| Product: |
Closer Magazine |
| Date: |
18/03/07 (1477 review reads) |
| Rating: |
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Advantages: lots of celeb gossip, real life stories, TV page included
Disadvantages: Half the gossip is probably not true
I work quite a few night shifts and as you can imagine, it tends to be quiet during a night shift so I keep myself amused by buying magazines and often buy most of the magazines on the shelves.
I am not going to review every part of the magazine otherwise I will be here all day (and probably bore a few people along the way!). I will just review the sections which appeal to me the most and then based on what I write, you can decide for yourself if it will interest you.
Closer magazine comes out once a week
Price
Closer magazine costs only £1.10 per issue which I think is excellent value for money.
Front Cover
Closer magazine is primarily bright pink with the Closer logo written in white across the top. The in yellow highlighters writing there are various headlines which are meant to grab you attention. For example, I have issue 229 in front of me and the headlines red 'Mark controls her kids and cash' and 'Watch out he's a bully' which are all comments on Kerry Katona's new husband Mark. Also on the front cover are the headlines Billie: 'Chris will walk me up the aisle' and UK Youngest Sex Change: 'I bought my son boobs for his 18th birthday'
Contents
As I mentioned earlier, I am not going to review this magazine page by page as I don't think it really needs it, I will just outline the pages which I enjoy the most.
The first 4-6 pages are taken up with stories that were outlined on the front cover. The story is explained and then a couple of pictures of the celebrities are also printed on the pages. This week the stories are about Kerry Katona and Billie Piper.
Page 13 - Mr Showbiz
The Mr Showbiz section consists of snippets of stories about the celebrities that have been in the headlines this week. Usually there is a small written article and a couple of small pictures dotted around the page. This week, stories include Sarah from Girl's Aloud's drinking habits, Danni from BB7 crying amongst other stories.
Page 15 - Coleen's Page
The girlfriend of Wayne Rooney actually has her own page in this magazine in which she writes her opinions on various things that have been happening through the week as well as giving us an update on what she is doing in her life. I quite like this section as often she will talk about a story that she has seen in the newspaper about herself and will say that it wasn't the slightest bit true!
Pages 17-18 - True Life Story
These pages are taken up by a true life story. This week the story is about a mother who bought her son new boobs for his 18th birthday. It goes into detail about how she made the decision and how she wanted to support her son.
Closer News - (various pages throughout the magazine)
Closer News covers topics that have been in the headlines of the celebrity world this week. This issue has topics such as 'Jordan having problems coping with Harvey' and one of the girls from Ladette to Lady being dumped by the bloke she met on there. I actually find these pages quite interesting as although the news is not world changing, you get to read about stuff that other magazines do not write about.
They also have true life stories in these sections as well, this weeks issue has stories such as 'Our son fought off 10 hospital super bugs' and 'Why I dumped wife swop Lizzie for a quiet life'.
Page 25 - The Burning Question
On this page, they always ask a 'Burning Question' and then get two famous people to give their differing opinion on the questions. This week the question is 'Should Shoplifters Get Off With A 'Sorry'? and they have Jasmine Lennard arguing that yes they should and Coleen Nolan arguing no they shouldn't. I always find this section quite interesting as its always good to read the cases for and against something.
Page 28 - Closer Letters
This page is devoted to letters that Closer magazine receives from their readers about previous issues of the magazine, and their opinions on the various articles.
Closer Celebs (various pages throughout the magazine)
These pages cover various topics regarding celebrities and also interviews with celebrities. This weeks issue has an interview with Cilla Black and articles on Ben from X Factor and Kylie being lonely/
Fashion Pages
These pages normally cover 10-12 pages and consist of pictures of the latest fashions and a list of where you can buy them from etc. To be honest, I find these pages quite boring as if I want to look at dresses I want to buy, I can go shopping. Occasionally these pages can be useful as you might find a dress that you otherwise wouldn't have found.
These pages also include a celebrity trying ob various fashionable items and several pictures of them wearing it. This week, we have Jayne Middlemiss wearing dresses.
Page 63 - Star Beauty Secrets
This one page details which celebrities use/wear which make up/face cream etc. Sometimes these pages can be useful but to be honest most of the products they tell you about are so expensive that your average person wouldn't be able to afford them anyway!
Page 65 - Diet Page
Closer magazine is responsible for Closer Diets which apparently a lot of people have lost weight through. This page gives you info on how to join Closer Diets. Also each week, you get a recipe and various articles about foods which are good and bad for you.
Page 73 - 75
These pages are problem pages and readers can write in and ask the agony aunts for advice on various problems. There are two people that you are able to write to Mark Porter and Caroline Monk.
Pages 78-79 - Travel Pages
These pages are dedicated to travel and give you lots of information on the destination they feature. For example, this week their topic is Morocco and they give you details such as the best places to see, best places to eat, how to get around etc. Personally I really like these pages as I am a keen traveller and always like to learn about new places that I could visit.
Page 80-83 - Puzzle Pages
These pages consist of various puzzles and crosswords which you can complete and send off to win prizes.
Page 84 onwards
The back part of the magazine consists of a TV page for the nest week as well as two pages where they discuss the latest books and DVD and give them a rating out of 5 stars. With the TV page, Closer give you a run down of which programmes they would recommend for you to watch etc.
Page 105 - Horoscopes
This one pages gives each star sign an article on what their week ahead is going to hold for them.
Page 106 - The Last Page - My Guilty Pleasures
The last page is dedicated to a celebrity of Closer's choice of whom they ask various questions such as what's their fave food, what are their bad habits, what's their most embarrassing moment etc. I quite like this last page as sometimes they have people you wouldn't imagine on the pages such as Ricky Gervais.
Summary
Although this magazine is not exactly educational, the layout makes it easy to read and it can be quite enjoyable if you enjoy following celebrity gossip. To be honest, a lot of the stories are from 'a source' so there is probably not much truth in the stories but this magazine is a fairly enjoyable read and for £1.10 you cant really go far wrong.
Summary: An easy to read celebrity gossip magazine
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