A fan frenzy for young Demi

More than 2,000 people - mostly preteen girls and their parents - deluged Disney actress and singer Demi Lovato at the Mansfield Crossing Verizon Wireless store yesterday. "You should hear the shrieks," said spokesman David Thomson, whose wife brought his own daughters - 6, 8, and 10 - to the star's meet-and-greet. "She incredibly poised for a 15-year-old girl." Fans tried to start lining up at 3:30 a.m. but were told to come back at 10, Thomson said. "I actually had a mother call to get media credentials for her daughter and her friend, so they could write an article for the local newspaper. That was creative." Lovato, who wore a black hat reminiscent of '80s teen queen Debbie Gibson, signed autographs for a few hours before heading out to warm-up at the Comcast Center, where she was to open for the Jonas Brothers last night.

Have trumpet, will travel

It's a charmed, if peripatetic, life for trumpeter Chris Botti. Tuesday, he was in Boston fund-raising for WGBH. Wednesday, he was in a New York hotel, getting ready to watch his mentor, Sting, in concert. He'll spend the weekend at the Newport Jazz festival and then tour some more until he hits the Symphony Hall stage in September with Sting, Steven Tyler, Yo-Yo Ma, Josh Groban, Keith Lockhart, and the Boston Pops. "Everything fits in one suitcase, my trumpet case and a carry-on bag," Botti said. "I have no residence. During my 20s, I was quite stable, and it's kind of the opposite of what most people do." He's thrilled to be in-demand, he said, but touring is hell on the love life. "It's pretty much next to impossible to have a long-term relationship with a successful musician," said Katie Couric's ex. "I'm just focusing on touring right now." Botti said the Boston show, which will be taped for a PBS special, will be a blowout reunion with musicians he's worked with and loves. And, there'll be a surprise guest, he promised. "It has to do with a joke I tell during the shows, and then he's going to appear."

Elrod's new 'Tricks'

When ABC finally pruned "Men in Trees," canceling the series after two seasons, actor Scott Elrod had some free time. So he leapt at the chance to make "Tricks of a Woman," an indie flick that just wrapped a three-week shoot in Boston. "The restaurants, the limo company, everyone in Boston opened their arms to us," said Elrod, who costars in the movie with Madonna's baby daddy Carlos Leon, Vincent "Big Pussy" Pastore, Natasha Lyonne, and newcomer Elika Portnoy, a native of Bulgaria who's also a producer on the film. "In LA, you'd have to pay top dollar to shoot in the kind of places we shot here." Elrod said the cast worked around the clock, so he didn't make it out much. "I didn't get to a Sox game, and that was a bummer," he said.

New Kids on the Block aren't the only Boston boys making a comeback. The Funky Bunch, whose droopy-jeaned frontman is the A-list actor known as Mark Wahlberg, are also reuniting and, with any luck, will be playing a few dates this fall with NKOTB. "The goal is to drop our single and get on tour," said Scott Ross, who's back with original FBers Hector Barros and Terry Yancey. "We're bringing 1990 back." (In fact, it was 1991 when the band had its first and last No. 1 hit "Good Vibrations.") Ross said Wahlberg, a.k.a. Marky Mark, has a hand in the reunion, but he's staying strictly behind the scenes. The new single, called "Let's Party," sounds like the old stuff, but updated. "It's more Timbaland-ish, if that makes sense," he said, "more club-ish." The band is shooting a video for the song this weekend, and getting ready to take its show on the road. "We're older dudes now," said Ross. "But we still got it."

Good Charlotte's Joel Madden is headed for Shrine at MGM Grand at Foxwoods on Aug. 16. We'll be looking for baby-mama Nicole Richie in the DJ booth and maybe twin brother Benji and g.f. Paris Hilton on the dance floor?

Simmons College communications grad and PBS correspondent Gwen Ifill (inset) will moderate the vice presidential debate for the second time, her alma mater announced yesterday. The face-off Oct. 2 will be held at Washington University in St. Louis and will cover both foreign and domestic issues. Now if we just knew who Gwen will be corralling.

Look for Boston native Jennifer Coolidge on a new episode of "The Closer" Monday night. The "American Pie" hot mama joins star Kyra Sedgwick in "Dial M for Provenza," playing Angie Serabian, "a none-too-bright woman married to the rich owner of a car dealership who winds up ensnared in an undercover sting operation," according to TNT.

Turns out Ben Affleck and Matt Damon aren't the only Hollywood-by-way-of-Boston Barack Obama boosters. Pride of Everett Ellen Pompeo is hosting a cocktail fund-raiser for the presidential candidate in "Grey's Anatomy" land, a.k.a. Seattle, Aug. 16 with costar Justin Chambers and the Gay and Lesbian Leadership Council of the Democratic National Committee.

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