Any port will work for Storm
In television, it’s never a good sign when it starts raining in your indoor studio less than 40 minutes before airtime.
That’s what happened to “The Early Show” on CBS Wednesday, forcing a mad scramble across Manhattan in a downpour.
“Early Show” co-anchor Hannah Storm was in her office at 6:20 a.m. when the TV screen she was watching cut out. She went into the newsroom and found chaos – water pouring through the ceiling and staff members struggling to cover computers and desks.
Intense storms had caused water to back up on the plaza outside CBS’ Fifth Avenue street-side studio, causing the flood.
So more than 40 people rushed out in the rain and hailed cabs for CBS’ main broadcast studio six blocks west.
Save for some minor technical problems – anchor Julie Chen in Los Angeles initially couldn’t hear her colleagues – the top of the show was seamless. Storm and co-anchor Harry Smith briefly explained to viewers why they were on a different set.
“I like stuff like that,” Storm says. “I think it’s fun. I love rock ‘n’ roll … I actually had a gas.”
Hello, Big Apple
For the first-ever Farm Aid in New York, regulars Willie Nelson, Neil Young, John Mellencamp and Dave Matthews will be joined by the likes of Counting Crows, the Allman Brothers Band, Montgomery Gentry, Guster and Jewish reggae-rapper Matisyahu, organizers announced Wednesday.
The concert will be held Sept. 9 on Randalls Island, just east of Manhattan.
Says Mellencamp: “I’ve always felt we should do it in New York because New Yorkers consume so much food.”
Red, white and blue
White Stripes rocker Jack White and his model wife, Karen Elson, welcomed their second child on Tuesday, a boy.
Henry Lee White joins the couple’s 15-month-old daughter, Scarlett Teresa White.
White, 32, married Elson, 28, in 2005.
More dough for J.Lo?
Jennifer Lopez has been awarded $545,000 by an arbitrator in her lawsuit against her first husband, Ojani Noa, over his plans to publish a tell-all book claiming she had several affairs.
The April decision, revealed in newly filed court papers, includes $200,000 in damages, plus arbitration costs and attorneys’ fees.
A judge still must confirm the award. A hearing is scheduled for Sept. 5.
Hey, CBS …
Finally, the tiny Serbian village of Zitiste, which in recent years has faced heavy flooding and landslides, has erected a statue of Sylvester Stallone‘s Rocky Balboa in hopes of warding off evil and attracting tourists.
“I felt as if Rocky has come from our village; he had to fight to win his place in society,” said village resident Bojan Marceta, who spearheaded the effort.
The birthday bunch
Comedian-director David Steinberg is 65. Actor Sam Elliott is 63. Actress Melanie Griffith is 50. Actress Amanda Bearse (“Married…With Children”) is 49. Rapper Kurtis Blow is 48. Singer Whitney Houston is 44. Actress Gillian Anderson is 39. Actor Eric Bana is 39. Latin singer Juanes is 35.