Tattle: Bret Michaels is conscious, speech is slurred

POISON FRONT MAN Bret Michaels, known to a new generation for the reality shows "Rock of Love" and "Celebrity Apprentice" (on now, but taped months ago), was still listed in critical condition yesterday, Reuters reported, but he was conscious.

His speech, however, was slurred, according to his publicist.

Michaels was taken to an undisclosed hospital Friday after a complaining of a terrible headache. Doctors said he had suffered a massive subarachnoid hemorrhage, or bleeding at the base of his brain stem.

Yesterday, doctors had yet to determine the source of the bleeding.

"Bret is a fighter and we are hopeful that once all is complete, the slurred speech, blurred vision and dizziness, etc., will be eliminated and all functions will return to normal," a statement from his publicist said.

Just last week, Michaels had an emergency appendectomy at a private-care facility for diabetics after complaining of stomach pains before he was to perform at Sea World in San Antonio. He later wrote on his Web site that though the surgery "has taken its toll," doctors expected him to make a full recovery.

Tattbits

* Tattle's always wondering about these

sidewalk stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Who do you have to Lily Von Shtupp in that town to get one?

How in the world could it have taken until Friday for 83-year-old Mel Brooks to get his own star?

Go back three decades and Brooks had already made "The Producers," "Blazing Saddles" and "Young Frankenstein," yet 2,405 entertainers got stars before him?

It's an outrage.

* While Brooks has started work on a musical

version of "Blazing Saddles," Woody Allen has decided to shoot his next film in France, where he's revered more than red wine, baguettes and smoking.

"Midnight in Paris" will begin shooting this summer. It's a romantic comedy starring Owen Wilson, Marion Cotillard, Rachel McAdams, Kathy Bates and Carla Bruni.

If you're looking for production tax breaks it never hurts to cast the president's wife.

Allen's "You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger" will premiere at the Cannes Film Festival next month and hit theaters in the fall.

* Melissa Etheridge told

Oprah Friday that her separation from her partner, Tammy Lynn Michaels Etheridge, was mutual.

She also called the breakup "sad" and said Tammy was "a wonderful woman and an incredible mother" and "she'll always be in my life."

So why'd you split up?

* Last week, the wife of author

Orlando Figes confessed to writing anonymous negative reviews on Amazon.com of other authors' books.

Now Figes admits he actually wrote the nasty putdowns, which built up his reputation at the expense of others.

"I take full responsibility for posting anonymous reviews on Amazon," he said in a statement.

"I have made some foolish errors and apologize wholeheartedly to all concerned," he said.

Figes specifically apologized to his wife, his lawyer - who was misled about the source of the reviews - and to the authors he trashed.

"I am ashamed of my behavior, and don't entirely understand why I acted as I did," he said. "It was stupid - some of the reviews I now see were small-minded and ungenerous but they were not intended to harm. This crisis has exposed some health problems, though I offer that more as explanation than excuse. I need some time now to reflect on what I have done and the consequences of my actions with medical help."

* Roman Polanski's loss of a

crucial California court decision sets up his return to the United States more than 30 years after he fled a statutory rape charge, Swiss legal experts said Friday.

However, they predicted months of further legal wrangling before extradition.

It's been three decades. What's the rush?

Daily News wire services contributed to this report.

E-mail gensleh@phillynews.com.