‘Dancing with Stars’ champ to host show

‘Dancing with Stars’
champ to host show

LOS ANGELES — “Dancing with the Stars” champion Drew Lachey is moving to the role of host for another talent contest, “Dance War: Bruno vs. Carrie Ann.” Bruno Tonioli and Carrie Ann Inaba, judges for ABC’s “Dancing with the Stars,” will be featured in the six-week series airing later this season, the network announced. Open auditions will be held this month in New York, Nashville and the Los Angeles area for amateur performers who can dance and sing. The contestants will work with Tonioli and Inaba to form “the ultimate dance team,” with viewers picking the winning group, ABC said. Former 98 Degrees member Lachey was the second-season winner on “Dancing with the Stars,” which returns Sept. 24 with celebrities including billionaire Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban, welterweight boxing champ Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Marie Osmond.

Victoria Beckham to play
herself on ‘Ugly Betty’

LOS ANGELES — Victoria Beckham, now living in Los Angeles, is going Hollywood. Despite her recent denials about being interested in an acting career, Beckham, aka Posh Spice, is taking a first step by playing herself on an episode of the ABC comedy “Ugly Betty” this coming TV season. In announcing the casting Thursday, the network said Beckham will play a celebrity bridesmaid at the wedding of Wilhelmina Slater (Vanessa Williams) and publisher Bradford Meade (Alan Dale). Posh moved from England to LA in July after her soccer-star husband, David, signed a five-year contract to play for the Galaxy of Major League Soccer. At the time, she denied that she had aspirations for an acting career. She’s slated to take part in a Spice Girls reunion tour beginning in December, and has launched her own fashion label called dVb and her own line of fragrances. “Ugly Betty” returns for its second season Sept. 27.

Baldwin, Fey added
to Emmy presenters list

LOS ANGELES — Alec Baldwin, Tina Fey, Stephen Colbert and Kyra Sedgwick are among the celebrities added to the list of presenters for the 59th Primetime Emmy Awards. Baldwin and Fey star on NBC’s “30 Rock,” Colbert is host of “The Colbert Report” on Comedy Central, and Sedgwick stars on TNT’s “The Closer.” Other presenters announced last week by executive producer Ken Ehrlich include Marcia Cross, Ellen DeGeneres and Julia Louis-Dreyfus. The Emmys Awards, hosted by Ryan Seacrest, will air live Sept. 16 from the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles on the Fox network. Previously announced presenters include Jon Stewart, Jeremy Piven, Kelsey Grammer, Kiefer Sutherland and Katherine Heigl.

Today’s birthdays

Actor Meinhardt Raabe (the Munchkin coroner in “The Wizard of Oz”) is 92. Dancer-actress Marge Champion is 88. Jazz musician Horace Silver is 79. Former Sen. Alan K. Simpson, R-Wyo., is 76. U.S. Olympic Committee Chairman Peter Ueberroth is 70. Rhythm-and-blues singer Sam Gooden (The Impressions) is 68. Singer Jimmy Clanton is 67. Rhythm-and-blues singer Rosalind Ashford (Martha & the Vandellas) is 64. Singer Joe Simon is 64. Football Hall-of-Famer Terry Bradshaw is 59. Actor Mark Harmon is 56. Tennis Hall-of-Famer Jimmy Connors is 55. Actress Linda Purl is 52. Rock musician Jerry Augustyniak (10,000 Maniacs) is 49. Country musician Paul Deakin (The Mavericks) is 48. Actor Keanu Reeves is 43. Actress Salma Hayek is 41. Actress Kristen Cloke is 39. Actress Cynthia Watros is 39. Rhythm-and-blues singer K-Ci is 38. Actor Michael Lombardi is 33. Rock musician Sam Rivers (Limp Bizkit) is 30. Rock musician Spencer Smith (Panic! at the Disco) is 20.