Dish Of Salt: Monday TV Round Up (Jan. 25, 2009)

From Conan’s farewell on “The Tonight Show,” to the Hope for Haiti Telethon, to the Screen Actors Guild Awards… there was a lot happening on TV this past weekend. The Dish is off today, but pinch-hitting for her today is AccessHollywood.com Managing Editor Jeremy Blacklow.

Hope For Haiti
First of all, if you didn’t catch the Hope For Haiti telethon on Friday night, you missed out. This was one of the most emotionally moving events I’ve ever seen on television. Standout performances included Justin Timberlake’s “Hallelujah” (feat. Charlie Sexton), Christina Aguilera’s “Lift Me Up” and Madonna’s “Like a Prayer” (she hasn’t sounded so good in years!). Be sure to buy the all of the performances on iTunes HERE. It’s only $7.99 and 100 percent of the proceeds go to a variety of Haiti relief organizations.

Conan’s Star-Filled Send Off
Did you miss Will Ferrell, Ben Harper, Beck and ZZ Top’s Billy Gibbons sending Conan off with a cover of “Free Bird”? Check it out HERE!

Screen Actors Guild Awards Round Up
I was producing for Laura on our platform at the 16th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards this past Saturday, and we had a blast together. All of the stars (who weren’t at Sundance!) showed up in a great mood – probably because unlike the Globes, it wasn’t pouring rain! The Dish and my favorite moment was probably watching Justin Timberlake and “Glee’s” Matt Morrison meet each other for the first time ever on our red carpet platform — and then comparing hair-do’s! These two charmers are dead ringers for each other, with their sexy curly locks. And Matt used to be in a boy band once too, before he made it big on Broadway and on “Glee”! Watch their “hair gel secrets” encounter – HERE.

And That’s How Sue ‘Vogues’ It!
In more “Glee” action Access caught up with Jane Lynch at Sunday’s Producers Guild Awards, who elaborated a bit more for us about the much-discussed “Madonna episode” for the show’s back-half 13 episodes. We already knew that Jane and the cast would be singing “Vogue,” and Mark Salling broke the news to the Dish at the Golden Globes that the cast would be doing “Like a Prayer” (which Madonna herself revived at the Hope for Haiti Telethon last Friday night!). But on Saturday, Jane elaborated for us that the cast would in fact be spoofing the famous 1990 video for the hit song, “frame-for-frame”! Although they haven’t shot it yet, Jane says they have already started rehearsing for it. We can’t wait until April 13, when “Glee” returns to FOX!

Julia Roberts To ‘Glee’?
In even more “Glee” guest news, the cast was talking with the Dish about the possibility of none other than Ms. Julia Roberts possibly making a guest appearance on their now-Globes-and-SAG-Award-winning show! Series creator Ryan Murphy just directed Julia in the big screen adaptation of Elizabeth Gilbert’s “Eat Pray Love.” Matt Morrison seemed to think it was a definite likely possibility. But Cory Monteith joked to me that the show, “isn’t ‘The Love Boat.’” But the real clincher of confirmations came from both Lea Michele and Jane Lynch. Lea told the Dish that Julia came up to Ryan’s table at the Golden Globes, and was pitching him ideas and said, “Ryan, I think I need to be on your show!” Then Jane confirmed the story. So there you have it folks, the idea came from Julia’s mouth herself!

Alexander Skarsgard To Get Naked And Kill People
Just when we thought “True Blood” couldn’t get any better, we get this news from Swede Skarsgard, who plays sexy vampire Eric Northman on the hit HBO series. Not only did he confirm to the Dish that he’d kill “at least one person” in the season three premiere, but he also confirmed that he’d be getting naked this season and it would happen in the first episode, and then several more times this season! As if we needed more reasons to keep watching!

Gilles Marini To Be Series Regular On ‘Brothers & Sisters’
The Dish got more info out of Gilles on the SAG Awards red carpet about his work on the hit ABC drama. He confirmed that he’d be back in February and when she asked how many episodes he’d be doing, he responded, “a lot!” So she followed up to ask if he’d be a series regular, and although he said he couldn’t break the news at this time and place, he confirmed that the Dish was “doing really good” in her guessing. We couldn’t be more exciting for Gilles! He’s always such a great friendly interview. Watch his cute reaction HERE.

Beyond these interviews, the Dish and I spoke with special honoree Betty White, Bryan Cranston, the men of “Dexter,” Helen Mirren, Jane Krakowski, Scott Bakula and Adam Lambert. The rest of the Dish’s interviews are all HERE.

‘Idol’ Boots Bi Mike?
Did “American Idol” kick off one of their Top 24 contestants this week, because his dad spilled the beans to his hometown newspaper (The St. Petersburg Times) about his son’s success? According to the New York Post… Yes! According to Joe’s Place Blog, (which has had a 100% accuracy record for predicting “Idol’s” Top 24 for the past 4 to 5 years), Michael “Bi Mike” (named such for his huge biceps, not his sexual orientation) Lynche was indeed originally part of “Idol’s” Top 24. A contestant from St. Petersburg, Fla. who auditioned in Orlando, Florida, as of this morning an interview with Michael was still featured on AmericanIdol.com, where you can learn such facts about him like that he collects deodorant sticks and that he hasn’t lost an arm wrestling match since he was 9 years old. Whether or not he turns up in the group of 24 when they’re announced at the end of Hollywood week on February 17, is still TBD.

However, Bi Mike’s MySpace page is still active, usually not a good sign for someone making the Top 24 (most of the rest of the predicted Top 24 have had their personal pages deactivated already!). He also has a personal Web site still up HERE. Michael’s older brother, Marques Lynche Jr., was an “Idol” semi-finalist in 2004. Access has reached out to FOX, which is not commenting on this rumor.