Celebrities @The 2007 Emmy Awards. Live Coverage...Plus After Party Pics Coming Soon

Emmy Nominees Prepare for TV's Big Night on Sunday

SATURDAY SEPTEMBER 15, 2007 06:00 PM EDT
By Stephen M. Silverman

Felicity Huffman Photo by: David Livingston / WENN / Landov
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The bleachers are already set up outside Los Angeles's Shrine Auditorium for Sunday night's 59th annual Emmy Awards – but are the nominees and their presenters ready?

PEOPLE caught up with several of them as they prepare for TV's biggest night.

"I try and do a few things," Desperate Housewives star Felicity Huffman, a nominee as best actress in a comedy series, told PEOPLE inside the Kate Somerville White Room Emmy suite at the designer's West Hollywood boutique.

"I come here to Kate Somerville, I get dressed and take a shower, and that's pretty much the order of the things I do," says Huffman about how she prepares for Emmy night. "I have a great stylist, Linda Medvaine, and she pulls up to my house with a bunch of dresses. I look for something that I feel good in and is comfortable.

Joely Fisher, who is serving as a presenter with her Till Death costar Brad Garrett, says she won't be nervous about her Emmy night duty. "I'm only nervous about flying in airplanes," she tells PEOPLE. "I had my baby in my bed, I can leap off tall buildings. I'm not nervous. I'm nervous that people will maybe not like what I'm wearing, [but] who cares?"

Fisher, also at the Somerville suite, said, "I have my whole look planned out head to toe – bag, jewels, everything. It's almost like a person is standing in my bedroom, ready to be worn."

While she won't divulge what she'll wear, Fisher does say, "The last time I was at the Emmys, I wore Pamela Dennis. It was chocolate brown, had feathers and sequins. It was dramatic and lovely."

Debra Messing, asked if she's got her look ready for Sunday, tells PEOPLE, "I have, and I'm not going to share it!"

Masi Oka, who is up for an Emmy as supporting actor in a dramatic series (Heroes), told PEOPLE at Friday's official reception by the TV Academy for nominees at the Pacific Design Center that receiving the nod has "been a fun and very fast experience. I had to go to work every day, and I didn't really get to absorb it and enjoy all the festivities. It hasn't sunk in yet. I'll catch up this weekend."

Two And a Half Men costar Conchata Ferrell tells PEOPLE that when it comes to being nominated in the same supporting-comedy-series-actress category as castmate Holland Taylor, "We have made an agreement. If one of us wins, we're going to mud wrestle for [the award] on the set on Monday."

Mariska Hargitay, winning Emmy in 2006 Photo by: Mike Blake / Reuters / Landov
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Law & Order: SVU star Mariska Hargitay, commenting on what will happen if she wins as dramatic series actress again this year, tells PEOPLE, "Well, I have a one-in six-chance. I'll put [the Emmy] right next to the other one!"

Denis Leary, in the running for lead actor in a drama series (Rescue Me), half-jokingly told the Associated Press about the nominees' reception, "The reason everybody's here: You get a swag bag. That's why I'm here ... There's enough stuff in there – there's probably eight or nine things – that my wife gets something, and then we have something that we spread around with the relatives. So everybody's happy at the end."

Leary said he's rooting for Sopranos leading man James Gandolfini to win in their category. "They should give him an Emmy that's even bigger than him, a chocolate Emmy that he can eat," Leary said of the leading man who played New Jersey Mob boss Tony Soprano. "I just think he's the greatest character in the history of television."
 
Ryan Seacrest May Sing and Dance on Emmy Show

SUNDAY SEPTEMBER 16, 2007 06:00 AM EDT
By Stephen M. Silverman

Ryan Seacrest Photo by: Michael Germana / SSI Photo / Landov
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Besides the possibility of host Ryan Seacrest singing and dancing, Sunday night's 59th annual Emmy Awards will feature the spectacle of doctors going head-to-head against mobsters – or, to be more precise, Grey's Anatomy braving it out for the gold against The Sopranos.

Both shows are seen as the hottest rivals for best dramatic series, though there is also stiff competition in the offing from such old and new favorites as Boston Legal, Heroes and House.

The Emmys will air live on FOX from the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles at 8 p.m. ET (tape-delayed on the West Coast).

After the Emmys, Entertainment Tonight and PEOPLE will host the stars at their 11th annual post-show bash, this year headlined by Duran Duran. The gathering will be held inside L.A.'s Walt Disney Concert Hall.

And the Nominees Are ...


Besides its best dramatic series nomination, Grey's also racked up supporting acting nods for four of its stars – T.R. Knight, Sandra Oh, Chandra Wilson and Katherine Heigl – while The Sopranos ended its series run with 15 nominations in all, including two for stars James Gandolfini and Edie Falco.

In the race for outstanding comedy series, the nominees are Entourage, The Office, 30 Rock, Two and a Half Men and Ugly Betty, which is the show TV columnists are predicting will be the one to beat on Sunday – as is its star, America Ferrera.

The overall top nominee going into the ceremony is HBO's made-for-TV movie Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee, with 17. (See the complete list at Emmys.org.)

Seacrest's Gotta Dance


Earlier this week, Emmy host Seacrest – who not only is emceeing the ceremony but is officiating on the red carpet for E! TV – told the Hollywood Reporter that the Shrine ceremony will kick off with a musical number that he "may or may not be" a part of, depending on just "how confident I feel on the 16th."

When asked about it by Extra on Friday, the American Idol host, 32, added: "That's so obvious, singing and dancing, so I'll probably attempt to do that. There's a very interesting costume change, which could be the biggest mistake of my career ... it's that embarrassing."

Seacrest also promised, "I'm going to try and make the show fun ... and I'm going to try to have a sense of humor about it, and I hope the people watching have a sense of humor, too."
 
Emmys 2007: Prediction Poll


1.Which Series Will Win Best Drama?
  • Boston Legal
  • Grey's Anatomy
  • Heroes
  • House
  • The Sopranos
2.Which Series Will Win Best Comedy?
  • Entourage
  • The Office
  • 30 Rock
  • Two and a Half Men
  • Ugly Betty
3.Who Will Win Best Actor in a Drama?
  • James Spader, Boston Legal
  • Hugh Laurie, House
  • Denis Leary, Rescue Me
  • James Gandolfini, The Sopranos
  • Kiefer Sutherland, 24

4.Who Will Win Best Actress in a Drama?
  • Sally Field, Brothers & Sisters
  • Kyra Sedgwick, The Closer
  • Mariska Hargitay, Law & Order: SVU
  • Patricia Arquette, Medium
  • Minnie Driver, The Riches
  • Edie Falco, The Sopranos

5.Who Will Win Best Actor in a Comedy?
  • Ricky Gervais, Extras
  • Tony Shalhoub, Monk
  • Steve Carell, The Office
  • Alec Baldwin, 30 Rock
  • Charlie Sheen, Two and a Half Men
6.Who Will Win Best Actress in a Comedy?
  • Felicity Huffman, Desperate Housewives
  • Julia Louis-Dreyfus, The New Adventures of Old Christine
  • Tina Fey, 30 Rock
  • America Ferrera, Ugly Betty
  • Mary-Louise Parker, Weeds
 
Nominees celebrate on eve of Emmy Awards

By MICHAEL CIDONI, Associated Press Writer Today at 4:47 am
In their last hours as neither winners nor losers, Emmy nominees gathered to celebrate being in contention for American television's highest honor -- and to get free stuff.
On Friday, the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences hosted a party honoring nominees for Sunday's 59th Primetime Emmy Awards, which will air on Fox.
Denis Leary, who is up for lead actor in a drama series for "Rescue Me," said the select group of actors showed up to receive certification that they were nominees.
"But no, really, the reason everybody's here: You get a swag bag," he told The Associated Press, apparently only half-joking. "That's why I'm here ... There's enough stuff in there -- there's probably eight or nine things -- that my wife gets something, and then we have something that we spread around with the relatives. So everybody's happy at the end."
Leary said he's rooting for James Gandolfini, star of the "The Sopranos."
"They should give him an Emmy that's even bigger than him, a chocolate Emmy that he can eat," Leary said. "I just think he's the greatest character in the history of television."
The reception at the Wolfgang Puck restaurant in the Pacific Design Center also included supporting-actress nominees Sandra Oh ("Grey's Anatomy") and Holland Taylor ("Two and a Half Men"). Supporting-actor nominees T.R. Knight ("Grey's Anatomy"), Neil Patrick Harris ("How I Met Your Mother"), August Schellenberg ("Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee") and Jon Cryer ("Two and a Half Men") showed up, too.
Cryer revealed that he and fellow nominee Felicity Huffman (lead actress in a comedy series, "Desperate Housewives") would be participating in a 22.5-mile triathlon Sunday before walking down the red carpet at the Shrine Auditorium. He expected endorphins to help keep him calm on Emmy night.
Last year, Cryer said he was nervous as a first-time nominee.
"I didn't know how I was supposed to act," he said. "I would just sort of sit around, going, 'Am I supposed to be sitting here? What's going on? Is there something we're supposed to be doing now?'"
Oscar winner Anna Paquin ("The Piano") said she was just too busy to fret about her Emmy nod as supporting actress in "Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee."
"I'm about to start shooting a new series for HBO," Paquin said. "So that's really distracting me from feeling nervous about Sunday night."
Last year's lead-actress drama winner Mariska Hargitay ("SVU") said her previous Emmy and a new baby helped keep the event in perspective. After a baby "decisions come so much easier," she said.
"This year, it was so easy," she said. "I tried on this dress. It was the first dress I tried on, and, I said, 'I'm done.'"
Finding red-carpet couture wasn't quite as easy for Conchata Ferrell (supporting actress, "Two and Half Men").
"Particularly for a woman my size, it's really very difficult to find anything," she said. "There's no designer knocking on my door, going, 'Oh, here. Wear this,' she said. Ferrell eventually went to the set's costume designer, Mary T. Quigley, who came up with a silver sparkling number.
For Masi Oka (supporting actor, "Heroes") clothes weren't the problem for Emmy night. Finding a date was.
Even his own mother turned him down, choosing to stay home in Japan.
"My mom is actually very superstitious," he said. "She tells me every time she's in Japan, she gets good news, like 'I got nominated for a Golden Globe,' or 'I got nominated for an Emmy.'
"Anytime she's in the states, she gets bad news, like, 'I want to be an actor.'"
 
Sopranos" taking final bow at Emmys

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - America's favorite mob family, "The Sopranos," is favored to rub out the competition at Sunday's Primetime Emmy Awards and notch a place in the record books of U.S. television's top honors along the way.
But the acclaimed gangster saga, which ended its six-season HBO run in June with a puzzling blackout, faces a tough challenge from the lovelorn doctors of ABC's hit "Grey's Anatomy" in the race for the prestigious title of best drama.
This year's Emmys are filled with intrigue, Hollywood watchers said.
The best-comedy battle is considered a three-way contest among workplace-related shows, with last year's winner, "The Office," narrowly favored over low-rated fellow NBC contender "30 Rock" and the new ABC hit "Ugly Betty."
HBO's made-for-TV movie western "Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee," this year's most decorated Emmy contender with 17 nominations, is expected to dominate its category. It features ********** presidential candidate Fred Thompson as U.S. President Ulysses S. Grant, although the actor-politician is not up for any individual awards.
But former U.S. Vice President Al Gore is. After winning Oscar fame for his 2006 climate-change documentary "An Inconvenient Truth," the onetime ********ic presidential nominee may grab the Emmy limelight if, as expected, his cable venture, Current TV, receives the "interactive television services" award.
Meanwhile, the United States' most-watched TV show, Fox talent contest "American Idol," is favored to finally win the prize for reality show contest over perennial CBS champ "Amazing Race."
 
For Masi Oka (supporting actor, "Heroes") clothes weren't the problem for Emmy night. Finding a date was.
Even his own mother turned him down, choosing to stay home in Japan.
"My mom is actually very superstitious," he said. "She tells me every time she's in Japan, she gets good news, like 'I got nominated for a Golden Globe,' or 'I got nominated for an Emmy.'
"Anytime she's in the states, she gets bad news, like, 'I want to be an actor.'"

This is funny:roflmfao:
 
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The Look: Emmys Governor Ball

Thu, 09/13/2007 - 8:49am by partysugar

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The Emmys are this Sunday and the decorating committee is hard at work preparing for the Art Deco themed after party. The look for the post show Governor's Ball is an elegant black and white color scheme that drips of old Hollywood glamour.
The dinner menu —created by chef Joachim Splichal of Los Angeles' Patina restaurant — starts off with a tomato, cucumber, mango, and Dungeness crab tower with a sweet ginger soy reduction sauce. It's followed by a filet mignon and wine braised shortribs aside potatoes fondant and asparagus. Dessert is a milk chocolate mousse with a Champagne gelee served in a dark chocolate cup garnished with fresh berries and cherry vanilla cake. As for the drinks, Voss water, Grey Goose vodka, and Laurent-Perrier Champagne will be served.
And don't forget, there's still time to enter BuzzSugar's Emmy Ballot Sweepstakes!
 
It's a Trend! Christina's Also Late, Late, Late

Categories: emmys 2007, planet gossip
It's 2:13 p.m. I'm at the Shrine, one of many E! Online staffers here today. Wondering why black-tie events in L.A. always take place on the hottest days? Tie's already loosened, and the ceremony's still hours away!
Now, some scoop.
Let's hope the awards go off better than a couple of the rehearsals went down this weekend. As I reported earlier, Kanye West was almost two hours late for his run-through yesterday with Wayne Brady and Rainn Wilson for their musical spoof of reality competition shows.
Then this morning, the day of the big show, Christina Aguilera was 30 minutes late for her rehearsal with Tony Bennett of their "Steppin' Out with My Baby" duet. Bennett finally started without her.
Bennett and Aguilera's rehearsal yesterday went much more smoothly, I'm told. "It was really good," a source reports. "Maybe Christina didn't think they needed to rehearse as much today."