ROAD LESS TRAVELED
Country News

True, Golden Road is the title of Keith Urban’s new album. But to the sizzling guitar-slinging singer, those words perfectly describe the real-life path he’s traveling.

“ ‘Golden Road’ is a good way to describe the road you’re supposed to be on,” shares Keith. “I was on it for a long time. Then I took some really bad detours and dead ends. Now, I feel like I’m back on track.”

It’s hard to believe that Keith, 2001’s CMA Horizon Award winner and the ACM’s Top New Male Vocalist for 2000, has ever hit so much as a speed bump. But only four years have passed since he struggled with a serious cocaine addiction, ultimately hitting rock bottom.

“At that point, there was major chaos in my life,” confides Keith. “I pushed everybody away. Cocaine kills everything you need – belief and self-esteem.”

His debut album, Keith Urban, scored four hits – including his self-penned No. 1 “But For The Grace Of God” – and went gold, selling 500,000 copies.

Then, just as he started work on his follow-up album, Keith’s world was shaken again when he and his fiancee broke up.

“That was a very hard time,” he admits.

Once again, music played a pivotal role in Keith’s healing process. In fact, his new No. 1 smash, “Somebody Like You,” was written while nursing his heartache.

“When I wrote that song, I was still in the midst of this breakup with my fiancee,” he confides. “It was weird to write about being so positive and secure with that going on. But she really loved me. I could see that. I was going through all sorts of stuff and didn’t like myself. I said, ‘Man, I wish I could love me the way you do.’ That was the inspiration.”

The song inspired a romance-charged video co-starring the woman rumored to be Keith’s current real-life love interest, supermodel Niki Taylor. When asked if there is, in reality, a romance blooming, Keith remains mostly mum.

“We’re friends,” he smiles. “Good friends. She loves country music. A mutual friend suggested we meet because Niki wanted to be in a video. The video is very earthy and organic. She just fit the bill so well.”

Keith claims he doesn’t mind all the talk about him and the girl who has graced a thousand magazine covers. “I’d ask about it, too!” he laughs. “But seriously, I’m really happy with my work right now. Dating is just not a priority. I’m not going to turn down love if it comes along – but it’s the last thing I’m thinking about.”

Press-and-play bra ad is 'most sexist yet'
By James Morrison, THE INDEPENDENT

Pretty Polly, the lingerie label that makes a virtue of targeting women rather than men, will tomorrow unveil what leading feminists describe as the most "sexist" advert yet.

Situated in bus shelters, the larger-than-lifesize photograph of a model in slinky red underwear, will feature a button placed precipitously close to her breasts inviting passers-by to press it. When they do, the model begins to talk, explaining the benefits of her "Baroque" bra and where it can be bought.

News of the ad comes after a week in which Patricia Hewitt, the Trade and Industry Secretary, condemned organisers of the British International Motor Show for using scantily clad women to promote it. She dismissed a publicity poster as "pathetic", "old-fashioned" and "a 1950s cliché".

The Pretty Polly poster, part of the brand's £1m pre-Christmas sales push, is being hailed by its creators, London-based agency Miles Calcraft Briginshaw Duffy (MCBD), as a breakthrough in "interactive" advertising. Industry observers say it signals a future world ­ like that forecast in the Steven Spielberg film Minority Report ­ where adverts will be able to "identify" passers-by and address them by name.

But feminists remain unconvinced. Beatrix Campbell, currently visiting professor in women's studies at Newcastle University, said it was merely the latest product of the "Loaded culture" promoted by "unreconstructed, oafish, Chris Evans-type blokes".

"The Pretty Polly ad is about something women wear, but it is produced for men's pleasure. It says: 'Here you are, you can press the button and do what you like with her.' As soon as advertisers are given the opportunity to go back to the bad old days, they do." Dismissing what she called the "fake irony" of "lads' magazines", she said: "Everybody knows all it's about is these gross, farting, boozing men behaving badly."

As for the view from the Loaded lads themselves, Keith Kendrick, the magazine's outgoing editor, said: "Why is it OK for women to have a pop at men, but men can't do the same? Women know men have a sense of humour, and we assume they do too." Read more