BITS AND PIECES 01/11 Part 1
PUSSSYKATT
--ABC's AMA telecast featuring Jackson scoring an 11.5 rating and 17 share to
beat CBS' rerun of Jackson's 30th Anniversary Special, according to preliminary
household numbers. By comparison, CBS' special notched an 8.9 rating/13 share.
--The Producers Guild of America nominating A Beautiful Mind, Harry Potter and
the Sorcerer's Stone, The Lord of the Rings, Moulin Rouge and Shrek for its top
honor, the Daryl Zanuck Producer of the Year Award. The Zanuck Award winner has
gone on to win the Best Picture Oscar nine out of the past 12 years.
--Action star Jet Li reteaming with his Romeo Must Die costar, rapper DMX, for
the new thriller Cradle to the Grave, Variety reports. Production begins in
February, but no word yet on a release date.
--NBC announcing it has already renewed three of its rookie shows for next
season. Scrubs, Crossing Jordan and Law & Order: Criminal Intent will all be
back next fall.
--Sarah Michelle Gellar, Freddie Prinze Jr. and Sigourney Weaver lending their
voices to the animated feature Happily N'Ever After, slated for a summer 2003
release.
--AOL Time Warner planning to shut down its cable sports channel CNN/SI. The
channel's programs will likely be incorporated into a new cable net 50 percent
owned by the National Basketball Association.
NY POST/DEVLIN BARRETT
--Two European models sued the publishers of Maxim magazine yesterday, saying
their photos were used without permission on a raunchy book called "Maximum
Sex." German stunner Katja Hilgendorff, who has appeared in Cosmo, Vogue and on
European runways, popped up unexpectedly on the cover of the book, according to
a lawsuit filed yesterday in Manhattan federal court. The model says she never
gave permission to become the cover girl.The suit said she posed for the
pictures in December 2000, but never agreed for them to be used in the 2001
book, which features her name and pictures "juxtaposed with explicit sexual
text, much of which is pornographic in nature." Another model, Nataskja Vermeer
of Holland, sued with similar claims, saying photos taken of her were also put
into the book without her permission. A lawyer for the models couldn't be
reached for comment. The company released a statement saying it had gotten
complete legal permission from the models' then-business managers, and called
the accusations outrageous.
NY POST/MICHAEL STARR.....
--Tonight's "48 Hours" has the first prime-time interview with writer Vanessa
Leggett, the writer who was jailed for refusing to reveal sources in the murder
of Houston socialite Doris Angleton.
--NBC's "Dateline" also has an exclusive: The first TV interview with Wen Ho
Lee, the government scientist falsely accused on espionage in 1999. Lee spent
nine months in solitary confinement, eventually pleading guilty to downloading
classified data onto computer discs. "I think if I'm Caucasian, I probably
would not be a scapegoat," Lee tells Ann Curry. The interview will air Tuesday
on the "Today" show and "Nightly News" and Jan. 27 on "Dateline."
--On tonight's "Extra": "Ally McBeal" co-star Jon Bon Jovi exclusively reveals
shocking new "Ally" plotlines.
NY POST/PAGE SIX...
--BILLY Joel and Christie Brinkley Cook know how to throw a Sweet 16 party.
They pulled out all the stops for their daughter Alexa Ray last weekend. It
started with a day of beauty for Alexa and eight of her friends in East
Hampton. After the girls were groomed, a limo picked them up and drove them to
Bryan Bantry's Goosecreek estate where they were ushered into the screening
room. Brinkley and Joel had produced a retrospective of Alexa's life, followed
by a private screening of "Amélie." Then Joel hosted a big dinner.
--THE familiar-looking fellow who plays Tom Cruise's dead dad in "Vanilla Sky"
isn't some old character actor - it's Robert Rauschenberg. Director Cameron
Crowe dug up some vintage '60s footage of the famed painter for the part. Crowe
also used a giant portrait of the young Rauschenberg on the set. "We signed a
release," a rep at the artist's Florida studio told artnet.com. "But no one's
seen the film." Maybe they read Post critic Jonathan Foreman's review labeling
it "surprisingly vulgar," "convoluted," "saggy" and "irritating."
--SOPHIE Dahl might be the latest target of gangsters preying on London's rich
and famous. The English papers report Dahl called police after two men in a
silver Citroen tailed her from the chic Ivy restaurant. British TV star Angela
Rippon was recently mugged by the Citroen gang, who ripped off her Rolex and
diamond ring. Police believe the mob follows paparazzi to fashionable
nightspots in order to locate wealthy stars, then pounces once they leave.
NY POST/CINDY ADAMS...
--Charlie Rose's 60th birthday gift to himself was a body massage at Dorit
Baxter Day Spa . . .
NY POST/LIZ SMITH...
--WHAT IS it like to be dumped publicly by Tom Cruise? No, we're not talking
another interview with Nicole Kidman; we're asking Cameron Diaz. She is the
all-American girl who is getting critical praise, as well as a Golden Globe
nomination, for her performance as Tom's scorned lover in "Vanilla Sky." Was
the role a stretch? Cameron says, "I think that all women have experienced that
moment in their lives when they drive by a guy's house to see if the lights are
on, because he hasn't called. Sometimes you can't help it." Fortunately,
Cameron is happily involved with actor Jared Leto and she knows when his lights
are on and off.
--MOST PEOPLE believe that Virgin Records is trying to get rid of Mariah Carey
because she has had one flop CD. Many rumors surfaced over the holidays, and
numbers of observers haven't yet caught up to Virgin's denial of these planted
stories. Virgin says they are not trying to end their association with Mariah.
They want to keep her. (As well they should!) As for Mariah hanging out here
and there with Spanish singer Luis Miguel. That all started because Mariah has
a manager named "Louise" and some dummies thought that when she was out on
business with this manager, she was with "Luis" instead. She was not. In spite
of Mariah's recent troubles - her breakdown, her hospitalization, the flop of
her movie "Glitter," the tepid album reception - Mariah is set for a dramatic
comeback. Going to the Middle East for the USO didn't hurt her image, let me
tell you! This girl is still the golden-throated goose and if Virgin is
appropriately patient, she'll produce some big golden records again.
NY DAILY NEWS/RUSH AND MOLLOY....
--O.J. Simpson should be reimbursed $137 of the $6,206 he said he spent on
legal fees in his recent road-rage trial, a Miami judge ruled yesterday. Every
little bit counts. …
--Mike Tyson stayed off the juice at Mint on Sunday. The belligerent boxer
stuck to water, even as Busta Rhymes and other friends popped bottle after
bottle of Cristal …
--No signs of a recession in Aspen. Andy Warhol's portrait of Aretha Franklin
fetched $75,000 at a Fendi benefit for the Aspen Art museum. Robert Wagner
dropped $14,000 on duds for himself and Jill St. John at Brioni. And Antonio
Banderas spent $16,000 at Christian Dior for Melanie Griffith, who you'll be
seeing in John Galliano's low-riding, lace-up Wild West pants …
REUTERS....
--Director David Lynch, famous for making surreal and disturbing movies over 30
years, will head the panel of judges at this year's Cannes Film Festival,
organizers announced on Friday.
--A Monet painting that hasn't been shown publicly for more than a hundred
years is on display at Christie's auctioneers in advance of its sale in
February.``It's quite rare to see something that hasn't been seen since 1889,''
said a Christie's spokeswoman on Friday. The French Impressionist master's
``Prairie de Limetz'' is to form part of a sale also including works by Renoir,
Manet and Cezanne, and is expected to fetch up to three million pounds. The
Monet work was painted in 1888, and features the artist's trademark poplars,
which grew on the banks of the river Epte near his home in France's Seine
valley. ``This is one of the strongest Impressionist sales we've had for many,
many years,'' the spokeswoman said.
--Music legend Ray Charles is ready to hit the road, Jack, for the 135th
overseas tour of his career. The 71-year-old singer and musician will head to
Australia for a series of concerts in February following a one-night appearance
at the Universal Amphitheatre in Los Angeles with country star Willie Nelson,
Charles' publicist said Thursday. Charles, a pioneer of soul music whose
biggest hits include ''Georgia'' and ``I Can't Stop Loving You,'' also plans to
release a new album, ``Thanks for Bringing Love Around,'' in March. His latest
CD, to be issued by his own label, Crossover Records, includes a new version of
``What'd I Say,'' a song he first released in 1959 that became one of his first
hits. Overcoming grinding childhood poverty and blind since the age of 6,
Charles was performing professionally by the time he was 16 years old. In
addition to piano, he plays the organ, saxophone and clarinet. He has earned a
dozen Grammy Awards and was among the first wave of artists inducted into the
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
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