• Elysa Gardner reports: "February is guaranteed to be a memorable month for Maya Arulpragasam, the rising star known as M.I.A. Recently nominated for an Academy Award for the song "O ... Saya" featured in the Oscar front-runner "Slumdog Millionaire," she's also up for two Grammys: record of the year for "Paper Planes" and best rap song for "Swagga Like Us." Whether she'll attend either ceremony remains in question: Her baby is due Sunday, the same day as the Grammys. "They say that you're often late the first time, so I'm planning to go to the show," says M.I.A., 31, who's engaged to musician Ben Bronfman (a.k.a. Benjamin Brewer of the now-disbanded The Exit). "We'll see. People are trying to get me to relax and focus on the baby. It's like being in parallel universes." USA TODAY

• Kate Winslet is ready to lose for a record-tying sixth time at the Oscars, telling the AP: "I'm so used to it, having gone through it before and having lost so many times. Being in that losing state is something I'm much more comfortable in, in a funny kind of a way." And if her previous wins in the supporting category are all she has to show for "The Reader"? "I've been lucky so far, and if that's it, then that's fine. I think that's the attitude you have to take." AP

• "American Idol" runner-up David Archuleta is to sing the national anthem at this Sunday's NFL Pro Bowl in Hawaii. A church commitment kept him from seeing Oscar winner (and "AI" alum) Jennifer Hudson perform at last Sunday's Super Bowl. However, he says he watched her rendition on YouTube later. PEOPLE

• Add Judd Apatow's name to the list of directors conscripted by Oscarcast producers Bill Condon and Laurence Mark. Already hard at work are Baz Luhrmann, who is creating a production number for his "Australia" leading man and Oscar host, Hugh Jackman, and Bennett Miller ("Capote"), who is doing the opening sequence. Condon told the AP that Apatow will be "contributing both a film and live material to that part of the show," referring to a tribute to comedy, while Mark added, "Judd was truly a prince to hop on and truly whip up special shooting for it. It's a big deal." AP

• Mark Malkin breaks the news that there is definitely another sequel in the works for "Sex and the City," winner of best comedy series at the Emmys (2001) and Golden Globes (2000, 2001, 2002): "Until now, everyone had agreed to do a sequel, but there were no contracts signed with New Line, the studio behind the mega-hit. As it is, Michael Patrick King has yet to write a script, but shooting will reportedly begin this summer with a release date sometime in summer 2010." E ONLINE

• Miley Cyrus says she did not mean to offend anyone with those slant-eyed poses, writing on her official fansite: "I've also been told there are some people upset about some pictures taken of me with friends making goofy faces! Well, I'm sorry if those people looked at those pics and took them wrong and out of context! In NO way was I making fun of any ethnicity! I was simply making a goofy face. When did that become newsworthy? It seems someone is trying to make something out of nothing to me. If that would of been anyone else, it would of been overlooked! I definitely feel like the press is trying to make me out as the new 'BAD GIRL'!" US MAGAZINE

• Mike Ausiello reports: "Forget that ho-hum Oscar nomination. Now Anne Hathaway has something even cooler to brag about: her very own 'Gossip Girl' plot! Sources confirm to me exclusively that the show is planning a season-ending story line loosely inspired by the actress' infamous (and fizzled) romance with Italian grifter Raffaello Follieri, who was convicted last October on 14 counts of wire fraud, money laundering, and conspiracy. In the world of 'Gossip Girl,' Blake Lively's Serena will play the unsuspecting ingenue who falls for a handsome European socialite -- in this case a hunk named Gabriel (casting is under way)." ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY

• Allison Waldman reports: "NBC seems determined to destroy 'Days of Our Lives,' the last soap left on the network. After receiving a truck load of negative press for firing/letting go/dumping Deidre Hall and Drake Hogestyn, the producers are now dropping the axe on perhaps the most popular romantic couple ever on the show, Patch and Kayla. According to Soap Opera Digest, Mary Beth Evans and Stephen Nichols have been let go." The show has only won the Daytime Emmy for best drama once (1978) out of 14 nods, with the last of those coming in 1999. TV SQUAD

• James Franco may not have earned an Oscar nod for his turn in "Milk," and he lost the Golden Globe for his performance in "Pineapple Express," but he has been named Harvard's Hasty Pudding Man of the Year. Franco will receive the award at a roast Feb. 13 by the Hasty Pudding, the nation's oldest undergraduate drama troupe. Renee Zellweger will be honored as the Hasty Pudding Woman of the Year on Thursday. Last year's honorees were Christopher Walken and Charlize Theron. AP

Credit: L.A. Times / Sony Pictures Classics

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