Hollywood Exclusive by Marilyn Beck & Stacy Jenel Smith

"Hairspray The Musical" star Nikki Blonsky has big plans for 2008 — for both her music and acting careers.

She says she already has "a handful" of songs written for an album that she has her sights set on recording in the new year. "I just love to write about real experiences," says the 19-year-old, who'd just graduated high school prior to nabbing the lead as loveable, effervescent Tracy Turnblad in "Hairspray." She adds, "I love to mix everything up, and my sound is probably a mix between big band, jazz and R&B."

Blonsky — who's currently shooting the upcoming Lifetime Original Movie "Queen Sized" — is also laying plans for a musical show she hopes to take on the road next year.

"I'm putting my own choral show together to do with the Turtle Creek Chorale in Dallas, Texas, on Dec. 16 at the Texas Philharmonic," she says. "It's the first time I've ever gotten the chance to put my own show together, and I hope it goes well. The theme of my show is 'Anything can happen, follow your dreams.' I'm just going to be singing a lot of fun songs that mean something to me and hopefully will mean something to my audience. Then, hopefully, by the time I'm ready to take the show on the road fully, I'll have my album out and have worked in songs from the album." Hey, there's no such thing as too much hope.

"BIG BROTHER" IS BEING WATCHED: With CBS's "Big Brother" holding open casting calls here, there and 'most everywhere around the country, producer Allison Grodner tells us, "We're just being told to be ready — that CBS is looking at an earlier 'Big Brother' than normal. It's usually a summer show. Now it looks like we'll be doing a winter edition."

Indeed. Thousands of hopefuls have already shown up for calls in Los Angeles, New York and South Carolina. Ahead are calls in Chicago, Kansas City, Atlanta, Oregon, Tampa, Columbus, another New York date and more, all through Saturday (Dec. 1), for a cast of "12 to 14 in the 'Big Brother' house," as Grodner says.

As the Writers Guild strike goes on, such fare is an obvious option for networks. Typically, the parts of reality shows that are scripted are written by non-union writers, so they remain unaffected by the guild's actions. Grodner is well aware many consider the writers' loss to be reality's gain, but she says, "My feeling is that a work stoppage is not good for anyone." She also says, "I have a business where I continue to develop shows, and certainly I talked to CBS about doing other shows before the strike.

Reality and alternative shows are already such a big part of the television landscape that it's not so much a matter of there being new productions as of these shows being used to fill multiple time slots."

The winter edition, "Big Brother 9," will likely have some season-specific twists. "I think it would be in the show's best interests to make sure a midseason event is different from a summer event," Grodner says. "But the things people like will continue to be a part of it — the social and psychological dynamic, the soap opera feel of it all."

DOING THEIR BIT: "The Sarah Silverman Project" regular Laura Silverman reports she and sister Sarah have a very personal interest in the Nov. 29 "Comedy Without Borders" benefit taking place at the University of Southern California for the Arava Institute for Environmental Studies in Israel. "It's housed on the kibbutz where my other sister (Rabbi Susan) lives," says Silverman. "They work on developing and growing non-indigenous foods for the region. It's just a great place with people of all ethnicities and religions and backgrounds coming together to solve the common problems of the region, which is really cool."

Almost everyone from the cast of "The Sarah Silverman Project" is participating in the event, she says. "I'm co-hosting with Jay Johnston (who plays her love interest on the Comedy Central show), and Sarah, Brian Posehn and Steve Agee are all doing standup. Roseanne is performing, too."

Meanwhile, Silverman just wrapped "a 10-part web series on Comcast On Demand called 'Mascot.' Corporate America decides that if they're in hot water with the American people for the danger of their products, they're going to turn the blame on the mascots. I play this evil corporate woman."

DOING WHAT COMES NATURALLY: Former star of "That '70s Show," Wilmer Valderrama, has gained a reputation for being somewhat of a party guy over the years, but the actor, who recently wrapped two independent films, says he's got plenty of family and friends keeping him in line. "I always feel my dad is kind of breathing down my neck metaphorically saying, 'Hey, what are you doing?'" Valderrama tells us with a laugh. "And despite what people think, I've never felt like I've needed to do anything to be cool or to jeopardize my image somehow to gain some kind of temporary satisfaction."

With reports by Stephanie DuBois and Emily Fortune Feimster.

To find out more about Marilyn Beck and Stacy Jenel Smith and read their past columns, visit the Creators Syndicate web page at www.creators.com.

COPYRIGHT 2007 MARILYN BECK AND STACY JENEL SMITH

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