extra

American Idol runner-up Katharine McPhee disclosed on Extra last night that she got a message from Steven Spielberg before the season finale, and he wants to meet with her. She even said (and I find this interesting) that since he was calling, she wasn't sure if winning would be best for her.

Now, what could Spielberg possibly want to meet with Katharine McPhee about? Is he doing a remake of The Wizard of Oz and he wants her to sing the theme song?

Both TMZ.com and Ryan Seacrest are reporting (warning: audio starts right away) that a very famous band will make Chris Daughtry an offer tonight to join their band as lead singer. The offer will be made on Extra.

TMZ says that the band is Fuel, but Seacrest (on his morning radio show, where he interviewed Daughtry today) hints that it might be another band, one that has something to do with Idol and has major hits and is a "household name."

Any guesses?

[UPDATE: Yes, it was Fuel]

No, you haven't tuned into the alternate universe version of TV Squad. What you are seeing here is true blue. According to Extra, Rosie O'Donnell has been named as the replacement for Meredith Riviera on ABC's The View. Meredith is replacing Katie Couric on NBC's Today show when Katie moves to anchor the CBS Evening News this summer. Rosie was on the short list of candidates that included Connie Chung, Patricia Heaton from Everybody Loves Raymond and current CNN American Morning anchor Soledad O'Brien.

ABC will make the official announcement on Friday, April 28th. From 1996-2001 O'Donnell hosted her own syndicated daytime talk show that was a critical and popular success. She is currently executive producer of The Big Gay Show, a comedy sketch show that will appear on the Logo network.

[via Zap2It -- thanks Anthony!]

It's unfortunate what has happened to some word these days. "Genius," and "cool" have all gotten twisted in the past couple of decades. Now add to that list the word "exclusive."

You ever notice the tabloid shows (ET, Access Hollywood, The Insider, Extra) will all say they have an "exclusive" interview with a celeb, but then you turn on another show and they'll have an interview with the same celeb, often in the very same chairs that the other interview had? What's up with that? Larry King does it a lot too. These shows honestly think that just because they interview a celeb on their show at a certain time in a certain way, that this qualifies as an "exclusive." Didn't exclusive once mean that no one else had the interview?

Yes, it was! Brian Unger, former correspondent on The Daily Show, actor, comedian, essayist on NPR, and co-host of Extra and O2Be, filled in for Keith Olbermann tonight on Countdown. I didn't recognize him at first, except I had an "oh, that guy has been anchoring in the afternoons on MSNBC too" moment. And then one of his guests called him "Brian" and then I slapped my head and said "doh!"

Anyway, interesting to see a Daily Show alum anchoring a news program, even if it is one that's not just a straight news show but an all-around news show that mixes humor with the hard-hitting questions. (The show is repeated at midnight, Eastern time, if you want to catch it.)

Hey, Walter, it's been awhile, hasn't it? In fact, I think it's been longer than a fortnight since I led you on a wild toboggan ride through the crazy world of celebrities and infotainment. If you'll strap yourself in, we'll careen down that hill yet again. The ride is brief, but the memories last a lifetime.*