THE long-awaited wedding of Howard Stern and Beth Ostrosky is finally happening tonight at Le Cirque. The shock jock and his leggy lady have booked the whole restaurant (the first time anyone has ever taken over the entire place) for a sit-down dinner for 180 guests, including Donald Trump. Beth’s wedding gown was designed by Georgina Chapman. And guess who’s going to perform the ceremony? Mark Consuelos, husband of Kelly Ripa, is “certified” to supervise their vows.
MELANIE Brown, a k a “Scary Spice,” is so in love with her husband, producer Stephen Belafonte (no relation to Harry), she’s renewing her vows in an extravagant ceremony in Egypt later this year. Brown and Belafonte sent out “an 11-page invite” to friends, a source said. “It was very ornate and detailed.” The source – who was scared to go because tourists keep being kidnapped – wondered, “Will there be enough security?” Presumably on the invite list are Victoria and David Beckham, Geri “Ginger Spice” Halliwell and the other Spice Girls. According to our source, the last page of the invite notes, “Everyone has to sign an agreement to be photographed and videotaped. Mel is going to be selling the pictures to a magazine for as high a price as she can get.” Brown and Belafonte married in June 2007, shortly after she gave birth to ex-boyfriend Eddie Murphy’s love child. A rep for Brown didn’t return e-mails.
PARAMOUNT PARALYSIS DIAGNOSED FOR VIACOM
Viacom should sell its Paramount Pictures movie studio to Time Warner. At least that’s what analyst agitator Richard Greenfield of Pali Capital thinks. Selling the Brad Grey-led studio is just one of Greenfield’s recommendations in a scathing new report outlining ways for the media giant to boost its wilting stock price, which is down 43 percent this year.
Madonna and Alex Rodriguez had an intimate dinner on Tuesday, according to Usmagazine.com. The Kabbalah pals “seemed very close” at Dos Caminos on Third Avenue, a source tells the mag. The Yankee star, who signed a divorce deal with wife Cynthia last month, hasn’t been seen with Mrs. Ritchie since Cynthia claimed last July that he’d had “an affair of the heart” with Madge. Reps for the slugger and the singer didn’t get back to us.
Ne-Yo cozied up to IMG model Jessica Gomes at the party that Island Def Jam CEO L.A. Reid threw for the chart-topper at Philippe Chow’s.
How poise in the ‘hood led to breakthrough rap
The face mainstream TV is now airing a sympathetic documentary on the original “gangsta rap” group NWA offers the same amusing irony as the U.S. Postal Service putting Malcolm X on a postage stamp. In both cases, if the original subjects were still around today making the same kind of noise they made back in the day, they’d be considered enemies of the state. They’d be denounced all over radio and talk television. Anybody who got anywhere near them would be vilified. But since Malcolm X is dead and NWA broke up 16 years ago, it’s now safe to admit they were major cultural figures who said things that were hard to hear and needed to be said. Amazing how that works. Mark Ford, who wrote and directed tonight’s first-rate documentary, wisely just lays out the NWA story in pretty much chronological order, letting group members and other informed people explain why things went down as they did and what it meant.
Lucinda Williams finds a ‘Little Honey’
For her latest work, “Little Honey,” the woman best known for her wrenching ruminations on unreturned phone calls, cheating lovers and screwed-up relationships sings about a love so good it makes her cry with joy, having great sex, and achieving a sense of peace and calm. “This is the most positive place I’ve been in in my whole adult life,” the 55-year-old singer says. “It just took me that long to find the right person. What can I say? I’m a late bloomer.”
Paris Hilton, Warner Bros quietly cut ties before second album
Paris Hilton, indie artist? The multifaceted heiress plans to release her sophomore album on an independent label – her own. Hilton’s as-yet-untitled disc, which is reportedly scheduled to hit stores later this year, will be put out by Heiress Records, the Warner Bros. sub-label she formed in 2004 to help launch her first musical offering, 2006′s “Paris.”
AP
Race driver Castroneves charged in US tax case
MIAMI – Two-time Indianapolis 500 winner and TV “Dancing With the Stars” champion Helio Castroneves was indicted Thursday on tax evasion and tax fraud charges, accused of using offshore accounts to hide millions of dollars in income from the Internal Revenue Service.
James Earl Jones to get SAG life achievement award
LOS ANGELES – James Earl Jones, who has voiced some of entertainment’s most memorable characters, will receive the 2008 Screen Actors Guild Life Achievement Award. He will be presented with the Life Achievement Award at the Screen Actors Guild awards on Jan. 25.
Robin Thicke talks about music, race and ‘Magic’
NEW YORK – Robin Thicke is a platinum-selling singer, a Grammy-winning songwriter, a budding sex symbol and goes home at night to a gorgeous wife, actress Paula Patton. Yet while he seems to be living a life most men would envy, the R&B crooner says he still struggles with moments of self-doubt. “Self-love, that’s what I been missing, sometimes I still miss it; there’s nothing more powerful than self- love.”
Dolly Parton named Smokies ambassador
GATLINBURG, Tenn. – Dolly Parton, who often refers to her Smoky Mountains upbringing, will serve as the ambassador for the 75th anniversary of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.
Kingston Trio’s Nick Reynolds, 75, dies in SD
SAN DIEGO – Nick Reynolds, a founding member of the Kingston Trio who jump-started the revival folk scene of the late 1950s and paved the way for artists such as Bob Dylan and Joan Baez, has died. He was 75.
USA Today
Joss Stone goes all frumpy for ‘Tudors’
British Grammy-winning soul singer Joss Stone, 21, had hoped to play Jane Seymour in Showtime’s sexy royal series, The Tudors, which returns for a third season in spring 2009. But her touring schedule didn’t allow it, so instead she landed the role of Henry VIII’s fourth wife, Anne of Cleves. “She wears frumpy clothes,” says Stone, from her home in Devon on a break from filming in Dublin. “None of the sexy English corsets. I’m a German weirdo. I had to have a bloody German accent and play the harpsichord.”
LA Times
David Byrne and Brian Eno get spiritual
Don’t tell anyone, but David Byrne and Brian Eno have a new album. OK, so it’s not exactly a secret. But a key facet of their first extended collaboration in 27 years was their decision not to trumpet the arrival of “Everything That Happens Will Happen Today” in the usual way. There’s no record company marketing campaign, no ads in trade magazines, on radio or MTV, in part because there’s no record company. “People are just kind of discovering it,” Byrne, 56, said from Phoenix on Monday, following a concert the previous night in Albuquerque, part of his tour that reaches the Greek Theatre tonight. “We did it without any of the traditional stuff that a record company would do. We thought, ‘Let’s see what happens if you don’t do that.’ ”
New York Times
Kid Rock, Longtime Holdout, Goes Digital With Rhapsody
Kid Rock is finally going digital. One of the last major acts to refuse to sell his music online, Kid Rock, the bawdy rap-rocker from Detroit, has made a deal with Rhapsody to offer his entire catalog for streaming and downloading, beginning Friday. Rhapsody, a joint venture of Real Networks and MTV, has 1.8 million subscribers to its streaming service, and also sells MP3s.
An Echo From Another Era, Full of Romantic Nostalgia
Echo & the Bunnymen played its 1984 album “Ocean Rain” in full at Radio City Music Hall on Wednesday, and reproduced the details faithfully.
Bono is scheduled to receive an award on Friday from the Irish Arts Center in Manhattan on behalf of Ronnie Drew, below, the lead singer of the folk band the Dubliners, who died in August. The center will bestow on Mr. Drew its Spirit of Ireland Award at a gala. Bono, the U2 front man, has said that “Ronnie is like the King of Ireland, and we are his subjects.”
Wall St. Journal
Sirius Unveils Programming Options Subscriber Content
Sirius XM announced new programming options that let subscribers buy programming from both of the recently merged rival services.
www.billboard.com
Springsteen Adds Obama Gigs, ‘Heroes’ Benefit
The artist will play acoustic sets at three Obama/voter registration rallies in the coming days as the Oct. 6 deadline for voter registration looms. First up is an open-air rally Oct. 4 in Philadelphia, followed by a show the next day on the Ohio State campus in Columbus, Ohio.
Allman Brothers Earn Billboard Legend Of Live Award
The Allman Brothers Band will receive the prestigious Legend Of Live award at the 2008 Billboard Touring Awards, set for Nov. 20 at the Roosevelt Hotel in New York.
Wu-Tang Documentary Heads To BET, DVD
Gerald K. Barclay’s documentary “Wu: The Story of the Wu-Tang Clan” will premiere Nov. 13 on BET, five days before its release on DVD. The film chronicles the pioneering hip-hop group’s rise from Staten Island through interviews and a wealth of rare footage.
The Killers Keep Dancing On New Album
After a detour into earnest arena rock on 2006′s “Sam’s Town,” the Killers are back firmly on the dance floor with the Stuart Price-produced “Day & Age,” due Nov. 25 via Island. The club-ready first single “Human” debuts this week at No. 13 on Billboard’s Modern Rock chart.
Cool Kids To Headline ‘NBA2K9′ Tour
Indie hip-hop duo the Cool Kids will headline the fourth annual Bounce Tour, a promotional jaunt for video game maker 2K Sports’ basketball franchise “NBA 2K9.” Dates and other participants have yet to be announced.
T.I.‘s ‘Like’ Still Cruising Atop Hot 100
T.I. remains in control of the Billboard Hot 100 and Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs charts for a fifth and second week respectively with “Whatever You Like.” In addition, two other songs from his just-released album “Paper Trail” debut on the Hot 100 at No. 57 and No. 80.
TV Lineup
Friday, October 3
David Letterman: Brian Williams, Tim Robbins
Jay Leno: Molly Shannon, Warren Sapp, T.I.
Late Late Show: Randy Newman, Margaret Cho
Conan O’Brien: Greg Kinnear, Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds
Last Call: Bear Grylls, Grizzly Bear (R 5/6/08)
Jimmy Kimmel: Lucy Liu, John Slattery, Morgan Murphy
The View: Anne Hathaway, Troy Dunn
Regis and Kelly: Blair Underwood, Robin Thicke, Jon and Kate Gosselin, guest co-host Mark Consuelos
Ellen DeGeneres: Jenny McCarthy, Shemar Moore, Amy Macdonald, “Britain’s Got Talent” runner-up Connie Talbot
Tavis Smiley: Zbigniew Brzezinski
Chelsea Lately: Holly Madison, Heather McDonald, Josh Wolf
Bonnie Hunt: Melissa Joan Hart, Erica Durance, bug expert Zack Lemann
Saturday, October 04
Saturday Night Live Anne Hathaway – The Killers (NEW)
Monday, October 6
David Letterman: Russell Crowe, Sarah Vowell, the Pretenders
Jay Leno: Gerard Butler, Katy Perry
Late Late Show: Seth Green, Jim Bianco
Conan O’Brien: Felicity Huffman, Jenny Lewis
Last Call: Matt Iseman
Daily Show: Tim Robbins
Jimmy Kimmel: Martin Short, Solange Knowles (R 9/10/08)
The View: Felicity Huffman
Regis and Kelly: Alicia Keys, John Lithgow
Ellen DeGeneres: Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Jonny Lee Miller
Tavis Smiley: Rinku Sen, Fekkak Mamdouh
Chelsea Lately: Carey Hart, Alonzo Bodden, Chris Franjola, Margaret Cho
George Stroumboulopoulos: Mark McKinney, Daniel Levitin
Tuesday, October 7
David Letterman: Debra Messing, environmentalist John Carter
Jay Leno: Jenna Fischer, Jim Norton, James Taylor
Late Late Show: Barry Sonnenfeld, Sarah Shahi
Conan O’Brien: Russell Crowe, Alicia Keys, Death Cab For Cutie
Last Call: Clark Duke
Daily Show: Sarah Vowell
Jimmy Kimmel: Sarah Jane Morris, Taye Diggs, Black Kids (R 9/5/08)
The View: Tristan Rogers, Sarah Silverman
Regis and Kelly: Gary Sinise, Sarah McLachlan
Ellen DeGeneres: Paris Hilton
Tavis Smiley: Live Post-Debate Panel
Chelsea Lately: Kendra Wilkinson, Iliza Shlesinger, Darren Carter, Carrot Top
George Stroumboulopoulos: Julie Couillard, James Cameron
Wednesday, October 8
David Letterman: Dennis Quaid, Sarah Chalke, Buddy Guy
Jay Leno: Dana Carvey, Marc Broussard
Late Late Show: Natasha Bedingfield, Rufus Sewell, Marg Helgenberger
Conan O’Brien: Molly Shannon, Jason Ritter, Noah McCullough
Last Call: Kat Von D
Daily Show: TBA
Jimmy Kimmel: Ricky Gervais, Carla Gugino, Good Charlotte (R 9/18/08)
The View: TBA
Regis and Kelly: Debra Messing, Bill O’Reilly, the four finalists from “Project Runway”
Ellen DeGeneres: Taye Diggs, Natasha Bedingfield
Tavis Smiley: James Taylor
Chelsea Lately: Jillian Reynolds, Jacob Sirof, Jo Koy, Arden Myrin
George Stroumboulopoulos: mafiaboy, Chantal Petitclerc
Thursday, October 9
David Letterman: Bill Murray, Beck
Jay Leno: Mark Wahlberg, Rachel Maddow, Rachael Yamagata
Late Late Show: Russell Crowe, Nick Hornby
Conan O’Brien: Lance Mackey, Sarah McLachlan
Last Call: TBA
Daily Show: Robert DeNiro
Jimmy Kimmel: Sandra Oh, “Dancing with the Stars” castoff Jeff Ross, Foals (R 9/24/08)
The View: Angela Bassett, the latest castoff from “Dancing With the Stars”
Regis and Kelly: Molly Shannon, Peter Gros
Ellen DeGeneres: Harry Connick Jr., Chris Brown
Tavis Smiley: Queen Latifah
Chelsea Lately: Holly Madison, Heather McDonald, Josh Wolf (R 10/3/08)
George Stroumboulopoulos: Julie Couillard, James Cameron (R 10/7/08)
Friday, October 10
David Letterman: Jeremy Piven, Elizabeth Banks, Lou Reed
Jay Leno: Terry Bradshaw, Jackson Browne
Late Late Show: Little Britain, Tom Morello
Conan O’Brien: Nigella Lawson, Dead Confederates
Last Call: Christian Lander, Iliza Shlesinger (R 9/15/08)
Jimmy Kimmel: Dane Cook, Dylan & Cole Sprouse, Atmosphere (R 9/23/08)
The View: Maggie Gyllenhaal, Phil Lempert
Regis and Kelly: Russell Crowe, Isaac Mizrahi
Ellen DeGeneres: Christina Applegate, Sheryl Crow
Tavis Smiley: Oliver Stone, Alonzo Mourning
Chelsea Lately: Sharon Osbourne, Heather McDonald, Perez Hilton, Frank Nicotero
George Stroumboulopoulos: Declan Hill, Pink
— Chriss Coats [Photo: WireImage]
