By Wayne Harada
Advertiser Entertainment Writer

STAR WATCH: Kim-e J. Balmilero, the lone local in the hit Broadway musical, "Mamma Mia," and a former member of a touring "Miss Saigon" company, has taken a seven-month leave of absence from the Abba musical to shoot a TV show in Australia titled "H-5." She will be off to her Down Under gig this Sunday. She's one of five Americans picked for the show, which eventually will air on the Discovery Kids Channel and The Learning Channel. ...

Jason Momoa, the island actor from "Baywatch Hawai'i," is before the cameras of "Baywatch Hawaiian Wedding," the TV movie that also reunites him with resident actress Stacy Kamano. The model-actor now sports longish hair. ...

Pierce Brosnan, aka James Bond, managed to get some delish grub at Duke's Canoe Club on the Garden Island ... and enjoyed the casualness of the restaurant's Barefoot Bar & Grill. Nope, no 007 gadgets with him. ...

HERE 'N' THERE: Don Brown, the whiz behind The Arthouse at Restaurant Row, met up with local boy Jim Simpson at the Toronto Film Festival recently. Simpson, a Punahou grad, and son of Jack and Ann Simpson, was screening "The Guys," a film he directed based on a play by Anne Nelson. The film stars Simpson's wife, Sigourney Weaver, and Anthony LaPaglia and deals with firefighters who lost their lives on Sept. 11.

"I spoke with him about the possibility of bringing it to his hometown — all it needs is a distributor, which is being hotly negotiated now," said Brown, who was soaking up cinema amid the presence of Sophia Loren, Catherine Deneuve and Juliette Binoche. ...

Local cinematographer Yuri Farrant is off to L.A. for the Emmy Awards on Sunday. He is nominated for cinematography, non-fiction programming on the BBC/Discovery Channel series, "Blue Planet." ...

Among the out-of-towners returning here for Del Courtney's 92nd birthday blast Sunday at the Royal Hawaiian's Monarch Room will be Ira Nepus, the trombonist, who is working on the soundtrack of the new "I Spy," flick with composer Richard Gibbs of Oingo Boingo.

Nepus is active on the jazz and festival scene, and he will tour Japan in November with the Clayton-Hamilton Jazz Orchestra, the resident orchestra at the Hollywood Bowl for the past three years, and who he hopes could do a gig here, too. Jimmy Borges hosts the Courtney celebration, and the performers include Jim Nabors, Don Ho, Rollanda Lee, Herb Jeffries, Shari Lynn, Gabe Baltazar, Sydette, Al Waterson, Alfredo Romero, Art Todd, Kanoe Miller, Sonny Kamahele, and Azure McCall. ...

The aforementioned Borges will join Nina Keali'iwahamana, Bill Kaiwa, Tony Conjugacion, Brickwood Galuteria, Iwalani Kahalewai, and the Brickwood Galuteria Quartet in "Na Haku Mele Po'okela (the Finest Weavers of Songs)," the Aloha Festivals Royal Ball Saturday night at the Hilton Hawaiian Village's Coral Ballroom. If it's anything like last Saturday's gathering of Na Hoku Hanohano and Merrie Monarch winners at the Royal Hawaiian's Monarch Room, it should be a sizzler. Conjugacion, Galuteria, Melveen Leed, Marlene Sai, Amy Hanaiali'i Gilliom and Ernie Cruz crackled and sparkled amid the regal splendor. ...

SPORTING LIFE: With football season under way, producer Wayne LaVelle is revving up coverage on KUMU 2 (AM 1500), at 6 p.m. Fridays and Sundays, now through Feb. 2. The talk show offers previews and postmortems not only on football, but other sports — pro baseball, basketball, tennis, UH and high school. Johnny Miro is sports anchor and host, with Scott Kaalele co-hosting. ...

And that's Show Biz ...

Wayne Harada's Show Biz is published Tuesdays and Thursdays; e-mail wharada@honoluluadvertiser.com, phone 525-8067 or fax 525-8055.