Chris Kirkpatrick braves the cold, Jessica Simpson takes the heat, John Travolta gets the boot
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Chris Kirkpatrick, formerly of 'N Sync, belts out the national anthem.
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The GBB got a chance to spend a little time with former 'N Sync-er Chris Kirkpatrick before he braved snow and windgusts to belt out the national anthem prior to Sunday's Steelers game. Boyfriend can sing, too!
As far as the game's outcome? We ain't going there today.
But Chris, who grew up in Clarion a die-hard fan of the Black and Gold, is cool people and much cuter in person.
While we were hotter than July after walking over to Heinz Field, Chris kept toasty wearing a scarf, Steelers jacket and knit hat while we talked in the lobby.
"I get to Clarion and Pittsburgh probably about four times a year," he said. Believe it or not, he drives up from his home in Orlando. He said it's just easier to get around and also, since he has a big truck, there's room for all the goodies that his grandparents load him up with when he's in town.
Chris' grandma is a HUGE Jerome Bettis fan. "She made me read Jerome's book," he said.
Whenever he and his boy bandmates were in town, he said, they'd have a huge cookout and some of the Steelers would come through, including Jerome and former QB Kordell Stewart.
But what's he been up to since he, Justin, Joey, Lance and JC all decided to do their own things?
"I've been doing a lot of producing and writing," Chris said. He's got a band called Nigel's 11 and he thinking about touring with the group, possibly next summer.
"It'll be fun to get out and play music. I've been holed up in my studio writing."
There's also the burgeoning Chris Kirkpatrick Foundation, which aims to help some less fortunate youngsters who are interested in music.
"We didn't have a lot of money and we were real poor," he said. Ironically, it was the youngsters from the more affluent school districts who received the music scholarships, he said.
"It's the old saying, the rich get richer, so I'm going to try and change that."
Believe it or not, NSYC was not the first group Chris was a part of. After moving to Orlando to live with his dad, he began studying music at community college and then at Rollins College. He eventually met boy band Svengali, Lou Pearlman, who told Chris he had a lot of money to back a group. Of course, Lou's in a whole lot of hot water right now over charges of investment fraud and some other stuff. But we didn't get a chance to ask Chris about that.
"I put together a few groups with Lou and they didn't work out," Chris said. "Guys would quit."
How did he help form the group that did work? "I knew Joey and Justin and Justin knew J.C. and Lance," he said.
"We all love music and we also just had a great, great work ethic."
Chris recalls going to Europe where the group had gold records before anyone knew their names in the U.S.
"We land in Europe and there'd be kids everywhere," he said. They had to have security. But coming back to the U.S., their parents would forget to pick them up from the airport. Of course, they eventually became a boy band phenomenon.
"We went from nothing to craziness to back to nothing," he said. "We were really just kind of burned out for a while. We all had things that we wanted to do. It was fun and it was cool to get to have some time to ourselves. It's been fun to be able to branch out."
Is Jessica Simpson the reason Dallas QB Tony Romo self-destructed on the field Sunday?
Of course not -- it wasn't like she was out there blitzing him or missing passes.
But poor Jess is taking the heat from Cowboy bloggers for Tony's worst game ever, reports People.
"Everybody's due a bad day at the office, but if Romo plays like this next week, Jessica Simpson will become the most hated celebrity significant other since Yoko Ono," writes The Boys Blog, a top fan Web site.
Come on now. This was only one game. Now, if he messes up the next time Jessica's in the stands, then maybe CB fans can blame her.
Just kidding! Some people need to snap back into reality.
Tennis icon Chris Evert and golf great Greg Norman just got engaged.
Both got divorced last year and, of course, didn't start seeing each other until their marriages were over.
John Travolta was recently booted from the cast of the much beleagurered planned film version of the '80s prime-time soap "Dallas."
Seems the film, which at one point was set to star Mr. Travolta plus Shirley MacLaine as Miss Ellie and Jennifer Lopez as Sue Ellen, is now going in another direction.
How different?
Ben Stiller's name has been mentioned as a possible J.R.
Now this sounds like a disaster in the making.
As big a star as Johnny Depp is, he still doesn't forget who made him a star.
For the third year in a row, J.D. has been named the best autograph signer by Autograph magazine, reports Reuters.
Also on the best signer list is one of our faves, Matt Damon.
Who's not so hot when it comes to the John Hancock?
Will Ferrell tops the worst signer list, along with "Spider-Man" star Tobey Maguire. His Spidey sense should tell him it's not good to tick off the fans.
Johnny Depp's "Sweeney Todd" co-star Helena Bonham Carter and the film's director, Tim Burton, welcomed their own little Sweeney Tot (we stole that from TMZ) Saturday.
The couple had a baby girl (no name released yet) to join their 4-year-old son, Billy.
First Published December 18, 2007 12:00 am
