A DAZZLING Elizabeth Hurley was in town to promote a jeans collection, in what seems to be a mini-British invasion of late.
The English actress charmed the men and women who lined up for her autograph at Macy’s, often billed as the world’s largest department store.
“We did a survey, asking our customers who they want to see as the new face of Jordache Jeans. Hurley’s name came up the most,” said its president Liz Berlineer in a brief interview on Thursday.
That, she found, was not surprising because “Hurley is sexy, she’s a mother and she’s real.”
Ronald Rogers, a captivated fan who got her signature, couldn’t agree more. “And I love her accent,” he gushed.
Indeed, Americans have a thing for the British tone. When English supermodel Naomi Campbell pleaded guilty recently in a Manhattan court for hurling a cellphone at her maid, the New York Times described that she had a “mellifluous British accent”.
Besides Hurley, another British celebrity came a fortnight ago to hawk his memoirs titled Red Carpets and Other Banana Skins.
Rupert Everett, who made his name playing Julia Roberts’ gay friend in My Best Friend’s Wedding, turned up at a Manhattan bookstore to sign copies of the book for a group of non-squealing fans, but who were keen enough to bombard him with questions ranging from his childhood to his career.
The gay actor, who looked good with a five o’clock shadow, pulled no punches when someone in the audience posed a query using a term which nobody was familiar with.
“What’s that?” he asked, sounding exasperated and promptly dismissed the question. “Next!” he called out.
Everett also appeared earlier in a talk show, saying that he simply adored Madonna, the Queen of Pop.
Blue-blooded Brits hit the road here in the United States, too. Charles and Camilla dropped by for a two-day visit to a decent amount of buzz from the American media.
Besides Philadelphia, the royal couple made a stop in New York last Sunday.
It was a low-key affair when they arrived in Harlem to visit Harlem Children’s Zone, a non-profit community organisation.
Just a small group of curious onlookers stood to watch them. No red carpet, no siren, no road closure.
They have their fans, though. “She looked lovely, much better than what we see in the papers which usually show her in an unflattering light,” said college student Sara C., who lives in Chelsea, New York, but who came to Harlem just to catch a glimpse of the prince.
Sara, who studies international relations, however, acknowledged that few Americans were taken up by the British royal family.
The newspapers were cheeky, naturally.
Someone recollected that back in November 2005 when Charles and Camilla came to attend a Sept 11 memorial, a tabloid had observed that the prince did not make eye contact at all with his second wife.
“Maybe they’ve just grown accustomed to sneaking around,” was the tabloid’s naughty remarks.
But the biggest British export to make a splash here was David Beckham, no doubt.
When news broke that the soccer star had signed a five-year contract with the Los Angeles Galaxy, one producer of a celebrity TV show was quoted in the press as saying that “this is a big, big, big deal. The office here is a-twitter this morning.”
According to him, scores of people were already volunteering to be on a “Posh and Becks watch.”
Comparisons have already been made between Beckham’s US$250mil (RM900mil) deal and the 10-year contract of US$252mil (RM907mil) signed by baseball player Alex Rodriguez of the New York Yankees.
What kept coming, though, was the ribbing.
Much was made about Beckham’s impact on the sport in the United States but comedian Jay Leno summed it best: “He could change the way Americans ignore soccer.”
As for Beckham’s eldest son, the seven-year-old Brooklyn who was named after a New York borough where he was conceived, a columnist had this to say:
“Thank God he wasn’t born in Queens (another borough in New York).”
