This is the new trailer for Nine, the musical starring Nicole Kidman, Penelope Cruz, Daniel Day-Lewis and Kate Hudson, amongst others. The whole thing is set to Kate Hudson singing “Cinema Italiano”. That’s really her voice. And that’s really her dancing, too. While I don’t think Kate Hudson should give up her film career for a music career, I’m finding Kate’s voice a lot stronger than I expected. And she seems like a natural dancer, so that’s good too. Considering this is the second trailer released (the first was overlaid with Fergie’s rendition of “Be Italian”), some are saying Kate Hudson will be pushed (by the studio) come awards time. Entertainment Weekly even wrote a piece asking “Is anyone rooting for a Kate Hudson comeback?”

The new trailer for Nine is all Kate Hudson most of the time. Yes, we get shots of Daniel Day-Lewis, Penelope Cruz, Nicole Kidman, and Fergie’s breasts, but it’s Hudson’s “Cinema Italiano” production number that’s the focus.

Which makes me wonder if Hudson herself is supposed to be a draw, or if the filmmakers just wanted us to see a sparkly set and costume and her song was an eye-catcher? I’m going with the latter.

Hudson doesn’t have the best track record and needs Nine to get her back on track. At the very least, it gives her something worthwhile to talk about when she tapes her Inside the Actors Studio this week in New York. Almost Famous and How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days weren’t going to fill an hour.

[From Entertainment Weekly]

Kate and some of the stars of Nine were on Oprah on Wednesday to promote the film. I’m totally bummed that I missed Daniel Day-Lewis’s interview, because that man makes me warm… in the pants. I did see Marion Cotillard – who is not the best interview, at all. She’s very earnest and sweet, but she doesn’t say anything about anything. However, Marion made Kate seem like a genius. Kate kept smacking her lips, giggling and saying “ye-ah” and “uh…like…uh”. Oprah was only able to ring one piece of interesting information out of Kate, and I swear it took five minutes to get this: Kate met Alex Rodriguez “years ago”. Fascinating! Meanwhile, In Touch is reporting that A-Rod finally bought Kate a ring… but not that kind of ring:

Baseball star ALEX RODRIGUEZ has reportedly splashed out on a $40,000 ring for girlfriend KATE HUDSON to thank her for cheering him on through the World Series.

Rodriguez’s New York Yankees triumphed in the series against the Philadelphia Phillies – and Hudson was at the games to show her support.

She often showed up with her mother Goldie Hawn’s actor lover Kurt Russell.

And A-Rod has shown his gratitude by buying his girl a new Louis Vuitton white-gold ring set with pink sapphires and diamonds.

An insider tells In Touch magazine, “He has a World Series ring, and now she does, too. It’s a beautiful piece of jewellery and very unusual… He clearly knows her style and has great taste… She thought it was such a romantic gesture.”

[From Contact Music]

A louis Vuitton pink sapphire and diamond ring is absolutely nothing to scoff at. I’d do A-Rod for a great ring, too. But, alas, I think Kate really loves him. And she probably wants an engagement ring, not a “thank you” ring.

Now, since I’m a little tired of talking about Kate, I bring you this gem from the Nine set: Sophia Loren, immortal goddess, was actually intimated by one of her fellow actors on the set. Considering Sophia could eat most of these young girls in her sleep, this one is pleasantly surprising. Sophia told the British papers: “Daniel Day-Lewis is incredible. He is hypnotic, magical, beautiful and brilliant; but he is also very scary. Every time I did a scene with him he was so deep and so real that it was almost intimidating.” Sophia plays his mother. God, I can’t wait for this movie.

Photo still from ‘Nine’ courtesy of WENN.