BITS AND PIECES 01/24 Part 1
PUSSSYKATT
--THE release next month of the soundtrack to "Smallville" series is actually
ebing work into the the storyline of the show, Variety reported. The Feb. 18
episode of the show will feature the band Steadman performing at a fund-raising
event, where the CD is being sold, according to a report in Variety. That'll be
something of first for a primetime series - where breathless cross-promotion
and hype for shows with the same corporate ties has become commonplace. Other
networks have, of course ,issued TV soundtracks, and even plugged them in spots
during or after the show. But the idea of actually working a related product
into the plotline itself is, so far, unheard of. The CD will also provide
access to online bonuses, including the first issue of DC Comics' "Smallville"
comic book. The WB, DC Comics and the series are all owned by AOL Time Warner.
NY POST/MICHAEL STARR....
--Happy Birthday (today!) to Ernest Borgnine, who's still going strong.
--"Forensic Files" helped last Monday (Jan. 20) become the highest-rated Monday
night (of original programming) in Court TV history (925,000 viewers).
--Garrett Morris is featured in the current issue of Fortune Small Business
magazine talking about Savant, the multi- cultural magazine he's trying to
launch.
--CBS' "NFL Today Show" anchor Deion Sanders at the Copacabana - dressed to
impress in a full-length mink coat and sipping coffee and Sprite.
NY POST/PAGE SIX...
--BOB Dylan is as low-maintenance as a rock star gets. When the gravel-voiced
legend goes on tour, he doesn't demand that his dressing room be stocked with
green M&Ms and enough booze for a crew of 20. The list of backstage
requirements for his current tour consists of just a few basics, including hot
and cold running water and a toilet. Dylan also requests clean towels, a bar of
soap, a full-length mirror, a banquet table, two ashtrays and "incandescent"
lighting, reports the Melbourne Herald-Sun.
--WALTER Matthau's widow, Carol, the inspiration for Truman Capote's Holly
Golightly in "Breakfast at Tiffany," at the stage show "Adult Entertainment"
telling legendary New Yorker reporter Lillian Ross she's moving back to New
York . . .
--SPIKE Lee visiting the Idant Laboratories sperm bank on Fifth Avenue to
research his next movie . . .
--ROBERT ("Gosford Park") Altman at Elaine's after a screening of his "The
Company," joined by Paul Thomas Anderson ("Punch Drunk Love"), Molly Shannon
and Maya Rudolph of "Saturday Night Live," and Emily Watson, fresh from
"Twelfth Night" in Brooklyn . . .
--ETHAN Hawke, whose wife Uma Thurman was in L.A. for the Golden Globes, going
solo to see "Frida" at the Angelika Theater . . .
--LIONEL Richie and a galpal spending thousands on clothes from the sale rack
at the Jean-Paul Gaultier boutique in Paris.
--SMART hoops fans will get down to Atlanta Feb. 7, two days before the
All-Star Game, for the NBA All-Star Technology Summit, now in its fourth year.
Chinese rookie Yao Ming, at 7-foot-5, will help NBA Commissioner David Stern
and NBA Entertainment President Adam Silver at the Ritz-Carlton with the likes
of billionaire Bob Johnson, Jamie Kellner, Charles Barkley, Magic Johnson, Mark
Cuban, Bill Walton, Wolf Blitzer, Teresa Weatherspoon and Marv Albert.
--DRAG queens, disco balls and full-frontal nudity - the debauched heyday of
the Limelight era was recreated at a monster party for Sundance entrant "Party
Monster" at The Shop in Park City Wednesday night. Chloe Sevigny boogied with
Jason Schwartzman, and the film's stars Macaulay Culkin and Seth Green looked
on as a transvestite dancer pulled a young male hottie up on stage. The
partygoer's pants were ripped off but he danced on regardless, reports The
Post's Megan Turner. "It's all happening again!" shrieked James St. James,
former club kid and author of "Disco Bloodbath."
--Cris Judd basked in the glow of superstardom when he was married to Jennifer
Lopez, but now that he's single and once again working as a dancer, he's
experiencing the public's fickle tastes. At the "Pussycat Dolls" cabaret show
Wednesday at Irving Plaza, the revved-up crowd went crazy for scantily clad
dancers Carmen Electra and Jaime Pressley. But some audience members were less
appreciative of Judd, as one of the sailors who cheer the tempting troupe on.
When Judd appeared in the front of the stage in his sailor cap and white
uniform, he was greeted with cries of "You suck, Cris!" and "J.Lo!" Judd shot
an angry look in the direction of his tormentors, but went on with the show.
--ORIN Lehman, the war hero who used to date Joan Rivers, celebrated his 85th
birthday at Gino's on Thursday night with his niece, Lady Sharon Sondes,
Geoffrey Tho-mas, Ann Jones and Bob Fellner. Yesterday, he jetted off to Vegas
with age-less sexpot Monique van Vooren. Peter Beard simultaneously marked his
65th at Downtown Cipriani surrounded by adoring fashion models, his first wife
Minnie Cushing Coleman and current wife Najma Beard. Among the well-wishers:
his brother, ex-Morgan Stanley chair Anson Beard, director Paul Morrissey,
Reinaldo Herrera, Barbara de Kwiatkowski, Giuseppe Cipriani and Roffredo
Gaetani, who sported a cast on the arm he broke while skiing in Gstaad with his
pal, Taki Theodoracopulos.
NY POST/CINDY ADAMS...
--MEXICO'S Godven International company doing a Frida Kahlo perfume and a scent
for men inspired by Diego Rivera. The work of these artists, considered
national patrimony, is overseen by the Bank of Mexico. The perfume has raised a
smell among the country's art lovers. Railed art critic Raquel Tibol: "The
National Council for Culture should intervene. This is a perverse act." Frida's
floral rose, peach, strawberry fragrance comes packaged in a box with a
reproduction of her "Self-Portrait With a Necklace of Thorns." Diego's
masculine sandalwood aroma employs his "Nude With Garnets" painting. The
Rivera-Kahlo trust said si si to the deal. The perfumes will cost $65.
--AARON Spelling, doing a new show for his former "Beverly Hills 90210" star
Jason Priestley, mending from August's racing accident, says no racing scenes
will be allowed . . .
--Vin Diesel's "A Man Apart" got a fourth delay. New Line doesn't like the
ending. Supposed to wrap 18 months ago, Diesel's film may see the light in
April . . .
--David and Iman Bowie, who already have Alexandra, 2, want to extend their
family. "I'm too old, unless we adopt," said Bowie, 55, who has a 30-year-old
son. "And we should adopt one who's already a few years in." . . .
--Pay attention. Richard Gere, even in his foulest mood, never curses. Ditto
the missus. Swearing is verboten in their home. If a visitor cusses, even by
mistake, they're asked to leave. Pay attention.
--SO I already told you TNN's becoming this new all-male cable network. A sort
of flip side to Lifetime's all-female job. So its new chief Albie Hecht, former
Nickelodeon president, calls me. Says it'll kick off in April. Says it doesn't
yet have a name because " 'The new TNN' is not really a great sound." Says, "We
plan a re-launch party as soon as we come up with the right name." Besides
Kelsey Grammer's already announced animated series "Gary the Rat," wherein a
Wall Street lawyer turns into a real rat, a new program will be John
Leguizamo's animated series of cartoons. Leguizamo's creating two characters,
slacker types who work in a video store and love watching and talking about
movies, called Zilch and Zero. He's got a go for six half-hour episodes. And
what's this beer belly network to be? "The James Bond franchise, wrestling,
movies, career stuff, travel, gadgets, not just sports. It will also be
pro-social interactive." What that means, who knows. Probably a rallying event
for Let's Save the Lap Dancers. And how X-rated? "The edges of basic cable,"
said Hecht. "It'll push the envelope." With four-letter words and naked bones
Doing It already the norm, there isn't much more envelope to be pushed.
--BRENDAN Fraser and wife, Afton, want some silly untrue story - originally
reported on some underground Web site or publication - cleared up about them
celebrating mutual birthdays by exchanging gifts hidden in some dessert
soufflé in some hotel dining room. It is now cleared up that it's untrue. Now
will someone clear up why it's so hard to find his new film "The Quiet
American"? It's only on two New York screens. Set in Vietnam, premiered in
Vietnam, first Western film ever subtitled in Vietnamese, why's "The Quiet
American" kept so quiet?
--MARIAH Carey wants "someone who hasn't my poster because you can't live up to
that. And I don't want another older person. Saying a man should like me for my
mind sounds like I think I'm Einstein. But I'd like someone who doesn't accuse
me of making up words like 'segue.' "
NY POST/LIZ SMITH...
--NOW TELL ME, have Julia Roberts and Nicole Kidman both been given the private
tour of the late heiress Doris Duke's "Shangri La" estate near Honolulu because
Joe Roth and Revolution Films wants one or the other to portray Doris in a
movie? Or is somebody just trying to sell the property of the tobacco heiress
who died in 1992.
--YES, THEY'RE back! I do mean Liza and David. InStyle magazine has their
wedding pictures in glorious color this month along with many another celebrity
nuptial. And on "The Late Late Show With Craig Kilborn" the other eve, the
showman, Mr. Gest, announced that he and his bride of a year will celebrate
their first anniversary by returning to the scene of the crime. It happens
April 17 down in the Regent Wall Street Hotel, an all-night bash with 80 acts
performing. You can wait for the nifty invitation, which will read: "And they
said it wouldn't last!"
NY DAILY NEWS/RUSH AND MOLLOY....
--Elizabeth Hurley doesn't mind a guy experienced in the ways of makin' rupee.
Hurley may have turned down the $2.8 million offered by real-estate heir Steve
Bing, her estranged boyfriend, for the support of their son, Damian. But the
darkly handsome fellow canoodling with Liz at the Christian Dior fashion show
in Paris - seen in a photo in Tuesday's News - was Arun Nayar, heir to an
Indian textile and mail-order empire. Word is Nayar recently split with his
gorgeous Italian wife, Valentina. Author Candace Bushnell met him last year at
the wedding of his brother Niki, general manager of OTTO-AGN, the family's
Bombay-based business. "They're both lovely guys," says Bushnell. As for Bing,
some people won't let him forget that he asked for a DNA test to establish that
he was Damian's dad. Actor Jerry O'Connell tells interviewer Robin Milling that
every time Bing stopped by the set of "Kangaroo Jack," which Bing co-wrote,
O'Connell and co-star Anthony Anderson would sing Michael Jackson's "Billie
Jean." "We were like, 'The kid is not my son!' " "He's one of the richest men
and he couldn't afford a condom?" jokes O'Connell. "You gotta tease people."
--Carmen Electra and her fiance, ex-Chili Pepper and Jane's Addiction guitar
ace Dave Navarro, are keen to begin breeding. "I've had two dreams lately that
I'm pregnant," she told us Wednesday before she joined Jaime Pressly onstage at
Irving Plaza in the burlesque show "Pussycat Dolls." "It's really been on my
mind lately." And what does Dave think? "He said, 'Anytime you're ready!' "
Electra added, "We're planning an engagement party in Los Angeles on
Valentine's Day. Just friends and family. It'll be my most romantic Valentine's
Day ever." Also at the show was Cris Judd, whose divorce from Jennifer Lopez
becomes final on Sunday. (Some reports claim he'll walk away from the union
with as much as $15 million.) Asked about talk he's hooked up with Rosario
Dawson, he said simply, "No, still single."
--A little jail time didn't stop R. Kelly from bouncing back into the
limelight. The R&B star, who was busted in Florida on child pornography
charges, went right back to work after his release from a Miami jail late
Wednesday. A spy tells us Kelly spent most of the same evening filming his new
video at the Shore Club Hotel and the nightspot Mynt, wrapping in the wee
hours. "There was tons of security," says the source. "When he saw the press,
someone gave him an umbrella to cover his face, but it didn't help."
--THE SNIPING continues between "Two Weeks Notice" co-stars Hugh Grant and
Sandra Bullock. "He's a bit poofy and queenie, and he warned me he'd have
hissy-fits, or 'tanties,' as he calls them," says Bullock in London's Mirror
newspaper. Grant recently said that Bullock "kissed me like she'd never been
kissed before in her life. I hesitate to use the word 'desperate,' but that
flashed through my mind"...
--HARRY BELAFONTE is still scourging Colin Powell. The Secretary of State has
spoken out against President Bush's stance on affirmative action. Has the
calypso king changed his mind about Powell being the "house slave" of the Bush
administration? "Not at all," he told us Wednesday at the Marriott Marquis gala
for the University of the West Indies...
--RICKY MARTIN really must visit his future neighbor Lady Henrietta Spencer
Churchill, when the two move into their new $10 million digs at the AOL Time
Warner Center at 1 Columbus Circle. Wednesday night at Bergdorf Goodman,
Churchill, a cousin of Winston Churchill, unveiled the fantasy bedroom that she
designed for her pad (said to have cost her at least $8 million).
NY DAILY NEWS/Donna Petrozzello
--'Mountain' peek: TNT has new Dylan video Bob Dylan's latest music video, for
his song "Cross the Green Mountain," will be shown first not on music channels
MTV or VH1 but on general entertainment channel TNT. The Dylan video will air
Sunday, around 5:30 p.m., during TNT's telecast of the film, "Gettysburg." TNT
also will air first the music video for singer Mary Fahl's "Going Home," on
Sunday just before 11 p.m. Both songs are on the soundtrack for the upcoming
Civil War theatrical film, "Gods and Generals," starring Jeff Daniels ("The
Hours").
zap2it.com....
--"Will & Grace" star Megan Mullally will be getting up early on Tuesday, Jan.
28 to announce the nominees for the 9th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards at
6:40 a.m. PT, alongside actor Michael Clarke Duncan. Viewers at home can catch
the announcement live on both E! and TNT. The SAG awards are the only industry
accolades dedicated to actors honoring their peers. Secret ballots containing
the names of more than 1,300 potential nominees were sent out earlier this
month to two random panels totaling 4,200 SAG members across the country. The
ballots are due back at Integrity Voting Systems, the awards official elections
teller, by Friday, Jan. 24, four days before the nominations will be revealed.
Mullally has won two SAG awards, one for her role of "Will & Grace's" Karen
Walker and another for being part of the show's ensemble cast. The 9th annual
awards ceremony will air Sunday, March 9 at 8 p.m. ET on TNT.
--FOX is getting into the female-hero business, ordering two pilots revolving
around young women with extraordinary abilities. In one, a woman fresh out of
college finds out she has the power to alter the course of events and save
people's lives. The feel is similar to that of time-warping movies like "Run
Lola Run" and "Groundhog Day," according to news reports. Jon Feldman
("American Dreams," "Roswell") wrote the pilot for the untitled project, and
Rob Cohen ("XXX" ) will direct it. Both will serve as executive producers of
the pilot, which is being made by FOX's sister studio 20th Century Fox TV and
Original TV. The second FOX pilot, also untitled, comes from writer Bryan
Fuller (NBC's "Carrie," "Star Trek: Voyager") and director Todd Holland, an
Emmy winner for his work on "Malcolm in the Middle" and "The Larry Sanders
Show." Their show, produced by 20th Century Fox and Regency TV, centers on a
woman who can communicate with animals and uses her ability to help people.
Elsewhere, CBS has ordered a pilot called "Battle Creek" from Vince Gilligan
("The X-Files") and Mark Johnson ("The Guardian"). It focuses on a battle of
wills between a police officer and an FBI agent in the title city, Battle
Creek, Mich.
Neil Haislop's Nashville Update
--Just a day or so after she found out her single "I Wanna Be Mad," moves up to
#5 Billboard, she found out yesterday that her new album PAIN TO KILL debuted
at #5 on Billboard's Country album chart, her highest debut ever. Last night,
Terri took over Tootsies Orchid Lounge, for a one night only free show at the
legendary lower Broadway bar where she got her start as a fresh faced kid right
off the bus from Canada.
--Shania's on the cover of Rolling Stone and a few more things are revealed
about her and her husband. When asked to describe herself, the first word Twain
chooses is "impatient." When new security guards are hired for her, they're
warned to be swift: because as soon as the car stops, she's halfway down the
block before anybody else has left the vehicle. "I calculate things quickly,
and I tend to be ahead of everybody," she says. "I just wish people could read
my mind a lot of the time." She sighs. "It's not a great quality." In the
Rolling Stone article it reveals that Robert John Lange became Mutt Lange as a
child. First, his childhood nickname was "Puppy," as he grew up his buddies
began calling him "Mutt." Mutt Lange has not appeared publicly with Shania and
practically no new photos of him exist. One of the reasons is that he actually
once tracked down all the sources of photos of him, then bought the rights to
them so they wouldn't be published. (Nevertheless there's a shot of Lange in
the Rolling Stone article).
--Countrynation.com points out that on Dr. Phil's show this week he dealt with
a truly fanatical Tim McGraw fan. The husband of the fan wondered if it was
normal for his wife to say she'd leave him for Tim McGraw if Tim showed up on
his doorstep. Get this, the woman has spent over seven thousand dollars on
tickets and airfare to get to McGraw concerts. Because he sings the songs a
woman wants to hear she says, "I have lost some passion for my husband. I feel
that if he looked like Tim McGraw, I could get some of my passion back... If
Tim McGraw showed up on my doorstep and said, 'Come with me,' I would." Hey
lady, get-a-life…before hubby is running, not walking, out of yours.
--When people asked the '30s gangster John Dillinger why he robbed banks, he
said, "Because that's where the money is." Kenny Chesney has a similar reason
why he reads Cosmopolitan Magazine, it's where the women are…talking about
women and women's issues. He told the L.A. Times, "You think I'm kidding? I
read Cosmo all the time to get song ideas. I had a song on a previous album
called 'A Woman Knows When There's Another Woman.' That was the title of an
article. That is so true. A woman's intuition is unbelievable. Even your
mother, she knew when you messed up; you didn't have to tell her. Same way with
love, I think."
--Vince Gill told us yesterday that he'll hit the road harder this year than
the past few years to support his upcoming new album NEXT BIG THING (due Feb.
4th). "We're going to increase it a lot from last year, we'll do about 60 dates
this year," Vince says. ALSO, We asked Vince his secret to losing 30 pounds
recently, and his answer was simple, "I stopped eating." Watch for Vince to be
the GAC and CountryStars.com Artist Of The Month for February. To reserve an
Autographed copy of Vince's Next Big Thing, click here!
--It was reported recently that LeAnn Rimes will play Connie Francis for an
episode of NBC-TV. The show airs March 30th.
--Fans can catch the duo on The Outdoor Channel's "Out in the Country" video
show on Saturday, Jan. 25 at 11 pm EST. The host interviews Eddy and Troy and
talks about their recent elk hunting trip which will air on the network's
"Hunting Across America" at a later date.
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