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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

It’s almost more than he can bear


Imogen Heap
 (Associated Press / The Spokesman-Review)
From Wire Reports The Spokesman-Review

It may not be the biggest awards show in town, but the Grammys certainly doesn’t take a back seat to the Oscars when it comes to fashion faux pas.

“This is train wreck city,” style critic Steven Cojocaru said as he surveyed the scene at Sunday night’s ceremony.

“It allows for very bad fashion. It’s all over the map.”

His pick for worst dressed? Best new-artist nominee Imogen Heap, who was wearing a one-of-a-kind creation by a designer she met on the social-networking site MySpace.com.

“There’s an origami thing going on, a little Polynesia. There’s a plant on her head,” Cojocaru said.

“She’s desperate, desperate, desperate for attention, and she will be in every magazine tomorrow.”

On the red carpet, Cojocaru cautions, chic and sleek play better than ornate and overdone.

“Less is more,” he said. “Even though I used to wear a live panda on my head.”

Back on the beat

As expected, in the wake of their reunion performance at the Grammys, The Police announced Monday that they’re launching their first tour in 20-some years.

Confirmed stops by Sting and company include a June 6 date in Seattle. Ticket information is yet to be announced.

“That’s one of the two or three dream tours out there that live-music fans are very stoked to see,” says Ray Waddell, who covers the concert industry for Billboard magazine.

“You’re talking about a group with a significant portion of their fans who were not of age to see them when they last toured.”

Break a leg

Judi Dench will watch this year’s Oscars from bed, recuperating from knee surgery.

Dench, 72, nominated for her role as a schoolteacher in “Notes on a Scandal,” is up against Kate Winslet, Penelope Cruz, Meryl Streep and the heavily favored Helen Mirren.

“Idol” hand, devil’s workshop

Jackie Collins has signed a deal with “American Idol” producer FreemantleMedia North America that could again bring elements of her sexy best-sellers to television.

Collins, whose 25th book – “Drop Dead Beautiful: The Continuing Adventures of Lucky Santangelo” – will be released in July, previously has had books turned into TV projects by ABC, CBS and NBC.

Bye-bye, Zsa Zsa - hello, moolah?

Zsa Zsa Gabor‘s husband, Prince Frederic von Anhalt, plans to fight for custody of the late Anna Nicole Smith‘s infant daughter – even if it costs him his marriage.

Anhalt says he had a decade-long affair with Smith and may be the child’s father, as two other men have also claimed. The baby stands to potentially inherit a fortune from Smith’s late husband, oil tycoon J. Howard Marshall II.

“She says, of course, ‘If you bring a baby home then it’s over,’ ” he says of Gabor. “If my wife wants to divorce me then it’s up to her.”

The birthday bunch

Actress Kim Novak is 74. Actor George Segal is 73. Musician-actor Peter Tork (The Monkees) is 65. Actress Stockard Channing is 63. Talk show host Jerry Springer is 63. Singer Peter Gabriel is 57. Singer Henry Rollins is 46. Actress Kelly Hu (“Martial Law”) is 39.