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Director WOODY ALLEN missed the same sex kiss between SCARLETT JOHANSSON and PENELOPE CRUZ in his new movie VICKY CRISTINA BARCELONA - because he was busy having a suspicious mole tested.
The two actresses were stunned when the filmmaker disappeared as they were preparing to pucker up for the saucy scene.
But Cruz insists he did them a favour, by diverting attention from the nerve-wracking shoot.
The actress reveals, "On the day I had to kiss Scarlett Johansson, all his attention was on this freckle on his hand. He decided he had to leave the set and get it looked at, because the end of the day would be too late. It was good because it divided attention." Cruz reveals she and the 73 year old bonded on set over their fear of illness.
She adds, "My family and my friends think I’m a hypochondriac. I think I am a little. And when I hang out with another person like me, I have an attraction to that. I want to know all of their fears and obsessions."

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U.S. soap star CLINT RITCHIE has died after a brief illness. He was 70.
Ritchie played Clint Buchanan in One Life to Live for two decades after making his debut as a newspaper editor on the show in 1979.
He also appeared in TV series The Wild, Wild West and Batman, among others.
Ritchie retired from One Life To Live in 1998, but returned for stints in 2000, 2003 and 2004.

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Boxing legend MUHAMMAD ALI will be honoured with the President’s Award at next week’s (12Feb09) National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) Image Awards.
Ali will follow in the footsteps of past winners, who include human rights leader Jesse Jackson and former U.S. president Bill Clinton.
NAACP CEO Benjamin Jealous reveals the 67-year-old former fighter was chosen "not only for his success inside the boxing ring but for his role as an outspoken, charming and witty leader, activist, humanitarian and artist."

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Former BOND girl DENISE RICHARDS and TV stuntman STEVE-O are set to join the cast of DANCING WITH THE STARS, according to leaked reports.
The celebrity contestants for the upcoming spring (09) season of the hit U.S. show will be announced later this month (Feb09), but sources claim the actress and the Jackass star will be among those named.
An insider tells Life & Style magazine that Richards, 37, is already preparing for her dancing debut: "She’s super excited and has lost a few pounds to tone up and get in shape."

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JOHN CLEESE has poked fun at his Monty Python pals in a hilarious outburst on U.S. TV - and even dead star GRAHAM CHAPMAN didn’t escape harsh criticism.
Appearing on late-night show Jimmy Kimmel Live! on Tuesday (03Feb09), Cleese was asked if he kept in touch with his Python collaborators, which prompted him to fire off about each one of them.
He joked, "One of them’s alright - the little guy who does the very boring travel programmes (Michael Palin)… but the others are awful.
"Terry Jones is this excitable little Welshman; he and I never got on. What Terry cannot accept is that the Welsh are a servile nation that God put on the planet to carry out menial tasks for the English." Cleese then proceeded to mimic former Python Terry Gilliam’s mumbling, explaining no one can understand the filmmaker.
He added, "Then there’s Eric Idle - he’s quite entertaining. Well, he writes good lyrics and he makes good jokes, and I think there’s another one… Oh no, he’s dead. It’s good riddance actually - he (Chapman) was a terrible sponger (money lender). He drank a lot at one stage.
"Actually, what p**sed me off is when he went sober… within a year he was healthier than the rest of us, so I was very glad when he died." Chapman lost his battle with cancer in 1989.

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Former AMERICAN IDOL star FANTASIA BARRINO has music mogul SIMON COWELL to thank for saving her North Carolina home from foreclosure - after he reportedly helped to pay off some of her debts.
The singer, who was crowned the winner of Cowell’s U.S. TV talent show in 2004, purchased the six-bedroom house in Charlotte in March 2007 for $1.3 million (£928,570).
But she ran into financial difficulty and failed to keep up with repayments on the property.
The mansion was due to be auctioned off on 12 January (09) by the local Mecklenburg County Sheriff’s Office, but the sale was called off at the last minute after Barrino reached a deal with financiers.
And, according to the National Enquirer, it was Cowell who stepped in to provide a short-term solution to Barrino’s money problems.
A source tells the tabloid, "Very quietly, Simon promised to help Fantasia take care of some of the back payments she owed so the house wouldn’t go on the block.
"His offer of monetary support helped her stave off the creditors, at least for the time being.
"Simon didn’t want to take any credit for it, he just wanted to help her out of a jam. He was hoping to keep his good deed a secret. He didn’t want to cause Fantasia any further public embarrassment."

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BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN has ended TAYLOR SWIFT’s eight week reign on the U.S. album chart with his ninth number one.
The Boss has debuted Working On A Dream at the top of the Billboard charts with 224,000 first-week sales.
The feat ties Springsteen with the Rolling Stones for the third most number one albums in America - behind the Beatles (19) and Elvis Presley and Jay-Z (10 each).
Swift’s Fearless falls to a distant number two with a 55,000 sales week and Beyonce’s I Am… Sasha Fierce comes in third on the countdown. Nickelback’s Dark Horse and rapper Kanye West’s 808s & Heartbreak round out the top five.
Other new entries in the top 10 are the Grammy Nominees 2009 compilation at six and Franz Ferdinand’s Tonight: Franz Ferdinand at nine.

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Punk icon PATTI SMITH and VAMPIRE WEEKEND honoured two sad anniversaries on Tuesday night (03Feb09) in New York when they remembered BUDDY HOLLY at the 2009 Tibet House benefit.
Rock ‘n’ roll star Holly lost his life in a plane crash on the same day China invaded Tibet, sending Buddhist leader the Dalai Lama into exile in India - 3 February, 1959.
And Smith, Vampire Weekend, the National and Steve Earle were among the acts remembering the 50th anniversary of both events at Carnegie Hall.
Smith, who performed Holly’s Words of Love and Not Fade Away at the benefit, recalled, "Fifty years ago, the day the music died, I was a kid living in Brooklyn.â�� The singer/poet also covered the Big Bopperâ��s Chantilly Lace and Come On, Letâ��s Go by Richie Valens - Valens and the Big Bopper both perished with Holly.
The rousing show concluded with a multi-act performance of Smith’s People Have the Power.

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AEROSMITH star JOE PERRY is philosophical about the knee problems which forced the band to scrap a show in Venezuela - because he’s looking forward to playing live again without any pain.
The rocker has revealed he has been playing through agony for the past three years after a stage fall in Dallas, Texas 23 years ago finally came back to cripple his ageing frame.
Last year (08), Perry underwent knee surgery, but an infection last month (Jan09) forced him to scrap band rehearsals for the Venezuela gig - and the group had to cancel.
Now, Perry is recovering at home and fighting off the infection, and looking forward to returning to band duties.
He says, "The last two tours, I was in an extreme amount of pain, and it took everything I had to give fans the show they deserved.
"I am looking forward to playing shows without any pain in my knee for the first time in three years."

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Ailing singer NATALIE COLE’s son has undergone tests to establish if he can donate a much-needed kidney to his mum.
Cole, 58, has been battling ill health since she was diagnosed with hepatitis C in 2008. She suffered kidney problems while she was being treated for the liver disease, and is currently undergoing dialysis three times a week.
The only cure is a kidney transplant - and the star reveals her 31-year-old son Robert is being checked out as a possible donor.
Cole says, "My son may be a possible match. It’s very sweet and kind of strange to have people offer something like that." Last month (Jan09) it was reported that Cole’s sister Timolin was also being touted as a possible donor match.

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PENELOPE CRUZ’s English was so poor when she first arrived in Hollywood, she accidentally sexually propositioned a hairdresser.
The Spanish star has quickly picked up the language since making her U.S. big screen debut in 1998 movie The Hi-Lo Country.
But she admits she had to learn the hard way at the beginning.
Cruz explains, "When I was in high school I studied French, so I learned English late.
"When I first came to America I made a lot of mistakes, like going to the hair salon and asking for a b**w j*b instead of a blow dry."

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EVA LONGORIA PARKER’s sports star husband TONY PARKER has bought a huge stake in the most successful professional basketball team in his native France.
Parker, who plays in the U.S. for the San Antonio Spurs, will begin serving immediately as the ASVEL Lyon-Villeurbanne basketball club’s Director of Operations, after becoming its second largest shareholder.
The club, founded in 1948, has won 15 championships and seven domestic cups.
In an interview on France’s Infosport cable network, Parker - whose current NBA (National Basketball Association) contract expires in 2011 - says he has always wanted to "invest in a club, to take part in one after my playing days".
And the 26-year-old admits he’s already talked over plans with his actress wife to eventually move back to his native country, adding, "Why not, why not? When I’m 36, 37 years old. Why not play one more farewell year in France afterwards? I’ve raised the subject with Eva, and she has nothing against living in France."

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EMMA WATSON has laughed off reports studio bosses in charge of the HARRY POTTER franchise have written a "good behaviour" clause into her contract - dismissing the rumours as "myth".
The 18-year-old, along with co-stars Daniel Radcliffe and Rupert Grint, allegedly agreed to demands from Warner Bros. - the studio which produces the hit wizard films - that they must avoid any negative publicity in order to safeguard the authenticity of their school-age characters.
The trio, who play the three central roles in the adaptations of J.K. Rowling’s popular books, were reportedly initially chosen to star in the movies because of their well-educated, middle-class backgrounds.
But Watson has never been made aware of any such agreement - and insists it would be pointless because she isn’t tempted to lead a debauched showbiz lifestyle.
She says, "I’ve never seen a ‘good behaviour’ clause - I honestly think that’s a myth - but I actually wouldn’t ever need one. It’s just not necessary.
"Daniel (Radcliffe), Rupert (Grint) and I have been incredibly protected doing the Harry Potter movies. There seems to be this feeling that all of us were bursting to break out of these images we had created but that’s never been the case. We all share the same view. None of us court celebrity, none of us want to be part of the game." She adds, "I’m not tempted by parties or drugs. I don’t actually like being drunk, particularly in public."

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The songwriter who co-wrote JAMES BLUNT’s hit track YOU’RE BEAUTIFUL has been named president of music label Epic Records.
Amanda Ghost has landed the top job at the U.S. company, owned by Sony, which boasts an impressive roster of artists including Pearl Jam, Good Charlotte, Franz Ferdinand and Modest Mouse.
Ghost has previously written tracks for Latina pop sensation Shakira and American Idol winner Jordin Sparks.

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France’s first lady, model-turned-singer CARLA BRUNI-SARKOZY, has sold her family’s castle in Italy for $11.5 million (EURO9 million/£8 million).
The grand home, near the city of Turin, was purchased by Bruni’s parents in 1952 and has been sold to an Arab sheikh, according to Italian newspaper La Stampa.
The furniture and fittings of the 40-room, 1,500-square-metre residence had already sold for $12.8 million (EURO10 million/£9.1 million) at a London auction.
The property, jointly owned by Bruni-Sarkozy, her mother and her sister, Valeria Bruni Tedeschi, has been repeatedly destroyed and rebuilt over centuries. Experts estimate its original structure dates back to the year 1019.
The star’s mother, Marisa Bruni Tedeschi, confirms: "Yes, we have finally found a buyer. After all, we had finished with (it), nobody went there any more."

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Single Hollywood star DREW BARRYMORE harbours a 22-year-long unrequited crush on fellow former child star CHRISTIAN BALE.
The pair met as kids, after Bale was cast in 1987 film Empire of the Sun, which was directed by Barrymore’s movie mentor Steve Spielberg.
And the actress reveals she is still as starstruck by the Dark Knight actor as she was when they were both just 12 years old.
Barrymore says, "He’s so cute. And I knew him when he was a kid. He was in Empire of the Sun. If he walked into the room now, I would totally clam up. Or I might go overboard and embarrass myself."

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Hollywood actress KATE HUDSON has cleared her diary for 2009 - because she wants to spend more time with her young son.
The Almost Famous star has vowed not to make any more movies this year, because her recent hectic schedule has meant she has had very little time with five-year-old Ryder, from her marriage to rocker Chris Robinson.
Hudson has been promoting her latest offering, Bride Wars, as well as starring in new movie musical Nine.
And she is determined that will be last of her work for the rest of the year.
She tells InStyle magazine, "Being a single parent can be difficult, but I don’t feel I am one. Chris and I are co-parenting and travelling is where it gets difficult.
"Chris is on the road and I’ve had a busy last year, so I am going to take a break in 2009. I want to soak in every little part of who Ryder is."

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Hollywood actress GWYNETH PALTROW has come to the defence of British pop star LILY ALLEN - urging the press to leave the singer alone.
Paltrow knows Allen through the Smile hitmaker’s screenwriter mother, Allison Owen, who worked with the actress on two films - 2003’s Sylvia and Proof in 2005.
And the Iron Man star is adamant the wide media coverage of Allen’s personal life is unfair - because the 23-year-old is so young for her age.
Paltrow tells Britain’s Elle magazine, "The way I feel about that is: shame on you. They’re doing that to a child! Lily is not a woman yet.
"She’ll be OK because she’s a smart girl, and very talented. But this is a big test to get when you’re her age. But in a way, if it makes her go in a good direction, what a blessing. Think about all the c**p she’s got out of the way."

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