Chatterbox: Stables chosen for NZ Idol

Radio host Iain Stables, has been selected to join NZ Idol's Frankie Stevens on the show's judging panel this year.

The host of the afternoon Drive Show on 91ZM admits he can't sing or dance but has enough experience breaking new artists through radio to know what he's doing.

"After 13 years of Top 40 and being a familiar voice to hundreds of Kiwis, I think I also have a unique feel for what works and what doesn't in this country," he said.

Known for his brutal honesty and cheeky persona, Stables is likely to fill the void left by acerbic judge Paul Ellis, who has shipped off to a PR job in Aussie. He will continue his radio job.

The third judge will be announced soon to replace Jackie Clarke, who has committed to other work.

Registrations are still open to wannabe idols at www.tvnz.co.nz keyword: NZ Idol.

The first episode show goes to air on TV2 in mid-July.

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Great rate from a good mate

Talk about mate's rates. Anika Moadoes some vocals on the long-awaited new Blindspott album End the Silence, and when the lads asked her how much she wanted to be paid her reply was simple: "Just a dozen beers."

So, being the obliging Westies that Blindspott are, they all chipped in and bought her four dozen instead.

Now, that's a good old-fashioned currency to deal in, don't you think?

On the album she sings Lull. The band said they wanted someone with a really good voice, but nothing soppy.

End the Silence, the follow-up to the band's 2002 debut, is out May 29.

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INXS replay

INXS and new frontman JD Fortune have added a second Auckland show to their New Zealand tour - or perhaps they're just being sneaky and announcing it late. The band play the Logan Campbell Centre on Sunday September 24.

Tickets are sold out for the September 23 gig at the same venue.

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Break out

Practise your head-spins and perfect your dolphin dives, because some of the world's best breakdancers are on their way to Auckland.

Coming straight from New York are Break!, eight dancers and three musicians who among them have shared the stage with everyone from Eminem and Public Enemy to Janet Jackson and Britney Spears.

These B-boys and B-girls know how to dance, bro'.

Breakdancing evolved in New York's Bronx during the 1970s as a style of street dance, influenced as much by African dance as by the funk of James Brown.

The Break! tour coincides with the mid-year school holidays, with shows at Telstra-Clear Pacific Events Centre on July 4 at 7.30pm, and July 5 at 2pm. Tickets $39 from TicketDirect.

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Sione's $3m present

Local comedy Sione's Wedding has taken more than $3 million at the box office, making it the fourth biggest grossing local film. It takes over from Once Were Warriors sequel What Becomes of the Broken Hearted?

But the film has a long way to go to get to the top spot held by The World's Fastest Indian, which took $6.9m. Second is Once Were Warriors ($6.8m), and third Whale Rider ($6.4m).

Despite problems with pirated DVD versions of Sione's Wedding being sold in Auckland, it still holds the number two spot at the box office this week behind Ice Age 2.

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Rights watch

The Human Rights Film Festival, at Auckland's Academy from May 11, is not for the fragile, because many of this year's movies will break your heart. But they are thought-provoking and inspiring.

Highlights include: Frozen Angels, a documentary about California's reproduction dream world where man plays God; Drowned Out, an Indian movie about a family who would rather drown than see their land and culture destroyed; and The Real Thing: Coca, Democracy, and Rebellion in Bolivia, about the drug war and its impact on the indigenous peoples of Bolivia.

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