Here a Love, There a Love, Everywhere a Love....

FASHION THRILLS AND VIDEO STARS
MTV AWARDS SHOW A STUDY IN CONTRAST

NEW YORK The get-ups at Thursday night's MTV awards spanned the sartorial spectrum from smashing to so-so to ohmigawd.

The night's naughty-naughty

Backstage: Melissa Ruggieri gives a behind-the-scenes look at the MTV Video Music Awards.award went to bubble-gummer Christina Aguilera in her denim skirt and cross-halter, an outfit that showed so much, uh, skin, it flirted with an X rating.

But it was 30-somethings Jennifer Lopez and Kylie Minogue who showed the kids a thing or two about lookin' good.

Minogue, the blond Australian songbird, was splendiferous in a sexy, ankle-length wrap dress with a plunging neckline that tied in a knot at her waist and showed just enough of her tanned torso to turn heads.

J. Lo, the reigning red-carpet queen, looked classy, almost demure and - like a star. Her hair was an array of curls that fell nearly to her shoulders over a long-sleeved black tuxedo-ruffle top buttoned low in front. Her ankle-strap tie-up black heels added a sexy touch.

The boys?

B-o-r-i-n-g.

Not much more than sunglasses, football shirts, chains, goofy golf pants and hats and a leather jacket or two.

But definitely not boring was David Alan Grier, who arrived in a lime green (he declared it "booger green") suit with matching shirt. Grinning, he refused to discuss his choice in suits while "we are at war in Afghanistan."

Usually bare-bellied Britney Spears drew stares in a dominatrixlike, skintight black leather asymmetrical dress with matching leather cap. Lace-up stilettos completed the look.

Pink, whose hair is no longer pink or blond but jet black, went with the tough-girl look, too. She started out in a black and green zebralike halter dress tipped with leather made by her stylist, Trish Summerville.

An ornate tattoo decorated most of her left arm and leg.

Mary J. Blige was another star taking the high road, wearing a brown leather corset-tie top buttoned up to her neck. Her hip-hop style has gotten classier since she teamed up with Dolce & Gabbana.

One of the definite jaw-droppers of the night was actress and presenter Jennifer Love Hewitt, who wore a filmy, off-the-shoulder black and gold tunic dress that was so short it barely covered her backside.

Story: © 2002 Media General Inc. All Rights Reserved.

(From Jim Mix: Love was wearing a Stella McCartney original.  You know Stella?  Paul & Linda's daughter.)

Dear Jim Farber:

Jennifer Love Hewitt has been writing songs since 1992 or earlier than that.   

So why is it so scary (see the bottom of this e-mail)?  I mean, when you got started, "writing" that is, that was scary.  As a matter of fact, when you got started, that was scary.  So Happy "whenever" Birthday.  

I hope you respond.  About 90% of newspaper writers never do.  They have (along with their editors) the clout to be cowards as compare to be successful people with no thought what so ever.  

Jim Mix  

From The New York Daily News - August 30, 2002

DIRECT TO VIDEO

by Jim Farber
jfarber@edit.nydailynews.com

Fast-forwarding through the low points of the VMAs

As gawk-fests go, MTV's 19th annual Video Music Awards had it all.

It had controversy — when Eminem threatened to punch out a man in glasses (Moby).

It had a coup — with Axl Rose's first American performance since the invention of the cell phone.

It even had final proof that Michael Jackson will show up for any program he thinks will give him some award. Here it was Artist of the Millennium (or so he thought), meaning Jackson somehow managed to beat out 998 years' worth of as-yet-undiscovered competition.

Of course, MTV's freak magnet also featured enough hideous outfits to keep Mr. Blackwell in barbs for years. (Hands-down winner: Christina Aguilera's self-strangling halter top.)

As for the winners in other categories that we've just made up, read on:

Best Hope for Peace in the Middle East: The famously feuding David Lee Roth and Sammy Hagar shaking hands and pretending to like each other when presenting the Best Rock Video award. At least Sammy was honest about his out-of-it status, admitting he couldn't name a single song by Linkin Park.

Most Shameless Performance: Shakira furiously belly dancing in front of some shirtless Brazilian-style drummers, then dropping into the mosh pit to let every fan cop a feel.

Worst Impersonation of the Who: The Vines kicking over their instruments, as if no one had thought of that trick before.

Lamest Performance: Eminem. Who lip-syncs a rap?

Worst Sport: Eminem, for having his bodyguards keep away Triumph the Insult-Comic Dog, thus proving he can dish it out but he can't take it.

Most Depressing Moment: MTV having to flash James Brown's name on three separate screens to let the young uns in the audience know who he is.

Most Baffling Intro: Anthony Kiedis using the worst English accent since Madonna's.

Worst Example of Overkill: Puffy using fire, explosions, a full orchestra, Usher, Busta Rhymes and a Cirque du Soleil's worth of acrobats to camouflage his lack of talent.

Most Flagrant Michael Jackson Impersonation: Justin Timberlake's performance of his first solo single. Worse, he didn't even imitate a classic, but Jackson's latest junk.

Worst Decision: Axl Rose blowing the wad of his comeback just to give MTV a headline. It didn't help that he showed up in Bo Derek braids to screech songs that seem to date from the Mesozoic Era.

Scariest Intro of the Night: "Ladies and gentlemen, singer/songwriter Jennifer Love Hewitt."

Story: © 2002 Daily News, L.P. All Rights Reserved.

LOVE LOVELY AT THE VMAs

Jennifer Love Hewitt and a gala of recording artists and celebrities piled into the legendary Radio City Music Hall in the Great Apple of New York City, New York for the MTV's 2002 VIDEO MUSIC VIDEO AWARDS.

The Lovely Love credited as singer/songwriter (very true) in the introduction for Love, was the first celebrity/actress as well as singer/songwriter/etc, etc to introduce the first act, PINK.

Maybe next year, she'll be accepting one of those or a whole bunch of MTV statues for "BareNaked" as well as being introduced as the 'first act'.

By the way, Jennifer Love Hewitt was wearing a Stella McCartney design. Stella McCartney is the daughter of Paul McCartney who was a member of that band ^{(The Beatles)} before WINGS. Paul was the principal songwriter of "I've Just Seen A Face" which many years later, became the theme of Love's "Time Of Your Life". Also Paul wrote "My Love" which was one of two reasons why there's a MyLoveHewitt.com. The other reason? "Never My Love" by The Association.

Image: © 2002 Wireimage.com. All Rights Reserved.

From The Boston Globe (edited version) - August 29, 2002

WHO SHOULD WIN MTV'S VIDEO AWARDS, AND WHO WILL

By Wesley Morris, Globe Staff

Tonight MTV airs its annual Video Music Awards - a once-a-year pageant of half-naked celebrities and overblown live performances. This year, Bruce Springsteen lends his brand of professionalism to what's usually a hedonistic and messy circus. The show prompts an annual concern: Does anybody care about the videos? Here's one brief guide to these nominees in this major category.

Male Video: Craig David, ''Walking Away''; Eminem, ''Without Me''; Enrique Iglesias, ''Hero''; Elton John, ''This Train Don't Stop Here Anymore''; Nelly, ''#1''; Usher, ''U Got It Bad.''

Sleeveless and skinny, Nelly bumps and David grinds - both forgettably. Iglesias, on the other hand, stars in a dusty Peckinpah mini-epic in which he's beaten by Mickey Rourke while Jennifer Love Hewitt screams and falls out of her scoop-neck top. A lovelorn Usher can't find his girl, and can't stand the pain, so he lifts his shirt and consults his abs to find out whether she'll be back.

Should win: ''This Train.'' If for no other reason than it's the saddest career move/act of wish fulfillment ever. Sensing he could never make it back onto MTV or into the hearts of the young, Sir Elton commissioned 'N Sync's Justin Timberlake to inhabit the shadow of his former self in this David LaChapelle production.

Will win: ''Hero.''

Story: © 2002 New York Times Company. All Rights Reserved.

As of August 29, 2002: Eminem, ''Without Me'' won.

BRITNEY COULD BE SALAMAN'S
HEROINE IN "MARIGOLD"

Here's more on the Salman front. We all know that actor Salman Khan (pictured) is the chosen one to play the lead role in the Hollywood flick Marigold.

And with it, the Khan is riding high once again. Suddenly a whole lot of Bollywood producers have woken up to the new Salman and have realised the potential of the actor. Result? There's been a mad rush at his doorstep with crème de la crème offers.

But Salman isn't showing much interest. Who will after tasting blood? Now it will be interesting to see whom he gets to pair opposite in Marigold.

While according to reports, director Willard Carroll has already finalised teen pop star Britney Spears to play the heroine.

Gwyneth Paltrow and Jennifer Love Hewitt are also said to be in the race for an important role.

Kahn frequently gets rid of his T-Shirt in his films to show his muscles; frequently visits sick children in hospitals, and also goes often to donate blood; exercises daily---feels the day was incomplete without a workout; and was voted 7th best-looking man in the world by People Magazine.

Story: © 2002 Filmfare.com and IMDB.com. All Rights Reserved.
Image: Copyright Control. All Rights Reserved.

From The Hollywood Reporter, New York Post and My Love Hewitt Websites - August 24, 2002  

Günther Thielen

by Scott Roxborough, Dan Cox and Jim Mix

BERLIN, Germany -- New Bertelsmann boss Gunter Thielen has made further moves to dismantle the legacy of his predecessor Thomas Middelhoff, announcing a corporate restructuring and job cuts in a letter to employees.  

In the letter, Thielen said he was scrapping Bertelsmann's corporate executive council and the 15-member office of the chairman -- two structures created by Middelhoff to give Bertelsmann a more centralized corporate structure.   The executive council was set up to do preparatory work for management board meetings. The office of the chairman was Middelhoff's inner circle -- created to lessen his workload while still maintaining his tight control over Bertelsmann's many divisions.  

Thielen also said he would axe Bertelsmann's mergers and acquisitions unit BeCapital, a further signal that the new chairman is abandoning Middelhoff's strategy of aggressive expansion. "As a result, staff cuts will be inevitable in these areas," Thielen wrote, but did not go into detail.   The Bertelsmann chief executive said the moves would return the company to a looser corporate structure, something that he insisted would increase profitability of the group's individual units.  

A source said that Bertelsmann's key divisions - the BMG music company; Random House; Europe's biggest broadcaster, RTL Group; and Gruner + Jahr Publishing (who publish the "Rosie" Magazine for Rosie O'Donnell) - will probably be relatively untouched.

Sources near Bertelsmann said Friday that Thielen may be considering dropping Zomba co-founder and current thead Clive Calder, after the German group acquires the U.S. indie label in a $3 billion deal. Calder was the man who signed Jennifer Love Hewitt to Jive Records, the Zomba label.  

Zomba was founded by Calder and Barry Weiss. South African-born Clive Calder pocketed more than $1billion US dollars, a few weeks ago in selling control of his Zomba Music Group to Bertelsmann for a reported $3 Billion in US dollars.

Clive Calder

Barry Weiss

Calder grew up in Kensington, Johannesburg, in the 1946 before finding his way to the music industry in America and the world with partner Barry Weiss. Calder has recorded the likes of Britney Spears and 'N Sync under Zomba cornerstone label Jive Records.

Story: © 2002 The Hollywood Reporter and NYP Holdings - a News Corporation Company in association with My Love Hewitt Websites.  All Rights Reserved.
Images: © 2002 Bertelsmann AG and Entertainment Weekly.  All Rights Reserved.

A DAY IN THE LIFE OF CITYPULSE
AND INTERVIEWING JENNIFER LOVE "BABE" HEWITT

by Susanne Hiller

Since its first newscast 25 years ago next week, CityPulse has become a staple to anyone interested in civic politics, crime and community events, all covered with equal zeal.  There is no other news-gathering operation like CityPulse news, certainly not in Toronto, probably not on the planet.  

2:00 p.m. Roof of Citytv Entertainment Videographer George Lagogianes is interviewing Jennifer Love Hewitt -- who is insanely skinny and is now sporting short dark curly hair. She's in town to plug her new album Bare Naked, for the entertainment portion of the newscast. Lagogianes got his start as a cable puller in the newsroom. Of his job, he says "fun, fun, happy, happy, joy." 

Love Hewitt wears faded jeans with a belt with the word BABE written in studs across the back.

Lagogianes asks her to say something on camera to Martineau as part of the 25th anniversary tribute.

"What's his name again," she says. "Gord? OK, OK. Hi Gord. Here's to another 25 years."

Lagogianes, who has a cultivated casual look with gelled hair and an untucked shirt, got his start at Citytv as a cable puller in the newsroom.

Love Hewitt giggles and plays it up for the camera. She purrs and pretends to scratch Lagigianes's chest.

"Oh, behave," he quips, obviously thrilled. Later, he describes his job as "fun, fun, happy, happy, joy."

He explains: "I interview Jennifer Love Hewitt today and Liz Hurley on Friday. What could be better that? Of course I love it."

Later on at 5:57 p.m. Control Room It's the countdown to the 6 p.m. news and producers are milling about the control room, a mass of computers and screens.

The reporters wait in various locations for their cue.

"Two and a half minutes to Merella,"

"Still looking for a picture."

And then, suddenly, achorman Gord Martineau is introducing the top stories. When we get to the entertainment piece about Jennifer Love Hewitt, Hurlbut shakes his head.  "Would a little bit of light on her face have been too much to ask?" he growls.

Sitting back in his chair, Dailey says he has never considered leaving CityPulse. He's a lifer.

"You don't have this level of freedom elsewhere. There is not a lot of editorial suggestion," he says. "We are not afraid to get a little involved in a story and that is incredibly unique. As a news organization, I think we have a public service to inform and serve. The media is part of the community and I think it's good to address issues, such as health and safety. A lot of forward thinking police chiefs would agree, a lot of journalists wouldn't."

Story: © 2002 National Post edited by My Love Hewitt Websites.  All Rights Reserved.

You know, when I read this, I say to myself, "And Warner Bros. Records turned down new recordings from Jennifer Love Hewitt?"  You see, Jennifer Love Hewitt was contracted to Atlantic Records and 143 Records in the past, both owned by Warner Bros. Records, owned by AOL Time Warner.    

From CNET News - August 23, 2002  

WEEK IN REVIEW: AOL ALL OVER

By The CNET Staff

When the going gets tough, the tough turn to...Jennifer Love Hewitt?

Borrowing a page from broadcast TV, online giant America Online is hoping some celebrity saviors can make its content more compelling, with the goal of attracting and retaining more paying subscribers.

In one recent example, the unit of AOL Time Warner offered the first peek at actress Hewitt's debut music video, "BareNaked." For other features, AOL is sifting through the vast music resources of Time Warner for exclusive content.

Subscriber growth at AOL--which is also battling investigations into its finances and a wickedly slow advertising market--has slowed dramatically. Just 492,000 new customers signed up last quarter, compared with the 1.3 million who were added during the same period last year.

Subscriber satisfaction also has been ebbing. On Monday, the University of Michigan released its latest American Customer Satisfaction Index, and AOL scored 59 out of a possible 100, the lowest of all companies measured in the Web portal category. Competitor Yahoo received 76, and MSN scored 72.

One of gripes AOL users have had is the rampant use of pop-up ads. In response, AOL earlier this year cut back on sales of pop-ups, but it is now embarking on a new style of attention-grabbing promotions.

On Sept. 1, the company will feature so-called rich media ads throughout member pages--a move that was previously inhibited by technical limitations, despite the rising popularity of rich media.

Such ads will contain advanced sound and motion through streaming media, Macromedia's Flash animation or comparable technology. They appear in all shapes and sizes, including expandable banners, pop-up ads, and promotions that float over a page, also known as "screen stealers."

With the new ads, AOL is hoping to reverse some dismal numbers: In the second quarter, advertising and commerce revenue fell 42 percent, a deeper decline from the previous quarter's 31 percent drop.

In other AOL Time Warner news, the company said this week it will spin off its cable unit as a separate company later this year and will offer broadband service over AT&T Comcast's cable systems.

The deal also gives AT&T a way out of its partnership in Time Warner Entertainment. The new company, to be called Time Warner Cable, will be formed from Time Warner Entertainment's existing cable properties and from additional cable properties to be contributed by AOL Time Warner.

Oh, and we almost forgot: The investigations into the company's dubious accounting during the dot-com heyday are continuing. Most recently, some experts said investigators are likely to cast a wider net in search of inappropriate insider stock sales and misleading financial statements.

Story: © 2002 CNET Networks, Inc. All rights reserved.

BERTELSMANN TO DOWNSIZE HEADQUARTERS

By Bertrand Benoit in Frankfurt and Lutz Meier in Berlin

The move is the latest indication that Günther Thielen, who took over from Thomas Middelhoff as chief executive last month, is rolling back his predecessor's efforts to prepare Bertelsmann for a 2005 initial public offering.

Mr Middelhoff resigned four weeks ago after clashing with the Mohn family, Bertelsmann's controlling shareholder, over his plans to take the group public.

Mr Thielen announced changes to Bertelsmann's "corporate centre" in a letter to employees on Thursday. He said he would reinforce the group's decentralised structure and "ensure our business divisions continue to have as much creative and decision-making autonomy as possible".

Most of the changes amount to the dismantling of management structures put in place by Mr Middelhoff as he sought to strengthen his control over the group's divisions.

Following the recent abolition of the position of chief operating officer, the "corporate executive council" will be dissolved. Created seven months ago, the council was meant to do preparatory work for management board meetings but was seen by Mr Thielen as undermining the role of the division heads.

The "office of the chairman", a 15-strong secretariat set up by Mr Middelhoff to support his increasing workload, and BeCapital, an incubator and venture capital arm also conceived by the departed chief executive, will be shut down.

Co-ordination between the divisions will be entrusted to a new "executive board council" composed of four units responsible for the "content network" - another creation of Mr Middelhoff aimed at encouraging synergies between divisions.

"As a result, staff cuts will be inevitable in these areas," Mr Thielen wrote. "Decentralisation also means that work must increasingly be done within the divisions and companies themselves."

The moves are certain to be welcomed by the management of Bertelsmann's largest divisions, particularly RTL Group - Europe's biggest television broadcaster and the group's largest unit - and Gruner + Jahr, the fiercely independent magazine publishing arm.

Story: © 2002 The Financial Times Limited. All Rights Reserved.
Image: © 2002 Bertelsmann AG. All Rights Reserved.

To Mr. Bozell:  

That gimmick of honesty should work to get into the Top 40 for Jennifer Love Hewitt.  Just like any of your stories should help to get them published and read throughout the country and the world....or do you have any better ideas.   But I'll tell you something stupid about this. "BareNaked" is about opening up and exposing your inner thoughts to survive.   Nelly's "Hot in Here" is about taking your clothes off.   Teen Choice Awards and any other Teen special events needs success to continue next year.   So "nudity" Nelly's way wins. 

Why Jennifer Love Hewitt tells it like it is to get into the Top 40...just like you tell it like it is to keep on reporting.

Jim Mix    

TEEN CHOICE AWARDS LESSON?

by L. Brent Bozell III

Another summer of freedom for teenagers is again tumbling to a close. After months of being late to bed and later to rise, children are agonizing over another year of organized learning about to begin. So the commissars of teen culture have thrown one last TV party – the "Teen Choice Awards," voted on by the readers of Seventeen magazine and broadcast on that antonym of wholesomeness, Fox. 

If you're a boy or girl of 12, and you're about to take a plunge into the world of teenagerdom, what would television teach you about this miraculous time?

1. Dress light. No doubt in keeping with the awards' beach theme – after all, the award isn't a trophy, it's a surf board – the teen girls in the audience must have been required to wear bikini tops, halter tops, tube tops – whatever showed a lot of young flesh. Seventeen magazine is supposed to help teen girls negotiate those difficult developing years, but this TV showcase seemed less about female socialization and more about guaranteeing teenage boys wouldn't turn the channel over to preseason football. Even the female presenters and award winners seemed required to bare arms and midriffs. "Choice Female Athlete" and Olympic figure skater Michelle Kwan came in a glittery bikini top and expressed how nice it was to get out of the ice rink and get skimpy for the cameras.

2. Obsess about sex. The "choice summer song" award went to the uncommonly melodic rapper Nelly for his song "Hot in Herre" [sic], in which he implores his woman "It's getting hot in here, so take off all your clothes," and the woman quickly echoes "I'm going to take my clothes off." Now there's a summer anthem for all the kids to sing. 

If that tribute to nudity wasn't enough, former Fox star Jennifer Love Hewitt performed her new single, "Barenaked," what Ms. Hewitt would want us to think is a deep meditation on emotional nakedness, feeling vulnerable in a crazy world, and blah, blah, blah. In reality, it’s a cheesy gimmick to get the actress into the top-40 countdown.

The new soul star Tweet was also in the house, but she didn't complete the titillating trilogy with her hit single, "Oops (Oh My)," in which the self-described "Southern hummingbird" keeps mysteriously, oops, dropping her shirt and pants on the floor around her man of the moment.

At least the program didn't repeat last year's "highlight," four drag queens impersonating the musical foursome who revived the call-girl hit "Lady Marmalade."

3. Do things because your parents won't like it. It's sad, but not surprising, that when it came to "Choice Movie Comedy," the light, classy Disney film "The Princess Diaries" (rated G), would get crushed by "American Pie 2" (rated R). Seventeen and Fox couldn't just applaud a film that Hollywood has rated as inappropriate for the very children watching these awards. They also gave it an award under the equally inappropriate category of "Choice Movie Your Parents Didn't Want You to See." If the film inspires teenagers into the joys of reckless sexual abandon, perhaps next year Seventeen will go a step further and create a category for "Choice Birth Control Clinic Your Parents Didn't Want You to Attend Without Their Consent."

4. Scream, don't listen, while others are talking. This isn't as weighty a lesson, but if these awards were about artistic merit instead of just a popularity contest, you'd think the producers at Fox would encourage the teen-crammed audience to stop screaming at the top of their lungs throughout the acceptance speeches. OK, so no one’s going to deliver a Gettysburg Address, but one ought to be interested in what these role models have to say. For example, Reese Witherspoon was humble, even embarrassed to win the "Extraordinary Achievement Award" at the tender age of 26. Actor Adam Sandler used his acceptance speech to make nocturnal-emission jokes.

It would be unfair to suggest that all of the award winners typified a teenage wasteland of cultural rot. Singer-actress Mandy Moore won an award for the film "A Walk to Remember," a two-hanky weeper about an upright preacher's daughter who dies young. WB's family-friendly "7th Heaven" won for best drama, and Fox's relatively clean "Bernie Mac Show" won for breakout comedy. Sarah Michelle Gellar won for her phoned-in performance in "Scooby-Doo." (See earlier sentence on popularity contest over artistic merit.)

But these were the exceptions. The special merited airing, not as entertainment for children, but as a documentary for their parents to explain where, and how, their children are learning all those awful messages.

Story: © 2002 L. Brent Bozell and Creators Syndicate. All Rights Reserved.
Letter to Editor: © 2002 Hewmix Limited. All Rights Reserved.

TORONTO WITH LOVE

Itty-bitty pictures of Jennifer Love Hewitt in Toronto, Ontario, Canada at the Top O The Senator on August 20, 2002.

Love was promoting "BareNaked" and performed for the guest and press of Canada.

Images: © 2002 Wireimage.com. All Rights Reserved.

AOL HITCHES HIS STAR TO ENTERTAINMENT

By Jim Hu
Staff Writer, CNET News.com

Can Jennifer Love Hewitt resurrect America Online?

While defending itself from investigations into its accounting practices, shuffling its executive ranks and casting a wide net for new users, AOL Time Warner's online unit also is getting back to basics. Borrowing a page from the broadcast TV model, AOL executives are returning to the idea that offering exclusive content--whether acquired by third parties or created in-house--will give people a reason to join and stay on.

In one recent example, the company offered the first peek at actress Jennifer Love Hewitt's debut music video, "BareNaked." For other features, AOL is sifting through the vast music resources of Time Warner for exclusive content.

"I think the network model is a very interesting one, because the approach we're taking has many similarities," explained Kevin Conroy, who runs AOL Music and who will also head the company's overall entertainment strategy. "The Internet is a growing media outlet, and it provides us with amazing opportunities...to package audio, videos, photos and text together."

If that sounds familiar, it should. In the mid-1990s, before AOL had achieved online dominance, the company envisioned itself as another TV network of sorts where subscribers could get exclusive content. The idea was championed by then-President Ted Leonsis, who described his plans in a 1996 interview with CNET News.com.

"Every medium that develops goes through the phase of showing reruns and then taking steps to original content," Leonsis said. "I remember the days of Nickelodeon where 'Nick at Nite' used to show 'Gilligan's Island' and 'The Donna Reed Show,' or on HBO when it just showed movies. Now they show movies with their own programming, like 'The Larry Sanders Show' and 'Dream On.' That's what I see happening for AOL."

But it was Leonsis who had to dream on when AOL one month later hired Robert Pittman to oversee the company's online division. Although Leonsis was given stewardship of AOL Studios, which would provide the network original content and programming, Pittman shifted AOL's emphasis to striking advertising deals instead of investing in content.

Pittman, however, left the company last month, and AOL executives are publicly distancing themselves from some of his legacy. They claim that many of the deals under Pittman's watch placed cash over quality, sparking complaints by subscribers and overall annoyance at the advertising-heavy nature of AOL.

A lot is riding on the content-is-king strategy.

Subscriber growth at AOL has slowed dramatically--just 492,000 new customers signed up last quarter, compared with the 1.3 million who were added during the same period last year.

Subscriber satisfaction also is ebbing. On Monday, the University of Michigan released its latest American Customer Satisfaction Index, and AOL scored 59 out of a possible 100, the lowest of all companies measured in the Web portal category. Competitor Yahoo received 76, and MSN scored 72.

A ray of hope?

Conroy's division is crucial to improving those dismal numbers, and he's wasting no time.

AOL Music has begun producing its own content with Sessions@AOL, where subscribers can watch studio performances and interviews with popular musicians. Popular acts that have participated include P. Diddy (formerly known as Puff Daddy), Mick Jagger, Alicia Keys and Moby.

AOL Music also lets people listen to albums before their release to record stores around the country and offers sneak peeks at videos before their release on MTV. Although AOL Time Warner owns a major record label in Warner Music Group, all the major labels will have artists premiere material on AOL Music.

Earlier this month, AOL announced it was showing Jennifer Love Hewitt's first music video, "BareNaked." The video was streamed more than 1.4 million times, according to the company. And in June, AOL debuted four new songs from Bruce Springsteen's album "The Rising."

AOL Music's system of offering exclusives will likely become a model for other forms of entertainment throughout AOL, executives say.

"You can imagine a similar approach where we create a marketing event to launch a new video game or to give people a chance to watch or give feedback for new TV shows before they broadcast on a network," Conroy said.

These exclusive offerings, however, could also create new revenue streams by allowing the company to either charge more for a monthly subscription or impose additional payments for access. As with subscription cable channel HBO, people might be willing to open their wallets for content they can't find anywhere else.

This strategy could put it up against RealNetworks, whose RealOne SuperPass service has attracted 750,000 subscribers paying $9.95 a month to watch news clips from CNN and ABC or listen to Major League Baseball games. Like cable companies, RealNetworks wants to sell a basic subscription service with added premium channels, including, possibly, an adult channel.

Betting on the right horse

Still, competitors and some analysts question whether AOL's move is just a repeat of the Web industry's past failure to emulate the TV networks.

When Microsoft created its MSN portal in the mid-1990s, the software giant also tried to distinguish itself from rivals by offering original programs via streaming video to subscribers. These programs, most of them produced by amateurs, flopped because of their poor quality and high expenses. Microsoft has since refurbished MSN many times in its quest to topple AOL, turning to software services, and not just content, to boost MSN's subscriber numbers.

Multimedia content on the Internet is "in the infancy stage, and for the most part, those types of experiences require a broadband connection to really be useful," said Lisa Gurry, lead product manager for MSN. "AOL has struggled to demonstrate their broadband strategy."

Some of AOL's other competitors are hesitant to consider content as the driving force of their businesses. Yahoo is expected to launch its own high-speed DSL (digital subscriber line) service with SBC Communications by the end of the summer. The Web portal believes what people can do with their content will drive growth more than the content itself.

"The point is that it's not necessarily any piece of content; it's the flow to partner and (to) pull in a wide variety of content and present it in a highly personalized environment where the user is in control," said Jim Brock, Yahoo's senior vice president of major initiatives.

EarthLink, which has struck a number of deals with content providers such as online music service FullAudio, has also sided with the Internet's utilitarian nature. The company, which also has deals with photo processing site Snapfish and e-mail-by-phone service AudioPoint, has shelved its ambitions to own and produce content, although it once considered operating its own record label.

"We are pursuing those who use the Internet as a tool rather than those who use it as entertainment," said Michael Lunsford, an executive vice president at EarthLink. "I guess if I owned all the entertainment properties that (AOL does) I'd pursue the same strategy."

Furthermore, many who have followed the industry's boom and bust have seen too many examples of online entertainment failures. High-profile flops, such as the Digital Entertainment Network, Pseudo.com and even AOL Time Warner's Entertaindom, have not convinced the industry, or investors, that consumers want to use the Internet for entertainment.

For AOL, it will be an especially hard sell in the face of its ongoing problems.

"I just don't think the model has been proven yet, and clearly AOL needs some new and exciting ways of growing its subscriber base and revenue base," said Youssef Squali, an equity analyst at First Albany. "My point is, it's a show-me attitude--because we've been burned by them for quite some time."

Story: © 2002 CNET Networks, Inc.All rights reserved.

THEY HAVE TOO MUCH ANIMAL MAGNETISM

Jennifer Love Hewitt has a bug thing. In the tropics where there's a surplus of insects, she contracted a bizarre bug-killing habit. She hacks them with a knife whilst yelling, "Hate you, hate you, hate you. Die! Die! Die!" Look . . . what can I tell you . .

Story: © 2002 NYP Holdings - a News Corporation company.  All Rights Reserved.

From Zap2it.com - August 14, 2002

"AMERICAN IDOL" LIVE ON TAPE

by Brill Bundy

LOS ANGELES (Zap2it.com) - There's a certain brand of disappointment that can occur when you go to see a band or singer and find out that they aren't nearly as engaging while performing live as that cd you've been listening to non-stop for months. That great video that has you dropping everything? A product of flashy direction and painstaking choreography.

So, as "American Idol" has continued building steam week after week, a niggling feeling has started to grow that even though the performances are live (at least for the East Coast), we might be missing something while watching from the comfort of our living rooms. Could it be merely personal taste that sometimes leaves us wondering if the judges (and studio audience) are reacting to the same performance we just enjoyed, or endured?

Luckily, for a TV writer there's an easy way to put such questions to rest -- attend a taping. With only five finalists left, it was the perfect time. The competition was fierce, but the performances still varied in quality.

That's how I found myself in a soundstage that, according to the usher, seats "300 something people" and looking at the homemade signs professing love for all of the contestants, and one of the judges.

And no, it wasn't Paula Abdul.

While waiting for five people under the age of 25 to serenade me with Burt Bacharach love songs, I looked around for possible celebrity attendees. However, unlike last week when both "Dog Eat Dog's" Brooke Burns (rumor has it she and host Ryan Seacrest have something going on) and singer/actress Jennifer Love Hewitt stopped by, it was star-free (although I supposedly missed Wayne Brady).

Except for former finalist Ryan Starr, who was in the house along with fellow losers Jim Verraros, Ejay Day and the recently booted Christina Christian. No one mentioned where the only missing finalist, A.J. Gil, was, and his absence didn't stop the show's producers, staff and assorted hangers-on from treating all of them like it was old home week.

Before the show started, one of the producers came out to warm up the crowd -- coaching everyone to stand up and wave their hands in the air at the point during the group's show-opening performance of "That's What Friends Are For" when the singers stand and walk downstage.

What? You thought that was spontaneous?

Finally, after the judges and hosts filed in, and in between the product placements and commercial breaks (not to mention a crash course on who Bacharach is and why he's important for the show's core audience), we got to what we'd come for -- the performances.

Kelly Clarkson, the dark horse contender who has steadily risen in favor after giving spot-on performances week after week, started things off. Having changed her song at the last minute from "Anyone Who Had a Heart" to the popular "Walk On By," Clarkson let loose so fiercely that there's no doubt that any intended party would do just that.

Of all the contestants, Clarkson seemed to be enjoying herself the most. Her talent is natural and she has fun, a highly underrated quality. The power of her voice sent chills, and while the hand waving was coached, the hand clapping keeping time with Clarkson that broke out almost immediately was not. It felt like everyone, as if they were sitting in a bar, wanted to sing along with her.

In fact, during the commercial break following the judges' comments to Clarkson, the audience had to be asked to keep their enthusiasm in check so that the contestants didn't miss their starting note and everyone could hear what the judges were saying.

This slight adjustment in attitude did not explain the markedly tepid response to RJ Helton's ill-advised rendition of "Arthur's Theme." In addition to a weakish voice that seemed on the verge of cracking on more than one occasion, Helton was awkward in his stage presence. Holding his hand clutched in a fist at his waist, it was obvious that he wanted to move it around but had been told not to.

Whether it was combatting the images of the recently deceased Dudley Moore and increasingly campy Liza Minelli that the song brings to mind, or trying to reconcile Helton's two-sizes-too-small white shirt and dark pants that made him look like a cross between a Bible salesman and '70s-era Travolta, the room lost energy immediately.

Tamyra Gray was next with "The House Is Not a Home" and predictably everybody was blown away. She cried. Paula cried. It was an all around love fest for all in attendance.

Minus me.

Simon Cowell said Gray had given a Whitney Houston, Celine Dion-level performance. That may have been the problem. Every second felt planned and precise. When Gray wanted the audience to listen, they listened. When she wanted them to respond, they responded, but not too much. Once I got over that big strong voice coming out of her itty-bitty body, I was bored. By being too perfect, Gray robbed the whole rendition of any emotion.

Now for Justin. Justin Guarini definitely has the "X" factor. Sexy and smooth, he came across like the real deal as he crooned his way through "The Look of Love." On TV, at least. Interestingly enough, in person it's obvious that he's aware of where the cameras are at any given moment and is playing to them, leaving his live fans to be happy with sloppy seconds.

Nikki McKibbin came last.

Poor Nikki. Being a rock-'n-roll girl in this contest has got to be tough. For all of Simon's harsh comments, I wish he would just tell her to get herself a band and become the next Courtney Love. Instead, she's been made to suffer through themes that are entirely wrong for her, such as Motown and Big Band.

Bacharach was also not a good fit, but McKibbin still gave it her best shot. Realizing she's on her last legs she came out and worked it. Not only did she push herself, but she revved up the audience, enlisting their help in making this about more than just the competition. By the end, she had everyone rooting for her.

Well, maybe not everyone. None of the judges were impressed.

Two hours later, ensconced on the couch with Chinese takeout, I watch the show when it airs on the West Coast.

Justin is way hot and his performance is smoking, pulling me in until I remember that he cares much more about his faceless millions than the identifiable 300 somethings in the studio audience. I'm surprised that I had somehow missed how RJ had rushed through most of his song. Tamyra's performance doesn't leave me cold the way it had in person, but I'm kind of turned off about how, on a repeat viewing, she seems to be vocally all over the place.

The most stunning difference is in Nikki. I honestly don't know what I was thinking. She's horrible, right up there with Ryan Starr's slaughter of The Kinks' "You Really Got Me" that was her undoing.

Polishing off the dumplings, I reach for the phone and vote for Kelly.

Story: © 2002 Zap2it.com - a Tribune Media Service.  All Rights Reserved.

From Instyle Magazine - August 13, 2002

NUDE LIPS

by Elizabeth Glaves

Celebrities are showing up at parties, awards and even movie premières in the buff—when it comes to lip color. Seen on stylesetters like Heidi Klum and Jennifer Esposito, a nude lip is the best (and only legal) way to bare it. "I love the look," says makeup artist Melissa Silver for the Stephen Knoll salon in Manhattan. "It's totally sexy, easy to wear and seasonless."

And this soft, skin-toned lip looks great with a dramatically done-up eye or lends polish to a subtle look.

To get your own lips looking naked—only better—Silver suggests going for a pale nude shade if you have fair skin, and a darker shade if you have a darker skin tone.

For a glossy version, like the color spotted on Jennifer Love Hewitt, try Trish McEvoy Cream Lip Color in Rosette ($18; nordstrom.com). For a matte finish, similar to the one worn by Klum and Esposito, try Bobbi Brown Lip Color in Sandwash Pink ($18; gloss.com). Moisturize lips with a balm first, then cover them with a nude-colored lip liner, then the lip color.

And Silver warns, "Never go with a lip liner that is darker than your lipstick." Now, get naked!

Story: © 2002 Instyle Magazine.  All Rights Reserved.
Image: © 2002 Wireimage.com. All Rights Reserved.

From  San Francisco Gate - August 13, 2002

I WAS A MALE CONNIE CHUNG

by Emil Guillermo

For those of you who dare admit to watching TV news, here's a pop quiz:

Can you name a bona fide Asian-American TV news personality?

If you mentioned Connie Chung, congratulations. She's it.

Regardless of what you may think of her new CNN show, Connie's darn good at kicking veteran white male broadcasters like Donahue in the proverbial ratings ass -- though she still has a lot of trouble with the conservative variety, like O'Reilly, who tends to cream her head-to-head. She does, however, remain the seminal icon for Asian Americans in broadcast news.

Which brings us to our follow-up question. Can you name an Asian-American male in broadcast news?

Anchor? Reporter? Robotic camera operator? (Oh, and by the way, Terilyn Joe isn't Joe Terilyn. Despite her aggressive public food fight, she's a perfect lady.)

It's not as easy, huh?

Back in 1989, after years as a TV reporter at KRON, I moved to Washington, D.C., to become the first nonwhite and first Asian-American anchor/host of NPR's "All Things Considered." I jokingly referred to myself as the male Connie Chung.

My Asian-American male friends in the business all had a big laugh. Sure, it was radio, but I had reached a level on the national stage where none in the news business had gone before. We all were hoping that we'd soon be seeing Asian Americans show up as anchors in big local stations around the country -- especially in the top 25 television markets, like San Francisco, Seattle, San Diego, Los Angeles and Boston.

It has yet to happen. In 2002, though the 11 million Asian Americans in this country constitute 4 percent of the population, we're still on the Connie standard.

TV journalism: a great job -- for women! Men? Don't you have better things to do?

In the past, Asian-American males didn't need a study to quantify the problem. Got 10 fingers? That's more than you need to count the Asian-American male TV-news anchors.

But now the University of Southern California's Annenberg School for Communication and the Asian American Journalists Association (AAJA) have actually quantified the problem for us all. And it's just what we suspected.

In the USC survey, newsroom executives also mentioned the image of "the Asian tiger." This phrase refers to the economic power of certain Asian countries and indicates the perception among hiring managers of Asian Americans as foreigners. This view was reinforced when someone interviewed for the study specifically mentioned Jackie Chan, who is Asian, not Asian American.

The reference to Chan, the box office star, also raises the whole showbiz aspect of TV news. After all, when you fill out a newsroom, it's like casting for a movie. When you're searching for an authoritative anchorman or a news vixen, television ratings are no different than box office. It's all about sex appeal. The mention of Jackie Chan in the USC/AAJA report is a revelation.

Chan's movie image creates a dangerous stereotype for Asian-American males in TV news. When you see an Asian guy, even after all these years, there's still the thought, "Does he know karate?"

And of all the big media karate guys, Jackie Chan is the crossover star. More so than Chow Yun-Fat (who has played opposite Jodie Foster) or Jet Li (who got to seduce Bridget Fonda). One problem: They're all from Hong Kong. Where's the Asian-American? Not famous enough for the big screen, apparently.

I find Chan charming. But he's too Chaplinesque, not a romantic lead. In his upcoming new movie, "The Tuxedo," he plays an Asian driver. Oh, there's a fine image. But he's not Kato, the karate-chopping chauffeur played by macho Bruce Lee in the 1960's TV show "The Green Hornet." Previews show Chan alongside Jennifer Love Hewitt. But I bet he doesn't get the girl. Chan's sexless -- which may be the image problem for Asian-American guys. Despite Chan's mainstream box office appeal, he doesn't do it for the legions of mostly white male news directors, who see sex appeal as Connie Chung.

Chan doesn't match the standard avuncular image of Cronkite, nor does he have the matinee-idol looks of a Brian Williams. So, hire the Asian-American guy? No. Well, maybe for weather. There is, after all, some math used in weather. And, just think, he could do a double backflip onto the news set.

Now, the question is, what kind of men are they attracted to? What do they think about Jackie Chan with Jennifer Love Hewitt? Chow Yun-Fat with Jodie Foster? Jet Li with Bridget Fonda? What do they think of karate? Anyone up for kicking a glass ceiling in? Or do they all dream of finding the next Connie, too?

Story: © 2002 San Francisco Gate edited by My Love Hewitt Websites. All Rights Reserved.

Domestic Read-out for:   HEARTBREAKERS (2001)

Starring: Jennifer Love Hewitt, Sigourney Weaver, Gene Hackman, Ray Liotta, and Jason Lee  

Released: March 23, 2001  

Rated: PG-13  

Playing in 2,750 theaters  

First Weekend Gross: $11,801,323  

Total Revenue in 2001: $40,334,024  

Total Domestic Box Office in 2001: $40,336,607  

Top Films by Box Office: HEARTBREAKERS was Number 60 out of 419 Films.   

Number One Top Film Box Office: "Harry Potter & The Sorcerer's Stone" $317,557,891.  

"Gosford Park" was #59 with $40,300,105 and #61 was "I Am Sam" with $40,270,895.  

Final tally.  

"Heartbreakers" Images: Click here

Story: © 2002 The Hollywood Reporter. All Rights Reserved.

CELEBRITY QUOTES

Back-to-school With Cover Girl Julia Stiles; High School Horrors With Chris Rock, Reese Witherspoon & Jennifer Love Hewitt;

Also ... Kelly Osbourne, Jimmy Fallon, and Eve....In September seventeen magazine!      

NEW YORK, NY -- Getting ready for back-to-school, seventeen magazine offers the following celebrity-related previews to the media from the upcoming September issue, on newsstands the week of August 12th.

Stiles & Substance -- Julia stays on top of her game!

Cover girl, Julia Stiles juggles school, a boyfriend, new digs and stardom. She admits, "There are a lot of things to learn that acting can't teach me," and that is why she has to try super hard to prove herself to professors and friends at Columbia. It paid off this semester ... she made the dean's list!

On her work this summer onstage in Twelfth Night, Julia says, "It helped release a lot of tension for me, which was a wonderful thing. I can laugh at myself."

Kelly Osbourne: It's all about %#@$* fashion! And is NYC calling??? Her new column, Dear Kelly, roars into its second month with our readers dying to hear about her crazy cool style. Her punk-ish chic is so unique we just had to indulge!

"I'm not trying to be something I'm not!" Kelly doesn't need to shout it from the rooftops; we think it's pretty obvious. She shops everywhere from the most chic -- Fred Siegel -- to the ultimate grunge vintage shops -- Squaresville -- in L.A.

Kelly does a lot of traveling but says she likes the sense of independence she gets in New York City. In L.A., "Everyone depends on everyone else to do stuff for them. I can't stand that. I think you should get up and do it yourself," like New Yorkers do.

Ok Kelly, but who pays for your shopping sprees? She tells our readers that it's all with her own money. Well with the money she is getting for a second season of The Osbournes ...

17 Answers -- SNL's cutest anchorman & the host of the 2002 MTV Video

Music Awards

No! Jimmy Fallon says he's not dating Winona Ryder, but tells us "I wish I was going out with her!"

We asked him about his first kiss and he told us "it was great" and "very innocent." Well, we would hope so, considering it was while waiting for his mother to pick him up from a roller-skating party in the fifth grade!

Just like you -- When Rap-Star Eve was 17!

She tells us that she was into boys and fashion at the age of seventeen ... who isn't! She always wore short skirts or jeans, "The tighter, the better; the shorter, the better." But her stepdad always tried to hide them from her.

Eve also had a Michael Jordan obsession! "I loved him!" She tells us "One time I wrote his name on my bedroom wall in colored glue." We don't recommend this strategy for sparking the interest of a secret crush.

Celebs Reveal Traumatic High School moments: they spill 'em here!

"For my junior prom picture, I wore this terrible blue dress and tan hose and white shoes and a big goofy smile. Everybody made fun of me for weeks." Reese Witherspoon

"I was on stage and didn't know I had a hole in my pants. You could see my white underwear." Jennifer Love Hewitt

"My worst moment was probably when I dropped out." Chris Rock

"The most embarrassing moment in high school was when I challenged a girl to punch me in the stomach -- when she did, I farted. That's about as bad as it gets." Jerry O'Connell

About seventeen magazine: Seventeen magazine is the largest monthly beauty and fashion magazine in America written for young women ages 12 to 24 years. Each year, seventeen magazine reaches 80 percent of all female teens. seventeen is published monthly by PRIMEDIA Consumer Magazines, a division of PRIMEDIA. Visit http://www.seventeen.com

Story: © 2002 PR Newswire Association Inc. All Rights Reserved. A United Business Media company.
Distributed by FluentMedia, a service of Tribune Media Services. Copyright ©2002 by Tribune Media Services.

OK NEAR FOR BMG-ZOMBA DEAL

by Scott Roxborough

COLOGNE, Germany -- Bertelsmann's $3 billion buyout of indie label Zomba Music Group (a company Jennifer Love Hewitt is contracted with) is not expected to face much opposition from European regulatory authorities, lawyers familiar with the situation said.

The European Commission is to rule by Sept. 2 whether to accept Bertelsmann's Zomba acquisition or to extend its investigation. European Union antitrust watchdogs effectively torpedoed an earlier attempt by the German media giant to expand its music division when the commission hinted it would block a planned merger between Bertelsmann Music Group and U.K. label EMI.

Story: © 2002 The Hollywood Reporter.  All Rights Reserved.

From Instyle Magazine - August 9, 2002

THE LOOK: DROPPED WAIST DRESSES

by Hal Rubenstein

Too often misunderstood as a silhouette benefiting but a few, the dropped-waist dress is finally being accorded the savior status it truly deserves.

For not only does it elongate the torso, help balance any disparity between hips and shoulders, and let you wear horizontal patterns without the usual anxiety, but the shape also allows most women to enjoy the flirtatiousness of a full, flowing skirt with a minimum of self-consciousness.

It's a rare case of lowering one's sights to achieve raised expectations.

Story: © 2002 Instyle Magazine.  All Rights Reserved.
Image: © 2002 Wireimage.com. All Rights Reserved.

From the Dallas Morning News - August 8, 2002  

CELEB VOICE WORK GETS THUMBS UP

By Nancy Churnin

What's Elijah Wood doing when he's not saving Middle-earth as the diminutive Frodo in The Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring?

Voicing the even more diminutive Tom Thumb in The Adventures of Tom Thumb & Thumbelina.

Actually, the celebrity voices are the best thing about this sweet animated adventure from the makers of The Brave Little Toaster.

Jennifer Love Hewitt plays Thumbelina, with Bebe Neuwirth, Rachel Griffiths, Jane Leeves, Jon Stewart and Robert Guillaume in supporting roles.

Next best are the songs by William Finn, especially the wooing song performed by Peter Gallagher as the Mole King ("Is it because I'm vermin you don't think that I'm droll? Welcome ... to my hole.")

The animation, however, is pretty flat – spoiled as we are by current animation standards. And the story, about a greedy circus owner who kidnaps the pair as babies from a land of little people, is less than memorable.

When Tom Thumb and Thumbelina are grown, they try to find their way back to their original home. They bicker and make up and have to save each other from the Mole King, who wants to marry Thumbelina, and a boy scientist who wants to dissect them and their forest friends.

Despite the story's attempts to focus on spunky Thumbelina and sweet Tom, the funny Mole King and his wacky pals steal the show – though not the girl. It makes you wish the movie's creators could have come up with a better story and finale for the moles.

Story: © 2002 The Dallas Morning News.  All Rights Reserved.