Kruger brothers score big victory

Jay and Mark Kruger survived last night's weigh-in on NBC's "The Biggest Loser" to compete another week. And you can bet some of the show's fans aren't happy about that. Mark in particular has become a controversial figure among viewers who don't like his brashness. "I'm very competitive, and I guess I yelled at my brother," he said. "The show is edited so that people can see what goes on. It's a show." In the first six weeks, Mark, 35 and from Dartmouth, has dropped 64 of his 285 pounds, and Jay, 31 and from Bedford, has shed 45 of his nearly 300 pounds. The Krugers, who work together at Altec Industries, a heavy equipment company, got on the show after a chance encounter with casting agents. "We were walking on Yawkey Way, and we were approached about being on the show, and I wasn't happy," Mark said. But all the time spent learning how to eat and exercise has been worth the tradeoff. Said Jay: "We may have given up four or five months, but we're getting 10 to 15 years on our lives."

The 250 sharply dressed attendees of last night's chichi cocktail party at the new Louis Vuitton store in Copley Place scored one of the hottest invites in town. Even more exclusive was the private dinner for 75 people who were whisked away from the store to the not-yet-open Mandarin Oriental Hotel. (The meal was prepared by L'Espalier chef/owner Frank McClelland, whose boite will move to the hotel when it opens later this year.) Last night's guest list included Big Papi's wife, Tiffany Ortiz; Patriots linebacker Adalius Thomas and his wife, Sheri; fellow Pats linebacker Rosevelt Colvin and his wife, Tiffany; Clio's chef-owner Ken Oringer and his wife, Celine; Celtics owner Wyc Grousbeck and his wife, Corinne; Red Sox biggie Larry Lucchino's wife, Stacey; and Kevin Garnett's wife, Brandi, who brought along her pal, Shannon Walker Williams, who is Ray Allen's fiancee. Also among those invited were Boston Pops masetro Keith Lockhart and his wife, Emiley, and Bruins great Cam Neely, whose wife, Paulina, wore special items from Louis Vuitton's spring collection.

The world got its first look yesterday at Cambridge filmmaker Errol Morris's much-anticipated documentary about the prison abuse scandal at Iraq's Abu Ghraib jail. The film, "Standard Operating Procedure," premiered at the Berlin Film Festival. An Oscar winner for "The Fog of War," Morris uses recovered footage, reenactments, interviews with the likes of Lynndie England, and the infamous photos that were published around the world. "If you ask me are these pictures of torture, I would say 'yes, yes they are'," Morris told reporters in Berlin. "And yet they were defined by the US military as . . . Standard Operating Procedure. You are talking about a world that has gone mad." Writing yesterday in Variety, critic Todd McCarthy gave the film a lukewarm review, saying it "adds relatively little insight to the public understanding of wayward military behavior."

When Herbie Hancock gave her a shout-out from the stage at the Grammys, Sonya Kitchell wasn't watching. The singer (inset) was at her parents' place in the tiny Western Mass. town of Ashfield. "It's kind of crazy, because I watch the Grammys every year, but I forgot," Kitchell told us yesterday. "When my girlfriends used to talk about their wedding dresses, I'd always talk about my Grammy dress." Kitchell, 18, was stunned that Hancock won album of the year for "River: The Joni Letters," and thrilled that he thanked her. (Kitchell sings on the CD.) "When someone like Herbie wins, you think, wow, maybe they're really voting on the record they like the best," she said. "It was such a far-fetched idea that he would win, and so great that he mentioned me."

Boston-based quartet Ahmir will compete tonight in New York against other R&B singers on BET's "106 & Park." The group - Leon Jones, Michael McDonald, Mark E. Robertson Jr., and K.C. Washington - will perform, and viewers can vote online during the show. Last summer Ahmir was among the competitors on NBC's "America's Got Talent."

Fresh off their Grammy wins, Jay-Z and Mary J. Blige are teaming up for what's likely to be the biggest hip-hop show of the year. The "American Gangster" and the queen of hip-hop soul are embarking on the "Heart of the City" tour, which touches down at the TD Banknorth Garden April 3. Tickets are $49.75-$300 and go on sale Friday at 10 a.m.

Patriots tight end Ben Watson knows about handling his business on the field, but complex math? No. 84 was at MIT's Sloan School of Management yesterday to talk about the role of analytics in pro sports. Watson was joined at the school's second annual Sports Business Conference by Celtics CEO Wyc Grousbeck, baseball guru Peter Gammons, Indianapolis Colts prez Bill Polian, and Red Sox senior adviser Bill James.

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