Hollywood Exclusive by Marilyn Beck & Stacy Jenel Smith

"American Idol" alum Justin Guarini has had a TV resurgence thanks to a hosting gig on the TV Guide Network, and now the season one runner-up has even more to celebrate. He's engaged, and he tells us wedding plans are keeping him and his fiancé busy.

"I'm engaged to a sweetheart of mine from back home," gushes the Pennsylvania native. "We've known each other since I was 18. Her mom was my English teacher in school. We found each other again and fell in love. We're getting married this summer so we've got a lot to plan, but fortunately my fiancé is on top of things."

In the meantime, Guarini isn't losing sight of his work. He's currently in the studio creating a new album and is also starring on the third season of CMT's "Gone Country," premiering Jan. 24. "I was pretty intimidated walking into the experience because I'm with George Clinton, Sheila E., Taylor Dane — all of whom at some point in their careers reached the pinnacle of their success. There I am like, 'Oh, you know, I'm the runner-up on "American Idol."' I've had little successes here and there, but I've mostly been under the radar," he notes. Luckily, he felt right at home with the genre. "I think now, with this experience and the work that I've done with the writers in Nashville afterwards, it certainly is a viable format for me."

MEANWHILE: The "Idol Wrap" and "Idol Tonight" host is anxious to see how "Idol's" newest host Kara DioGuardi will resonate with fans as the show continues in its new season. "I think it's great she's there. I think people need the change and a fresh perspective from someone who is an artist herself and works with artists on a regular basis," says Guarini. "It's one more thing that's going to shake up the system."

FROM THE INSIDE LOOKING OUT: Whoopi Goldberg has been imparting some of her movie star wisdom to Shamika Cotton, who plays the young version of her character in the newly launched "Stream" Web series on FEARnet.com — and Cotton is obviously thrilled by that.

According to the former "The Wire" costar, she didn't meet Whoopi until "the third or fourth day of filming. We got to sit down and she was so welcoming — nothing like 'I am the icon and you are the new actress.' No, she was very embracing. It's a really awesome experience for her to treat me as if she already knew me — early in my career, to have her talk to me about acting as a business.

How you treat people, that's very important to her. She shared a story with me of the time her daughter met a star she was enamored with, and the star was having a bad day and really brushed off her daughter not knowing who she was. Later in life, Whoopi ran into that person, and told them, 'That was my daughter.' The moral of the story is, always treat everyone with respect and humility, because you never know who the people are who come up to you."

Cotton says that "Stream" came about so quickly she had just a week to get her Whoopi act together. She watched "Jumpin' Jack Flash" — "my favorite movie as a kid" — and "The Color Purple" and other Whoopi fare. She worked on capturing some Whoopi mannerisms.

"The first thing I think I got down is the smile — two types of smiles. One where she doesn't show her teeth, and one where she does. Then I think I got how she moves her hands when she talks, the way she holds her mouth, how she uses her eyes. I did the work and then thought, 'We'll see what sticks.' I had to just let it happen and focus on the scenes." And those got intense, to say the least, as the character copes with problems that at one point have her in a mental institution.

Cotton is hopeful for another set of Webisodes of the sci-fi show that she feels has a "Twilight Zone" sensibility. "After six weeks, we'll see what happens."

HELLO, AGAIN: Christopher Atkins says that the fact Scott Baio and Jason Hervey are hosting/producing VH1's "Confessions of a Teen Idol" was a big lure to his coming aboard the reality show. Baio and Hervey, of course, know the teen idol territory well, with "Happy Days," "Joanie Loves Chachi," "Charles in Charge" and "The Wonder Years" to their collective credit. Atkins says he trusted them: "Even though some of what they were planning for us wasn't going to be all that 'user friendly,' so to speak, they understood us to a T. They could put themselves in our shoes because they'd been there," says the one-time "Blue Lagoon" heartthrob.

Atkins is seen on the show with David Chokachi of "Baywatch," Billy Hufsey of "Fame," Jeremy Jackson of "Baywatch," Eric Nies of MTV's "The Real World," Jamie Walters of "Beverly Hills, 90210" and Adrian Zmed of "T.J. Hooker" and "Grease 2."

Notes Atkins, "With Scott, he really considers himself the luckiest guy in the world. He had a time where he couldn't get arrested, like me. Then he did 'Scott Biao is 45 and Single' and it completely revived his career, and now he's

producing."

With reports by Stephanie DuBois and Emily 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 2008 MARILYN BECK AND STACY JENEL SMITH

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