Take40 have been running a competition that has resulted in some funny moments where people have had to lip sync to their fave Robbie song to win the chance to see him in Europe. Here are my faves:

Go to www.take40.com/competitions/1556 and vote for your favourite and you could win $1,000 + other Robbie prizes.

After returning to the stage for the first time in three years to perform Bodies, Robbie Williams revisited X-Factor this week to perform a duet with Robbie’s declared favourite finalist Olly Murs to perform Angels… always a winner. The pair did the crowd proud – bro-hugs, pyrotechnics, crowd-chanting, and two handsome chaps in suits.

When in Australia recently, Robbie really pleased fans at Sydney’s Metro Theatre when he asked us to sing Ninjas instead of Angels… check it out here:

So the ARIA Awards, huh… Where to start!?

“An evening of epic proportions” just doesn’t do it justice… November 26, 2009 certainly was the Day of The Empire, but did someone say ROBBIE WILLIAMS, and Keith Urban too!?

So I can’t deny the red carpet was fun (PS keep an eye out for our own Jukebox from Hell’s Darryl B escorting Robbie Williams down the red rug), the performances were breathtaking (check out the on-stage pyrotechnics during Walking On A Dream), and the afterparty went past dawn… but the real highlights of the evening were Empire of the Sun cleaning up every major award of the night. That makes a total of seven ARIA awards, including Artisans, for Emperor Steele and Lord Littlemore.

Emperor Steele represented Empire of the Sun to accept all four awards on the evening, thanking Lord Littlemore, Donnie Sloan, Pete Lusty, Luke’s stunning wife Snappy Dolphin, his parents, all us at EMI (high fives all around!), and the incredible creative team behind Empire, including Mathematics and Debaser. Check out all of Emperor Steele’s awards speeches below:

Robbie Williams‘ performance of Bodies blew the roof off, as did his brown leather brogues and self-confessed dad robot dance moves. Young ladies screamed appropriately:

And don’t forget you can, for the first time, purchase and download the 2009 ARIA Awards live performances from Robbie, Keith, the Temper Trap, Lisa Mitchell, Kate Miller-Heidke, Sarah Blasko, Ladyhawke, the Hilltop Hoods, and Jess Mauboy’s  fromthe Australian iTunes Store. All the proceeds from the sale of the live digital tracks will be donated Youth Beyond Blue, the youth arm of beyond blue: the national depression initiative.

Congratulations to all the winners and our nominees Paul Dempsey, Bob Evans, JET, The Cat Empire, Bindi Irwin, and Rodney Rude.

LONG LIVE THE EMPIRE!

Today I got within inches of the man himself, Robbie Williams at his press conference held in Sydney in the lead up to his intimate Metro gig tonight and his ARIA performance tomorrow night

He said he was feeling great, had lovely things to say about Australia and Australians and he is looking forward to both performances. Of moving to Australia he said it’s on the cards because it’s one of those places that feels like home. On getting married he said yes and babies he’s coming around to the idea and had names picked out. It was agreed on Sunny or Sonny, depending if it was a boy or girl but Snowy was voted in a consensus by the journos. When asked about reforming with Take That he said he was happy they’d buried the hatchet and performing together with them recently was a great feeling like it was when they first got together, to go further than that it’d be about getting right thing happening.

In usual Robbie style he turned the questions to the journos and found out a few pet names and threw a few relationship questions back at them.

Rob is here to promote his album #1 album Reality Killed The Video Star. This afternoon at 4pm tune in to Hamish & Andy’s drive program for an interview and I’m sure a laugh. He’ll be on A Current Affair tomorrow night pre-ARIAs and of course the Channel 9 ARIA presentation and red carpet. On Friday he’ll be joining Kyle and Jackie O for a chat.

Don’t have a ticket to the ARIAs or the ridiculously exclusive Robbie Williams Mastercard Sydney Metro show next week? Bah humbug, what’s that next to seeing Sir Robbie in Europe!?

Head over to Take 40 to for a chance to win a $10 000 VIP trip to see Robbie live in Europe. All you have to do is ‘Get Your Robbie On’ and film yourself or you and your mate’s mum / little brother / bank manager / history professor singing a Robbie song and upload it at www.take40.com/competitions (Go on, you know you want to, cos I guarantee we’ll be uploading some ridiculous footage of our own!)

In the meanwhile, we’re still calendar-watching like pop geeks at HQ… 4 days til Robbie touches down in Oz and exactly ONE WEEK til the man himself take over The ARIAs with Bodies!

Robbie’s album Reality Killed The Video Star featuring Bodies and You Know Me is out now!

What a week for Robbie Williams – his album Reality Killed The Video Star is #1 on the UK mid week charts and on Australian iTunes AND… this is it… Robbie has confirmed a reunion for the first time in almost 15 years with former band mates and recently reunited friends, Take That for a London performance in the name of charity for BBC’s UK Children In Need.

Here’s hoping they bring back these kinds of dance moves (look how baby faced Robbie looks!)

Robbie was so excited about getting back together with the guys he got himself a Take That tattoo… find out how the band reacted in Rob’s interview

REALITY KILLED THE VIDEO STAR IN STORES NOW

I bet this is exactly the sort of craziness that really does happen inside’s Robbie Williams‘ head…

Here’s the video for You Know Me, a whimsical Alice In Wonderland-esque tale of a bunny-done-wrong. Takes us back to Robbie’s Swing When You’re Winning days, but with more facepaint, Easter eggs, an enchanted mushroom or two, and a serious Trevor Horne string section.

Everything seems a bit more down to Earth on-set however… check out the Behind The Scenes video on Myspace.

Short but sweet:

• Head to theinsoundfromwayout.com/robbiewilliams to download your free album Reality Killed The Video Star medley.
• We’re all heading to the cinema for Robbie’s BBC Electric Proms screening on Nov 6. Come join!
• 7 days until Reality Killed The Video Star hits Australia.
• … and 24 days until the man himself arrives in Australia for the ARIAs!

You may’ve guessed… we just can’t get enough Robbie Williams in these parts.

Which is fortunate, because as of today there’s only 14 DAYS until the album Reality Killed The Video Star hits town and – even more exciting – exactly one month until the man himself touches down in Oz!!! ARIAs here we come!

So here’s some more Robbie goodness to add to your collection of free vodcasts, remixes, and Robbie cinema tickets we’ve handed over: the Aeroplane remix of Bodies.

After his mindblowing performance at the BBC Electric Proms on Tuesday (here’s a reminder to go fetch your tix for the Nov 6 cinema screening), the Brit Awards just announced their big 3-0 on Feb 16 2010… with none other than Robbie closing the show with a live medley of his hits after receiving his Outstanding Contribution to Music Award! Well due I say: Robbie has already won 15 Brits – more than any other artist in UK history!