If songstress Michelle Williams looks a little breathless hosting the World Music Awards airing on Fox tomorrow (12/2), there's good reason. "I didn't find out until the day of the show that I was going to be hosting," reveals the former Destiny's Child member.

"It was crazy. I knew I was going to be a presenter. Then I got a phone call, like, 'Hey, would you be, like, into co-hosting with Jesse Metcalfe?' So I went from presenting a single award to hosting the entire show with him. They were making the script as I got there, passing out pages.

"I don't know if someone else was supposed to be hosting the show before," she adds. "I didn't complain. Hey, it was a blessing. I wasn't doing anything else anyway."

Taped last month in Monaco, the show, which boasts plenty of star power with performances by Alicia Keys, Mariah Carey and Beyonce, among others, sounds like a jumbled affair behind the scenes. Michelle says, "I'm kind of glad it wasn't live. There were people walking in front of the teleprompter, and nobody said, 'Yo, sit down.' We had to adlib. It really was an absolute blast."

Michelle says she "literally ran into Alicia Keys. I was trying to climb up to the stage after a wardrobe change. There was so much stuff going on. I was just trying to find my way back to the stage, and I walked smack dab into her and someone else having a conversation. I was like, 'Oh, my God!' It was such an honor to see her, and her performance was awesome."

She also got a chance to reconnect with Beyonce and her sister Solange, "another reunion. Of course we met up and talked. And I talked to Estelle. I thoroughly enjoy her music," adds Michelle, who has her own critically hailed "Unexpected" album in release.

She was so tired by the end of the event, she skipped the after-parties and went straight back to her hotel room, "ordered room service and went to bed. I didn't hear about Jesse falling until I got back to the States," she adds, referring to Metcalfe's 40-foot fall at one of the after-parties. He was rushed to the hospital and is recovering, she was glad to hear. It was another drama of the night, she notes — "Drah. Mah."

DIFFERENT KIND OF PASS: Another eleventh-hour production change, also involving Beyonce, was the video shoot for her new No. 1 single, "If I Were a Boy" — featuring hunkalicious NFL player-turned-actor Eddie Goines. "I don't know for sure, but I think they cast someone else initially. That didn't work out for some reason. I was here in L.A. when they called me to do the role, and I was on the set in Harlem the next morning," reports the former Seattle Seahawks wide receiver. "It was one of those Hollywood stories, I guess, grabbing an opportunity. She was great — down to earth and very welcoming. Then when she started singing, it was like, 'Wow, that IS Beyonce!'"

"If I Were a Boy" — with its role-reversal theme in which Beyonce turns into her neglectful, flirtatious mate, while Goines becomes the frustrated and humiliated partner — required acting on his part as well as hers, certainly. "As a man you hear about it, about your friends being a little disrespectful to the women in their lives. I think for anyone in general, definitely me playing the role, it makes you a little more aware. It's like you learn when you're a kid: Treat others how you want to be treated, with respect and with regard to the other person's feelings."

Goines, who's been studying and working on his acting skills for years, has already done guestings on numerous shows including "My Name is Earl" and "Without a Trace," and movie roles in films such as "American Gangster." He says he's not sure what's next, but with "If I Were a Boy," "I like the direction things are going."

NO CHARACTERS, PLEASE: John Rich of the popular country duo "Big & Rich" says he's enjoyed getting in front of the camera hosting CMT's reality show "Gone Country," but don't expect this cowboy to be making the transition into acting. "No, no, no. I'm not an actor. I can only act like myself," claims Rich. "I envy guys like [Tim] McGraw and some of these guys who can really pull it off in that world." In fact, McGraw just recently put his chops to the test by hosting "Saturday Night Live," which is by no means an easy feat for anyone. "There's no way I could pull that off," he adds. "If they let me be myself, I can act like me all day long."

IT'S THAT TIME OF YEAR: Hamish Linklater of "The New Adventures of Old Christine" was out Christmas shopping for the show's crew with a couple of his cast mates when we caught up with him by cell the other day. They hadn't settled on what to get yet, but according to the actor, "Each year you step it up a little bit. From the baseball hat you move up to something with a zipper, then move up to something more." One thing he was certain of — they wanted to make sure the below-the-line guys and gals feel appreciated. "I guess it's actually our fourth year with them. In fact, they've been together much longer because they were previously the crew on 'Everybody Loves Raymond. They've actually been there 200 years," he deadpanned. "We moved into their house."

With reports by Emily Feimster.

To find out more about Marilyn Beck and Stacy Jenel Smith and read their past columns, visit the Creators Syndicate Web page at www.creators.com.

COPYRIGHT 2008 MARILYN BECK AND STACY JENEL SMITH

DISTRIBUTED BY CREATORS SYNDICATE, INC.