Hollywood Exclusive by Marilyn Beck & Stacy Jenel Smith

Weep not for Cody Linley. The 18-year-old heartthrob may have been forced to hang up his dancing shoes after being voted off "Dancing with the Stars," but he seems to have a bright future ahead of him. After all, his life has already changed drastically in just a few short months.

"It's such a new life that I'm living. I was going to high school and taking Spanish quizzes six months ago, and then suddenly I was being picked up in a limo and being driven to work, where I got to dance in front of 20 million people live. It's kind of surreal," notes Linley, who already has new projects in store, including a Dec. 7 appearance on "Hannah Montana," on which he recurs as Miley Cyrus' sometimes beau.

"Right after I moved back to California, I did a project called 'The Word of Promise.' It's an audio version of the Bible for children. I played Jesus, actually," adds Linley of the project produced by "The Passion of the Christ" star Jim Caviezel. "Jordin Sparks, Corbin Bleu and Jesse McCartney are in it, too. It's a really awesome project." While that tape is already available, Linley is waiting for the release of his next project, a horror film called "Forget Me Not." "It's more of an independent project. It's a lot edgier than anything I've done before," he says. "With all of the projects that have come my way, it's definitely been an awesome year. I'm so thankful for everything that's happened."

BEST FOOT FORWARD: "Dancing with the Stars" keeps getting more popular, and with it comes a growing interest in the show's professional dancers, but dancer Tony Dovolani tells us you won't be reading any gossip about him.

"Really there's not much drama around me. I'm just a family guy," notes the father of three. "I've been a dancer my whole life, so I don't know anything different. I'm one of those people who is very approachable. I talk to everybody. If people want to know something about me, feel free to come over and ask. As far as this gossip and being in the tabloids, I stay clear of that." However, he understands why fans are interested. "You can't fault people for wanting to know more about us.

When you accept being on TV then there are responsibilities that go along with it. If you have a problem with that part then maybe you shouldn't be on TV."

Dovolani says he's excited about the show's finale tomorrow night (11/25), featuring Miley Cyrus live, and at this point it could be anyone's game. "I've been rooting for all of the people who are left because I became close to all of them. They are all special people. All I want to see is great dancing," he tells us. But now that he and his partner Susan Lucci are done for this season, Dovolani is focusing his attention on his latest venture — Ballroom Dance Channel.com — a website that provides step-by-step instructional video lessons for popular ballroom dances.

"Not everybody feels comfortable going to a dance studio and being in front of a teacher. This is the best way for people to learn at home without anybody watching them, and they can go at their own pace. If they want to take it very seriously, then they can go to an actual dance studio, but this is a great way to get started," claims Dovolani, who teaches the lessons along with other pros. "I had a lot of my family members take the lessons, and before you knew it, they were learning how to dance."

THE BIG SCREEN SCENE: Jim Belushi is looking forward to getting into action with "The Catch," a feature yarn about a 45-year-old who returns to junior college as a football star. It was slated for production early this year, until an industry-wide strike killed those plans. Now, with Jim serving as director and producer, it's going through rewrites with hope of production gearing up sometime in the new year.

FROM THE INSIDE LOOKING OUT: Nancy Travis, who stars on "The Bill Engvall Show," tells us she's ecstatic to finally be working steady on a sitcom, but the genre as a whole isn't thriving as much as she and the rest of the industry would hope. "I don't know if sitcoms are making a comeback right yet. I think they're struggling to," says Travis. "I just looked at what's been cancelled and what's hanging in there, and I think they're really trying. There have been a lot of imported sitcoms on television, but American sitcoms are trying to find their own voice. I hope they do make a comeback, because for an actor it's a great platform."

With reports by 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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