same subject, different article
Wiggles wriggle back into top spot
By Daniel Ziffer
April 13, 2006
AC/DC and the Wiggles had a fight — and the skivvies won.
The Wiggles yesterday topped a list of Australia's highest-earning entertainers for the second year in a row, with their $50 million gross income for 2005 doubling the take of the globetrotting rockers.
But they had to work harder than the rock legends for their money — AC/DC hasn't released an album since 2000 or toured since 2003.
BRW magazine's annual list of 50 top earners had actress Nicole Kidman third with $22.3 million, just ahead of X-Men actor Hugh Jackman ($20 million) and Kidman's beau, country singer Keith Urban ($20 million).
Issue editor James Thomson said the figures were for gross income, before management fees and tax. "We try to talk to the people involved … and then everyone we can — agents, promoters, tour managers, anyone who'll listen to us," he said. Public information, including record sales and concert receipts, was also used to calculate a person's worth.
Singer Kylie Minogue ($19 million) was in sixth position, with actress Cate Blanchett and children's entertainers Hi-5 both on $15 million.
Munich was a box office disappointment but its star, Eric Bana, was ninth with $12 million, ahead of King Kong's Naomi Watts on $11 million.
The success of Melbourne singer Missy Higgins pushed her into 27th position, a statement from the magazine said, behind re-formed rock group INXS at 22. The Cat Empire and Australian Idol Anthony Callea both earned $1 million to take positions 49 and 50 on the list. The income of band Powderfinger fell below that figure.
The youngest person to make the list was 18-year-old model Gemma Ward, who raked in $3.5 million for the year.
Australian actors on US television have also done well, with Lost's Emilie de Ravin joining Anthony LaPaglia and Poppy Montgomery of Without A Trace on the 10th annual list.
"With Australian drama struggling, a lot of people have gone to the US and cracked that market," Thomson said.
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