Down-Low and Lowdown

Note: Ted C is traveling until Labor Day, so today’s column is penned by Cristina Gibson.

Has Lindsay already flown her Cirque coop for the City of Fallen Angels? We're on Lohan rumor patrol...Plus, Emmy Rossum dishes on her awkward high school moments, Laura Bush cancels yet another trip with Dubya and Joss Stone talks vices!

File this under rampant rumors and wild speculation, but someone says Lindsay Lohan is back in Los Angeles. At the Teen Choice Awards Sunday afternoon, a radio deejay who regularly mixes with the celeb set was overheard bragging that he’d partied with the repeat rehabber Saturday night. This seemed far-out, even to us gossip-hungry gals, but then again, Linds has managed to elude the panting paps since last Monday. And by our calcs, if she entered rehab right after her July 24 arrest, she'd have completed 30 days, the typical Cirque stay.

When contacted, a Cirque rep couldn’t confirm or deny Linds’ departure from the facility. L.L.’s spokesperson, Leslie Sloane Zelnik, said it’s “not true.” As much as we miss writing about Linds' hijinks, we kinda hope the guy is kidding and that L2 is still in rehab, staying on the straight and narrow.

Okay, moving on to people who don’t yet have DUIs (and, in some cases, barely even have their licenses—though one's hardly a prerequisite for the other)...

Squeaky-clean teens and Disney-esque types hit the green carpet at the aforementioned Teen Choice Awards Saturday at Universal Studios Hollywood. On the roster were young T-town types, like hosts Hilary Duff and Nick Cannon, Nikki Blonsky, Zac Efron, Lauren Conrad and Jessica Alba, who all made mad dashes down the turf trail.

Cannon even took a second for a shout-out to his cohost. “Hilary Duff looks great,” N.C. offered as he zipped by. Hmmm, hope his fiancée, Selita Ebanks, isn’t the jealous type! No worries, as his honey was in the house that night to watch Nick onstage.

Back on the carpet, brunette babe Emmy Rossum was capitalizing on the moment to promote her new album, which she describes as “sexual ambient pop.” Whoa there, Miss Rossum, remember, you're at the Teen Choice Awards! Despite the semiracy description of her music, we think Emmy’s done a pretty good job of keepin’ her own image squeaky-clean—and it seems she agrees.

“I hope so!” she said, when asked if she thinks she’s a good role model for young girls. She also sympathized with the myriad Hollywood types who haven't been as successful in that department.   

“I think it’s really hard to grow up in this business,” Emmy lamented. “You travel a lot, you’re always working, you’re always away from the people who help you keep grounded. I think the most important thing is to keep around you the people who love you and support you, like friends and family.”

Hear that, Britney Spears? Call your mom, already.

Speaking of growing up, Emmy went on to dish about her own teenage trials and tribulations:

“I was awkward for many years,” she confessed. “Thank gosh before I got on film—I got to keep that at home and in the yearbooks. I had very curly, very frizzy hair and always wore very strange, bright headbands.”

Headbands 'n' frizzy hair? Hardly fodder for paparazzi, but good for you, babe. At least you didn't shave yours off.

In completely unsurprising news, it seems First Lady Laura Bush has opted out of joining Dubya on yet another trip they were supposed to take together. This time, the First Lady was expected to join her hubby at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Sydney, Australia, this week. But according to a statement released by her spokespeeps, Laura’s being treated for a “pinched nerve that she suffered while hiking earlier this year” and has been advised against travelin’ Down Under by her doc. Guess we won't be seeing any photos of Laura and Dubya strollin' hand in hand down Bondi Beach.

We aren't sure we buy Laura’s latest excuse (she was well enough recently to travel from Washington to Minneapolis and then on to Texas), and it seems fellow Aussie Awfulites aren't buying it either. Check out what they stuffed our in-box with:

“Tell me,” writes Katie in Sydney, “do you think that ‘nerve’ is about the size and shape of her hubby?”

Do you really need to ask?

Hey Laura, next time just say you have a pain in the ass. Much more believable, babe.

Ashanti and Nelly, loungin’ poolside in a private cabana. The Ivy Hotel in San Diego on Saturday. The low-key couple chilled by the pool after Nelly played poker the night before. A camera-shy Ashanti, in a rockin’ black bikini and sarong, gabbed on her cell and refused to take any pics, while Nelly tested the waters. Peeping a show in a nearby city was...

Lily Tomlin, in the audience at the L.A. Gay and Lesbian Center for a performance of Margaret Cho’s The Sensuous Woman before it hits Broadway. Lily was wearing a white jacket and jeans and was seated with two blondes during the hilarious show, which featured a variety of burlesque numbers. Having a fab time back East was...

Cuba Gooding Jr., hosting a private party at Pop Burger in NYC’s Meatpacking District. Cuba hung with his Harold crew and castmates, including Nikki Blonsky, Ally Sheedy and Chris Parnell. Guests played pool and noshed on sliders while celebrating the film’s near completion. Spywitnesses say Cuba’s been spotted having cocktails all over town. Hmmm, drowning your sorrows over the nearly straight-to-video fate of Daddy Day Camp?