Side show

CHILL, DUDE: Just because Steven the Dell computer dude isn't one of the interns in the company's new TV ad doesn't mean he isn't with other interns in another department. Or he won't join this uptight group later. Or he won't eventually be revealed as Dell's founder -- a dude computer prodigy who started the company at 15 but prefers to live the middle-class dude life -- when he gives the interns a welcome speech.

Steven -- and Ben Curtis, the actor who plays him -- has not been cut out of Dell's plans, spokesman Bob Kaufman said, trying to quiet an online fan uproar that began when Curtis' absence started rumors that he was being fired.

The firing fire was fueled Wednesday by a Wall Street Journal story that was construed to mean Curtis was gone for good. The Journal said Curtis was not sure if his contract would be renewed and that Dell group marketing manager Claire Bennett said that all good things must come to an end.

Later in the day, Kaufman told the Associated Press that Dell wanted to try something different with the new ads but "this does not mean the end of Steven's relationship with Dell."

Curtis' agent, Bonnie Schumofsky, told the AP that a "very high authority" at Dell assured her that Curtis' job was safe.

WE BEG YOU: NO ED MCMAHON. NOOOOO RYAN SEACREST. AND PLEEEEEEEASE NO BRIAN DUNKLEMAN: Once upon a time there was Star Search. Then there was American Idol. And now there's . . . Star Search again.

CBS has decided to overshadow its impressive start to the TV season by announcing that it is bringing back the 1980s-90s amateur talent show as a midseason replacement.

No doubt we have the massive success of American Idol this summer to blame. CBS is adding viewer participation to the Star Search format of a panel of judges picking the winners. But will an hour of mostly bad singers, bad comedians and supermodel wannabes enthrall America as much as an hour of just mostly bad singers?

CBS is promising nine one-hour episodes, with the ultimate winners in the adult singer, junior singer, comic and supermodel categories getting $100,000 each.

A nationwide search for contestants begins Oct. 26 in Miami. CBS planned to have details available this morning via a toll-free phone line, 1-800-553-3811.

We can tell you that if you want to audition for supermodel, you must have with you your "walk and talk," a news release says.

IF YOU CAN'T BEAT 'EM: The newest celebrity accessory is a personal paparazzo.

And coincidence or no, among the early trend-setters are two of the world's least photogenic people, Aerosmith's Steven Tyler and Donald Trump.

Each had a hired photographer with him at the VH1/Vogue Fashion Awards on Tuesday. Each photog followed his boss down the red carpet, snapping away, the New York Post says. They continued to cause quite a stir at the show's after-party -- the buzz being all the other celebs moaning about not thinking of it first.

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