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Michael Caulfield/WireImage.com, Lisa O'Connor/ZUMA Press

Wedding weekend got even more officially underway tonight.

A day after Ashlee Simpson celebrated her bachelorettehood with family—including her future mother-in-law—and gal pals, big sister Jessica hosted a private rehearsal dinner for Simpson and Pete Wentz at her Beverly Hills home.

Only close friends and family were invited to the intimate affair, held in the elder Simpson sib's backyard. Candlelit tables and twinkling white lights strung through the trees helped set the mood.

There's no confirmation yet that Jessica's boyfriend, Tony Romo, was there, but the NFL star is reportedly planning to accompany the singer to the Simpson-Wentz wedding tomorrow night. The apparently cohesive couple were spotted having lunch at the celeb-frequented Katsuya in Hollywood earlier today. 

Michael Caulfield/WireImage.com

The clock is ticking, the event-planners are bustling and maybe, just maybe, a fetus is growing.

After saying their respective farewells to the single life on Thursday night—which, aw, ended with the duo recoupling at the Roosevelt Hotel—Ashlee Simpson and Pete Wentz are primed to swap vows sometime Saturday.

Sources once placed the nuptials at a friend's house in the tony beachside town of La Jolla, Calif., but now all signs are pointing to a Valleyfied affair at parents Joe and Tina Simpson's Encino home.

Party preparations started taking place Thursday as Simpson family employees, an SUV full of balloons—and, at one point, Jessica Simpson herself—were spotted bustling in and out of the Royal Oaks Colony, the gated community where Joe and Tina live.

And, thanks to telephoto lens-toting paparazzi, a tent was spied going up in their spacious backyard.

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Michael Becker / FOX

If you've got some Benjamins riding on a David, be warned: Only one of them is Cooking. At least according to the bookies.

The online oddsmakers at BetCRIS.com have unveiled the favorite to take the American Idol crown...let's just say Papa Archuleta may have to be restrained.

Former bartender and Missouri's favorite rocking son David Cook is the odds-on pick to succeed Jordin Sparks during next week's finale, given a 74 percent chance of winning the whole shebang, per the online bookies.

Despite starting the season as the overwhelming favorite, tween dream David Archuleta has just a 32 percent possibility of becoming Simon Cowell's newest protégé, per the betting line.

Of course, last we checked, Gambling 101 was not a part of a grade-schooler's course load, meaning the actual voting demographic might not jibe with the oddsmaker's pick and it still could be anybody's contest.

George Pimentel/WireImage.com

Lauren Lee Smith can see dead people.

At least beginning this fall.

Looking to fill the void left by the departures of Gary Dourdan and Jorja Fox, The L Word veteran is joining CBS' CSI: Crime Scene Investigation as a series regular, the network announced today.

The 27-year-old Smith will play Bryce Adams, described as a "smart, flirtatious and witty nonconformist" obsessed with the underbelly of society, who got into police work to rebel against her disapproving psychiatrist father. She joins Gil Grissom's crack squad working the night shift.

The Vancouver-born thesp had a recurring stint on Showtime's The L Word as sous chef Lara Perkins. Her film credits include last month's thriller Pathology, as well Art School Confidential and alongside Casey Affleck and Zach Braff in The Last Kiss. She teams up with Ashley Judd and Goran Visnjic in the drama Helen, due out in October, and will appear in next year's horror anthology Trick or Treat.

Fox and Dourdan both decided not to reup with CSI after failing to hash out new contracts. With Smith in place, producers still must fill the role of Ray Santoro, billed as a "handsome, smart and athletic" CSI who takes on the graveyard shift at the crime lab.

Michael Becker/FOX

Millions will vote for the latest American Idol. Only nine will spend the summer with him.

Tickets for this summer's annual American Idols Live! Tour are set to go on sale Saturday for the more than 50 stops on the North American trek.

The top 10 contestants will all be hitting the road July 1, with the two finalists, Davids Cook and Archuleta, leading the way.

Fellow also-rans Syesha Mercado, Brooke White, Carly Smithson, Chikezie Eze, Jason Castro, Kristy Lee Cook, Michael Johns and Ramiele Malubay will make up the numbers for the stage extravaganza, which fans will no doubt get a taste of next Wednesday. Producers historically put their show ponies to work in several cheesily staged group numbers, aka filler, on the two-hour finale show.

Full itinerary after the jump.

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Thursday was ladies' night for the Simpson wedding party.

Jessica and mother Tina Simpson hosted a bachelorette bash for imminent bride-to-be Ashlee Simpson last night, E! News has exclusively learned. The hen party started off at the Encino home of parents Joe and Tina, where tents were spotted being erected earlier in the day, and made stops at a swanky West Hollywood lingerie shop and an A-list watering hole before winding down around midnight.

A source said the balloon-decorated party at the Simpson house was a "mellow" affair attended by a dozen or so of the youngest Simpson's nearest and dearest. The bash began in the early evening and, sometime before 8 p.m., the group—which we hear included the mother of the groom—left to hit up the Kiki de Montparnasse boutique on Melrose Avenue for...well, you know.

Eventually it was off to the Tropicana Bar at the Roosevelt Hotel in Hollywood, where Group XX met up with Group XY...

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Graham Japson/WireImage.com, Lisa O'Connor/ZUMAPress.com

UPDATE: A source in Costa Rica tells E! that Britney Spears arrived with Mel Gibson at 3:18 p.m. local time.

Upon arrival, Britney looked calm, albeit tired, from the trip. Along with Gibson, his wife, Robin, and Britney's father, Jamie Spears, some unidentified youngsters also got off the plane.

An immigration executive boarded their jet to complete the necessary paperwork and, about an hour later, the group took off on a smaller private plane for the province of Guanacaste, in the northwest part of Costa Rica bordering Nicaragua.

Local press are reporting the pop star will be vacationing on Gibson's coastal property along Playa Barrigona.

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Britney Spears has found herself a rather unorthodox traveling companion. So to speak.

E! News has confirmed the singer joined Mel Gibson aboard a private jet this morning, bound for Costa Rica.

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Frank Micelotta / FOX

The impending battle of the Davids put a little spring in American Idol's flagging step last night.

Fox's hit show—which, despite showing signs of deflation, still exhibits juggernaut behavior—attracted nearly 24.3 million viewers Wednesday, a 1.4 million-strong bump from last week and its largest audience since April 2, when Michael Johns and Carly Smithson were still singing for their supper and little Ramiele Malubay got the boot.

Idol also saw viewership jump by more than 4 million people in its second half-hour, ensuring that Fox would flay the competition in its time slot—although CBS' Criminal Minds put up quite a fight, averaging 12.7 million inquiring minds—and win the night in total viewers.

Although it's unlikely the expected showdown between David Archuleta and David Cook will bring the millions who have gone missing this season back in full force next week, Fox has to like the fact that its (yes, still dominant) numbers are creeping back up.

But why should you care?

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DMX is maintaining his innocence. He could stand to wind his watch, though.

During a brief hearing Thursday to which he arrived late, the actor-rapper pleaded not guilty to 11 counts of animal cruelty and drug possession stemming from a months-long investigation into reports of pit bull abuse at his Phoenix-area residence and a subsequent search of his home.

The seven dog-related charges are misdemeanors, while the four drug counts—three of which stem from a raid at DMX's home in August and another from marijuana allegedly found at the scene during another search last week—are felonies.

The Cradle 2 the Grave star, whose real name is Earl Simmons, is accused of mistreating 12 pit bulls found on his property last summer, which, according to the Maricopa County sheriff's office, had to be given emergency veterinary treatment for malnutrition and dehydration.

Another five puppies were confiscated during the cops' most recent trip to DMX's house, as well.

AP Photo/Kim D. Johnson

Not surprisingly, Rob Lowe wants to cut the competition down to size.

The actor and his wife, Sheryl, have filed a motion to dismiss the majority of the 12-count lawsuit brought against them by their former nanny Jessica Gibson, who worked for them on and off over the past six and a half years. (View the motion.)

(Not to be confused with the sexual-harassment suit filed by Laura Boyce, another ex-babysitter.)

The Lowes are looking to have a judge toss out causes of action 4 through 12 of Gibson's suit, including a charge of retaliation and claims that she's owed back wages, as well as payment for overtime, "off-the-clock work" and meal periods.

"The pleading is defective because Gibson fails to state facts sufficient to constitute" all of the above, states the Lowes' notice of demurrer (aka, motion to dismiss).

The couple—who are also suing Gibson, Boyce and their former private chef for breach-of-contract—claim Gibson shot her own case in the foot by admitting last month that her onetime employers cut her a check for regular wages earned and overtime.

Gibson has also alleged sexual assault, battery and harassment, but we'll cross that bridge when we come to it.

Kelsey McNeal / Fox

Fox speaks geek.

The network unveiled fall—and spring—schedules fit for Comic-Con, replete with new series by Joss Whedon and J.J. Abrams, a Family Guy spinoff, a returning Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles and a 24 prequel.

The autograph lines are to the left.

Today's announcements were not all fanboy fun. There were sober assessments of American Idol. There were cancellations, most notably of the heavily promoted comedy Back to You.

And there was a ringing endorsement of Paula Abdul.

"We love Paula. She's coming back," Fox Entertainment President Kevin Reilly said of the oft-judged Idol judge.

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Frank Micelotta / FOX

No, Syesha Mercado wasn't exactly ecstatic about Happy Feet.

"It's not like I could change it," Mercado said of being required, per American Idol producers, to perform the penguin movie ditty "Hit Me Up" on Tuesday's show. "So, I could try to make the best of it."

Mercado, who was dismissed from Idol last night, one week shy of the finale, didn't pin her exit on the so-called producer's choice song, one of three she belted on Tuesday.

But, while upbeat in a conference call with reporters this morning, she didn't disagree with a suggestion that "Hit Me Up" wasn't a singer's song.

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