ANGELS IN DISGUISE
CountingDown.com recently announced the
winners of a Charlie's Angels look-alike contest
(www.countingdown.com/charliesangels/). The Cameron Diaz and
Lucy Liu winners are unremarkable; but the Drew Barrymore twin,
20-year-old U. of Kansas film student Erin Taggert, so resembles
the real starlet that tourists and even paparazzi have
photographed her. She also has a butterfly tattoo on her back
(Barrymore's is on her stomach), and, since having her tonsils
removed, even sounds like the Angels star. Two nights before
winning, Taggert dreamed she was sitting with Barrymore, which
could come true when she attends the Angels premiere Oct. 22 in
L.A. ''I just hope she doesn't think I'm a knockoff or that I'm
trying to be her. That's my biggest fear,'' says the
doppelganger. ''She's become kind of like a part of me. It sounds
tacky, but when it happens that often...''
ILLUSIONS OF GRANDEUR
Magician David Blaine can usually be
counted on to at least make a spectacle of himself, but the
''illusions'' on his new website (davidblaine.icast.com) are
notable mostly for their lameness. One is a card trick that's
been online in various forms for years, and its secret can easily
be uncovered by anyone with a pencil and paper. Blaine's next
stupendous act? On Nov. 24, in New York City, he'll be frozen
inside a giant block of ice for three days. The glacial gimmick
will be webcast on his site along with live feeds of his heart
rate, body temperature, and blood oxygen level. Blaine will
respond to questions from people who hold up signs with slight
physical movements. The most amazing part of the trick is that
Blaine will create an online video feed even more boring than the
ones for CBS' Big Brother.
DESTINATION UNCLEAR
You may have heard about Survivor creator
Mark Burnett's next idea: sending a civilian up to the Mir space
station. NBC ran an ad during the Olympics touting Destination Mir, slated for next fall, and is already promoting it online
(www.nbci.com/mir/). What they're not saying about the ''dramatic,
live event'' is that it might not happen. ''It has not been
officially decided what the future of Mir will be,'' according to
RSC Energia, the company that built and operates the floater. And
while NBC has committed roughly $40 million to sending a
contestant into the stratosphere, keeping Mir's power on until
the contest begins will cost a bit more nearly $100 million.
Enter MirCorp (www.mirstation.com), a private international
venture that wants to commercialize Mir and is planning a public
stock offering to raise money to keep the station from being
plunged into the ocean. Mir's fate could be decided by the time
you read this, which means that Destination Mir might become a
show based in the deep sea instead of deep space.
INSIDE RUSSELL CROWE
Russell Crowe obsessives searching for an
inside look at their favorite gladiator won't want to miss the
pics of his ''arthroscopic reconstruction'' shoulder surgery,
which are now available at his official site
(www.russellcrowe.com). A few of the medical shots, like the
''little extra rasping of rotator cuff bone and finished re-
attached tendon,'' are even available as e-postcards. But the
best part is hidden at the very end of the page, where we learn
that Crowe consented to having his manly armpit shaved but
refused to strip down and put on paper pants at the hospital:
''basis of argument, 'it's my f---ing shoulder'....''
NOTE THIS DATE: NOV. 9
Last day to enter the Hypnotic Million Dollar Film
Festival (www.hypnotic.com). The winner gets a $1 million
production deal.


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