Breakfast w/Greg: Liza at Hollywood Bowl; Adam Lambert’s mission; Anderson Cooper rips on Heidi

Happy Friday!

Liza Minnelli is in town and begins a two-night gig at The Hollywood Bowl tonight. I wish I could say I was going but have some other things going on.

But I just wanted to say how glad I am to see Liza doing so well and enjoying a really good stretch in her sometimes turbulent life. At 63, Liza, an Oscar winner for Cabaret and Emmy winner for Liza With a Z,  seems energized by her Liza at the Palace show which was a smash on Broadway and won her a Tony Award in June. She is enjoying the lasting adoration of fans in a way that her mother, Judy Garland, surely would have had she not died so young.

Liza has always loved her audience and the feeling is very, very mutual.

Here is some video of Liza backstage after her most recent Tony Award win. I like it because it shows how professional she is and how really, underneath the eyelashes and glitz, she’s really just a showbiz gypsy.

ADAM GIVES BACK: In the self-absorbed world of showbiz, it’s always refreshing when a star wants to use their fame to promote a good cause. That’s what American Idol sensation Adam Lambert is doing by speaking out to try and raise money for classroom equipment for arts and music projects.

Adam has partnered with DonorsChoose.org for the site’s Fan Group competition and says in a video promoting the fundraising: “My fans have been so amazing in their support that I would love for them to contribute to something I believe in. Every kid deserves a great education and access to the materials and experiences that make it possible.”

The competition runs through September 20 and the 10 most generous donors to Adam’s group will receive signed photos of the singer. To donate as part of Lambert’s group, click HERE.

Here is a video Adam made for the cause:

ANDERSON ON HEIDI: CNN’s silver Fox Anderson Cooper has to see and hear a lot of terrible things on his nightly news show – things like war, natural disasters etc.

Through it all, Anderson has managed to keep his cool. Then something really awful happened this week and he had to speak out about it: reality show “star” Heidi Montag “sang” on the Miss Universe telecast.

Anderson called the lip-syncing performance “a fresh new way to embarrass herself.”

“I don’t really know who this person is nor why she is pretending to be a singer nor why anyone should listen to her but apparently she’s famous….Who is she? Where is she from?”

I’m gonna guess outer space!