Congratulations from shocked friends and colleagues of Heidi Montag and Spencer Pratt have been pouring in since the couple eloped in Mexico.

"I am surprised and not surprised at the same time," says Hills costar Audrina Patridge. "They obviously adore each other and are very committed to one another. Heidi and Spencer seem like the types who would want a lavish wedding full of friends and family. I do think it's very romantic that they eloped."

Whitney Port, soon to be starring in Hills spinoff The City, says "Congratulations to them. I think it's great if that's what they're ready to do. Good for them."

Even more surprising than the elopement, and the fact that these two planned it without Heidi accidentally becoming a Mexican drug mule, is that the marriage ceremony was conducted outside the presence of MTV's cameras. This no doubt made MTV very happy. "MTV wishes Heidi and Spencer the best and can't wait to share their special moment with The Hills fans later this season," MTV said in a statement, as they plan their new Hills spinoff, MTV Executives Punch Spencer In The Balls. 

Mariah Carey, fresh off the American Music Awards, appeared on the Ellen DeGeneres Show yesterday and was asked about her rumored pregnancy. But when Mariah responded with a non-committal "No, that's OK [to ask]," DeGeneres offered up a glass of champagne to celebrate the nonnews.

"You don't have to answer that. Let's just toast with champagne," Ellen said, at which point Mariah became flustered, insisting that 3 p.m. was too early for her to start drinking. Which is bullshit, because it's never too early to start drinking. Unless you're at a baptism, where apparently everyone's just too goody-two-shoes to do twelve celebratory shots of Goldschlager before the ceremony. Well la-de-da. I guess the next time I get puke on my pants, I'll just have to leave them on.

"I can't believe you did this to me, Ellen," laughed the Grammy winner, "This is peer pressure!" She then only pretended to sip the bubbly. But after Ellen then insisted that Mariah was in fact pregnant, Carey responded. "I didn't say that. No, no, no. My mother would be at home like, on the computer like, What are you talking about? We will let you know when we're going to have a family."

Mariah should have totally called Ellen's bluff and downed the whole bottle of champagne. That would've showed her. Would've showed her a deformed child in nine months too, but, you know, why spoil the joke.

Despite what some shockingly unreliable sources may have told you, Alex Rodriguez will actually be spending Thanksgiving with his wife, Cynthia, and their two kids - not Madonna and her kids and her Kabbalah and her vegetarianism and her strange sinewy muscles that probably feel like someone wrapped a wolverine in spandex.

The story yesterday was that Cynthia wrote an e-mail to friends slamming her ex for abandoning his kids over the holiday. But a source close to the slugger says that "It's not true. I spoke to her this morning. He's going to be with Cynthia and her entire family for Thanksgiving, and this has been planned for months," the insider adds. "It's quite a big celebration."

"They have a large family get together every year," the source continues. "It was always his intention to go to the family get together with her family, and it includes a whole array of relatives."

Since the couple split, "they've reconciled and it's very friendly. All those other things are completely false and misleading." 

Now that Madonna and Guy Ritchie are officially on the outs, Alex Rodriguez is taking his place at her side over Thanksgiving. This is not sitting too well with his wife, Cynthia, who claims that he has abandoned his children.

Access Hollywood reports that Cynthia wrote an e-mail to a friend which said: "My 6-foot-3, 220-pound soul-less, soon-to-be ex-husband is abandoning his kids on Thanksgiving to be with Madonna . . .She called and he ran on her command back to New York City . . . Gross!"

Instead of spending the holidays with his children, Natasha, 4, and Ella, 1 - A-Rod is hosting a dinner at his Manhattan apartment for Madonna and her kids. No doubt they'll hunker down for a tasty macrobiotic turkey. Followed by a spirited game of Find The Testicles, as A-Rod's will have fallen to the floor.

Cynthia's friend also said that she described Madonna in "not so nice terms" in the e-mail.

A rep for A-Rod declined to comment.

Paris Hilton received an unpleasant reception at the Kress in Hollywood this weekend. In fact, she was booed so loudly that she refused to take the stage.

Hilton was at the 16th birthday party for Crystal Audigier, daugher of designer Christian Audigier, because hiring Paris for your daughter's 16th birthday is a much more stylish way to steal her innocence than frat-boys-and-roofies. Paris was supposed to introduce the Pussycat Dolls but, according to a source, when Audigier took the stage and yelled to the crowd, "Do you want to see Paris Hilton?" the entire room burst into boos. Paris was practically in tears and left without taking the stage."

Adding insult to injury, the crowd had just cheered when they thought Britney Spears was coming, which is like losing at darts to Stevie Wonder.

Below are some pics of Paris and Crystal at the birthday bash.

Amy Winehouse was back in hospital last night after an orgy of booze and drugs which was prompted by a shouting match with (soon to be ex?) husband Blake Fielder-Civil on the phone.

Winehouse, 25, was rushed to a London clinic after collapsing with a seizure. Doctors performed a series of tests, and were yesterday continuing to monitor her.

A source said: "They had a screaming row. She was beside herself after the call - and she just totally lost it." The phone argument took place on Saturday over whether string theory is in fact falsifiable or, like quantum field theory, it is more framework than testable scientific theory. Or it may have had something to do with this. The argument was, naturally, followed by a bender that lasted the rest of the weekend.

Amy's spokesman confirmed she was taken to hospital on Sunday but claimed she had "a bad reaction to the combination of medication she has currently been prescribed." Apparently the prescription was for whiskey and mescaline.

Hulk Hogan has a lot of problems - his son serving as jail-bait, his daughter accusing him of domestic violence, and his subsequent failures to have them both executed. And now he has another problem. His wife, Linda Bollea, has somehow run out of money despite receiving $40,000 a month in alimony payments. In her defense, self-tanner is not as cheap as it used to be.

During a court hearing late last week, Linda's attorney asked the judge to set another hearing to discuss unfreezing some of the couple's assets for her own use. Hogan's attorney, however, put a body-slam on that idea.

"They have to tell me why she's out of money," she said. "They have to show me in bank statements." 

The Hogans starred on VH1's Hogan Knows Best, and Linda filed for divorce shortly thereafter. Which is understandable. After watching that show, I wanted a divorce from my eyes.

Below are some pics of Linda, demonstrating where at least some of the Hulkster's $40K/month is going.

Michelle Williams opened up about Heath Ledger's death in an interview with Newsweek."It's so sad," she said, after bursting into tears at the mention of her ex-boyfriend's name.

Williams, who has a 3-year-old daughter Matilda with Ledger, says she still struggles coping with his death from an prescription drug overdose on Jan. 22.

"I just wake up each day in a slightly different place. Grief is like a moving river. I'm at heart an optimistic person, but I would say in some ways it just gets worse. It's just that the more time that passes, the more you miss someone. In some ways it gets worse."

Williams has moved on in some respects since Ledger's death, now reportedly close with director Spike Jonze. The pair have been photographed together, and held hands at last month's premiere of Synedoche New York. Here's hoping things start to look up for the actress.

UPDATED WITH MORE PHOTOS!

R&B singer Chris Brown dominated the American Music Awards on Sunday, winning three prizes including artist of the year.

The 19-year-old star overshadowed Alicia Keys, who led the field with five nominations, and ended up with a pair of statues.

Brown was clearly shocked to win the artist of the year honors, the ceremony's final award.

"I probably was shocked like everybody else," Brown said backstage at the Nokia Theater. "I know everybody was like, 'Huh?' I thought Coldplay should have genuinely won that award, but I'll take it!"

He was also named favorite male artist in both the soul/R&B and pop/rock categories. His girlfriend, Rihanna, won those categories for the women.

Keys' album As I Am was named favorite album in the soul/R&B and pop/rock categories.

Other winners included voice-of-his-generation Kanye West, who won the first two American Music Awards of his career. He said he would give one of them away to fellow nominee, Lil Wayne.

"If it was last year, this would have been my award," he said of the favorite male rap/hip-hop category. "This year, it's Wayne's award. We'll see what happens next year." West also won favorite rap/hip-hop album with Graduation.

Taylor Swift won her first award, as favorite female country singer, for her album Fearless.

"It's an honor that you even care about the songs I wrote in my bedroom," said the 18-year-old star.

Brad Paisley, another first-time winner, won the favorite male country artist category. "I have always, always wanted to win an American Music Award," he said, pausing to survey the bottom of his statuette. "Made in China?"

For the second straight year, winners were determined by online voting. So, the evening can be cited as exhibit R in the case for why America should be turned into a benign monarchy.

All of our American Music Awards Coverage is located here.

Featured in the gallery: Mariah Carey, Enrique Iglesias, Brad Paisley, Taylor Swift,  Nick Cannon, Annie Lennox, Daughtry, Chris Brown, Alicia Keys, Jonas Brothers, Kanye West and Justin Timberlake.

Click any photo to view all 40+ photos of the winners from the American Music Awards gallery! The gallery of losers can be found in my high school yearbook.
 

In case you haven't heard, this movie Twilight is opening in theatres across the country today. That piercing, high-pitched squealing noise you're hearing is the sound of the estrogen tsunami rolling throughout the land. It is not, no matter what you're told, the result of me cutting my nails too short this morning. 

The film has received positive reviews, and almost 2,000 screenings are already sold out, no doubt helped by star Robert Pattinson. Co-star Kristen Stewart says that Pattinson has the killer looks for the job, saying he's "pretty sexy". Curiously, she also claimed that Pattinson proposed marriage to her on set. However, it appears that this was not a real proposal, the kind you give the girl you're going to marry, but rather a fake proposal, the kind you give a girl during that awkward time between getting her pregant and moving out of the city.

"I mean, I don't know how serious he was, but yes," Stewart says. "We spent a lot of time together, a lot of like really heightened time."

"I can't remember proposing to her," Pattinson says, adding that he pops the question to women as a good conversation starter. "It used to be my thing, I would propose all the time," Pattinson says. "Just go up to someone, you know, and say I love you or ask them to marry you. It always works."