!'" she laughs.

Staying in the Bakers' good books must be high on Kidman and musician-husband Keith Urban's agenda, then. And the kitschy duet they performed in honour of Baker at this year's G'Day USA gala was likely a stealth move to that end. "Our first collaboration and possibly our last!" jokes Kidman of the double act that surely secured the couple a lifetime of invites to chez Baker. But when the lyrical homage, set to the tune of Men at Work's "Down Under", made nightly news, the public got a little something out of the deal too—a glimpse of a different Nicole Kidman. This Nicole Kidman spends her days in Nashville, reading, writing, taking daughter Sunday Rose to her baby group, listening to music and, when her husband gets home for the day, tinkering with Men at Work classics. For those who were surprised by the candid video footage, don't be. "That's me!" Kidman laughs. "That's very much me. Keith was like, 'That was us in our living room.' I think he just brings that out in me. My capacity for joy is very available. I suppose I haven't had the roles to show it, but that's me."


Throughout her conversation with InStyle, which takes place shortly before Kidman and Urban fly into Sydney to celebrate her mother Janelle's 70th birthday, the actress reveals the many layers of who she is today. Forty-three this month, she is a reformed daredevil who now gets her adrenaline hits through charitable work and complex film roles. A first-time mother at 25, and again at 41, she's a parent bridging the gap between teens and a toddler. Naturally impulsive, she's a daughter who still gets encouraged to dwell on things a little. And, while on top of the world now, she's a survivor of some heart-breaking challenges.

She's also a woman who owns too many handbags. "And I never use them!" she laughs, when we move to the topic of her style predilections. "I can't be bothered moving all the stuff from one bag to another." Despite upping the ante at the Oscars in 1997, when she wore that chartreuse confection by John Galliano for Dior, comfort and ease have become her mantras. "I used to be willing to wear something uncomfortable, now I'm not willing to," she says, adding, "I still love [fashion] artistically." She's has a vast collection of pieces, for which she has generous ideas: she and costume designer Catherine Martin have discussed forming an archive of costumes and gowns for exhibition in an Australian museum. "I mean, Sunday Rose is 18 months old, so she's not going to be interested for a long time," she says smiling. "And Bella's [Isabella, her 17-year-old daughter with Tom Cruise] not that interested in fashion. It would be good to set up something in Australia."

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A new interview with actor and Rabbit Hole costar Giancarlo Esposito has just come out. In the excerpt below, Esposito talks about the film.

You have a big film release coming up, Rabbit Hole.
That’s correct! I really love this director, John Cameron Mitchell—he did Hedwig and the Angry Inch. We really connected because I had made Gospel Hill, a film that I directed, produced and co-wrote. Though this film has huge stars, I worked with Samuel Jackson, Angela Bassett and Danny Glover—and both John and I had little money. But he assembled a wonderful cast, and it’s really an intense story.

It has to do with a couple who have lost a child, right?
Correct. It’s a hard sell—I mean, I have four children, do I ever want to think about losing one of them? Of course not. This film raises the question, “What do people want to see?”

It certainly was a very successful play, a Pulitzer winner. How did the process of transferring it to film work?
I believe you can do that successfully if you have a very, very good writer. Some plays transfer beautifully because they have such drama and immediacy. But you have to make them visual, and that’s the difficult part.

Tell me about your character.
I play Auggie—the husband of Nicole Kidman’s sister—who’s a very eccentric musician. It’s interesting for me to explore an interracial relationship in film, because it’s still a bit taboo in many cultures. So I enjoyed Auggie, who’s a very lovely, lighthearted cat who makes no money playing jazz. Nicole just discounts me and thinks her sister is never going to be happy with this guy, because he can’t support her financially. But Auggie supports her on a spiritual level and loves her. So there’s a trade-off: How do we find happiness and contentment? Is it through money or through love and a great partnership?

Do you know when it’s coming out?
I don’t want to speak out of school, but I think it’s coming out this summer.

Conneticut Magazine

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Tim McGraw is going on tour in Australia. Here's a small interview he gave where he mentions Keith and Nicole.

Country star McGraw heads Down Under

Country music superstar Tim McGraw is looking forward to his first ever tour of Australia after being given a glowing lowdown by friends Nicole Kidman and Keith Urban.

The American singer and his band the Dancehall Doctors will bring their Southern Voice Tour to Brisbane, Melbourne and Sydney for shows in September.

And who better to tell him all about the lie of the land than the star of Baz Luhrmann's epic adventure movie Australia.

'My good friend Keith and his wife Nicole had breakfast with my wife and I the other day and they were telling me how wonderful Australia was,' he said in a recent interview.

'And I've heard great things for many years. I know y'all are great country music fans down there and that you guys have always been very supportive of my music. I'm really looking forward to it.'

Big Pond News

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Click HERE to listen to Keith talk about daughter Sunday's love of cooking in the kitchen!

Nicole Kidman: Double Winner, Australian InStyle Women Of Style Awards

Kidman triumphed over Claudia Karvan and Jessica Rowe to be voted winner of the news or entertainment category and was also selected for the reader's choice gong at the ceremony in Sydney on Tuesday night.

The 42-year-old actress was unable to attend the event because she is filming Just Go With It with Jennifer Aniston and Adam Sandler in Hawaii.

But she did record a special video message that was played to guests, including her sister Antonia and mother Janelle.

"I grew up in a family of women who are very strong and wonderfully opinionated," Kidman said, blowing kisses to her sister who had not been aware of her win before the event.

"My mother was such a huge influence on me, and my education.

"She encouraged me to have a voice and ultimately to give back, so to then be recognised for that makes me very, very proud. It's something I want to continue doing."

Kidman said she believed it was important that women collaborate and honour each other, working together as a collective to achieve change, as she is with her work at the United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM).

And to be stylish, she said, was not to compromise.

"Style means having a voice, it means not compromising who you are because of what people say; it means standing proud, and knowing that that sometimes you are going to go in and out of fashion, but still, staying true to yourself," Kidman said, adding she was enjoying her role as a mother.

"Right now I'm very much in a place of nurturing: I love my family, I love being able to take care of my family and I've worked hard so that I can do that."

InStyle editor Kerrie McCallum said Kidman represented what it meant to be at the forefront of Australian style.

"With a career spanning over 25 years, and featuring in more than 30 films, Nicole Kidman is simply an iconic Australian female," McCallum said in a statement.

"An international star, Australia's only winner of a Best Actress Oscar, a passionate charity campaigner, a proud wife and a working mother of three - Nicole Kidman juggles all roles with charm, timeless style and a unique sense of intrigue."

Other winners included designer Kirrily Johnston in the fashion category and Deborra-Lee Furness in the charity and community category.

More than 270 guests attended the red carpet event, including Jodhi Meares, Collette Dinnigan, Kylie Gillies, Claudia Karvan and Leona Edmiston.

Channel 9 News

Here's video of Nicole, her mother Janelle, and sister Antonia.

Congratulations Nicole!





Blogger's Note: Although they are correct that Nicole taped her acceptance message in Hawaii, she was already done filming Just Go With It last week.

candude: Nicole Kidman's last day with us. Very sad. She was amazing; thoroughly prepared and very nice to work with. And on we go...