Tattle: Russian grannies eye tune title
THE EUROVISION Song Contest has been won by the likes of Lulu, ABBA, Celine Dion and many performers no one in the U.S. has ever heard of.
THE EUROVISION Song Contest has been won by the likes of
Lulu
,
ABBA
,
Celine Dion and many performers no one in the U.S. has ever heard of.
This year, Russia's entry will be the Buranovo Grannies, eight women from Russia's Udmurtia Republic who blend modern pop sounds - at least what passses for modern in Udmurtia - with their own traditional choral singing style.
Their big song? "Party for Everybody," which is part in English and part in Udmart, a distant relation of Finnish.
Granny Olya told a Russian TV interviewer that their goal in performing was to raise money to build a church in their village, home to about 650 people.
"Grandmothers don't need glory and wealth. We have family, we have a home, we have enough to live," Olya said.
No bling for them!
But the Grannies aren't the only seniors in this year's contest. Competing for the U.K. will be 1960s heartthrob, Engelbert Humperdinck, one of Tattle's mom's faves back in the day.
* The 57th Eurovision will be held in May in Baku, Azerbaijan.
On Wednesday, Azerbaijan nemesis Armenia informed the European Broadcasting Union that it would pull out of the contest over security concerns.
And we thought the only singing-contest danger was on "Glee."
Cameron takes a dive
James Cameron
has gone 2 1/2 miles underwater many times to view the wreck of the Titanic.
Now the "Avatar" and "Titanic" filmmaker aims to go nearly three times as deep with his latest ocean dive.
Cameron said yesterday he plans to take a submersible craft down 7 miles to the world's deepest point, in the Mariana Trench of the Pacific Ocean, 200 miles southwest of Guam.
The journey later this month reportedly would be the deepest solo dive ever, breaking Cameron's own record set this week, when he descended 5 miles off the coast of Papua, New Guinea, in the South Pacific.
A two-man Navy expedition made the dive in 1960.
"The deep trenches are the last unexplored frontier on our planet, with scientific riches enough to fill a hundred years of exploration," Cameron said in a statement.
TATTBITS
*
Whitney Houston
lawyer
Kenny Meisalas said yesterday that her will was "straightforward" and that he expects no complications with the administration of her estate.
Meisalas said that "things with the family have been very smooth, no problems" and that he didn't foresee any challenges to the will.
Whitney left all her assets to her only child, Bobbi Kristina, 19. Her sister-in-law and manager, Pat Houston, was named administrator.
The value of Whitney's estate has not been revealed, but her sales received a big uptick after her death.
* Lionel Richie and the late
Etta James will be inducted into the Apollo Theater's Hall of Fame on June 4.
Past Apollo Legends Hall of Fame inductees include Stevie Wonder, Michael Jackson, Aretha Franklin and Patti LaBelle.
* You know what TV needs?
Another singing contest.
Celeb judges this summer will be Lionel Richie, Jennifer Nettles, Robin Thicke and Kelly Clarkson on ABC's "Duets," not to be confused with the former CMT show "Can You Duet?"
We guess "The Voices" was taken.
- Daily News wire services
contributed to this report.