Morning Briefing:
Sneak a peek at the "Project Runway" finalists' runway shows: The season finale of "Project Runway" is Wednesday night, when the judges will decide the winner: Will it be flashy Santino Rice, 30, practical and gifted Chloe Dao, 33, or cute upstart Daniel Vosovic, 24? All three of them had their collections appear on the runway during New York's Fashion Week, and you can see the photos online -- click here for Rice's, here for Dao's and here for Vosovic's. And oddly -- potential spoiler alert -- you can also find shots of the last eliminated designer, Kara Janx, who also mysteriously showed in New York here. (People, Getty Images)
Sawyer eyeing anchor seat? Hoping to beat Katie Couric to become the first woman to anchor a weeknight news program solo, Diane Sawyer is allegedly "obsessed" with landing the main seat on ABC's "World News Tonight." Couric has been rumored for months to be thinking about giving up her spot on "Today" to take over Dan Rather's chair on "The CBS Evening News," and Sawyer wants to make a similar move first, albeit at a different network. Charles Gibson, Sawyer's "Good Morning America" co-host and one-time front-runner for the "World News Tonight" anchor position, is said to be very unhappy about Sawyer's ambitions. (TMZ)
Diet Dr Pepper + Red Vines = Kooky demands: Mary J. Blige's current concert rider may not be the most exacting in the music business (and it's certainly nowhere near as elaborate as the demands for the Rolling Stones tour, which includes satellite TV and the construction of a "running area" for Mick Jagger), but it is a little weird. In addition to the six cans of Diet Dr Pepper, tub of Red Vines and bottles of Fiji water ("absolutely, positively must be Fiji"), Blige stipulates that her dressing room "must be fully carpeted, clean and have a private toilet (with new toilet seat)." And while asking to be put up in a presidential suite (and not have any adjoining rooms booked to other guests), she's also concerned about the hotel help: "Housekeeping staff MUST honor the DO NOT DISTURB signs!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" (The Smoking Gun)
Also:
Talking to Out magazine, Madonna let it be known that her 9-year-old daughter, Lourdes, has been wondering about mommy's sexuality recently: "She is really obsessed with who is gay, and she even asked, 'Mom, you know they say that you are gay?' And I'm, 'Oh, do they? Why?' And she says, 'Because you kissed Britney Spears.' And I said, 'No, it just means I kissed Britney Spears. I am the mommy pop star and she is the baby pop star.'" (Associated Press) ... What the world needs is more fake news: Celebrities are now conspiring with photographers to bring you fake paparazzi journalism. (Wall Street Journal) ... New Age crooner Yanni is facing a misdemeanor domestic-battery charge in Florida after allegedly hitting his girlfriend during a fight last week; he was arrested and spent a night in jail. His lawyer insists the allegations are untrue: "He's the most gentle man around. His hands are his instruments." (N.Y. Daily News) ... At the Vanity Fair post-Oscars party at Morton's in Los Angeles, Salman Rushdie was hanging out with winners Three 6 Mafia. "That's the song I was really rooting for," Rushdie said. "I really liked 'Hustle and Flow.'" (Rush & Molloy) ... The TV audience for Sunday's Oscars was 38.8 million people, down 8 percent compared with last year, making it the third-lowest-rated Oscars in 20 years. (BBC)
Money Quote:
"Brokeback Mountain" screenwriter Larry McMurtry on why he thinks his film got beat out for best picture: "Members of the Academy are mostly urban people. 'Crash' was a hometown movie." (ContactMusic)
Turn On:
CBS unveils the premiere of "The Unit" (9 p.m. EST), a drama about the lives of a Special Forces team from David Mamet and "The Shield" creator Shawn Ryan. And U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan will talk about Iran's nuclear program and the plans to reform the U.N. -- including possibly outsourcing some work -- on "Charlie Rose" (PBS, check local listings).
-- Scott Lamb
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