Ox Notes: December 20, 2007

Yesterday, one of Cheryl Burke's pals let me know that the two-time champ will rejoin the Dancing with the Stars Tour on Friday. And TV Guide checked in with Marie Osmond, who brought all eight of her kids with her on the tour.

On the DwtS 6 rumor front, Katie Holmes is reportedly desperate to be on the show -- enlisting Melanie Brown's help in meeting the show's producers and hiring her own dance coach -- and Tom Cruise is pissed about it. Break free, Katie! You can do it!

For those of you living in the San Ramon, California area, you can meet DwtS pros Derek Hough and Mark Ballas at a Toys for Tots drive on Saturday.

And fans of So You Think You Can Dance who live near Stamford, Connecticut might want to check out a special ballroom show called "Rhythm of Love" on Friday or Saturday night. Pasha Kovalev and Anya Garnis will be dancing, along with a number of other well-known professional ballroom couples.

The Screen Actors Guild Award nominations were announced today, with the winners to be revealed on January 27.

The People's Choice Awards scrapped its plans for a red carpet presentation ceremony but will go ahead with its broadcast on CBS on January 8, featuring pre-taped clips of winners receiving their awards.

After the truth about her job situation came out, Survivor: China's ex-lunchlady, Denise Martin, has asked that Mark Burnett donate the $50,000 he was going to give to her to the Elizabeth Glazer Pediatric AIDS Foundation instead.

USA network has given the axe to The 4400 and The Dead Zone, while AMC has green lit several new original series, hoping to capitalize on the success of Mad Men.

NBC has given Cashmere Mafia and Celebrity Apprentice new premiere dates.

The January 2 episode of Gossip Girl will feature a couple of songs by The Filthy Youth, a band fronted by Ed Westwick, who plays Chuck Bass on the show. People.com posted one of the songs from the episode, and the tune just didn't grab me. The American accent Westwick puts on for Gossip Girl sounds more believable than his actual British accent.