Overnight Briefing & General Reality Check

Guilty Pleasures:

No winner in Saturday night's drawing for the Powerball Lottery. That means tonight's drawing is valued at $101 million ($49.6 million cash value). Powerball is played in 41 states, Washington DC and the U-S Virgin Islands. Chances of winning the grand prize (all five numbers plus the powerball) are 1 in 195.2 million.

Sucking the life out of the wire services:

As the saying goes, you can pick your friends but not your family --so who would you welcome to your gene pool? A new survey published in the British tabloid the Sun reports shows most of us think DAME JUDI DENCH would make the perfect mom, DANIEL RADCLIFFE and EMMA WATSON could be the ideal son and daughter and wacky HUGH GRANT took the honors of being the ideal imaginary uncle.
   Poor PARIS HILTON didn't fare too well --20% of respondents said she'd be their least-liked relative. (Lee)
Phone-in: Who would you like to be your celebrity "family"?

KIM KARDASHIAN is officially becoming high maintenance. The reality show star tells Us Weekly magazine that she blow dries her jewelry before putting it on because she hates cold jewelry. (Myers)

At the local Cop Shop:

In Detroit, a woman was caught shoplifting when her motorized cart broke down on the way out of the store.
   And even then, police had to use a Taser to subdue her.
   The Macomb County Daily says 30-year-old JERRIE PERKINS was caught with about $600 worth of merchandise. When she tried to leave the store and triggered the alarm, her cart just stopped dead in its tracks. Deputies Tazed her after she got out of her cart and threw one cop to the floor and tried to throw punches at another. She's due in court tomorrow.
   Perkins is just 5' 2" and 400 pounds.
   Editor's note: Well, it's not like she'd get far on foot. (Maiman)

Casting Call:

DANIEL RADCLIFFE will star in the upcoming comedy "The Amateur Photographer." Daily Variety magazine reports he'll play a guy who gets drafted by a small, New England town to be its photographer --and finds out he's pretty good at it.
   CHRISTOPHER MONGER --who was nominated for an Emmy for writing the HBO movie, "Temple Grandin"-- wrote the book, and will be directing as well.

Grace notes:
LADY GAGA will be in concert on HBO. Her two shows at New York's Madison Square Garden next Monday and Tuesday are set to be taped with the best bits making it to HBO on May 7th. Lady Gaga Presents The Monster Ball Tour will feature the singer backed up by a ten-piece band, and ten backup singers. Her new album, "Born This Way," is scheduled for release on May 23rd
   FYI: This will actually be Lady Gaga's second HBO appearance. She was in an early episode of "The Sopranos" back when she was just a teen actress named STEFANI GERMANOTTA. (Marino)

ARCADE FIRE continues to rake in awards. After winning Album of the Year for "The Suburbs" on Sunday at the Grammys, the band flew to London to be at the Brit Awards last night at the O2 Arena. Arcade Fire won International Group and "The Suburbs" was named International Album of the Year. Many of the same peformers at the Grammys were at the Brits, including CEE-LO GREEN, except this time he was wearing a white suit with a red boutonniere. MUMFORD & SONS won British Album of the Year for the folky "Sigh No More." (Marino)

MADONNA has given LADY GAGA's new single her blessing. "Born This Way" does sound an awful lot like Madonna's 1989 hit, "Express Yourself," but Gaga told JAY LENO Monday night that she got an email from the Material Mom who sends her love and support. Hopefully, that means Madonna won't be suing Gaga. Meanwhile, "Born This Way" is on track to debut at number one on the Billboard Hot 100. More than 450,000 downloads were sold in the first three days since the single was released on Friday. (Marino)

Lowering expectations:

A nude cooking show is set to launch this month on the adult channels in Hong Kong.
   Each 30-minute episode (it'll be in Cantonese) will be hosted by 26-year-old FLORA CHEUNG, who tells the South China Morning Post that "Most men don't like to cook, but I want to get them interested."
   There's a trailer on YouTube. The camera follows Cheung as she navigates the wet markets of Hong Kong, fully clothed. After she purchases ingredients, she goes into her kitchen to cook, sans clothes except for a transparent apron that protects her and yet reveals all.
   Although Cheung has no professional cooking experience, the show's creator is sure she'll attract viewers. He should know; his nude news shows have been attracting viewers since 2004.
   FYI: Where to watch? The Ice Fire channel on NOW TV, Hong Kong Broadband Network and TVB Pay Vision.
   Editor's note: I would advise against frying bacon in the nude. (Maiman)