Dressed in his trademark sexy silver lamé jumpsuit, famously flamboyant Austrian jet-setter and fashionista Brüno yesterday fell into the possibly loving - but certainly shocked - arms of Today journalist Matt Lauer.

Sadly, the geniuses at NBC faded to black before the embrace made it to our idiot boxes.

It all started when Matt asked Brüno's dominant alter ego, Sacha Baron Cohen, to react to news that Emil Brix, Austria's ambassador to Britain, finds Brüno so odious and such a blow to the reputation of his nation, which gave the world both the loving thinker Ludwig Wittgenstein and evil despot Adolf Hitler, that he wants a global boycott of the tender biopic Brüno, which opens today.

Reduced to tears, beloved, sensitive Brüno was, like, "This is the first I'm hearing of this."

He asked for a close-up, then a hug.

Ethan: Is the chemo working?

Survivor: Africa star Ethan Zohn, who on April 30 was diagnosed with Hodgkin's lymphoma, says he's "a little bit nervous" as he prepares to take a PET scan, a full-body test conducted "to see if the chemotherapy's working."

Speaking in his weekly People.com video diary, Zohn says he feels apart from the other cancer patients he has come across: "I still don't see myself as one of them. I feel different. I don't know why. I feel like I'm going to beat this." Zohn says he'll share the results of the scan, which will determine his course of treatment, on Thursday.

Ryan Gosling . . . chanteur?

Is Fracture star Ryan Gosling going the way of Joaquin Phoenix? Pitchfork Media says Dead Man's Bones, a band cofounded by Gosling and his pal Zach Shields, will release a self-titled CD on Oct. 6. Described as a concept record (visions of Yes, King Crimson, and Rush rush by . . .), Ryan's album features choral contributions from L.A.'s Silverlake Conservatory Children's Choir. Gosling's description of the music doesn't inspire confidence. "You know when you're a kid and you get crayons . . . and just draw whatever you want and it's [a mess] . . . but to you it makes sense, and then they put it on the fridge," G. said to Pitchfork Media, adding that he tried to capture that free-form energy.

There's Hope for HBO project

Englewood, N.J., native Hope Davis, 45, has replaced Hannibal star Julianne Moore in the role of former first lady Hillary Rodham Clinton for the HBO/BBC project The Special Relationship, a fairy tale about the close friendship between Britain's Prime Minister Tony Blair and President Bill Clinton in the late 1990s.

The Hollywood Reporter says Moore has a scheduling conflict with another movie, The Kids Are All Right, a drama about a girl brought up by a same-sex couple (Moore and costar Annette Bening) who seeks her biological dad.

Davis' costars include Dennis Quaid as Bill Clinton, Michael Sheen as Blair, and Helen McCrory as his wife, Cherie Blair.

Kelly Preston to speak about Jett

Kelly Preston, 46, who has avoided media exposure since the January death of Jett Travolta, 16, her son with actor John Travolta, will speak publicly for the first time about her loss at Maria Shriver's Conference for Women in California in October.

"If she can empower one other woman who feels like they can't get out of bed, or get through the day, whatever the loss, it'll be worthwhile sharing her story," Shriver tells People mag. California's first lady says Preston will speak on a panel called "Grief & Resilience," along with two other prominent women who have lost sons, Elizabeth Edwards and actress Susan Saint James.

Libel award to Kate Beckinsale

Underworld vampire Kate Beckinsale, 35, yesterday won a $32,000 libel award in the High Court in London over a story in the tab Daily Express, which claimed she was seriously bummed out at losing her dream role as the title heroine in a remake of Jane Fonda's 1968 classic art film, Barbarella. The tab said Rose McGowan was set to win the role. Kate's lawyer says the actress never wanted the role, never negotiated with the studio for it, and thus could not have been passed over. A lawyer for the Express offered Kate sincere apologies.

Divorce for child star Furlong

Once-promising tween star turned marginal B-horror movie actor Edward Furlong is being dumped by his wife of three years, Rachael Bella, who this week filed divorce papers in Los Angeles Superior Court. Bella, 25, an actress who has had roles in Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, cites . . . irreconcilable differences. They have one son.

McDreamy to be dreamy on silver screen

Patrick Dempsey, who plays hottie McDreamy on Grey's Anatomy, will use his expertise as a fake doctor in Garry Marshall's romantic comedy Valentine's Day, Variety says. P.D. will play a secretly married obstetrician who dates unwitting Jennifer Garner. Costars include Marshall's Pretty Woman street-walker-with-a-heart-of-gold Julia Roberts, Anne Hathaway, Jessica Alba, Jessica Biel, Ashton Kutcher, and Julia's niece Emma Roberts.

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Contact "SideShow" at sideshow@phillynews.com. This column contains information from the Associated Press.