New York, March 29-April 2 - Janet Jackson spent the week in a whirlwind of events to promote her new recording, Damita Jo. (We thought “Look at my breasts” was Jackson’s middle name, but it’s really Damita Jo.) Monday, Jackson appeared on the David Letterman show, and later Virgin Records tossed a record release party at new hotspot Spice Market. Jackson and maybe-fiancé Jermaine Dupri turned up late, both dressed in all white, (waaaaay after Labor Day), while a stream of limos delivered Patti LaBelle, Deborah Cox, sort-of presidential candidate Al Sharpton, rapper Ja Rule, Ice T, Queer Eye Jai Rodriguez and designer Betsey Johnson. We thought Courtney Love had headed back to L.A. after her own recent arrest-prone record promotion tour, but she stumbled in to the party late. Reportedly Justin Timberlake was invited, but declined.

We don’t know which genius at ABC’s Good Morning America conceived Jackson’s free outdoor concert for Wednesday morning, (booked months before the Super Bowl wardrobe malfunction, per Diane Sawyer), but about 3,000 fans arrived by 6 A.M. to stand in the freezing drizzle to watch Janet’s two-song performance. (That’s the concert you all saw at home, warm, in your pajamas.) That afternoon, Jackson signed CDs, indoors, at the HMV store in Harlem.

Unlike Courtney Love, we’re positive Janet’s back in L.A., where on Friday she appeared on On Air with Ryan Seacrest. Several thousand fans gathered for the concert at Hollywood and Highland (newsflash to ABC News – outdoor concerts during April work in L.A., not in New York), one sporting a T-shirt with the slogan “Lighten up America, it was only a boob!” During interviews, Janet remained mum on her rumored upcoming marriage to Dupri, so maybe her pierced-belly jewelry saying “JD’s” (Jermaine Dupri’s) was a wardrobe malfunction.

With Jen Lowery in Los Angeles

Washington, D.C., April 1 – As if Washington, D.C. wasn’t already a freak show! Michael Jackson spent the week in the nation’s capital, and we zipped down on Thursday when an association of spouses of African Ambassadors presented Jacko with a humanitarian award for his work in the fight against AIDS in Africa. Jackson arrived an hour late at the Ethiopian embassy, where they kept the hundred or so guests entertained by screening a short video of Jackson in concert, and a live band played African music. Jackson entered to polite applause, and didn’t speak, but simply expressed his thanks, applauded enthusiastically to an African dance performance by children, occasionally flashed the peace sign or gave a thumbs up, signed a few autographs and swept out the back. We’re not sure if the heavy security surrounding the embassy was on account of Jacko, or due to the adjacent Israeli embassy and Secret Service office across the street.

Earlier in the week Jackson huddled with a few black legislators, although others declined to meet with him. Jackson wants to stage a concert tour in Africa to raise funds to fight AIDS, but would need permission to leave the U.S. from the California courts overseeing his child molestation case.

New York, March 30 – The Museum of Modern Art’s film and media department honored Oscar-winning director Sofia Coppola at the Grammercy Theater. New York Times film critic Elvis Mitchell and director Jim Jarmusch moderated the program that included talks with Coppola, Kirsten Dunst (Virgin Suicides) and Bill Murray (Lost in Translation). Quentin Tarantino, Marcia Gay Harden, Kathleen Turner, Kevin Bacon and Kyra Sedgwick, Claire Danes, designer Anna Sui and Jimmy Fallon all paid homage, no doubt to avoid waking up to beheaded horses. Later, at the after party at Metronome, a relieved Coppola told us she’d been nervous about being the center of attention, so we asked Jarmusch if he too had been nervous about moderating the panel. “No”, he replied, grinning, “I was drunk”.

[Ed. - Look ma, Open All Night is a "Page Six spy" Page Six: Bubbly Buffer ]

New York, March 28 – It was quite a show celebrating the 70th anniversary of Harlem’s Apollo Theater. Music, comedy and dance performances by Bob Dylan, Willie Nelson, Ashanti, Natalie Cole, Tito Puente, Jr., Herbie Hancock, Harry Connick, Jr., Branford Marsalis and many others reminded us of just how influential the legendary Apollo has been: Ella Fitzgerald, Stevie Wonder, Billie Holiday, James Brown and the Jackson Five are some of the stars that launched careers at the theater’s amateur nights. Backstage, Denzel Washington embraced a star struck photographer; she told us his hands felt like butter. Also backstage, Ashanti was thrilled when she met Natalie Cole by chance; her face lit up as she introduced herself. You'll be able to see this in June, when Apollo Turns 70 will be broadcast on NBC.

Los Angeles, March 28 – Beverly Hills is walking all over Tom Ford. The megastar fashion designer, freshly departed from Gucci, was honored with a plaque on the Rodeo Drive Walk of Style on Sunday evening. An entire block of Rodeo was closed off, and the ceremony and party were held in a big black tent-like enclosure (no roof) in the street. Natch, most guests like Sandra Bernhard, Anjelica Huston, Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson, Nicky Hilton, Lucy Liu, Nia Vardalos, a big-haired Kate Beckinsale and Heather Graham were wearing Ford designs, and even though many women at the party were wearing identical Gucci shoes, no one ran out screaming. Very civilized.

We figure that Ashton Kutcher and Demi Moore, singer Jewel and Val Kilmer all took the same bus, since they all arrived at the same time. Pamela Anderson, in signature white tank top, showed up quite late with ex-hubby Tommy Lee. Tom Ford is only the second designer to get a plaque on the Walk of Style (the first was Giorgio Armani), so it isn’t really a “walk” yet, just two gold plaques in the ground.

Photos by Jen Lowery

Las Vegas, March 24-25 – All eyes were on the fat lady at the ShoWest Awards in Las Vegas. Gwyneth Paltrow, sixish months pregnant, flew in special from London for the fest. We thought we had a scoop, since Paltrow remained glued to Jude Law at the awards ceremony and accompanying round of parties, but turns out they were just promoting their upcoming summer sci-fi thriller, Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow. It’s not too visible in the photo at left, but Paltrow’s black dress had everyone at Paramount Pictures' Paris hotel party buzzing – it was see-through.

ShoWest is an annual motion picture industry convention at which theater owners give awards to filmmakers and box office draws. It seems that those big-ego/big-box office stars realize that they need theaters in order to pull in the big paychecks and the adulation of fans - among the famous we found trolling the gambling mecca were Denzel Washington, Meryl Streep, Keanu Reeves, Nicole Kidman, Samuel L. Jackson, Warren Beatty, Michael Caine, and Jennifer Garner. Halle Berry sent an apology, laid up with a leg injury. And we thought theater owners got rich selling us $5 popcorn.

Photos by Jen Lowery

New York, March 23-24 - Due to noise complaints from an upstairs neighbor, alternative rock trio Marcy Playground had to cancel their in-store performance at FYE at 51st and Avenue of the Americas, and merely signed CDs for fans. The complaints came after the previous day’s in-store performance by white-hot N.E.R.D., who were promoting their new recording, Fly or Die. Turns out the grumbling came from Jann Wenner's Wenner Media, publisher of Rolling Stone and Us Weekly magazines. An FYE spokesperson confirmed that the complaint came from Rolling Stone, and when asked if the music magazine was an immediate neighbor, he replied, “Apparently”. Wenner Media verified that their offices are, in fact, on the second floor of the building at 1290 Avenue of the Americas. Immediately following N.E.R.D.’s Tuesday set, a more sedate John Leguizamo was at the store signing DVDs of his HBO movie Undefeated. No complaints so far.