He still has a few moves
Everyone’s talking about Emmitt Smith these days. But they aren’t discussing how the NFL career leading rusher outmaneuvered linebackers on the field.
The chatter is about how Smith’s hip-swaying and smooth glides have gotten him to the finale of ABC’s “Dancing With the Stars” tonight and Wednesday.
Smith and his professional partner will face off against actor Mario Lopez and his partner for the title.
Sports bars and dance studios throughout North Texas have held “Emmitt watching parties” that show the appeal has cut across cultural and class lines.
The buzz has even motivated more men to take up dancing, said Toni Musgrow, 38, who manages IDance3 studio in Plano, where Smith and his partner practiced.
“As one male customer told me just the other day: ‘Emmitt makes dancing look manly.’ “
Mission: connubial
Tom Cruise flew into a Rome airport on a private jet Monday with his mother and his three children, setting off a frenzy among media and fans anticipating his high-profile wedding to Katie Holmes.
Cruise, 44, and Holmes, 27, are set to marry at an undisclosed Italian location Saturday.
Speculation on the location has focused on Odescalchi Castle on Lake Bracciano. The romantic, 15th-century castle, with its halls and gardens, can host up to 1,400 guests.
‘Grey’s‘ matrimony
“Grey’s Anatomy” star Ellen Pompeo and her boyfriend, record producer Chris Ivery, are engaged, her publicist confirmed Monday.
Ivery, 38, proposed to Pompeo on Friday, her 37th birthday, after breakfast at home. The couple, who have been dating for three years, have not yet set a wedding date.
Peter Parker, papa
Tobey Maguire and fiancee Jennifer Meyer are parents of a baby girl.
Meyer, a 29-year-old jewelry designer, gave birth Thursday in Los Angeles, Us Weekly and People magazines reported on their Web sites.
“Spider-Man” star Maguire, 31, and Meyer have been together since 2003.
A brighter shade of green
Former Procol Harum organist Matthew Fisher was in a London courtroom Monday seeking his share of the earnings from the British band’s song “A Whiter Shade of Pale.”
Fisher, saying his organ solo was essential to the 1967 hit, is suing former bandmate Gary Brooker and a publisher for a co-author credit and a share of copyright and royalties.
He didn’t beat anything
Andy Griffith, who played the fictional sheriff of Mayberry in his self-titled TV series, is suing a Wisconsin sheriff’s candidate who legally changed his name to Andrew Griffith.
The former William Harold Fenrick finished third in the Grant County balloting.
The birthday bunch
Singer-accordionist Buckwheat Zydeco is 59. Actor Robert Ginty (“The Paper Chase”) is 58. Actor D.B. Sweeney is 45. Actress Laura San Giacomo (“Just Shoot Me”) is 45. Rapper Reverend Run (Run-DMC) is 42. Actor Patrick Warburton (“Seinfeld”) is 42. Actor Josh Duhamel (“Las Vegas”) is 35. Drummer Travis Barker (Blink-182) is 31.