Hollywood Exclusive by Marilyn Beck & Stacy Jenel Smith

"Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" is booming despite the flagging economy — but such is not the case for some of the people lucky enough to get one of the dream houses built on the show. As the financial crisis continues, admits host Ty Pennington, it's been tough hearing about some of the families they've helped who have had to face foreclosure on their homes.

"It's sad when you see that happen because often times we leave them having paid off the mortgage, or money to help pay for that, but who knows what happens?" says the ever-energetic carpenter.

"Maybe they started a business and used the house as collateral and that fell through. You can use it as collateral, but if you put it up too many times, it will be taken away if you don't make your payments," he notes.

Pennington reminds that there is only so much he and the show can do for these people in need. "Once you have something like that, it's up to you to take care of it. It's kind of out of our hands once we turn the house back over to them."

THE INSIDE TRACK: Barbados-born singer Shontelle admits she felt nervous about following up her "T-Shirt" hit of last summer — until the forces of pop star good fortune smiled on her. "I was just doing my thing, and then I got a phone call saying, 'Disney's doing this new movie and Diane Warren's going to be writing a song for you, and Rodney Jerkins is producing. It's going to be the main song of the movie. Diane said she wanted to write for you because she likes your voice.' I said, 'I don't believe you guys,'" recounts the beauty, referring to her management. "And then they said, 'Well, you're not going to believe this, either — Akon is going to be on the song, too.'"

The song is "Stuck With Each Other," and the movie is the Isla Fisher-Hugh Dancy "Confessions of a Shopaholic," produced by Jerry Bruckheimer, opening next month. The tune's already being heard on ads, and a video is on the way.

Shontelle says she thought that Diane Warren's words of praise were exaggerated — at least by her reps — until she actually met the legendary songwriter in studio, along with ultra-hot hip-hop star Akon.

And "She said, 'Did they tell you I really wanted you to sing the song because I like your voice?'"

Unusually, in this age of music artists duetting via high-tech wizardry at different times, sometimes different continents, Shontelle and Akon were together to cut "Stuck With Each Other." "It was so cool to have everyone in the same room — a whole different vibe," she says.

Shontelle is just coming off a tour of the U.K. with New Kids on the Block, and staying a bit in London to do promotion because "T-Shirt" has just hit there. When she returns, she expects there'll be plans laid for a U.S. tour.

INSIDE ASIDE: "Survivor" creator, Mark Burnett, recently teamed up with music mogul P. Diddy for the MTV series "StarMaker" in hopes of finding the hottest solo acts to sign with Bad Boy Entertainment, and the reality TV producer had some big things to say about music's bad boy. "I loved working with P. Diddy. We got along really well. We have a lot of similarities in our approach to entertainment and business. I learned a lot from him," claims Burnett, who currently has over 13 shows on the air or in the making. When asked if it was difficult working with someone as strong-minded as he is, Burnett responds, "We never had one cross word between us. We got along fantastically." The man, who clearly has an eye for on-screen talent, was even impressed with Diddy's TV presence. "He's going to continue to be a mogul in music and television, but I predict this guy is going to become a big movie star."

HEY, YOU COULD DO A LOT WORSE: Archeologist Josh Bernstein, who has become a fixture on the Discovery Channel and the History Channel, has often been referred to as the real-life Indiana Jones, but the TV explorer admits he isn't a fan of that title. "I understand why it came out because of the archaeology reference, but I still resist the comparison," says Bernstein. "I don't have a whip. I'm not Indiana Jones. I don't have a cape. I'm not Superman. I'm just someone who likes to travel and explore. If there's any similarities between me and fictitious characters it's just because we love to learn and explore." So, there!

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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