*And now for the celebs who rejected offers to join “Dancing with the Stars.”

According to the Hollywood Reporter, former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice was among the dozen or so who thought better of trying to dance for votes on live TV.

Also on the “no” list: Facebook creator Mark Zuckerberg, Sylvester Stallone, political commentator Ann Coulter, Erin Brockovich, billionaire Richard Branson, comic actor Tim Allen and “Three’s Company” vet Suzanne Somers.

“We’ve approached a lot of people over the years,” executive producer Conrad Green told The Hollywood Reporter. “People say no for a variety of reasons. Some people like the show but think they suck at dancing. It’s a lot easier to say no than it is to say yes.”

Others who have taken a pass: Reality star Kirstie Alley, “Community” star Joel McHale and “The Price Is Right” host Drew Carey.

For those who believe “DWTS” producers will take just any old celeb – apparently, that’s not the case. In fact, the casting source said those who lobby hard for a spot usually have little success.

“Melanie Griffith tries to get on every season,” the source said.

*President Barack Obama formally ended the U.S. combat role in Iraq after seven long years of bloodshed, declaring in an Oval Office speech to the nation Tuesday night: “It’s time to turn the page.”

Adamantly opposed to the war from the beginning, Obama said the United States “has paid a huge price” to give Iraqis the chance to shape their future – a cost that now includes more than 4,400 troops dead, tens of thousands more wounded and hundreds of billions of dollars spent.

“We have met our responsibility,” Obama said. “Now it is time to turn the page.”

After praising the men and women in uniform for their sacrifice, Obama said “Tonight, I am announcing that the American combat mission in Iraq has ended.  Operation Iraqi Freedom is over, and the Iraqi people now have lead responsibility for the security of their country. Having drawn down 100,000 troops since taking office, a much smaller force will stay to train and assist the Iraqi forces during the transition period.   …All U.S. troops will leave by the end of next year.”

Obama said he had telephoned Bush, whom he had criticized so often in the 2008 campaign, and praised the former Republican president in the heart of his speech.

“It’s well known that he and I disagreed about the war from its outset,” Obama said. “Yet no one could doubt President Bush’s support for our troops, or his love of country and commitment to our security.”

In a telling sign of the domestic troubles weighing on the United States and his own presidency, Obama turned much of the emphasis in a major war address to the dire state of U.S. joblessness. He said the Iraq war had stripped America of money needed for its own prosperity, and he called for an economic commitment at home to rival the grit and purpose of a military campaign.

*Imprisoned former NFL star Plaxico Burress has reportedly been denied a chance to participate in his jail’s work release program.

The former New York Giants player, currently serving a two-year sentence for illegal gun possession after accidentally shooting himself at a NY nightclub, had requested a “temporary release” so he could play football again.

But according to TMZ, authorities in Albany, NY turned down his request, stating, “The serious and negative impact illegal guns have on the community coupled with dangerous nature of the weapon discharging in a public place renders him unsuitable for work release participation.”

According to the NY Dept of Correctional Services, the work release program “allows certain inmates to leave a work release correctional facility for a period of several days at a time for community preparation.”

*Today marks the beginning of Fantasia Barrino’s promotional swing for today’s release of her new album “Back to Me,” but it comes just two weeks after the singer overdosed on aspirin in an attempt to take her life amid a cheating scandal.

The singer began the day discussing her suicide attempt and adultery allegations in an interview with Robin Roberts on “Good Morning America.” [Watch video below.]

“I think I was just overloaded with everything, with carrying six years of so much,” the 26-year-old said this morning. “I always take a licking and keep on ticking…it just became heavy for me to the point that I just wanted to be away from the noise.”

The 2004 “American Idol” winner said that feelings of hurt, pain, loneliness and trust issues had built up over the years and overwhelmed her.

“There’s so much that people don’t understand. They just see the glitz and the glamour, and they feel like life is so perfect, but we’re human and we go through things,” she said, listing the loss of her career and management among the major blows.

But Aug. 9, the day Barrino attempted suicide, she was reeling from allegations and the threat of a lawsuit surrounding her relationship with Antwaun Cook, a married man. Cook’s wife Paula Cook of Charlotte, North Carolina, accused Barrino of having an adulterous affair with her husband and named Barrino in a complaint seeking custody of the her sons, along with alimony, child support, the family home and a 2000 Lexus.

Barrino said the allegations were only a contributing factor in the drug overdose.

“I think everybody feels like I tried to harm myself over a man, but you know I’ve been in a lot of bad relationships,” Barrino told Roberts. “I think that had somewhat to do with it because it was so heavy, it was brand new information, I was already going through so much. But I think it was just six years of everything, of me holding all that stuff on the inside and not letting it out…I got very, very tired.”

Barrino was rushed to the hospital earlier this month after her manager found her almost unconscious in her Charlotte mansion and called 911. When she woke up in the hospital, and realized that she was still alive, Barrino said she knew that drama would ensue.

“When I woke up, I figured out, ‘Oh god, this is going to be more drama,’” she said, adding that she was worried about the press. “I know all these nurses they know me, they probably voted for me.”

But Barrino said one of her nurses, named Melanie, was her saving grace, encouraging her to see the brighter side and regain some confidence. Barrino thanked the entire hospital staff for saving her and treating her with respect.

“They didn’t treat me like Fantasia, they treated me like Tasia and I needed that,” she said.

Barrino was released from the hospital Aug. 11, two days after her overdose. She said on “GMA” that she is speaking with a life coach, who has helped her regain the strength to return to her music.

Critics are calling her new album, “Back to Me,” in stores today, her best work yet.

“I’m just going to go back to that young lady I was on the Idol that people fell in love with,” she said. “I’m back to me.”

As previously reported, in an interview airing on VH1′s “Behind the Music” tonight, Barrino says she wanted to die when she overdosed on aspirin and a sleep aid earlier this month.

“I didn’t have any fight in me. I didn’t care about anything. I just wanted out,” Barrino says in the special, which airs at 9 p.m. ET/PT.

“I just sat in the closet and looked at the mirror and took all the pills in the bottle,” Barrino continues. “I wanted to go to sleep and just be at peace. I knew exactly what I was doing. You can’t accidentally take a whole bottle of pills.

“I was tired of people doing me wrong, constantly, over and over again, dealing with my family, my father, dealing with men and their [expletive]. I was tired,” she says. “My head was hurting me. I was over it.”