Elton John

Nina Garcia, You. Are. Out. The Project Runway judge reportedly got fired from her post as fashion director at Elle magazine last week. [US Weekly]

Barry Diller who's recently triumphed in court over Liberty Media chairman, John Malone, has a brand new discrimination lawsuit on his hands. [P6]  read more »

“I sure can’t sing, but I want you to know that ‘I’m still standing,’” Hillary Clinton said with her husband and daughter standing behind her.

Maybe it was the purple drinks, but the crowd ponied up $2.5 million for her campaign last night at the Elton John fund-raiser.  read more »

Gossip Girl actress Blake Lively is so just one of the people, while Helena Christensen is categorically not. Ms. Lively went to Café Habana over the weekend and waited in line! For more than half an hour! Meanwhile, Ms. Christensen walked up to the eatery but kept on walking when she saw there was a wait. [P6]  read more »

The theatergoers at Radio City Music Hall last night had paid between $125 and $2,300 to hear the Clintons talk and Elton John sing, and several more dollars to drink fluorescent purple cocktails illuminated by glowing straws. Hillary promised them it was not a night for “political speeches.” Then she gave a political speech.  read more »

Elton John's fund-raising concert for Hillary might be a federal violation of campaign rules. [Washington Times via Radar]  read more »

The Clinton campaign just sent out a release that reads, in part:

Legendary artist Sir Elton John will perform at a solo concert on behalf of Hillary Clinton's campaign on April 9, 2008 at Radio City Music Hall in New York. The event, called "Elton and Hillary: One Night Only," is Elton John's first public solo concert in New York City without his band since his solo concert at Madison Square Garden in October 2000.

"I'm not a politician but I believe in the work that Hillary Clinton does," said John.  read more »

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The last thing Elton John needs is another bespoke bird-feather cape, but that’s exactly what he got last night in New Zealand. The “rare” gift, a Korowai cloak, was given to the 60-year-old singer-spectaculare by the island nation’s Maori communities. No longer simply a knight of Britain, Mr. John can now claim honorary membership in the Ngati Te Whiti sub-tribe. According to a statement released today by Peter Love, an official for the communities, the cloak is “the Maori equivalent to an Academy Award.” Mr. Love added that the Tiny Dancer was chosen in “recognition of the enjoyment Sir Elton John’s music has given to Maori over the years and his loyal continuance to return to Aotearoa [New Zealand] to entertain.” And entertain he does. Last night, Mr. John performed in front of 15,000 people in the city of New Plymouth.

Elton John and his partner David Furnish were across the world from each other last night, with Mr. Furnish in Australia rehearsing for his role in the musical Billy Elliot while Mr. John found himself at a party held at the new Chopard flagship store at 63rd and Madison to celebrate its opening.

The 60-year-old Mr. John was only one of a list of celebrities to bathe in the fuchsia glow of colored floodlamps pointed at the store for the event but he looked the most at home in the strangeness of it.

How is life with David since they became domestic partners in 2005, a reporter asked?

“I don’t think it makes any difference, because we’ve been together for 13 years, and now we’ve been together for 14 years," he said. But! "And it feels so much better, to be honest.”

He said he talks to the 42-year-old Mr. Furnish on the phone 10 or 12 times a day; they're planning to spend the holiday season in Venice before going on safari in Africa, "which we always do."

When The Daily Transom caught up to him we wanted to ask him about the murder of his good friend Linda Stein, the famous real-estate broker who was found bludgeoned to death in her Fifth Avenue apartment and who used to buy Mr. John's art for him at auction to keep him from spending too big on shoes and coats.

“I’m not here to talk about that," he said. "I mean, I find it…It would be inappropriate for me to say something. I’ll say something when the time is right.”

At 8:30, Deputy Mayor Daniel Doctoroff attends the Construction Industry Breakfast Forum at the Hilton where the New York Building Congress releases construction forecast.

At 10, Street vendors release report documenting poverty and harassment and then march from City Hall Park to the Environmental Control Board (66 John St.).

Also at 10, Mayor Bloomberg and Adolfo Carrion celebrate the expansion of the Bronx Museum of the Arts.

At noon, Borough presidents denounce "subsidized gentrification" and encourage affordable housing, at City Hall.

At 1, the Immigrant Affairs commissioner and Brooklyn borough president Marty Markowitz discuss Diversity Immigrant Visa Lottery at the Arab-American Family Support Center.

At 5:30, there is a Central American Heritage inside City Hall.

At 7, former Sen. John Edwards, Elizabeth Edwards, signs copies of her book; Barnes & Noble, 2289 Broadway.

At 8, a town hall entitled "Should the U.S. Get Out of Iraq?" is held at 123 W. 43rd Street, and hosted by Harper's Magazine and WNYC New York Public Radio.

And finally...Elton John releases the Elton John Fireside Home Fragrance Collection at the St. Regis Hotel. Yes!