John Mayer was having a good time on the red carpet at Alicia Keys’ Annual Keep a Child Alive Black Ball Thursday night. Must be because somebody’s got his back.

He started off the night by playfully grabbing the microphone of a reporter from the Tyra Banks Show to announce his own “talk show is going to be called John!”

And while the singer may be joking about his next career move, he had some serious words about girlfriend Jennifer Aniston. “It’s really nice to have somebody in life have your back,” Mayer told PEOPLE. “That girl knows me … so whether I go to bed alone or not, to have somebody who knows you in this world, that’s a really nice thing.”

If Mayer were to have a show, he said, “it would be nice to go back to a form of entertainment that doesn’t involve judging and criticizing. I’d like to entertain people with their phones down. It’s time to watch TV and be entertained by great artists without having to have a say in it.”

Entertain he did! Mayer got into a friendly bidding war with Queen Latifah over a lithograph during a live auction at the benefit. Fortunately, the charity was the big winner. There was an identical lithograph available so each star paid $100,000.

Who’s your Favorite Star Under 35? PEOPLE.com and the People’s Choice Awards are counting your votes! Click here to vote now!

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• See Jen %26#38; John’s sizzling Miami vacation!

Source:www.People.com

Fresh off the heels of her appearance with Madonna at Dodger Stadium in L.A. last week, Britney Spears has scored a People’s Choice nomination for favorite scene-stealing guest star for her role on How I Met Your Mother.

But dominating this year’s nominations is the late Heath Ledger and his movie The Dark Knight, which came away with nods for favorite movie, favorite cast and favorite on-screen match-up for Ledger and costar Christian Bale.

The Joker and Batman will compete with other favorite duos Tina Fey and Amy Poehler and Harrison Ford and Shia LaBeouf.

The People’s Choice Awards, hosted by Queen Latifah, will air on CBS Jan. 7.

Who’s your Favorite Star Under 35? PEOPLE.com and the People’s Choice Awards are counting your votes! Click here to vote now!

Source:www.People.com

Kanye West, Chris Brown and Alicia Keys were big winners at Tuesday’s Black Entertainment Television Awards in Los Angeles.

West came out a double winner, snagging awards for both best male hip hop artist and best collaboration for his single “Good Life,” sharing the award with rapper-producer T-Pain.

Brown took home the best male R%26B artist award at the star-studded event, hosted by D.L. Hughley, which boasted an opening performance of “Love In This Club” by Usher.

Brown enlisted the help of Ciara for his “Take You Down” performance, while the crooner’s girlfriend Rihanna entertained the audience with her ballad “Take a Bow.”

Keys snagged the best female R%26B artist award, telling reporters her onstage collaboration “was very exciting for me to combine all of the people I admire.”

Other winners included Missy Elliott (best female hip hop artist), Halle Berry (best actress), and Denzel Washington (best actor).

Jill Scott, Anthony Hamilton and Maxwell paid a musical tribute to Al Green who received the legendary lifetime lward. Actress Queen Latifah presented Quincy Jones with the humanitarian award.

After signing on to be a Jenny Craig spokeswoman in January, Queen Latifah has shed a few pounds and is continuing her mission of encouraging others to lead a healthy lifestyle.

The Mad Money star, 38, who is known for embracing her curves, said her weight loss goal wasn’t “about getting skinny.”

“My intention was to lose five to 10 percent of my body weight because it makes a difference with health related issues, and I achieved that goal in a couple of months,” she told PEOPLE at the first annual National Awards %26 Recognition Luncheon for The League recently. “I’m excited about this weight loss.”

“My jeans are looser, I feel more energetic,” she said of shedding the weight. “People dig it. They come up to me and say ‘I’m glad you’re talking about the health side of it.’ People get that message, which is important too.”

Even though she’s slimmer, Latifah said her fans know she’s still one of them.

“They see that I’m doing this for the health reasons but also say, ‘She’s still representing for the big girls. She hasn’t abandoned us!’ ” Latifah said. “This is me doing something for me, but if I am going to be a role model I hope people can catch on.”

Giving Back to the Community

Queen Latifah isn’t just serving as a role model for healthy living, but she’s also inspiring others to contribute to their communities by teaming up with The League, a youth service organization that empowers students to give back.

“I’ve been giving back since I was a teen, handing out turkeys at Thanksgiving and handing out toys at toys drives for Christmas. It’s very important to give back as a youth,” Latifah, who hosted the luncheon, said. “It’s as simple as helping an old lady across the street or giving up your seat on the bus for someone who is pregnant. Those things are about respecting other people and taking care of them even if you don’t know them.”

Kate Beckinsale may love her feet - at least she says her husband does - but when it comes to breasts, she’d like Queen Latifah’s.

Asked by Glamour in its May issue if she could switch bodies with someone for a day, who would that be, the star of the new thriller Vacancy replies, “Someone with gigantic real breasts, like Queen Latifah.”

Getting more off her chest, Beckinsale, 33, says, “I’m so fascinated by breasts because my mother didn’t have them either. If I had them, I’d run up and down a flight of stairs!”

Also asked to select her favorite body part of her own, she says, “I remember being 13 and sobbing in a shoe store because I had these freakishly long feet. Now my husband thinks I’ve got the most attractive feet ever! They just arrived too soon.”

Beckinsale’s husband is Underworld director Len Wiseman, whom she married in 2004. Before that, she was with actor Michael Sheen, the father of her 8-year-old daughter, Lily - and one of the stars of Underworld.

Explaining how she, her ex and Wiseman have all remained good friends, Beckinsale says, “From the beginning, all three of us put Lily first, and then it was kind of easy. … I give enormous credit to Michael and Len for they way they’ve handled things.

“As I result, I have an amazing child with three great parents. I feel slightly sorry for kids who’ve only got two!”

• Maggie Gyllenhaal and Peter Sarsgaard, having a parents’ dinner out (3-month-old daughter Ramona stayed home) at Hollywood’s Chateau Marmont. “They were really affectionate,” an onlooker tells us.

• Sting and wife Trudie Styler, “holding hands” at a party at Los Angeles hotel Hotel Figueroa, an onlooker tells us.

• Kate Bosworth and model boyfriend James Russo, tapping their feet along to the Beatles music at the Cirque du Soleil LOVE show at The Mirage hotel in Las Vegas. After the 7 p.m. performance, the couple went to the Revolution lounge (where the actress asked how she could get one of the interactive tables for her L.A. apartment), and then on to a late-night snack (miso soup, chicken satay, edamame, crispy tuna) at Tao at The Venetian hotel. Bosworth left a $35 tip on her $80 bill.

• Mary J. Blige, celebrating her 36th birthday at a surprise bash thrown by music-producer husband Kendu Isaacs at Beverly Hills restaurant Mr. Chow. The Grammy-nominated singer, looking sexy in a white Dolce %26 Gabbana dress, enjoyed a huge red, pink and white cake and Veuve Cliquot champagne toast at midnight. Chris Rock, Cedric the Entertainer, Nick Cannon, Chris Tucker and Queen Latifah were all on hand to party with the birthday girl.

• Lost’s Jorge Garcia, telling us at an event for his show at the Academy of Television, Arts %26

Sciences in Hollywood that he and his girlfriend of almost two years, Malia Hansen, had quietly parted ways months ago. “It’s fine. I’ve got a lot of dog time,” he joked about bachelor living with

his pet Chihuahua, Nunu, in Hawaii.

• Seemingly back-on-again Lance Bass and Reichen Lehmkuhl (who announced their split in December), “looking really happy to be with one another” as they waited for a table at the bar at the Regent Beverly Wilshire hotel eatery Cut.

• Ellen DeGeneres and Portia de Rossi, cuddling over dinner at West Hollywood eatery Il Sole. Also dining there later that night: Sarah Michelle Gellar and husband Freddie Prinze Jr., who took time out from their penne pasta in a tomato sauce with basil and parmesan cheese to share a kiss.

• By AMY ELISA KEITH, MARK GRAY and MONICA RIZZO

• Naomi Watts, taking son Alexander, 8 months, out for a walk near Australia’s Bondi Beach.

• Kate Hudson, dropping by the Liberty Hotel’s Alibi Bar in Boston with a large group of friends. Deep in conversation with her pals, the actress and her entourage kept it low-key - well, except when it came to her wardrobe: Hudson sported a black- and white-striped sweater that fit in perfectly with the bar’s jail theme. (Alibi Bar is decorated with celebrity mugshots.)

• Kid Rock, returning to his deejay roots at New York nightspot The Plumm. Entertaining guests with classics like Lynyrd Skynyrd’s “Sweet Home Alabama,” the rocker also made himself comfortable in the owner’s office as they chatted about a mutual friend.

• Queen Latifah, shopping for household necessities at the Middletown Target in New Jersey to the delight of other shoppers. Sporting a jogging suit, the actress chatted on her cell and smiled at everyone in her path.

• Gwen Stefani, watching as hubby Gavin Rossdale danced and clapped with son Kingston, 23 month, while a banjo player strummed outside the George C. Page Museum at the La Brea Tar Pits. After the musical interlude, the family continued along, strolling the grounds and enjoying the breezy afternoon together.

• Rashida Jones, playing the protective sibling at Celebrating the Art of Winnie the Pooh in Los Angeles. Older sister Kidada wasn’t being included when the artists were taking a group picture so Rashida made sure to put her sis into the photo opp, a partygoer says.

• By JED DREBEN, MARY MARGARET and LESLEY MESSER

Celebrity Hot Spots.

Tuesday’s Caught in the Act >

Here’s one star-studded Golden Globe presentation that was televised.

Katie Holmes dropped by BET’s 106 %26 Park Wednesday to present her Mad Money costar, Queen Latifah, with an award from the Hollywood Foreign Press Association.

After handing out the trophy, the two actresses then showed a brief clip of their new comedy about three women who plan a heist of the Federal Reserve Bank. Asked about any on-set hiijinx, Holmes gushed: “Queen Latifah and %26#91;costar%26#93; Diane Keaton - I just laughed the whole time. They went at it!”

Holmes, who wore a black blouse, tight black pants and a sparkling chain, appeared in good spirits and smiled throughout the taping (slated to air Friday).

“She’s so sweet and so humble,” 106 cohost Rocsi told PEOPLE after the show. “It’s the first time both of us got up close to meet her. It’s so weird to be like, ‘Okay, that’s Tom Cruise’s wife? That’s Suri’s mom?’”

Her cohost Terrence added that Holmes looked stunning. “She looks great on TV but she looks better in real life,” he said. “It was delightful to meet her and we’d invite her back anytime.”

Queen Latifah officially announced Thursday that she’s joining the ranks of Kirstie Allie and Valerie Bertinelli as the new spokeswoman for the Jenny Craig weight-loss program.

“I feel like I’ve set the example for loving your body no matter what size it is, but I also can set the example for being healthy as well,” says the singer and actress whose grandmother suffered from diabetes.

Talking about the health benefits of shedding a few pounds she says, “If you lose 5 – 7 percent of your bodyweight, you cut the chances of diabetes in half.”

“I don’t eat bad food. I probably just eat too much food, and I think a lot of people do,” the Mad Money star admits.

By following the Jenny Craig program, which consists of a diet of prepackaged food and weekly weigh-ins and meeting, Latifah says her main goal is to be a healthy role model.

“I’m trying to just be an inspiration to people who just want to get healthy,” she says. “It’s not about losing 100 lbs., because that’s not who I want to be. But, it is about being really healthy.”

Reporting by Jed Dreben

The People’s Choice Awards has become the first awards show hit by the writers’ strike, with producers abandoning the red carpet, acceptance speeches and live audience for a “magazine-style format.”

Queen Latifah will continue to serve as host of the show, but winners now will give their acceptance remarks via video rather than from a stage in an auditorium. Winners will also answer questions emailed by fans.

“Obviously, we realized there are pressing issues facing the entertainment industry,” says show spokeswoman Jeannie Tharrington. “Out of respect for all the people involved, we decided we would use this opportunity to use a new format.”

The People’s Choice Awards airs on Jan. 8 on CBS.
-Mike Fleeman