Hollywood Exclusive by Marilyn Beck & Stacy Jenel Smith

Shirley Jones is getting the pop star treatment in London, where she's encamped for her first-ever engagement on the West End — a concert series with son Patrick Cassidy that will take her through April 3 in that jolly old city. Her album signing found fans lining up around the block.

"It's incredible, incredible. They never stopped," she tells us. "There've been cameras everywhere, even waiting outside my hotel. It's amazing, to tell you the truth. I wasn't sure people would remember who I was. I'm shocked in a way."

The 75-year-old movie musical great and TV star is enjoying feeling the love — when she has time. She's been on a whirlwind of appearances in between performances.

She had just one day between heading to London and the completion of a bus-and-truck tour back in the States. "It was 17 shows in 17 nights," she relates. She doesn't want to repeat such a grueling schedule.

"I would rather it wouldn't come so close together. I would like a rest in between, but that's not the way it happens sometimes. You have long waits when you don't do anything, and then there are times when everything happens at once. That's what show business is all about," she says. "I still enjoy working, though. I think it keeps me going."

Jones shows no sign of letting up, either. She's been asked to take over the Angela Lansbury role in Broadway's current production of "A Little Night Music" this summer when Lansbury completes her run. Whether her already scheduled concert commitments and a "Night Music" stand can coalesce remains to be seen.

WHERE'S THE IDOL?: "American Idol's" Scott MacIntyre, the visually impaired piano player from last season, says he's keeping up with the show this year, but so far, no one has blown him away.

"For me, there are some good singers. I wish everyone was doing a little more. I don't feel like anyone who's stepped on that stage believes and really understands what they're doing. This is the opportunity of a lifetime, and I want to see someone take the bull by the horns and have a little bit of star power. Everybody seems to be getting up there to sing their songs and hoping for the best," says MacIntyre, who returned to the show to perform a piano duet with Matt Giraud.

"There's no one that I've heard and I've thought, 'I want that person in the top five.' There seems to be a little something missing from each performance. I hope it's coming. I have a feeling someone's going to jump to the forefront here, but we'll see. You can't beat season eight, though," he adds with a laugh.

MacIntyre is currently enjoying the fruits of his own labor, as he recently released a full-length album entitled "Heartstrings." "I wrote every song on the album so it's a very personal project for me.

There are songs about love and loss to having hope when things seem hopeless — they're all things that have pulled on my own heartstrings at one point or another," he explains. "Aesthetically, it's a little more contemporary than I did on the show. Once I went on tour, I started to have more of a pop/rock type of vibe."

The talented singer tells us he's also busy writing a book. "There is a lot about me that people don't know. One thing I dealt with is kidney failure for two years. I was on dialysis for a long time. There was a time when I literally could not sit up and play at the piano. Luckily, I had a successful kidney transplant. The wife of my former piano instructor donated her kidney to me and literally saved my life. I go into detail about these things in the book."

ANOTHER CRAZY REDHEAD HEARD FROM: Jennifer Stone admits she wound up with bruises by the end of production of her "Harriet the Spy: Blog Wars" movie that debuts tonight (3/26) on the Disney Channel — but she's not complaining.

"There's a dance number, and I had to do some Lucille Ball-type physical comedy in it. I was in my hotel room throwing myself around, practicing. That scene took a lot more work than most of them did," reports the red-haired 17-year-old funny girl of "The Wizards of Waverly Place."

Stone had a blast bringing to life the beloved Harriet, in an updated way. "She's a strong female character, but she has her imperfections," she notes. "She's a little prideful — thinks everything she does is brilliant. She doesn't consider anyone else at the beginning, so she has to learn. We take her through a journey."

Stone is just about done with shooting the third season of "Wizards of Waverly Place" and hoping there'll be a fourth, she says. As far as herself and cast mates Selena Gomez, David Henrie and Jake T. Austin growing up, she notes, "We're all getting older, but we're definitely all still a family. I think we'll always be like your friends at school that you stay friends with even when school is over."

ART IMITATES: Talk about putting yourself into your work. Paul Reiser's "Next" pilot has the former "Mad About You" star playing Paul — a variation on himself, as casting notices convey: The prospective half-hour NBC comedy deals with "Paul's" life after his hit TV show is over, when he finds his world populated by the fathers of his kids' school mates and the husbands of his wife's girlfriends, and grappling with his next career move.

With reports by 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.

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