FIRST LOOK: The News in Brief, May 3, 2005

IDOL ALLEGATIONS: ABC confirming that its exposé of American Idol, Fallen Idol, will detail allegations by former contestant Corey Clark about his alleged affair with Paula Abdul. ABC says Clark has a message left from Abdul on his answering machine asking him not to go public. Abdul has denied Clark's claims.

IDOL FEUD: Ten former American Idol contestants, including Diana DeGarmo, A.J. Gil and Julia DeMato, battling it out on Family Feud this week.

MUSIC TO HIS EARS: Former American Idol finalist John Stevens set to release his first album, Red, on June 28. The disc includes covers by the likes of Dean Martin, Frank Sinatra and Maroon 5.

HAPPY RETURNS! Will Ferrell returning to host Saturday Night Live on May 14, his first appearance on the show since he left the cast in 2002 after seven seasons. Queens of the Stone Age will be the musical guest.

JACKSON WATCH: A sheriff's investigator testifying for the prosecution Tuesday that Michael Jackson's ex-wife Debbie Rowe privately told him in an interview that the poster was a "sociopath" and that the couple had a "plan" to always talk nice about their relationship in public.

MORE JACKSON: Meanwhile, a forensics accountant testifying that Jackson is on the verge of bankruptcy, spending upward of $30 million more than he makes annually. The D.A. says Jackson's fears of insolvency fueled a conspiracy to keep his accuser silent.

TOXIC TUBE: UPN announcing that Britney Spears and Kevin Federline's upcoming reality series will be called Chaotic. The series premieres May 17.

RAY ON BROADWAY: The producers of last year's Oscar-winning film Ray developing a Broadway version that will span Ray Charles' entire career and showcase his lifetime catalogue of music, according to the Hollywood Reporter. Jamie Foxx won't be involved.

HE WANTS HIS MTV: MTV signing Sean "Puffy" Combs and his Bad Boy Entertainment to a first-look deal, in which the rap mogul will develop, consult and appear on shows for the music net.

IN THE LEAD: As May sweeps begins, Fox squeaking by CBS for the lead in the key 18-49 demographic thanks to strong showings by American Idol and the return of Family Guy.

BAD RAP: Two singer-songwriters suing Lil' Kim for $100,000 in damages claiming they cowrote and appeared on the convicted rap diva's track, "The Beehive," on her album, La Bella Mafia, but were never compensated.

MAHER UNMARRED: A Los Angeles judge tossing out a palimony lawsuit against Bill Maher. An ex-girlfriend of the comedian sued Maher in November for $9 million, claiming he promised to marry her and buy her a mansion.

TOUGH JOB: Per the Hollywood Reporter, Zach Braff and Amanda Peet in talks to costar in Fast Track, a comedy about an underachiever who's forced to work for his father-in-law after his wife becomes pregnant and has to quit her high-paying job.

AVOID THE ADS: Loews Cineplex announcing that effective May 13 it will begin publicizing the actual start times of all its feature presentations in response to requests by patrons.

ANOTHER BRICK IN THE WALL? Pink Floyd cofounder Roger Waters completing his latest opera, Ca Ira, which he hopes to release as a double disc this fall and perform live with a symphony and chorus in Rome in November, according to Rolling Stone. The musician also is working on a new rock album.

TOP OF THE HEAP: NBC Sports snagging eight Emmy Awards, including six for its coverage of the 2004 Athens Olympics. Bob Costas also won his 17th trophy Monday night for his emcee work at the Olympics and on his show for HBO.

BIG GOBLET: Warner Bros. teaming with IMAX theaters to release Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire in the large-screen format the same day it hits regular theaters on Nov. 18.

MINIMUM WAGE HIM: Super Size Me writer-director Morgan Spurlock and his fiancée will live on minimum wage for one month as the first subject of his new FX series, 30 Days.

NOT HORSING AROUND: The American Humane Association ruling that the deaths of two horses last month on the set of the movie Flicka were both "unpreventable accidents" and not the fault of any actions by animal safety representatives or producers.

A LITTLE DEPP'LL DO YA: Warner Bros. snagging the rights to adapt Nick Hornby's latest comic novel, A Long Way Down, for Johnny Depp to produce.

GOING WEST: Carson Daly hosting Last Call from Los Angeles' Hollywood Palladium for most of May in a bid to boost ratings during sweeps.

OOPS! In a massive computer security breach, Time Warner announced Monday that nearly 20 years' worth of personal data on 600,000 of its employees mysteriously disappeared while being transferred to storage by an outside firm.

MARCO: Daily Variety reporting that Matt Damon will star in Warner Bros.' Marco Polo, a historical epic centering around the explorations of the Italian sojourner during the 12th century. William Monahan (Kingdom of Heaven) will write the script.

BIG GAINS: Worldwide revenue for all of Hollywood's output--including film exhibition, TV, home video and pay TV--soaring to a record $44.8 billion last year, up nine percent from 2003's $41.2 billion, according to an executive summary released by the studios.

WHAT'S IN A RATING? A UCLA study released Monday revealing that one in five PG-rated flicks actually have more violent acts than the average PG-13 movie.

LOVE THEM ROOTS: MerleFest 2005, the premiere music festival for roots music featuring Alison Krauss & Union Station, Loretta Lynn and Jerry Douglas among others this year, setting a new attendance record with 82,000 people compared to last year's 81,592.