The upcoming threesome episode on “Gossip Girl” seems to be getting everyone’s knickers in a twist, even before the much-anticipated episode of the scandalous TV show about rich New York teens airs on Monday.

The TV watchdog group the Parents Television Council says the “3SOME” tryst is “reckless and irresponsible” in view of the “impressionable teenagers” that it says are the show’s main target , and has urged affiliates of the CW network not to air it.

Fans of the show however, seem to be more concerned about trying to figure out which of the fabulously rich, beautiful young things  — now out of high school and supposedly at college — will be involved in the three-way hookup.

Judging by the bed-hopping enjoyed so far by the characters on the show,  pretty much any of them could be persuaded (or maybe tricked?) into a brief menage a trois,  although we’re betting that bad boy Chuck (Ed Westwick) and scheming Blair (Leighton Meester)  will be playing a major role.

Like all publicity ,  good and bad, the PTC warning may have the opposite effect in whetting the appetite of lapsed “Gossip Girl” fans to the scandalous story line.

As Britney Spears sang in her recent No. 1 single “Three” (on the same subject) “Three is a charm, Two is not the same.”

“Gossip Girl” is currently getting an audience of about 2.2 million a week, and although the CW as a whole is aimed at women between the ages of 18-34, the network says the median age of “Gossip Girl” viewers is 27 years old.

Try telling that to your teens.

In what is shaping up as dueling interviews from former lovers whose affair went very wrong, Chris Brown this Friday will give an interview to MTV News talking about his attack on former girlfriend Rihanna. One day earlier, Rihanna will talk to ABC’s Diane Sawyer about the assault that left her bruised and bloody on the eve of the Grammy Awards in February.

In excerpts from Brown’s interview released Wednesday by MTV News, Brown said he is “confused right now as far as the public perception of me…I got the people that come out and support me and I got the people who don’t want to see me do anything. They want to see me, kind of, basically, in jail.”

Brown’s excerpts follow by one day the release of an interview Rihanna gave to Glamour magazine in which she talked publicly about the incident for the first time. She told Glamour she wanted to alert young women to the “big secret” of abusive relationships. “Teenage girls can’t tell their parents that their boyfriend beats them up…It’s one of the things we (women) hide because it’s embarrassing,” Rihanna said. You can read a story about it here.

Brown, 20, already had been interviewed before by Larry King (read about that here), but the chat with MTV News promises to be even more revealing. It airs on Friday, Nov. 6, at 6 p.m. ET/PT. Rihanna, 21, will talk to Sawyer on ABC’s morning chat show “Good Morning America” on Thursday and Friday.

The interviews, not coincidentally, reach fans as both singers promote the release of new albums. They had to talk about the assault at some time — Rihanna to share her side of the assault and Brown to try to redeem himself in the public eye — and promotion seems as good a reason as any for the singers. Brown has already apologized, pleaded guilty to assault and been sentenced to five years probation and community service.

Rihanna, whose hit singles include “Umbrella” and “Disturbia,” sees her new CD “Rated R” hit record stores on Nov. 23, and Brown’s record label said on Wednesday that the release of his “Grafitti” has been pushed forward by one week to Dec. 8. He also begins a “Fan Appreciation Tour” on Nov. 14.

Back in 2006, actress Tippi Hedren adopted Michael Jackson’s two tigers from his Neverland Ranch, the Central California property that Jackson all but abandoned after his 2005 trial and acquittal on child molestation charges.

How are the big cats doing? Just fine, Tippi says.

“They’re just great, and they were beautiful when they came to us,” Hedren told reporters on Tuesday, on the red carpet of the Magic Castle in Hollywood, which was celebrating its 100th anniversary.

“It took awhile to adjust, because anytime anybody moves, it’s a period of adjustment. But they’re wonderful and very beautiful,” said Hedren, who starred in Alfred Hitchcock’s 1963 movie “The Birds.”

The tigers are named Thriller and Sabu, and they are kept at Hedren’s Shambala Preserve, less than 40 miles from Los Angeles. The preserve was threatened by a wildfire that began in late August and lasted into September. It was in the mandatory evacuation zone, but fire officials determined that moving all the animals, which includes more than 70 big cats, would be a “logistical nightmare” and they decided against that.

On the red carpet in Hollywood, Hedren said that the preserve is well-equipped for fire, with water tanks, hoses and a generator on-site.

Hedren, who never met Jackson before his June 25 death, also said that to her knowledge, there is no provision in Jackson’s estate to pay for the care of the two tigers she adopted from him.

“I was hoping that his legacy would include his tigers,” she said.

Welcome to the Reuters live blog of the MTV Europe Music Awards in Berlin - hosted by U.S. pop singer Katy Perry (photo). 

A dozen Reuters reporters, photographers and television crew will be covering the event, one of the pop world’s biggest nights. From the news conference on Wednesday to the after-show party on Thursday we’ll bring you the highlights and low-lights. We’re using the #mtv as the hashtag if you want to follow us on Twitter:

The top 18 dancers sashayed straight into competition — and eliminations — on Tuesday’s episode of So You Think You Can Dance.

The two-hour long show was the final round to be decided entirely by the panel of three judges before voting is handed back over to viewers on November 10.

It was a packed show, with all nine couples performing ahead of the same-day elimination.

The night started off with Noelle Marsh, freshly recovered from an injury that kept her out of the competition last week, and partner Russell Ferguson in a tennis-inspired hip-hop battle.

The routine, choreographed by first-time contributor Jamal Sims, was fast-paced, but fell short for all three judges.

“It was just so fast that I think you really didn’t get a hold of it,” said judge Nigel Lythgoe, adding that he found the routine disappointing.

Ashleigh Di Lello and Jakob Carr were up next with a Viennese Waltz that prompted judge Adam Shankman to gush, “I am madly in love with you guys.”

Also evoking rave reviews were fan favorites Mollee Gray and Nathan Trasoras. The show’s youngest couple aced a tough Bollywood number prompting host Cat Deeley to rename the genre “Molleewood.”

Latin dancer Karen Hauer, who was the first contestant this season to board judge Mary Murphy’s Hot Tamale Train, was so spicy in this week’s hip hop routine that Shankman fell out of his chair – literally.

Meanwhile partner Kevin Hunte’s dancing was so “hot, hot, hot” that Murphy invited him to hop on the Tamale Train too.

Contemporary dancer Katheryn McCormick shone in the most “compelling” act of the evening, a Stacey Tookey contemporary number about a woman and her fear — potrayed by partner Legacy Perez, who was praised for his growth in the competition.

“Legacy, you are a different man than I have ever seen before,” said Shankman. “You turned a corner, buddy… you were dancing.”

Also garnering rave reviews were Ryan Di Lello and partner Ellenore Scott — who danced the majority of a challenging Argentine Tango with her dress stuck to the bottom of her shoe.

Falling short this week were Bianca Revels and Victor Smalley, who struggled with their Tyce Diorio Broadway routine.

Meanwhile, Channing Cooke and Philip Attmore were criticized over the lifts in their piece, but praised for their support of one another.

After a brief meeting, the judges decided Revels, Smalley, Attmore and Marsh would have to dance for their lives. After the solos, Lythgoe announced that, in a split decision, tapper Revels was being sent home.

Attmore was also sent home, with Lythgoe adding that it broke his heart to let two tappers go in one night.

Next week, voting is back in your hands.

Are you glad to have the power to vote again? Do you think the judges made the right choices? Was it a good idea to let two tappers go in one night?

(Noelle Marsh (L) and Russell Ferguson (R) perform a Hip Hop routine choreographed by Jamal Sims on SO YOU THINK YOU CAN DANCE . ©2009 Fox Broadcasting Co. Cr: Michael Becker/FOX)

(Nathan Trasoras (L) and Mollee Gray (R) perform a Bollywood routine choreographed by Nakul Dev Mahajan on SO YOU THINK YOU CAN DANCE. ©2009 Fox Broadcasting Co. Cr: Michael Becker/FOX)

(Ellenore Scott (L) and Ryan Di Lello (R) perform an Argentine Tango choreographed by Miriam Larici and Leonardo Barrionuevo on SO YOU THINK YOU CAN DANCE. ©2009 Fox Broadcasting Co. Cr: Michael Becker/FOX)

They aren’t exactly Laurel and Hardy, or Hope and Crosby, or Lewis and Martin (that’s singer Dean) or even Rowan and Martin (as in Laugh-in’s Dick Martin). So when Oscar organizers on Tuesday named Steve Martin and Alec Baldwin as the co-hosts of the upcoming Academy Awards, it left more than a few Hollywood watchers scratching their heads. You can read the story here.

After all, their only two pull quotes from the press release issued by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences ranged from Martin’s mildly funny “I am happy to co-host the Oscars with my enemy Alec Baldwin,” to a decidedly mixed statement from Baldwin, “I don’t play the banjo but I’m thrilled to be hosting the Oscars — it’s the opportunity of a lifetime.”

Baldwin’s first reference is, of course, a joke about Martin’s love of the banjo, but the last half of the statement sounds rather serious.

It seems like salt and pepper, oil and water, but maybe that’s exactly what Oscar organizers are hoping for. And, if nothing else, it looks to generate some publicity and maybe even some controversy given Baldwin’s history with social and political activism. Yet, no matter how you slice it, it’s an odd pick and left more than one or two Hollywood publicists scratching their heads in Hollywood.

So, we leave it to you. Martin (the standup comedian) and Baldwin (the actor) co-hosting the world’s top film awards. Good choice? Bad? Or somewhere in between, which in some ways would be the worst choice of all because it might not elicit any reaction. And if they were successful, could it be a new comedy team: Martin and Baldwin? Or would it be Baldwin and Martin? We’d love to be a fly on the wall in that conversation among Hollywood agents.

They’re “really good friends” with major chemistry and “a multitude of feelings for each other”… BUT “Twilight” stars Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart say they are getting really, really fed up with persistent media  reports claiming they are in love, or secretly dating.

“It doesn’t make any difference  what you say (to the tabloids). I’ve literally been across the country (from Kristen) and it’s like, ‘Oh, they were on secret dates!’ It’s like, ‘Where? I can’t get out of my hotel room!’” Pattinson tells Vanity Fair in its December issue.

Stewart sounds even more impatient: “It’s so retarded,” she tells the magazine. “We’re characters in this comic book.”

That might prove the end of the tabloid match-making of the past year.

But “Twilight” director Catherine Hardwicke revealed that the couple did share major chemistry while filming the first movie in the vampire book series — a fact that was obvious to the movie’s millions of fans, and which has given some credence to all those off-screen romance rumors.

“What Rob and Kristen had is a multitude of feelings for each other. Complex feelings for each other. It was what we needed. Complex, intense fascination,” Hardwicke tells Vanity Fair.

As Hardwicke wasn’t on board for the much-anticipated “New Moon” sequel, guess we’ll have to wait and see whether all those multitudes of complex, intense, fascination feelings between the pair have progressed in the second movie.

Meanwhile, Pattinson protests yet again that he is not exactly comfortable in his role as a global heartthrob.

“I’m trying not to drown. I guess I’m not the type of guy cut out to do a franchise. I’m not much of a crowd person,” he tells Vanity Fair.

Well, if Rob is not the franchise type, someone else may be… Looks like co-star Taylor Lautner is fast catching up in the swoon stakes, according to a poll of tweens and teens last week that ranked the buff young actor a clear favorite over the moody Pattinson.

Michael Jackson movie “This Is It” has finally come, but it is not quite gone — not yet.

In fact Columbia Pictures, the movie studio behind the film that looks at Jackson’s rehearsals for the London concerts that were to have been his comeback, said on Sunday it would extend the run in theaters.

The movie turned in a solid, if less than spectacular, debut at theaters around the world this weekend. Its total ticket sales since its debut last Wednesday are $101 million — $32.5 million in the U.S. and Canada and another $68.5 million. You can read about the box office here and a review here. And if you want to watch what some moviegoers had to say about “This Is It,” click below.

Singer Adam Lambert has graduated from “American Idol,” ended his flirtation with classic rock band Queen and now he has one message for his fans, “Baby, do what I say.”

That last quote among the lyrics from Lambert’s new single “For Your Entertainment,” the title track from his upcoming album. The album comes out on Nov. 23, but the single came out on Friday, debuting on “Idol” host Ryan Seacrest’s L.A. radio station. It’s now playable at Lambert’s official website. To listen, click here.

The single features lyrics like the following, “Let’s go/ It’s my show/ Baby, do what I say” and the equally assertive, “Oh, do you know what you got into?/ Can you handle what I’m ’bout to do?/ Because it’s about to get rough for you/ I’m here for your entertainment.”

You can say this for Adam, he’s not shy.

The singer with a penchant for flashy costumes and eye makeup, who finished second this year on “Idol” to Kris Allen, appears on the cover of his forthcoming debut album looking glamorous and ladylike, and even somewhat resembling pop star Rihanna. The openly gay Lambert said that the cover shot was meant to look “campy” and “ridiculous.”

Lambert declared recently that “glam is back” when the cover art was unveiled. How long has glam rock been gone? Most people would say it didn’t last much past the early 1980s, so back when MTV was still known for playing music videos, and Ozzy Osbourne was known as the “Prince of Darkness,” instead of as the star of  reality show “The Osbournes.”

Can Glambert revive the music popularized by the likes of the New York Dolls, David Bowie and his heroes, Queen? Or will the music start to fade like so much old make-up?

Some celebrity hookups are hardly worth the ink used to write them up in the tabloids, especially when they involve two stars who clearly shouldn’t be together, or they end quicker than a sumo wrestling match.

But then there’s Taylor and Taylor. Singer Taylor Swift, the top selling female artist of 2008, and actor Taylor Lautner, the “Twilight” teen idol, have been seen out together, first at a hockey game on Sunday and later this week in Beverly Hills, for what the media has described as a dinner date.

The two Taylors have small roles in the movie “Valentine’s Day,” which is due to come out on Feb. 12. So there’s always the possibility that the whole thing is a publicity stunt. Or not.

Taylor Swift herself spoke about the other Taylor to chat show host Ellen DeGeneres in an interview set to air on Thursday. She said that the two share scenes in “Valentine’s Day” and that they kiss in the movie.

“So is he a good kisser?” DeGeneres said.

“What?” Swift said.

“So coy,” DeGeneres responded.

So how do the two Taylors match up?

In one corner, the 17 year-old Lautner was named by celebrity show “Access Hollywood” as having the best abdominal muscles in Hollywood. And he is giving “Twilight” co-star Robert Pattinson a run for his money in the teen swoon category ahead of his larger role in the sequel “New Moon” due out on Nov. 20.

In the other corner, the 19 year-old Swift was ranked last year in Maxim magazine’s hot 100 female stars list. She sells out concert dates in minutes, and of course she won the 2009 MTV Video Music Award for Best Female Video in that incident that will be remembered as the great Kanye West flameout of 2009.

Of course, as quick as you become hot in Hollywood, you may just as soon find yourself the subject of an embarrassing incident. In the case of Swift, that has come in the form of a photo on celebrity website TMZ.com showing Swift posing for a photograph at a Los Angeles party on Saturday with a fan wearing a shirt with a Nazi swastika painted on it. Swift’s spokeswoman, Paula Erickson, told Reuters that the photo is misleading, because Swift was in a loud and dark party with strobe lights, and that Swift could not see the swastika on the man’s shirt. “She never even looked at what he was wearing, he was one person that came up to her in a whole line of people,” Erickson said. “She took lots of pictures with lots of people very quickly.” On TMZ’s own informal poll, 75 percent of respondents said by mid-day Thursday that they thought Swift was innocent in the whole thing.

As for Taylor and Taylor, Erickson said she had no comment on whether they are dating. Maybe we’ll know by Valentine’s Day whether “TayTay” (??) will rival Brangelina and TomKat.