Shakira, British PM Gordon Brown trade praise

Even if most Americans don't know who he is, British Pime Minister Gordon Brown got a vote of confidence from Colombian hottie Shakira during a Monday telephone conference, the AP reports.

Brown was praising the singer for her working to provide the world's children with a basic education. She's supporting a week of events to highlight advocacy group Global Campaign for Education. Shakira returned the kind words with nothing but adulation for Brown.

"He is a man with wonderful intentions, he is very pro-active, he is working very hard for the issue of education," Shakira said, speaking from Washington on a conference call. She had met Brown before to discuss aid for education, and said she "could feel how passionate and enthusiastic he was about it."

All this and those rumors of her having a sex tape we're untrue, too? Believe it or not, we like it when celebrities use their powers for good, not evil. Of course, Shakira could ask us for change for a dollar and we'd be singing her praises.

[Photo: We're not making it up; here's Shakira in Bangladesh in December. Getty Images]

Coheed and Cambria singer to marry local gal

It’s not every day that an international rock star pops the question to a local girl. But that’s what happened to model and Seminole native Chondra Echert, 25, who recently got engaged to Claudio Sanchez, 30, the lead singer for prog-punks Coheed and Cambria. “They’re both very excited,” Chondra’s mom, Cheryl Echert, tells The Juice*. “He’s a real sweet guy.” The pair have been dating five years, Cheryl said, Sanchez proposed in late March, during the group’s tour of Japan. Chondra, a graduate of the University of Tampa, is now working on a comic book project with Sanchez.

And by the way, photos of rock stars and Christmas trees? Priceless.

(Photo courtesy of Cheryl Echert)

Kid Rock makes a scene at Waffle House again

If you remember your white-trash fisticuffs, you'll recall that Kid Rock got into a fight at an Atlanta-area Waffle House last fall, so it's disturbing to hear he returned to the scene of the crime. But this time, it was for charity.

Kid went to a Duluth, Ga., Waffle House on Tuesday to sign autographs for hundreds of fans just a week after pleading not guilty to the Oct. 21 incident, the AP reports.

"The whole situation before was kind of silly," he said of the fight (at a different Waffle House). "We just thought after that unfortunate incident we'd try to do something silly but something more positive."

Proceeds from the photo op are earmarked for Nicholas House, a homeless shelter in DeKalb County, where Rock was arrested. He originally was going to serve food to customers, too, but ran out of time before his concert that night at Gwinnett Arena. His agent must have told him the charity autograph-signing would be enough to sway the judge in his court case.

[Photo: AP]

Patrick Dempsey opens cancer help center

Patrick Dempsey may play a doctor on TV, but he also knows to put his money where his heart is. Grey’s Anatomy’s McDreamy was in Lewiston, Maine, on Monday to dedicate the Patrick Dempsey Center for Cancer Hope and Healing at the Central Maine Medical Center, Portland’s WCSH-TV reports.

The center will help cancer patients and families get information and support, in addition to access to healing programs like massage therapy and yoga, the station said. The medical center is an important place for Dempsey, whose mother, Amanda, has been successfully treated for ovarian cancer there three times, and is a workplace for his sister, Mary.

“I think that it’s very important for anybody going through cancer treatment today is just to have a person there, so you’re not being treated like a number and that’s what we’re trying to achieve,” Dempsey said. For more information, check out www.dempseycenter.org.

[Photo: Getty Images]

Ewan McGregor lives it up for charity dinner

There’s just something about a man in a kilt — and we’re not just trying to stir up the hate mail from our Scot friends in North Pinellas.

Ewan McGregor poses with Sharleen Spiteri, right, and Lady Helen Taylor at Not Another Burns Night, a charity soiree he hosted to raise cash for a Scottish children’s hospital. Why it was held at the St. Martin’s Lane Hotel in London is anyone’s guess.

But reports from the Daily Record say guests like KT Tunstall, Bill Nighy, Jonathan Rhys Meyers, Martine McCutcheon and Chryssie Hynde dined on fare like haggis and whiskey ice cream. Mmmm boy!

Last year’s event raised about $300,000 for the hospital, but we think Mrs. Juice* and her friends are more likely to be interested in how the tartan treats McGregor’s gams.

[Photo: Getty Images]

J.Lo has J.Twins

 

Say goodbye to that Honda parked beneath Jennifer Lopez's dress, because the "actor"-"singer"-"dancer" has finally given birth. People.com practically screamed the news from the rooftops at 2:10 a.m. EST, saying Lopez and Marc Anthony are now the proud parents of a 5-pound, 7-ounce girl born at 12:12 a.m. and a 6-pound boy born at 12:23 a.m. "Jennifer and Marc are delighted, thrilled and over the moon," said Lopez's manager Simon Fields. Congratulations, Anthopez!

(Photo: Getty Images) 

Spike Lee wins award for artistic integrity

Spike Lee is $50,000 richer after winning the Wexner Prize, an award recognizing innovation, quality and integrity among artists, the AP reports.

The 50-year-old filmmaker received the award’s silver hammer sculpture at the New Albany, Ohio, home of Abigail and Les Wexner, the founder, chairman and chief executive of Columbus-based clothing and specialty products retailer Limited Brands Inc.

“Spike Lee exemplifies what the Wexner Prize was created to celebrate: a bold creative spirit who is unafraid to provoke and challenge us,” Les Wexner said in a statement. “He tests the American mind, and its attitudes, assumptions and values, and in doing so, he has advanced American cinema in remarkable ways.”

Lee is the 13th artist to win the award. A selection of his films will be shown at the Wexner Center for the Arts in Columbus this month.

[Photo: Spike Lee with Abigail Wexner. AP]

A-list raises $3.7 million at UN charity dinner

Not to be outdone by the likes of Angelina Jolie, Chris Rock, Madonna and a ton of other celebs shook off their Super Bowl hangovers to raise $3.7 million for poor and sick children all over the globe at a dinner at the United Nations, the AP says.

While the rest of the gossiphere watched Britney, Rock hosted the Wednesday benefit, which was attended by Drew Barrymore, Demi Moore and Ashton Kutcher, Amy Adams, Brooke Shields, Salma Hayek, Djimon Hounsou, Dita Von Teese and UNICEF Ambassadors Tea Leoni and Lucy Liu. Afterward, a cocktail party featured Donald Trump and media mogul Barry Diller.

As celebs ate grappa-cured salmon, wild striped bass, tart of goat cheese, foraged mushrooms, truffled mashed potatoes and sticky toffee pudding with creme fraiche at $2,500 to $10,000 a plate. Madonna (who was there with daughter Lourdes) played videos of Malawi and introduced children from the southern African country to raise awareness of their plight, the AP says, and Rihanna, Timbaland and Alicia Keys played music afterward.

“I don’t just want you to write me a check. I’m more interested in your heart,” Madonna said. “I want to take you on that journey with me tonight. I want you to feel as inspired as I do right now.”

Gucci sponsored the event, playing up the opening of its Manhattan store on Friday while placing its logo next to UNICEF’s on a photo walkway.

Also drawing big bucks were a few auction prizes, like a sports package that included hanging out at Yankee Stadium with Alex Rodriguez and playing soccer with David Beckham for an hour. Tom Cruise bid $100,000 for that but lost out to a bidder who eventually paid $350,000. “It was an extraordinary evening,” Cruise, who was with wife Katie Holmes, told the AP. “The whole evening was quite moving.”

Also moving was the $600k winning bid to tour with Madonna and take a dance class with her an Gwyneth Paltrow, and the $120,000 bid to tour a vineyard and eat lunch with Hayek and baby's daddy Francois-Henri Pinault. Our friends over in tbt*’s SportsTalk are pretty jealous about the whole thing.

[Photos: From top, Madonna and Lourdes, Rock and Rihanna, Dita von Teese, TomKat and Salma with Pinault. Getty Images]

Angelina Jolie does some good in Baghdad

Even though she’s pregnant, Angelina Jolie can’t be kept from going overseas — but to Baghdad?

The U.N. goodwill ambassador headed to Iraq on Thursday with Under Secretary of State Paula Dobriansky “to learn more about the humanitarian crisis and the 4 million displaced people, 58 percent of whom are under 12,” according to her philanthropic adviser, Trevor Neilson.

People says Jolie met with U.S. Gen. David Petraeus, Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and Iraqi migration officials to discuss how refugees might be able to return to their homes.

“There’s lots of goodwill and lots of discussion, but there seems to be just a lot of talk at the moment, and a lot of pieces that need to be put together. I’m trying to figure out what they are,” Jolie told CNN. “What happens in Iraq and how Iraq settles in the years to come is going to affect the entire Middle East.”

The Juice* suggests Angie not ask St. Pete mayor Rick Baker how to deal with displaced people.

[Photo: Jolie in the Green Zone. AP]

Simon Cowell to give $180 million to charity

Simon Cowell may make people cringe on American Idol, but he’s a real softie on the inside. The U.K.’s Sun says the judgmental, uh, judge is planning to earmark $180 million for charity in his will. That’s most of his rumored $200 million in wealth, if you’re keeping track.

He says he got the idea when his mother asked about it over Christmas. “Mum asked, ‘Have you ever made a will?’ I said, ‘Thanks a lot!’. But it got me thinking,” Cowell said. The paper says he plans to give that cash to children’s and animal charities when he signs that big contract in the sky.

What does his family and girlfriend Terri Seymour think of that? “Hopefully I’ll be a lot older when it happens, so it won’t affect them much,” he said. Meaning, he’ll have plenty of time to double that $200 mil, so no worries.

[Photo: Getty Images]

George Clooney named a U.N. ambassador

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Friday named George Clooney a U.N. messenger of peace to promote the group's peacekeeping efforts, Reuters reports. Clooney's latest pet project has been drawing attention to the slaughter in Sudan.

The 46-year-old actor was chosen as the U.N.'s ninth messenger -- people chosen form the fields of art, music, literature and sports -- because he has been "focusing public attention on crucial international political and social issues," U.N. spokeswoman Michele Montas said.

He'll officially join the company of Michael Douglas, musicians Daniel Barenboim, Midori Goto and Yo-Yo Ma, authors Paulo Coelho and Elie Wiesel, naturalist Jane Goodall and Olympic equestrian Princess Haya of Jordan on Jan. 31.

[Photo: Getty Images]

Johnny Depp donates $2 million to hospital

We don’t always get to give you the good news, but Australia’s Herald Sun managed to find out that Johnny Depp secretly visited Great Ormond Street Hospital in London on Wednesday to donate about $2 million as a thanks for saving his daughter Lily-Rose’s life.

You’ll remember his 8-year-old daughter spent nine days at the hospital with kidney failure after being infected with E. coli. And as if the money wasn’t enough, Depp last week invited five doctors and nurses to a premiere party in London for Sweeney Todd.

Not enough for you? The paper also says Depp dressed up as Capt. Jack Sparrow, shambled into the hospital in character and spent four hours telling bedtime stories to patients. This is the kind of stuff that makes The Juice* glad it ridicules other worthless celebs for being screwups, savvy?

[Photo: AP]

Peter Jackson returns to the Shire

Tuesday was already poised to be a great day in nerd-dom, with the release of The Simpsons Movie on DVD. Then it was announced that Peter Jackson and New Line Cinema have reached a deal to make J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit into a pair of blockbuster prequels to the Lord of The Rings trilogy. Jackson will produce The Hobbit, with a director to be named later. Two Hobbit films will be produced simultaneously, with the first to be released in 2010. The director and New Line have been feuding over the film’s $3-billion gross, but were able to hammer out an agreement. “We are delighted to continue our journey through Middle Earth,” Jackson said. And with that, geeks around the world commenced wetting their Spider-Man underpants.

(Photo: Associated Press)

Madonna, Mellencamp, Cohen reach Rock Hall

When you think rock 'n' roll, you automatically think of Madonna, Leonard Cohen and the Dave Clark Five, right? Don't laugh. Those three artists were among the inductees to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, announced Thursday. Joining them are John Mellencamp, surf-rockers the Ventures, producer-songwriters Kenneth Gamble and Leon Huff, and bluesman Little Walter. Just missing the cut, according to Idolator.com, were rap pioneer Afrika Bambaataa, Chic, Donna Summer and these three well-groomed young men from Brooklyn:

Sorry guys. I'm tellin all'a y'all, it's sabotage.

(Photos: Madonna, Getty Images; Beastie Boys, AP)

Super Sandler to the rescue

Defamer.com reports Hanukkah Song crooner Adam Sandler came to the rescue of an injured woman in the parking lot of an L.A. skating rink. The story goes that upon arriving at the Culver Ice Arena with his wife and kids, Sandler found an elderly woman lying bloodied in the parking lot. Sandler was spotting bolting behind the skate rental counter to dial 911. And this is where some curmudgeons part company because they who don’t know of any celebrities failing to carry cell phones or teens at a rink that had no camera phones to record such celebrity heroism. Stil, we choose to believe.

(Photo: Associated Press)

Been a long time

If you’re an aging stoner who drives a conversion van airbrushed with a mural of a wizard battling a Viking, you were probably stoked for Monday night, when Led Zeppelin finally reunited at London’s O2 Arena for their first public concert in 19 years. A breathless NME.com liveblogged the entire set, from opener Good Times Bad Times to Ramble On (“Done in extremely slow, bluesy manner, with shards of electric guitar from Jimmy Page”) to Black Dog (“Quite muddy sound ... crowd singing the 'ah-ah’ bits back at (Robert) Plant”). “The crowd is going wild inside the O2,” NME’s Alan Woodhouse wrote after Zep played Nobody’s Fault But Mine. “People are hugging strangers, some are crying, some are punching the air with joy. This must be the rock 'n’ roll equivalent of winning the World Cup.” Celebrities in attendance included: Paul McCartney, Kate Moss, Naomi Campbell, Pink, Marilyn Manson, Liam Gallagher and Dave Grohl. And to answer your question: Of course they played Stairway to Heaven. “From the moment those opening notes rang out the whole audience went absolutely crazy,” NME wrote. “The atmosphere is electric.”

Here's the complete setlist, courtesy of NME.com:

Good Times Bad Times

Ramble On

Black Dog

In My Time of Dying

For Your Life

Trampled Under Foot

Nobody's Fault But Mine

No Quarter

Since I've Been Loving You

Dazed and Confused

Stairway To Heaven

The Song Remains The Same

Misty Mountain Hop

Kashmir

Whole Lotta Love

Rock And Roll

(Photos: Ticket, Getty Images; Page/Plant, AP [2003]; album art, Amazon.com.)

Brad Pitt needs money to rebuild New Orleans

What’s Brad Pitt so excited about? It’s the $5-million he’s pledged to build at least 150 new, environmentally friendly homes in New Orleans’ Lower 9th Ward by the end of next summer, the AP reports.

“I’ve always had a fondness for this place — it’s like no other,” he said. “Seeing the frustration firsthand made me want to return the kindness this city has shown me.”

Pitt has teamed up with 13 architects for the Make It Right project, which aims to design homes on stilts to keep floodwaters at bay. Pitt said the design requirements are “affordability, sustainability, safety — and that they be beautiful.”

But Monday’s press conference (with a windblown Angelina Jolie and Maddox nearby) was more fund-raiser than festival. “I mean, this is really an adopt-a-house campaign,” he said. “I’m asking for foundations, for high net-worth individuals, for church groups, for corporations to come in and adopt a house — basically, $150,000 will get a family back in their home.”

Why don’t they ask Leona Helmsley’s dog?

[Photos: AP, Getty Images]

Scientologists celebrate Christmas for charity

Never let it be said the Church of Scientology doesn’t do it’s part for charity this time of year. Its Celebrity Centre in Hollywood is presenting Christmas Stories XV Friday and Saturday to raise money for the Hollywood Police Activites League’s annual Christmas party for underprivileged kids and its other youth programs.

Actors and actresses like Kirstie Alley, Kelly Preston, Anne Archer, Michael Pena, Jenna Elfman, That 70s Show’s Danny Masterson, Traffic’s Erika Christensen, Malcolm in the Middle’s Christopher Masterson and 24’s Marisol Nichols all will be performing skits and telling Christmas stories. We'll lay off the jokes just this once -- the show can’t be all that bad if it’s in its 15th year and has raised about $205,000, can it?

Salma Hayek prayed for bigger breasts

Continuing with our Thanksgiving theme, we remind you that Salma Hayek sang the lord's praises to David Letterman a while back by saying her breasts were a gift from God. The Mexican mom said she was so flat-chested as a youth that she actually prayed for development.

“My mother and I stopped at a church during a road trip we were making from our home in Mexico,” she said. “When we went inside the church, I prayed for the miracle that I wanted to happen. I put my hands in holy water and said, ‘Please God, give me some breasts!’ ” Apparently the big guy listens, after all. Why this is news now is anyone’s guess, but we think it has something to do with this picture.

Here's the actual interview, from way back:

[Photo: Getty Images]

Tampa dad gave away Hannah Montana tix

It’s Thanksgiving time, so The Juice* is happy to report some goodwill came out of Monday’s Hannah Montana concert despite cries from angry parents over ticket brokers and sky-high scalping prices.

As first reported by WTSP News’ Preston Rudie, Finn Walling of Tampa had been planning to take his 9-year-old daughter Madison to see Miley Cyrus’ alter ego. Unfortunately, Madison caught the flu and couldn’t go, prompting Walling to decide he would just leave the tickets at the will call booth at the St. Pete Times Forum.

“My daughter asked what was going to happen to the tickets and I told her,” Walling explained to The Juice*, “and she said ‘You can’t just leave them there! There are too many people who want to go.’ ” So following Madison’s wishes, Finn planned to sell them, but when he got to the Forum he was shocked to see tickets going for as much as $300 or more.

He decided to give his two tickets away to deserving fans, and found two little girls whose mother (who was on disability) couldn’t afford the show. “This girl, she says, ‘I love her (Montana) so much ... I stand on the coffee table and sing at the top of my lungs,’ ” Walling said. “Then she started to cry, and that got to me. It shows how influential Hannah Montana is on kids.”

And it shows how influential Walling’s good deed is on others: His story has been picked up by CNN, and he’s due to appear on CBS Radio on Friday.

[Photos: Ross Mantle/tbt*, Walling family]

Ellen Pompeo marries in secret

Don’t feel bad if you forgot to give Ellen Pompeo a wedding gift. The Grey’s Anatomy star wed in secret last Friday at City Hall in New York, which means she’s now Mrs. Chris Ivery. The actress and record producer got engaged in November, and Pompeo had told People that they weren’t planning a big wedding because “we want one thing to ourselves.” Mayor Michael Bloomberg, a friend of Ivery’s was a witness.

(Photo: AP)

Russell Crowe finds Jesus

Russell Crowe has chosen the leading religious publication of the day — Men’s Journal — to announce he’s planning his own baptism. "I'd like to do it this year," he said. "My mom and dad decided to let by brother and me make our own decisions about God when we got to the right age. I started thinking recently, 'If I believe it is important to baptise my kids, why not me?'" Infallible logic. He said the baptism will take place at the Byzantine chapel on his Australian country ranch. "It is consecrated and everything," he said. His son Charlie was baptized there, he said, and when son Tennyson gets baptized, Crowe will join him. "I do believe there are more important things than what is in the mind of a man," he said. "There is something much bigger that drives us all. I’m willing to take that leap of faith."

(Photo: AP. Thought-bubble value-add: The Juice*.)

Depp's daughter doing fine

Remember when Johnny Depp had to flee the set of Sweeney Todd in February in order to tend to his ailing daughter, Lily-Rose? Well, Depp tells Entertainment Weekly the 8-year-old "pulled through beautifully, perfectly, with no lasting anything." The mystery ailment, he says, resulted from a poke from a rusty tack. InTouch reported that the wound went untreated and "blood poisoning developed." "Tim (Burton) and the crew shut down and stood by and waited," he said. "I didn’t know if I was coming back. I remember talking with Tim, saying, 'Maybe you need to recast.'" Thankfully, that wasn’t the case.

Finally, some decent Britney Spears stuff

Good news for Britney Spears today, as the AP reports that she won’t have to deal with a criminal hit-and-run trial after she paid for damages in her Aug. 6 fender-bender. She does still face a charge of driving without a license (the hearing is scheduled for Nov. 26), but these days she’ll likely take what she can get.

Also good is TMZ’s report that Wednesday’s co-parenting meeting with Kevin Federline went “amazingly well.” The site says K-Fed and the Brat met with counselor Al Gibbs for two hours at the Beverly Hills Hotel.

We’d think a parenting session would be better if were spent somewhere that didn’t cost $1,000 a night, but whatever. It’s a whole lot better than most gossip bloggers’ insinuations that Brit Brit is taking the narcolepsy drug Provigil as a quick dieting aid.

Colbert's in it to win it

All of a sudden, Fred Thompson is no longer the most cartoonish conservative celebrity running for president. Stephen Colbert announced during Tuesday night's show that he's seeking the land's highest office. "I have heard the call," he told his screaming fans. Colbert's been drawing out the announcement all week, penning a column for Maureen Dowd in the New York Times, and apearing on The Daily Show just minutes before his announcement to say he hadn't yet decided. Colbert said he planned to run in his home state, South Carolina, "and South Carolina alone," according to the AP. It's all a big satirical put-on, of course, designed to drum up publicity for his new book, I Am America (And So Can You!). But it'll be an entertaining ride, especially now that Colbert has outlined three possible tickets: Colbert-Huckabee, Colbert-Putin and Colbert-Colbert.

On the 'Star Trek' star tip

It's easy to make fun of Star Trek fans -- oh good lord, is it easy -- but it's starting to look a lot like J.J.  Abrams' forthcoming Star Trek flick might just be a must-watch. Joining the cast in recent days, according to the Hollywod Reporter, are John "Harold, Not Kumar" Cho as Sulu, and Simon "Shaun of the Dead" Pegg (at right) as Scotty. ("I canna hold 'er, Cap'n! Thar's zombies attackin' the engines!") Eric Bana -- who kicked a lot of ass in Munich, substantially less ass in Troy, and very little ass whatsoever in Hulk -- also signed up last week to play Nero, the movie's villain. And Heroes' Zachary "Sylar" Quinto is already on board as the young Spock. (Leonard "Old Spock" Nimoy will have a role, too. The question now is, who will play Captain Kirk? Word is it might be Chris Pine, who starred in Just My Luck with Lindsay Lohan and The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement with Anne Hathaway. Never heard of the guy. The Juice* would rather see Matt Damon get beamed up to the captain's chair, as was originally rumored.

(Handout photos)

David Spade gives slain officer's family $25k

Scottsdale, Ariz., native David Spade has donated $25,000 to the family of Phoenix police officer Nick Erfle, who was killed last month in the line of duty, the AP reports.

“I’m from Arizona so I’m always a little aware of things that are going on there,” Spade said. “It just struck me as such a rough situation just because cops in general get kind of a bad rap lately and people forget it is the scariest job out there.”

The actor hasn’t spoken with Erfle’s wife (or his two sons, 5 and 3), but transferred the amount into an account set up for donations. Erfle, 33, was shot Sept. 18 while trying to arrest an illegal immigrant. Erik Jovani Martinez gave Erfle a fake name because he had an outstanding felony warrant, but was such a freaking genius that he used a false name belonging to someone who also had an outstanding warrant.

The officer had recently returned to duty after battling cancer.

[Photo: Getty Images]

America Ferrera is Hispanic Woman of the Year

America Ferrera has won Golden Globe, Emmy and Screen Actors Guild awards for her portrayal of Ugly Betty, but now she’s been named Hispanic Woman of the Year, according to the Hollywood Reporter and Billboard.

The publications will honor Ferrera and the 25 most powerful Hispanic women in film, television and music at their inaugural Hispanic Women in Entertainment breakfast at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel on Tuesday, the AP reports.

Ferrera “is a leader for all women, but especially those in the Hispanic community,” publisher John Kilcullen said in a statement. He said the 23-year-old actress is “dedicated to advancing the position of Hispanics in television and film.”

Says Ferrera: “It’s an honor to be in such esteemed company, and it’s a thrill to see talented women recognized for their work behind the camera.”

[Photo: Getty Images]

New Radiohead album coming ... in 10 days?!?

Our sad, pasty, technophobic, social-anxiety-suffering butts were knocked to the floor over the weekend by the news that Radiohead has finished a new album ... and they plan to release it online, at no set cost, in less than two weeks. Here's how it'll work: The 10 tracks of the band's seventh album, "In Rainbows," will be available for download at www.inrainbows.com starting Oct. 10, and you can pay what you want for them. Seriously. Ten cents, $1,000 ... whatever you want. If that's not enough, the band is prepping a massive "discbox," containing "In Rainbows" and a bonus eight-song CD, two vinyl LPs, artwork, photographs and more, for release on Dec. 3. That massive set will cost around $80, but you know hardcore fans will pay it. The band has been without a record label since 2005, and has been toying with how to best release new material. Now it seems everything is in its right place for an album.

'Knight Rider' to ride again?

There is no news better than this. None. Nada. NBC is considering bringing back "Knight Rider" as a TV movie this spring, with the possibility of a series to follow next fall. And that's not all -- it'll be helmed by Doug Liman, the director of Swingers, The Bourne Identity and Mr. and Mrs. Smith. There's talk of making it a lot like "Transformers" (the General Motors fanboyish part, not the gratiuitary LaBeoufishness part), but the presence of a Bourne-related director can only be good for KITT's business. Just let the Hoff make a cameo and we can die in peace.

(Photo: AP)

Dr. Cowell to the rescue

Maybe all those times Simon Cowell was abusing "American Idol" contestants, he was only trying to help them. While judging on the panel of "X Factor," the British version of "American Idol," Cowell and Sharon Osbourne told a 46-year-old contestant she sounded like she was choking and should visit a doctor. Turns out, Jacqui Gray did -- and the doc told her she had the potentially fatal lung disease bronchiectasis. "I may not have got through 'X Factor,' but they gave me something much more important than that," she told the Mirror. "They really did save my life."

Dr. Cowell's official diagnosis?

(Photo illustration credit: AP, MS Paint, and shame, so much shame.)

HBO's 'Recount': Laura Dern as Katherine Harris?

Okay, now we finally have a reason to care about the presidential election. Variety reported this week that a cast is in place for 'Recount,' a made-for-HBO movie about the 2000 Florida election. It'll star  Kevin Spacey as former Al Gore chief of staff Ron Klain, Denis Leary as a Democratic pollster, Tom Wilkinson as Republican James Baker, Bob Balaban as the lead Bush/Cheney attorney, Ed Begley Jr. as the Democrats' lead attorney, and ... (dramatic pause) ... Laura Dern as former Secretary of State Katherine Harris. (An interesting choice. Wonkette wanted Glenn Close or Ellen Barkin; Radar Online suggested Sean Young or, um, Andy Dick.) Jay "Austin Powers" Roach will direct the drama, which will air during the heat of the 2008 presidential election. One casting suggestion: We think Nicole Richie was born to play the part of a hanging chad.

What do you think, Juice-o-matics: Who do you think should star in "Recount?" Who should play Jeb? Who should play the confused senior citizen who thinks he or she is voting for Pat Buchanan? How much should we offer to pay HBO if they'll film this thing in Tampa Bay?

(Above: Laura Dern reacting to Ellen DeGeneres's shocking, historic announcement that Laura will be playing Katherine Harris. Below: The former congresswoman, in happier times.)

Jude Law racks up frequent flyer miles

Jude Law, who for years has battled with Sienna Miller, probably took it as no big deal when he decided to travel to eastern Afghanistan to promote the U.N.’s Peace Day, a Sept 21 marker to promote a worldwide day of nonviolence.

The actor pulled a George Clooney and traveled with Brit director Jeremy Gilley and a film crew to interview children, officials and community leaders to draw attention to the occasion. the AP says.

“Afghanistan will be the focal point for the second film, so it seemed important that Jeremy also have a sounding board, a third-party perspective on his trip,” Law told reporters Thursday inside a guarded U.N. compound in Kabul. “This film is about documenting and seeing how Peace Day can save lives.”

The resulting film will be shown in 50 countries and up to 70 international film festivals, and should be much more entertaining than Closer.

[Photo: Getty Images]

Eva and Tony are finally hitched

Don't be disappointed you didn't get to see Eva Longoria's and Tony Parker's glam wedding bash at St. Germain l'Auxerrois Catholic church in Paris on Saturday -- security was so tight hardly anyone so much as glimpsed the happy couple.

With security barriers and black screens in place, the hundred lookie-loos gathered wouldn't have seen the actress and basketball star arrive even if the pair had come through the front, but they went that extra mile for secrecy and snuck in the back door, AFP reports.

They also took great pains to avoid the masses as they sped off afterward for their grand fete at the Vaux-le-Vicomte chateau outside the city.

While the guest list had been kept under wraps, celebs like Desperate Houswives costars Felicity Huffman, Nicolette Sheridan and Teri Hatcher were seen. Others showing up included Jessica Alba, Ryan Seacrest, Mario Lopez (whaa?), Sheryl Crow, French soccer player Thierry Henry and Parker's teammates on the San Antonio Spurs.

And while there was a fuss over the 7/7/07 date, all this was after really getting married in a civil ceremony on Friday!

It's not like you can blame the French, though. AFP quotes Alison Cox, a 25-year-old from Arizona, as saying the couple were being "pretty rude" by demanding secrecy on their special day. "I don't expect them to invite us into the church but why couldn't we at least see them walking into the building?" she asked.

Maybe because you weren't invited.

[Photos by Getty Images]

Clooney, friends raise big bucks for Darfur

Is there anything George Clooney can’t get done? The Hollywood hotshot told the AP that Ocean’s Thirteen stars have donated $5.5-million to humanitarian efforts in Sudan’s Darfur region.

Brad Pitt, Matt Damon, Don Cheadle and producer Jerry Weintraub helped raise a total of $9.3-million for Darfur, most of which was contributed at a dinner during the film’s premiere last month at the Cannes Film Festival. Half of it has already been donated to help the 2.5-million civilians driven from their homes, he said.

“There are only a few things we can do — protect them where we can, and provide food, water, health care and counseling,” Clooney said. “We’re just trying to get them to live long enough to get to the next step.”

He added he hopes to keep replenishing the organization they have founded, Not On Our Watch. The group just donated $1-million to the U.N. World Food Program, as well. Are you paying attention, Paris?

[Photo: Getty Images]

Clintons, Carey to be honored for music work

Expect to see a few famous faces at the VH1 Save The Music Foundation’s 10th-anniversary gala in September.

Former president Bill Clinton and his wife, presidential candidate Hillary, will join Mariah Carey and Save The Music founder John Sykes as honorees at the gala, which is Sept. 20 at the Lincoln Center in New York.

The Clintons have been very active in Save The Music campaigns, which is dedicated to keeping music programs in public schools. Back in 1998, Bill even donated his saxophone to a student musician, which is better than a lot of other things he could have given out.

[Photo: Getty Images]

What do we write about for the next 23 days?

UPDATED: This is how Paris Hilton’s world ends (temporarily) — not with a bang, but with a whimper. While The Juice* and its fans were tucked soundly away in bed Sunday night, no doubt dreaming of the next big celebrity shakedown, the poor little rich girl quietly turned herself in to the L.A. County Sheriff, TMZ reports.

Ostensibly hoping to avoid the crush of paparazzi buzzing around Hollywood like 13-year cicadas, attorney Richard Hutton picked the heirhead up at her parents’ home at 10:30 p.m. La-La Land time, taking her, mama Kathy and sister Nicky to the Men’s Central Jail downtown. The sheriff brokered the deal to avoid a potential safety hazard, the site reported, opting to have Hilton driven to her real jail in Lynwood after she turned herself in.

A video on the site shows the Hilton family was very concerned with their golden child being exploited by photographers, since the quartet left with the windows rolled down, and Kathy obviously sitting back far enough so her poor baby could be seen being very distraught and contrite.

“I am ready to face the consequences of violating probation. During the past few weeks, I have had a lot of time to think and have come to realize I made some mistakes,” Hilton said in a statement sent to the site. “This is an important point in my life and I need to take responsibility for my actions. In the future, I plan on taking more of an active role in the decisions I make. I want to thank my family, friends and fans for their continued support. Although I am scared, I am ready to begin my jail sentence.”

Before heading to her 12-by-8, Paris made it sound like her 23-day stint was no big deal, and the big, bad media needs to shove it.

“I did have a choice to go to a pay jail,” Hilton said Sunday, without giving details. “But I declined because I feel like the media portrays me in a way that I’m not and that’s why I wanted to go to county, to show that I can do it and I’m going to be treated like everyone else. I’m going to do the time, I’m going to do it the right way.”

Hilton’s publicist, Elliot Mintz, said he spoke with Kathy Hilton after she returned from the jail, the AP reports.

“She told me it was very emotional,” Mintz said. “She also said that she feels this will be a time when Paris will be able to think and reflect and to spend time alone to learn from the experience because in Paris’ life she’s never alone — there’s always a constant chatter around her.”

Paris got quite the sendoff prior to that at the MTV Movie Awards, strolling the red carpet and really not looking too bad at all, until host Sarah Silverman bared her teeth with a raunchy joke at the celebutard’s expense (see video below).

No doubt highly unamused, Paris then left the awards to go to her parents’ home to pay the piper. Although previous reports said Paris had been assigned a hand-picked cellmate, TMZ reports that Hilton will be kept in solitary confinement 23 hours a day, and only let out one hour a day to shower, make phone calls and watch TV in a “small pod adjacent to her cell.”

The scenario conjures images of a celebrity Habitrail, but we can’t help thinking the phone calls will slow once all of Paris’ vacuous hangers-on head for Splitsville.

[Photos: AP]

Waitress in debt to Clooney for the rest of her life

In case you have any doubts George Clooney can change the world, check this out: A British cocktail waitress got up one day to work at her $12-an-hour job cleaning tables and ended up with offers for a $3-million record deal after crooning for Clooney.

Victoria Hart was singing at the Naked Turtle in southwest London when a friend of a friend said he’d recommend her to warble aboard the actor’s yacht in Cannes. “I just thought, ‘yeah, right’,” Hart told British paper the Independent, noting her biggest break thus far had been as a wedding singer.

So guess what? She got the gig (a $100k-per-ticket fund-raiser for Darfur aid), borrowed $1,600 for a Moschino dress and sang for free for the likes of Matt Damon, Brangelina and especially Clooney himself, who told her personally that she was “simply lovely.”

Her reward? Execs from EMI, Universal and BMG fighting over her. Dreams do come true!

[Photo: Getty Images]

You mean some movie stars give money away?

We love starting the day with good news, so let us tell you about how Pierce Brosnan and wife Keely donated $100,000 to help replace an unsafe playground.

The AP reports the couple gave the six digits to an elementary school on Kauai, where they own a home, through Hawaii 3R’s (Repair, Remodel and Restore Hawaii’s public schools), a nonprofit organization that kicked in $47,800 for the project.

“We were disheartened that the playground equipment was condemned for so long, and we wanted to find a way to help,” the ex-James Bond said. The kids at Hanalei Elementary have got to be glad they did.

[Photo: AP]

Rachael Ray pushes baked goods

Annoying as you may find her, there’s something earthy and comforting about Rachael Ray (that must explain the book deals and TV shows). So it comes as no surprise Ray is promoting the Great American Bake Sale, a national campaign from May 19 to Aug. 31 to hold bake sales to raise money for hungry children, the AP reports. “It’s a very simple concept,” Ray said. “When you go to greatamericanbakesale.org, you can read all about it and invite individuals of any age to throw a bake sale ... to raise money to help feed hungry kids in their community.” Actually, what seems like a very simple concept to us is, instead of having a bake sale, give the food to hungry kids. But we’ll let organizers Share Our Strength, Parade and Food Network deal with that.

Drew Barrymore has a new title

Not one to let Brangelina and George Clooney have all the fun, Drew Barrymore was named an ambassador for the United Nations, the World Entertainment News Network reports. The actress will officially be called “Ambassador Against Hunger for the United Nations World Food Program,” the news service says.

“I am honoured and humbled to accept this challenging and rewarding assignment,” Drew said. “I can’t think of any issue that is more important than working to see that no schoolchild in this world goes hungry.” As long as she’s not working on another Charlie’s Angels sequel, things will be fine.

[Photo: Getty Images]

Kid Rock helps school's handicap