FIRST LOOK: The News in Brief, January 25, 2005

TAKING FLIGHT: The Aviator scoring 11 Academy Award nominations Tuesday morning, including Best Picture and Best Director for Martin Scorsese, to lead this year's list of contenders. It'll compete against Million Dollar Baby and Finding Neverland, both of which received seven nods, as well as Ray and Sideways. The Oscars will be presented Feb. 27 on ABC.

ACTORS' DELIGHT: Among the thesps scoring a Best Actor nomination are Leonardo DiCaprio for The Aviator, Jamie Foxx for Ray, Don Cheadle for Hotel Rwanda, Johnny Depp for Finding Neverland and Clint Eastwood for Million Dollar Baby.

ON THE ACTRESS SIDE: Vying for Best Actress are Hilary Swank for Million Dollar Baby, Annette Bening for Being Julia, Imelda Staunton for Vera Drake, Kate Winslet for Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind and Catalina Sandino Moreno for Maria Full of Grace.

IN THE DIRECTOR'S CHAIR: Aside from Scorsese, other helmers picking up a Best Director nom include Clint Eastwood for Million Dollar Baby, Taylor Hackford for Ray, Alexander Payne for Sideways and Mike Leigh for Vera Drake.

TOUCHING TRIBUTE: Jay Leno offering up an hour-long tribute on Monday's The Tonight Show to Johnny Carson, who died Sunday at age 79 of emphysema. Aside from clips, Leno featured stirring remembrances from some of the former host's closest pals, including Don Rickles and Bob Newhart. Former sidekick Ed McMahon turned up, too.

RECALLING JOHNNY: Meanwhile, McMahon reflecting back on his days working with Carson in an interview Monday night on CNN's Larry King Live, as well as in press interviews. "When you tuned in, you got what you were looking for," the announcer told the Associated Press. "Nailing someone in the political world, doing a funny joke...you were looking for that at the close of the day."

CARSON ADD: Ellen DeGeneres dedicating Tuesday's show to Carson, saying she wouldn't be where she is today if he hadn't given her her first big break with a Tonight Show appearance.

DOWN UNDER MYSTERY: Police in Australia are investigating why an electronic listening device was apparently planted outside Nicole Kidman's Sydney mansion.

BACK IT UP BUDDY: Photographer and video director David LaChapelle was arrested over the weekend in Utah for refusing to comply with a sheriff's request to "back up" outside a crowded Sundance street scene. LaChapelle was booked, released and cited for disorderly conduct by Summit County cops in Park City.

TED TALKS: Billionaire mogul and CNN founder Ted Turner calling the Fox News Network a propaganda arm of the Bush administration and compared its popularity to Adolph Hitler's election in Germany before World War II, according to Broadcasting & Cable.

BETTER THAN CATS? Hip-hop impresario Sean "P. Diddy" Combs making a surprise bid to purchase Andrew Lloyd Webber's theater group which has recently been put up for sale, British media report. No word how much he's willing to pay.

ONE FOR THE TYKES: According to the Hollywood Reporter, Robin Williams signing on to star in The Krazees, a comic fantasy based on the preschool book by the same name about a bunch of polka-dotted creatures that come to life on kids' bad days.

TUBE NEWS: Also per the Reporter, actor Michael Rapaport set to headline a Fox comedy pilot, The War at Home, centering on hypocritical parents who struggle to keep control over their kids.

BIG MATCH-UP: NBC spinning off The Biggest Loser into a competition-style series that will feature two teams facing off to see who can lose the most pounds, according to TV Guide.

BUSTED: Stockard Channing has been arrested in Hollywood and charged with two counts of driving under the influence. Her arraignment is set for Feb. 9.

TALK TO THE COS: Police saying they want to interview Bill Cosby about an alleged sexual harassment incident after a former Temple University employee accused the comic of fondling her in his suburban Philadelphia home. No charges have been filed in the matter.

CAN HE SURVIVE THE IRS? Original Survivor champ Richard Hatch arraigned on charges of tax evasion Tuesday in Providence, Rhode Island, for failing to report more than $1 million in earnings from the reality series and a Boston talk radio gig. He was released on a $50,000 bond.

TSUNAMI AID: Country, gospel and contemporary Christian artists set to hold a tsnunami benefit concert Wednesday at Belmont University in Nashville, Tennessee. Among the acts slated to perform are Michael W. Smith, Lee Greenwood, Ricky Skaggs, the Oak Ridge Boys, and Crystal Gayle among others.

ROMANCING INDIA? Michael Douglas planning to produce and star in Racing the Monsoon, a movie similar in tone and style to his 1980s comedy-adventure hits, Romancing the Stone and Jewel of the Nile. Hot Bollywood actress Aishwarya Rai will likely play the female lead.

STILL TOGETHER...SORT OF: Despite putting an end to their four-year marriage, Brad Pitt and Jennifer Aniston still planning to remain business partners in their joint production company, Plan B Entertainment. Meanwhile, Pitt is eyeing a role in big-screen biopic of Jesse James, according to Variety.

TUNE IN TO TYRA: Model-actress Tyra Banks debuts her new chatfest this fall on 19 Fox-owned stations, including top markets such as New York, Los Angeles, Chicago and Boston.

JACKSON WATCH: The Santa Barbara Sheriff's Department announcing it will investigate its own for a would-be leaker in the Michael Jackson child-molestation case; meanwhile prosecutors in the case want to display a number of "erotic materials" seized from the popster's Neverland ranch during his trial to show his motive was sexual. Jackson's lawyers plan to oppose the move at a hearing on Friday.

IN THE WORKS: Per Billboard, Pearl Jam has begun recording its eighth studio album in Seattle and plans to release it later this year.

ASK AH-NULD: Danny Glover, Diane Keaton and Carlos Santana among the more than 30 celebs taking out an ad in Monday's Variety urging Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger to approve a bill giving illegal immigrants the opportunity to obtain driver's licenses in California.