CNN's Anderson Cooper is auditioning celebrity announcers in a supposed effort to compete with NBC, which has movie star Michael Douglas introducing its nightly newscasts. The on-camera recruiting effort conveniently doubles as a smart bit of marketing for CNN, but it also has residual benefits for Cooper, who gets to toughen up his image as the prettiest anchor on CNN by auditioning heavy metal rockers Ozzy Osbourne and Gene Simmons, two of the first three celebrity introducers. The third? Err, that would be gay icon Fran Drescher. Who Anderson said is his favorite, is "fantastic" and "you were my first choice all along to be the announcer." OK whatever Anderson, you know what? You're not even trying at this point. Franny love-fest after the jump.

[CNN via Anderson Cooper Effects]