Tattle: Rapper T.I. casts first vote in his life

RAPPER

T.I.

has been campaigning hard to get out the vote - a right the convicted felon didn't think he had.

But there he was yesterday at a suburban Alabama polling place, waiting to vote for the first time in his life.

"It's a relief," said the rapper, aka Clifford Harris, who stopped at Roxborough High School last Friday to encourage seniors to make their voices heard at the ballot box Tuesday. (Georgia is among states that have early voting to reduce congestion on Election Day.)

Turns out, under Georgia law, felons can vote if they're not doing time or on probation. T.I., arrested last October for weapons offenses, doesn't start his sentence until March.

Life's good all around for the Grammy-winning artist. He has two No. 1 hits - "Whatever You Like" and "Live Your Life," with Rihanna - off his new disc, "Paper Trail."

Hope there's one of those for his ballot, should any voter-fraud charges arise in his district.

Diamond girl

Jay-Z, Lil Wayne and Ne-Yo found out who really has the power Tuesday, when Beyonce pranced onstage in black stretch pants and a turtleneck to perform the moves from her new song, "Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)," during the Power 105 Powerhouse concert at the Izod Center, in East Rutherford, N.J.

She didn't speak or sing but said volumes when she flashed her massive wedding ring at the roaring crowd before disappearing backstage.

Beyonce's taken some heat over another of the tunes on "I Am . . . ," her album due out next month. San Diego singer/songwriter B.C. Jean apparently had to protest to get credit for penning the slow-grooving tune "If I Were a Boy."

No, no, Anna Nicole

There it was yesterday among the 200 other e-mails in our overstuffed in-box. Three words we'd hoped never again to see in a subject line, especially when we're filling in for Tattle-meister Howard Gensler.

Anna Nicole Smith.

No, she hasn't risen from the dead in time for Halloween - or to cast her ballot in some swinger state.

Larry Birkhead, father of Smith's daughter, Dannielynn, has decided it's time to sell Anna Nicole's Coldwater Canyon, Calif., home, where the pair have dwelt in blessed semi-obscurity since he won custody of the 2-year-old last April. Smith died in February 2007.

But of course, what better way to bury painful memories and make a fresh start than to tell the world about it in a Life & Style magazine spread?

Asked why he hadn't sold the house before, Birkhead shares that he couldn't bear to. "There were just tons and tons of memories. Anna's reality show was taped

here . . . . "

Uh, Larry, did you ever watch that show? Let's hope Dannielynn is forever spared its lurid images.

He also explains to L&S why he's kept a closetful of Anna's clothing and jewelry: "Every piece in there has a story. Someday, I hope to show them all to Dannielynn and tell her what . . . they meant to her mom."

Stuff from Smith's never-launched Tex Sex line, perhaps? The lingerie she wore for a Playboy shoot that Birkhead bought at a celebrity auction last summer?

We are so glad Guess jeans can't talk.

Father knows best

Britney Spears' dad will continue to control his troubled daughter's financial affairs, a Los Angeles judge ruled yesterday. Jamie Spears' conservatorship had been set to expire at year's end.

The singer, who's looking healthier these days and threatening a big comeback, had no protest against the arrangement, one of her lawyers said.

Pacing his cages

Maybe you have real estate on the market right now. Poor you. But save some pity for actor Nicolas Cage. He just put a $3.7 million price tag on his 13,000-square-foot New Orleans digs - the third home he's put up for sale, reports TMZ.com. He has houses in Rhode Island and in Bel Air, Calif., that

you're welcome to take off his hands for $15.9 million and $30 million, respectively.

Not that Nic will be on the streets if his cribs don't move. He recently sold a 132-foot yacht for $7.7 million.

So much to say

Novelist Danielle Steel has written dozens of best-selling romance novels - three just this year - but she has words to spare, so she's starting a blog.

"It's like a letter to a friend, and fun to be able to share something and say, 'Gee I did this,' " said Steel. The blog, www.daniellesteel.net, was expected to debut today. Steel promised to post once a week - more "if I get excited about something."

Russell pranks

Shortly after the BBC announced his suspension, controversial BBC Radio 2 host Russell Brand resigned yesterday. Britain's been in a roil over lewd calls that Brand and television personality Jonathan Ross made on Brand's show earlier this month to "Fawlty Towers" actor Andrew Sachs.

Brand's statement said that he got "caught up in the moment."

Sachs, Spanish waiter Manuel on the popular '70s sitcom, was charitable toward his tormenter yesterday, saying: "I hope he moves forward, I really hope he does. It might be a big turning point in his life." *

Daily News wire services contributed to this report.