The Wardman Wire

The Independent is continuing it’s campaign against the use of Celebrity photographs and downmarket stories on highbrow newspaper websites to draw cheap traffic to boost web visitor numbers. Cool.

As you can see from today’s paper, the Indy front page is dominated by a high minded photo of Prince Charles who awarded the OBEs; no smiley blondes for the Independent.

Thank God they didn’t cheapen the campaign by running a downmarket photo of a pop icon with a caption such as - oh - “The showgirl and the Prince”.

Good job there weren’t any other celebrity photos on the website - someone might write an article accusing them of using questionable celebrity linkbait:

Good job they used sober non-linkbait text as well:

Pop music’s own pocket Venus, Kylie Minogue, was spinning around with delight when she received the insignia of her OBE at Buckingham Palace yesterday for services to the musicindustry…

…singer, dancer, actress, performer, gay icon and all-formats dreamboat…

…partly through the interventions of louche rock star admirers such as Michael Hutchence and Nick Cave, she reinvented herself as a sultry vaudeville showgirl…

…sex symbol, appearing on stage in extravagant concoctions of feathers and abbreviated corsetry. No performer in history ever looked better in gold hotpants…

…”Can’t Get You Out of My Head”…

…the diva wore an ill-fitting white frock that seemed in constant danger of falling off…

Yay. Rock-on, boys and girls. You’ll embarrass all the rest into being serious yet.

Incidentally, I’m looking for a 40-year old “Showgirl” to take my blog downmarket - can anyone help?

(Photos - Stephan Rosseau/AP and Reuters in that order - included for editorial comment and reporting. And satyr satire.).

P.S. Congrulations Kylie - and I mean it. You just picked the the wrong week to be on the cover of the Indy - sorry.