Usher pic:bigpicturesphoto.com
Talk about nice work if you can get it - I'm told R&B superstar Usher has trousered a whopping £500,000 for two hours of light labour.
The singer, who was the first act on the Radio 1 Big Weekend main stage in Maidstone, Kent, yesterday, was hired by a besotted businessman as a surprise for his girlfriend's birthday.
Birthday girl Katie Teague had invited pals including Pete Doherty down to London nightclub Paper to celebrate her 26th.
But she had no idea that her internet entrepreneur boyfriend Andrew Williams had lined up Usher to perform.
Doherty was not impressed with the surprise turn - and left shortly after Usher brought out a yummy three-tiered chocolate cake at midnight.
Then he sang Happy Birthday to Katie before launching into his classic hit, Yeah. But what put a real smile on the party girl's face was when he jumped up on to a table in the VIP area and pulled her up for a dance.
Usher, who was later joined by his wife Tameka, stayed until 2am. Surely Williams will get brownie points for life now, as it was an expensive night. But he can afford it - he's No 10 on The Times' under-30 rich list after earning £60million from the sale of an internet design company.
And Williams told me he is now launching a new company called livedrive.com.
On top of Usher's massive fee, Williams also shelled out £10,000 for two private rooms.
Then it was magnums of Crystal costing £1,000 a pop and vodka all round.
An onlooker told me: "Andrew has previously hired Jamelia and The Darkness for private events. But Usher is Katie's idol."
What does a man have to do...?
Madonna (Pic:Pacific Coast News)
The Queen of Pop managed to squeeze in a quick trip to the gym ahead of her superb headlining gig at the Big Weekend last night.
And with all her backstage demands, Madonna certainly needs to be fit. Her "people" told Radio 1 organisers to treat Her Madge "like the British queen times 20". Diva!
Then she demanded entry for her team of 50 flunkies - and a caravan just for her clothes. We expect nothing less from pop royalty.
BIG WEEKEND.. HOW THE STARS LINE UP
YESTERDAY
Madonna
Usher
The Fratellis
Scouting For Girls
Duffy
The Feeling
Editors
Fatboy Slim
TODAY
The Kooks
The Enemy
Nelly
Goldfrapp
The Raconteurs
The Zutons
Hot Chip
Zane Lowe
Duffy and our Zoe
Duffy has backed the choice of Jay Z as one of Glastonbury's headline acts - after Noel Gallagher criticised festival bosses for choosing the rapper.
The Dusty Springfield lookalike, pictured with me, says: "I don't know why everyone is being so mean. I saw Jay-Z on stage at the Albert Hall and it was one of the best gigs of my life."
Duffy herself is playing Glasto and admits she gets nervous before gigs.
Kate Moss's boyfriend Jamie Hince has been getting her to pose nude - so he can paint her.
A likely excuse! But I'm told Jamie has become a keen artist and has been encouraging Kate to go starkers for him. The pair are inseparable at the moment - Kate told Radio 1 she couldn't attend the Big Weekend because she was following The Kills' American tour.
A pal of Hince's revealed: "Jamie has done a selection of paintings, including one of Kate, and plans to exhibit in a gallery after The Kills have finished touring."
Kate has posed naked for Lucian Freud before. Jaime's stuff might not be up to his standard, but it's bound to be better than her ex Pete Doherty's offerings - daubed in his own blood.
Adele is shortly heading off to the States - so has decided to slim. I think the Chasing Pavements singer has a great figure. But Adele, who is due to play the main stage today, told me: "I haven't had a drink for 20 days and I've noticed the effect."
And the voluptuous star also admitted she loves trashy reality TV shows. She said: "I am addicted to Kerry Katona's TV show and I love watching Jordan and Peter. The other day Kelly Osborne introduced me to the whole Osborne family and it felt like I was in an episode of their show."
Yesterday's Outdoor Stage headliner Fatboy Slim and wife Zoe Ball are looking to buy a another boat.
The couple already own a yacht moored in Sardinia called Barracuda.
But Fatboy - real name Norman Cook - told me: "Barracuda is always fully booked, so we need another one for us."
He must still be getting nice fat fees for his DJing jobs.
Kelly Brook (Pic:Matrix)
Kelly Brook looks back to her old self after dumping older man Billy Zane. Sporting micro denim hotpants and her faithful Uggs, near her Kent home, I wonder if it's a new man on the phone who's making her grin? You go girl.
Kylie Minogue (Pic:Xposure)
Kylie's tiny feet may have completely disappeared under her flares. But her casual jeans and a sparkly top looked better than any of her nasty live performance gear last week.
When Kylie dresses herself, she looks amazing. When she gets styled by others, they get it so wrong.
As I stood outside New York's ultra-trendy Box nightclub, I wondered if I was in the right place.
There was no sign on the door, and the street, in the heart of the city's Meatpacking District, still vaguely smelled of offal.
But the coolest nightclubs in the Big Apple are off the beaten track. So I grabbed a pile of glossy mags and an A-to-Z. After that, all I needed was a par ty frock or two and my best "getting past the doorman" blagging techniques.
There are no tables in Box. Instead, clubbers knock back cocktails on beds curtained off for privacy.
It was only when I went to touch up my lipstick in the ladies that I saw there were two bodyguards watching the bed next to mine. I peeked through a gap in the nets and saw Beyonce kicking back her heels and lounging on a fourposter with a group of pals.
The party for me started the moment I boarded my Silverjet flight to the Big Apple. Not only is it an all-business class airline, it has been named Most Environmentally Aware Airline 2007.
So I sipped the glass of champagne that I got before take-off with guilt-free pleasure, knowing that the carbon footprint racked up by my fellow passengers and I would be offset by Silverjet donating money to environmental charities.
After six hours stretched out on reclining seats, I was ready to drop my bags at the hotel and go straight out.
I chose to stay in the new London NYC hotel, centrally located so I could bounce between par ties. Chef Gordon Ramsay has a restaurant in the hotel and oversees the room ser vice menu, so there's an amazing array of options to line the stomach pre-party - or soak up the a lcohol afterwards.
The 24-hour menu is ambitious - with delicacies like mushroom veloute with truffle shavings or pan-fried salmon with raisin sauce. - all delivered to your room within half an hour... even at 4am.
And because the dollar is so weak against the pound, it doesn't break the bank. Well, not that much!
In New York a night of dinner, drinks, and dancing won't come to much more than £100 - in London you can easily spend double that. At home Nobu is a restaurant synonymous with celebrities. There are three in Manhattan alone... and they are full every night. The good news is that Nobu Next Door in SoHo doesn't accept bookings, so if you turn up early you're in with a good chance of get ting in. Eva Mendes, Winona Ryder and Gwyneth Paltrow are Nobu regulars, coming back again and again for the signature Black Cod in Miso, Edamame Beans, and a mug or two of warm sake. But Cipriani is THE place to be seen. There are nine branches in New York, so keep calling until you get into one. On Sundays Cipriani Downtown has karaoke from 11pm. The night I was there so was Naomi Campbell - but she didn't sing!
One of the newest dining hotspots is Freeman's, which has catered for an endless stream of celebs since it opened last year. Kate Moss, Jude Law, Elle Macpher son, Jay-Z, Damon Dash and Mariah Carey have all munched on the restaurant's classic American cuisine. I chose a starter of delicious baked artichoke dip with crusty rolls while my friend had clam chowder. For ma ins we tucked into steak and roast sea bass, and we finished with apple pie and ice cream.
Freeman's is at the end of a dark alley, quite close to Box. And it is worth hunting out. We got a table by turning up to at 7pm and saying we would wait until one became available.
Most places will generally find room if you turn up early enough and play up the fact you're British.
We were finished by 10pm but New York clubs don't start before midnight, so we had a couple of hours to bar hop.
The Rose Bar attracts the most shining of New York's glitterati. It is in the Gramercy Park Hotel, owned by Ian Schrager who set up London's hip Sanderson and St Martin's Lane Hotels, and you may well find yourself rubbing shoulders with stars like Winona Ryder or Orlando Bloom.
It's not easy to get in, so I had to use my gift of the gab. I did my research and found out the name of the bar manager.
I told the doormen that I had met him at a party in London and he had invited me down. By a stroke of luck, he was on a night off but I figured that he would have been too embarrassed to say he didn't remember me. If you act confident then people will think you're meant to join the party.
Once inside, the next challenge... choosing what to drink from the vast cocktail list. I went for a spicy ginger martini, while my friend had a raspberry mojito. Both delicious!
Next stop was P Diddy's favourite preclub boozer, The Gold Bar. There was a queue outside, but it seemed to be moving pretty quickly so we joined it and hoped for the best.
Before I knew it, I was inside the flashy white and gold room sipping bubbly with a wannabe rapper or two, which put me in the mood for dancing. I suggested Bungalow 8 nightclub, as the London branch which opened in September is always popular. However, Bungalow in New York has been going for six years.
The new kids on the block are Marquee - a favourite of Lindsay Lohan and Paris Hilton.
And Pink Elephant, where Mischa Barton, Drew Barrymore and Uma Thurman have hit the dance floor. As there were five of us, we split up into two groups.
Clubs in New York aren't as big as those in London, and big groups of friends are less likely to get in. But the more the merrier when it comes to the next day's post-party brunch, which is a big tradition in New York. Eight of us met at a brasserie called Pastis on a cobbled street in the Meatpacking district. My hangover disappeared after a hearty meal of steak and chips and a Bloody Mary.
Pastis is just across the street from SoHo House...which you will never find unless you know about it. Only members and their guests are allowed in to eat eggs benedict and drink peach bellinis by an open-air swimming pool.
The best way in is to book a hotel room. SoHo House has a luxurious spa, which makes the steep £225 a night (£112.50pp per night when two share) price better value.
From SoHo House, it is a hop and a skip to the boutiques of SoHo and NoLiTa to get outfits for the next night's partying.
I bought a white dress for £25 and a new black winter shawl coat for £40.
The coat came in handy when my friends asked me to meet them at the Waverly Inn restaurant in the leafy West Village. I loitered around for ages outside thinking I was in the wrong place because it looked like a residential home.
Then I walked in and saw Eva Longoria and Troy Parker at one table and Gwen Stefani and Gavin Rossdale at another.
Like I said, the best parties in New York are in the most unexpected places.
I slipped into Box & climbed into bed next to Beyonce
What's the deal?
Return fares on Silverjet (www.flysilverjet.com) start at £1022 in June. You can also book hotels in areas like the Meatpacking quarter or SoHo through the site.
For more info about what to see and where to go in New York, go to www.nytab.com For cheaper flights see opodo.co.uk
You heard it here first. I told you last MONTH Gavin & Stacey star James Corden wasn't dating Lily Allen, after getting word from James' co-star Matthew Horne.
Now the chubby actor has given my story the nod. He puts paid to romance rumours with pop star Lil, telling Gordon Ramsay's F-Word this week: "Lily's amazing, but she's not my girlfriend. I've never been in bed with her... she won't let me."
Zoe: 1. My rivals: nil.
Usher: Good luck for getting his £500k. But shouted "Hello Manchester" at Radio 1 event... in er, Maidstone.
Mark Ronson & Daisy Lowe dating. She's too young & too tall for him.
Vampire Weekend: Love their song Oxford Comma.
Suzanne Shaw: Turned down £1m to write an autobiography because she's too young. Quite right.
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