They say the music you listen to says a lot about you, and I think they're right. I'm lucky that The Husband and I like pretty much all of the same bands. There's no quibbling over what to put on when friends come round for a drink, or what to listen to in the car, or what concerts to go to. Musical harmony reigns in our patch of Grey Lynn!

I'd like to think, in theory, that I could have been with a guy who liked Maroon 5 or Janet Jackson or Nickelback without thinking less of them because their taste in music didn't match mine. I'd hope I would never have broken up with someone over the bands they liked, but...

When I was younger I was obsessed with making mix tapes, mix CDs, and, for a while until the player broke, mix Minidiscs. It used to take ages to line everything up just so, but it was a labour of love. With the advent of iTunes no less thought goes into the classic compilation - but the whole hoo-ha can be put together a lot quicker.

So it's interesting to go on iTunes and trawl through the dozens of celebrity playlists the music giant has to offer. The premise is simple - famous people make a playlist with their favourite songs on it, explain why they like them so, and shoppers can buy the entire thing, one or two songs, or just look through and pour scorn on said celebrity's taste in music from the comfort of their keyboard.

Can you get the wrong idea about a celeb by the music they do or don't listen to? The results may surprise you.

James Blunt, for instance, looks to me like a guy who loves his mother, cries at the drop of a hat, and likes to cuddle. It may have been naïve of me, then, to assume he'd listen to music like the stuff he makes - the sappy stuff. But check out Blunt's iTunes playlist and you'll find the very decent David Bowie, Beck, the Flaming Lips and the Libertines.

One particular Blunt favourite is the Killers' ‘Mr Brightside,' of which he notes ("this is not about a kitchen cleaning product, but a rocking tune from a brilliant album, Hot Fuss.")

Beyonce, she of the banging beats and infectious songs (I have only just got that put-a-ring-on-it song out of my head after about a week!) likes the Lenny Kravitz song ‘Fly Away,' - possibly the track with the worst lyrics ever. Behold.

I wish that I could fly
Into the sky
So very high
Just like a dragonfly

I'd fly above the trees
Over the seas in all degrees
To anywhere I please

Oh I want to get away
I want to fly away
Yeah yeah yeah

Profound, Lenny. Profound.

Making sure to keep it in the family, Beyonce also name checks tracks by her sister, Solange, and hubby, Jay-Z. Solange probably owes Beyonce months of hard labour for that shout out.

Nicole Kidman's playlist, on the other hand, has nary a mention of a Keith Urban song. Did she want to keep things away from the home fires, or is she really not a fan of country? Nicole includes songs by Tennessee boys Kings of Leon and Aussie bands Silverchair, Powderfinger and Midnight Oil. There's Crowded House in there too, but everyone knows they're a Kiwi band.

Jessica Simpson goes all country bar a couple of tracks by Led Zeppelin and Genesis. Tween actress Dakota Fanning surprises, going for a mix of pop (Beyonce, Gwen Stefani, Fergie) and classic (Queen, Ray Charles, Prince). Tori Spelling has a taste for the ‘80s.

While Kim Cattrall rocks out to the oldies and Seal and Heidi include four of his own tracks (talk about tooting your own horn!) including a duet by the pair of them about love, Elle Macpherson likes classic rock and songs with a French twist - including Edith Piaf, Serge Gainsbourg and Carla Bruni.

I'd have assumed Katie Holmes was only allowed to listen to whatever her good husband told her to. Mellow, inoffensive stuff which didn't upset her equilibrium too much. Maybe a bit of Yanni. There's no Rammstein or Rage Against the Machine in there, but I was surprised to find the very excellent White Stripes song ‘Prickly Thorn But Sweetly Worn.'

"You can't go wrong with the White Stripes," she notes.

Yes, but you can go wrong with so many other things. Good on ya, Katie. Who knew you had a personality left?

Full House's Bob Saget ‘likes to do cardio' to Pearl Jam's ‘Better Man,' enjoys the theme tune to The O.C. and has a thing for Weezer. ("I love Weezer. One time I went to their show and waited backstage like a sweaty Band-Aid.")

Probably the only playlist I would have brought in its entirety belonged to an actor who I've always considered to get by in his chosen field with a squint and an excess of hair product - Josh Hartnett. Turns out Josh also likes the Beastie Boys, the Strokes, the White Stripes, Iggy Pop, the Yeah Yeah Yeahs and the Ramones.

Bumpwatch: the plot thickens

A couple of weeks ago I mentioned the rumour going round the regular gossip haunts that Mariah Carey is supposedly two months pregnant.

Take that how you will. But this week Mariah made an appearance on the Ellen DeGeneres show, and didn't do anything to quash the whispers that she has a baby on board.

Mimi denied to Ellen that she was with child. So Ellen, crafty shrew that she is, decided to put Mariah to the test (as reported on People.com).

"Let's just toast with champagne," she suggested.

Mariah, who loves her some bubbles, declined the drink, saying that champagne ‘is fattening.'

"This is peer pressure," she exclaimed.

Eventually, Ellen managed to get a glass into Mariah's hand, but the singer only pretended to sip the drink. The old fake sip, eh, Mariah? And on camera!

Mind you, the champagne is fattening excuse could also hold some weight. To keep her figure in check, Mariah lives on a self-proclaimed ‘bleak' diet of yoghurt, eggs, and vegetable broth - supplemented by two-hour workouts, seven days a week. How grim.

Now Mariah Carey may live in a beautiful land of puppy dogs and butterflies, but she knows what that kind of carry-on will do to a gossip public that always fancies a piece of baby news. Either she is knocked up, and wants the publicity - or she's not, and likes the publicity.

My money's on yes. Expect an announcement in grand Mariah style (Trumpets! Town criers! Fanfare!) within the next two months.

 

Reunited and it feels so good?

Turns out there might be hope for life after Sienna Miller's man-eating charms after all. The 3AM column in Britain's Daily Mirror is reporting today that a very unlikely, long-time divorced couple may be rekindling their romantic flame.

Jude Law and Sadie Frost, his one-time wife of six years and mother of his three kids, have been spotted getting cosy at various events around London. No hanky panky's been spotted going on as yet, but the couple are apparently getting on famously.

So famously, in fact, that the entire Law clan - Jude, Sadie, her son Finlay, and their kids Rafferty (12), Iris (8), and Rudy (6) are all packing up and heading for a Brazilian vacation over the Christmas holidays.

The pair, once the face of cool Britain in the early noughties, have also bought a house in Hampshire, England, with plans to raise their kids in a happy country home.

Maybe they should get back together, although Jude's a far sight older than some of Sadie's recent string of toyboys. But she's not getting any younger, and he's aged terribly since they called it quits in 2003. Perhaps she's the elixir of youth he's been needing?

Spotted

Miley Cyrus doing some Thanksgiving shopping in NY with boyfriend Justin and family...Aerosmith's Steven Tyler getting searched at LAX...Demi Moore and Ashton Kutcher joined at the hip at the premiere of the movie Flawless in Covent Garden, London...Kate Moss, in a leopard print coat, and Jamie Hince out for lunch in London...A very thin Anna Kournikova leaving her Miami beach gym...Kirk Douglas, Jennifer Love Hewitt, Wilmer Valderrama and Cindy Crawford serving Thanksgiving dinner at the LA City Mission...