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Carnival CEO Micky Arison,
left, with Dame Judi
Thanks to Hil for scanning and sending this to me.
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Bubbly soaking as Dench names ship Oscar-winning actress Dame Judi Dench has been left covered in champagne after smashing a bottle against the side of a ship she was launching in Essex. She was in Essex to officially name the Carnival Legend, a new £250m cruise ship which can carry more than 2,000 people. Dame Judi Dench Dame Judi, who was performing the ceremony for charity, took three attempts to smash the bottle against the hull, aided by ship's captain Claudio Cupisci. The third attempt saw the bottle successfully smash but the force sent the flowing champagne over her hair, face and clothes. She took the soaking in good sprits and announced she was delighted to have been asked to become godmother to the ship. "I am godmother to 13 godchildren and also godmother to a god-dog - now I'm godmother to a great ship," said Dame Judi. "I have always taken my responsibility as godmother extremely seriously, and I hope that if at any time this great ship feels it needs my help, it will feel free to call on me and I will go rushing to its side." Dame Judi, who flew from Scotland on Wednesday, added that the ship represented the world because of the many nationalities on board. "It seems a wonderful message to me that you can have something so beautiful and where everybody gets on with everybody else and is a world in itself, it's a good thing for us to think about at the moment," she said. The Oscar-winning actress said she felt overwhelmed to be asked to name the ship. A spokesman for Carnival Cruise Lines said that in return for Dame Judi's appearance, £16,000 would be donated to good causes of her choice. The British Lung Foundation and the Oxford Irish Murdoch Appeal are to benefit from the donation.
Dame Judi Drench The Oscar-winning actress launches a cruise ship but ends up getting soaked in champagne, reports Hugh Davies Dame Judi Dench has never flinched when confronted with a magnum of Moet. That is until yesterday, when she was drenched with the stuff. In fine fettle after a Highland night celebrating Billy Connolly's 60th birthday, she took three bottles to push the boat out. On the third try, launching a cruise ship at Harwich, Essex, the champagne exploded - everywhere. Champagne moment: Dame Judi with Captain Claudio Cupisti The Oscar-winner, her hair dripping with bubbly and her cream outfit completely soaked, laughed loudly. Dame Judi's champagne moment came at the invitation of Micky Arison, owner of the Miami Heat basketball team. As chief executive of the Carnival Corporation which runs the QE2, he wanted her to name his latest acquisition, the sleek £268 million 2,124-passenger liner Carnival Legend. He sent his private jet up to the Western Isles, where the star was on holiday, painting and walking, to fetch her. For a small consideration - £17,857 to her two favourite charities, the British Lung Foundation and the Oxford Iris Murdoch Appeal - she agreed to act as the ship's "godmother". Dame Judi, 67, made a speech, saying: "I am godmother to 13 godchildren and also godmother to a god-dog. Now I'm godmother to a great ship. I have always taken my responsibility as godmother extremely seriously and I hope that if at any time this great ship feels it needs my help it will feel free to call on me and I will go rushing to its side." Stepping up to the bow, she pulled a rope so that a magnum could smash against the ship. A Carnival spokesman said last night: "It was a complicated mechanism and, before Dame Judi arrived, we had several run-throughs that went without a hitch. "Dame Judi was not so fortunate. She tugged at the rope, but the bottle didn't smash. It just went clunk against the side of the ship." A decision was made to abandon the bow ceremony and manually crack another bottle at the ship's entrance. Dame Judi marched up the gangplank with Claudio Cupisti, the Italian captain, clutched another magnum and tried again. The bottle slipped from her grasp and dropped into the sea. The spokesman said: "A third was produced, and this time it did break. Oh boy, did it smash. The bubbly went all over her. "Dame Judi took it so well. She didn't go all prissy as many stars would have done. She laughed and laughed."
Thanks to
Gloria B. for sending this Stars are known for pushing the boat out from time to time but when Judi Dench had a go on Wednesday it ended up with some pretty spectacular results. The 67-year-old actress was left soaked by a rogue bottle of bubbly as she named a new £250-million cruise liner. Watched by Captain Claudio Cupisci, Dame Judi made two attempts to smash the champagne bottle in the traditional manner – by swinging it on a rope against the hull of the 88,500-ton Carnival Legend – but all that happened was a resounding clunk. “Because it takes so long to set the whole thing up again we then asked her if she wouldn’t mind doing it by hand,” said David Ezra, spokesman for the liner. “This she did rather too effectively.” What the actress hadn’t counted on was the champagne foaming all over her face and soaking her cream outfit. “It was a tense moment,” said an onlooker, “but luckily she laughed it off and took the whole thing in really good spirits.” Dame Judi, currently filming the latest Bond film, Die Another Day, in Scotland, flew to the Essex port of Harwich for the ceremony in a private jet belong to Carnival Corporation chief executive Micky Arison. The Oscar-winning star agreed to be the godmother of the ship so she could donate her £16,000 fee to good causes. Most of the money went to the Oxford Iris Murdoch appeal to provide bursaries at St Anne’s College, Oxford, where Dame Iris taught philosophy for many years. Dame Judi won an Oscar nomination for her portrayal of the writer in the film Iris. Another of the actress’s favourite causes, the British Lung Foundation, will also benefit.
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