Identity of man who inspired Adele's '21' is revealed!

For the last year and more, U.K. singer Adele has been stampeding through world music charts, with a multimillion-selling album, 21, that is still in the top five (see below), and terrific torch songs such as "Rolling in the Deep" and "Someone Like You." It's an emotional, unusually coherent album. What inspired it all? Could a man be involved? Now U.K. rag Heat reveals that the man who broke Adele's heart, alas, inspired the album, boo-hoo, and made her a multi-gobsmacking-rich kind of human lady person, yahoo!, is photographer Alex Sturrock, 31, her flame in 2008-09 and official photog for her 2009 tour. She's never revealed who it is, but there have been inklings, and photos on Alex's blog!

Report: Drug spoon in Houston room?

According to TMZ, an L.A. police report says a cocaine-dusted spoon was found in singer Whitney Houston's Beverly Hilton Hotel room, where she died Feb. 11. "Located on the south portion of the counter," the report says at one point, "was a small spoon with a white crystal-like substance in it and a rolled-up piece of white paper, along with other miscellaneous items. ... Located in the top drawer, in the north side of the counter, were remnants of a white powdery substance, and a portable mirror on a base." More white powder turned up on the base of the mirror. The report also says Houston "possibly overdosed on a narcotic substance, prescription medications, over-the-counter medications, and alcohol." Officials also report traces of marijuana, Xanax, Flexeril, and Benadryl in her blood.

Ray Romano is 'cured salmon'

Well, whaddya know, Ray Romano was once human, too. And a bit of a slobster. So says Everybody Loves Raymond creator Phil Rosenthal, albeit with love.

Rosenthal chatted about Romano during a taping of PBS's The Truth About Money With Ric Edelman, telling the host Ray was anything but polished - or even prepared at the duo's first pitch meeting with network honcho Ray Moonves.

Ray "sat there not knowing what to say or do because he'd never been in this situation. ... He looked like he was going to take Mr. Moonves' hard candies off the table if someone wasn't watching. So he was kind of a lox. I wasn't so great, either." Lox, huh? Yeah, I guess I always thought of Ray as cured salmon, though in the best possible sense of the word.

Reality TV? It's the end! The end!

Rosenthal sure wasn't at a lox for words when asked to evaluate the less-than-salutatory effect of reality TV on the World Spirit.

"I think this glut of reality shows that we're experiencing right now could be signaling something larger than just a trend," says Rosenthal, "and that is the end of civilization."

Madonna dominates ... charts

Seems Madonna, 53, still knows how to shake it (and shake down the public for $$): The Material Girl's 12th studio album, MDNA, has debuted atop the Billboard album chart, selling 359,000 units according to Nielsen SoundScan. It's Madge's fifth album to debut at No. 1. She's hit the top of the album charts eight times in her career, just once less than Barbra Streisand, who holds the record for most frequently chart-topping female artist. (These stats will help save the world, somehow, won't they?)

Another veteran warbler, Lionel Richie, 62, takes No. 2, selling 199,000 copies of his 10th studio album, Tuskegee, which features collaborations with Blake Shelton, Jason Aldean, Shania Twain, and Willie Nelson. Adele will not be forgotten: Her album 21 is still in the top three with 121,000. The faddish Hunger Games movie soundtrack, which was No. 1 last week, had a sales drop of 62 percent to end up in fifth place with 64,000.

Keira K.: And now, the spanking

Keira Knightley says her analytic sojourn as one of Sigmund Freud's and Karl Jung's patients in David Cronenberg's A Dangerous Method, rich in intellectual content and insight about depth psychology, has inspired many questions about ... the film's spanking scene.

"I know ... people liked the spanking an awful lot," Knightley tells Interview magazine.

"It's weird, though, with the spanking. In England, it was pretty much the only thing I got asked about. I'm not quite sure what that says about the English. ... really huge in England."

Turnover at 'Saturday Night Live'

Three of Saturday Night Live's biggest stars are leaving after the current season, Informed Insider tells Us Weekly. They are Kristen Wiig, Andy Samberg, and Jason Sudeikis. Reps say no decisions have been made, as reps will. There could be other ironies in the fur. Wiig, whose star has been shootin' since Bridesmaids came down the aisle last year, has been lookin' to jump for a while now, according to reports. And Sudeikis has a movie coming up with his wifey, Olivia Wilde, titled Relanxious.

Short shots, not-a-lots

Life & Style says - in! an! exclusive! - that Real Housewives of Beverly Hills celebrity Lisa Vanderpump is getting her very own Bravo reality series. "It's going to be about her restaurant Sur Lounge and feature the staff and happenings there," Anonymous Insider tells the mag. Sur Lounge staffer Scheana Marie will be a big draw - not for her culinary skills, but because she apparently is good at bedding celebs, having dated John Mayer and Eddie Cibrian. ... Madame Tussaud's in London has unveiled wax versions of Prince William and Kate Middleton on their one-year anniversary. Awww. ... Wilmer Valderrama and Minka Kelly are said to be a pair. Please can we call them Winka? ... We still think it's weird that, according to reports, Johnny Depp, 48, has had a one-night stand with Ashley Olsen, 25. ... The NYC writing studio of famed U.S. poet Robert Lowell is on the market for only $685K. If you buy it, you better write some pretty darn good poems. ... Nicolas "Don't Get Me Mad" Cage has paid back a little more than half of the $13 million-plus he owed Uncle Sam. Nick owed $6.7 mill for tax year 2007 alone, and that's what he has paid, according to our pals at TMZ. Wouldn't it be  great to, like, even be able to owe that much? And then be able to pay that much back? And then have that much again to pay? Whoa, dude! ... Michelle Obama will appear on Stephen Colbert's Comedy Central show, her second time, on April 11.

One Direction snub White House

Speaking of Michelle Obama, and we were, it seems she ran into the latest hot boy band, One Direction, at the Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards on Saturday. So taken was she by the tiny little British boy babies that she invited them to the annual White House Easter Egg Roll on Monday. But they said no! Why? Don't they like eggs? What is this? This is Australia, that's what. Australia is where they'll be playing at the time. Otherwise, they say, they'd have loved to have a roll on the White House lawn.

This article contains information from Inquirer wire services and websites. Contact "SideShow" at sideshow@phillynews.com.