Kirsten Dunst has checked into rehab, reports Star magazine online. Dunst was branded quite a while ago as “Kirsten Drunkst” by many gossip bloggers who wrote about her party habits, so I think this next step will not come as a surprise to many.

You can see how Vh1’s Celebrity Rehab sounded like a great idea. It’s simple: combine America’s celebrity obsession with the current trend of self-redemption-themed reality TV shows, get yourself some B-level stars with substance abuse problems (no shortage of those), and put them through the recovery ringer with Dr. Drew Pinsky. It practically produces itself.

Genius, right? Only not really.

There are a number of flaws in Celebrity Rehab’s design, not the least of which is the fact that Dr. Drew might be the biggest celeb on the show. The rest of the cast includes Brigitte Nielsen, pro wrestling’s Chyna, the singer from Crazy Town, Kenicke from Grease, a porn star, a girl who was briefly on Family Matters, and the least famous of the Baldwin brothers.

Oh, and MMA fighter Ricco Rodriguez is also coming to the party late, hopefully with an explanation of why he tried to auction off his UFC heavyweight championship belt on Ebay (my money’s on cocaine).

In other words, when talking about this show with your friends you would likely put air quotes around the word “celebrity” the same way you do when talking about your cousin who is working as a “dancer” to put herself through “college”.

It begs the question: where does entertainment end and exploitation begin? Watching Celebrity Rehab is strangely compelling – the way watching people struggle with addiction often is – but it has little to do with the fact that these people are (according to a very broad definition of the word) famous. It’s more like a watered-down version of A&E’s Intervention.

The fact that this show features celebrities really only encourages us to revel in their pain and feel better about seeing their broken lives on display. To a degree, that’s understandable. Celebrities in our society make a deal with the devil. They receive money, undue adulation, a false sense of accomplishment, but in exchange they give up certain things, like their privacy.

The drug and alcohol-addicted celebrities on this show, however, are really just messed up people who may or may not be using their “recovery” as a way of revitalizing their careers. It’s like everyone is using everyone else in this sordid game. Maybe that’s why I feel a little dirty after watching it

In a grainy video that circulated online Tuesday Amy Winehouse, 24, left, appears to smoke crack and claims to have taken “about six Valium.” It was posted on the Web site for The Sun, a British tabloid (thesun.co.uk), and an accompanying article, inset, said the video was taken early Friday morning at Ms. Winehouse’s London home, and that the two-minute clip follows “a 19-minute binge in which she snorted powdered ecstasy and cocaine.” Her record label, Universal, said in a statement: “We are deeply disappointed and upset by these latest revelations and are doing everything we can to offer Amy our full support in dealing with her problems.” Contradictory reports circulated online on Tuesday about whether Ms. Winehouse had been taken to a rehab clinic. (She had a hit with “Rehab,” in which she sings about refusing treatment.) A spokeswoman for her label declined to comment on that issue.

 After one of his former celebrity patients fought a cop and puked in her cell, a judge has decided to to allow Dr. Drew one last chance to help the pregnant, fallen “American Idol” finalist Jessica Sierra get her life straightened out. With her family and the “Loveline” doc at her side, a Tampa, Florida judge cut a deal with the season four star Monday morning, giving her three years probation — as long as she completes a one-year stint at Dr. Drew’s Pasadena, Calif. treatment center. If she fails the program, Sierra will go back to jail.Sierra, who is facing two felony counts of possession of cocaine and battery, will not be released from police custody until flight plans are made. Cops will escort her to the plane once travel plans are set.The judge also ordered Sierra to keep her trap shut to the media, telling the singer, “You are not going to become a celebrity because you are a recovering addict.”Felix Vega said, “Dr. Drew seems very concerned, very caring, but very serious about getting her the help she needs.”

(CBS) The music and video of 2007 were filled with lots of tunes to dance to, talent-filled and — some would say — unlikely collaborations, and hits by performers who became headliners on-and off-stage.

Damien Fahey, host of MTV’s “TRL” (”Total Request Live”), sorted through it all and came up with his selections for the best of the lot. He revealed many of them to Early Show viewers Friday.

“It was very dance-oriented year,” Fahey says. “It was all about the collaborative movement, which continued over from 2006. We had Justin Timberlake with Timberland, Rihanna working with hip hop artist “The Dream,” and Kanye West sampling a Daft Punk song. It was really about cross-genre promotion and creativity.”