• It's the Real World awards, but way better than that televised nonsense. [MTV]

• From diva to anti-crack spokesperson: The evolution of Whitney Houston. [SH]

• Oprah Winfrey puts her money where her mouth is and becomes a vegan for 21 days. [ICYDK]

• Just in time for your holiday weekend: Guess the celebrity beach body. [PS]

• Adam Sandler's popping out another kid. Well, technically it's his wife that's doing the popping, but you know what we mean. [INO]

• Sex and the City ruins life and turns teenagers into whores. Or something like that. [DListed]

Oprah held a minor news conference today to discuss Mariah Carey's wedding, and she even showed the not-so-exciting wedding photos from People magazine. More fascinating, however, was the revelation that she got a "Mrs. Cannon" tattoo a few weeks back. Still not interesting? OK, you're right.

Click through to watch Oprah get wayyyyy too excited about this whole thing.

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THE OPRAH EFFECT? "Sumner Redstone, the executive chairman of cable network and movie studio owner Viacom Inc, will not oppose the casting of Tom Cruise in the next installment of the 'Mission: Impossible' movie franchise. 'That's really up to Brad Grey, who runs Paramount, he will make the decision,' Redstone said on the sidelines of Seoul Digital Forum on Tuesday. 'What I can say is, I consider Tom Cruise a great actor and a good friend, and if Paramount decides to go ahead with him, I will not object.' … Redstone in 2006 told the Wall Street Journal that the studio was not renewing a 14-year relationship with Cruise's production company, saying 'his recent conduct has not been acceptable to Paramount.'"

Oprah's Tom Cruise interview is still happening at this very moment, and it's like watching an uncomfortable episode of The Office, except it's real and there's no laughter.

More updated notes from Whitney's couch (no jumping Toms allowed), after the jump.

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Tommy and his robot lady are on Oprah right now. Click through for a couple notes on the show from Lauren, who wisely didn't come into the office today.

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HUSSY "It's kiss-and-tell time for Barbara Walters: She had an affair with U.S. Sen. Edward Brooke in the 1970s, the veteran journalist revealed during an interview with Oprah Winfrey scheduled to air on Tuesday. After three decades of silence, Walters, 78, is speaking out about her multi-year relationship. According to transcripts from the show obtained by the Associated Press, the View host called Brooke 'exciting' and 'brilliant' — and tells Winfrey, 'I was certainly infatuated … It was exciting times in Washington.'"

David Blaine successfully broke the world record for breath-holding, staying underwater for 17 minutes and 4.4 seconds on today's episode of The Oprah Winfrey Show. The first part is slightly boring, unless of course you enjoy staring at someone's lifeless body floating underwater in total silence. Once he triumphantly emerges, he discusses the fact that his heart started beating irregularly, but all he could think about was breaking the record. The audience claps approvingly, much like the stupid Moment of Truth viewers who applaud stupid people doing stupid things for money and/or attention.

DON'T HOLD YOUR BREATH "Magician David Blaine's latest feat of endurance likely will last less than 17 minutes, but he's planning to do it in front of talk show queen Oprah Winfrey _ and her audience of millions. Blaine on Wednesday will try to break the world record for breath-holding during a live broadcast of 'The Oprah Winfrey Show,' less than two years after going into convulsions during a similar attempt. The time he has to beat is 16 minutes and 32 seconds, a record set Feb. 10 by Switzerland's Peter Colat, according to Guinness World Records."

Three years after freaking everybody out by going on The Oprah Winfrey Show, jumping all over the furniture and trying to break Oprah's wrists before a live audience, Tom Cruise will return to the scene of the crime to promote the 25th anniversary of his breakthrough film, Risky Business. In a special two-part episode of the talk show airing in May, Oprah will interview the Scientology Grand Wizard once from his home in Colorado and once in her Chicago studio before opening the floor to celebrity guests, who will then honor Cruise's career and mourn the Tom they once knew.

Click through for footage of the original "couch incident."

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• Ashlee Simpson's laugh as she refuses to answer the pregnancy question grates on our last nerve. [YouTube]

• Jimmy Fallon plans to ruin Conan O'Brien's late night show by taking over in 2009. [FOX]

• Carmen Electra is engaged. Didn't she just get a divorce? [People]

• Oprah temporarily lost her mind and invited Tom Cruise back on her show. How much does a new couch cost? [DListed]

• Paris Hilton finds it hard to make friends; she blames it on her fame, we blame it on her hideous personality. [ICYDK]

• Carrie Underwood says she's been cheated on. Does it really count if the cheater was gay? [INO]

Jennifer Aniston's big top-secret surprise on the season finale of Oprah's Big Give has been hinted at in the media for weeks now, and we felt predictably let down when all was said and done.

Drew Barrymore recently went on Oprah to donate $1 million of her own money to charity; surely this had to be even bigger, right? Wrong.

After thanking each of the seven contestants for their work and awarding them their cash gifts of $10,000, she caused mouths to drop even more when she declared, 'That just felt too good. I personally would like to triple it. So we're going to go $30,000. Guys, thank you for doing this and inspiring everybody.'

Of note: Aniston earned $14 million last year, according to Forbes. While $210,000 is quite a bit of money, we can't help but feel underwhelmed. She should have adopted an orphan or something.

According to a couple top 10 lists from the Huffington Post, Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama's bestest, most awesome celebrity supporters are both talk show hosts. Clinton's got Ellen DeGeneres and Obama's repped by Oprah. Clinton also has the backing of Eva Longoria and Magic Johnson, while Obama counts Chris Rock and some Kennedys as fans. None of this should matter, but, remember, 45 percent of American adults put stock in the recommendations of celebrities. Which reminds us of a quote from our favorite politician: "The best argument against democracy is five minutes with the average voter."

It's about time! Megalomaniacal therapist Dr Phil could soon be losing his popular television show after he paid $30,000 to bail out one of the teen girls arrested for the brutal beating of a classmate in Florida. According to a statement issued by the Dr Phil show, it was in violation of its own rules when it paid the the girl's bail and will no longer proceed with the program it was doing on her, but MSNBC sources believe this could be the end for the straight-shootin' Texan who rarely offers more than common sense.

Rumors about Oprah Winfrey’s Harpo productions cutting ties with Dr. Phil have been circulating for months, but even if Harpo did pull out, it’s still CBS TV Distribution that does the day-to-day production of the show.

Credibility concerns seem to be front and center at the moment. “People don’t trust him like they used to,” another source revealed.

People used to trust him?

To my surprise, the saddest article currently in The New York Times online edition has nothing to do with Africa or Iraq, but Oprah and Chicago. Cutely titled "This Old Thing? It Was Oprah’s!" the piece covers the unstoppable Oprah machine's new retail venture: the Oprah Store. There, along with Oprah's favorite books and kitchen accessories, one can also buy the perma-dieting talk show host's used clothes, many of which apparently make her seem like a freakish giant: "The pants are too long and the shoes are too big, but I will definitely be back for a sweater or a skirt," noted one top-heavy customer.

But the shop itself, which donates all of its proceeds to charity, is not the depressing part; its customers are. Customers who remember exact skirts Oprah once wore in a magazine and who say things like: "I like shiny stuff and a lot of her stuff is shiny … " And that's just the obsessives. The most excruciating quote comes from Barbara Jean Hoy, a retired housekeeper and a regular at this Oprah mall, who says shopping there makes her feel better about her life: "When you go in there, you just feel great, like you are somebody …" Ms Hoy once bought a $40 blouse from the store, undeterred by the high price because the garment had visible armpit stains, compliments of Oprah. Hoy won't wear the blouse outdoors and she keeps the tags on.

In November of last year, Time predicted that Oprah's endorsement of Barack Obama would not help the senator in his bid to be the President. Almost six months later, it turns out that Oprah's support produced 10,000 volunteers and a wave of donations for Obama's campaign, and he won two out of the three states in which the talk show host stumped for him. Although Oprah's assistance alone cannot a president make, apparently it can prove Time magazine wrong.

But the so-called "O2 effect" has not been a symbiotic relationship. While Obama's camp asserts he has fared well from his relationship with Ms Winfrey, she can't say the same, according to new research from Fordham University.

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Oprah's done it again: Dr. Oz, who frequents the Oprah Winfrey Show and is known to housewives across the country as "America's Doctor," is developing his own talk show. Let's hope he's not the new Dr. Phil.

In a shocking revelation, it seems all is not rainbows and puppies on the set of America's Next Top Model. According to an insider, Tyra Banks isn't getting along with the magical orange man, Jay Manuel, who serves as the photo shoot creative director.

It’s gotten so bad that Tyra and Jay aren’t speaking. Tyra barely interacts with the contestants and only wants to show up on judging day.

Tyra wouldn't comment on the rumors, but word has it she's looking for a new ANTM host in an effort to focus on her talk show and her quest to become the next Oprah. "She's really throwing her weight behind her talk show," according to a source — who probably added, "Pun intended."

[Source]

Gayle King, Oprah Winfrey's BFF, just purchased a $7.1 million New York penthouse under the name of Winfrey's recently deceased dog, Sophie.

…a company called Sophie's Penthouse LLC bought [the apartment]. It has three bedrooms, 31/2 baths, a large living room/dining area, and a 768-square-foot wraparound terrace.

It makes sense for King's new home to be dedicated to Sophie, as the pet was very much like King in her reliance on Oprah for spoils and splendor.