'SURVIVOR' JENNA TO BARE IT ALL
Jenna Morasca, the swimsuit model who won $1 million last month on "Survivor: Amazon," won't need the swimsuit in her next photo spread.
Jenna, 21, is taking it all off for the August issue of Playboy - to show viewers what they couldn't see last season when she and fellow contestant Heidi Strobel went topless for one of the challanges.
Heidi, 24, a phys-ed teacher from Missouri, will also appear in the Playboy feature.
It was something of a first when CBS showed the two women shirtless - albeit with their breasts obscured by video scrambling - on network TV.
"To my mind that was a classic moment of primetime television," Playboy editorial director James Kaminsky told The Post.
Playboy claims it is another first to get the big-money winner of a reality show - not a runner-up- to pose.
Jenna could earn another $1 million or more - depending on sales of the magazine - with the Playboy cover feature.
The photo session took place in a Brooklyn studio last month, the morning after Jenna was crowned the winner on a live telecast on May 11.
"Jenna actually went from her appearance on the Letterman show directly to our studio," Kaminsky said.
The sexy pictorial got the green light from "Survivor" executive producer Mark Burnett and CBS - both could have blocked the girls from posing nude. Under the contract "Survivor" contestants must sign, CBS has final say when and where participants may appear and who they may give interviews to for up to a year after the show airs.
Last month, CBS blocked Jenna from posing in an anti-fur ad for the animal rights group, PETA, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals. The network has since reversed that decision.
"CBS was not the group that engineered this - but they had no problem with it," Kaminsky said.
"The girls signed off on it. I suppose CBS could have stopped it but they did not," he said. "And as soon as Mark Burnett found out that we were making these overtures to the girls, he thought that this was a great thing and supported it."
This latest version of "Survivor," the fifth since the series debuted two years ago, began as a battle of sexes.
The traditional two teams were divided by gender - which gave the show a new feel and allowed contestants to be less reserved since there was no one of the opposite sex around to object or be offended.
There may have been one hitch, say insiders.
Shortly after the shoot, one or both of the girls were said to have had second thoughts about posing nude and tried to pull out of the deal, a source told The Post.
But Kaminsky said to his knowledge everything went easily.
"As far as I know there was no problem.," he said. "Everything went as smooth as you hope these shoots go."
This will also be the fastest Playboy has ever turned around a photo project. The magazine's editors typically spend months working the photo shoots into each issue.
The "Survivor" project will go from photo session to print in the less than 90 days.
"It's about as fast as we're capable of doing it," Kaminsky said. "I'd love to think that we can use this as a model for the future because we often spend an awful lot of time on the photo shoots, it's just sort of the process."
Bling-bling made official by Oxford
LONDON (AP) — Khazi, minging, bling-bling?
Not some crazy new dialect, but standard British vocabulary, according to the latest edition of the Oxford English Dictionary, published Friday.
The publishers said they have added almost 6,000 new words and phrases that reflect 21st-century life, including the frowner's favourite, Botox, the passion-enhancing drug Viagra, and sambuca, the aniseed liqueur served with a flaming coffee bean.
Among the 187,000 definitions in the latest edition, published by Oxford University Press, there is also bevvy — British slang for a beer — and head-case, referring to a person who exhibits irrational behaviour. Bling-bling is a reference to elaborate jewelry and clothing, and the appreciation of it.
Half-inch, Cockney rhyming slang for pinch, or steal, also makes it into the dictionary this time around.
Some of the new terms, including cut-and-paste, screensavers and search engines, reflect the growing influence of computers, while hands-free phones and phreaking, the expression for hacking into phone systems for free calls, acknowledge developments in telecommunications.
Other corporate-speak considered established enough for inclusion in the dictionary includes dot-coms, or Internet companies, and blipverts, subliminal TV ads of just a few seconds' duration.
And J.R.R. Tolkien's fictional world in The Lord of the Rings is also recognized; orcs are defined as "members of an imaginary race of ugly, aggressive human-like creatures." The dictionary says the word probably comes from the Latin orcus meaning hell, or the Italian orco, meaning monster.
Getting down to basics, the new dictionary now makes it all right to describe the khazi (toilet) as minging (disgusting).
Shania bares her wares in Maxim
Shania Twain lets it all hang out on her latest magazine cover for Maxim -- For Men.
Beside the headline, "Canada's finest -- the pics we never thought we'd live to see," the Canadian country superstar is pictured in a black lace bra and black pants.
Inside, Twain talks about witnessing bar fights while performing in Northern Ontario as a young girl, singing Loverboy's Everybody's Working For The Weekend, and growing up eating, um, beaver, moose and bear.
She even says she would consider starring in a movie, say with Jackie Chan.
SHE'S THE ONE
Ed Burns and Christy Turlington tying the knot in San Francisco Saturday at a star-studded ceremony that included Sting and Vin Diesel. Bono gave away the bride.
'2 Furious' Races to Top of Box Office
LOS ANGELES - The street-racing sequel "2 Fast 2 Furious" won the pole position at the box office, taking in an estimated $52.1 million in its opening weekend.
The follow up to the 2001 hit "The Fast and the Furious," bumped the previous weekend's top film, the animated deep-sea adventure "Finding Nemo," which slipped to second place with an estimated $45.8 million.
"2 Fast 2 Furious" beat the $40.1 million opening weekend of "The Fast and the Furious" despite the absence of action star Vin Diesel, who did not return for the sequel. The new movie again features Paul Walker, this time paired with Tyrese Gibson, as a street racer infiltrating a smuggling ring among Miami hot-rodders.
With or without Diesel, "the cars are the stars," said Nikki Rocco, head of distribution for Universal, which released both movies. "It's a great, multicultural, exciting little piece of entertainment. Just what teenagers are looking for."
Three-fourths of the audience was younger than 25, and "2 Fast 2 Furious" drew a broad ethnic mix, with Hispanics making up 38 percent of viewers and blacks accounting for 16 percent, the studio said.
The Disney-Pixar collaboration "Finding Nemo," whose $70.3 million debut a week earlier was the best ever for an animated film, pushed its 10-day total to $143.3 million. That was about $21 million ahead of the 10-day total of "Monsters, Inc.", the Disney-Pixar tale that was the previous record holder for best animated debut.
With youngsters getting out of school for summer, "Finding Nemo" has a good shot at passing the $256 million total gross of "Monsters, Inc.", which did much of its business during the school term in November and December of 2001, said Chuck Viane, Disney head of distribution.
"In summer, every day's a holiday," Viane said. "That really bodes well for the length of run for our movie."
The overall box office soared, with the top 12 movies grossing $157.1 million, up 52 percent from a relatively quiet weekend a year ago, when "The Sum of All Fears" remained the top film for the second straight week.
Despite two straight weekends of increased revenues, the box office so far this year continues to lag 4 to 5 percent behind Hollywood's haul in 2002, when the industry took in a record $9.5 billion.
After a slow winter and spring, Hollywood has rebounded with such blockbusters as "The Matrix Reloaded," whose $9.1 million weekend pushed its total to $247.7 million, and "X2: X-Men United," which grossed $3.05 million to lift its gross to $204.3 million.
"We're chipping away at this deficit and trying to regain some sort of lead over last year," said Paul Dergarabedian, president of box-office tracker Exhibitor Relations. "We've had two big up weekends in a row, and by mid to late summer, we could be ahead of last year."
Likely hits arriving over the next month include "The Hulk," "Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle," "Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines" and "Legally Blonde 2: Red, White & Blonde."
Here are the estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at North American theaters, according to Exhibitor Relations Co. Inc., are:
1. "2 Fast 2 Furious," $52.1 million.
2. "Finding Nemo," $45.8 million.
3. "Bruce Almighty," $21.7 million.
4. "The Italian Job," $13.3 million.
5. "The Matrix Reloaded," $9.1 million.
6. "Daddy Day Care," $4.8 million.
7. "X2: X-Men United," $3.05 million.
8. "Wrong Turn," $2.65 million.
9. "The In-Laws," $2 million.
10. "Bend it Like Beckham," $975,000.
Zeppelin Gives Retail Whole Lotta Money
NEW YORK (Billboard) - Led Zeppelin's incendiary performances shook the world of rock'n'roll in the 1970s. Now retailers are hoping the band can do for DVDs what it did for the 12-string guitar.
The band's Led Zeppelin DVD (Atlantic) had a record-breaking first sales week, and the title's success may be the exception that proves the rule about the nascent music DVD category. A related three-CD set, How the West Was Won, debuted at No. 1 on The Billboard 200.
Record label executives and retailers believe that while music DVDs could be a godsend to the music business, more than a few kinks in the way they are marketed and merchandised must be ironed out before it truly takes off.
"This is a configuration that we hope will save our business," says Vicky Germaise, senior VP of marketing for Atlantic Records.
Shipments of music, fitness, documentary, and special-interest DVD titles in the first quarter more than doubled compared with the same time period last year, according to a recent report from the L.A.-based DVD Entertainment Group (Billboard, May 10).
Additionally, music DVDs have accounted for a steadily increasing portion of overall DVD releases since the format's inception in 1997, according to weekly video publication DVD Release Report. Last year, for example, the category comprised 13% of total releases. In 2001, music DVDs accounted for 12% of all releases.
Though releases and shipments are increasing, large-scale consumer awareness campaigns for music DVDs have been slow in coming.
"Say for instance that 8 Mile comes out on DVD," says David Levesque, head music buyer for the Troy, Mich.-based Harmony House chain. "There's a huge campaign on television, so everyone knows about it. That just does not happen in the world of music. Led Zeppelin was an exception."
Led Zeppelin DVD, in conjunction with the day-and-date release of How the West Was Won, was backed by an extensive promotional campaign that kicked off May 1. Both projects were released May 27.
LOCATION COUNTS
Retailers are hopeful that day-and-date releases could increase interest in music DVDs.
"When you have a CD and DVD released the same day, it is much easier," says Mark Higgins, video buyer for the Albany, N.Y.-based Trans World chain. "We can utilize the synergies and feature them together on a new-release rack."
Consumers may be having trouble finding newly released music DVDs because of the many different ways the category is displayed at retail. "Music DVDs could be in the DVD department with movies," Higgins says. "They could be mixed in with CDs. They could be in the music section at the beginning or end of a row."
These issues did not hinder the two-disc Led Zeppelin DVD, which set a record for highest single-week music DVD sales with 120,000 units, according to Nielsen SoundScan. The project's record is in the stand-alone music DVD category, which excludes DVD/CD hybrid projects. Recent hybrid titles from 50 Cent and Josh Groban have earned higher single-week sales than Led Zeppelin DVD.
Led Zeppelin DVD is also No. 1 on this issue's Top Music Videos chart.
How the West Was Won sold 154,000 copies in its first week of sales, according to Nielsen SoundScan.
Led Zeppelin DVD beat the record set by Capitol Video's Back in the U.S. DVD from Paul McCartney, which sold 61,000 units in its first week of release in late November, according to Nielsen SoundScan.
Several titles have come close to McCartney's record since last year. EMI's Beatles Anthology sold 59,000 copies in its debut week this April, and An Evening With the Dixie Chicks sold 48,000 units in its first week on sale in February.
Even though retailers surveyed by Billboard stocked the Led Zeppelin DVD in different store sections, it was so sought-after that placement did not seem to matter.
"The title far outdid our expectations," says Storm Gloor, director of music for the Amarillo, Texas-based Hastings chain. "There's just not a lot out there visually from Led Zeppelin. We placed it in front of our music department."
Harmony House's Levesque says that the chain usually places music DVDs in their own section near films, though this project was displayed with the new Led Zeppelin CD in multiple locations around the store.
"Every now and then, like with Led Zeppelin, we would do that," he notes. "There are certain cases where that's a no-brainer."
Most label executives agree that displaying music DVDs near the act's CD projects is the best way to increase music DVD purchases.
Atlantic co-chairman Val Azzoli says, "It is imperative that DVDs are stocked right next to CDs. They are music DVDs, not film DVDs. If a kid wants to buy a Led Zeppelin DVD, why wouldn't he go to the Led Zeppelin music section?"
PACKAGING, STOCK ISSUES
Arista Records senior VP of sales Jordan Katz believes that packaging a music DVD in a CD-like jewel case instead of the larger DVD clamshell case will help the category even more.
"When we released DVD singles in the clamshell cases, we had moderate success," he says. "When we shifted over to jewel cases, it put the music DVD in the music section. Sales were three or four times as much as when they were packaged as a clamshell. That is one of the defining ways in how music DVD will grow."
But many industry executives say DVD packaging needs to be distinct from CD cases.
"It's one of the most bizarre trends in the business," says Ed Seaman, VP of sales and marketing for Music Video Distributors. "In every trade publication, it says that the CD business is declining. You read in every other article that DVD is hot, hot, hot. We believe in the strength of the DVD format and having it look like a DVD package."
Having space to stock a variety of music DVDs is also an issue, according to Seaman. "We'd love to see music DVDs take up more shelf space," he notes. "It's a forgotten area for some retailers."
Many retailers say that the quality of many music DVDs is too poor to warrant more space and that there are not enough new releases coming out in the category.
"There's a lot of room for growth in the music DVD category," says Dave Alder, senior VP of product and marketing for the L.A.-based Virgin Megastore chain.
"There's an enormous audience still to be reached if the quality of products improved. The Led Zeppelin DVD proves that there is a huge potential for music DVD. For us, music DVDs represent about 10% of our sales but only 3% of total releases."
Like many other labels, Atlantic plans to increase the number of music DVDs it releases each year.
It now has a deal with JVC, which will supply video cameras to every band on the label in an effort to create more visual content for eventual music DVDs. For Led Zeppelin DVD, band member Jimmy Page spent a year searching archives for visual material and contacting anyone that might have bootleg material.
Details about when the first titles stemming from the Atlantic initiative will be released or from which band are not yet available.
The label is also going to aim for high-quality projects, such as Led Zeppelin DVD. "What I hope doesn't happen is that there is a flood of incompetent product," Atlantic's Azzoli says. "We have a tendency to kill or overmilk good ideas in this business."
Good Hair Day for Some at Broadway's Tony Awards
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Rock-musical "Hairspray" piled up a towering eight awards Sunday at the 57th Tony Awards for excellence on Broadway while "Long Day's Journey Into Night" and "Take Me Out" shared major dramatic honors.
"Hairspray," the stage version of the 1988 cult film classic by John Waters, swept the major musical categories, including best musical, best performances by a lead actor and actress and best direction.
In two of the most suspenseful races of the night, Harvey Fierstein outpolled leading man Antonio Banderas of "Nine," and newcomer Marissa Jaret Winokur beat Broadway darling Bernadette Peters of "Gypsy" for top actress honors.
"Thank God this wasn't a beauty contest," said Fierstein, who plays the hulking, gravel-voiced mother of the heroine of "Hairspray" in drag.
Gushed Winokur: "If a 4-foot-11 chubby New York girl can get a leading role in a Broadway show and get a Tony, anything can happen."
"Long Day's Journey Into Night" and "Take Me Out" both won three awards apiece.
Vanessa Redgrave and Brian Dennehy swept the best actress and actor awards for "Long Day's Journey" by Eugene O'Neill, which was also named Best Revival of a Play.
Dennehy, who won the 1999 Tony for his role in "Death of a Salesman," said audiences still craved serious theater.
The burly actor said it amazed him that theatergoers come to see a four-hour production of a play written 65 years ago and are "mesmerized."
"There's an audience there. We just need the writers."
"Take Me Out," collected awards for Best Play (by Richard Greenberg), best performance by a featured actor, Denis O'Hare, and best direction for Joe Mantello.
Peters wowed the packed Radio City Music Hall crowd with a song from "Gypsy," but the lavish revival of the great American musical was shut out in the awards.
"Nine," which won as Best Revival of a Musical, "Movin' Out" and "La Boheme" all won two awards each. "Def Poetry Jam" won the Tony for special theatrical event.