Pop Stand

A smile to start the weekend: Evian's roller-skating, breakdancing babies

These babies may lack the dry sense of humor of the E-Trade baby, but they more than make up for it with their goofy grins and spectacular wheeled stunts. The soundtrack is old school but these skaters are fresh!

And here's a video on "the making of" the commercial in which we get to see the baby cattle call and many adorable faces from the little stars. I'd love to see how they actually generated the baby bodies and made them move, too!

The commercial probably won't make me buy Evian, but it's pretty refreshing on its own!

Have a great weekend!

-- Anne Neville

Morning Links: Cousin says Jackson looked 'peaceful' in coffin

A cousin who attended the private family viewing before Michael Jackson's memorial service Tuesday says his coffin was open and "He looked like himself. He looked like he just was laying there sleeping." David Fossett, 50, Jackson's cousin of the same age who who grew up with him and still lives in Gary, Ind., said, "He looked peaceful."

• • •

E!Online, still hot on the trail of what happened to Jackson's body after the Staples Center memorial service, says the gold-plated coffin was taken through an underground tunnel that links the center with the Nokia Theater, loaded into a van and taken to "refrigerated mortuary storage at an undisclosed location."

• • •

Dr. Conrad Murray, the doctor who was with Jackson when he died, says he is owed $300,000 for the weeks he spent working as Jackson's personal doctor. Murray was hired by Jackson's camp to accompany the frail singer in his planned 50-concert engagement in London.

• • •

Meanwhile, Nancy Pelosi rejected a House resolution lauding Jackson as an American icon and international humanitarian. Pelosi said although members are free to use their speeches to "express their sympathy or their praise any time that they wish," she added, "I don't think it's necessary for us to have a resolution." Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee of Texas spoke at his memorial and showed a framed copy of the resolution she sponsored, but other members opposed it, including Rep. Peter King of New York, who blasted Jackson as a "pervert" and a "pedophile" in a YouTube video.

• • •

Britney Spears' ex-boyfriend, Adnan Ghalib, will stand trial on charges he struck a process-server with his car. Ghalib is accused of felony assault with a deadly weapon, battery and hit-and-run. Adnan will be arraigned later this month.

• • •

George Clooney visited the town of L'Aquila, Italy, which was devastated by an earthquake in April, and said he will act in a film to be shot there in the autumn. He said filming the movie, which he did not name, in the city in which more than 300 people died will boost the economy and "draw attention to this tragedy."

• • •

Jim Carrey is getting ready to entertain his first grandchild. The comedian, 47, is the father of Jane Carrey, 21, who is expecting her first child with her fiance. The baby should inherit musical genes -- Jane Carrey sings with the Jane Carrey band and fiance Alex Santana is with the rock band Blood Money. "I am very excited," the proud grandpa-to-be said in a statement. "Jane is going to be a great mom."

• • •

Emphatically not expecting is Raven-Symone, 23, star of "That's So Raven." A pregnancy -- or possibly even childbirth -- has been rumored, but her rep says it's not true. Reports even give the baby's name-- Liliana Pearman.

-- Anne Neville

Morning Links: Jackson memorial costs L.A. $1.4 million

The final tab for the Michael Jackson memorial is in, and it cost Los Angeles taxpayers $1.4 million for security, traffic control and other services. That amount included $1.1 million in overtime costs for over 4,000 police officers who provided security at the Staples Center, the cemetery and all points in between. The remaining amount covered clean-up costs, according to city officials.

The city set up a Web site, complete with a PayPal account, for fans to make donations to help pay for the memorial. So far, it has raised just $17,000.

• • •

Ken Ehrlich, producer of the Jackson tribute, says that daughter Paris-Michael's loving message to her father was not planned. Ehrlich told CNN that most of the memorial was unscripted, saying that the Jacksons insisted they wanted it to be a memorial service and not a "TV show." 

Ehrlich says that it was not planned for Paris to step to the microphone, but she did so on her own and spoke the oft-highlighted words, "Ever since I was born, Daddy has been the best father you could ever imagine. And I just want to say that I love him so much."

• • •

Long-time Jackson plastic surgeon Dr. Albert Klein has been rumored to be the biological father of Jackson's oldest children. Klein was on a couple of talkers yesterday, where he sort of denied he is the father.

"I can't say anything about it, but, to the best of my knowledge, I am not the father of these children. ...I can't answer it in any other way. I don't want to feed any of this insanity that is going around," Klein told Good Morning America's Diane Sawyer.

Klein admitted to Larry King later in the day that he did donate sperm at one time to a sperm bank, but he could not speculate as to whether Debbie Rowe and Jackson sought it out for use; and to the best of his knowledge, they consummated their marriage.

Maybe he should have sung it: "Michael Jackson was my patient, And I'm just a guy who made a sperm donation, But the kid is not my son ... or daughter... I think ... "

• • •

Neighbors of the Jackson's Encino home have had enough of the crowds. The Encino Neighborhood Council was meeting over what they called "concerns over continuing impacts from sightseers and media in the weeks and months ahead." Part of Hayvenhurst Blvd. was closed to allow fans to congregate by the Jackson home, where they created a memorial to Jackson, but the  Neighborhood Council wants life and business to return to normal.

• • •

The Los Angeles County Coroner's office is still holding a piece of Michael Jackson's brain. The autopsy of Jackson included taking a portion of Jackson's brain for testing, particularly because of the possibility of drug overdose as cause of death. Protocol requires that the organ be allowed to harden before it is examined, and the office has told the Jackson family that they can bury Michael with or without the piece, but if they want it buried, they will have to wait. This may be the reason why Jackson has not been buried yet.

• • •

Actor Rupert Grint -- Ron Weaseley of the Harry Potter films -- has recovered from his bout of swine flu. Grint spent a few days in bed, but says it was scary to him, at first. "It was quite scary when I first found out I had swine flu. I thought, 'Am I going to die?' But it was just like any other flu, really."

• • •

Actress Kelly Preston has accepted an invitation to speak at a women's conference in California in the fall, where she is expected to talk publicly about the death of son, Jett. Preston will be part of a panel called 'Grief & Resilience,' and will appear with Elizabeth Edwards and actress Susan St. James.

• • •

Actor Edward Furlong is divorcing. The  Terminator 2 actor is divorcing his wife of three years, actress Rachael Bella. Furlong and Bella met on the set of an independent film.

-- Dave Valenzuela

Morning Links: Jackson's burial place unknown -- and possibly undecided

After the star-studded nearly three-hour memorial to Michael Jackson, his body was removed from the stage of the Staples Center, but nobody knows where it went. TMZ.com is reporting that the body was not returned to Forest Lawn, but was sent somewhere else pending final burial, but calls to regional cemeteries failed to find out where. In California, all burials must occur in property that is registered as a cemetery; Neverland Ranch, where the family originally hoped to bury him, is not a cemetery -- for the time being, and Radar Online says the family is arguing over where to bury him, with Jermaine Jackson suggesting that Michael be cremated and his ashes scattered at Neverland, and his mother Katherine disagreeing.

• • •

Meanwhile, Jackson's death certificate  has been released. In it, his cause of death was listed as "deferred," pending toxicology tests. LaToya Jackson provided the information for the certificate.

• • •

The memorial service included plenty of tributes from stars, the musical ranging from John Mayer's instrumental on "Human Nature" to Stevie Wonder's "I Never Dreamed You'd Leave in Summer," and oration, including speeches by the Rev. Al Sharpton and Martin Luther King III. But a couple of moments stood out. The first was his daughter Paris' impromptu tribute to her father. Through tears, she said, "I just want to say ever since I was born, Daddy has been the best father you can ever imagine. And I just want to say I love him so much.” The other moment was the appearance of "Britain's Got Talent" contestant Shaheen Jafargholi, age 12, who sang, "Who's Loving You," before choreographer Kenny Ortega announced that Jackson had invited Jafargholi to accompany him in his planned British concerts.

• • •

One celeb who made a spectacle of himself at the memorial service was former Jackson pal and former child star Corey Feldman, who dressed as Jackson for the event. As EOnline says, "Showing up in full costume with crunchy gelled hair, black military blazer, sunglasses, fedora—not cool. Intentional or not, this getup stumbles right past tribute and into mockery." Feldman, who met Jackson when he was a child star, was called to testify in the 2005 Jackson molestation trial and said he had had the "sickening realization" that many interactions with Jackson "created a question of doubt," including one occasion when Jackson showed him a medical book containing photos of naked people when he was about 13.

• • •

In non-Michael Jackson news, Penelope Cruz says she plans to have children "one day but not right now," but isn't as sure about a husband. "I don't know if I believe in marriage," she added in an interview with a British magazine. "I believe in family, love and children."

• • •

Rachel Weisz says Botox should be banned for actors, just as steroids are for professional athletes. "Acting is all about expression," she said. "Why would you want to iron out a frown?" Weisz, who appeared in the "Mummy" movies, won the 2005 Best Supporting Actress Oscar for her role in "The Constant Gardener."

• • •

A Florida woman is suing Lindsay Lohan, saying LiLo swiped her tanning formula for her Sevin Nyne line of fake bake products. Jennifer Sunday filed a federal suit charging Lohan and her business partner with theft of trade secrets and other charges. Sunday says she revealed her formula to Lohan and her partner when they talked about having her make a fake tanning compound for them, but negotiations fell apart when Lohan's people asked her to sell them the formula.

• • •

OctoMom Nadya Suleman -- remember her? -- has had her third surgery to remove uterine fibroids and is home, but confined to bed. She suffered complications after her second surgery, which made the third operation necessary. Four nannies are in her home to care for her 14 children, including the nearly six-month-old octuplets.

-- Anne Neville

Lauri Githens-Hatch says it's time to let Michael Jackson go

There comes a point after certain stunning losses where there really is nothing more to be said. 

Except, of course, what hasn't been said – because it's politically incorrect. Or unseemly. Or just plain awful-sounding. Or all three.

Even so, I loved him enough to know that this needs saying – and saying today of all days: Since June 25, not a day has gone by that I haven't thanked God for Michael Jackson's death – and with as much fervency as I ever thanked God for Jackson's life.

That's because we did not lose Jackson 12 days ago. We lost him decades ago, when Joseph Jackson began whipping, tripping, punching, shoving, pummeling, mocking and humiliating the seventh of his nine children into the incessant rehearsing and performing that made Michael a budding Motown star by age 10.

The hits Michael took to his body and his psyche should be as well-known as the hits that poured out of him and his brothers. They're not.

What people got was one dazzling song and dance move after another; what they never seemed to understand was that Jackson disappeared a little, and died a little, with every smash single and video he nailed to the charts and to our hearts. 

And he did it for 40 years.

That it is finally over is somehow is sweet and relieving to me as hearing "ABC" on the radio for the first time in years.

We're the generation that will pay the price for the privilege of enjoying the prime years of rock's most influential figures by having to bear witness to their passing.  And there are other horrible, gut-socking losses to come, and sooner rather than later: McCartney, Ringo, Townshend, Daltrey, Jagger, Richards, Clapton. But if none hurt quite as deeply or as painfully as this one, it may be because to remember Michael Jackson's life is to begin to fathom – with increasing amazement – how long Michael Jackson has been in ours. We've lost others with a hurt so intense it was transforming: Medgar. John. Martin. Bobby. Lennon. Diana. But many of us had to search our parents' faces for meaning when they died. They were among us, but not of us.

Michael was us – dreams, ambitions, dysfunctions and all. But he was also a once-in-a-lifetime experience we will never see again – and shouldn't want to.

Music we could not bear to live without. A life we could not bear to watch.

Moves that defied physics. And a heart that finally broke, breaking millions more in the process, mine included.  But I loved him enough, dysfunctions and all, to know both breaks were overdue.

In a few weeks, maybe less, things will seem the same.  I know the next time I'm out, for maybe the thousandth time we'll hear that thrilling piano glissando, that chunky guitar riff and bass, and then that unearthly voice like no other:  "Uh-hmmm-hmmmm... a-lemme tell ya' now, mmm-hmm...When I had ya' to myself, I didn't want you around...."  And then, for maybe the thousandth time, every person in the joint will be on the dance floor within seconds, singing along to Michael's timeless yearning.

Yet here's what won't be the same. I'll be singing this, just as I did at age 8, at age 18, at age 38:  "I wantchuback....oooh-ooh bay-bee...Iwantchuback..."

But for the first time, I'll be thinking this:  No, I don't.

And then I'll commit another first: dancing to the Jackson 5 while fighting back tears. Because I'll mean it. 

I don't want him back. It was time for Michael to let go – of the world he'd dazzled with footwork yet never provided him with a safe enough toehold.  And it was time for us to let go – of the funky brother already lost to us by the time we first heard him, but who we spent the next 40 years trying to get back even so.

I've loved him so long – enough to stop whatever I was doing as soon as I heard his voice, turn up the volume and dance myself into sweet funky oblivion – from the time I was little until I got old enough to despise the behaviors that accompanied that unearthly gift.

    

I've loved him so long – enough to cry tears of both devastation and gratitude.

I've loved him so long – enough to finally be able to break apart those five words, re-punctuate them and leave it, and him, at this.

I've loved him.

So long.

Enough.

-- Lauri Githens-Hatch

Morning Links: Michael Jackson memorial today in L.A.

Today is the big memorial service at the Staples Center in Los Angeles for fans to remember the self-proclaimed King of Pop, Michael Jackson, who died on June 25th. 

• Celebrities set to appear or perform, include: Mariah Carey, Jennifer Hudson, Beyonce, Whitney Houston, Brooke Shields, Usher, Stevie Wonder, Magic Johnson, Kobe Bryant, Berry Gordy, Martin Luther King III, John Mayer, Lionel Richie and Smokey Robinson.

• There is speculation that this memorial service could cost Los Angeles taxpayers more than $2.5 million.

• Some of the Jackson siblings may have had a wake for Michael last night, according to People. Randy and LaToya were among a group that showed up at Los Angeles' Forest Lawn Cemetery last night for what some are calling a 'family wake.'

• Liz Taylor is skipping the memorial, saying that Jackson wouldn't want her mourning to be a public spectacle. "I just don't believe that Michael would want me to share my grief with millions of others. How I feel is between us. Not a public event," she posted to her Twitter account.

• Also skipping the memorial is Debbie Rowe, the ex-wife and mother of two of Jackson's children. Her lawyer says, "The onslaught of media attention has made it clear her attendance would be an unnecessary distraction to an event that should focus exclusively on Michael's legacy. ... Debbie will continue to celebrate Michael's memory privately."

• • •

Katherine Jackson, meanwhile, was turned down in her request to become the executor of Michael's will. L.A. Superior Court Judge Mitchell Beckloff ruled Monday that the men Jackson named as executors in his 2002 will, John Branca and John McClain, will act as estate administrators until an August hearing. Katherine, however, will remain as  temporary guardian of the three Jackson children.

• • •

Fox News is reporting that Michael Jackson's physician, Dr. Conrad Murray, was not licensed in the state of California to prescribe even a strong cough medicine, let alone controlled substances. Federal agents tell Fox that if Murray did provide Jackson with Demerol or Oxycontin, he did so illegally.

• • •

Kal Penn, whose character abruptly left Fox's House, showed up at his Obama Administration job in D.C. Penn left the world's most popular show to become an associate director in the White House's Office of Public Liaison. He will represent the administration in all things arts and in relations with Asian-Americans.

• • •

Jenna Fischer of The Office is getting married again. The actress became engaged last week while vacationing in Europe with boyfriend Lee Kirk. Fischer's first married to filmmaker James Gunn ended in 2007.

• • •

Professional golfer Phil Mickelson, whose wife was diagnosed with breast cancer in May, has announced that his mother has now been diagnosed with the same disease.

• • •

American Idol judge Kara Dio Guardio was married on Sunday in Prospect, Maine. The song-writer turned TV talent judge became engaged on her birthday in December last year, to boyfriend Mike McCuddy.

-- Dave Valenzuela

Morning Links: Jon and Kate celebrate together for kids on July 4

Jon and Kate -- remember them? -- set aside their differences to spend Independence Day at their Pennsylvania home with their eight kids, playing volleyball and picking blueberries for a cake baked by Kate. The Gosselins, although they are divorcing, have agreed to spend holidays together and focus on their kids, they say. In her recent People magazine cover story, Kate said, "Jon pointed to the July 4 holiday and said, 'What are we going to do about that?' I absolutely cannot imagine not spending every single holiday with my kids. I don't care what it takes. I will be there." Although their reality show is on hiatus until August, it's not clear whether the festivities were taped.

• • •

Police in Los Angeles are bracing for the arrival of possibly hundreds of thousands of fans for the Michael Jackson memorial at the Staples Center Tuesday. The number that might converge on the city is the "great unknown," they say, but warn that only people who have won the online ticket lottery or have legitimate press credentials will not be admitted into the perimeter around the center. Here's a clue about interest, though -- more than 1.6 million people applied online for the free 17,500 tickets, and a British Airways spokesman says a "huge influx" of fans are coming from Britain for the memorial. Jackson will be buried in Forest Lawn after the memorial service, and little is known about those plans. The memorial will be shown live Tuesday starting at 1 p.m. Eastern Time on E! and also on Eonline.com, TMZ.com, and probably other web sites.

• • •

Not only did Marty Wolff and Amy Hildreth meet and fall in love in 2007, when both appeared on the third season of "The Biggest Loser," they have now added a new member to the family. Blaine Patrick Wolff weighed in at 10 pounds, 14 ounces on his Jul 4 birthday. The pair married in March 2008.

• • •

Rupert Grint, the actor who plays Harry Potter's best friend Ron Weasley, was felled by the H1N1, or swine flu but has recovered enough to attend this week's London premier of "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince." Grint, 20, was filming the next movie in the series, "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" when he contracted the illness, but producers were able to film around him while he recovered.

• • •

The family of the little boy who starred in "Slumdog Millionaire" has finally been moved from the slums where their shack was demolished and into a $50,000 one-bedroom apartment in Mumbai. "We have lived on the road for so many years," said Azharuddin Mohammed Ismail's mother, Shamaam.  "I had never dreamed that we would have a roof over our heads." The Jai Ho trust, set up by producers, is still searching for a home for Rubina Ali, the little girl who appeared in the Oscar-winning Best Picture, which has earned millions in profits.

• • •

Susan Boyle and Simon Cowell are working together on her debut album, but the singer, who has missed several concerts on the "Britain's Got Talent" tour due to exhaustion, is taking her time in the studio. "She sounds fantastic on record," says Cowell. "She's so good, the album is not just going to be show tunes. We're going to take our time with this."

-- Anne Neville

'Grave Expectations' and preparing for your final farewell

In my story published today in the Spotlight section, the authors of "Grave Expectations: Planning the End Like There's No Tomorrow," write about the rituals people want (and don't want) for their final farewells.

Authors Sue Bailey and her friend Carmen Flowers, a former Buffalo resident, urge people to use their book as a starting point to decide everything from whether you'll be buried or cremated (and your ashes then scattered, entombed, put on the mantel or used to make a sea reef, a diamond, fireworks, or almost anything else you can imagine) to what food will be served at your funeral breakfast, lunch, brunch, dinner, cocktail party or barbecue.

While I was interviewing Bailey and Flowers at a local coffee shop, two women at the next table joined the conversation. Both were fascinated by the topic, and a few minutes into their chat with us, the older woman pulled out a card showing that she had donated her body to the U.B. medical school.

Have you made your final plans? If so, what are they? If not, is there something you know you do or don't want? Or do you think the whole idea of pre-planning is morbid or too depressing to consider? Do you wish your older relatives would tell you what they want, or do you prefer not to think about it?

While you consider your exit strategy, here are a few photos of celebrities' final resting places. Do you want a fountain like the one Al Jolson has?

Or what about a series of statues depicting yourself and your loved one? In this case, John Milburn Davis commissioned the tableaux after his wife, Sarah, died in 1930. His neighbors in Hiawatha, Kansas, criticized him for not pouring his money into a school or hospital, and when he died in 1947, few attended his funeral. But nearly a dozen statues depicting him and his wife draw thousands of tourists annually.

 

After all -- you can't take it with you!

-- Anne Neville

Michael Jackson-- From the Horse's Mouth

Ever since Michael Jackson's death, no one has been more importuned for commentary and interviews than Quincy Jones, Jackson's producer and partner on three albums, one of which, "Thriller," remains the biggest seller of all time. And nothing Quincy Jones has said anywhere else has the rawness and the lacerating candor of the interview he gave after Jackson's death to Details Magazine, of all places. It's especially blunt about Michael's relationship to his skin color and the drug addictions Jones witnessed, especially Ray Charles'. An excerpt:

Q: How have you been holding up since Michael Jackson's death?

A: Oh, man. It's surrealistic. I went to Shanghai for the movie festival over there-- I took Halle Berry--then went back to Luxembourg and in three days, I lost Ed McMahon, Farrah Fawcett and Michael. And Michael's thing is still surrealistic to me. I can't process it, man. I don't know how to process it. It's just unbelievable--him leaving before me. I can't believe it.

Q: How did you learn that he had died?

A: Well, everybody in the world called me. I got 500 e-mails. I've never seen anything like it in my life. At first they said they'd taken him to the hospital, then said he'd had a stroke or a heart attack--it just kept going back and forth and we didn't know what was really happening. And at first I thought he was just kind of freaked out by the coming concerts, because I was in London when they announced the 50 concerts and they sold out in four hours.......We'd see each other all the time, and I just can't believe he's not here.

Q: Have you been crying?

A: Oh, man, it's more than that. It's way more than that. It hurts my soul, man. It's just a lump down there.

Q: You were there to witness the strange evolution in Michael's appearance. Did you ever step in and say anything about it?

A: Oh we talked about it all the time. But he'd come up with "Man, I promise you I have this disease" and so forth and "I have a blister on my lungs" and all that kind of b.s. It's hard because Michae's a Virgo man--he's very set in his ways. You can't talk him out of it. Chemical peels and all that stuff.

Q: Did you believe him about the disease?

A: I don't believe in any of that bull----, no. No. Never. I've been around junkies and stuff all my life. I've heard every excuse. It's like smokers --"I only smoke when I drink" and all that stuff. But it's bull----. You're justifying something that's destructive to your existence. It's crazy. I mean, I came up with Ray Charles, man. You know, nobody gonna pull no wool over my eyes. He did heroin 20 years! Come on. And black coffee and gin for 40 years. But when he called me to come over and see him when he was in the hospital on his way out, man, he had emphysema, hepatitis C, cirrhosis of the liver and five malignant tumors. Please, man! I've been around this all my life. So it's hard for somebody to pull the wool over my eyes. But when somebody's hell bent on it, you can't stop 'em.

Q: It must've been so disturbing to see Michael's face turn into what it turned into.

A: It's ridiculous man! Chemical peels and all of it. I don't understand it. But he obviously didn't want to be black. 

--Jeff Simon

Morning Links: Jackson's body reportedly 'riddled' with needle marks, anesthetic found

TMZ.com, the web site that broke the news of Michael Jackson's cardiac arrest a week ago, now says that his body was "riddled with injection marks" on dozens of sites, and that Propofol, a potent anesthesia used for surgical procedures, was found in his house. This is the drug Jackson begged a registered nurse to give him due to insomnia. Propofol is not approved for home use and a doctor who prescribed it for such use could be prosecuted for manslaughter, says TMZ.

• • •

Plans to hold a public memorial for Michael Jackson at his former Neverland Ranch are apparently off the table after his family's application to bury him on the property was denied. "Contrary to previous news reports, the Jackson family is officially stating that there will be no public or private viewing at Neverland," says a Jackson family statement. "Plans are underway regarding a public memorial for Michael Jackson, and we will announce those plans shortly." the body of the singer, who died a week ago, is being held at Forest Lawn in Hollywood, and officials here refuse to say whether he will be buried in that cemetery. E!Online is reporting that Jackson"is expected to ultimately be interred" there.

• • •

Jackson's 2002 will, filed in Los Angeles Wednesday, names his longtime friend Diana Ross as the backup guardian of his children if his mother, Katherine, dies or "is unwilling or unable" to care for them. The five-page document specifically disinherits Debbie Rowe, his former wife who gave both to his oldest two children.

• • •

The oldest of the singing Jonas Brothers, Kevin, 21, is engaged. After a concert in Vancouver, the romantic JoBro took an overnight flight to New Jersey, where he showed up at Danielle Deleasa's door, dropped to his knees and surprised her with a diamond ring that Jonas helped design. "She said yes, yes, yes like 500 times super fast in a row," Kevin told People.com. The two met in 2007 while on vacation with their families; at the time Deleasa had never heard of the Jonas Brothers.

• • •

Karl Malden, the character actor who won a Best Supporting Actor Oscar for his role as Blanche DuBois' beau in "A Streetcar Named Desire," has died at age 97. Malden again played opposite Marlon Brando in "On the Waterfront," then later starred in "The Streets of San Francisco" with a young Michael Douglas and later made American Express commercials and appearances on television shows, including "The West Wing."

• • •

Ryan O'Neal says his jailed son Redmond is holding up well after the death of his mother, Farrah Fawcett, last week."I'm so proud of Redmond and the strength and resolve he is showing since his mother's death," Ryan told People.com. Redmond, 24, is jailed on a probation violation but was allowed to attend his mother's funeral Tuesday.

• • •

The "American Idol" tour kicks off Sunday in Portland, Ore., and all seven of the guys agree on one thing -- their "boys bus" is going to be too crowded. "There's only one bus for the boys and there are seven of us, and no, Adam [Lambert] and Kris [Allen] don't get their own bus," Scott MacIntyre told E!Online. Even Michael Sarver was griping: "I'm not gonna lie. I just wish it was part of the budget to have a third bus. It's like the testosterone tour this year. No one is looking forward to the cramped boys' bus." By comparison, the three female finalists will have to ride with just a few moms and backup singers.

-- Anne Neville