A fashionable lineup

Several wives of Red Sox players were at the Taj Boston hotel yesterday for tea and a sneak peek at Chanel's fall and winter collection. The gathering was also a preview for the MassGeneral Hospital for Children's Storybook Ball, which will be held Oct. 4. Enjoying the Back Bay afternoon were Tomoyo Matsuzaka, Ashley Papelbon, Yuka Okajima, and Tiffany Ortiz, who was celebrating her birthday.

Fatima Siad, a 22-year-old student from Boston, is one of the three finalists to win it all in tonight's episode of "America's Next Top Model." Picked by show fans and bloggers as being a favorite early on, Siad (above) has had a few bumps in her trip to the season finale. She faced elimination last week when the judges told her she doesn't seem to listen to the photographers and stylist.

Somerville poet Afaa Michael Weaver, an English prof at Simmons College, won the Pushcart Prize for his poem "American Income," it was announced yesterday. The prizes are given annually in several categories for works released through small publishers. Weaver's poem, which was included in his 2007 collection "The Plum Flower Dance," will be published in Pushcart Prize No. 33 - out this fall.

It was a hectic day at the Museum Residences in Chestnut Hill yesterday. First, the Bruce Willis flick "The Surrogates" was on-site filming and, later, Pops conductor Keith Lockhart hosted a private reception to thank the 2008 Presidents at Pops Committee.

Monday night's Elliot Norton Award ceremony started with this: "Good evening, ladies and gentlemen. I'm Joyce Kulhawik, and I am out of work." The veteran entertainment reporter, who recently left WBZ-TV, had plenty of fans in the audience - if the rousing applause was any indication. Tony Award winner Andrea Martin, currently in "The New Mel Brooks Musical Young Frankenstein," got big laughs when she brought a cooking timer to the podium to ensure she followed strict instructions to keep her speech to three minutes. Martin, who presented an award to her old pal Nicholas Martin, departing artistic director at the Huntington Theatre, quipped that she couldn't recall whether she was reviewed in her first major role in "You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown" at the Wilbur Theatre. "I was high on LSD. . . . It was the '70s," she said. Broadway favorite Victor Garber, best known for his portrayal as Jack Bristow on ABC series "Alias," lost in the outstanding actor category but graciously accepted the outstanding-actress award for his friend Nancy E. Carroll . "I had to get up here somehow," he said. "I came all the way to Boston."

WGBH, which produces "Masterpiece Mystery!" for PBS, announced yesterday that Alan Cumming will host the show's upcoming season. "We're in a country with five gazillion channels of commercial programming," the Scottish-born actor told us. "I'm very much of a mind that people should have a quality alternative." A Tony Award winner for his role in "Cabaret," Cumming said he's happy to host the show if it means more people will watch it. "I'm obviously an added allure," he said, giggling. "But, seriously, by using me, maybe they can get a different, younger, less conservative demographic." Who knows, it just might work. WGBH last year enlisted "X Files" actress Gillian Anderson to introduce its "Masterpiece Classic" series and achieved a 50 percent increase in viewership. "Masterpiece Mystery!" premieres June 22.

Michael Collins (above) didn't make much of an impression on Julian Schnabel, but his art did. The student at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts says he got the brush-off from the famous painter at the MFA the other night, but was thrilled when Schnabel bought one of his photos. "I'm honored, definitely," said Collins, whose lenticular photo called "Boulder Pond, Wompatuck" (above right) was among several student pieces auctioned during Monday's Medal Award event. Schnabel, whose works are exhibited at the Centre Pompidou in Paris, London's Tate Gallery, and the Whitney in New York, among many other museums, liked the 3D quality of Collins's picture. His $250 bid was the winner. "I thought it might vibe with his aesthetic," said Collins, a 22-year-old junior at the SMFA. "It has a feeling of kitsch. You usually find stuff like this in Cracker Jack boxes." So did he get to talk to Schnabel? "Nah, we shook hands and talked for a minute, but he seemed like he had somewhere to go."

Darryl "DMC" McDaniels (left) of Run-DMC fame took his message of nonviolence to Jamaica Plain and Dorchester yesterday. McDaniels congratulated Boston native Dwayne "Dagha" Simmonsf (right), winner of a national "Hip Hop for Hounds" rap contest, at the MSPCA's Animal Care and Adoption Center on South Huntington Avenue.

We're told director Dave McLaughlin's Boston-based movie "On Broadway" is being screened this week at the Marche Du Film Market - the business counterpart of the Cannes Film Festival - in an attempt to secure a foreign distribution deal. The film's final Boston area screening is June 27 at the Regent Theatre in Arlington, and it'll feature a live performance by Buffalo Tom's Bill Janovitz, who composed the movie's score.

Whatever Kevin Youkilis is drinking these days, we want some. Unfortunately, it won't be available until July. You may recall that the Sox first baseman inked a deal in the off-season to promote the energy drink SlumpBuster, but so far the stuff isn't available. Not to us, at least. We're told Youk, who undoubtedly would be the American League MVP if the season ended right now, has a refrigerator full of the stuff.

Megan Tench of the Globe staff contributed to this report. Names can be reached at names@globe.com or at 617-929-8253.