Hollywood Exclusive by Marilyn Beck & Stacy Jenel Smith

CMT Prexy: Obama Plea 'a Morale Boost' for 'Music Builds' Team/'Bridesmaids'' Melissa McCarthy Matter-of-Fact Re: Body Image

CMT has been keeping details under wraps of President Barack Obama's appearance on tonight's (5/12) "Music Builds: CMT Disaster Relief Concert" special to aid tornado and flood victims. But the country music network's President Brian Philips tells us, "The president was gracious and eloquent and impassioned in his plea for help for this region. He immediately recognized he needed to be on this show. That gave us a morale boost."

The special, from Nashville, Tenn., is so jam-packed with stars that by Tuesday, Philips says, the executive producer was texting him to say, "'Please don't promise anybody else they can be on the show. We are overbooked."

That outpouring of concern and support is a far cry from last month, when tornadoes killed some 300 people in six states including hardest-hit Alabama, where entire towns were leveled.

"People throughout this vast swath of America were witnessing devastation beyond their imaginations, yet they weren't getting help," Philips recounts. "They were watching news channels and unbelievably not seeing what they expected to see about their hometowns. They weren't sensing that they were the topic of news coverage. Unfortunately, for the most part, they weren't."

Emails poured in to CMT asking for help, with "viewers coming to the logical conclusion, 'Let's get someone at CMT to get the cameras on this.' It's a first, and it is a fact," he says. "It was an eye-opener."

Philips says that there has been a lot of conversation among those involved in "Music Builds" about these unique circumstances, about "how it felt seeing the royal wedding being played for the fifth time, knowing the extent of the damage and the lost lives just to the south of us. Nature pays no attention to the news cycle," he adds. "Nature doesn't care that there's a royal wedding or that the U.S. has mounted a spectacular surgical strike and taken out bin Laden."

Hank Williams Jr. was among the many who tuned in to the news, "took a look at the very minimal TV coverage coming in from Alabama and was dumbstruck," says Philips. The singer "got really fired up about this and has been one of the busiest people, getting it going. He's an amazing character, a great addition to anything CMT does. He brings such color and enthusiasm and credibility, as well as brilliant music."

Country music elite the likes of Lady Antebellum, Keith Urban, Tim McGraw, Sara Evans, Alan Jackson, Alabama and Ronnie Dunn have been quick to commit to the special.

"It's just a reflexive reaction with our stars to help at times like this. It's the easiest call you'll ever make," says Philips. "They've all had to change around their schedules. It's the start of tour season, busy for everyone."

Show forces are getting help from Hollywood and New York as well, he says.

"I think you'll be very surprised at the level of people who gave us special footage for this affair."

He acknowledges, "Certainly, CMT can't take full credit for it. We're part of the MTV Networks Music Group — that's done the Katrina benefits, Hope for Haiti. And we did the Jimmy Buffet Gulf Shores concert. People often look to us to bring artists together and stage these sort of events in a timely manner."

Crews have been shooting B-roll packages this week in tornado- and flood-ravaged areas.

With the CMT Music Awards coming up June 8, Philips says there is some overlap with production and crew people "who are doing both things. They'll have to be taken out in straitjackets before this is over. They're getting no sleep," he says.

Still, "There's nothing like the energy of things like this when they're produced in the heat of the moment. You're running on adrenaline, and it's magic when people say, 'Guess who's coming.' 'Guess who's given us a great piece,' and you realize you can make a difference and use the channel for good."

Proceeds from the event are going to the American Red Cross.

SHE WHO LAUGHS: Melissa McCarthy's career is surging, what with her role in the big-screen "Bridesmaids" that opens this weekend, her "Mike & Molly" stardom and other projects in the wings. So she can definitely afford to laugh at that much-talked-about magazine writer's declaration last year that she didn't want to have to watch "fatties" in love. Looking back, McCarthy tells Entertainment Weekly, "In all honesty my first thought was I hope she doesn't have kids."

In a feature in the issue hitting stands tomorrow (5/13) the mother of two girls talks matter-of-factly about her own body image.

"Please, I don't throw on a dress and go, 'That's perfect!' But I do quite often go, 'Well, it's not changing today, so just go out and have fun and stop worrying about it.'"

McCarthy has another female ensemble comedy that she wrote with "Bridesmaids" co-writer Annie Mumolo, and director Paul Feig is developing a romantic comedy for her, EW reports. A plus-sized movie star? McCarthy says she'd love to be big on the big screen. "Yes. Are you kidding?"

GENERATIONALLY SPEAKING: "Hellcats" actress Gail O'Grady says it's a toss-up, so far, as to whether her 6-year-old son might follow her into show business. "He talks about it once in a while," she says. "Sometimes I walk into his room and he's in the middle of making a story with his toys. Maybe he'll become a director and hire me in my old age."

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.

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