Chatterbox: We knew them before they were famous

You've seen them on the telly — well, those ratings suggest quite a lot of you have — now you can see them in person. Bardot, the telly manufactured girlgroup we like to think of as "OzBliss" is crossing the ditch for a spot of "promotion" between May 7 and 13. Belinda, Tiffany, Sally, Sophie and Katie will be hitting the malls for instore performances and autograph signing and they're up for a friendly game of netball against TrueBliss ... no, we jest (but we might have just given someone at Holmes an idea). Meanwhile Bardot's debut single Poison debuted in the Australian charts at No 1 and has sold 100,000-plus copies. There's an album any day now.

NEW FACE IN SPACE: New late-night music and arts show Space starting on TV2 on Friday has had a last-minute shuffle of staff. Francesa Rudkin, of last year's Friday night music show Ground Zero, won't now return to the timeslot and has been replaced by small-screen newcomer Jacquie Brown, whose radio background features producing and announcing stints on Auckland stations 95bFM, George FM,and 9inety6ixdot1. She'll share fronting duties with Dominic Bowden. Hopefully its $300,000 NZ on Air funding will mean it will be less of the Gen-X infomerical hour that Ground Zero resembled.

IT'S ONLY ROCK'N'ROLL AND I'LL REWRITE IT: Mick Jagger is writing a film script about the music business to be directed by Martin Scorsese and provisionally titled The Long Play. Here's an ending idea: Aging millionaire rocker lives to hear his anthem of youthful rebellion rerecorded by sexy-but-wholesome teen pop princess ... wait, that's real life: Britney Spears has covered Satisfaction for her forthcoming album. Can't wait.

MAD ABOUT THE BOY: British tabloid the Sun announced that Madonna's unborn second child was a boy and that she was planning to marry the father, film director Guy Ritchie. In response the star said she didn't know the sex of her baby and had no plans for marriage. Of course the Sun says its sources are ultrasound.

IT'S HOPELESS ON TELLY: Hopeless, the low-budget Kiwi film comedy about a bunch of Wellington twentysomethings is to be made into a 26-part TV3 series. The film previews this weekend and opens on Thursday. Meanwhile, New Zealand short film, Infection — a 81/2 minute "digital action thriller" by director James Cunningham — has been selected for Cannes.

RANDOM NOTES: Star Wars creators Lucasfilms are suing rapper Dr Dre for use of the "THX Deep Note" the sound which accompanies the logo of THX sound system shown before a film. Dre apparently sampled the sound as the opener on his album Chronic 2001 ... imminent musical tourist Macy Gray is a guest vocalist on the upcoming Fatboy Slim album ... English band Radiohead say they've finished a much-awaited follow-up to album-of-the-90s OK Computer.