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Picture this: Emmy nominees Jessica Lange and Drew Barrymore tie for the big win when the awards are handed out next month.

When I recently suggested the scenario to Lange, she said it would be quite fitting because the real-life characters they played in Grey Gardens, Big Edie Beale and her daughter, Little Edie, were inseparable. Lange and Barrymore are both up for Lead Actress in a Miniseries or a Movie for their work in the Michael Sucsy-directed HBO production.

"Oh, wouldn't that be great," Lange said. "I think that would be poetic justice. It would be the perfect end to our little journey here."

So what was it like for Lange to transform herself into a delusional recluse who lived with her only daughter in a decrepit East Hampton home full of cats and raccoons? Read on to find out, plus what role Lange would love to do on Broadway.

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It's the battle of the Jennifers!

Jennifer Hudson shocked the audience at her and Robin Thicke's concert last night in Atlanta with a surprise jaw-dropping sing-off against Jennifer Holliday with—what else?—"And I'm Telling You (I'm Not Going)."

Holliday first made the song famous—and her signature tune—when she sang it eight times a week in the original 1981 Broadway production of Dreamgirls.

And then Ms. Hudson introduced it to a new generation...

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Jennifer Aniston and John Mayer may have called it quits.

That's the rumor I'm hearing. A source says the pair's on-again, off-again relationship may have ended sometime within the last week, when Aniston returned from her overseas Marley & Me junket.

"He broke up with her when she got back from her European tour," the source said.

Aniston's rep did not immediately comment. Mayer's rep declined to comment on the singer's personal life.

But what are their friends saying?

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Host Hugh Jackman won't be the only star singing and dancing at Sunday's Academy Awards.

Several sources say that the Aussie hunk will be joined on stage by Beyoncé, High School Musical stars and real-life couple Zac Efron and Vanessa Hudgens and Mamma Mia!'s Amanda Seyfried. Dominic Cooper, Seyfried's costar and rumored boyfriend, will also likely participate, but I'm told scheduling conflicts still have to be resolved to make it work.

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Prince plans to have one of Tinseltown's best performers at his annual late night Oscar bash—himself!

The Purple One is opening up his home after the Academy Awards for a super-VIP party and is planning to perform for the guests who manage to stay awake until the wee hours.

Last year's session, which included jams with Stevie Wonder and John Legend in the middle of his living room, didn't get started until 1:30 a.m.

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There aren’t many people who know what really goes on backstage at the Oscars. Bruce Vilanch is one of the few who does. The funnyman has been a writer for 19 Academy Awards.

And talk about a rush job. “Last week was nuts, because I was in Las Vegas until Thursday doing Bette Midler shows, because I really thought that the Oscars would be postponed a month to the old date at the end of March,” Vilanch says. “But I was wrong. So, I had many balls in the air. I came in from Vegas and sort of like plummeted into it.”

But now he has some time to sit back and relax. I got the chance to catch up with Vilanch earlier today to give you my second annual list of 10 Things You Don’t Know About the Oscars.

10. No Country for New Jokes:  The strike prevented Jon Stewart and his team from creating more elaborate hijinks. “They had a film piece, but it involved Javier Bardem, and he wasn’t available,” Vilanch says. “They just couldn’t put it together in two weeks. That’s what happens when my guild strikes.” 

9. The Write Stuff:  More than a dozen writers worked on the show. “There were four of us on the West Coast, and John had his squadron of 10 or 12 who came out from New York,” Vilanch says.  

8. America's Most Wanted Jon:  Stewart’s debut as Oscar host in 2006 may have gotten less than stellar reviews and ratings, but no matter. “I always thought they'd ask him back," Vilanch says. “I thought he was nervous...but I think he did fine."

7. Moore Not Less:  Vilanch says he and the rest of the writing crew were disappointed that Michael Moore didn’t win Best Documentary for Sicko. “We were counting on him to come up and do something incendiary,” he says. “It would not only liven up the show, but it would also be something we could use as fuel for the rest of the evening.”

6. Carrey-ed Away
Vilanch & Co. had a similar letdown when Jim Carrey wasn't nominated for his portrayal of the late comic Andy Kaufman in the 1999 flick Man on the Moon. “We had a hysterical thing all worked up with Tony Clifton (a fictional character Kaufman often played in his act) crashing the Oscars,” Villanch remembers. “But then they ignored the picture totally, so the sound of flushing could be heard throughout the land.”

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The Oscars and the parties may be over, but there's still tons of scoop out there. I've got lots of bits from the glitzy awards extravaganzas to give you. Read on for more about Jennifer Love Hewitt, the Jonas Brothers, Heidi Klum and one of the new celebrity contestants on Dancing with the Stars.

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Jennifer Love Hewitt hosted AIDS Project Los Angeles’ annual Oscar viewing party at the West Hollywood gay bar the Abbey. The Ghost Whisperer star said she and her fiancé, actor Ross McCall, haven’t been focusing on their wedding just yet. “I’m very excited, obviously,” she said. “We’ve talked about little details here and there, but now with [Ghost Whisperer] getting picked up, we have to wait until our hiatus.”

A way underdressed Dennis Rodman was a surprise guest at the event. “I wanted to come for one thing: the people here, the gay community,” the hoops star said. “You know what I’m saying?”

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Kate Beckinsale has the hots for a trio of guys—and we're not talking about her hubby, director Len Wiseman. During the Film Independent's Spirit Awards on Saturday, I commented to Beckinsale (we were guests at the Motorola table with Aaron Eckhart and Josh Hartnett, among others) how handsome Piaget Producers Award winner Neil Kopp was. The Snow Angels starlet cracked about the young Kopp, “He doesn’t even look legal!”

But then she quickly swooned, “But what about the Jonas Brothers? I took my daughter to one of their concerts, and I was like, ‘Oh, my God! Hot!’”

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New Dancing with the Stars contestant Shannon Elizabeth took some time out from rehearsing to hit the Silver Spoon gifting suite at Kress in Hollywood and grab a new Jawbone Bluetooth headset and more from Cosmetology makeup and the Single clothing collection.

Elizabeth doesn’t see herself taking home the disco-ball trophy: “I think [singer] Mario and Kristi Yamaguchi are going be like shoo-ins for the finals.”

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Has Tracey Edmonds found a new recipe for romance since splitting with Eddie Murphy?

I just got word that Ms. Edmonds has been seeing celebrity chef Rocco DiSpirito.

But nothing’s too serious right now. “Let’s just say they’ve been spending time together,” says a source. 

The two were spotted last night at Mercedes-Benz's Oscar viewing party at the Four Seasons  in Beverly Hills. Also there? Sex and the City’s Evan Handler, Kathy and Rick Hilton and Dancing with the Stars’ Tony Dovolani.

For more on all things Academy Awards, click over to E! Online's Red Carpet Oscar blog.

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Angelina Jolie shows off her growing baby bump! Eva Mendes exits rehab! And why Amy Adams' hair may be sparkling tonight at the Oscars...

Get my scoop on these Hollywood beauties and a whole lot more over at E! Online’s Red Carpet Oscars blog.

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Is Tyrese Gibson looking to start a riot with Steven Spielberg?

Quite possibly.

Spielberg was a producer on Transformers, in which Gibson appeared, and now the actor says he’s looking to score a role in the Spielberg-directed The Trial of the Chicago 7, a drama about the protesters at the riots of the 1968 Democratic Convention.

“I just went out for a role,” Gibson said at Ebony magazine’s annual pre-Oscar gala last night at Boulevard3 in Hollywood.

Gibson’s manager told me this morning that the actor recently met with casting directors for the flick: “But I think it’s been put on hold. Hopefully, we’ll talk to them again if the movie happens.”

That’s not all I got for ya from the Ebony soiree. For more, click over to our fab Red Carpet Oscar blog.

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For anyone who thinks Hollywood starlets don’t eat—especially right before the Oscars!—you should have lunch with Kate Beckinsale.

For all the deets on chowing down with the British beauty, click over to our Red Carpet Oscar blog.

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Madonna’s having an Oscar-night party. So is Sir Elton John. And I hear Prince may be putting together a shindig, too.

Click over to our fab Red Carpet Oscar blog for all the scoop.

And come Sunday, I’ll be blogging live from Sir Elton’s soiree! But that’s not all. I’ll have plenty of scoop throughout the next few days from a whole lotta star-studded gatherings, including Saturday’s Independent Spirit Awards.