01:00 AM EST on Tuesday, November 4, 2003

Cranston native Elisabeth Filarski Hasselbeck, a former contestant on Survivor: The Australian Outback, is in yet another contest. This time she's one of the three finalists to be the new co-host of ABC talkfest The View, replacing the departed Lisa Ling. She's married to Tim Hasselbeck, a quarterback with the Washington Redskins.

The other contenders are Rachel Campos, an alumnus of MTV's The Real World: San Francisco and Erin Hershey Presley, who played Alison Barrington on the ABC soap opera Port Charles, and married co-star Brian Presley. The new host will join Barbara Walters, Meredith Vieira, Star Jones and Joy Behar. Hasselbeck had a previous tryout on The View Oct. 13 and 14. Now each of the three candidates will join the The View for a week.

Campos is on now, Presley will be on next week and Hasselbeck joins the program the week of Nov. 17.

Walters will announce the winner on the air Nov. 24.

Jhumpa Lahiri, the Pulitzer Prize winning author who grew up in South County and whose parents still live in Peace Dale, will be on Martha Stewart Living this morning at 8 on Fox (Channels 25 and 64).

Lahiri will read and discuss an excerpt from her new book, The Namesake. Her appearance is part of the show's "Armchair Travels Week."

Two Rhode Island musical acts will be performing this weekend at the New York International Music Festival, a showcase event being held this week and next at various locations around the Big Apple.

Soul-pop singer Greg Lato, of Providence, will sing at Madison Square Garden on Thursday, Nov. 6, and at the China Club Saturday, Nov. 8.

Rock band Beyond Blonde, based in Middletown, will play Friday, Nov. 7, at Madison Square Garden, and Sunday, Nov. 9, at the Continental.

Beyond Blonde will continue on to a showcase in Lexington, Ky., on Friday, Nov. 14.

Could it become Will & Grace & Baby?

East Greenwich native Debra Messing, star of the NBC comedy, is pregnant, spokeswoman Annette Wolf said Friday. The baby, due next summer, is the first for Messing and her husband, screenwriter Daniel Zelman.

NBC had no comment on whether Messing's pregnancy would be written into the series, a network spokeswoman said.

Messing was honored as best actress in a comedy at this year's Emmy Awards.

Compiled from staff and wire reports by Lifebeat editor Alexis Magner Miller