Each week, we list the coolest celebs, movies and goings-on in the world of entertainment.
1. Socialite slash reality star Paris Hilton, for taking the tabloids’ advice and breaking off her engagement to Man Paris, because let’s face it: Even Star magazine knew it wasn’t going to last. But who will she date next, and more importantly, will this beau’s name lend itself to a cool moniker? Tyler Hilton sounds a little twisted.
2. Late Night with Bono O’Brien, make that Late Night with Conan O’Brien, for trying something different. NBC’s reigning late night chat king Conan O’Brien is turning over Thursday’s entire show to U2. OK, Bono’s grandstanding is getting a little tired but the band will actually play three songs before they sit down for an interview with O’Brien. That’s worth catching.
3. Singleton Renee Zellweger, setting the story straight–personally. The rail thin star showed up at the NY Post Page Six offices Monday to tell them what she thought about a Women’s Wear Daily report the paper picked up. It claimed the recently separated Zellweger was planning a trip to Ireland “to visit her new beau, Irish singer Damien Rice.” Turns out Zellweger and Rice are old friends. “I just wanted to tell you that story was hurtful about me being with another man,” she said. “It wasn’t true, and it made me look slutty.” It almost makes us not want to gossip anymore.
4. Underdog network UPN, for sticking by its new comedy Everybody Hates Chris. UPN ordered a full season of the promising Paramount Network TV sitcom from exec producer Chris Rock.
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5. Madonna, for going back to what she does best–dance. Fans will be pleased to hear Confession on a Dancefloor, Madonna‘s 10th album, contains not one slow song (who could forget the agony of trying to listen to American Life). According to Madonna.com: “If Confessions were equated to a new dance step, it would a stunning blend of musical styles with one foot in the roots of early disco (a la Girogio Moroder/Abba on ecstasy) and the other foot gloriously ensconced in the future of music–a dance step that could only be accomplished by one artist.” The album comes out Nov. 15, with the first single, “Hung Up,” available for download Oct. 17.
6. E! Networks, for having the good sense to cancel Taradise, hosted by Tara Reid. But according to World Entertainment News Network, the American Pie star is so distraught about the axing of her show she has fired her publicist, accusing her of cultivating that pesky drunken party-girl rep. PageSix.com reports Reid‘s voice cracked when she asked Steppin’ Out magazine’s Chaunce Hayden, “How many more years are the media going to pick on me? There’s other new young bad girls. Move on to someone else!” Reid also vigorously denied reports she has a drinking problem, adding, “People think I am just a party girl, and it’s bull. I wish the media would just tell the truth.” Perhaps Tara needs to sit down and watch an episode of Taradise–with a peach iced tea and vodka.
7. Director Noah Baumbach’s The Squid and the Whale, for getting theatrical distribution, albeit in two theaters, this week. In Baumbach’s ’80s-set teen comedy, which won awards for writing and directing at this year’s Sundance Film Festival, an impressionable 16-year-old passes off the Pink Floyd song “Hey You” as his original work and performs it at a high school talent show, while his 12-year-old brother drinks beer and wonders openly about his mother’s sex life. It’s their way of dealing with their parents break-up.
8. Rock heir Jack Osbourne, for setting a new endurance challenge for himself: He wants to go to the moon in 2018. The hellraising-turned-clean son of rocker Ozzy Osbourne reveals his plans-and his new studdly physique–on his new show Jack Osbourne: Adrenaline Junkie.”Going to the moon would be amazing. The training’s hardcore but I could handle it,” Osboure, 19, said. “I mean, I’ve got 13 years to prepare.”
9. Teachers at Penair School in Truro, southwest England, for throwing a British cleric and top-selling author of children’s books out of a school after he told a group of 12-year-old students Harry Potter was “gay.” Reverend Graham Taylor, who penned the novel Shadowmancer, told children: “As for Harry Potter, well, he’s not the only gay in the village,” referring to a catchphrase from the popular British comedy TV show Little Britain. He also said villains in JK Rowling’s series were “wimps.” Teachers stopped Taylor’s talk and asked him to leave.
10. Skinny style queen Sarah Jessica Parker, for banning the word ‘fat’ at home because she doesn’t want her son to ever use the term in a derogatory way. The former Sex and the City star, who hopes her son James Wilke will never poke fun at people’s size, says, “I’ve forbidden the word ‘fat’ to be used in our home because I don’t like the way it’s used and I don’t want him to ever use that word.”
