DJ Lundgren takes to the airwaves

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Most companies who decide to put their advertising accounts up for tender follow a certain pattern: the brief is sent out, a number of agencies are invited to pitch, re-pitch, re-price and re-pitch — until the winner is chosen.

Unless you happen to be Thomas Lundgren, the flamboyant owner of The One furniture chain that is.

Lundgren recently decided to end his deal with Grey Worldwide, and put the store’s advertising campaigns back on the market, however don’t expect a plush meeting in the boardroom with the Swedish entrepreneur to discuss this part of the business.

Instead, this Sunday he is hosting the “Thomas Lundgren Breakfast Show”.

Described as a “rocking introduction to The One total home experience,” this four-hour extravaganza will feature music, dancing, food and 15 of the Gulf’s top advertising agencies, all invited to quiz Lundgren on The One.

After the event, Lundgren will decide who he likes the most, and move on to stage two.

I can only imagine what that will involve as well as the repercussions…

Float of fancy

I exclusively revealed two weeks ago that Al Jazeera Airways is considering a stock flotation later this year.

Things are moving faster than I expected. I am told that the airline’s boss Marwan Boodai will be in Dubai in two weeks when he will hold talks with bankers with a view to a flotation as early as May. The airline has undergone rapid expansion and success in the last year. Watch out for an announcement soon.

Max backs Shilpa

I am glad to see my old friend Max Clifford in the news again. The world famous PR guru has already taken over the handling of all the publicity for Bollywood superstar and Celebrity Big Brother winner Shilpa Shetty.

Sources suggest that Shetty could make at least US$20m from television and movie deals, and Clifford himself is in no doubt of her potential.

“She’s bigger than OJ”, he tells me.

Cliff seeks second holiday home in The Palm

Friday saw the magnificent Cliff Richard perform for the first time in Dubai, and I have great news for fellow Cliff Richard fans. As you may know I have been running a campaign to persuade the superstar to come back to Dubai — I really think he should have done more than one night here.

Well, my spies tell me that during his week long stay in the emirate, he was also looking at properties — in particular the home bought on The Palm by soccer star David Beckham, which is now likely to be put up for sale.

Cliff has a holiday home in the Bahamas, used by the likes of Tony Blair in the past. A friend tells me: “He came here just to do the show but was really impressed with Dubai, and is thinking about getting himself a place here.”

I very much hope so.

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