DEAR ABBY: Beloved Advice Columnist Dead at 94

The writer who originated the Dear Abby column has died. TMZ reports that Pauline Phillips, who offered personal advice in newspapers for nearly a half-century, passed away yesterday at age 94. She'd suffered from Alzheimer's. At its peak, the column reached 100 million newspaper readers daily.

Phillips' daughter Jeanne, who took over the column from her mom in 2002, says, "My mother leaves very big high heels to fill with a legacy of compassion,commitment and positive social change. I will honor her memory every day by continuing this legacy." Abby was the twin sister of rival columnist Ann Landers, who died in 2002.

Her pen name, Abigail Van Buren, was taken from a wise woman in the Old Testament and the surname of one of her favorite presidents.

AMERICAN IDOL: Ratings Down

American Idol's 12th season has gotten off to a rough start --  the first episode had a 19 percent decline in viewers from last season.

According to Nielsen, 17.9 million people watched the show Wednesday night, compared with 21.9 million who took in the premiere episode 2012.

FOX execs say competing shows like X Factor and The Voice are to blame for the decline. Mike Darnell, a Fox Broadcasting president, tells the Wall Street Journal, "There were two on in the fall and there will be two on in the spring, and they’re all being eroded... It’s 12 years old and you can’t expect everything to stay as big as Idol was."

TOM CRUISE: Swatted!

Tom Cruise got swatted today (Thursday)!

Police converged on his Beverly Hills estate after someone called 911 saying there was an armed intruder on the property. There wasn't.

Cruise, who wasn't home at the time, appears to be the latest victim of the growing prank, which has also been played on Ashton Kutcher and Justin Bieber.  A 12-year-old boy was recently arrested for allegedly swatting those celebs.

SOURCE: TMZ

KATHERINE WEBB: Extending Her 15 Minutes

Katherine Webb -- the girlfriend of Alabama quarterback A.J. McCarron that announcer Brent Musberger was slobbering over during the national championship game -- has parlayed her new-found fame into another gig.

Katherine, who's already landed a spot in the Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue, has signed on as Inside Edition's Super Bowl reporter. We're not quite sure what a model will be doing reporting on a sporting event for a gossip show, but it's still a high-profile job, a paycheck and a trip to New Orleans at the end of the month.

Source: Yahoo

KRISTEN STEWART, ROBERT PATTINSON: Top-Grossing Romantic Film Couple

Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson are Hollywood's highest-grossing romantic film couple, according to Forbes magazine.

The stars have brought in $1.17 billion at the U.S. box office with their last three Twilight movies.

Forbes compiled the list by looking at the top-grossing romantic films in the United States in the past three years as classified by Box Office Mojo.

Channing Tatum and Rachel McAdams came in a very distant second, with their movie The Vow earning $125 million domestically.

Jennifer Aniston and Adam Sandler were third with Just Go With It, which earned $103 million at the U.S. box office.

OZZY OSBOURNE: Hurt in Fire at His Home

Ozzy Osbourne suffered some injuries -- and burnt some of his hair off -- during a fire at his Beverly Hills home early Thursday morning.

The fire started after Ozzy and wife Sharon left a candle burning through the night and it exploded in its glass vase, setting off a small fire in the living room.

Ozzy, who was in a cast after undergoing hand surgery on Wednesday, tried to air out the room while Sharon grabbed water to put out the flames. That didn't work, since the fire began with an oily candle. The flames began to spread and Ozzy's hair got singed. Firefighters that were called to the scene quickly extinguished the fire.

Sharon talked about the incident Thursday afternoon on her CBS show The Talk, saying that, "Ozzy's front of his hair from (his ear down is), gone! His eyebrows (are gone)...he's got like, skinned cheeks." She said that they got a lecture from the firemen about candle safety, to which Ozzy said, "She's been doing this to me for 32 years! You tell her, you tell her, no more candles!" Sharon added, "I apologize to my husband because he put himself out. He made his hand worse. It started to bleed, the whole nine yards, and I'm sorry and I love you and I will never light a candle again."

CELEBS TWEET ABOUT ARMSTRONG

Stars were tweeting about Lance Armstrong’s sit-down with Oprah.

• Anderson Cooper: “Lance Armstrong says there was ‘never a directive you have to do this (dope) if you want to be on the team.’ It didn't feel wrong. He didn't feel bad. He didn't feel he was cheating.”
• Piers Morgan: “So it's official -- Lance Armstrong is the worst lying, doping cheat in the history of sport. The fact Lance Armstrong admits he had to look up what the word 'cheat' means, says all you need to know about the man…What a sniveling, lying, cheating little wretch Lance Armstrong revealed himself to be tonight. I hope he now just disappears.”
• Tom Arnold: “A lot of sports journalists were questioning if Oprah had what it takes to thoroughly interview Lance Armstrong. The woman is shredding him.”
• Sinbad: “Is Lance Armstrong’s case any different than Michael Vick’s.”
• Michael Ian Black: “If Oprah's smart, she'll have James Frey come out and give Lance a hug.”
• The Onion: “Seven Lucky Oprah Guests Find Tour De France Titles Under Their Chairs.”
• Seth Meyers: “Say what you will, he's still the Lance Armstrong of d*ckheads.”
• Mario Lopez: “I have no issue with Armstrong doping. It was a level playing field, just not the one people think. I have a problem with intimidating and suing people who questioned him that told the truth.”
• Kirstie Alley: "I don't condone what Lance did. But he did raise 100's of millions of dollars for cancer. I hope Livestrong recovers from this.”
• Patton Oswalt: "I don't have OWN. Did Curtis Armstrong admit to doping on the set of Revenge of the Nerds?"

Lance Armstrong and Oprah (audio)

Lance Armstrong admitted to doping during his sit-down with Oprah Winfrey.

• Oprah began with a “yes” or “no” line of questions in which Lance finally admitted to doping.
• But Lance didn't feel wrong. Oprah asked Armstrong if he thought his actions felt wrong, or if he felt bad or like he was cheating. He answered “no” to all, reasoning, “I viewed it as a level playing field.” He added that he cheated out of a "ruthless desire to win."
• He was a bully. Armstrong admitted to bullying his Postal Service teammates, but wouldn’t admit to pressuring them into doping directly. "I tried to control the narrative," he said, though insisted that there was "never a direct order.”
• Not afraid of getting caught. Armstrong said he didn’t fear exposure because there wasn't "much out-of-competition testing."
• Defended his friends. Lance told Oprah that “there are people in this story who are not evil." He called team physician Dr. Michele Ferrari, who's been dubbed the Master of Doping, a "good man” and a “smart man.” Lance said he knew that his "fate was sealed" when his longtime friend and teammate George Hincapie testified against him. Lance added, "I don't fault George at all,” and said they’re still close friends who speak each week.
• Making peace: Armstrong made some apologies to people he’d attacked and sued for telling the truth. They included his former masseuse Emma O'Reilly and Betsy Andreu, the wife of Lance's teammate Frankie Andreu. We saw 2006 video of Lance angrily making the truthful Betsy out to be a liar. Lance said a recent 40-minute phone call didn’t do much to mend fences.
• Beginning of the end. Lance said he knew his future was bleak after former teammate Floyd Landis admitted to his own doping on CBS and implicated Armstrong. 

birthdays today: Jason Segel, Dave Attell, Mark Messier, Kevin Costner, Ray Dolby

MICHAEL JACKSON: Hey Kids, Who's Your Daddy?

The mystery of who fathered Michael Jackson’s children may have been solved. The Beverly Hills dermatologist who treated Jacko appeared to reveal a clue on Facebook. Arnold Klein updated his profile pic on Wednesday with an overlay of his drivers license photo and a picture of Jackson’s oldest son, Prince. On Facebook, Klein mysteriously posted, “Hmmmmm” without further comment.

The facial features are strikingly similar. The late "King of Pop" always maintained he was the daddy, and despite plenty of speculation, Doctor Klein denied any paternity rumors -- until now.

Prince’s mother is Debbie Rowe, who just happened to be a medical assistant in Klein’s office. She earned a reported $6 million to carry Michael Jackson’s children. She's sworn to secrecy. All we know is that the parents -- whoever they are -- conceived not in the bedroom, but in a test tube.

SHAKIRA: Attend My Vitual Baby Shower, Donate a Gift to Charity

Shakira has invited the entire world to attend her virtual baby shower -- and buy a gift for a needy child, to be distributed through UNICEF.

In a YouTube video, her soccer star boyfriend Gerard Pique says, “We would like to offer support for babies who live in conditions of extreme poverty throughout the world.”  Shakira adds, “Thanks to all of you, they will receive in the form of inspired gifts, therapeutic food packets, vaccines and rehydration salts, which will help save the lives of hundreds of thousands.”

CARRIE UNDERWOOD: Idol Needs More Female Winners ()

In American Idol's 11 completed seasons, there have been only four women to claim the title -- Carrie Underwood, Kelly Clarkson, Fantasia Barrino and Jordin Sparks. Carrie says she'd like to see that statistic change.