FIRST LOOK: The News in Brief, May 20, 2004

TOUCHDOWN! Jessica B. capturing Jesse Palmer's heart in the Bachelor finale Wednesday night. Palmer didn't propose but bought the blond law student a one-way plane ticket to join him in New York.

ALOHA, IDOL: Jasmine Trias of Hawaii getting voted off American Idol Wednesday night, leaving Fantasia Barrino and Diana DeGarmo to compete for the title.

REALITY SHOWDOWN: American Idol's penultimate episode drew an estimated 24.9 million viewers Wednesday night, while The Bachelor finale scored its best ratings of the year, with 12.9 million viewers.

FULL OF HOPE: Oprah Winfrey to present the High Hopes Award to Halle Berry at the Carousel of Hope gala benefiting childhood diabetes research on October 23.

KEYS NOTES: Alicia Keys to publish a memoir based on her diaries and a songbook of poems and lyrics. The songbook will hit shelves in Fall 2004; the memoir is due out in Fall 2005.

HEY MR. DEEJAY: Jerry Springer to spend a week as a disc jockey on a British radio show. The fiery talk show host is expected to spin a medley of his favorites from the '60s, '70s and '80s. Brad Pitt and Elijah Wood have also announced plans to host British radio.

TAKE A STAB: Janet Leigh's shower scene in Psycho voted Best Movie Death of All Time, according to a critics' poll released by Total Film magazine Thursday. The scene beat out other classic deaths, including those featured in Reservoir Dogs and The Godfather.

COUNTRY GIRL: Canadian country singer Terri Clark, 35, will become the newest member of the Grand Ole Opry next month. She'll be the third Canadian and first Canadian woman to join the radio show.

NEXT GIG: A week after wrapping up Frasier, Kelsey Grammer set to produce and host The Kelsey Grammer Sketch Show, an American version of a British sketch comedy show set to air on Fox next season.

STORK WATCH: People reporting that Friends star Courteney Cox and actor-hubby David Arquette are expecting a girl and maybe even twins.

TROUBLE BEHIND THE ORANGE CURTAIN: Two writers filing a $10 million lawsuit against O.C. creator Josh Schwartz, accusing him of stealing their idea for the Fox soap, USA Today reports.

MASTER OF HIS DOMAIN: Jerry Seinfeld to address the first senior class to graduate from Frank Sinatra School of the Arts, a recently established New York City public high school. Tony Bennett, who helped found the school, will also attend the June 25 ceremony.

KUDOS! Rebecca Romijn-Stamos will be honored as the Rising Female Star of the Year at the Video Software Dealers Association's Home Entertainment 2004 conference July 14 in Las Vegas.

OOPS! The Los Angeles Times reporting that former Hollywood superagent Michael Ovitz reportedly lost more than $120 million after failing to exercise stock options he received as part of his severance package after he was fired at Disney.

FIRE SALE: More than 650 pieces of memorabilia from the estate of the late Johnny Cash will be auctioned off by Sotheby's New York in September.

GREEN MACHINE: DreamWorks' Shrek 2 grossing $11.8 million on its opening day at the box office Wednesday, breaking the record for a mid-week debut of an animated movie by more than $1.5 million.

GAMEHENDGE OR BUST: Vermont-based jam titans Phish gaining approval to hold their first-ever home state festival Aug. 14-15 on the grounds of Newport State Airport and adjacent fields in the rural town of Coventry. The Phish fest is expected to draw up to 80,000 fans for the weekend.

PUTTING ON THE HITS: Popster Avril Lavigne set to play a free concert next Monday at New York's Webster Hall. The set will be broadcast live for AOL Broadband members beginning 9 p.m. ET and promote Tuesday's release of her sophomore album, Under My Skin.

IN THE DRIVER'S SEAT: Director John Woo in talks to helm Spy Hunter a big-screen action-adventure flick based on the popular Midway videogame from the 1980s. Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson is set to star.

LOST IN JARMUSCH LAND: Bill Murray signing on to star in an upcoming untitled Jim Jarmusch film that is expected to start shooting in upstate New York later this year.

BACK ON THE ICE: NBC signing on to replace ABC as the NHL's chief broadcasting partner in a deal that will see the Peacock air seven regular-season NHL hockey games for the next two seasons as well as six Saturday playoff games.

STILL GAGGED: The California Supreme Court on Wednesday denied the media's request to lift the gag order in Michael Jackson's child-molestation case.

LENDING A HAND: A $1.78 million endowment fund set up by Elton John doling out scholarships to four Royal Academy of Music students in London after the Rocket Man staged a gala concert to help raise money for the cause.

REBUFFED: The Directors Guild of America rejecting an invitation to testify before a U.S. House of Representatives subcommittee looking into the controversy over Salt Lake City-based ClearPlay, which sells a DVD player that allows consumers to edit out sex, profanity and questionable language from movies over the objections of Hollywood studios and directors who claim their copyrights are being violated.

DEAD LIVES: Los Angeles-based Aurora Entertainment Corp. greenlighting back-to-back shooting in Romania on the fourth and fifth sequels to the Return of the Living Dead series. Veteran thesp Peter Coyote will star.