The Telegraph is terrible

David Hepworth has written a lovely clatter through Barry Manilow's career for the Telegraph, which is well worth a read.

The only problem is the headline the paper has stuck on the story:

Marrying a man isn't the most curious thing Barry Manilow has ever done

You're spot on, Daily Telegraph. Marrying the person he loves isn't the most curious thing a person has done. There's nothing curious or unusual about people of the same genders getting married.

Gordon in the morning: Staff party last night, Gordo?

It's the time for Christmas office parties, and that's probably the only explanation for the most lax lead ever on the Bizarre website:

Lew, what a scorcher!

I DON’T think anyone has studied this phenomenon but the more CDs LEONA LEWIS sells, the sexier she becomes.

Even in the realms of will-this-do-ism, this is lax - especially since the 'story' is that Lewis has had the fastest download of all time (something the Telegraph ran back on Thursday) and so the mention of CDs doesn't really make any sense.

I know what you're thinking: if this was the top of the page, what the hell was Smart stuffing into the lower slots?

This sort of thing:

CROONER Barry Manilow glows GREEN at a gig — like the Incredible Hulk.

The 65-year-old’s make-up turned eerie under lights at London’s O2 Arena.

A fan said: “He looked scary.”

Yes, Gordon really has run a picture of someone with a green light shining on him making him look green. Complete with a made-up quote.

Suddenly, McCain's closing of the gap is less of a surprise

As if Madonna's 'hey, isn't McCain like Hitler, huh?" wasn't enough to comfort the Republicans, there's this:



Dave Stewart - yes, the one out the Eurythmics, who was born deep in the US of Sunderland - has made the above, with help from Barry Manilow, Jason Alexander - the Seinfeld one, not the bloke who married Britney - and Whoopi Goldberg; it's five and a half minutes long, and we reckon two minutes in would make a poverty-stricken pensioner with a malfunctioning kidney decide that they'd be better off with McCain.

Hello, Hollywood. Please stop "helping". Thank you.

The View's views means no view of Manilow for viewers

Barry Manilow has pulled out of a planned appearance on The View (American television's version of what Loose Women would be like if all the hosts owned their own island) because he didn't want to be interviewed by Elisabeth Hasselbeck. Manilow isn't worried about her credentials as an interviewer - because, of course, softball player turned gameshow-contestant turned presenter is exactly the career path Tom Brokaw took, but more her surprising views.

Hasselbeck believes in the literal, Creationist truth of the Bible, and that God created every single living thing, except for abortionists and liberals. They, apparently escaped from a New York Times editorial. She's one of those conservatives who don't like to admit they're conservative, claiming instead to be "independent" - independently campaigning for George Bush's return to the White House by appearing at the 2004 Republican National Convention. That sort of independence.

Of course, it's a bit wet of Manilow to back out of the interview simply because he doesn't agree with the political views of the interviewer - especially since he's plugging a collection of 70s covers, not campaigning for governor. It's unlikely she's going to say "you say you're going to build a bridge over troubled water, but isn't it your fault that the waters are clogged with the bodies of aborted foetuses?"

Still, Barry insists there's good news:

"It's really too bad, because I've always been a big supporter of the show, but I cannot compromise my beliefs.

"The good news is I will be on a whole slew of other shows promoting the new album, so I hope you can catch me on those."

That is good news. I was afraid this political spat would mean absolutely no chance to see Barry giving us insight into why he feels Close To You is just such a great, great song.