DANIEL Radcliffe relishes his heartthrob status, he admitted at the European premiere of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. Hundreds of fans, mainly young girls, crammed into London's Leicester Square in torrential rain to chant Harry, Harry, Harry drowning out the occasional dramatic crack of thunder. Speaking about the female attention he attracts, Radcliffe said: I can't complain.

Speaking of his first on-screen clinch with Katie Leung, who plays Cho Chang in the film, he said: She's a very good kisser. sees Harry, played by 17-year-old Radcliffe, return to Hogwarts for his fifth year, but his integrity is called into question when some of the wizard community believe the story of the teenager's recent encounter with Lord Voldemort is a lie. Radcliffe was joined at the London launch by fellow cast members and the genius behind the series, author J.

K. Organisers recreated the atmosphere of the Ministry of Magic, where much of the action in the latest film takes place. Radcliffe, Emma Watson (Hermione Granger) and Rupert Grint (Ron Weasley) lead the cast, along with Imelda Staunton, who steals the scenes she appears in as the sinister control freak Dolores Umbridge.

Rowling said she shared the view of many critics that is the darkest of the Potter films so far. It has been described by critics as darker than previous Potter movies, focusing more on the students' inner journeys. Reviews have been mixed, with some critics confessing confusion over the plot.

The London premiere came five days after a red-carpet premiere in Tokyo but is likely to be the biggest of the film's regional launches, with most of the main cast due to attend along with a host of British celebrities. It kicked off a month-long outbreak of Pottermania, with the release of the seventh and final book in the Harry Potter series set for July 21. Fans are speculating which characters will die at the end of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallow s after Rowling said she would kill off at least two of them.

Rowling indicated that the final book would indeed be the last Harry Potter, and, when asked if she had been tempted to change her mind, she said: No, it is really what it was always planned to be. More than 325 million copies of the first six books have been sold worldwide, helping to turn Rowling into the first dollar-billionaire author. Online pre-orders for the final installment have already broken records.

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix opens across Adelaide on June 12. - PA and Reuters What is this? Post to del.

icio.us Post to Newsvine Daniel Radcliffe arrives at the British premiere of his new movie Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix in London. DANIEL Radcliffe relishes his heartthrob status, he admitted at the European premiere of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix.