People

Q & A

Talking with Johnny Rzeznik

The Goo Goo Dolls' front man is a judge on the new Fox reality show The Next Great American Band. The Goos' new album, Greatest Hits, Vol. 1, is out on Nov. 13.

How big an accomplishment is the Greatest Hits CD for you and the band?

It's a shocking thing for us because we didn't realize we had 12 Top 10 hits. We sort of looked up a few months ago and thought, Wow, it's been 12 years. We've done pretty well for ourselves.

What inspires your writing?

I have this morbid fascination with being completely alienated from everybody, and a lot of the time I really do feel that way.

Why did you decide to participate in The Next Great American Band?

They told me that I could give my honest opinion, and it's real bands who get to play original music, which is really important. It's nice to see bands you could see at a bar finally get a chance.

How do you respond when people tell you that you look like Jon Bon Jovi?

I say I had the haircut before he did. There are worse people they could say I look like. They could say I look like Meatloaf.

What's your favorite Goo Goo Dolls song?

[Laughs.] That's like asking a mother who her favorite kid is. She knows, but she ain't telling.

Real-life hero?

Teen starlet HAYDEN PANETTIERE of NBC's Heroes paddled out to sea in Japan alongside animal activists to disrupt a dolphin hunt. She was turned back; the boat-hook-wielding fishermen were clearly not fans of her brand of celebrity activism.

Retired. MARTINA HINGIS, from tennis, after testing positive for cocaine (she denies use)

Confirmed. By CHRISTINA AGUILERA, that she is pregnant

Arrested. SHIA LABEOUF, in Chicago on Nov. 4, for refusing to leave a Walgreens store after police thought he was drunk

Rumored to be dating. ASHLEY OLSEN, 21, and LANCE ARMSTRONG, 36

Getting mixed reviews. JENNIFER GARNER, for her Broadway debut as Roxane in the revival of Cyrano de Bergerac

In talks. ROSIE O'DONNELL, with MSNBC, to host a prime-time talk show five days a week

A new beginning

OPRAH said she is "cleaning house" at her all-girls academy in South Africa after one of the dorm matrons was charged with physically and sexually abusing students. "This is one of the most devastating, if not the most devastating, experience of my life," Oprah said in a video news conference beamed from Chicago to Johannesburg.

In the doghouse

A&E halted production of Dog the Bounty Hunter just before star DUANE (DOG) CHAPMAN apologized for using the N word in a private conversation with his son that was posted online.

CELEBRITY JUSTICE

Stars' most notorious moments immortalized--in cross-stitch. Maria Eugenia Pineres' mug shots are part of the "Pricked: Extreme Embroidery" exhibit in New York City.