the chat Eugene Hutz

The Gogol Bordello frontman, who’s worked with Madonna and inspired Gucci, talks vodka and movie stardom

You’re known for your hardcore energy and doing vodka shots on stage. Are the two linked?
It’s a very hardcore kind of music we play. It requires a lot of concentration. It’s not just something that happens after three shots of Jagermeister. The energy comes from our passion and adrenalin.

How did you first get into music?
How do gypsies get into music? Gypsies are music.

But you’re world-famous now. Was it planned?
It really never meant anything to me. You’ll never find me or Gogol Bordello in a VIP section with bulls***ters. It has nothing to do with what we do.

You’ve worked with Madonna (in Filth and Wisdom). How did that happen?
She’d heard my music and liked it, so she called me and said she had this movie in her head and I had a month off before the tour.

You also starred in Everything is Illuminated with Elijah Wood.
It was a great experience. It wasn’t always pleasant, but what the f***. What great things have ever come out of being comfortable?

I heard Elijah Wood was dating a member of your band, Pamela Racine?
Yeah, it’s been going on for three years.

They’re still together?
Yeah. Are you from some kind of celebrity magazine? Oh my word. Is my next question
about Gucci?

Er…yes. How do you feel about being the fashion inspiration for them?
I don’t think anything of it. If some of my friends wanted me to make something, I’d also do it.

Any unfulfilled ambitions?
Many! There is a new album and I’m also writing a script to direct and star in my own movie.

Gogol Bordello play the Carling Academy, Brixton, on Wednesday night
Interview: Jessica Holland

Ronan gets in the zone

Ronan Keating has been getting in the fitness zone to shed pounds ahead of Boyzone’s comeback tour.

The 31-year-old has been following a strict diet and is running the London Marathon to get back in hape and raise money for Cancer Research UK in memory of his mum, Marie, who died of breast cancer ten years ago.

“When you’re on stage you do worry about how you look,” Ronan tells Closer magazine.

“I also wanted to get healthy. I cut out the carbs and dairy products, and even fruit for a while because it’s high in sugar.”

Ronan’s model wife Yvonne is reaping the benefits. “I’ve got abs for the first time. My wife is very happy.”

by Luke Blackall with Shannon O'Meara and Kala Paul Worika

We hear that

• Amy MacDonald told Virgin Radio she wrote her song Poison Prince in honour of one of her favourite musicians, Pete Doherty...
• Velvet Revolver have been causing mayhem in the Met Bar. The band, led by former Guns N’ Roses man Slash, headed up to the famous bar last Friday to check out a gig by The Krak. But when they came backstage after the show, things became too raucous for the management...

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Diva Mariah has a huge hang-up

Mariah Carey is back in the UK and has brought her diva side with her.

The superstar singer shocked Radio 1 listeners by abruptly ending a phone interview with DJ Reggie Yates.

More after the jump....

Mucca’s bite of Big Apple

Watch out New York!

With £24.3 million safely pocketed away, Sir Paul ­McCartney’s ex-wife Heather Mills is living it up in the Big Apple.

And it looks like the ­divorcee has plans to move permanently to the States as she was spotted looking at apartments in the city.

More after the jump

Kate Moss: Tried and Trusted

SHE might have just launched her new range at Topshop, but Kate Moss seems to be losing her style originality.

The supermodel rocked up to Heathrow on Saturday wearing the same jeans and boots combination she seems to have been wearing for the past two weeks. And when she landed in Malibu, the slightly fuller-bummed Moss changed jeans, but kept the boots on.

As if having to travel from Heathrow’s ill-fated Terminal 5 wasn’t traumatic enough, Kate, 34, and daughter Lila Grace were earlier involved in a car collision on the way to the airport. Fortunately nobody was hurt in the accident.

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Girls’ book is scandal-less

This sounds like something we’d like to read: Girls Aloud are releasing their official ­biography which will be out in time for Christmas.

But if you’re expecting a warts-and-all account of their turbulent love lives, you are in for a big disappointment.

Sarah Harding has warned that the memoirs won’t be about gossip or men.

The mouthy blonde said: “If you want scandal, you’ll just have to wait for our ­autobiographies to come out! Then it will be a case of: ‘yes, he was an arsehole!’”

Sarah also explained the book is “more about how we were put together, our ­journey and how we’ve ­progressed as a band. This book won’t be our full life stories.” Yawn.

by Luke Blackall with Shannon O'Meara and Kala Paul Worika

Cal's gal?

Former WAG Charlotte Mears may have a boyfriend with a football connection again.

The model had a unhappy split from her fiance, England and Portsmouth star Jermain Defoe, and afterwards swore she would never date a footballer again. Instead she was seen cosying up to Calum Best, son of the late George, at her 23rd birthday party at Mayfair night club 50 Dover Street on Friday.

The pair were spotted deep in conversation. “They were clearly flirting with each other. Numbers were exchanged and it looked like the start of something,” an onlooker tells theBuzz. With Charlotte spending £3,000 on champers and vodka, she could be a sugar mummy...

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Gnarls Barkley cancels London gig

This just in from the Gnarls Barkley team:

Due to a family illness, Gnarls Barkley have been forced to cancel this week’s UK promo trip and Thursday’s sold-out show at London’s 229 club.

Cee-Lo Green decided at short notice to remain in the States alongside his wife and children, and is thus now unable to travel to the UK as scheduled. Details as to whether the 229 gig will be rescheduled or postponed will be announced upon their confirmation.

Gnarls Barkley’s second album, ‘The Odd Couple’, is out this week.

www.gnarlsbarkley.com <http://www.gnarlsbarkley.com> www.myspace.com/gnarlsbarkley <http://www.myspace.com/gnarlsbarkley>

Madge holds on

Madonna has already made millions from her new album Hard Candy which will not be on sale until next month.

As she nears her 50th birthday, the Queen of Pop proves she is still savvy when it comes to spinning money out of her music.

She has signed contracts with retail giants Vodafone, Unilever and Fuji - who between them will more than half the album tracks to sell their products.

In return, the London-based star will use the global publicity as a springboard from which to launch her album.

Unilever is already using the mother-of-three’s new single 4 minutes featuring Justin Timberlake in an advert for its Sunsilk hair care brand.

John Reid, vice-chairman of the singer’s label Warner Music International, Madonna's label, said: "She is a very smart businesswoman who wants to sell a lot of albums."

Claire Beale, the editor of advertising magazine Campaign, said: "These deals prove that Madonna is the most marketing-savvy musician in the world. She's a case study of what great marketing is.”