FIRST LOOK: The News in Brief, May 13, 2004

TIE-DYE TRIUMPH: Survivor's Rupert Boneham awarded a $1 million consolation prize Thursday on a special edition of the show. CBS said that more than 38 million viewers cast votes to determine the winner.

SUPPORTING THE GAG: Prosecutors in Michael Jackson's child molestation case urging the judge to uphold the gag order that prevents anyone involved in the case from talking to the press.

BEST BET: OutKast, Beyoncé, Lil John and Kanye West leading the field in nominations for the 2004 BET Awards. The awards will be announced June 29 at a Hollywood ceremony.

CONGRATS: The American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers will honor MTV and VH1 with the ASCAP Partners in Music Award at the 21rst annual Pop Music Awards on May 18. Metallica will receive the inaugural Creative Voice Award; Jackson Browne will be honored with the ASCAP Founders Award.

SWELL GUY: Jimmy Kimmel said his head "blew up like a float in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade" after he suffered an allergic reaction from taking eight Advil on Wednesday. Kimmel was treated in the emergency room and released.

FREAKY MEAN GIRL: Lindsay Lohan tapped to host the 2004 MTV Movie Awards, taping June 5 in Culver City and airing June 10 on the music network.

ON THE OFFENSIVE: Rush Limbaugh took out full-page ads in two Florida newspapers Thursday, attacking prosecutors who are investigating whether he illegally purchased prescription painkillers. Limbaugh claimed on his radio show that he bought the ad space because he couldn't get his side of the story printed on the editorial pages.

TOUGH LOVE: Courtney Love pleaded innocent Thursday to charges of assault and reckless endangerment for allegedly hitting a fan in the head with a microphone stand during a performance in New York in March.

TO ALL THE GIRLS HE'S LOVED BEFORE: Julio Iglesias saying he plans to marry his girlfriend of 14 years and mother of four of his children, Mirander Rijnsburger, according to CBS News Sunday Morning.

SHOCKER, PART II: American Idol contestant La Toya London, considered one of the favorites, voted off the show Wednesday night, leaving three women in the competition.

TRIBE IS SPEAKING: CBS reports that Survivor fans have cast over 35 million Internet votes on CBS.com, including more than 8 million votes for which Survivor should win a million dollars. Other categories include "Best Fight," "Greatest Villain," and "Top Moment." Results will be announced Thursday night.

IN THE BEGINNING: Friends scored dismal reviews with test audiences who deemed it "not very entertaining, clever, or original," before its 1994 debut, according an internal NBC report published at The Smoking Gun Website.

KEEP IT DOWN: Paul McCartney's rehearsals for an upcoming tour in London's Millennium Dome has neighbors complaining about the noise. So much so that his spokesperson released an official apology.

DEFYING MICKEY: Miramax film heads Bob and Harvey Weinstein plan to buy back Michael Moore's Fahrenheit 9/11, which Disney blocked Miramax from releasing, and distribute it themselves.

PROUD TO BE AN AMERICAN: Canadian-born Pamela Anderson passed a 10-question test and was sworn in as an American citizen in a private ceremony Wednesday.

STAYING ON: Tom Brokaw signing a new contract with NBC to produce documentaries for the network and its cable channels after he signs off as Nightly News anchor on Dec. 1.

GETTING OUT: Attorneys for Whitney Houston say the singer has successfully completed a 30-day treatment program and no longer needs a drug rehab chaperone, People.com reports.

CLAMMING UP: A judge issued an order keeping some documents in Alec Baldwin and Kim Basinger's custody dispute case private because they could be "detrimental" to the couple's 8-year-old daughter, according to Baldwin's attorney.

BROOKLYN BOUND? A New York congesswoman calling on the judge at Martha Stewart's trial to sentence the domestic diva to community service at a training center for low-income women in an impoverished area in Brooklyn.

DOUGLAS DOLLARS: Michael Douglas has donated $1 million towards construction of the Kirk Douglas Theater, which is due to open in Culver City in October. "Knowing how much theater means to my father...I was pleased to make this gift in his honor," Douglas said.

CALIFORNIA PRIDE: California's first lady Maria Shriver is launching a jewelry line featuring state landmarks such as the Hollywood sign, the Golden Gate Bridge and Yosemite National Park. A portion of the proceeds will go to the California State Protocol Fund.

CHRISTIAN GUILT: Online movie pirates setting record in April for whopping 36,693 downloads of The Passion of the Christ. However, the movie took two days before showing up online instead of just hours as other movies do, per the Wall Street Journal.

BEST OF: Paul Simon releasing a nine-disc boxed set Studio Recordings 1972-2000 June 29 through Warner Bros., reports Billboard.

TUBE TALK The WB giving pickup orders to its sitcoms Reba, Grounded for Life and What I Like About You for fall.

ANOTHER TV TIDBIT: CBS ordering a sixth season of The Amazing Race. TV execs are said to be pleased with the progress of the fifth season, which bows in July, per Variety.

BAD REVIEW? Congressional audit looking into Nielsen's new system for measuring TV viewers, which has been accused of ignoring minorities.

EMPIRE CURBED: ABC cutting its $30-million epic series Empire down to six episodes from eight due to budget concerns, reports the Los Angeles Times.

ABOUT TIME: The first season of Emmy-winning TV series Northern Exposure, starring Rob Morrow and Janine Turner, to be released on DVD May 25.

HEART OF ROCK AND ROLL IN PHOENIX? The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum opening a satellite branch in Phoenix, Arizona. If, after five years, the museum is successful it will become a permanent installation.