Beck/Smith Hollywood

Nicole Scherzinger NBC photo

Pop siren Nicole Scherzinger is getting a special kick out of fashion mags and websites following her as a trendsetter these days.  “For a long time, people only saw me as a tacky Pussycat Doll who only wore leopard print,” she candidly points out.  “Once people have a certain view in their minds, it’s kind of hard to get past that.  Wearing ladylilke clothes I love and feel good in — to get positive response from that is really fun.  I have a great team of stylists.”

Her attention in the fashion world is just one indication that Scherzinger is at the top of the celebrity hot list right now.  There’s also her first solo album, “Killer Love” coming out this fall, generating heat — and her latest reality role as an “X Factor” judge alongside Simon Cowell, Paula Abdul and L.A. Reid.  The Fox show debuts Sept. 21, but she’s already judged competitors in six cities and gone through a grueling “boot camp” experience.  Contestants faced a series of tough challenges — and more than 125 were eliminated in just five days.

“That was the hardest part — letting people go,” says Nicole.   

She had her “X Factor” baptism as a guest judge on the U.K. version of the show.  “I wasn’t able to say ‘No.’  I’d say, ‘It’s not a ‘No,’ it’s just a ‘not now.’  I empathized with all the peformers,” she recalls.  She’s saying “No” now, though Nicole says she still feels empathetic. 

“For me, what has probably been the biggest surprise is that I’ve become more outspoken, that I speak my mind, that I’ve come out of my shell in that way.  I don’t know if it’s Simon’s dark side rubbing off on me or what,” she says with a laugh, “but it’s there.  There’s no acting,, none of that.  There’s no, ‘So-and-so has this role.’  It’s real people, real emotions — that energy.  Simon is very good about that.”

The influence might have been a two-way street.  A few weeks ago, Paula Abdul made the remark that notoriously caustic Simon was “turning into me,” which people found a tad confusing.  Nicole elaborates that “We felt that we were rubbing off on him, that he was coming more from his heart.”   

She also notes, “The thing about Simon, working with him — in the beginning, they don’t tell you anything.  They just throw you in the deep and it’s sink or swim.  The one thing he does say is, ‘Just be yourself.  Don’t hold back.’ You are then inspired to sort of match his level.”

Scherzinger has come a long way.  She gets kudos for hard work, with a past that includes winning a season of “Dancing With the Stars,” serving as a judge on “The Sing-Off” and doing an early career stint with the girl group Eden’s Crush.  “This is an awesome new chapter of my life,” she tells us. “It feels like the stars are lining up.”

Simon Cowell

Fox President Kevin Reilly pretty much spelled out the importance of Simon Cowell’s “X Factor” to the network, saying the network had built its fall schedule around the competition that will take up two and a half hours of weekly prime time real estate on the schedule. 

The “X Factor” TCA panel certainly attested to interest in the new show, with a packed Beverly Hilton ballroom that even included Chef Gordon Ramsay.  The main course at an earlier session. the chef stuck around to watch Paula Abdul, Nicole Scherzinger and the rest of the live ”X Factor” panel – and Cowell, who was present via live video hookup.  We happened to be next to the Chef as he responded with a laugh here, a comment under his breath there, clearly into the whole “X Factor”-Cowell oeuvre.  Reilly  referred to Cowell as having a “dark charm” that’s irresistible.  That could describe the chef as well.            

 The panel gave a taste of the all-too-familiar Abdul on the highwire feeling, as her statements meandered.  Would she make sense?  Or fall?  Abdul told the assembled writers that “Simon is turning into me,” for example.  Say what?  She meant he’s a “pussycat” on the new show.  Time will tell.

ALSO:  Another Fox gamble is the modern family-in-prehistoric-times “Terra Nova,” with a producing team that includes “24’s” Brannon Braga — and has Steven Spielberg’s imprimatur.  Many questions had to do with the special effects dinosaurs that inhabit this hostile environment, and whether the “Terra Nova” team could get the episodes finished in time.  Producers were quick to insist they’re going to make it – even though they allowed that there was a “learning curve” for the innovative motion capture photography and CGI techniques being used on the show.  However,  the family at the center of the series has to be relatable, stressed  Executive Producer Jose Molina.  “If the audience doesn’t care about them, it doesn’t matter how great the dinosaurs look.”

Simon Cowell

When Simon Cowell announced his intention to depart “American Idol” at the beginning of last year, the move was applauded as shrewd.   Now, maybe not so much.

The show was looking weary indeed after all the Paula Abdul drama, and he was off to fresh pastures before it completely jumped the shark, it was believed.  His U.S. version of “X Factor” might be just the thing to fill the void if and when “Idol” went kaput.

“X Factor” is different from “Idol,” as he explained to press during that January’s Television Critics Association tour, because it has no age limit and can be solo or group singers — and each judge takes a group of contestants under their wing and mentors them in everything from styling and choreography to song choice. “So essentially the judge is judged as well as the singer.”

How different the picture looks now, even as “X Factor” auditons are taking place across the land and new show announcements are flying.

“American Idol” has been revitalized by charismatic, stardust streaming Steven Tyler and Jennifer Lopez, who work with Randy Jackson as an excellent team.  (That was one of our New Year’s predictions, by the way.)

And NBC’s “The Voice” has come along, preceded by a promotional campaign that looked like an experiment in whether it’s possible to beat audiences into submission with relentless, repetitious hype.

Of course, we all know that “The Voice” is different from “American Idol” because they have neat swiveling chairs with big red panic buttons, and each judge takes a group of contestants under their wing and mentors them.  So essentially the judge is judged as well as the singer.   Hm.   Sound familiar?

Interesting that Simon has recently been saying he’s keeping details of the new “X Factor” under wraps because other producers “watch you and copy you and you see your show on other people’s shows.”

Yes, that’s a problem — no doubt going even further back than “Pop Star” producer Simon Fuller’s 2005 U.K. suit claiming “X Factor” was a copy of his show.

“The Voice”so far has posted  numbers promising a big hit for NBC.  And let’s not forget, the peacock network also has “America’s Got Talent,” produced by none other than Simon Cowell, coming back May 31 and auditions are going on for that show as well.

So, what will all this do to “X Factor” by the time it’s finally unveiled in the fall on Fox, with cohosts Corbin Bleu and Nicole Sherzinger and judges Cowell, L.A. Reid, Cheryl Cole and (?!) Paula Abdul?  Dare we say it?  You be the judge.

Alex O'Loughlin

What do Hollywood casting directors have against American actors?  Oh, sure, we’ve been seeing this explosion of Brits, Aussies, Kiwis, Irish folk and other English-speaking foreigners on U.S. primetime for several years now, but there hasn’t been any complaining out of fear the U.K would want to take back Hugh Laurie, and goodness knows nobody wanted that.

However, things have gone too far.  Now we have an Australian (Alex O’Loughlin) playing Steve McGarrett on CBS’s new “Hawaii Five-O,” for crying out loud.  Plus, there’s this 13 trillion-dollar national debt thing that makes even ludicrous revenue-generating ideas sound good.  So the time has come for Uncle Sam to make some money off this imported TV star phenomenon.  The time has come for a Talent tariff.

Piers Morgan

Think of the increasingly annoying Piers Morgan, for instance.  The arrogant Fleet Street tabloid editor — whose claims to fame include being fired in the wake of the revelation that Daily Mirror photos purportedly showing British troops mistreating Iraqi prisoners were faked.   Brighton-born Simon Cowell ordained Guildford-born Piers as his substitute (a.k.a. “the mean one”), when Simon himself was contractually prevented (“American Idol”) from being an “America’s Got Talent” judge — and America went along.    This proves America’s weakness toward believing anyone with a British accent is qualified for their job.   Now Morgan is the man who would be King, as in Larry King, as in being named as the new host of King’s 25-year-old CNN show.

This is not right.  If we have to take Piers Morgan, we should be making money on it — or at least, the British should have to take Perez Hilton in exchange.

Speaking of “America’s Got Talent,” there’s oh-so-much more to love about Piers’ London-born cohort Sharon Osbourne than him.  And yet, Ozzy’s purple-red-haired frau is nearing massive over-exposure with yet another gig, CBS’s yet-untitled daytime show for fall.  But let us not be irritated.  Let us be enriched.  Talent tariff, people!

There’s Australia’s Simon Baker, England’s Natascha McElhone and Ed Westwick, Scotland’s Kevin McKidd.  The list goes on and on.  Money, money, money.

And let’s not forget the growing South Asian/Indian contingent.  As “The Big Bang Theory’s” Kunal Nayyar declared to press at last week’s TCA panel in reference to himself, most of the cast of NBC’s new “Outsourced” and various other shows, “We are everywhere now…It doesn’t surprise me.  We are all really good-looking and talented, and I’m really happy that we continue to take over the world.”

Can you say, “Ka-ching”?!

Sharon Osbourne

Reports all over the internet have Sharon Osbourne poised to thumb her nose at Simon Cowell by joining the U.K.’s “Strictly Come Dancing” – in direct competition to Cowell’s “X Factor” show that she left last year.  Sharon wants us to know, “That’s so wrong.

“I work for Simon on ‘America’s Got Talent,’” she points out.  “He’s a great guy and we have a great relationship.”  She notes that she didn’t take on the other show last year when asked.  Now she might.  But she says stories that have her getting back at Cowell over her “X Factor” departure amount to “the British press trying to get something out of nothing.  There’s nothing to get back for.”

 The fiery personality has already returned to her post as an “America’s Got Talent” judge.  That show, produced by Cowell, returns to NBC’s lineup June 23.  As far as “Strictly Come Dancing,” she’s just about to decide.  “I will say I’ll do what I want when I want it,” she says.  “I can’t be bought.”

 Also, she makes the point that “Strictly Come Dancing” – the British counterpart of “Dancing With the Stars” – would be good for her in terms of staying in shape and serving as an example of a fiftysomething something cancer survivor with gusto.

 MEANWHILE:  Sharon, whose grueling – but successful – 2002 battle with colon cancer was chronicled on MTV’s “The Osbournes,” has just become a celebrity ambassador for Stand Up to Cancer.  That’s the organization behind last year’s groundbreaking multi-network, star-laden fund-raising event geared toward accelerating cancer research.  “I’m just so happy to be a part of something that can bring such awareness to people,” she says.   This week, the SU2C initiative announced five research “Dream Teams” selected to receive $73.6 million, collectively, in three-year grants.

She tells us that as far as cancer care, “I have so many issues with it.  In this country a lot of it is about insurance.  They try and run it by the numbers, but you can’t because cancer doesn’t have a restriction on age.”  Some insurers, she notes, “say you have to be 50 to be covered for a colonoscopy.  Well, that didn’t help a girl of 18 I knew who had colon cancer.”  Adds Sharon, “You have to get these medical research teams to work together.  It’s not about seeing who is the most clever.  It should be a group effort, with each country sharing their scientific finds.”

SPELLING TROUBLE: Tori Spelling’s mom Candy may be continuing their public feud by going on the radio and blaming husband Aaron’s demise on their estranged daughter, but the young star makes it clear she’s focused on her career at the moment.  Having made a guest appearance this season on the CW’s “90210″ and she tells us stepping back into Donna Martin’s shoes was something she enjoyed more than she expected – and wouldn’t mind doing again.  “It was great, but it was scary at first.  I was nervous coming onto someone else’s set, even though oddly it was my set originally,” she notes of being a part of the original show.  “It was pretty cool to be like, ‘Oh my God, I’m Donna again!’  When certain chapters of your life end, you feel like that’s it and then you move on.  I don’t think it ever occurred to me that I would be going back to play Donna and certainly not having the life that I have now.” 

 The mother of two certainly has plenty of other things to keep her busy.  “I have the Tori Spelling Collection jewelry line.  I have my children’s clothing line coming out this fall, which I’m really excited about, called Little Maven.  My second book ‘Mommywood’ is out right now,” says Spelling, who is also currently starring in the fourth season of her Oxygen reality show “Tori & Dean: Home Sweet Hollywood.”  “We’ve actually extended our brand with Oxygen more.  We have a pilot we’re doing with them and we have a movie of the week we’re going to do together.  Then we’re going to turn my book ‘Mommywood’ into a web series.”  And after that?  World domination!

 KING FOR TROUBLE:  With Reese Witherspoon, Owen Wilson and Paul Rudd lined up for his next big-screen romp, filmmaker Garry Marshall is now choosing among candidates to play Madison, described as a 10-year-old girl with a mean streak who determines that Valentine’s Day is the ideal time to take revenge on her enemies.  The yet-untitled flick starts shooting next month.

With reports by Emily-Fortune Feimster

Frank Sinatra and daughter Nancy.

Just because Nancy Sinatra is producing Martin Scorsese‘s planned movie biography of her father, Frank, don’t expect the picture to shy away from the controversial, less flattering aspects of the show business legend’s life.

At least, it won’t if the film — for which Leonardo DiCaprio is already being mentioned — follows the tell-all pattern set out by Nancy’s sister, Tina Sinatra, back in 2000. Tina’s “My Father’s Daughter” disclosures about her dad getting the Mafia to help deliver the union vote to elect John F. Kennedy as president and his doing secret work for the CIA got her play on “60 Minutes.” Her exposure of family strife and discord — in particular with Sinatra’s fourth wife, Barbara Marx — got her in hot water with some Sinatra friends who felt those stories should never have been made public. Though the tome clearly showed how much Tina adored her father, she did, as she put it, “cover the good and the bad.”

Which is, of course, by far more interesting than a mere love letter about the entertainment great’s vocal prowess, enormous charm, loyalty and generosity to friends and charities. The dichotomy between the Sinatra loved by pals and fans and the Sinatra loathed by his many enemies were both real. His infidelities, grudges, temper and other negative behavior was depicted in CBS’ five-hour miniseries of the ’90s — which was produced by the family as well.

With more than 10 years having passed since his death and all the perspective that time brings, and with the talent of Martin Scorsese going into it, the Sinatra big-screen biopic just might capture lightning in a bottle.

STEP BY STEP: “Psych” star Dule Hill, who is a longtime tap dancer, tells us he’s trying to find a way to bring the dance back to the forefront. “I would love for the opportunity to bring dance to television in terms of dramatic scripted television. I’d also love to do tap on film and tap back on stage,” says Hill, whom many know from his days on “The West Wing.”

“Gregory Hines was the one carrying that banner, so with his passing you lose some of that. Hopefully we can get back to it,” adds Hill. “We’ll see what comes next after ‘Psych,’ but first I’d like to do an episode on the show where we can do some tapping.” The cast and the crew of the USA network series certainly get to see Hill in action in between takes. “I do it on the set all the time. I have a piece of wood that I’m always dancing on in my trailer. I dance in my garage back home. I dance with friends and young students. I love tap dancing. I’m a tap dancer at heart.”

BY ANY OTHER NAME: Nine-year-old cutie Jadagrace Berry of “Terminator Salvation” tells us she loved doing scenes with Christian Bale in the flick, opening tomorrow (5/21). “He was so nice. He was always helping me, but he’d only answer to John,” she notes, referring to Bale’s character, savior of humanity John Connor. So did John — er, Christian — have any words of wisdom for this young co-star? “He told me to just stay in the moment and try to react,” she says. The pint-sized actress was among the young-uns at the premiere of Disney-Pixar’s “Up,” where she told us her burning desire for her next job: “I really want to be on the Disney Channel.”

AND: The audience was charmed by “Up,” another gem of a film from Pixar, a fanciful adventure about an old guy (Ed Asner) who travels to South America via a multitude of balloons from which his house hangs suspended. The poignant and funny modern fable is due on screens May 29. Producer Jonas Rivera told us, “For this one, we went back a little bit; we wanted to make an old-fashioned Disney movie. Computer animation tends to make things look very photo real, like in ‘Wall-E.’ For this, we went back and looked at ‘Peter Pan, “Sleeping Beauty,” ‘Snow White’ — we wanted it to have a little bit more of a painterly feel. That’s harder, technically,” he says. “A character drawing is a distillation. How does a Hirschfeld drawing of Lucille Ball look more like her than a photograph? There’s no computer that does that. This was a case of computer science and art colliding.”

JUDGING THE JUDGES: Season 8 of “American Idol” goes down as The Season of Judges’ Conflicts — in the view of “Access Hollywood’s” self-described “reality chick,” Laura Saltman, and who wouldn’t agree? Saltman spends January-to-May giving “Idol” her full attention, chatting with contestants, hanging out on set, etc. She points out, “Paula (Abdul) and Simon (Cowell) have grown closer this season because of their mutual feelings about Kara (DioGuardi). They mimic her … ” she notes. “They, of course, downplayed it, but things were pretty tense at first. It’s gotten better. They’ve kind of found a groove,” she says.

“I like Kara,” she adds. “I really do. She really says something, where Randy (Jackson) is just pretty much saying, ‘Dog. Dog, you’re great, Dog.’ And Paula you can’t always understand.” Still, “I don’t think the four-judge format works because it takes too long to get through the comments. I think they should go back to three.” So, who would she vote off? “Kara. You know, it’s a last one in, first one out kind of a thing.”

Laura says she’s not losing any enthusiasm for her “Idol” gig, though she’s covered all eight seasons. She’ll not only be at tonight’s (5/20) finale for the naming of either Adam Lambert or Kris Allen as the new American Idol, she’ll be up at 3 a.m. to be back on the job at 4 a.m., “spending the day with the winner and showing what he does. Who wouldn’t want to do that?” she asks.

With reports by Emily Feimster.

Brad Garrett

Brad Garrett is keeping his fingers crossed that come Tuesday (5/19), his “Til Death” sitcom will be placed in timeslot it can live with.  “May 19 at the upfronts, we’ll know exactly where we wind up,” notes the star, whose marriage-minded comedy with Joely Fisher has managed to hang on despite multiple timeslot switches, a complete disappearance last fall, and the fact, as he candidly notes, “We’ve been ratings-challenged from the beginning.”

With encore episodes from last season set to begin airing on Sundays come July 5, “we go into production for Season 4 at the end of July for new episodes that will start airing in September.  We’re lucky to have a new season,” acknowledges Brad.  “A lot of the people who were behind our show at Fox have moved on or disappeared, but our studio, Sony, has been campaigning hard for us, thankfully.”

And when viewers tune in to the new “’Til Death” shows in the fall, they’ll see big differences, he says.  Writer-producer Don Reo (“Everybody Hates Chris,” “My Wife and Kids” has come aboard, “and his group of writers have started us in a direction we’re very excited about.”  Plus, his long-time comedy pal, Kevin Nealon, is joining the show as a recurring character.

MEANWHILE:  Nealon’s also among the notables turning out for Garrett’s celebrity poker tournament May 30 at the Commerce Casino in the Ciry of Commerce, CA — along with Ray Romano, Jason Alexander, Cheryl Hines, Mimi Rogers, Michael Chiklis, Nancy Cartwright, Joely Fisher, Jennifer Finnigan, Jonathan Silverman and Christopher Cross.  The event, open to the public, raises funds for Brad’s Maximum Hope Foundation (www.maximumhopefoundation.org), named for his son Max and daughter Hope.  The charity is dedicated to providing daily needs such as groceries and other assistance for families that have terminally ill children.  Brad notes that “Even with insurance, people are called upon to pay 20 per cent of the medical costs – which can be overwhelming with a terminally ill child.  Add to that the fact that usually one parent is there 24 hours a day – and nowadays we’re seeing so many families with unemployed parents — it’s staggering.”

The Dream Foundation, which grants wishes of terminally ill adults, is also a beneficiary of the tourney. 

Says Brad, “It’s a $350 buy-in, $10,000 in cash and prizes, free food, great drinks and music and you’ll see me and Ray taking shots at each other.”

LOOK WHO’S HELPING:  Winner of last year’s “America’s Got Talent,” opera singer Neal E. Boyd, is about to celebrate the release of his first album and he tells us it couldn’t have happened without the support of the show’s creator Simon Cowell.  “It was Simon ultimately who made this happen.  He came up to me after my audition in Los Angeles and was telling me about all of these different genres coming back.  He put together Il Divo and wanted me to listen to some of their music,” Boyd recalls.  “He’s a very good mentor and he’s got a great ear for talent and what’s going to be popular.  To have somebody like that tell you that you deserve to be there is everything.” 

Life has certainly changed for the Missouri native since winning.  “It is different.  Everybody told me it would be but me being a country boy thought, ‘It really won’t change that much.’  But now I’m in a position where I’m flying all over the country doing shows.  I’m meeting mayors or meeting people like Tony Bennett or Jamie Foxx.  It’s been surreal in the fact that all I did was sing a song and my whole life changed.”

Boyd says he just hopes to be able to inspire others with his CD “My American Dream,” which hits stores June 23.  “I really think we did something special here.  I do great songs like ‘Bring Him Home’ and ‘Ave Maria,’ but the big one that was a complete shock as to how well it sounds was ‘God Bless the USA.’  That song is so inspirational and I wanted to have an album that gave people hope because it’s tough times.  I also wanted to show that even somebody from rural Missouri can go on to become a professional singer.” 

SOMETHING OLD, SOMETHING NEW:  “The Tudors” star James Frain says although he loves stepping in the shoes of King Henry VIII’s advisor Thomas Cromwell on the Showtime series, he’s excited about getting the opportunity to work on a project his kids can enjoy.  “I’m about to go off to shoot this Disney movie ‘Tron.’  It’s lots of effects and cool stuff like that so I’m looking forward to that.  The only thing is, I’m not allowed to really talk about it.  They’re all so super secretive now,” he notes.  “I also have a De Niro movie coming out, though I was only on it for a few days,” he says of the movie “Everybody’s Fine.”  “That was like working with the king.  That’s the real king.”

With reports by Emily-Fortune Feimster