Zoom Airlines forced out of business

OTTAWA (PGN) >> Discount overseas airline Zoom hsuspended operations earlier today and will immediately file for insolvency.

"The collapse of Zoom is a result of matter beyond our control," reads a statement on the company website from founders Hugh and John Boyle. "Only last year Zoom Airlines made profit, but that turned into a loss in the last year due to the unprecedented increase in the price of aviation fuel and the economic climate. The price of oil resulted in our fuel bill jumping by nearly $50 million in one year and we could not recover that from passengers who had already booked their flights."

Zoom flies between Canada and several airports in the UK.

The sudden shut-down has left many Zoom passengers stranded but other airlines have reportedly offered them special fares. Passengers with flights booked on future Zoom flights can seek refunds from their credit card providers.

"We would like to thank the many thousands of passengers who chose to travel with Zoom during the last seven years and efforts of the airline's staff."

Cops rush to OJ Simpson's house

MIAMI (PGN) >> Police rushed to the home of O.J. Simpson on Sunday after his eldest daughter Arnelle allegedly attacked the infamous football icon and his girlfriend.

According to the official police report, 39-year-old Arnelle (her name is misspelled on the report) officers responded to Simpson’s home in Kendall, Florida after she called 911 and then hung up.

Arnelle – Simpson’s daughter with first wife Marguerite Whitley – had been in a verbal argument with Simpson’s girlfriend Christie Prody. Arnelle told officers she was leaving the home “in order to let things calm down,” according to the report. No arrest was made.

Sources say Arnelle called 911 after she allegedly shoved Simpson during the altercation, causing minor injuries.

See also: OJ's girlfriend rushed to hospital.

Blog posts bogus concert review

TORONTO (PGN) >> Proving that you can't believe everything you read online, Canadian celebrity blog IsThisHappening.com by Zack Teperman as Zack Taylor posted a review of a concert a full month before it happened.

The headline on the Aug. 26 post reads: "Jessica Simpson brings the house down in Windsor." But Simpson doesn't perform in Windsor until Sept. 25, when she appears at Caesars Windsor.

The blog also erroneously reported that the singer's concert was held "last night at Fallsview Casino in Windsor." Fallsview Casino is actually located in Niagara Falls. Simpson performs the first of two shows there tonight.

The review, supposedly from a reader of the blog, reads: "I just got back from Jessica's concert and it was amazing. She looked hot and sang like a true country star. The whole audience was bedazzled and you could tell she was in her element!"

UPDATE: The posting, which can be seen by clicking on the screen grab above, was removed from the blog this morning.

See also: Brit tabloid claims Sharon Stone partied in Toronto.

'Superbad' star ready to 'Kick-Ass'

TORONTO (PGN) >> Christopher Mintz-Plasse, who played Fogell (McLovin) in the hit comedy Superbad, is in talks to star in Kick-Ass. The action film will be partly shot in Toronto later this year.

Mintz-Plasse, 19, is up for the role of Red Mist, the angry son of a mobster.

Already signed to star in the adaptation of the Mark Millar comic is Chloe Moretz, who played Ryan Reynolds' daughter in the 2005 remake of The Amityville Horror and Kiki George in the TV series Dirty Sexy Money. The 11-year-old actress plays a foul-mouthed child who slays criminals with a sword.

The movie is about a high school nerd who transforms himself into a superhero, only to have to battle real-life mobsters. The lead role and adult roles have not yet been cast.

Kick-Ass will be helmed by British director Matthew Vaughn (Stardust), husband of supermodel Claudia Shiffer. Vaughn secured independent financing for the project after the film was rejected by the major studios due to its violent content involving young characters.

UPDATE: Nicolas Cage has signed on to star in the movie, which begins shooting in Toronto on Sept. 20.

Former 'American Idol' hits Fetish Fair

TORONTO (PGN) >> Frenchie Davis, who was kicked off season two of American Idol after topless photos surfaced, performed at the Church Street Fetish Fair this afternoon.

The 29-year-old singer, who followed-up her Idol exposure with a stint in Rent on Broadway and in the touring production of Dreamgirls, delighted a small crowd with several numbers, including "One Night Only."

A mummification demonstration was underway just a few metres away from the stage on which Davis was performing.

Davis and former American Idol winner Ruben Studdard will star in the 30th anniversary production of Ain't Misbehavin', which begins a U.S. tour in November.

EXCLUSIVE: Damhnait Doyle to marry

TORONTO (PGN) >> Canadian singer Damhnait Doyle, 32, will walk down the aisle with Greg Boggs, an executive at record label Sony BMG Canada, on Aug. 22. The native of Labrador City, perhaps best known for being a part of pop group Shaye, will marry in Toronto. It will be her first marriage.

Doyle and Boggs were engaged last fall after about a year together. The bride will wear a gown by designer Barbra Allin and the couple will spend their honeymoon in Belize.

Doyle's latest solo album is Lights Down Low, a collection of cover songs. At his previous job as director of A&R at Columbia Records in New York, Boggs signed such acts as Lost Prophets and Aqualung. One of his recently-signed Canadian acts is Crash Parallel.

You read it here first!

People.com and USMagazine.com reported today (see headlines, right) that Rachel Hunter is engaged to Canadian hockey player Jarrett Stoll. But it's old news to popgoesthenews.com readers, who learned about the engagement almost 24 hours earlier (see post below).

Canadian hockey star to wed Rachel Hunter

WAIKATO, New Zealand (PGN) >> Canadian hockey player Jarrett Stoll has popped the question to his girlfriend of two years, supermodel Rachel Hunter.

The 26-year-old Los Angeles Kings centre and the 38-year-old Celebrity Circus star have not set a date for the wedding. The couple is currently in Hunter’s native New Zealand.

Stoll’s mother Sheri confirmed the engagement to popgoesthenews.com and said the family is “very excited.” Hunter’s manager Andy Hayden told a New Zealand radio station: “We are all delighted for her.”

It will be the second marriage for Hunter, who separated from rocker Rod Stewart in early 1999 after eight years of marriage. They have two children, Renee, 15, and Liam, 13. Prior to dating Stoll, Hunter had a relationship with another Canadian hockey pro, Sean Avery, 28.

Kreesha Turner single goes gold

TORONTO (PGN) >> Kreesha Turner's debut CD doesn't hit stores until tomorrow but already one of her first singles has gone gold in Canada.

Deane Cameron, president of EMI Music Canada, presented the Edmonton native with her gold record tonight at the release party for her debut CD, Passion, at Revival in Toronto. In Canada, gold status for a single represents 20,000 downloads or 5,000 units.

Earlier, as guests like famed songwriter-producer Daniel Lanois (U2, Bob Dylan) and recording artist Fefe Dobson looked on, Turner sang early hits "Bounce With Me" and "Don't Call Me Baby," as well as her third single "Shattered."

Passion is an eclectic blend of soulful, jazzy, pop-infused R&B – or in Turner's words: “It’s just good music to enjoy and listen to over and over again." She co-wrote five of the songs and collaborated with the likes of Toronto-based songwriter and producer Jon Levine (Philosopher Kings, Nelly Furtado), Vancouver music makers Troy Samson and Mike James (soulDecision), and Grammy-winning songwriter Harold Lilly (Alicia Keys, Janet Jackson).

“I can honestly say that I love my whole album,” Turner says. “I’m so proud of every single song on there.”

The album is expected to be released south of the border in October. For more information, visit kreeshaturner.com or sample Turner's music at iTunes.

Dominion to disappear; Bell gets a fresh look

TORONTO (PGN) >> The familiar Bell and Dominion logos are about to disappear.

The parent company of Dominion announced today it will rebrand its 158 supermarkets beginning next month. Dominion and A&P stores will be renamed Metro – the same name as the company’s 200 stores in Quebec.

Quebec-based Metro Inc. bought Dominion and A&P in 2005. It will not change the name of Food Basics. According to president and CEO Eric La Fleche, the decision to rebrand the supermarkets is part of the company’s long-term strategy “to capitalize on operational and marketing efficiencies.”

Dominion was founded in 1927 and was taken over by A&P in 1985.

Also today, BCE Inc. unveiled a new logo for Bell (pictured, top right) as well as a plan to rebrand its satellite TV, internet and mobile phone properties. ExpressVu will become Bell TV, Sympatico will become Bell Internet and the company’s residential phone service will change to Bell Home Phone.

“The new Bell brand underlines that we are moving forward as a company and as a service provider, with new services, a new strategy and a new goal,” said George Cope, president and CEO of BCE and Bell Canada, in a news release.

Bell is launching a new marketing campaign with the tagline: “Today just got better.”

EXCLUSIVE: Sum 41 rocker getting married

TORONTO (PGN) >> Two years after rocker Deryck Whibley tied the knot with Avril Lavigne, another member of Sum 41 is about to walk down the aisle.

Jason McCaslin, better known to the band’s fans as Cone, is getting married this summer to his girlfriend of nearly eight years, Shannon Boehlke.

“I’ve stayed faithful the whole time,” McCaslin told a student newspaper at the University of Pittsburgh last September.

The 27-year-old bass player, who was born in Toronto and raised in Ajax, was one of Whibley’s four groomsmen at his 2006 wedding to Lavigne.

McCaslin and Sum 41 bandmate Steve Jocz are also members of a band called The Operation M.D. Jocz, 27, is engaged to hip-hop artist Jessy Moss.

Brit tabloid claims Sharon Stone partied in Toronto

TORONTO (PGN) >> According to a London newspaper report published on Monday, Sharon Stone was in Canada last weekend with a much younger male friend.

“The Basic Instinct star raised eyebrows as she turned up with a mystery toyboy at designer pal Christian Audigier’s Caribana Saturday party in a Toronto nightclub,” read an article in the Daily Mail, accompanied by several photos.

Problem is, the story isn’t true. Audigier didn’t have a party in Toronto and Stone was not in the city.

The newspaper claimed Stone, 50, partied “until the early hours with her young beau and a host of twenty-somethings” and reported that the couple was “inseparable throughout the night as they partied at Toronto's Tonic nightclub.” (Tonic did play host to a Caribana party on Saturday evening, sponsored by urban radio station Flow 93.5 and Christian Audigier Clothing – but neither the designer nor Stone attended.)

It’s not known why the Daily Mail reported that the photos were taken during Caribana in Toronto. The agency that sold the photos, X-17, said they were snapped in Los Angeles at a party Audigier hosted for his wife’s 30th birthday. Ironically, it was themed as a “white party.”

The erroneous information from the Daily Mail also appears on a number of blogs.

Paul Anka ties the knot again

SARDINIA (PGN) >> Canadian singer Paul Anka married for the second time on July 26 at the Hotel Cala di Volpe in Porto Cervo – but noticeably absent from the nuptials were his five daughters with his wife of 37 years, Anne De Zogheb.

Amelia, Anthea, Alicia, Amanda and Alexandra were not at their father’s side as he tied the knot with his girlfriend of four years, Swedish personal trainer Anna Aberg.

Aberg’s six-year-old daughter Elli, from her marriage to Louis Yeager, was at the sunset ceremony.

Anka and Aberg have a two-year-old son, Ethan.

Guests at the wedding included David Armstrong-Jones (the nephew of Queen Elizabeth) and his wife Serena. The reception was hosted by London-based tycoon Bob Manoukian aboard his luxury yacht Siran.

Anka proposed to Anna, a former Miss Sweden who is reportedly 29 years his junior, in New York City earlier this year.

The singer-songwriter behind classics like “Diana”, “Lonely Boy”, and “Put Your Head on My Shoulder” was born in Ottawa but lives in California and became a U.S. citizen nearly two decades ago.

This week’s issue of Hello! Canada magazine has exclusive photos and details of Anka’s wedding.