CARPET BAGGERS CELEBRITY INTERVIEWERS JOAN AND MELISSA VS. STAR WILL BE WALKING THE WALK AT TONIGHT'S GOLDEN GLOBES.

Byline: Valerie Kuklenski Staff Writer

For decades, celebrities have dolled and duded up for special awards nights, but in the past 10 years the walk up to the door has become nearly as big a deal as the ceremony itself.

The woman who made ``red carpet'' mean so much more than a daring flooring choice, Joan Rivers, is back in her element today at the arrivals area of the 62nd annual Golden Globe Awards in Beverly Hills after a brief hiatus. She and daughter Melissa Rivers are tag-teaming it in their first outing for the TV Guide Channel since signing a three-year deal of multiple specials worth $8 million, which E! could not match. This time, though, they are not the only game on the red carpet in front of the Beverly Hilton.

After the Riverses let their contract at E! Entertainment Television lapse last summer and jumped to a competitor, E! lined up a new star: Star Jones Reynolds, as she is known since her extremely well-publicized wedding in November. The legal correspondent and ``View'' chat panelist enjoyed her first spin on the red carpet at the Emmys in September.

But that was a piece of cake, because hers was the only live coverage, Joan and Melissa having been sidelined by contract conditions. (Melissa - who turns 37 on Thursday - said she watched some arrivals on TV that night and then hit the Emmys party circuit. Joan, 71, who is not good at hiding bitterness, spent the evening at her Connecticut home. ``I didn't even want to know it existed.'')

From tonight forward, they'll be duking it out for viewers (do you prefer snarky or syrupy?) and for a few precious seconds with each celeb who strolls by.

Star, 42, dismisses the idea of competition between them, noting she and Joan are friends and have served on a charity board together for seven years.

``You guys make it into the battle of the red-carpet divas. I guess that works for headlines, but it's not a reality,'' she said. ``It's two different shows, two very different people. Joan's a tremendous talent and fabulous at what she does. I would never try to be be Joan; Joan would never try to be me.''

But the fact is they will be on the air at the same time from the same place. And as the Riverses well know, some of the hottest names show up in the last 10 minutes before the ceremony and get selective about who in the media they will visit on their way in.

So who will be the carpet queen? Predicting who will score better interviews and higher ratings probably is harder than forecasting the awards choices of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association.

Joan, who takes credit for coining the phrase, ``Who are you wearing?'' (``and I'm an English literature major from Barnard, so go figure''), has experience and tradition on her side, as hers is the preshow viewers have planned their awards-watching parties around since 1996. Her knowledge of show-biz style has earned her respect, even as her post-show put-downs have burned a few bridges in town.

Star, on the other hand, brings her admiration of great clothes to the podium if not any special training in the rag trade. (``Let's see, red carpet via the homicide bureau in Brooklyn - but hey, you got to start somewhere.'') Although she talks down the competition idea, she takes a few verbal shots at her rivals.

``My style, which might be contrary to others, is I really enjoy letting the celebrity shine that night,'' Star said. ``I am not in the least bit one of the prickly, snarky people. That's not my style. Everybody knows it.

``They pick on me because they say I'm too gushy. And I guess that's my biggest challenge - not jumping up and down going 'Hercules, Hercules, Hercules!' '' she said, citing the overly enthusiastic Mama Klump character in ``The Nutty Professor.''

Star also prides herself on doing her homework, watching all the nominated movies and TV shows, and familiarizing herself with the celebs and their significant others, many of whom she already has met on ``The View.''

``I just think when people do their best work and they're nominated, the very least you can do is pay attention if you're the host of the red carpet. I don't mess up people's names. That's just not me.''

Star hopes to win over the talent with an assurance that she is there to help them.

``It's not my night,'' she said. ``I'm not going to be out there trying to make it be about Star. I'm going to be out there trying to make it about Jennifer Garner and my man Jamie Foxx and Don Cheadle and Leo DiCaprio, those boys, and my girl Debra Messing.''

Joan and Melissa are unapologetic about putting their personalities into the program. Joan considers them ``the emancipators of TV Guide'' as the network's first program to run without the schedule scroll on the bottom.

``We love it so much,'' Joan said. ``And it's so great to be considered part of the event - that's fabulous. When people say it isn't a red carpet if you're not on it, that's very nice.''

Variety columnist Army Archerd, who has been interviewing notables at Oscars and movie premieres for 50 years, says the process certainly is different these days.

``When Regis Philbin and I used to share hosting the red carpet at premieres in Hollywood, we always realized that the star of the interview was the star,'' he said.

Cindi Leive, editor in chief of Glamour magazine, and other experts from her publication will be weighing in on the do's and don'ts of Globes attire before and after the ceremony for E!, ``Extra!'' and ``The Early Show'' on CBS. Even she agrees all this attention seems overdone.

``This is not the Mideast peace-treaty process. This is decidedly superficial stuff,'' she said. ``So sometimes the fact that we're all so interested in handicapping it and horse-racing it does seem a little silly. But on the other hand ... I think the impact of this stuff on the average American woman's ideas of what she's going to wear and how she wants to look is much greater than it was 10 years ago.

``Celebrity is a huge part of all of our lives. I challenge you to find a living, breathing person under 40 who isn't at least somewhat aware of who wore what to the Oscars. All I have to say is 'Uma Thurman's dress' or 'Bjork swan,' and you'd know immediately what I'm talking about, whether or not you think you pay attention to this stuff.''

She said she is relieved to be working awards shows under more relaxed circumstances than her live-broadcast counterparts.

``I'm not about roping people over to come talk to me. That's a game I'm happy to let those guys play. They are skilled at the verbal lassoing of celebrities at 50 feet.''

Joan and Melissa Rivers for the first time are facing the possibility that their verbal lasso misses its mark and an ultra-hot A-lister breezes by their TV Guide posts for the E! platform.

``I don't even want to think about it,'' Joan said brusquely. ``I don't care about it. Can't care about it. We'll get the names on Monday, and then I'll care about it a lot.

``And it will be reflected in my next year's Christmas cards,'' she added with a laugh.

Valerie Kuklenski, [phone]

valerie.kuklenski(at)dailynews.com

JOAN AND MELISSA LIVE AT THE GOLDEN GLOBES

What: Two hours of fashion hits and misses outside the Beverly Hilton hosted by Joan and Melissa Rivers.

Where: TV Guide Channel.

When: 6 tonight.

LIVE FROM THE RED CARPET 

What: Star Jones Reynolds promises not to discuss her wedding in two hours of celebrity interviews at the 62nd annual Golden Globes.

Where: E!

When: 6 tonight.

CAPTION(S):

drawing, 2 photos

Drawing:

(cover -- color) RED CARPET WARS

Joan & Melissa take on Star at the Golden Globes

Illustration by Patrick O'Connor/Staff Artist

Photo:

(1) no caption (Star Jones Reynolds)

Tammie Arroyo/Associated Press

(2) no caption (Joan and Melissa Rivers)