So SeaWorld and Busch Gardens are expanding eastward — to Dubai. Dubai intrigues me, I haven’t been there yet but several people I know have and all of them love it.

This news, released yesterday by the Anheuser-Busch Companies and Nakheel, a major Dubai real estate developer, is sure to send shockwaves around Central Florida, San Diego and San Antonio where Sea World houses its other parks.

But the news doesn’t just stop there, it’s not just Sea World that’s setting up base on Palm Jebel Ali, the complex is also going to include Aquatica, Busch Gardens and Discovery Cove.

Apparently the theme parks will occupy an island shaped like a killer whale (what else would you expect in a place that boasts an indoor ski slope?), and is part of a project that includes isles shaped like palm trees and the map of the world.

The first phase, including the parks, is due for completion in 2012. Plans also call for hotels, shopping and restaurants.

SeaWorld Dubai (others are in San Diego, Orlando and San Antonio) will include killer whales, dolphins and sea lions, plus marine-themed rides. Busch Gardens, already near Williamsburg, Va., and Tampa, will offer its trademark thrill rides and there will be plans for a Discovery Cove similar to one in Orlando that allows visitors to swim with dolphins and stingrays.

So, exciting times in Dubai…but where does that leave us? Frankly, we at Florida Leisure welcome competition like this as its sure to make the other big players tighten up their act. I’m not sure that Disney has similar plans but it wouldn’t surprise me and you can be fairly certain that they’ll be wondering how they can improve things in Florida to attract visitors here instead of there!

Personally I’m of the opinion that for a long time we’ve needed to better our marketing as an area and now the opportunity is here. The OCCVB’s “Say Yes to Orlando” campaign just doesn’t cut it… what does it mean for a start? Say yes to crime, say yes to unemployment, say yes to drugs? It could be mistaken for any of those things that big cities have and if the news of Dubai becoming a bigger attraction for tourist dollars makes those in charge of spending all our money on marketing Orlando realise they’ve been getting it wrong for so long, then it will be a good thing.

It’s time we got back to basics. Back to realising that people want to be treated properly. That they want to feel welcome, that they are valued and above all, that we really care about them having a great time.

My company gets this… we have nearly 50% of our past guests return year in, year out. Why is that do you think? Simple. We treat them right and we look after them before, during and after their stay. We value them and we care greatly that they have a great time.

That’s how you treat people. Not like the experience so many from Europe get when they enter the USA. Interrogations, finger prints, assumptions they are terrorists, etc… for too long the politicians in this country have deliberately scared the people to death. They’ve led us into situations we didn’t ask to be led and they’ve then dumped us with worse life experiences than when they came into power. And here’s me thinking Government is supposed to make people’s lives better!

So, Shamu in the East… bring it on. Maybe then the people in power will realise we need to concentrate on real people and make sure we deliver the experiences they want in life. I can but hold my breath!

One of my passions is acting, but unfortunately I am now limited to making small cameo appearances as an extra … or background entertainer.  One of the movies I worked on last summer is now due for a release in March, but here is what Orlando’s movie critic thought of the preview last night.

Last night I caught Never Back Down, the Mixed Martial Arts kid-fights-his-way-to-respect genre pic last night, the one filmed in and around Orlando through a blistering August and September of last year, with an audience filled with people who worked on the film, either in production jobs or as extras.

And the first impression I took away from it was “Why isn’t Hollywood shooting here more often?” Or to  be more to the point, why aren’t more movies SET here?

Seriously, if, as National Geographic recently noted, Orlando is truly the quintessential modern American city (young, sprawling, cluttered with highways, strip malls in Disney Deco architecture, megachurches, outlet stores) and yet the city is as colorful, working class prosperous and under-exposed (on the big screen) as Never Back Down makes it look, why do we see so many movies set in generic suburbs of LA or Chicago or NYC? And so many others set in Portland, Sante Fe, Denver, Atlanta, Memphis, etc? Most of those places are more scenic, in a broader sense, than Orlando. Except for Atlanta (which has nothing on us but a baseball team). But these movies aren’t travelogues. They don’t spend much time down by the river, peering at the mountains, on the shores of a Great Lake.

And Orlando IS America, the good, the bad, the car-reliant, the over-extended.

   See the movie (which opens Mar. 14) and you may be struck, as I was, by the O.C.styled new wealth (McMansions), the watersports, the “now-ness” of the place. Director Jeff Wadlow, cinematographer Lukas Ettlin and editor Victor DuBois have synthesized a YOUNG city that rides whatever wave pop culture is surfing at this moment, a metropolis with a caffeinated, viral video energy (viral video of the fights is a plot point) and a jumpy film of sleek modern schools, swimming pools and “girls in bikinis, YEAR ROUND.”

And also miles of highways, matching apartment blocks, little slices of Disney-fied seediness, an “underground” club scene that looks set-designed and a Sanford waterfront that makes a pretty good stand-in for Marina del Ray.

Not to oversell what is, of course, a simple-enough genre picture, Never Back Down has style and sass to burn and is the best showcase for Orlando on the big screen EVER. If it hits, it could very well draw the eyeballs of location scouts to the place that Monster caught in all its tacky glory, that Sydney White so cleverly hid (all that lovely, old money character that the Rollins College can provide).

Pity they changed the title. Get Some is punchier, by far. And it has a meaning that would sex up Disneyopolis even more.

Last night “Sniping” Simon Cowell returned with a vengeance skewering contestants for their appearance, singing and attitudes … it was vintage Cowell, especially the way he rounded on Seacrest.  It was like Muhammad Ali vs Stephen Hawking … no contest.  It also set us remembering some of Simon’s classic zingers … here are just a few.

“Didn’t care much about Katharine McPhee. I don’t think she was a credible recording artist. Katharine will end up on Broadway.”
– skewering season 5′s runner-up to Extra

“Let me have a choice, I’m going to work in a coal mine for 14 hours a day or I’m going to be a runner-up on ‘American Idol’ — give me a break, idiot. There’s no pressure … They’re not working for a living, they’re becoming famous …. No one is dragging these people on to the show … This is a competition that if you do well, you’re going to become famous — end of story, if you don’t like it, do something else.”
– commenting on Clay Aiken’s disclosure that he had started taking antidepressants to deal with the pressures of fame

“I thought she was a stage-school brat when I first met her. But she’s quite a nice girl. And she’s our little Seabiscuit.”
– predicting Diana DeGarmo would win (she came in second to Fantasia Barrino)

‘If you win this competition, we will have failed.”
– to Jim Verraros, before he advanced to the semifinal round

“She was very cold. She could have been a robot for all the emotion or personality she put over. And she said something very stupid. She had a little bit of criticism, and she said: ‘I’m not the slightest bit worried. We’re all winners now. We’re all going to have successful careers.’ When she said it, I said, ‘She’s out.’ Because America decides whether they’re going to have successful careers. To say that was verging on arrogance.”
– on why LaToya London was eliminated

“That was a terrible impersonation of Elvis Presley. The dancing was hideous. It was just karaoke with a capital K.”
– to Taylor Hicks following a lukewarm performance of “Jailhouse Rock”

“It’s rather like having a silly little dog who wants to jump up on your lap and you just swat the dog off. Occasionally in a very stern voice you have to say ‘no.’ And that’s how I deal with Ryan.”
– on coping with super-peppy co-worker Ryan Seacrest

“My act is going to run out fairly quickly. There’s no question of that.”
– on his 15 minutes of fame

“You sounded like Cher after she’s been to the dentist.”
– finding a colorful way to describe Marianna Riccio’s version of “Should I Stay or Should I Go”

“I thought the whole Sanjaya thing was hysterical. I’m happy now because he’s out. I don’t think I’d be happy if he was in the finals, so I can now be quite smug about it.”
– gloating over Sanjaya

“I encourage [back talk]. I don’t think they do it enough because I think they all think they’re going to be voted off if they’re rude to me. I think it’s the opposite. I think the more rude they are to me, the more votes they’ll get …. I think it should be two-way. If I’m rude to them, they’re more than entitled to be rude to me back.”
– Simon reveals his secret desire for more sass from “Idol” contestants

“I don’t think Paula will be having my children. Sometimes I just don’t like her.”
– admitting he isn’t always a big fan of his fellow judge

“We will take her under our wing for six months and we will produce a new Britney Spears [We'll] keep her away from her stupid friends [and] buy her some underwear.”
– explaining how ‘American Idol’ could have given Britney Spears an extreme makeover

“You’re like every dad who’s ever got drunk at a wedding … got on stage and sang. The difference is, you can sing.”
– serving up a rare, if backhanded, compliment to Taylor Hicks

“Oh, gosh, where do I start? I mean I’m not being rude but you look like the Incredible Hulk’s wife.”
– to a tuneless contestant whose green sweater is a fashion no-no

“Did you really believe you could become the American Idol? Well, then, you’re deaf.”
– taking down another tuneless wonder

“I don’t want babies the same way I wouldn’t want a puppy. It’s too much responsibility.”
– on why he’ll never be father of the year

“I actually really like Donald Trump. I think he’s entertaining. There are so many unhappy billionaires, and he’s a happy one with a great sense of humor. I didn’t think I’d like him. I like people [who] don’t take themselves too seriously. ”
– revealing he has an unlikely role model

“It’s not the most imaginative wardrobe in the world, I agree.”
– admitting to being a dull dresser

“Steven, I’ve heard some weird auditions in my life, but I’ve got to tell you that was possibly the weirdest audition I’ve heard in my life. It was like a 1-year-old singing that song. It was weird. It would be like coaching a one-legged man to win the 100 meter sprint. I may be a great coach, but if you haven’t got it, you haven’t got it. This is just ridiculous, if you don’t mind me saying.”
– to ‘Idol’ reject Steve Thoen following an ear-splitting version of ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’

“My attitude is, if someone’s going to criticize me, tell me to my face. I find Paula patronizing. It’s as simple as that. Paula is more damaging than I am to these contestants because a lot of people just shouldn’t be singing for a living.”
– taking another shot at Paula

“I like crazy. The panel is wacky, and therefore I think the contestants should be a bit strange as well.”
– rationalizing the agonizing reign of Sanjaya

“They [Paula Abdul and Randy Jackson] loved him. I couldn’t stand him [Taylor Hicks] I didn’t get it. At the end of the day you have to find a bona fide recording artist. Just because you win the show doesn’t mean you will sell a lot of records. Chris [Daughtry] is the one who sold the albums, not Taylor.”
– confirming that no, he is not a fan of Taylor Hicks

“All we’re doing is telling people who don’t have a chance in hell that they don’t have a chance in hell.”
– explaining his plain-talking methods

“I was once offered money to judge somebody in bed, a couple. And I stupidly turned it down. It was about 100 grand, and I should have taken the money, because it would be a much more interesting story.”
– admitting he missed a great opportunity

MANAGER Leonard Ellerbe has defended a decision to have his unbeaten boxer, Floyd Mayweather, take part in a professional wrestling program in Florida next month.

Mayweather, considered by some to be the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world, claims to have been offered $US20 million ($21.45 million) to take part in Wrestlemania XXIV on March 30 in Orlando, Florida.

The unbeaten World Boxing Council welterweight champ will battle 2.1 metre World Wrestling Entertainment star “Big Show”.

Mayweather will be conceding around 113kg to the wrestling giant but Ellerbe says the move is all about underlining Mayweather’s credentials as an entertainer rather than just a boxer, just as he did when the champion appeared on “Dancing With The Stars” in November.

“This is a tremendous, tremendous event, it’s entertainment,” said Ellerbe.

“Like anything, it’s also a business and it’s my responsibility to continue to expand his fanbase and take the Mayweather brand to another level.”

Mayweather’s manager insisted the diversion to the scripted-WWE event had nothing to do with helping to promote the boxer’s proposed rematch with Oscar De La Hoya this September.

Ellerbe dismissed the suggestion that Mayweather was risking an injury that could derail his plans for an even bigger payday.

COUNTDOWN TO WRESTLEMANIA

February 24, 2008

Like true wrestling theater, the City of Orlando knew it had to make a big splash to land WrestleMania 24.

Enter Mayor Buddy Dyer, a trip to WWE headquarters and a borrowed catchphrase.

Before we tell you how this all unfolded, let’s start from the beginning, to get the complete story of how Orlando got the biggest wrestling event in the world.

In January 2006, WWE marketing adviser Bob Collins approached Centroplex officials Allen Johnson and Jon Dorman about the thought of bringing WrestleMania to Amway Arena. Collins, who helps scout out locations for the big event, was familiar with the arena because WWE had put on several Raw and Smackdown shows there.

Plus, WWE wanted WrestleMania 24 in a tourist destination. So Orlando was on a list with Miami, Tampa, Atlantic City and Las Vegas. Until Collins approached them, nobody in Orlando seriously considered hosting WrestleMania.

But once Collins opened the door, Johnson and Dorman contacted the Central Florida Sports Commission to find out if the idea was viable for the city. John Saboor, president of the sports commission, got to work, learning more about the logistics of hosting the event, what type of economic impact it would bring to the city and why it attracts tens of thousands of people from around the world.

“We had to get our arms around the magnitude of the event,” Saboor said. “This is the Super Bowl of sports entertainment. We talked to other cities who hosted, saw corresponding economic windfalls. After talking to our partners at the city, we decided this was something we definitely wanted to pursue.”

After making that decision in the summer of 2006, Saboor and his team got to work. They needed to set up a strategy to win WrestleMania. Knowing it would not outspend Las Vegas or Atlantic City, or be able to compete with the adult attractions that come with those cities, Orlando laid out a three-point strategy:

*Create a good business deal for both sides. WWE would pay for its share of the setup, with the city making money off tickets, food and parking.

*Emphasize added value propositions. That means tying in the local community to help make the event a success. Saboor and Orlando wanted to make it a weeklong event where WWE became woven into the fabric of the community.

*Show how much Orlando wanted to embrace the event on every level. To that end, Saboor got letters of support from Dyer, Johnson, Orange County Mayor Rich Crotty, then-Governor Jeb Bush, Clear Channel, Bright House, and the Orange County Library. He included them in the proposal he submitted to WWE.

Saboor also had three more ideas that he hoped would set Orlando apart. He knew WrestleMania had never been held in the Southeast, so he wanted to emphasize that. He wanted to make the city’s pitch at WWE headquarters in Stamford, Conn. And he wanted to bring Dyer with him.

“Our thought was we could make an indelible impression to ask Buddy Dyer to travel to WWE headquarters to show how much we wanted this,” Saboor said. “When I called Mayor Dyer to ask if he’d be willing to travel with me, not only was his answer ‘yes,’ but it was ‘yes’ within five seconds.”

At the end of September 2006, Saboor and Dyer traveled to Connecticut. Saboor described himself as nervously excited as he walked into the WWE boardroom and saw Chairman Vince McMahon, CEO Linda McMahon and 10 other executives around the table.

It was extremely rare for anyone to make a presentation for WrestleMania in person. Bringing the mayor along was a first.

Saboor passed out silver binders engraved with WRESTLEMANIA 2008 ORLANDO. The cover page borrowed a famous catchphrase from wrestlers Shawn Michaels and Triple H: “We’ve got two words for you . . . Choose Orlando.”

He made a presentation outlining the benefits of staging the event in Orlando. The meeting lasted 90 minutes and then the group went to lunch, where Saboor and Dyer answered more questions about the bid.

“That visit of John Saboor and Buddy Dyer really made a difference,” Collins said.

“What means so much to WWE is when we’re really embraced by people. They showed heart, they showed passion, they showed enthusiasm. When they opened with ‘We’ve got two words for you’ everyone took notice.”

After lunch, Saboor and Dyer boarded a plane to head back to Orlando, discussing the day’s events. They had plenty of time, as they waited three hours on the runway before the plane took off.

“I felt very positive we were going to have a good outcome,” Dyer said. “The vibes were right, and making a personal appeal was very helpful. We showed how much we wanted to have WrestleMania here in the city of Orlando.”

The following week, WWE contacted Saboor and said the presentation was well received. Then, it was time to wait. All Orlando knew was that WWE would make a decision before WrestleMania 23 on April 1 in Detroit.

Early last year, WWE got back in touch with city officials. The company was leaning heavily toward Orlando, but there was one problem. WWE wanted it to be moved from Amway Arena to the much bigger Florida Citrus Bowl, realizing it couldn’t go from having 70,000 people at WrestleMania in Detroit to 15,000 at Amway.

The WWE was familiar with the Citrus Bowl because of its XFL days, and, though it knew the old stadium would present some challenges, it asked for the change. Saboor had to find out if the Citrus Bowl was available and then started studying 10 years of weather patterns with the National Weather Service.

WrestleMania had only been staged once before outdoors, in Las Vegas in 1993, so taking it to the Citrus Bowl was a risk. But it was one WWE wanted. Once Saboor found out the Citrus Bowl was available, the deal was done.

Orlando won the bid.

On March 21 at a news conference in City Hall, the official announcement was made. Music blared, wrestlers and divas mingled with 250 people crammed into the room. “You always want to come where you’re welcome,” Vince McMahon told the crowd.

The WrestleMania festivities kick off March 24 with events planned throughout the week. Amway will host the WWE Hall of Fame induction ceremony on March 29, and WrestleMania will take place the following evening. Now that there is a little more than a month to go, Orlando is ready.

Saboor, meanwhile, already is thinking about bidding for another WrestleMania.

On yesterday’s blog I promised to tell you more about a party I went to before the Rascal Flatts concert… it was a blast! Even the President came…

And then we had a few other celebs that MCC dug up from the past !

Over 400 people attended the event and the real winner was the Florida Hospital Foundation who were the recipients of the nights charity efforts.

A great evening was had by all… a great way to celebrate MCC’s 5th birthday… here’s looking to next year and a move up the Inc 500 list for Chris Hurn,  Geof Longstaff and their wonderful staff. Well done guys and girls!

We all know where the mind wanders when a project that includes the words “adult” and “night” is planned. Add the word “Disney” to it and the very meaning of those two words together can go for a toss.

Yes, the beans have been spilled: Disney is planning a $520 million, adult theme park called a Night Kingdom where the only ‘hand job’ on the list entails your hand doing the job of feeding a hippopotamus.

If you fancy getting more adventurous, you will be able to go spelunking, get up close and personal with lions and hyenas, or frolic with penguins. Later you can unwind from your Indiana Jones adventures with a gourmet dinner, a musical performance and, if you’re lucky, a foot-rub from the two hosts who will be looking after you the entire time. Ok, so I added the foot-rub option, but like it or not, you will have two people at your beck and call. Only 2000 people will be able to enter at a time, there will be 4000 hospitality staff in the Kingdom, and opening hours will be from 4pm-12am.

Yes, Disney has found an adult market willing to pay $300 per afternoon for all this so full plans are underway; the theme park will open its gates in 2011 in conjunction with Walt Disney’s 40th Anniversary.

Who would have thought that adults would pay a premium to have exclusive “wild” adventures in Disneyland that don’t include strippers or S&M!? Word is that the project will be officially announced next month.

Last night I was dragged to a Rascal Flatts concert in Orlando by my wife and daughters and not being much of a fan I really wasn’t looking forward to it. But, life is sent to try us and we have to battle on… sometimes when you do things you don’t want to, it works out just fine…and your life becomes enriched by the new experience.

Anyway, we arrived reasonably early, having been to Mercantile Commercial Capital’s annual Mardi Gras party (more of which later), and settled in for an evening’s entertainment.

The first thing you noticed as you entered the area at the Amway Center / TD Waterhouse Center or whatever name they are calling it this year… was the set up on the stage. The stage was set up in a big “H” section with another circular area further back towards the rear of the area. A quick glance upwards revealed a suspended bridge obviously linking the two areas together…interesting thought I. A band that clearly wants each and every person to connect with them.

The concert started and they reeled of a series of numbers that rocked “O” Town. A fabulous set and some great individual performances made for a wonderful and unexpected (for me) evening out. Gary LeVox on lead vocals really hit the sweet spot whilst Jay DeMarcus (bass guitar, harmony vocals) and Joe Don Rooney (lead guitar , harmony vocals) gave the evening some humour and a refreshing back to basics honesty as they jammed on the smller circular stage at the rear.

So for a band that I didn’t much care for, country isn’t my thing, I came away enlightened… and yes, I’d go and see them again…. if you can keep the screaming girls and women away.

When Randy Jackson declared the amazingly average Carly  Smithson  “the best vocal of the last two days, the best vocal of the top 24 right there” he definitely played into the hands of the conspiracy theorists who wrote this article earlier in the week.  Scandal sells though …

Randy Jackson Using American Idol to Push His Failed Artists?

Not only is American Idol stacking its deck of supposedly amateur contestants with pros, judge Randy Jackson has helped propel into Idol‘s top 24 an artist he used to work with at MCA—the same kind of cheating for which he’s nailed Simon Cowell.

In 1999, Carly Smithson sold about 300 copies of her record for major label MCA and was promptly dropped. Jackson started at MCA in 1998 and was based at its Universal City, California, headquarters, working for four years as a senior veep of A&R, the division responsible for scouting, developing, and pushing new artists, according to Jackson’s own bio at americanidol.com. In other words, he had a front-row seat (and possibly some responsibility) for Smithson’s unfortunate run at the brass ring on MCA’s dime. It seems highly unlikely that a top level scout such as Jackson would forget such a big-time flop, especially when she came back and stared him in the face on Idol (even if she did change her name from Hennessy to Smithson).

VoteFortheWorst.com first pointed out Smithson’s status as a music industry loser and was the first to make the connection between Jackson’s A&R stint and Smithson’s work for the label on Jan. 28, but Smithson kept moving through the rounds on Idol. The incident calls to mind another similar controversy over contestant Thomas Lowe. Deadline Hollywood Daily reported last year that Lowe, in addition to possibly being involved in a nude photo spread, was in a band signed to BMG while Cowell was at the label. Ironically, it was Jackson who jumped on Simon’s case on the show when the connection was revealed.

“Simon ever try to sign your band?” Jackson quizzed Lowe on the show. Lowe answered, “No, but I believe Simon was working for BMG at the same time I was there.” Jackson got wide eyed and sniffed, “Well, Simon … small world.” Cowell looked embarrassed and Jackson scolded again, “Small world.” Lowe’s Idol run was cut short.

A message left before office hours this morning at Jackson’s rep’s office were not yet returned. But in a February 3, 2006, Rolling Stone article Jackson said Idol is supposed to be about rooting for the underdog, the raw talent. “We’re not out to find the poster kids and say, ‘Let’s sign them.’ We’re out to find the best undiscovered [talent] and really herald that.”

Radar first called attention to possible American Idol pro-singer “plants” Smithson and David Archuleta almost a month ago. Both are in the Idol top 24 now. The show has focused on Smithson and Archuleta quite a bit, too, but somehow never managed to devote any screen time to either contestant’s past successes—or failures.

Thank goodness Paula is so out of it that she can’t push her agendas … goodness only knows what’d be pushed down our throats, instead of hers.

From the “what were you thinking” files.  I think Lilo has fallen overboard in a hard way … one for flaunting her imperfect body (she should’ve done 2 million sit ups, not 250) and two for believing she could compare to Marilyn Monroe.  The only possible common ground is that Lohan is unlikely to see 40 either if she continues on her damaging path.  Perhaps Disney have a special rehab facility for fallen princesses.  Anyway here are the (uncensored) photos have set the blogosphere alight.  proving that the imagination is often better than reality … what a weird week, what is next a Gene Simmons’ sex video ?

Take two: Fresh pictures from Lindsay Lohan’s nude Marilyn Monroe tribute

After the frenzy caused by Lindsay Lohan’s topless tribute to Marilyn Monroe, more sensational pictures have surfaced.

The Mean Girls star, 21, stripped off for New York magazine to pay homage to the screen siren.

Sporting a blonde wig, Lohan was covered only by a sheer printed sheet in a bid to recreate Marilyn’s final photoshoot before her death.

Scroll down for more…

Take two: Lindsay Lohan pays tribute to Marilyn Monroe in out-takes for a photoshoot with New York Magazine

The shoot was done by famed photographer Bert Stern, who also photographed Monroe’s The Last Sitting in 1962 – she was found dead from an apparent drugs overdose just six weeks later.

And 46 years on, Stern and Lohan have recreated the now iconic pictures.

Lohan said she was “comfortable” with the nude shoot, but admitted she had done 250 sit-ups the night before to prepare.

Seeing spots: Lohan adopts a sultry pose as she attempts to recreate Marilyn’s sexy photoshoot

Rave reviews: The 21-year-old Mean Girls star has won critical acclaim for her decision to recreate poses by Sixties icon Monroe

But Lohan’s father has refused to look at the pictures of his topless daughter, expressing fears that the troubled star could be headed for the same fate as Marilyn.

He told America’s Us Weekly: “I’m not going to look at the photos — that’s my daughter!”

“I pray there are no parallels to her and Marilyn Monroe’s destiny.”

Dina Lohan, however, approved of the photoshoot claiming that the shots were done tastefully and supported her daughter’s view that it was the opportunity of a lifetime.

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Inspiration: Monroe’s classic pose for ‘The Last Sitting’ in 1962, which inspired Lindsay

She told People: “I looked at it as art, and as Lindsay doing a character. So I don’t look at them like it’s Playboy; she was being a character. So if you look at it that way, you can look at it as a mother.”

“Lindsay was very excited when she first got the phone call,”

“Of course we talked about how they would be done. Lindsay said, ‘Mommy, I’m never going to get this opportunity to do it again.’ She was very thankful she was asked.”

Lohan is no stranger to battling personal demons – last year, the hard-partying star spent time in rehab after being charged with drinking while under the influence, and later served an 84-minute stint in jail as well as community service.  

Cover star: Lindsay as Marilyn Monroe on the cover of New York magazine

Italian fashion statement: Lindsay attended the Dolce & Gabbana show today as part of Milan Fashion Week