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Oscar made love, not war, Sunday night. The Elizabethan romantic fantasy "Shakespeare in Love" scored a major upset over Steven Spielberg's WWII drama "Saving Private Ryan," which had been the favored winner. "Shakespeare" took home seven gold statuettes -- including those for Best Picture, Actress (Gwyneth Paltrow) and Supporting Actress (Dame Judi Dench) -- and "Ryan" five (including one for Best Director to Steven Spielberg). Roberto Begnini's "Life Is Beautiful" won three Oscars: for Best Foreign Film, Best Actor (Begnini) and for Musical Score. Accepting his first Oscar, Begnini climbed on seats in the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, finally stepping into the aisle after shaking hands with Spielberg. The ceremony itself was the longest on record, four hours two minutes.

Actor David Strickland, who for the past three seasons played the rock critic on the Brooke Shields NBC sitcom "Suddenly Susan," was found dead in a Las Vegas adult motel room Monday. He had apparently hanged himself with a bedsheet tied to a ceiling beam. Police authorities told reporters that a chair stood next to his body and an empty beer container was found inside the room. Motel owner Peter Napoli told NBC News he was unaware if police found a note. Strickland's publicists confirmed the suicide and said there was no apparent reason why the 28-year-old took his own life. Strickland's career looked to have been just taking off. He appeared in a small role in last weekend's No.-1 movie, "Forces of Nature," with Sandra Bullock and Ben Affleck.

Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman steam up the first 'Eyes Wide Shut' promo; plus, the creator of 'NYPD Blue' is developing a medical drama, and a Playboy playmate sues Hef

''EYES'' WATCH Just days after legendary director Stanley Kubrick's death, Warner Bros. execs released the first 90-second promo of Kubrick's last movie, ''Eyes Wide Shut.'' Screened yesterday for an audience of theater owners at Las Vegas' Showest convention, the daring clip features a nude Nicole Kidman lovingly watching herself in a full-length mirror, while a similarly nude Tom Cruise steamily caresses her. Sounds like an art film to us.

Sharon Lawrence will return to 'NYPD Blue' -- Despite rumors that she had quit the show, Sipowicz' wife will come home -- at least for a while

When Sharon Lawrence finished her 10-episode contract with ''NYPD Blue'' in January, newspapers reported that she probably wouldn't return because of disappointment that her character -- assistant district attorney Sylvia Costas, Andy Sipowicz' headstrong wife -- wasn't given more to do. Lawrence was quoted as saying she would come back only if the series' writers gave Sylvia ''something juicy to do...something that rocks her world.'' Well, evidently the actress was as convincing as the courtroom-savvy character she plays. Lawrence tells EW Online that she'll soon fly to Los Angeles to shoot at least two more ''Blue'' episodes, which will air during May sweeps. A source close to the show confirms: ''('Blue' cocreator) David Milch has something quite exciting in store for Sharon's character that will put to bed any rumors that she quit the show.''

But will Lawrence stick around next season? Her reps won't comment. A spokesperson for ''Blue,'' however, says that while Lawrence isn't a regular cast member, she'll continue to appear whenever the story lines and her schedule allow. For those of you who can't wait till May sweeps to see the three-time Emmy-nominated actress, Lawrence is now performing at the Joseph Papp Public Theater (until April 18) in the New York production of playwright Ellen McLaughlin's ''Tongue of a Bird,'' a drama about a search-and-rescue pilot who's looking for a lost girl but ends up communicating with her dead mother (Lawrence). ''It's a real estrogen-fest,'' Lawrence says of the play. ''Women should definitely bring their girlfriends.'' Guess Andy should stay home and take care of the kid.

A funny thing happened last week in Salt Lake City, Utah. After Ricky Martin's electrifying rendition of La Copa de la Vida performed the musical equivalent of CPR on a listless Grammy Awards telecast in Los Angeles, fans descended on Salt Lake's record stores and picked them clean of the Latin singer's albums. Runs on his albums were reported in L.A. and Miami too, but none was more surprising than the one in Salt Lake, a town better known for its allegiance to the Osmond Brothers than its enthusiasm for Latin pop. Grammy host Rosie O'Donnell summed up what a lot of English-speaking viewers must have been feeling about Martin when she declared, "I never heard of him before tonight, but I'm enjoying him so-o-o much."

Not so long ago, Nick Lachey used to stake out a spot on the roof of a parking garage across from L.A.'s famed Shrine Auditorium to watch his favorite stars arrive for the Grammys and the American Music Awards. These days, as a singer with pop sensation 98 Degrees, the 25-year-old's got a much better view. With the AMAs just one day away, he and the rest of the group -- Nick's younger brother Drew Lachey pronounced Le-SHAY), 22; Jeff Timmons, 25; and Justin Jeffre, 26 -- are in the back of a stretch limo, heading to the Shrine for a rehearsal for the awards show. "I used to go to USC, which is right across the street," recalls Nick, who also used to deliver Chinese food in this same neighborhood. "So it's kind of weird years later to come back and be [performing] in the Shrine. It's come full circle, and that's pretty cool."

Perhaps Burt Bacharach's elegy affords Dusty Springfield sufficient distinction: "You just had to hear two or three notes and you knew it was Dusty." Petula Clark, a fellow British Invasion bird, was also struck by Springfield's singularity: "The way she looked was easy to impersonate--the panda eyes and the bouffant hair. But the voice was impossible to imitate... Dusty was the perfect pop singer." Perfect, but not pure; there were other shadings that marked Springfield, who died from breast cancer at her home on the Thames, March 2, at 59. Here was a songstress for whom "blue-eyed soul" might as well have been coined ("the white Negress," Cliff Richard famously called her), but who, unlike most singers of that appellation, wouldn't likely be mistaken for black in a blindfold test. "There is a soul influence, but no blues influence," says Jerry Wexler, who coproduced 1969's classic Dusty in Memphis, describing her breathy, husky, understated phrasing. "It wasn't black soul--maybe it was Irish soul--but she had it. She stripped herself down and her singing was naked vulnerability, which made it very sexy."

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