TINSELTOWN SPYWITNESS.

Byline: Jenny Peters and Elizabeth Snead

BE HIS GUEST: What movie inspired your life? Alan Cumming, star of ``Elle,'' currently on Broadway, picked ``Waiting for Guffman'' and invited 30 pals, including fashion friend and designer Cynthia Rowley (he appears in her new ads) to the Piper Heidsieck Grand Classic event. Cumming revealed, ``If there are two people that get me star-struck, it's Christopher Guest and Eugene Levy (``Guffman's'' writers and stars). He's ain't joking. When he was asked for an autograph by Jamie Lee Curtis on a plane recently, the only thing he asked was to meet her husband, Guest. Bet she arranges it!

THAT'S DE MORI: Guess who just wandered into de Mori in Beverly Hills late one night. Just Miss Janet Jackson, clad in sweats and a tank top, checking out the new Italian bistro on Rodeo Drive. She loved the outdoor patio so much she and her male friend stayed for a late dinner of fresh fish and steamed veggies. But owner Silvio de Mori didn't mind keeping the kitchen open. ``She was very down to earth and sweet,'' de Mori says. ``She told me I really needed to advertise. I told her, 'That's your job.' '' Hey, consider it done! But de Mori is used to celebrity diners. Attorney Gloria Allred is hooked on his mother's fish soup, and Julia Roberts has been known to show up at his restaurant in her bare feet. Talk about a down-home gal.

LOUIE, LOUIE, TV, TV: Portly comic Louie Anderson walked into the Good Guys in the Beverly Connection and walked out with two, count 'em, two 61-inch Fujitsu plasma TV screens. Perhaps a two-for-one sale, you're thinking? Nope. Each screen set him back a cool $25,000. Survey says, ``Gulp!'' All we can say is hosting ``The Family Feud'' must be paying pretty darn well.

RED, HOT AND COOL: China's influence was everywhere at the gala American Heart Association Awards. Drummers, dancing dragons and dim sum were the order of the night, a re-creation of Chinese New Year set against a backdrop of a motif of blood-red decorations.

There were red paper lanterns, tablecloths, costumed acrobats and even multiple shades of red in the delicately woven chopstick holders that graced each place setting. It was a ``Paint the Town Red''-themed night, and the doctors and celebrities in attendance at the Beverly Hilton Hotel did just that.

It didn't hurt that the preawards cocktail party boasted a huge Ketel One vodka ice sculpture, with bartenders standing high above the crowd, pouring cosmos and apple martinis through the sculpture to chill the drinks. In between bidding on a vast assortment of silent-auction items, the black-tie crowd lined up gleefully to partake of this unique delivery system.

It was easy to spot 7-foot-2 NBA star Dikembe Mutombo towering over the crowd. And ``Crossing Jordan'' star Steve Valentine, no slouch at 6-foot-4, dressed in a stylized ``off the rack from a shop on Melrose'' red suit definitely stood out as well. Actresses Julie Warner, Nikki Cox and Kelly Packard also attended the gala, looking appropriately fantastic.

Once the heart-healthy dinner created by chef Leeann Chin was consumed and the AHA Awards were presented to actor Esai Morales, physicians Ronald Karlsberg and Debra Judelson (among others), and Jeffrey Wigand (of ``The Insider'' whistle-blowing fame), it was time for Billy Bob Thornton and his band to take the stage.

In his first public outing since his split from his fifth wife, actress Angelina Jolie, Thornton looked incredibly emaciated in his head-to-toe black clothes but seemed upbeat as he performed a quick half-hour set of songs, including a slightly ironic cover of ``The Game of Love,'' with its telling lyrics.

``The purpose of a man is to love a woman,'' Thornton sang, leaving some in the boogieing crowd wondering just which woman he was thinking about as he belted it out.

CAPTION(S):

4 photos

Photo:

(1) CUMMING: Gushing over 'Guffman'

(2) JACKSON: Sings restaurant's praises

(3) ANDERSON: The king of big screen

(4) SHARI AND STEVE VALENTINE: Gotta have heart

Jean-Paul Aussenard/WireImage.com