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Celebrities and powerful politcos are all hoping to get an invite to what has now been dubbed 'the wedding of the century.'

In fact, some reports say the guest list has been made secretive because political powerhouse couple Bill and Hillary Clinton did not want those not invited to get their feelings hurt.

Chelsea Clinton and Marc Mezvinsky will be wed July 31 in front of 500 guests -- which will include "President Obama, Oprah Winfrey, Barbra Streisand and ex-British Prime Minister John Major," according to the New York Daily News.

I wonder what wedding gifts they'll bring!

While Conan O'Brien got the very-public boot from 'The Tonight Show,' his short tenure as host got him a nomination as best variety, music or comedy series, while resurrected Leno was snubbed in the category.

David Letterman's 'Late Show' also was missing from the nominees, after a season in which the host turned an admission of affairs with female staffers and a blackmail attempt into high broadcast drama.

"I guess Dave and I will be watching the Emmys at Oprah's house this year," Leno said, a reference to their Super Bowl commercial, according to USA Today.

Click here to look at the top nominated shows.

Rod Blagojevich and John Harris are floating names for the U.S. Senate seat on the next tape. Blago suggests Oprah Winfrey.

"That's crazy," Harris says.
"That's where you're wrong," Blago replies.

Blagojevich is increasingly out of breath while he's talking; the sound of weights clanging is audible in the background. It sounds like he is working out at home while discussing the appointment.

Rod: "She made Obama ... she's a Democrat."
Harris: "You're looking for a celebrity to be your friend?"
Rod: "She's so up there, so high ..."

Later, Rod keeps brainstorming: "Maybe a black Albert Einstein," he suggests. At that, one African American juror gently shakes her head.

Blagojevich is insistent that they "bolster the list" of potential candidates -- even if it means looking outside of Illinois.

"Who outside of Illinois might fit the bill?" he is heard asking Harris. He mentions Calif. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger as an example.

Harris tries to talk him out of it.

"Picking somebody outside of Illinois has a whole host of problems," Harris tells him. "(They'll say), 'There are 13 million residents (in Illinois), Rod hates them all.'"

Read more about the Blagojevich trial here.

Winfrey's new cable channel, OWN, has been holding online casting calls for 'Your OWN Show: Oprah's Search for the Next TV Star.' The reality show will premiere next year and get a prime spot on Winfrey's channel.

Last week, fans started to speak up against Winfrey--stating that people were fraudulently stuffing the online ballot box, according to the New York Times.

Some fans have even suggested that Winfrey herself was behind the scam.

In a statement, the OWN channel spokesperson said that no "contestant has been favored in this competition," but that an investigation would be undertaken and that all votes would be verified twice. The five most popular online contestants will go before a casting director, but only one is guaranteed a spot on the reality show, though OWN could choose to add more than one. A total of 10 in-person and online contestants will vie for a spot; eventually the show's winner will be hired by OWN."

As of Sunday, the top two runners Zach Anner and Phyllis Wick-Turner were separated by two million votes.

BY FRAN SPIELMAN City Hall Reporter

Chicagoans appreciate Oprah Winfrey, but they also respect her privacy, Mayor Daley said today, disagreeing with Stedman Graham's portrayal of his longtime partner as the Rodney Dangerfield of Chicago.

Graham says Oprah gets no respect in her adopted home town as she prepares to pull the plug on her syndicated talk show and pull up stakes for California.

Daley respected Oprah so much, he closed off Michigan Avenue for two days to make way for her 24th season premiere. He also invited her to Copenhagen for, what turned out to be Chicago's failed Olympic sales pitch.

Today, the mayor was asked about Graham's remarks and took issue with them. Respect is one thing. Appreciation is quite another, Daley said.

"One thing about Chicagoans -- we respect your privacy. She could be in a restaurant. She could be at the East Bank Club, walking down the street. People don't run up to her. ... They respect your privacy. That's unique about Chicago," he said.

FROM STAFF REPORTS

Oprah's longtime partner, Stedman Graham, says Chicago doesn't "appreciate" the daytime queen of talk and that she hasn't gotten her "just due."

"I think they take her for granted a lot," Graham said in an interview this week on Fox Chicago News as he discussed Oprah ending her show.

"I really don't think they appreciate her," Graham said. "I don't think they understand the value of who she is as a human being and what she's done."

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BY LISA FEDOROWICZ

There's more to "Dancing with the Stars" than fancy footwork and learning new routines. Brooke Burke, who co-hosts "Dancing" with Tom Bergeron, revealed on "The Oprah Winfrey Show" Monday that there is much planning and prep work that goes into each show, making "Dancing" a seven-day-a-week production.

Burke took cameras backstage on "Dancing" to show rehearsals -- during which she was shown wearing large curlers -- and what the stars do to get all dolled up for each show.

Mother of eight and reality show diva Kate Gosselin, who was cast off the show last week, revealed "Dancing" concocts its own spray tan so that each star and dancer doesn't look fake-baked.

They get hosed down with the special tanner on Sunday and can't take a shower for 24-hours, leaving them greasy and smelly, Gosselin explained.

With all that grease from the spray tan and sweat while dancing, it makes using sticky tape to keep those costumes in place impossible, according to the show's costumes department.

Therefore, the costumes are sewn very tight so no one has a Janet Jackson moment, said Burke, referring to Jackson's wardrobe malfunction at the end of her performance during the Super Bowl XXXVIII halftime show. Burke said the stars work with the costumes department to design their own outfits for each dance.

Even the guys get some work done, according to Gosselin's dance partner Tony Dovolani.
Despite having some definition in his abs, Dovolani removes his shirt and shows how makeup is applied to further define his muscles. While he said he hates having makeup applied, pro dancer Cheryl Burke shook her head no.

As Dovolani was having his abs done up, Gosselin was shown with strips on her face, which Dovolani said with a smile was to help reduce wrinkles.

And what about their hair? Well, the show has a variety of hair extensions so any hairdo is possible.

Brooke Burke won the disco ball trophy with partner Derek Hough in November 2008. She told Winfrey that afterwards, she campaigned -- including on twitter -- her desire to become a cohost of the show. It was among the items on her bucket list, Burke said, and so was being a guest of Winfrey's show.

Jeff Czech told the Orange County Register on Tuesday that Winfrey sent a TV crew to film at Suleman's La Habra home last week. He says Suleman went to a Los Angeles studio to film a remote interview with Winfrey that is scheduled to air April 20. The attorney says the interview covered "straight talk" about surviving with her family of 14 and Winfrey asked his client "some hardballs."

Perhaps you saw Kitty Kelley discussing her new, unauthorized Oprah biography this morning on the "Today" show. Hope you enjoyed it, because you're not likely to see Kelley on too many other shows pimping her book.

That's because a lot of the big outlets that might seem like naturals for a long, two-commerical-break Oprah discussion -- from "The View" to David Letterman -- aren't giving Kelley the time of day. Apparently, they don't want to get on Oprah's bad side.

Kelley's 544-page look back, Oprah: A Biography, of Winfrey's life hits shelves tomorrow. She's written juicy books about the Bush family, Nancy Reagan, and Frank Sinatra and she told The New York Times this weekend that no one has been as secretive and protective of her private life than Oprah. Not even Sinatra -- and he allegedly threatened to have Kelley killed.

"In promoting this book, we have already been told by Barbara Walters's producer, 'No, you cannot be on "The View," I cannot disrupt my relationship with Oprah,'" Kelley told the Times. "Joy Behar, the same thing. Charlie Rose; Larry King said, I will not do it, it might upset Oprah. Even David Letterman. ... Well, if you had a choice between being a friend of Oprah Winfrey or Kitty, no contest, right?"

See photos of Oprah Winfrey's life here!

A Larry King insider said Friday: "Larry King hasn't spoken with Kitty Kelley in five years." I guess we're supposed to assume that that's a trend and it will continue.

Kelley says she's even been snubbed by Rachael Ray, "which is kind of understandable because she's an Oprah acolyte."

"All said very openly that it was because of Oprah," Kelley says.

ABC has even banned Kelley and promotion of her Oprah book from any show on its network.

So for now, the "Today" show is it. Kelley's next stop: Bill O'Reilly. (Ouch.)

See photos of Oprah's big moments in Chicago here!

What could these media organizations be so afraid of? Oprah's launching her own cable network. No one needs her approval, nor does she really require anyone else's at this point. If Oprah's mad at you, she ... what? Fights fire with fire and doesn't have the cast of "Desperate Housewives" on a very special episode of "Oprah"? OK, that explains ABC's decision. But what could Oprah do to "The View"? Or Letterman? Is she so powerful behind the scenes now that her personal opinion has become an actual commodity?

The Times article touches on the "cult of secrecy" around Oprah and makes it all sound very cloak-and-dagger. It's as if Oprah can take out enemy targets at will. She could shutter a TV show or pull the plug on a blog, if she felt crossed. Which really is kind of a frightening thing to

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The long haul of Oprah's farewell over the next year won't be much of a farewell, after all. She'll be leaving network television, sure, but her role on cable's new Oprah Winfrey Network won't just be behind the scenes. She announced today she's planning a new show -- at night.

That's just part of today's announcement of new programming planned for the cable venture, which finally goes live next January.

"Oprah's Next Chapter" will liberate Oprah from a sofa and a studio. The show will spotlight her in conversation and exploration around the world. "From the Taj Mahal to her beloved oak tree, the Great Wall to her own teahouse, it's a whole new kind of Oprah show," according to the network. "If she can dream it, she'll do it!"

"My vision for OWN is to create a network that inspires our viewers and makes them want to be who they are on their best day," Winfrey said as part of the statement.

"Oprah's Next Chapter" is scheduled to premiere in late 2011 -- not long after she shutters her syndicated network talk show at the close of its 25th season.

A joint venture of Winfrey's Harpo Inc. and Discovery Communications Inc., OWN: The Oprah Winfrey Network is now set to sign on Jan. 1 after missing two earlier deadlines. It will be available in approximately 80 million homes, replacing the Discovery Health Channel.

Other shows announced Thursday for OWN include:

• "Visionaries: Inside the Creative Mind" -- on which big-name talents take viewers inside their creative process, offering an opportunity to see how they bring their art to life. Included on the roster are Academy Award-winning director James Cameron, Grammy Award-winning musician Lady Gaga and photographer Annie Leibovitz.
• "Your Own Show: Oprah's Search for the Next TV Star" -- produced with reality TV giant Mark Burnett, will mount a nationwide search to discover the next big TV personality.
• "Gayle King Live!" -- brings to TV the morning radio show of Oprah's best friend.
• "Why Not? With Shania Twain" -- a reality show chronicling the trials and triumphs of the top-selling country music star.

These new series join a slate of previously announced shows including:

• "Behind the Scenes: The Oprah Show Final Season," a "docuseries" that takes viewers behind the scenes of the final season of "The Oprah Winfrey Show."


• "Breaking Down the Bars," billed as a prison show whose women inmates have a shot at rehabilitation and atonement.


• "Enough Already" sends home-organization guru Peter Walsh on a quest to help people declutter their lives.


• "In the Bedroom With Dr. Laura Berman" aims to help couples improve their relationships and sex lives.


• "Inside With Lisa Ling" brings viewers reports on unexpected people from far-flung locations.


• "Kidnapped by the Kids" sets the stage for parents caught up in a world disconnected by technology and hectic lifestyles to get a wake-up call when their kids take drastic steps to reclaim Mom and Dad.


• "The Miracle Detectives" sets a believer and a skeptic on the trail of amazing events that couldn't possibly have happened -- or could they?


• "Oprah Presents: Master Class" features prominent personalities hand-picked by Oprah (including Bono, Simon Cowell, Lorne Michaels and Condoleezza Rice) who share their stories, insights and lives.


• "The Swell Life" takes a look inside the family of former competitive surfer Izzy Paskowitz, his wife Danielle and their three children (one of whom is autistic), as well as their surf-school business.


• "Searching" puts search specialist and genealogist Pam Slaton on the trail of long-lost friends and family members.

John Edwards' mistress and his wife soon will have more than one thing in common: appearing on "The Oprah Winfrey Show."

Edwards' baby mama, Rielle Hunter, will be a guest on an upcoming show, Oprah's camp has announced. This will be Hunter's first TV interview since the scandal broke.

Oprah's people say no date for the show has been set, but The National Enquirer reports that Oprah will visit Hunter in her Charlotte, N.C., home for a show to air during May sweeps.

"Rielle is super excited to have Oprah come into her home," an insider told The Enquirer exclusively. "She's excited about giving her account of how she met John, how the affair began and what's in store for her future. Rielle also wants to clear the air about the GQ photos -- she's basically doing it to get the truth out and tell her side of the story."

That would make Oprah's talk with Hunter exactly a year after Edwards' wife, Elizabeth, appeared on the show in May 2009 to talk about the affair and Elizabeth's book.

The GQ article Hunter refers to above was a tell-all interview accompanied by some alluring photos.