Sideshow |

Rachel Smith

, a journalism grad from Tennessee, was crowned Miss USA on Friday night in Los Angeles in a contest to replace a titleholder whose reign was nearly ended by reports of hard partying.

Smith, 21, of Clarksville, Tenn., graduated from Belmont University and interned last year for the production company behind The Oprah Winfrey Show.

Contestants were vying to succeed Tara Conner, who entered rehab after accounts surfaced that she was drinking at New York clubs. The episode could have cost the Kentucky native her crown, but Donald Trump, who co-owns the pageant, gave her a second chance.

The NBC telecast opened with a string of news and interview clips about Conner's troubles.

Yo,

Kim

, why don't you shut your mouth!

That's what Eminem is telling his ex-wife, albeit in legalese through a motion his people have filed seeking to prevent Kim Mathers from telling tales about him to the news media, the Detroit Free Press reports.

Filed last week, the motion seeks to stop Mathers from making "derogatory, disparaging, inflammatory and otherwise negative comments" about her ex in public. It claims Mathers' behavior could seriously harm the couple's 11-year-old daughter, Haile.

Em says since their December divorce (their second: they've married and divorced twice so far), Kim has given a gazillion interviews and invariably trash-talks him.

Delectable claims from Kim: She vomits when she hears Em's name, he's not well-endowed, and he's a bad father.

Em is due in Macomb Circuit Court in Michigan tomorrow. No comment from either side.

It's his comeback movie, the media say about

Youth Without Youth

,

Francis Ford Coppola

's first film since '97's

The Rainmaker

. Due out in late fall,

Youth

will be a low-budget indie adaptation of a novella by Romanian-born author

Mircea Eliade

, one of the 20th century's foremost scholars of comparative religion.

A psychological thriller about an academic fleeing Nazis in prewar Europe, the flick will star Tim Roth. Coppola said it marks "a return to the ambitions I had for work in cinema as a student."

Eliade's story, Coppola said, touches "the key themes that I most hope to understand better: time, consciousness and the dreamlike basis of reality." (Whoa! Like heavy . . .)

The Police

's newest bid for world dominance will take them to the U.S. Virgin Festival for two shows Aug. 4 and 5 in Baltimore.

Sting

and his boys are scheduled to co-headline with

the Beastie Boys

and

Smashing Pumpkins

. The festival is usually held in September but was moved to accommodate the Brit trio, which split up in '83.

Naomi Campbell

is no longer a worker bee at Manhattan's Department of Sanitation, where she cleaned up in a garbage-truck garage for five days of court-ordered community service. Naomi, who was released from toil on Friday, landed the glamorous gig for hurling a cell phone at her maid over a pair of misplaced jeans.

Did Naomi use the time to reflect on her bad acts? To sing hymns of hope? Nope. Britain's Daily Star claims Naomi hired pro photog star Steven Klein to follow her around and photograph her.

Hope they collect the shots for a book of Naomi as working-class hero!

Marlon Brando

's estate is suing two furniture makers and a retailer for using the actor's name without permission to market some super special home movie-watching chair called The Brando. Filed in at Los Angeles Superior Court, the suit seeks unspecified damages and claims the companies never obtained permission to use the name. The Brando - the actor - died in '04.

Leonardo DiCaprio

and

Kate Winslet

will try tapping into their

Titanic

magic again for

Revolutionary Road

, a drama about life in the '50s adapted from

Richard Yates

' acclaimed novel.

Sam Mendes

, Oscar-winning director of

American Beauty

and hubby to Brit beauty Winslet, will direct. No pressure, but Lenny and Katie may have trouble topping

Titanic

, since it still is the most successful film in box-office history. (And singularly mediocre to boot!)