I’m sure the tabloids are counting the minutes until the start of today’s edition of “The View.” After all, this will be the first live show to air since Rosie O’Donnell announced she would be leaving the ABC chatfest before the end of her contract. No doubt there are those who are dying to see how den mother (and show creator) Barbara Walters handles the situation… but I think more people will be tuning in to see what co-host Elisabeth Hasselbeck has to say about Rosie’s departure and having Donald Trump refer to her as “the dumbest person on television.”
CLASSY “VIEWER” WEDS
Until then let’s turn our attention to the person many consider the classiest former member of “The View”—Lisa Ling. (Sorry, Meredith, but your decision to dress up as a hot dog on-air and have mustard and ketchup thrown at you pretty much ruined your chances of receiving the “classy” award.) Ling, who departed from “The View” a few years ago is now a correspondent for the Oprah Winfrey Show and National Geographic Channel, is now a newlywed. According to news reports, the former “Viewer” married Chicago-based doctor Paul Song on Saturday evening in Los Angeles.
Guests say the Asian-themed ceremony was highlighted by the bride’s refusal to follow the traditional custom of walking down the aisle in a white dress. Ling reportedly wore a strapless bright red brocaded Vivienne Tam gown and exchanged vows in front of 550 family and friends including her journalism mentor Connie Chung and actresses Kelly Hu and Diane Farr.
The 33-year-old globe-trotting journalist got engaged to the 41-year-old radiation oncologist just a few months ago. The couple had been living apart—-Ling was based in Washington, D.C., and Song, in Chicago–but will now begin life as a married couple together in Los Angeles.
CIAO ROME
Former “View” co-host Rosie O’Donnell will have a lot more time to follow her idol Barbra Streisand around the world now that she has made her exit from the world of daytime talk. Though, she can now cross Rome off her list of stops. According to news reports, Streisand has canceled her concert in Rome next month – a move some say was prompted by angry protests from Italian consumer groups angered by what they deemed “excessively high ticket prices.”
However, concert organizers deny that the decision to cancel the show was connected to the outcry. Rather, they insist production delays forced them to scrap the June 15 concert in the capital’s Stadio Flaminio. The performance would have been the singer’s first concert in Italy and the kick off of her European tour.
Now, instead of the Rome concert, concert organizers are listing a new date – a June 18 concert in Zurich, Switzerland – as the kickoff for the star’s tour. After the Zurich performance Streisand will continue her European tour in Austria, France, Ireland and Britain.