Sideshow: Yes, Vieira will leave 'Today,' on June 8

It's official. It's ex officio. It's ex cathedra. It's almost ex post facto. It was as expected.

As we at "SideShow" have been predicting for weeks (because everyone else was), Meredith Vieira will leave NBC's Today. The deed will be done soon, as on June 8, after almost five years (she started cohosting with Matt Lauer in September 2006). She made it official yesterday. She's leaving to spend more time with her husband, former CBS and CNN producer Richard Cohen, who is battling colon cancer and multiple sclerosis. Into Meredith's warm indentation on the couch will slide "SideShow" favorite Ann Curry. Yes, Matt is rumored to be about to abandon the show, too, but he hasn't so far. Into Ann's place at the news desk will saunter another "SideShow" favorite (we have a lot of 'em), Natalie Morales. And into her place will go . . . and into her place will go . . .

Some news is bigger than the truth, OK? Filming in Italy for TV's holy sacrament,

Jersey Shore

, is on indefinite hold!!! Oh, the dudgeon!!! Oh, the opprobrium! Italian officials have rescinded permits to record at hallowed historical spots in Florence, such as the Uffizi Gallery, the Boboli Gardens, and the Palazzo Vecchio.

The cast - including our boys Paul "DJ Pauly D" DelVecchio, Vinny Guadagnino, and "SideShow" emetic Mike "The Situation" Sorrentino - got to Newark Liberty International, bags packed, but had to turn sadly back home.

Hilarious. Shore is now playing in Italy, and Italians are hatin' it big-time, revolted by what some call the dumb, low-down, distorted, ethnically chauvinistic portrayal of Italian Americans. We cannot understand that! Can you???? Negotiations are under way. May they stay that way.

The eighth annual West Oak Lane Jazz and Arts Festival runs June 17-19, and the lineup, announced yesterday, sounds pretty great. And pretty diverse:

Chaka Khan

,

The Men of Soul

(

Jeffrey Osborne

,

Peabo Bryson

,

Freddie Jackson

,

Howard Hewett

),

Eddie Palmieri Salsa Orchestra

,

Chrisette Michele

,

Christian McBride & Inside Straight

,

Tia Fuller

,

Roy Ayers

,

Gregory Porter

,

Crystal J. Torres

,

3D Ritmo de Vida

,

Gerald Veasley

,

The Rodney Mack Philadelphia Big Brass

and dozens more. Local acts and global acts! It all takes place at the 7100–7400 blocks of Ogontz Ave.! Info:

» READ MORE: www.westoaklanefestival.com

.

Yea,

Beyoncé

! She gets the 2011 Billboard Millennium Award, given to the person . . . they want to give it to, we guess. Seriously, it's for a standout artist in this here 1,000 years. As Beyoncé surely is. She'll be honored May 22 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, hosted by reputed comic

Ken Jeong

. Also singing and jumping about will be

Cee Lo Green

,

Nicki Minaj

,

Pitbull

,

The Black Eyed Peas

,

Rihanna

,

Keith Urban

,

Lady Antebellum

, and

Taio Cruz

. What, no

Jay Z

? We bet he'll be in there someplace.

What took them so long?

The highly rated (not) Bio Channel Monday afternoon announced that Bristol Palin, world's most famous daughter of a former American vice-presidential candidate, has landed her own reality show. It's a 10-part series featuring the former Dancing With the Stars favorite and one of her competitors, Kyle Massey, as they go about their fascinating! lives in Los Angeles, where Bristol has journeyed with her son, Tripp, to work for a charity.

Bristol has moved in with Kyle. She's still unmarried, thank goodness, since Kyle's hot brother, Christopher Massey, also lives in the house. Christopher's a Nickelodeon star. Kyle's a Disney star. The fireworks are sure to rival Jersey Shore . . . if any.

The show's expected to hit your TV screen this fall. No word on how much the celebs get paid. One thing they can't do is run for president: They have birth certificates, and they're all too young.

- Jonathan Storm

Lindsay Lohan

, who spends too much time around bars, of all kinds, was scheduled to appear in an L.A. court Tuesday to plead no contest to charges she heisted a nice $2,500 necklace from a Venice jewelry joint. She won't show up in person. Her lawyer (hardest-working lawyer in showbiz!),

Shawn Holley

, will enter the plea before

Judge Stephanie Sautner

. The judge may rule LiLo can serve her 120-day sentence at home, while wearing a monitor. It's possible the sentence may translate into, oh, about 14 days. Can LiLo behave for that long? Betting opens in Vegas any moment now.

Whitney Houston

rep

Kristen Foster

says her client has gone into outpatient rehab for drugs and alcohol. It's been a long-standing battle for Whitney, who declared she was clean in 2009. But her 2010 concert tour was shaky and flaky, and her pre-Oscars gala tribute to

Dionne Warwick

was not great. (Whitney and pal

Chaka Khan

did come on stage at a recent

Prince

concert in L.A., though.) And now this. We wish Whitney a clean, clear future.

. . . a fender, that is. The soccer deity, perhaps daydreaming of the recent royal wedding he saw with wife

Victoria

, was driving his black Cadillac on the tense and confused 405 Freeway near downtown L.A. Friday when he posteriorly rammed a Mitsubishi. The other driver went to a hospital, while Beckham left unhurt - with son

Brooklyn

, also in the car with Beckham.

Paul McCartney

's engagement ring to fiancee

Nancy Shevell

: a measley $650,000. . . .

The July 24

Jennifer Hudson

show at Susquehanna Bank Center has been postponed. Refunds available at original point of purchase. Got tickets? You'll be sent a password for a presale once the new date's announced. . . . On May 2, icky TMZ asked readers: Did

President Obama

and

Michelle Obama

, um,

congregate

after

Osama bin Laden

's closing night? "If you're Michelle Obama," asked TMZ, "is there a more powerful aphrodisiac than the fact that your husband just hunted down and killed the most evil man on the planet???" We slink away ashamed. . . . On Saturday,

Kate Gosselin

was at the Kentucky Derby out in . . . which state again? . . . but she got back to the kids in time for Mother's Day. . . . How much should the world hate

Jesse James

? Much. Shillin' for his new book, JJ's been telling

Howard Stern

that his fiancee,

Kat Von D

, is "100 percent" better in bed than his wronged former wife,

Sandra Bullock

. He tells PopEater his tomcattin' on our Sandra "changed" him. Yeah, dude, it got you good and divorced.