On yesterday's Live with Regis, host Regis Philbin announced that he is on the verge of picking his new co-host. "We are about to make that decision," he teased, adding that, "one of these days really soon we are going to make that announcement." All My Children's Kelly Ripa is seen as one of the top contenders to fill the throne vacated by Kathie Lee Gifford.
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If you've ever wondered what a typical day in the life of a living legend was like, just ask the Queen of Soul herself, Aretha Franklin.
"I get up and I watch the soaps — The Young & the Restless and The Bold & the Beautiful — and I scream at the TV for about half an hour at what I don't like," reveals the 17-time Grammy winning artist. "And then I get something on the stove, something cooking... [I do] a little clean up, and kick back and relax if I don't have work to do."
Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous it's not, but don't interpret Franklin's down-home existence to mean she takes her "Living Legend" status lightly. "It's certainly the highest compliment that one can be paid," admits the first female Rock & Roll Hall of Famer, who adds that the title does not put any added pressure on her. "I'm very much appreciative. I love it — it feels good."
Well, Franklin will be living like a superstar on April 10, w
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Antonio Banderas will star in Zapata, a Disney-produced biopic about Mexican revolutionary Emiliano Zapata, Variety reports... Also according to the trade paper, Tea Leoni has joined the cast of Woody Allen's latest film, The Curse of the Jade Scorpion, which also stars Allen himself, as well as Dan Aykroyd, Helen Hunt, Elizabeth Berkley and Charlize Theron, Variety reports... Almost Famous, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, Erin Brockovich, Gladiator and Billy Elliot have been nominated for best film of the year by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts Awards, Britain's equivalent of the Oscars... CNN has canceled its daily entertainment program, Showbiz Today. — Michael Ausiello
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Who better to direct 'N Sync's Lance Bass and Joey Fatone in their first film than the guy behind the cheesy USA cable movie The Chippendales Murder? According to Variety, Eric Bross — who, in addition to The Chippendales Murder, also helmed such indie fare as Restaurant and Ten Benny — has been tapped to direct On the L, a $10 million romantic comedy starring Bass and Fatone. Production is slated to begin in March.
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That huge publicity blitz last week paid off for Jennifer Lopez. In addition to having the nation's most popular movie, The Wedding Planner, Lopez also has the No. 1 album. Her new release, J.Lo, replaced the Beatles compilation album, 1, atop the Billboard 200 album chart, selling more than 272,000 copies. All this good news comes amid reports that the singer-actress has broken up with her rapper-beau Sean "Puffy" Combs, who currently is standing trial in New York on gun possession and bribery charges.
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The world isn't coming to an end after all. Warner Bros. is vehemently denying a New York Post report that shock rocker Marilyn Manson was to play the title role in a remake of Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. Manson was quoted in London's The Sun as saying he had a lock on the plum part, and that he saw "Willy Wonka as Satan because he presents people with the temptation of picking good and evil, and they all pick evil." Responds a Warner Bros. rep: "I don't know why he would say this. The lead hasn't been cast yet, but I can definitely tell you that it won't be Marilyn Manson." Phew, that was a close one...
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To play a cancer victim in HBO's upcoming adaptation of the Pulitzer Prize-winning play Wit, Oscar-winner Emma Thompson decided to go the Method route and took a machete to her mane. But the celeb scoffs at the notion that her new 'do afforded her any sort of anonymity. "Anonymity?" she deadpans. "A bald woman?"
Thompson can laugh about it now, but the actress-writer — who chose Wit as her first project since giving birth to Gaia Romilly Wise in Dec. 1999 — admits to TV Guide Online that she suffered from some pre-chop jitters. "I was slightly worried about my daughter, so we cut my hair in front of her," says the Brit, whose beau, Greg Wise, was cast in the role of barber. "We were outside in the garden, so it looked like a pair of badgers had kind of fought to death on the lawn."
Despite the elaborate production, Thompson says that Gaia had little reaction to mom morphing into a skinhead before her eyes. "[She] didn't th
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Don't count out The Mole just yet. While CBS's Survivor and Fox's Temptation Island are getting all the attention, ABC's reality show has quietly developed into a modest ratings hit for the alphabet network. In its fourth outing Tuesday, the series delivered its best ratings since its premiere last month. Even more impressive, The Mole is drawing 40 percent more adults age 18-34 than Who Wants to Be a Millionaire did when it aired in that timeslot. Meanwhile, Fox's Temptation Island attracted its largest audience to date last night according to preliminary ratings data.
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The cast and crew of Ally McBeal threw a surprise baby shower for newly adoptive mom Calista Flockhart. According to Entertainment Tonight, Ally creator David E. Kelley lured Flockhart to the show's set on her day off by insisting he absolutely had to talk to her. When she arrived, the actress discovered a two-tier, white-chocolate cake with "Welcome Little One" inscribed on the top. Among her gifts: a Glider rocking chair and a handmade monogrammed shirt for the new arrival. Flockhart's pal, Tracey Ullman, was also in on the surprise.
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Students at Sheffield University in London have banned rapper Eminem's songs and T-shirts as a result of his anti-gay lyrics, Reuters reports. Anyone who shows up at the school's disco clad in Eminem-wear will be turned away, the radio station will not play his music and the student newspaper is banned from printing reviews of his CDs or concerts. "There was clear evidence of a flagrant breach of our policy toward gays," explained Neil Foster of the student union board. "We are trying to reduce homophobia." Meanwhile, here in the states, the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation is planning a Grammy-day protest in response to the homophobe-misogynist's four nominations. GLAAD will be joined by nearly a dozen other groups, including the National Organization for Women, the Matthew Shepard Foundation, the L.A. Gay & Lesbian Center and the National Sexual Violence Resource Center in a "Rally Against Hate."
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