IT PAYS TO BE AN AMERICAN IDOL!
Every year thousands and thousands of singing hopefuls try out for American Idol and there's a good reason why. While only one person can win the title, just appearing on the show can prove to be good for their wallets. According to the New York Times, winners earn at least $650,000 from the show, even if they don't have huge post-Idol success (like Taylor Hicks for example). That money comes from performance fees and merchandising, not to mention other opportunities. Sources tell the paper that the year after they win, Idol champs earn close to $1 million. But even non-winners can make the big bucks as well. Top Five finalists can make close to $100,000, and that number increases if they wind up signing a deal with Idol producers 19 Entertainment, not to mention the money they make on Idol's annual tour. There is one downside to a 19 deal though. According to the Times, they usually lock the artist into a seven-year contract, which is twice as long as normal record deals.

STRIPPER CLAIMS AFFAIR WITH LOST STAR!
Move over Josh Duhamel, there's a new star caught in a stripper scandal. The National Enquirer reports that a tattooed stripper is claiming she's having an affair with Lost's Matthew Fox. Stefani Talbott, 26, claims she met the father of two, who has been married for 18 years, at the Stars Cabaret club in Bend, Oregon. "I was dancing onstage, and I made eye contact with him immediately," she said. "I got so excited. He asked me, ‘Why are you working in a place like this?’ I told him that I am a single mom and needed the money.” She also claims that the actor didn't tell her to keep their affair secret, so of course, she went right to the tabloids. "Yes I've been having an affair with Matthew Fox. We had sex together," she told the tab. "I've kept voice mails and text messages from him." The Enquirer reports that Fox denies having a sexual relationship with the woman.

THE ART OF DOING NOTHING, BY JOHNNY DEPP!
Johnny Depp's free time is just that, free time. He says that when he isn't working, he's pretty much doing nothing at all. “We have a great place in the South of France,” reveals the Alice in Wonderland star. “It’s a little hamlet — only about 45 acres — and I don’t do anything. I’ve not left the property for three months at a time. I literally just wake up, go out, check the garden and see the vegetables growing. It’s a pristine existence in terms of simplicity. There’s no talk of movies or work and, infinitely more important, the telephone never rings. It really is a beautiful, simple life.” He also owns an island in the Caribbean, which he says was a spur of the moment purchase. "Like everything else in my life it wasn’t planned, it just kind of happened,” he said. “I went on vacation to escape with my kiddies and my girl and someone said that there was an island down the road for sale. I said, ‘Let’s go see it.’ I looked at it, I walked on it and I was done. It had to be. It came at the perfect moment for me."

MARY-KATE SINGLE!
An Olsen twin is back on the market. USmagazine.com reports that Mary-Kate Olsen has split from her boyfriend of two years Nate Lowman. When asked if the pair was still together, Mary-Kate's rep told the site, "No, they are not. It's been a while."

THE LATEST ON CHARLIE SHEEN!
Charlie Sheen's ex-wife Denise Richards is trying to claim a little credit for getting the actor into rehab. TMZ reports that Monday morning, Denise called an executive on Two and a Half Men, claiming she was concerned about Charlie relapsing, asking someone on the show to try and convince him to get help. Early yesterday there were claims that when the official announcement that Charlie was in rehab was made, the actor actually hadn't checked in yet. Sources said that Charlie and his lawyers were waiting to make sure his admission wouldn't affect his bail in Colorado, which could have been revoked if it was found out he'd taken drugs or consumed alcohol. Radaronline claimed that Charlie didn't check in right away because he was getting cold feet. (They also said he was getting help for not only alcohol, but cocaine abuse as well.) But by late yesterday, TMZ reported that the plan from the beginning was to have Charlie admitted around 8:30 pm.

THE BECKHAMS WANT TO BUY CLOONEY'S VILLA, TOO BAD HE'S NOT SELLING!
The Mail is reporting that George Clooney has had enough of locals and photographers hanging out outside his Lake Como estate so he's getting ready to sell the place. The Ocean's Eleven star bought the 30-room Villa Oleandra in 2002 for $15 million, and now sources say David and Victoria Beckham are interested in taking it off his hands. Becks reportedly told friends, "It's peaceful, quiet and near Milan. It would be great for the family." But the Beckhams will have to first outbid Russian vodka billionaire Tariko Roustman, who has reportedly offered $31 million for the place. There were also reports that Clooney was buying an Island in Lake Como, but, not surprisingly, neither story is true. "To complete the news cycle: I am not buying an island and am not selling my house in Italy. The story was made up, then picked up and now denied. End of another riveting day of false news," says Clooney in a statement

STAR TREK STAR PLEADS FOR HELP FINDING MISSING SON!
Former Star Trek star Walter Koenig (Mr. Chekov) held a press conference in Canada yesterday, to plead for help finding his missing son, former Growing Pains star Andrew Koenig. "I just want to know you're okay," Koenig said to his son through the cameras. "If it means you just want to stay here, that's okay. You don't have to come back. Just let us know that's your intention." The 41-year-old Andrew was last seen February 16th, which is also when activity on his cell phone and ATM card stopped. It has been reported that Andrew was depressed, and about three weeks ago sold all his possessions and gave his California landlord notice that he was moving out. Police say they are hopeful that Andrew is still alive and just "doesn't want to be found."

HEROES STAR PLEADS NOT GUILTY!
Heroes star Adrian Pasdar pled not guilty yesterday in California to driving under the influence. Pasdar, husband of Dixie Chick Natalie Maines, was arrested January 27th after cops pulled him over for speeding on a Los Angeles freeway. If convicted he faces up to a year in jail and a $1,000 fine.

LEIF GARRETT PLEADS NOT GUILTY!
Former child actor Leif Garrett pled not guilty yesterday to one count of felony heroin possession. Leif was arrested on February 1st after cops spotted him shaking and sweating at an LA train station. When he was stopped, Leif admitted to having heroin in his shoe and was arrested. He is due back in court March 16th.

NANCY KERRIGAN'S BROTHER OUT OF JAIL!
The brother of figure skater Nancy Kerrigan was released from jail yesterday. Mark Kerrigan, 45, who's facing assault and possibly even manslaughter charges in the death of his father, Daniel, was released after undergoing a psychiatric evaluation and posting $10,000 bond. Mark was arrested January 25th for assaulting his father. Daniel subsequently had a heart attack that the medical examiner claimed was triggered by the fight. While awaiting his next court appearance, Mark must wear a GPS monitoring device, refrain from drinking and submit to random drug and alcohol testing. He will be living in his family home (where the incident occurred) and can only travel locally unless receiving permission from the court.

MISCELLANEOUS MOVIE NEWS!
• Oscar nominee Matt Damon will play Robert F. Kennedy in an upcoming biopic. The movie, based on the Evan Thomas biography His Life, will follow Kennedy as he rises from the shadow of his slain brother, President John F. Kennedy, up until his assassination during his own 1968 presidential campaign.

• Speedy Gonzales is coming to the big screen. According to the Hollywood Reporter, New Line is turning the famed Looney Tunes character into a combo live-action/CGI film, with George Lopez voicing Speedy. Speedy, known as the fastest mouse in all of Mexico, debuted in 1950 and was the nemesis of Sylvester the Cat. Over the years, there has been criticism about ethnic stereotypes in the cartoon, which the studio plans to fix by modernizing the characters.

• How I Met Your Mother's Jason Segel and Yes Man's John Michael Higgins will star alongside Cameron Diaz in Bad Teacher, a comedy about a foul-mouthed seventh grade teacher who, after being dumped by her boyfriend, sets her sights on a colleague, who's dating the school's best teacher. Segel plays the school's gym teacher, while Higgins will play the principal. The role of the model teacher has yet to be cast.

• Superbad's Jonah Hill will star in the Fox comedy The Sitter, about a college student living at home with his mom while on suspension, who has a wild night when he gets talked into babysitting the kids next door.

• Slumdog Millionaire's Freida Pinto will star in the new Greek mythology flick War of the Gods. She'll play Phaedra, a priestess who joins young warrior Theseus as he leads men into battle with the immortal gods.

TV TIDBITS!
• Kiefer Sutherland will be back to fighting terrorists. Production on Fox's 24 was halted on February 16th so the actor could undergo surgery for a cyst near his kidney, but now doctors have given him the okay to return to work. Production is set to resume Monday.

• Zach Galifianakis and Jude Law have been tapped to host Saturday Night Live next month. The Hangover star will host the March 6th episode with musical guest Vampire Weekend, while Law will host March 13th, with musical guest Pearl Jam, making their fourth appearance on the NBC late night program.

• Fox quickly cancelled the drama Past Life, but the show's star didn't stay unemployed for long. Kelly Giddish has nabbed the lead role in Jerry Bruckheimer's NBC drama pilot Chase, about a U.S. marshal (Giddish) who heads up a Texas unit devoted to hunting down the United States' most dangerous fugitives.

• The Truth About Cats and Dogs' Ben Chaplin has landed a role in the NBC drama pilot Kindreds, about a former patent lawyer who forms an unconventional law practice. Chaplin will play a high school biology teacher who hires the lawyer to handle his wrongful termination case and then goes to work for him as part-time volunteer.

• Former Saturday Night Live star Casey Wilson will star in the ABC comedy pilot Happy Endings, about a couple who breaks up at the altar and then has to figure out how to maintain their relationships with four friends. Wilson will play one of the friends, a bitterly single woman.

• 24's Carlos Bernard has joined the cast of ABC's Scoundrels, about the matriarch (Virginia Madsen) of a family of criminals who decides it's time for them to go straight after her husband (Neal McDonough) is sent to prison.