A BIG DAY FOR TOM CRUISE

RAMSAY BEHAVES

He has traditionally aligned himself with the Nine Network but yesterday celebrity swearer Gordon Ramsay was instead showing off his cooking skills on Ten's morning show David & Kim. The show - which attracts half the audience of timeslot competitor on Nine, Mornings with Kerri-Anne - crossed to the Sydney Good Food and Wine Show, for a cooking segment with Ramsay and wife Tana. Ramsay is reported to be on a short leash for the Sydney leg of the foodie event, which begins today in Darling Harbour, after the public backlash over his unprovoked attack on Nine's A Current Affair host Tracy Grimshaw during a Melbourne live show. Event organisers have said the content of Ramsay's shows this weekend will be toned down.

PHILISTINE SINGO

John Singleton did little to counter his philistine reputation at a party for his daughter's fledgling music career at the Piano Room on Tuesday night. Sally Singleton was due to take the stage at 7.30 but the adman was an early arrival at the Kings Cross bar, where he interrupted a performance of a comedy musical, Shakespearean Idol. With the venue darkened for the thespian performance, Singo tripped on a step on his way to the bar to get a beer, causing him to swear loudly during a pregnant pause in the performance.

Producers for Shakespearean Idol - a musical comedy from playwright Melvyn Morrow - had booked the Piano Room for a series of Tuesday night performances at 7.30 but graciously agreed to shift this week's performance to an earlier timeslot to allow for the Sony Music launch of Sally's first single.

NILE DONS SKULLCAP

The Governor-General, Quentin Bryce, yesterday received a gift of a menorah - a symbol used in the Jewish festival of Hanukkah - from Pnina Feldman, wife of Rabbi Pinchus Feldman, Chief Rabbi of the Chabad movement of NSW. She greeted dignitaries at the Yeshiva Centre Chabad in Bondi. Close to her heels was Fred Nile MLC, who turned up in a yarmulke - a Jewish skullcap. When questioned, the reverend- a long-term advocate of Israeli interests - said he supported the Jewish people "100 per cent".

STAY IN TOUCH ...

WITH MIS-REPORTS

WHILE some fans are speculating that Michael Jackson's death was faked, a la Elvis Presley to escape the pressures of fame, confusion reigns over funeral plans.

Media reports this week indicated Jackson's body would be placed on public display at his Neverland ranch, before a private memorial service on Sunday and subsequent burial at the estate. This prompted journalists and fans to flock to Neverland, bringing forth an official denial.

"Contrary to previous news reports, the Jackson family is officially stating that there will be no public or private viewing at Neverland," a statement released by the family's public relations firm said.

More recent reports indicated that a public memorial service may be held at the 20,000-seat Staples Centre or the bigger Los Angeles Coliseum, a venue for the 1984 Olympic Games. The confusion over the funeral arrangements came as the picture surrounding the star's estate appeared to clear with the emergence of a 2002 will filed at Los Angeles Superior Court. And it was revealed that the 65-year-old singer Diana Ross, pictured, had been named as a back-up guardian to Jackson's children in the event of the death of his 79-year-old mother, Katherine. Additional documents valued Jackson's estate at more than $US500 million ($620 million).

On Monday a court granted Katherine Jackson temporary guardianship of the singer's children, Prince Michael, 12, Paris, 11, and Prince Michael II, 7.

WITH FAMOUS JEANS AUCTION

HIS work on canvas is popular with the Archibald-going public but how Vincent Fantauzzo translates onto denim is yet to be seen. Fantauzzo, who won the Archibald People's Choice Award two years running with his portraits of the actors Heath Ledger and Brandon Walters, has turned his brush to the jeans of Gough Whitlam. The jeans will feature a portrait of Whitlam and will be auctioned as part of the Jeans for Genes campaign, which raises money for the Children's Medical Research Institute. The pants, we are assured, are not from Whitlam's 1970s wardrobe but a more recent RM Williams pair. Alongside Whitlam's are cast-offs from more contemporary celebrities such as Miley Cyrus, Casey Stoner, Orlando Bloom (pictured, painted by thee artist Angus McDonald) Renee Zellweger, Gai Waterhouse and Billy Joel. The jeans go on display at the Arthouse Hotel in the city from Monday, and the auction is at Randwick Racecourse on July 30. There will also be a People's Choice Award.

WITH BIRTHDAY MIX-UPS

A STORY in The Diary yesterday marking the 50th birthday celebrations of Mr Squiggle on Wednesday erroneously reported that Roxanne Kimmorley was the daughter of the pencil-nosed puppet's creator, Norman Hetherington. While "Miss" Roxanne Kimmorley was one of several Squiggle sidekicks throughout the television show's run of more than 40 years on the ABC, it is "Miss" Rebecca Hetherington who now accompanies her father and Mr Squiggle to their public engagements. Mr Squiggle first appeared as part of ABC-TV's Wednesday TV Club and Wednesday Wonderbox programs, and received his own show in 1966. The last new episode went to air on February 1997.