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Nice one, bro
Simon Cowell’s brother Tony continues to make money out of his famous sibling, presumably with the consent of ‘The Nasty One’.A new offering, ‘The Secret Diary of Simon Cowell’, is reportedly based on the music mogul’s account of his teenage years. Tony’s book poses the tantalising question about someone whose likeness sits in Madame Tussauds in New York and who earns £20m a year from ‘American Idol’: “Will the junior Simon Cowell’s hopes of fame come true or is he destined to live on his weekly shilling from Auntie Joan?”
Geeza job?
The axing of Channel 4 Radio was a blow for Bob Shennan (below), former BBC 5 Live controller, who had been brought in to head up the venture. Just as well that he was at the Beeb last week as a guest speaker at the Audio and Music Festival, an internal radio conference at the corporation. His chosen subject, “Channel 4 Radio: The Competition” wasn’t too apposite, as the project went belly up three days later. But at least he was among friends who’ll no doubt be offering him work.
Spoof-proof?
Back to media books, the cynical authors of the cult spoof news website The Daily Mash have a volume out at the end of the month, called ‘Halfwit Nation’. The blurb describes them thus: “Neil Rafferty and Paul Stokes are two of Britain’s least respected journalists. Stokes has written for ‘The Scotsman’ and ‘Daily Record’. He lives in Glasgow’s West End, where he prances between trendy cafés. Rafferty covered politics for the Press Association and ‘Sunday Times’. He lives in unfashionable Berwickshire with four chickens and a dirty hoe.”
Added crunch
Jeremy Vine will be hosting the glitzy London Press Club ball on Wednesday night at the Natural History Museum. The ball will feature the British launch of the new Volkswagen Golf and a performance by opera diva Natasha Marsh. To bring everyone down to earth, the Radio 2 presenter will present a ‘Panorama’ special on the credit crunch the next day.
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