Taylor Swift is hosting MTV’s Total Request Live for this week. She wants to promote her program, “Once Upon A Prom.” She cracked a joke about losing her microphone while on the set of her show. She said she was going to try to tape it to her hand. Taylor chatted about her experiences living in New York. She had culture shock because people living in the East Coast were very busy and impatient to get to places.

ABERDEEN, Scotland - Donald Trump argued his case Tuesday for the construction of a $2 billion golf resort on a stretch of coast in northeast Scotland after months of acrimony between the billionaire developer and local residents.

The brash American known for his New York developments and for his television show, “The Apprentice,” was in a bullish mood as he batted back environmental concerns from a panel of planners and environmentalists’ lawyers in a public inquiry in Aberdeen.

“The Donald,” as he is sometimes called, told the inquiry that his golf course will be the greatest in the world — better than the Royal & Ancient at St. Andrews, Turnberry, Carnoustie and Troon, all in Scotland; and better than Pine Valley in New Jersey, which he called the best course in the world.

“People won’t play a course if it is environmentally harmful,” Trump said. “They don’t like it, they don’t feel good about it and they won’t play it.”

He wants to build the course at the Menie Estate, 12 miles north of the oil town of Aberdeen. The development has divided political opinion in Scotland and embroiled Scotland’s first minister in a dispute about overstepping his jurisdiction in planning law.

The plans to create a course on a legally protected site of scientific interest have been met with opposition from local environmentalists and a landowner who steadfastly refuses to sell his property. Local fisherman Michael Forbes became famous after he refused the Trump Organization’s offer of $690,000 to sell his family’s run-down farm in the center of the estate.

The proposals for two golf courses, 900 timeshare apartments, a 450-bed hotel and 500 luxury homes were narrowly rejected by the Aberdeenshire Council late last year after local residents and conservationists said one course should not be built on the Foveran Links, a stretch of shifting sand dunes that are home to some of the country’s rarest wildlife, including skylarks, kittiwakes, badgers and otters.

But local business leaders, tourism agencies and Scotland’s nationalist First Minister Alex Salmond approve of the development, which could bring much needed jobs and money to the area.

Trump used Tuesday’s hearing to make a last-ditch appeal to push through the golf complex. The panel will meet until early July, and draw up a conclusion at some point after that.

David Tildsley, representing the Scottish Wildlife Trust, told the billionaire that he had ignored his own consultants on environmental issues.

Under cross-examination by the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, Trump drew snickers from the audience when he said he knew more about the environment than his consultants did. He acknowledged he had not read environmental reports that he commissioned.

“I would consider myself an environmentalist in the true sense of the word,” Trump said.

Trump said that the moveable sand dunes would benefit from having a golf course on them as they will be stabilized and would not be blown away in a storm.

Trump was expected to play on his Scottish roots as he faced the panel of three senior planning officials appointed by Salmond’s government and lawyers representing environmental agencies.

On Monday he visited his mother’s childhood home on the Isle of Lewis in the Hebrides and after touring the humble house in Stornoway he told journalists: “If it weren’t for my mother would I have walked away from this site? I think probably I would have, yes. Possibly, had my mother not been born in Scotland, I probably wouldn’t have started it.”

Trump seemed cheerful despite the grueling session.

“I think it’s going well, what do you think?” he told The Associated Press after the morning hearing. “I think we’re swaying them.”

“Kit Kittredge: An American Girl” has no sex and not much of a city.

But this G-rated movie adventure is shaping up as Hollywood’s next serious bid for female viewers, some of whom showed their power by pushing the R-rated comedy “Sex and the City” to surprisingly strong first-weekend ticket sales of more than $57 million two weeks ago.

At first glance, the films have little in common, apart from their skew toward the female.

“Sex” runs hot, while “Kit” — scheduled for wide release on July 2, the same day as “Hancock,” starring Will Smith — does not. Fans of the fictional Manhattan writer Carrie Bradshaw, the heroine of “Sex and the City,” are often over 40. Ms. Kittredge, an aspiring reporter based on Mattel’s incredibly popular American Girl doll of the same name, mostly appeals to girls between 7 and 12.

Yet the films have a certain kinship. Each was made by a studio — “Kit” by Picturehouse, “Sex” by New Line Cinema — that was only weeks ago marked for elimination by the same corporate parent, Time Warner Inc.

And “Kit” has a shot at attracting an intense niche audience of the sort that boosted “Sex” at a time of year that has become better known for fantasies like the “Spider-Man” and “Pirates of the Caribbean” movies, with their broad demographic appeal.

“I’m scared out of my mind,” said Elaine Goldsmith-Thomas, a producer of “Kit Kittredge,” speaking by telephone last week. She was referring to an unconventional decision by Picturehouse executives to open this relatively small film in around 1,800 theaters, putting it in competition with potential blockbusters like “Hancock,” from Sony Pictures, and “Wall-E,” from the Walt Disney Company’s Pixar Animation Studios.

“Kit,” which cost about $10 million to produce, stars Abigail Breslin (“Little Miss Sunshine”) and features an ensemble that mingles unknown child actors with adult pros like Julia Ormond, Stanley Tucci, Chris O’Donnell and Joan Cusack. Set in 1934, it tells the story of a Cincinnati girl who is trying to get the local newspaper to take her seriously as a reporter, even as her family and just about everyone else struggles with the Great Depression.

(Julia Roberts, a client of Ms. Goldsmith-Thomas when she was a talent agent, is an executive producer of “Kit.” The two were among those with producing credits on earlier television movies based on three other American Girls: Molly, Felicity and Samantha.)

That quite so innocent an enterprise should be in a position to challenge much racier movies with much higher budgets has much to do with the promotional power of American Girl, which, like HBO’s long-running “Sex and the City” series, is helping to prime loyal fans for a first film based on the brand.

In the toy world, American Girl’s characters — “they never refer to them as ‘dolls,’ ” Bob Berney, the president of Picturehouse, said in an interview last week — are unusual in that they come with detailed story lines, from various eras, delivered in books that accompany each figure.

Kit Kittredge, spunky and a bit confused by the economic crunch around her, has been the central character in a half-dozen titles that have contributed to the sale of some 120 million books since the company was founded in 1986, said Ellen Brothers, American Girl’s president and a producer of the film.

“We approve all the marketing,” Ms. Brothers said, describing her company’s close involvement with the making and selling of the movie. And American Girl has been using its considerable reach to promote what it is calling “Kit’s Big-Screen Debut.”

The company’s mail-order catalog, a primary engine for sales, has a blurb promoting the movie on its May cover. Cities with American Girl retail outlets — New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Dallas and suburban Atlanta — will get to see the movie early, beginning on June 20. That first round is being helped along on the Web with Kit’s movie blog and, at the Grove shopping mall in Los Angeles, with the giveaway of “Kit’s Home on Abbott Place,” an elaborate playhouse built by Pardee Homes as part of a benefit for the homeless.

Last Saturday mothers and daughters trooped through the siding- and stone-veneered structure to admire it, and to donate $5 for “opportunity tickets” — never say “raffle” — that buy a shot at taking it home. “ ‘Win Me?’ ” one mother gasped, reading a sign outside, “Oh, my God!”

Other plans include movie-night dinners at the in-store American Girl cafes, which begin to sound, at least a little, like the viewing parties that pushed “Sex and the City” over the top during its May 30 opening weekend.

Allie Mayer, a publicist for movietickets.com, said the service had seen “steady activity” since it began selling tickets for the early engagement last month.

Mr. Berney said a box-office success would be “a little bittersweet”: His company will remain intact only long enough to release its existing films, including “Kit,” “Mongol” and “The Women” (scheduled for fall). To date, the studio’s biggest box-office hit has been “Pan’s Labyrinth,” which took in $37.6 million at the domestic box office in 2006.

If “Kit” works, its success would owe something not just to the promotions, but also to the straight-shooting approach of a director, Patricia Rozema, whose earlier work includes “Mansfield Park” (1999) for Miramax.

“I don’t think you talk down to children when you make a movie for them,” Ms. Rozema said. She spoke in a telephone interview about Kit’s rather intricate on-screen problem, which include doubts about a father, played by Mr. O’Donnell, who leaves home in search of work, and no small difficulties with a newspaper editor played by Wallace Shawn.

Still, Kit preserves her G-rated innocence, something Ms. Rozema said had become too rare, even in films aimed at the young. (“Bratz: The Movie,” which was based on a doll line and took in about $10 million for Lionsgate last summer, was rated PG.)

“They don’t need to be rattled,” she said. “They’re rattled enough.”

Donald Trump touted his Scottish roots on a visit to his late mother’s childhood home Monday, as he prepared to defend a plan to build a $2 billion golf resort complex here.

Trump told journalists his mother had inspired him to stay with the project, planned near Aberdeen on the country’s east coast, despite opposition from environmentalists.

“If it weren’t for my mother would I have walked away from this site? I think probably I would have, yes,” he said. “It is really easy to find a nice piece of land to do something nice on, but Scotland is special and I wanted to do something special for my mother.”

Trump is planning two golf courses, a five-star hotel and hundreds of houses on the site, but green campaigners say the construction would hurt the area’s delicate sand dunes, home to a number of bird species.

Trump is due to give evidence Tuesday at a public inquiry into the proposed development.

The real estate mogul has not visited his mother’s former home in Stornoway on the Isle of Lewis, 50 miles off Scotland’s northwest coast, since he was a child. But he denied he was using the family trip to promote his plan, saying he had simply been too busy to return until now.

“You do reach a certain point in life where you think about where you came from, where your parents are from, and in this case I’ve been waiting to do this for years,” he said Monday.

Mary MacLeod Trump died in August 2000 at age 88. She was born on the Isle of Lewis in 1912 and met Fred C. Trump while visiting New York in the 1930s.

It seems that Lindsay Lohan has developed a case of Winona Ryder syndrome. Lohan is being sued by a New York college student claiming the troubled actress stole her fur coat after a night at the same club in January.

The supposedly $12,000 sheared mink coat, a gift from her grandmother, belonged to Masha Markova. The 22-year-old claims she wore the coat to a birthday party at club 1 Oak, where she placed it in a bin with other coats.

Markova couldn’t find the coat at the end of the night, and wrote it off for good, as lost. As most people would, I mean, why put up a fight over a $12,000 coat?

The student said she didn’t think of it again until she was flipping through a February issue of OK! Magazine, and saw a picture of Lohan, wearing a similar fur coat.

Markova claims she knew instantly the coat was hers. “It was my coat,” she told the Post. “It was no doubt!” Of course not, lord forbid there be someone else in this world with a similar coat, especially not a high-profile celebrity that can actually afford to buy one.

Markova’s attorney Merril R. Cohen contacted Lohan’s attorney about the coat situation. On Valentine’s Day, the fur was delivered to Markova’s apartment by a rep from 1 Oak, it just needed to be dry-cleaned.

Still, even after the coat was returned, a lawsuit was filed in New York State Supreme Court in Manhattan, asking for unspecified damages.

The coat is back, what more could Markova want? Maybe for Lohan to reimburse her for the dry cleaning?

Ivanka Trump, the famous daughter of Ivana and Donald Trump, dressed down when she brought her dog to the 100th anniversary of Milk-Bone. She dressed down so much that her privates were visible. The canines and boys were hot for her as they posed for photos. To celebrate its 100th anniversary, America’s favorite dog snack company would be building the world’s largest dog house in Times Square, New York. Other activities in store included a dancing dogs show, paw readings and celebrity appearances.

Yoga enthusiast Porschla Coleman attended the 2008 Farm Sanctuary Gala for Farm Animals in New York City over the weekend.

Every time I come across photos of Porschla I get excited. If this was my chick I’d draft a contract making sure she could never leave.  I’d pay her in the millions, but it’d be damn worth it.

I’d hit that shit morning, noon, and night and then I’d hit it again for good measure.  Girlfriend is into yoga, which means she probably eats healthy, too.  In other words, when you lick her snatch it probably tastes healthy and sweet, like passion fruit.

With the luster of Lindsay Lohan’s stardom dimmed – a lot – due to her record of hard partying, legal woes, drug trouble and flops, Lohan watchers are speculating over her chances of post-rehab redemption via her “Ugly Betty” arc that starts Thursday night (5/22).

She won’t be sitting idly by wondering, that’s for sure.  In fact, the whirl that is Lindsay’s world is spinning as fast as ever.  She’s currently prepping for “Labor Pains,” which has been set for a June 2 start date — the day after she’s to present at the MTV MovieAwards.   That’s the big-screen comedy in which she’ll play a girl so desperate not to get fired from her job, she falsely claims to be pregnant – then finds herself getting special treatment and sympathy.

On the heels of wrapping “Labor Pains,” Lindsay – who turns 22 on July 2 – is due to head to New York, barring an actors’ strike, for the start of next season’s “Ugly Betty,” in which she’s to appear in five episodes as a mean girl from high school who resurfaces in Betty’s (America Ferrera) life.

She’s also readying her much-discussed third album to debut in early fall.

Meanwhile, a casting notice has gone out for the role of Nancy Pitman in Matthew Bright’s “The Manson Girls,” the film detailing the murderous Charles Manson cult story through the eyes of his female followers — to which Lohan was attached. Nikki Finke’s Deadline Hollywood recently reported that Lindsay had been dropped from the project because other actors didn’t want to work with her – to which Lindsay’s rep quickly responded that her departure was due to scheduling conflicts.

Whatever —  the fact that producers are still hiring Lindsay brings to mind an observation made by comedic icon Bob Newhart years ago, that oftentimes, those who survive in this business are those whose talent exceeds their need to self destruct.

THE VIDEOLAND VIEW: Supermodel Beverly Johnson, who is making a television comeback, is comparing herself to Paula Abdul.  Given the sometimes-bizarre antics of Abdul, you certainly don’t hear that said too often, but Johnson is referring to her use of positive comments when it comes to judging contestants.  Johnson herself is a judge on the new original series, “She’s Got the Look,” premiering June 4 on TV Land.   “I was trying to call myself the Paula Abdul because I love her.  I love her as a person, and I consider myself a real nice person.  However, I don’t know if I was so nice,” admits Johnson of her behavior on the show, which sets out to discover a woman 35 or older to become the next great supermodel-of-a-certain-age.  ”I hope I didn’t come off too mean.  I think I was fair.  I was honest and I wanted to move them along to their dreams, but criticism, no matter how you give it, stings.”

Johnson, who was the first African-American model to appear on the cover of American Vogue, tells us she certainly had plenty to say.  ”I don’t know if I was supposed to or not, but I interjected whenever I got the chance.  I knew what it was like to leave your kids when you have to go away to work.  Plus, there was a sense of urgency because at this age they want to put this career in forward motion.”

As for Johnson’s career, she says she’s put in the long hours and now she’s focusing more of her attention on golf.  ”I built my dream home on a golf course.  This was all before I knew I was going back into show business.  I recently played in the LPGA Pro-Am tournament.  I missed the cup by one, but I was so excited to be on ESPN.”

CORONATION EQUATION: Derek Luke says working with one of his icons, Spike Lee, on the upcoming “Miracle at St. Anna’s” constituted a high mark in his career.  “In New York, Spike has this group of people that he always works with and now I can say I was amongst that group. It’s almost like being crowned being part of that.  I went in with no type of thought of what it should be, but I left with a proudness, you know what I’m saying?  It was a blessing to work with Spike.”  He notes, “I was always a fan. He had to be one of the first influences on my life as a filmmaker. His films really touched me.”  Luke co-stars with Laz Alonso, Michael Ealy and John Turturro in the film about four African-American GIs stuck behind enemy lines in Italy during WW II.

FREE LOVE AND HARD RAIN: Quite a casting job for the forces working on Ang Lee’s planned “Taking Woodstock” feature – it has 54 roles.  The adaptation of Elliot Tiber’s “Taking Woodstock: A True Story of a Riot, a Concert, and a Life” details how Tiber, described as a lonely gay Jewish man who managed a Catskills mountains hotel, wound up becoming a pivotal player in the making of the legendary 1969 Woodstock music festival.

Here are a few candid photos of Kirsten Dunst on the set of “All Good Things.” Nothing earth-shattering going on in these pictures, but now you know that in the movie Kirsten will be wearing a white shirt with blue jeans. Yes, that’s a white shirt with blue jeans. I bet your friends don’t know that. That’s right (pops his shirt), we bring you the most hard-hitting celebrity news daily!

If you are interested in “All Good Things,” here is the movie’s story line:

“A detective begins to unravel a missing-persons case that looks to spell doom — and quite possibly death — for the heir to a New York real estate dynasty.”

Hollywood’s classiest couple, CoCo and Ice-T, celebrated their birthdays together at The Plumm in New York City yesterday.

Ice-T turned 50, while CoCo is said to be turning 29. Somehow I doubt that. This ho is at least in her 30s. And if she’s not she should say as such because then she just might look good for her age.

I don’t know that I’ll ever get over the size of her ass. Every time I see it I get a mental picture of Ice-T giving her a creampie.

Her asshole is not going to be a pretty sight when she’s old. Decades of anal sex will leave any woman’s hole gaping with hemroids. With an ass like that there’s no such thing as “only on special occassions”. It’s probably an everyday thing with these two.

And to show you how proud Ice-T is of CoCo, here he is pimping out her nude Playboy spread with his friend, actor Anthony Anderson. “Dude, check out that vagina. I hit that.” So proud.