NAMES & FACES

Brangelina's $14 Million Babies

People magazine has won the bidding for the North American rights to publish exclusive photos of Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie's newborn twins, Vivienne Marcheline and Knox Leon. And the price is astronomical, even if it's going to charity.

People, along with Hello! magazine, which beat out OK! magazine for British rights, combined to pay $14 million for use of the images, the Associated Press reported yesterday. People paid a measly $6 million to feature Jennifer Lopez's twins on its March cover, according to Forbes.

The photos are scheduled to appear in Monday's new issue of People and will debut on People.com tomorrow evening. Getty Images conducted the exclusive photo shoot with Knox, Vivienne, Jolie, Pitt and the couple's other four children, Maddox, Zahara, Pax and Shiloh.

Jolie and Pitt sold the rights to photos of their first-born daughter, Shiloh, born in 2006, to Getty Images in exchange for a donation to charity. People paid $4 million for the U.S. rights at the time, and Hello! obtained British rights. Last year, Jolie and Pitt sold images of 3-year-old son Pax to the same magazines, with each contributing a share of the price.

A New McCain Refrain

Country music's latest contribution to the 2008 presidential campaign soundtrack? "Raising McCain" by John McCain supporter John Rich, one half of the Nashville duo Big and Rich. The refrain: "We're all just raising McCain." (Who would have guessed?)

Rich, who supported fellow Tennessean Fred Thompson in the Republican primaries this year, planned to debut the song yesterday at the Country First concert in Panama City, Fla., with McCain in attendance. The singer-songwriter finished the tune about a month ago and sent it to the candidate's daughter, Meghan McCain, who passed it to campaign officials. The anthem focuses on the 5 1/2 years McCain spent as a prisoner of war in Vietnam.

"The entire world is looking for a way to sucker-punch us," Rich said. "National security is absolutely at the top of the list of issues. That's why I think John McCain is the guy to keep us safe."

Not so fast, though. Rich's partner in song, Kenny "Big Kenny" Alphin, contributed $2,300 to Barack Obama's campaign last year.

Meanwhile, Meghan McCain was spotted recently with Heidi Montag of "The Hills" -- a celebrity! -- at a trendy Santa Monica eatery, the Los Angeles Times reports.

Noted

· Elizabeth Taylor has been hospitalized in Los Angeles but is expected to return home, reps for the 76-year-old Oscar-winning actress told the Associated Press on Thursday. "Ms. Taylor is fine," read a statement released by her publicist, Dick Guttman. "Her hospital visit was precautionary."

· Actor Charles Durning received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame -- the 2,336th star -- next to James Cagney's on Thursday. The 85-year-old took part in World War II's D-Day invasion and earned two Oscar nominations -- for 1982's "The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas" and 1983's "To Be or Not to Be."

· A lawyer for two men arrested on marijuana-possession charges on Snoop Dogg's tour bus said yesterday that the bus did not have expired tags. The Texas troopers who pulled the bus over examined it for an expired registration sticker. Ethan Calhoun, 27, and Kevin Barkey, 26, were arrested and later freed on $1,500 bond each. Snoop (real name: Cordozar Calvin Broadus Jr.) was not arrested.

-- Christian Hettinger, from wire and Web reports