“Kate’s performance left everyone with their jaws in their laps. She’s got a very decent voice and really got into it,” said a source.

Fundraiser Hoping’s Got Talent , held at the Cafe De Paris, June 18 saw the model sing a rendition of George Gershwin, reported thesun.co.uk.

She received a rapturous reception from guests who included Sienna Miller, Guy Ritchie and Mario Testino. Kate’s performance earned the fundraisers close to 47,600 pounds. In total 500,000 pounds was raised.

The couple celebrated first wedding anniversary recently and have revealed that they are thinking of starting a family.

However, the actor/TV presenter is not going to force their children into showbiz, instead the pair hope that their children do something more meaningful.

“I’m not going to be one of those stage daddies who says, ‘Get out there and sing.’ I want to raise some doctors and astronauts.” Contactmusic quoted Canon as telling People magazine.

The two married in April last year.

The ‘Charlie’s Angels’ star, may have no plans to get hitched in near future, but she has this unique habit of catching the flowers thrown by the bride. It is believed that the one who catches the bouquet is next to wed, OK magazine reported.

“I’m a commitment-phobe! It’s about being in the right position, the right place and the right time. I don’t want to get married. I just want to catch the bouquet and I have a collection of bouquets!,” Cameron said.

The 36-year-old actress who has dated a string of Hollywood hunks including Justin Timberlake, Paul Sculfor, Matt Dillon and Jared Leto also revealed that she is enjoying getting older as she has always wanted to reach her 30s.

“When I was in my 20s, I couldn’t wait to be in my 30s and I was totally right. You just know yourself better, you have so much more experience and if you behave in a certain way you know what the outcome is going to be,” Cameron said.

Graceful, classic and radiant, Deepika Padukone is the new face of Indian cinema. The Indian super model turned actress has carved a niche for herself not only within Indian cinema, but is also creating a sensation internationally.

According to renowned Hollywood director Rob Cohen, whose credit includes THE WITCHES OF EASTWICK and THE FAST AND THE FURIOUS, ”Deepika Padukone is gorgeous and is more beautiful than Angelina Jolie.” The director has also indicated his interest in casting Deepika for his next film project.

Deepika’s striking beauty and cover model appeal have made her the favourite cover girl for various fashion magazines. Deepika was also the most searched celebrity on one of the popular websites in 2008, surpassing Bollywood favourites Shilpa Shetty and Aishwarya Rai. Maxim Magazine recently voted her ”The Hottest Girl on Earth” not just for her huge fan following but also because of her appeal as an international brand face.

Deepika’s diverse and versatile body of work continues to truly make her one of the youngest, most gorgeous and most talented super model and actresses to have taken both the cinema and fashion industry by storm. Her versatility as a model and inimitable style have made her a popular celebrity ambassador for international brands.

If you’ve been wondering what makes someone good in bed, don’t hit the gym. Only a great physique or knowledge of twenty different positions doesn’t make for wonderful sex. It might sound old-fashioned, but really knowing and liking your partner is crucial to the mercury rising in your bedroom. These are some common goof-ups people make during sex, and how to avoid them.

It’s no secret that many people in the land of the Kamasutra are basically misinformed or under informed about sex. Conservative families, the burden of upholding our ‘culture’ and embarrassment prevent people from going to the bedroom armed with at least enough information about sex and the body. But with the amount of information available on the net, you can easily educate yourself about how your partner’s body works and what is pleasurable. After that, it’s all a matter of trial (and a few errors) to figure out how you both can have the most fun. 

Are you clairvoyant? 
You’re not, right? Neither is your partner. It’s naive to assume they will just know what you want if they ‘really love you’. In fact, if you really love your partner, you should be the one taking the initiative to speak up and actually talk about what you want and what the two of you could improve upon in the bedroom. Don’t expect your lover to be superhuman and all knowing. It’s no fun making love to a perfect being anyway. 

Putting you to sleep
If all you can think about when you look at your bed is sleeping, you’re probably bored with your sex life. It happens. Hectic schedules and family responsibilities leave hardly any time for sex, let alone innovative sex. But if you want to do more than sleep in the bedroom, you should give some thought to doing it differently. Boredom creeps in largely because of monotony, because sex becomes a chore. You wouldn’t have dal and chawal every night, so you shouldn’t make love the same way every time either. Vary the scene a bit each time – try sexy lingerie, different lighting, dirty talk, massages, different positions … there are enough sources to find out how you can make an otherwise lukewarm sex life really steamy. 

One way street
That’s what sex often becomes – a one-sided effort. Women either think men should initiate sex if they really desire them, or that men are natural aggressors and it’s their ‘role’ to desire lovemaking more than women do. Again, that’s partly misinformation. The healthiest, hottest relationship is one in which both partners make each other feel loved and wanted. Don’t let one person do all the work. Initiate sex more often, and when your partner least expects it. Brush against them discreetly at a party or if you’re alone during a meal. Try seduction during a boring car ride or call them at work (when you know they will have some free time!) . Your partner will be pleasantly surprised at how warm and loved that makes them feel, and you can then turn things from warm to hot at the next opportunity. 

‘How do I look?’
This worry often stands in the way of really enjoying sex with your partner. We’re not all meant to look like supermodels, and it’s ok if you don’t. Your partner might not think you look bad, even if you agonise over the fact that you don’t look like Angelina Jolie or Brad Pitt. If you keep wondering whether you’re looking fine all the time and trying not to let your partner look at you too much, it makes for disappointing sex. You need to trust your partner to like you just the way you are, the way you like them. Relax and enjoy the feeling of being together, and you’ll discover what a romp you can have. Confidence only grows with good sex, so if you can feel good about yourself in bed once, the next time, you’ll feel even better.

Former “Friends” star Jennifer Aniston has been saving messages from her ex-boyfriends, even those she has dated once.

Contactmusic.com reports that the 40-year-old, who was previously married to Hollywood actor Brad Pitt and has dated singer John Mayer, model Paul Sculfor and actor Vince Vaughn, likes saving messages of people who she has dated once. 

“It is great to check your messages in the answering machine over and over again. I still have those tapes of messages. I like saving them,” said Jennifer.

“Men are from Mars and women from Venus, with this established phenomena in mind I was trying to plan an ideal vacation with my husband. But as usual we disagreed.

While I loved being in a mountainous hill station, his inclination was beaches. Also while he wanted to take his parents along, I preferred my friends. As a result, we couldn’t decide on anything and it went nowhere. I feel since we disagree so much on our travel requirements, it is better to sit quietly at home rather than fighting throughout the trip,” confesses Maya Malhotra, a manager with a PR firm. 

Vacations are considered as one of the most effective weapons of re igniting the passion in your love life. However, the most ironical part is that holidays mean different things to men and women. If men expect thrilling adventure, women daydream about luxury, shopping and exotic locales. 

So here are a few tips to help you put your travel plan in place so that you can make the most of it…. 

Where to go & what to do? 

Addressing this question is often the most important part of planning a vacation. Most disagreements too crop from this area. Both of you might have a different idea of a perfect holiday, but it’s not that difficult to strike a balance. 

Mumbai-based, Amit Khanduri, an MNC employee says, “It was our first holiday together and I didn’t want to be unfair by forcing my choice on her. She loves beaches, sailing, picturesque and peaceful destinations, like all other girls. But I wanted to add a pinch of adventure to it. So I choose Kerala as our destination.” 

Amit and his better half loved the scenic beauty of Kerala where they even pampered themselves at luxurious hotels and spas. He adds, “Apart from this romantic ingredient, adventure was included in the holiday that made it all the more enthralling. Both of us love scuba diving and kayaking. I think this vacation was a perfect blend of our wish lists.” 

Travel Tip : Saghan Agarwal, CEO and Director Marketing, Travelmasti talks about the trend of adventure and romantic holidays. “There are certain destinations that do offer varied attractions to couples. For instance, Rishikesh, is quite popular for trekking, white water rafting, camping and other adventure sports. And at the same time it’s known for its world class spas. Similarily, resorts at Corbett offers one the ultimate luxury in the midst of a forest. It forms a wonderful destination for people looking forward to having a brush with wildlife. Goa and Kerala also fall into the same category. When you can have so much on your platter why settle for less?” says Agarwal. 

If travelling is a pain!
Everyone loves to take a break from their monotonous lives, but many people get goose bumps with the thoughts of driving through hilly terrains or having to undertake long and exhausting train travel. 

Savita Singh, a medical professional tells, “I love traveling by air as it’s comfy and fast, but my hubby is not so fond of the idea. He feels quite suffocated during flights. I forced him to try it on our last vacation, but he was regretting his decision later. Therefore, no international holidays for us, we only aim at destinations approachable by road or train. I think I don’t mind sacrificing this much for him, as more than the place, it’s gaining his undivided attention that matters more. For me, vacations are more about enjoying each other’s company and relishing even the simplest things in life.” 

Travel Tip : Dr Rachna Singh, a relationship expert says, “Rather than cribbing about you partner’s phobia, try to convince him/her and if it fails, look for a plan B. Either change the destination or the mode of transport. Seek medical help, as your partner might be suffering from a health problem. You should learn to focus more on your beloved than the destination you are visiting.”

This is the first time that any study has shown that a sex hormone can directly affect auditory function. The researchers say that their study points toward the possibility that oestrogen controls other types of sensory processing as well. 

According to them, understanding how oestrogen changes the brain’s response to sound may open the door to new ways of treating hearing deficiencies.

“We’ve discovered estrogen doing something totally unexpected. We show that estrogen plays a central role in how the brain extracts and interprets auditory information. It does this on a scale of milliseconds in neurons, as opposed to days, months or even years in which estrogen is more commonly known to affect an organism,” says Raphael Pinaud, assistant professor of brain and cognitive sciences at the University of Rochester and lead author of the study. 

The researcher has revealed that past studies have already hinted at a connection between oestrogen and hearing in women who have its low levels, something that often occurs after menopause.

He, however, insists that no one actually knew that oestrogen plays such a direct role in determining auditory functions in the brain. 

“Now it is clear that estrogen is a key molecule carrying brain signals, and that the right balance of hormone levels in men and women is important for reasons beyond its role as a sex hormone,” says Pinaud. 

Working in collaboration with Assistant Professor Liisa Tremere and postdoctoral fellow Jin Jeong, Pinaud showed that increasing oestrogen levels in brain regions, which process auditory information, caused heightened sensitivity of sound-processing neurons, which encoded more complex and subtle features of the sound stimulus. 

He reveals that when the actions of oestrogen were blocked, or brain cells were prevented from producing the hormone within auditory centres, the signalling that is necessary for the brain to process sounds shut down. His team have also shown that oestrogen is required to activate genes that instruct the brain to lay down memories of those sounds. 

“It turns out that estrogen plays a dual role. It modulates the gain of auditory neurons instantaneously, and it initiates cellular processes that activate genes that are involved in learning and memory formation,” says Pinaud. 

Pinaud and his colleagues made these findings while studying how oestrogen may help change neuronal circuits to form memories of familiar songs in a type of bird typically used to understand the biology of vocal communication. 

“Based on our findings we must now see estrogen as a central regulator of hearing. It both determines how carefully a sound must be processed, and activates intracellular processes that occur deep within the cell to form memories of sound experiences,” he says. 

The researchers will continue their work studies to find out how neurons adapt their functionality when encountering new sensory information, and how these changes may ultimately enable the formation of memories. They also will continue exploring the specific mechanisms by which estrogen might impact these processes. 

“While we are currently conducting further experiments to confirm it, we believe that our findings extrapolate to other sensory systems and vertebrate species,” says Pinaud. “If this is the case, we are on the way to showing that estrogen is a key molecule for processing information from all the senses.”

Instructions:

A handful of celebrities spark a whirlwind romance every so often. Most of these romances get into the spotlight. Others were left unnoticed by the prying public probably because it was over even before the media got a whiff of it. But from 2005 to 2006, no two people had created more controversy and buzz about their relationship than the whirlwind romance of Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes. And it included Katie’sengagement ring at that. 

About the Engagement Ring
Tom Cruise proposed to Katie in Paris, more particularly right at the top the Eiffel Tower, sometime in June of 2005. When the couple left the site, people noticed the new ring on Katie’s finger. And it was big enough to acquire both appreciation and disdain. Katie’s engagement ring is an oval shaped diamond about five carats in size. It is set in rose gold and platinum over an elaborate pave setting. The band splits as it travels towards the center, making the ring a spilt shank type. That style is predictable, given that the ring has a big central stone and thin bands. The split shank is created to provide stability to the ring and support the main stone with all its accents.

The ring follows a relatively simple symmetry. It is very suggestive of the art deco design featured in most engagement and antique rings. The ring’s central stone is surrounded by a good number of small accents following an elegant classic pattern. The ring’s two-toned metal is said to be the couple’s personalized, modern twist to the ring.

Ring Criticisms
When celebrity gets into a relationship, wears something, or flaunts a piece of jewelry, there will always be detractors and admirers to speak their minds. And Katie’s engagement ring wasn’t spared of the ruckus. A lot of celebrity critics loved the ring’s beauty and size. But there are also a few who taught that it has got worse features they can’t possibly accept. Katie is a slim and petite kind of woman. And as such, critics say that the ring was simply too big and ostentatious on her slender fingers.

The Katie Holmes watchers also noticed that her engagement ring is sliding around her finger. That only means that it is either too big for her or that it is too heavy that it favors one side. Another criticism was about its design. So-called jewelry experts say that the ring is set too high. And because it is a rather large stone, it would catch on her clothing or almost anything else, making it less comfortable to wear.

Generally speaking, critics claim that the ring should have been more in complement to Katie’s finger. It should also be more fitting to her too. The ring should have been more apt to her lifestyle and her current jewelry collection. Many noticed that Katie is finding it hard to pair her engagement ring with her wedding ring and other jewelry pieces because of its awkward size. 

The Couple’s Wedding Ring
There were only few details about the wedding rings worn by Katie and her husband Tom Cruise when got married in November of 2007. The only thing definite about the rings is the fact that Cartier created the pieces for them. It is believed that the bands were set in white gold studded with several diamonds all around.